Fulton Rd Bridge Status Report

We had a Blurtiful turn out for what I guess we could call the first "organized" Blur outing. I want to thank all 15 of you that woke up in time for 5:30A breakfast, especially Sandra and Kim for picking up the tab for my breakfast and offering to running the cameras.

The weather could not have been any better, if you like it cold and rainy that is. The turn out was huge probably around 1000 people showed up.

The bridge implosion was not quite as spectacular as I thought it was going to be. I guess that has something to do with it not quite going as planned and the bridge was not destroyed.

The original blast was supposed to take place at 8A but that was delayed when some people sneaked into the blast site, awesome. When they hit the charges at 8:30A there were a couple blasts but nothing fell. They tried again at 9:30A this time a small part of the bridge fell but most of it was unaffected.

The company conducting the demolition blamed faulty wiring for the blast not working. They finally took out a section of bridge over the train tracks but I was long gone so I did not get any pictures. The blast will be rescheduled Monday when ODOT meets with the blasting company.

Again I want to thank everyone for coming out and enduring the crappy weather and several delays. Hopefully our next outing will be more of a blast.

New Pet or Computer Mouse?

Why choose when you can have both!

Make one for your self, you can find the directions here.

I'll give you a quick break down.
1) Kill a mouse
2) Scrape out its guts
3) Cram a mouse (PC kind) in the mouse.

Yes this mouse mouse is fully supported by PETA.

China's Claim to "Make it Rain" Confuses Strippers

China is planning to make it rain for several days before the start of the 2008 Olympics but to the disappointment of strippers across the country they are not talking about tossing out stacks of $1 bills.

China plans to use a process called cloud seeding to cause more rain to fall in the days leading up to the opening ceremonies. They are hoping this will reduce the chance of rain on opening day and also help decrease air pollution.

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Fulton Rd Bridge Recon

I conducted a sweep of the demolition site yesterday. I complied my findings in a Google map you can view here. Click on the links on the left side of the map for descriptions of the locations. There are several good spots so hopefully we will have enough people there Saturday for some game day scouting.

I Said Near the In N Out Burger

The Tucson area welcomes their first In N Out Burger with a huge turn out.
By 2P on opening day there were 106 cars in the drive-thru lane. Workers started telling customers to expect a 2 hour wait to get their food. The wait time for walk up service was also similar. On the plus side people in line did get free lemonade while waiting.

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What's Happening. (Weekend of 04/27)

This will be the best weekend ever. Forget the draft and the NBA playoffs a bridge demolition is going down this Saturday.

The Fulton Rd. bridge (the one that crosses over the Cleveland Zoo) will be destroyed with explosives this Saturday (4/28) at 8A.

I will definitely be going to watch this. The suggested viewing area is the park area on John Nagy Blvd. which is off Ridge Rd. north of 480. I am going to do some recon and see if we can get a better view from the neighborhood to the north east of the park. I'll post my findings when I get them.

The park opens at 6A so I want to arrive there or the alternate location around that time to get the best viewing spot. If anyone wants to join me we can meet up at the Ihop on Brookpark just west of Tiedeman @ 5:30A for some tasty eats before we hit the park.

I would also like to get video and still images of this event so I could use your help. The first lucky reader to comment on this post then make it to Ihop gets a free breakfast and gets to be camera person for the day. See you all Saturday.

Crazy Russians

Russia is planning to build the world's longest tunnel (see artist concept drawing, left).
The tunnel will run between Alaska and Siberia. At a length of 64 miles it will be twice as long as the current longest tunnel.
The project is expected to take 10-15 years to complete and cost an estimated 10-12 billion dollars.

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What's Happening. (Weekend of 04/20)

World Party - The Cleveland Zoo - Sun - 10A - 5P - This is kind of a hippy Earth Day type of event but it is at the zoo so I am down.
In addition to the hundreds of exhibits on display, folks can pick up a tree to plant in their yard, hear live music, and watch awe-inspiring tricks performed by zoo animals. And there'll be green-home designs, which show visitors how to light and heat their abodes naturally.

NBA Playoffs - Start Saturday at 12:30P the Cavs don't play until Sunday. I'll be downtown Sunday for the game.

Road Trip!

This is perhaps one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

The unique design of this giant, Mouse Trap inspired Rube Goldberg-style contraption was cleverly gleaned from the memories of childhood, twisted out of scale, then sketched beyond life size. It features an enormous construct of crazy stairs, a flame-throwing lamppost, careening bowling balls, and a hand-built, 30-foot-tall crane capable of lifting and dropping 5 tons! The object of this vaudevillian encounter is to "accomplish by complex means what seemingly could be done simply"! So our lucky players get to lift a 400-lb cast-iron bathtub 13 feet into the air, crank cranks, load springs and turn impossibly huge gears, all in a supreme effort to crush a trinket of meaning (say, a 1,200 lb pumpkin) under a falling 2-ton bank safe! The Mousetrap is impressive as a static sculpture, but it is the motion, started by a human, that is the heart of its existence.

This larger than life size Rube Goldberg machine will be on display at this years Maker Fair. The fair is held at the San Mateo fair grounds in San Mateo CA on May 19th and 20th. I'll be attending if anyone wants to join in.

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This Story Really Burns My Ass

Japan's leading toilet manufacturer Toto is offering free repairs to 180,000 toilets after some of them caught fire.

There have been three incidents of the electric bidet accessory in Toto's Z series catching fire.

"Fortunately nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out and there were no injuries," a company spokesman said.

"The fire would have been just under your buttocks," she added.

Toto is a pioneer of high-tech toilets with built-in bidets, which are popular in Japan.

The Z series features a pulsating massage spray, a power dryer, a "tornado wash" flush, and a lid that opens and closes automatically.

It is not sold outside Japan.

The offending loos were all manufactured between May 1996 and December 2001.

Another Zoo Mishap

This one took place in Argentina and unfortunately was fatal.

Melisa Casco, 19, was attacked by a Giant Anteater and died after an operation to amputate one of her legs.

Casco worked at the Florencio Varela zoo outside Buenos Aires as part of a conservation and reproduction project involving endangered giant anteaters. They are usually not aggressive, but allegedly this was a prank gone amiss.

Federico Santiago thought it would be humorous to fill Melisa's back pack with ants moments before she entered the habitat. Santiago figured it would trigger a reaction from the ant eater but he had no idea it would be so violent. None of this has been verified (or reported anywhere for that matter) but I think this is how it went down.

Weekend Review - Not Bad, Dude's Car Got a Litte Dinged Up.

Apparently booze sticks in your system a lot longer than I thought and it is much tougher to out run the police than you think. In my defense I almost got away but I must have hit some black ice or something and spun out into a wall. If I could have held on for another 30 seconds or so I would have escaped.

Dinosaurs as Pets?

Maybe sooner than you think.

In a retrieval once thought unattainable, scientists have recovered and identified proteins in a bone of a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex that lived, died and was fossilized 68 million years ago. The extraction of this DNA would be necessary for studies in dinosaur genetics and for cloning experiments.

This will be awesome. I can't wait until I can see some real live dinosaurs. What they should do is clone a bunch of them and have them all in a zoo or some kind of big dinosaur park. They could have it setup like the African Safari parks and have cars drive you through.

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One Arm Bandit in Taiwan

And I am not talking about a slot machine.

A TAIWANESE zoo vet has his arm bitten off by a crocodile.

Chang Po-yu, 38, from the southern Kaohsiung city's Shou Shan Zoo, was injecting the sick crocodile with anesthetic when it attacked him.

The Associated Press reported that Mr Chang was trying to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's hide when it attacked him.

Thanks for the tip B.

Ring of Fire Engulfs Johnny Cash's Home

Cash's home located on a Wide Open Road in Tennessee caught fire and was extensively damaged.

Firemen tried to Walk the Line and tap into the Big River in an attempt to suppress the flames. Despite their best efforts they were forced to pull back when the fire became too intense, the flames were Five Feet High and Rising. Many of them were overheard saying "Don't Make Me Go, I Won't Back Down". They eventually retreated Down the Street to 301 and had to watch as the house burned.

Fire chief Harold Balhatchet stated "I've Been Everywhere and I have never seen a house burn so quickly. I Guess Things Happen That Way sometime."

Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, the current owner of the house, said "Don't Cry Cry Cry for me I will be able to rebuild, One Piece at a Time." Gibb's Black Cadillac was also destroyed in the fire.

This a sad day for Cash fans as a piece of his life is forever lost. I hope they do rebuild it but If I Where a Carpenter I would use fire resistant material.

What's Happening. (Weekend of 04/13)

St. Mark Texas Hold'em Tournaments - 4/13-4/14
I don't like playing Texas hold'em but this does benefit a church built in my honor so I urge you to attend.





Cleveland Indians Home Opener, Take 2- 4/13-8P - I am Actually planning on going into the game this time but of course I will be hitting the bars before and after. If the lovely ladies that bought me beers at the Thirsty Parrot are reading this, I'll be at the Parrot again and you can buy me some more beers.

If anyone has any suggestions for Saturday or Sunday post them in the comments.

I Can Buy the World a Coke

But not Jesus.

Coke is suing an Italian film company for having Jesus take a swig of Coke in the yet to be released film “7 Km from Gerusalemme” (Seven Kilometers From Jerusalem). The film is set in modern day Jerusalem and Jesus is out for a stroll in the desert and wants to quench his thirst with a tasty Coke. That scene will never see the light of day if Coke has their way. Coke said the scene would probably give the soda a bad image. A spokeswoman said, "We are not interested in this kind of product placement."

Sorry Jesus maybe you can have a Pepsi.

Explosive Endorsement

I guess I will be voting all Republican in the the next election.

Palestinian terror group members call US House speaker's visit to Damascus 'brave' and hope for talks with Iran; ‘I think the Democratic Party can do things the best,’ Islamic Jihad member says

Wow, nothing like having a friendly neighborhood holy warrior on your side.
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Stand Off - Chinese Style

Stand-off ... a murder suspect, holding a knife, is cornered by police and threatens to jump from a hospital in Shenyang, northeast China

In trouble ... after two hours of threatening to jump, police get fed up and call in firefighters to solve the problem

Ouch ... firefighters use a high-powered stream of water to force the man, suspected of killing his mother-in-law, nephew and a bicycle caretaker, off an eighth-floor window

Thanks for the tip B!

Deal of the Knight.

One of the four documented "close up quality" cars from the hit 80s TV show "Knight Rider" is up for auction. The car known to fans of the show as K.I.T.T. or Knight Industries Two Thousand will be auctioned off in California. The bidding will begin @ $150,000.
Apparently the car does not really talk, reach speeds of 300 mph or soar thorough the air. The light on the front, reportedly, does make that cool humming noise. Oh yeah and the car is not street legal. So I guess all your 150 large gets you is a cool sounding red light. I think I'll wait to buy until K.A.R.R. or Goliath goes on sale.
Some advise for whoever does pick up this gem, don't let Eddie Griffin take it for a spin on a test track.

What's Happening. (Weekend of 4/06)

If you are a sport's fan this weekend is for you.



Cleveland Indian's Home Opener - 4/6 - 4P - I'll be downtown somewhere. The weather is supposed to suck so I'll probably just be watching @ a bar.


The Masters - The tournament starts Thursday but I don't normally tune in until the weekend rounds. I'll be watching from my favorite watering hole Panini's in Sagamore Hills Saturday and Sunday afternoon.


Lastly this Sunday is Easter for some people. Happy Easter to those that celebrate it.

Google Plunges Into ISP Business.

At first I thought this was a shitty idea. Then I noticed you can get 8 Mbps download speeds for free and thought this product could really make a splash.
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