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I was reading an article about the grand opening of the Ascent, a new condo tower designed by Daniel Libeskind.

In the article they mentioned

“A ribbon-cutting ceremony held near the building’s front entrance concluded with the release of white doves.”

I was kind of curious about what happens to white doves after they’re released since I’ve never seen a white bird out in the wild.   There’s a good reason why.

From Slate.com: When Doves Fly Away

What happens to the doves after they fly away?

It depends on what kind of birds they are and how they’re raised. Newspaper accounts don’t identify the species released in Hiroshima, but white “peace” doves–the kind pictured in Picasso’s famous poster–fare very badly in the wild. After centuries of domestic breeding, the white ring-neck dove is ill-equipped for urban survival. Bird rescue workers say that a ring-neck dove released in a city will likely starve–if it doesn’t get hit by a car or eaten by another bird first.

From NYTimes.com: Clinton Seeks to Soften Impact of Misstatement

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried Tuesday to put a softening spin on her misstatement that she ran from sniper fire at an airport in Bosnia as first lady, saying the comment was a mistake that “proves I’m human.”

Great!  Mistakes prove you’re human!  I wonder if Bill used the “proves I’m human” explanation with her!

Played Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 for the Xbox 360 last night and boy does that game make me motion sick.  I really felt like I was going to throw up.  It’s the worst I’ve ever felt playing a video game.  I’ve had problems with motion sickness in the past playing Halo 3, but I ended up getting used to it.  I thought that my learned immunity to Halo 3 motion sickness would help me with all first person shooters, but I guess each game’s motion is slightly different.

Here’s more information on video games and motion sickness:
About.com: Video Games And Motion Sickness

It suggests ginger pills.  Might try it if I dare playing again.  It’s either that or a motion sickness bag. 🙁

From the NYTimes.com: Clinton Says She ‘Misspoke’ About Dodging Sniper Fire

As part of her argument that she has the best experience and instincts to deal with a sudden crisis as president, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton recently offered a vivid description of having to run across a tarmac to avoid sniper fire after landing in Bosnia as first lady in 1996.

Yet on Monday, Mrs. Clinton admitted that she “misspoke” about the episode — a concession that came after CBS News showed footage of her walking calmly across the tarmac with her daughter, Chelsea, and being greeted by dignitaries and a child.

This is what Hillary had originally said:

“I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia, and as Togo said, there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn’t go, so send the First Lady. That’s where we went.

“I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.

Hillary claims that she “misspoke”.  Lied is more like it.  Bosnia was so dangerous that we sent Hillary, sixteen year old Chelsea, Sheryl Crow, and Sinbad on peace mission instead of the President.  Hillary is trying so hard to puff up her role as First Lady and to give herself Foreign Policy credibility.  It’s already the second time that she’s been caught doing this.

Hillary is consistent in one thing.  That she’ll say anything to become President. 

This has all the markings of an April Fool’s joke, but it seems like it might actually be real.

“This is a hoax,” a tower spokeswoman said last night. “We have no idea where this came from. The whole thing is preposterous. There is no question of changing the way that the Eiffel Tower looks, even temporarily. We have plans for the 120th anniversary, of course, but nothing like this.”

Nevertheless, a spokesman for David Serero architects, who declined to give his name, insisted that the company had been, “invited to enter a limited competition”, and that, “we would not have drawn up such elaborate plans unless we thought that there was a genuine competition”.

From NYTimes.com: Eiffel Tower to Temporarily Alter Silhouette
The reason for the addition is to increase the tower’s visitor capacity for the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower.  Here’s the terrifying view from the new platform.  I’m not so sure what that’s going to be like on a windy day!
More Pictures from the architectural firm Serero

I have never found the comic strip Garfield to be funny, but every time I read Garfield minus Garfield, it cracks me up.  Truly addition by subtraction.

My car window’s all fixed!  I called Jarrott’s Auto Glass and they came to my office this afternoon and fixed my car window.  It was a 10 minute job and I’m good to go.  Having someone come by is pretty darn convenient. 

If you’re curious, this little window is only marginally cheaper to repair than the rear seat window in front of it.  So the criminals didn’t really do me much of a favor by breaking the small window.

Before:

After:

Last night at 2:30AM, I heard a car alarm go off.  Car alarms are pretty common in the city, more an annoyance than anything else.  This one, sounded vaguely familiar, so I shook off my slumber and crawled out of bed.  I looked down from my third story window and saw a car with its lights flashing and its horn honking.  It was my car.

There wasn’t anyone around my car and I couldn’t see anyone running up or down the street.  At 2:30AM, my brain was still using sleepy logic at the time so I decided that I would turn off the alarm, relock the doors from the comfort of my bedroom and go back to bed.

This morning, I went out to check the damage and saw that the small rear window was broken and my ancient radar detector was stolen.  It was old, but trusty.  I have never gotten a speeding ticket since I’ve had it.  But, it was held to the window through this suction cup contraption that I had created since the original mount was broken.  They didn’t take the mount and I doubt they’ll figure out how to hook it to the window like I did!

My car is sometimes messy and I always joked that the security of my car was based on obscurity.  Security through obscurity.  Too much junk to sort through!  The criminals weren’t up to the task of sorting out the junk car so it must have worked!

I cleaned the glass (car window glass breaks into a zillion little pieces) and taped up the window.  I had brought out a white garbage bag and a black garbage bag for the window.  I ended up choosing the white garbage bag, but the real star of the repair job was the clear duct tape that I had purchased.  I love clear duct tape!  I’ve already used it twice around the house for repairs that I should have probably used something more permanent!  It’s just the MacGyver in me.

Happy Easter!