Unsought Input

Yes, I did it.  My band Killasaurus Visage (me, my brother the shig, my husband and the vic)  played through 58 songs and beat the endless set list on hard and expert.  The songs in the  set list goes can be found here.  Those are not in order  and include both the regular tracks and the bonus songs (I couldn’t find a list online of just the endless set list order and I don’t have the time to type it all out right now, sorry!). Thank god that we didn’t have to play the downloaded content as well cause 58 songs is really pushing the limit of what a group of people can do in one day.

Anyway, here are the facts and what we did to get through it.

• It took us 6 hours and 5 minutes (stopping only for refills and restroom breaks)
• Some of the hardest songs are the bonus songs since you don’t play them as regularly as the other tracks and they are not familiar songs (at least for us)
• If people are playing mixed levels, the lowest level is what everyone will end up beating it as.  The Shig on guitar and The Vic on bass played expert but Ry played drums on hard and I sang on hard (I should have gone on expert but I didn’t want to mess it up for my band!) so we beat the endless set list on hard.
• For your singer: mix lemon juice (I used from concentrate) in with something warm like tea. Don’t skimp on the lemon juice either, I put in about 1/4 a cup into each cup of tea.  Believe me, this works.  When we did the Rock Marathon (18 song set list) I did not use this method and after that your throat feels a little scratchy and achy.  I used this method for the entire 58 song set and my throat felt fine.  A little sore but definitely not as bad as it would have felt had I not done this.
• It’s okay if you fail a song in this set list.  Take a short break and try again.  You will lose fans but you gain them back when you finish the set list.
• Take it easy in the beginning and don’t take long breaks at all.  If you stop you are not going to want to start again.  And I am telling you, you will be exhausted after this (especially your drummer.  Our drummer runs in marathons).  But it’s worth it.

We got 261 out of 290 stars on this set list if you were interested in knowing.   And $34,000.  And 40,000 fans (we failed two songs in this set list so I think we were just earning them back, we had already maxed out the amount of fans we could have on the hard setting).

After you beat it you obtain legendary status and you can feel like a bad ass for playing a rock video game for 6 hours straight.

In a recent study the good old US of A was ranked 39th out of 149 countries in an environmental study that looked at countries overall environmental policies and emissions.  We were not the worst though.  I know I was saying stuff about China cleaning up for the Olympics before but they apparently have quiet a long way to go since they are currently competing with India for the least environmentally friendly country around.

Either way it’s probably time we do something about this, though.  I mean, where is our drive to win?  Our burning desire to fight and conquer and take over and WIN!!!? So, we just need to make this a challenge or a competition or a major TV show like American Gladiators.  If we had some type of zany game show to make people want to do environmentally friendly things we might be able to beat out other Costa Rica (who ranked fifth) or at least Japan (who ranked 21st).  I mean, all we need is a little bit of good old fashioned patriotism applied to saving the environment and people would just eat it up.  I know you could consider this technique to be  tricking the American public into doing something they wouldn’t normally do for a small prize or other’s amusement but I can’t really see any other way to make lazy people want to go out of their way do to anything.  Maybe I am not trying hard enough myself.  I know that if there was some crazy recycling game where I could win money or prizes I would totally be playing.

As far as corporations go, we could make a new TV show like The Office but with a company that has environmental hyjinks always ensuing.  Or we could just make them actually follow the regulations that would lower their emissions and pollution.  But hyjinks are always more fun.

Yuki Taro, the Japanese sidewalk snow plow.  Think Roomba for snow covered sidewalks.  The basic idea here is that a very cute robot runs itself with GPS and plows up snow.  This snow it then turns into bricks that you can do anything with.  As long as they don’t melt.  The article I linked to says it was invented by kids but it was not.  The Japanese are just suckers for anything that is super cute and useful.  The name basically means “snow boy”, in case you were wondering.

~FBI gets their wire tap phone service disconnected.  I am not sure if there is anyone out there who hadn’t heard of this massive failure but I couldn’t let it get away with not being mentioned on this site.   Ha!  No free rides for you, FBI.  There are a few quotes that really sum this up.  “More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows.” More than half?  So, about 445 bills or so were unpaid?  Very interesting.

And one other quote worth mentioning, “We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence”.  NO! I never would have guessed that not paying your bills and having your services shut off could affect your ability to spy on people without a warrant.  A final note on this topic is that they are trying to pin the blame on a woman who stole some money from them.  So, you are telling me that one woman was the sole person responsible to pay every phone bill for the FBI? Hmm, maybe the FBI needs to consider implementing a checks and balance system.

~Burning coal for electricity creates a byproduct that is more radioactive than nuclear waste.  At least it is according to a new article in Scientific America.  It actually says that the ash created from burning the coal that is released into the air is up to 100 times more radioactive then nuclear waste.  I mean, with coal there is never a chance of a nuclear meltdown but maybe it really is time to move away from our dependency on coal.  I mean, we could live with acid rain, greenhouse gas emissions and the occasional trapped miners or unstoppable underground coal fires.  But now, with all of these things, please let’s just realize when to call it a draw.  In the defense of coal, the uranium content can change due to where the coal was mined, making some less radioactive then others.  But in the overall scheme of things, does it really matter?

Hope you enjoyed.  Please comment below.

Recently I read an article over at Thedailygreen.com where I read that China is putting a nationwide ban on free use of plastic bags.  It is said that this will reduce the country’s dependency on oil while helping them to cut their emissions down just in time for planning and executing the Beijing Olympics.  This is a good thing, even if it is being done for the wrong reasons.  I am not saying that it is, but it does seem suspicious that it’s being pushed into place just in time for the Olympics, doesn’t it?  I mean, China wants to set a good example.  The government wants to show the world it can change. And I say, good for you.  I can only hope that America’s need to change would spur such a difference here at home.

Not only is China cutting back on the amount of oil they use (37 million barrels of crude oil on plastic bag production every year), they will be cutting back on the processing and production pollution made while making the bags, and on the overall pollution of their landscape and landfills after the bags have been used.  There will still be plastic bags for sale but they will not be given freely as they currently are now.  The idea is to make people bring their own reusable shopping bags each time they shop.

I think this sounds feasible here in the States.  I think something similar is definitely what we need.  A good old kick in the pants to get people to be slightly less environmentally selfish and to get our nation to start actually acting like they care what they are doing to the planet we live on.  I mean, I think everyone is aware that there is a problem.  But how long can we go on ignoring the signs?  Something needs to be done and this could be something that would not be that hard for people to adjust to and very very good for the environment.

Some retailers have already started selling reusable bags in the States, major chains like Walmart and Giant Eagle.  Here is a little info about Walmart’s bags from sustainableisgood.com:

The new Wal-Mart shopping bags are made from a fabric containing rPET.  The bags are made from 85% recycled content and hold more than twice the amount of an average plastic bag.  The bags will sell for $1 and be located near checkout aisles in Wal-Mart stores.  Wal-Mart will also take the bags back at the end of their life-span for recycling.

I am not trying to preach here.  I just think that most people are not going to do something like this on their own.  That if there were laws put in place that put a heavy tax (for example an environmental tax where the money went into environmental sustainability programs/research) on things that are wasteful (insert the plastic bag here) that people would start to actually consider their impact on the planet.  And if not, they would still be forced to either be environmentally friendly in a small way or pay a tax for the environment.

I am sure there are all sorts of negative comments people can make about this, that it’s not fair for the government to force this on people and no new taxes  and blah blah blah but we need to face reality.  And preferably sometime soon.

Me rambling about a topic I know very little about, but compared to the other nerds who read this site I’m probably an expert.

(p.s. There isn’t even a sports category which should give you a clue what the authors of this sites interests are)

Listen Here

Carpoolers

Tuesdays @ 9:30 on ABC

In a nutshell: Office Space in a car

It’s a sad time in TV Land right now, where the WGA Writer’s Strike has sucked the life out of any good show that was on a roll and left use TV lovers scraping the bottom of the barrel for something - anything! - to fill these dark winter nights between football and Lost (yes, all of you football fans I am aware of this “playoff” thing, but as a Clevelander, football is dead to me until after the next World Series.) So, down to the bottom of the barrel we go.
I saw a commercial for this show and thought “OK, this premise won’t last long” but the promo failed to mention that the show was created by Bruce McCulloch of The Kids in the Hall, plus co-produced with Joe and Anthony Russo of Arrested Development, so when I found that up I sat straight up and decided to give it a whirl (and by “whirl” I mean “download.”)

The plot is as you would expect - four guys from the same California neighborhood sharing a carpool to their boring office park. About 1/3 of the show revolves around the actual car driving and the rest is about their quirky families.

Gracen Brooker (Fred Goss) is a mediator (kind of like a lawyer/shrink) whose wife is an aspiring real estate agent (played by Faith Ford) and son is a classic doofus character named Marmaduke. The character of Gracen is ho-hum, but Ford does an excellent job not swinging her character too far in to “goofy housewife-turned-careerwoman” land and this Marmaduke kid is something to be seen. A larger, more disturbing Napoleon Dynamite if you will. Words sort of fail me when I go to describe the character that is Marmaduke (it’s unclear so far how he got his name…) but I’ll go so far as to say that trying to figure out what the hell is up with Marmaduke is the #2 reason to watch the show, behind its association with Kids in the Hall.

Laird Holcomb (Jerry O’Connell - aka “the fat kid from Stand By Me”) is Gracen’s best friend and neighbor. He’s recently divorced and was able to keep the house in the divorce, sans any furniture but his “ab-sizer.” Laird is a dentist and the perpetual lady’s man which sometimes scares but sometimes intrigues the other married members of the carpool.

Dougie (Tim Peper) is the “new guy” in the carpool. He lives in an extremely sheltered world with his perfect marriage to his perfect wife in his perfect house with his perfect baby. The writers have done a good job not making Dougie and his wife Cindy TOO scary or naive, eschewing topics such as extreme fundamentalist Christianity and instead giving them quirky desires to fit in and the wife being oddly proficient at gift wrapping.

Aubrey (Jerry Minor) is a neurotic office worker who is stuck in some sort of personal hell raising seven rambunctious children while his wife (shown only as a pair of lounging feet - even when they go to a neighborhood party) sits idly by. Aubrey is most excited about the carpool, as it is his only time away from his family and thus does the most driving.

The carpool situation is mildly amusing and allows for some short but interesting scenes. The show opens with the to-work drive, in which the guys unabashedly sing along to 80’s songs (one time calling OnStar to get the correct lyrics to “Come On Eileen’) or fight against the evil “cool carpool” for a parking spot. KITH fans take note - Scott Thompson is the leader of the “cool carpool” and is looking fantastic these days.

So far, 7 episodes into the show, the main plots have been ho-hum but it’s been fun watching Marmaduke’s sub-plots, and playing “spot the Kid.” Kevin McDonald shows up in episode 7 as Leila Brooker’s real estate rival - here’s hoping we see more of him and perhaps Dave Foley too.

According to TV Guide, there’s six episodes left so you can still catch this show on ABC. Also, AOL’s goofy TV thing has a couple of episodes up. I say it’s a good one to download once you’re dying for fresh content like I am. I’m hoping it will get better as it goes along much like 30 Rock did (don’t worry, I’ll be recommending that one soon) and won’t be canceled early like Andy Barker P.I. was.

Stand tall, TV fans. There’s always reruns!

Check out this cool marching band.  Their halftime show is a video game showcase.  Way cool.  But don’t take my word for it!

Just for a change of pace let’s talk politics.  I mean, just in case you aren’t already bored to death of the presidential campaign yet, we can talk about it here.  I am surprised how early in the campaign it is and how much I really don’t want to hear about it.  Maybe it’s just because I am politically lazy.  But I hate to lay all the blame on myself, so I am going to blame it on the heavy press over it for the last three months when, in my opinion, I shouldn’t have been hearing about it yet.  I mean, shouldn’t I normally be just starting to care now?  But since I have already had this presidential election forced on me I have a feeling I am going to be very very very tired of it well before the actual elections.

There are a couple of things I hope to see in this election, though.  I am hoping to see some actual honest campaigns where there is no mudslinging and no school yard bully tactics similar to those employed in the last election.  I know, keep dreaming.  I just want to live in a country where I don’t have to worry about political commercials telling me how presidential candidate X is a doodie head who supports killing babies and puppy dogs.  I mean, I am glad I graduated from high school.  I thought that meant I would never have to deal with these kinds of antics again.  But, oh, how naive I was.  So young.  So naive.  I guess it’s good to have a dream.

I also want to see a minority in office. I think that is progressive and would let the world know that we are not just a country run by legislative fat cats who inherited their political career from their parents and know nothing of the real world.  I mean, right now we have kind of a bad rap with the rest of the world and this might be our chance to let everyone else know that we are ready to make drastic changes to make things right.  I don’t know, it’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it.

You know what else I want to see?  I want to see the celebrities who made all those sappy commercials  to go out and vote actually vote.  I know they probably need to register to vote first but it’s so simple.  They can get their agent or publicist or whoever to go down to the post office or town hall or where ever and fill it out for them.  Hell, they can even get them to help them at the polls if they need it.  I am just tired of the hypocrisy that fills this nation.  And the laziness. I mean, I am a lazy person when it comes to politics but I vote in every election, not just the presidential elections.  And honestly, if you can’t be bothered to vote for president you have no right to complain about anything ever.  Unless you are complaining about your family, and in that case, you are still not allowed to complain about anything ever.

Since I am already tired of the presidential race I decided to try and figure out what the candidates stand for without actually listening to any debates or what have you.   I found this website that asks you what your opinions are and how strongly you feel about them and based on your answers tells you what candidates are supporting issues closest to your opinions.  It’s kind of cool and only takes a few minutes so you should check it out.  It might save you the time of having to watch more debates and mudslinging commercials.

If you just skipped to the last paragraph, I will say it again.  Check out this website. It asks you your opinions and tells you who you might want vote for in the election.  It will save you a lot of annoyance this year which is sure to be filled with lots of political bull crap that you might not want to wade through.   Just trying to help.

If you’ve been following along, you know that we’ve been discussing problems with Creationism.  In part one we looked at the Second Law of Thermodynamics and why it doesn’t invalidate evolution (or biology in general).  Despite what some wealthy political figures with delusions of persecution might tell you, we still haven’t found any empirical evidence or falsifiable claims in favor of creationism, but we’re going to look at the arguments provided in favor.

Our gracious commenter mentioned another perceived problem with evolution, the lack of direct observation of it.  Of course, we have plenty of direct observations of physical and genetic changes due to natural selection.  The adjusted claim was :

What I’m saying about evolution however is that since we have not observed the transition of one species to another, the fossils, rock strata and any other observations about the world as it is today, don’t make the case for the conjecture of transition from non-life to life and simple lifeforms to complex lifeforms. That transition is still an opinion which could only be confirmed by the scientific method through observation of the actual transition itself.

This is an interesting twist on what’s normally called the God of the Gaps argument against evolution.  Normally the argument is formulated this way:  Okay, sure we have all these fossils which scientists like to fit into a big family tree, but where are all the missing links?  You don’t have them, and that’s because God created the individual species.  Any time we don’t have a scientific explanation for something, God did it.

The biggest problem with the God of the Gaps argument is the tendency of the gaps to shrink over time.  Scientists are constantly discovering new fossils as well as better ways to examine relationships between species such as cladistics and genetics.  Some gaps in knowledge, like the exact method by which RNA or DNA originally formed from non-living molecules, might seem comfortable enough for God to fit in right now, but every day really interesting work is being done.

Now for the interesting twist:  our commenter is not just pointing out the gaps in the fossil evidence, genetic evidence, and explanatory models.  In addition, supposedly all this evidence must be thrown out - anything not based on direct observation of the actual transitions between species is just “an opinion.”  This causes a number of problems.
First, this causes serious problems if we ever want to study speciation, let alone evolution.  Based on what we know from radiometric dating the earth has been around for billions of years.  It’s quite possible that it takes tens of thousands of years before an ancestor and it’s descendant are different enough to be considered separate species, especially for large vertabrates with long gaps between generations.  Unfortunately we humans only live 100 years or so at most - not much time for direct observation of very gradual change.

This might look like a good argument from the creationist side until you realize that this poses a problem for anyone trying to observe some sort of “creationist speciation” as well.  We can cross our fingers and hope God turns a turnip into some kind of super turnip during our lifetimes, but given the geological scale the Lord works on, don’t hold your breath.

Second, this is an extremely high bar to set for evidence - so high that if applied consistently it invalidates entire fields of study.  Forensics, for example, would be completely thrown out the window.  No more collecting fingerprints and DNA in episodes of CSI.  We can’t even take the presence of a dead body too seriously anymore.  That murder is still an opinion which could only be confirmed by the scientific method through observation of the actual murder itself.

Archaeologists all over the world need to hang up their Indiana Jones hats and get real jobs, because all of their work is based on indirect observation.  Since we’re not accepting genetic evidence either we need to throw fields like Linguistics, which use similar methods.  What about all the apparatus used by quantum physicists?  No one has ever really seen a quark.  Don’t even mention geology.

Luckily for us, we don’t have to contemplate this bizarre notion any further, because we actually do have plenty of observations of speciation through selection, otherwise known as evolution.  Two organisms are considered different species if they don’t interbreed, and we’ve actually seen that happen through selection.

I can hear the objections already - “but those are all small changes, show me a monkey turning into a man!”  Now we come to the evidence that creationism is not science.  Let’s recap:

1. First the argument is that there are missing links.  But more transitional fossils are found every day.
2. Next the argument is that no one has ever actually observed evolution.  But it has been observed plenty of times.
3. Next the argument is that microevolution is possible, but no one has ever observed macroevolution or speciation.  But it has been observed as well.
4. Next the argument is that evolution might create different species, but what about different genera?  Or different families?  Or orders?  Or…

Once again we are trying to stick God into an ever-shrinking series of gaps.  We’ve already seen that creationists are willing to throw out perfectly valid observational evidence like fossils and genetics.  Do you get the impression that no amount of evidence will ever be enough to disprove creationism?  That smells fishy.

Part 3 will continue following this thread toward the notion of falsifiability.  In the mean time, we have seen some sophistic arguments, but no actual evidence to support creationism or divine intervention.  Please feel free to comment below.