Uncategorized

From BBC: Daily caffeine ‘protects brain’

Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests.

The University of North Dakota study used the equivalent to just one daily cup of coffee in their experiments on rabbits.

I have this strange mental image of rabbits sitting around drinking a cup of coffee.  But, hopefully this is true because I usually drink one cup of coffee and quite a few cups of green tea a day.  I’m probably a little over-caffeinated.

Continuing my own personal Battlestar Galactica week…

What’s my favorite episode of Battlestar Galactica?

There’s actually only a handful of Battlestar Galactica episodes that I didn’t like.  But, the episode that sucked me in was the very first one “33”.  I had loved the mini-series and was looking forward to the show, but I was a little wary of how the series might turn out with the pressure of producing stories and shows every week.

“33” is an amazing episode with incredible tension.  The Galactica and the ragtag fleet is fleeing from the Cylons after the Cylon attack on the home worlds, “jumping” away from them with their “faster than light” drive.  However, the Cylons are finding them and launching an attack 33 minutes after they arrive from the “jump”.  Galactica’s crew is fighting not only the Cylons but sleep deprivation after five days and 237 jumps. 

Read the synopsis of “33” on wikipedia.

From Bengals.com: Bengals release Henry

Mike Brown’s statement:

Chris Henry has forfeited his opportunity to pursue a career with the Bengals. His conduct can no longer be tolerated.

“The Bengals tried for an extended period of time to support Chris and his potentially bright career. We had hoped to guide him toward an appropriate standard of personal responsibility that this community would support and that would allow him to play in the NFL. We acknowledge those fans who had concerns about Chris; at the same time we tried to help a young man.

“But those efforts end today, as we move on with what is best for our team.”

Chris Henry has Randy Moss-like talent, but has squandered it by his inability to stay out of trouble.  I am not sure what his problem is besides just being plain stupid.  You could probably attribute problems like this to substance abuse, but that wasn’t his problem.  With his career and money earning potential at stake, Chris Henry couldn’t figure out a way of just staying home and staying out of trouble.  Pathetic.

I had been rooting for Chris Henry to make it through this and finally mature as a human being, but it’s not happening, and it’s definitely not happening here in Cincinnati.  I think the Bengals made the right decision in supporting him and trying to help him and I think they’re doing the right thing in getting rid of him now.

UPDATE:
From Cincinnati.com: Bengals Waive Henry

Henry pleaded not guilty to both charges today before Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Bernie Bouchard, who ordered him held on a $51,000 bond.

After citing Henry’s criminal history, Bouchard told him, “You’ve kind of become a one-man crime wave.”

Caught the tail end of the Reds game against the Diamondbacks last night.  Unfortunately, not in HD on DirecTV. 

So, one of the announcers, Jeff Brantley was ranting at Edwin Encarnacion for not being able to drop a bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning:

“This guy is not a clutch hitter. He is not a clutch hitter. He’s not a clutch player.”

I think he was in the middle of the last “clutch” when Encarnacion swung and drilled the ball over the left field wall for a walk-off 3 run home run.  So much for not being “clutch”!  That was pretty funny.

Apple has now surpassed WalMart as the nation’s top music retailer.

From Arstechnica.com: Apple passes Wal-Mart, now #1 music retailer in US

That’s a long way from where Apple started in January 2001 with the iTunes‘ original slogan of “Rip, Mix, Burn”.  Back then the idea was to take your music, rip them into MP3’s and then burn your own CD mixes.  The iPod wasn’t introduced until October 2001.

Here’s the original Rip, Mix, Burn Apple TV ad.

This is too funny!

From GreenCar.com: Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid Named 2008 Green Car of the Year®
Should a gigantic SUV ever win “Green Car of the Year”?  It’s not like you’re helping the environment by going out and buying one of these gas guzzling vehicles.  The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid gets 20mpg city and 20mpg hwy.  It’s an improvement over the regular Tahoe for city mileage, but not on the highway.  So unless you really need one of these behemoths, just because it’s a “hybrid” doesn’t mean that it’s really green.

From Salon.com: Everything you were afraid to ask about “Battlestar Galactica”

A pretty detailed summary of the show to date.  Useful to refresh after the long break since Season 3.

All this week I’m writing about Battlestar Galactica, the best show that most people have never seen.  The premiere of season 4, the final season is this Friday April 4th at 10:00PM on SciFi Channel.

My Favorite Character

There are so many interesting characters to choose from.  Battlestar Galactica has spent a tremendous amount of time developing characters and showing their many different sides.   But my favorite character has to be one of the most tragic of them all.  Colonel Saul Tigh.

Loyal, Drunk, Bitter, Abrasive, Honorable, Patriotic, Heroic, Cylon

Those are words that describe the tragic character of Colonel Saul Tigh.  In the Season 3 finale, Tigh learns that he’s one of the final five Cylons models.  This after a long career of hating and fighting the Cylons.  Tigh as the leader of the resistance on New Caprica, is physically tortured and loses his eye.  He then executes/poisons his beloved wife as a penalty for collaborating with the Cylons after she gives information to the Cylons to free him.

My two favorite Tigh scenes:
1. In the hanger deck, Tigh after leading the resistance on New Caprica, with all his losses and sacrifices, hearing the chant of “Adama, Adama” after the Galactica jumps back to rescue them. Tigh sacrificed nearly everything for the resistance while Adama and the Galactica jumped away to safety, but Adama gets heroic welcome as the savior.  The look in the face of Tigh as the broken old man said it all.

2. When Tigh is revealed as a Cylon.

“My name is Saul Tigh. I’m an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that’s the man I want to be. And if I die today, that’s the man I’ll be.”

The quote itself doesn’t do this scene justice.

I’m a little sad that Tigh has been revealed as a Cylon.  I was afraid that it might be one of those “jump the shark” moments.  But, I trust in Ron Moore’s vision of Battlestar Galactica and I am looking forward to seeing what happens as the show concludes.

UPDATE
From NYMag: Michael Hogan on Playing Tigh on ‘Battlestar,’ Hating Cylons, and Hearing Music in His Head

From ESPN.com: Report: A-Rod the big fish, earns more than all of Marlins team

“The Marlins? It’s amazing,” Rodriguez said. “And they still seem to find a way to be very competitive. They have a great pool of talent; they made some unbelievable trades, so they have great personnel people. To win two championships in 11 years, that’s really admirable, and I’m very proud of that organization, being from Miami.”

In the last 11 years, the Yankees with the highest payroll have won three World Series. The Florida Marlins with one of the lowest payrolls have won two.

Alex Rodriquez has won zero during the same time period.