Thursday Thirteen #8 - Happy 100!!

Thursday Thirteen celebrates 100 weeks of Thursday Thirteens! I forgot to compile my list of favorite TT's earlier, so I'm scrambling to get it done before Thursday is done! Since I'm relatively new, I'll take this opportunity to pimp my own Thursday Thirteens as well.

1. Thursday Thirteen #1 - Things that happened on my birthday - Compiled using wikipedia and Holidays for Everyday
2. Thursday Thirteen #2 - Cool NPR stories - Podcasts that I have heard and saved because they are inspiring, funny and interesting.
3. Thursday Thirteen #3 - Favorite Podsafe Music - This was actually harder to compile than I thought because I wanted 13 different artists
4. Thursday Thirteen #4 - Quiz mania - I just love internet quizzes and have another draft of quizzes lined up (perhaps coming out next week!)
5. Thursday Thirteen #5: Organ Donation - This took quite a while to compose and it felt like researching a paper for school, but in the end it was worth it and received great responses.
6. Thursday Thirteen #6 - Kindergarten Math - May be tough even for some adults, but not my boy!
7. Thursday Thirteen #7 - Cool things I saw in Las Vegas - Viva Las Vegas! Can I go back tomorrow please?
8. Mo's Blue Moon - Cool info right on the day of the blue moon
9. Mo's Summer Solstice - Another celestial occurance that happened right on that day!
10. Another Mo's Women Role Models - An excellent compilations with pictures.
11. Haley-O's Marry, One Night Stand, or Throw off a Cliff - I didn't play, but it was fun to imagine.
12. Expatriate's Chef's Mom Tricks - OK, I had to search for this one, and it is a funny list!
    
13. OK, the last one is one that I remember commenting on, but couldn't for the life off me find through Google, all about empowered women characters that kick ass.

07/23/07 Update - Apparently my Googling abilities have improved as I finally found that last elusive post: Thirteen Kick-Ass Chicks in the Flicks (or on TV). I love this post because of the subject of course, but also for all the pictures of each character.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy 4th of July

Taken on June 29, 2007 at Devens, MA. 

Adam and Dova's new light sabers.

Radio Lab Podcast

I recently discovered WNYC's Radio Lab podcast, and it has instantly become one of my favorites. This excellently produced show probes all sorts of "science" topics in a light-hearted and curious way, yet is often quite thoughtful and even profound. I say "science" in quotes, because I didn't even realize until a few shows in, that most topics centered around some area of science. Here is an article from the Washington Post that describes the genesis of this show in 2006:

"Radio Lab" seeks to tell stories of cosmology, neuroscience and anthropology in a language new to broadcasting. Krulwich brings his affinity for sound effects, dramatizations and a narrative style reminiscent of great children's literature together with Abumrad's experiments in manipulating recorded speech to emphasize ideas and to break through media clutter.

A "Radio Lab" story includes traditional elements like interviews with scientists and a reporter's narration, but the story is regularly interrupted by words that suddenly repeat three or four times, vowel sounds that are elongated and warped to accentuate their meaning, and bits of electronic distortion or snatches of music that shift the mood and focus listeners' attention.

Add a continuing, partly scripted and partly improvised conversation between Abumrad and Krulwich, and the storytelling is hard to ignore. This is not your father's NPR.

That description is a bit too clinical. The show definitely has lots of sound effects, but they just add polish to an already hip production (I'm a glitzy gal after all). Jad Abumrad is like a young contemporary sitting down with you over a cup of coffee and veteran broadcaster Robert Krulwich is like the really cool uncle you never had. The two of them together are extremely engaging and I never want the shows to end. You'll laugh and say "wow", "aha" and "yes, that's it" a lot. Thank you George for turning me on to these guys even though you listen to it the old-fashioned way on the actual radio! It's on Sundays at 10pm on WBUR for those in the Boston area. You can also subscribe to their podcast here.

Photo Hunters - Sweet

Oo la la! I was originally going to post a photo of the chocolate cake I made from scratch for Doug's birthday, but this hunky stripper from Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity show is truly sweet. This awesome shot was taken by a kind stranger, but it doesn't show the sequined G-String he was wearing - those jeans are only chaps and rip away! In order not to confuse the picture taker, I handed her the Canon S2 IS with the display on instead of the Canon Rebel XTi. Nice shot of the abs, but just a tease of the sequins below. I was in such awe that I could only muster a "You were totally awesome" when I approached him for the picture.

Thursday Thirteen #7 - Cool things I saw in Las Vegas

I have to admit that I enjoyed Las Vegas much more than I expected. With the high temperatures predicted at 106°F, I thought I would be dying in the heat, but what they say about "dry heat" is absolutely true. Yes, it was really hot, especially in the sun, but it is like standing in front of an oven. When the sweat instantly evaporates, it is much more bearable than the hazy, hot and humid 95°F days that we get on the East Coast. I toted around a large water bottle, hat and two cameras and thoroughly enjoyed the sights. I also expected that Las Vegas was going to be totally fake, cheesy, sleazy and tasteless. They have really cleaned up the strip and even the old downtown was fine. The nicer resorts turn down the volume on the slot machines and infuse the place with happy ions and scent so you don't notice the cigarette smoke. I would definitely bring the family back for vacation, during a cooler time of year.

1. Cirque du Soleil Zumanity - This was by far the best show that I have ever seen in my life. I had awesome seats in the second row on the aisle so I could touch the performers as they went by if I wanted to. Definitely another post coming up on this show.
2. Wynn Hotel - I had seen this hotel on the Travel Channel, but it is every bit as beautiful in real life. You would expect total luxurious perfection at $600/night.
3. Star Trek The Experience - This was indeed a bit cheesy, but was the one thing I wasn't going to miss. Here I am with a Klingon.
   
4. Venetian Hotel - The Better Software Conference that I attended was held here and it was really beautiful. Even the bathrooms had marble everywhere and solid wood doors on the stalls. What's fake about that?
5. Paris Hotel - I loved the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower and even watched the Bellagio's water fountain show from there.
6. Bellagio - Not only did I watch the water fountain show from the Eiffel Tower, I came down and recorded a video of it from the ground. I kept having to remind myself to stop watching it through the camera and really experience the grandeur through my own eyes. It was the only time I used the compact tripod that I expressly bought for this trip. Turns out that running the Canon Rebel XTi at 800 ISO was fine for all the night shots that I took.
7. Caesar's Palace Forum Shops - What a mall! I loved the circular escalators and the life size Trojan Horse at FAO Schwarz.
   
8. Peter Max Gallery - I happened upon this awesome gallery of one of my favorite artists in the Forum Shops.
9. Aquarium - I searched for days trying to find this in Caesar's Palace and finally found it in the Forum Shops on my last night. There was also an animatronics show on the Fall of Atlantis above it with lots of fire and water.
   
10. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum - I was not going to see this because "fake people" don't do it for me. But after seeing Whoopi Goldberg at the entrance, I was sold. I went with a co-worker, handed him one of my cameras so we took lots of pictures of each other posing with the fake celebrities. Definitely something you should see with another person.
11. The Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace - Lots of beautiful and rare cars, plus a vintage bar on display. Now this hotel reeks of stale cigarette smoke, so beware.
12. Fremont Street Experience - I had seen this light show on the Travel Channel as well, but it was cool so witness it in person. By the time I saw it, it was 11pm PDT or 2am EDT so I was pretty tired. Near the end of the show, I had officially reached sensory overload, couldn't video record it any longer and ended up walking back out to the bus stop. Me, sensory overload? Unheard of!
13. Tiger at MGM Mirage - Roy and Siegfried are are only in Vegas in wax nowadays, but they did have a beautiful white tiger on exhibit.