Cloudy With a Chance of Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls preseason game was about to start on NBA TV, and I called my six-year-old daughter, A'ishah, over to watch the introductions.  She's familiar with the song "Sirius" due to my playing the Alan Parsons Project in the car when I drive.

Sure enough, when she heard the song she got real excited.  "Abah!" she said.  "This is the song from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!" :)

Monique Evans Embarrasses Herself

Monique Evans, Miss Texas 2014, embarrassing herself at the Texas Rangers game.  Seriously, MLB needs to institute a few rules for people whom they're considering to throw the first pitch.  I'd suggest, at the very least, that the ball must cross the plate (we'll be generous and say anywhere between the two batters' boxes) and that the ball must not touch the ground before reaching the catcher (no bouncing the ball on the ground or rolling it, like Miss Evans did here - apparently she confused baseball with bowling).

Watts - Africa Cup of Nations 2012

A special Watts for the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations. Amusing. :)

Watts Best of Summer 2011

I normally put up the Watts "Best of" compilation video at the end of every year, but am not able to find this year's video so far. Instead, I found the "Best of Summer 2011" video, which will suffice for the time being. :) Warning: NSFW - no nudity, but plenty of female skin.

Chinese Calculus

"The Chinese are kicking our butts in everything. If this was China, do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."
— PA governor Ed Rendell, on postponement of Eagles game due to blizzard

Because Americans can't walk in a snow storm and do calculus at the same time. ;)

WATTS Zap - The Best of 2010

This is the full-length version (47 minutes long).

Aravane Rezai

A couple weeks ago a big stir was made over Rimah Fakih's being crowned Miss USA. But I was a little surprised that no one in the Muslim blogosphere (those few of us who are left) brought up the success story of French tennis player Aravane Rezai.

I first started noticing Aravane a few months ago. Currently ranked #19 in the world (her highest ranking is #16), she is one of several Muslim tennis players playing professionally today. (Another is Sania Mirza of India.) Aravane was born in France to Iranian parents, and competed for Iran in the Women's Islamic Games, winning gold medals in 2001 and 2005.

Aravane is known for a very powerful forehand shot (she puts a lot of muscle behind the ball), and recently had the biggest win in her career at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, in which she upset Justine Henin, Jelena Janković and Venus Williams to win the clay court title. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to follow up that success in the French Open (where she lost in the third round); however, she reached the semifinals of the Aegon Classic, and has just defeated the number one-seed and last year's champion, Caroline Wozniacki, in the Aegon International (two grass court tournaments preparatory to Wimbeldon).

So, if you want to encourage Muslim girls with a better role model than a beauty queen, a tennis player like Aravane Rezai might make for a better choice, insha'allah.

Robert Green, Meet David Seaman (and Bill Buckner)

The British may have left Singapore years ago (in 1976, to be exact), but that doesn't mean that Singaporeans don't wish they were British. British influence and culture is deeply pervasive here, and no where is that more apparent than in the Singaporean addiction to the English Premier League. So it was hardly a surprise to see Robert Green's blunder in the World Cup match against the United States on the front pages of various newspapers here.


I don't know if anyone else has made the comparison, but Green's screw-up reminded me of David Seaman missing Ronaldinho's free kick in England's 2002 World Cup match against Brazil.


For my soccer-illiterate compatriots back in the United States, these momentary lapses in concentration are similar to that made by Bill Buckner of the Boston Red Sox back in the 1986 World Series.

Sania Mirza Engaged

I hadn't written about the Indian tennis star, Sania Mirza, for over four years now, so when my stats counter started showing a big increase in the number of hits for my old posts about her, I knew something was up. ;) Sure enough, Sania has announced her engagement to Pakistani cricket player Shoaib Malik. I'm sure this will disappoint many of Sania's bachelor fans, but that's life. Find another girl, guys! ;)

Congratulations to the lucky couple, and may they have a long and successful marriage!

Even as the media portrayed the upcoming marriage between Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik as a new chapter in Indo-Pak ties, Sania Mirza clarified that she is not here to make any political statement.

Sania termed her to decision to marry Shoaib Malik as a personal one and based on mutual consent. "My marriage has nothing to do with Indo-Pak politics. I am happy as it would be the dream of every girl to get a suitable groom one day", said Sania.

When asked about the enmity between India and Pakistan, Sania said, "This is a happy moment, you should not talk such things while taking sweets. Be happy that we are getting married. We both are happy. Our families are happy. I don't think we can ask for more".

Sania Mirza also made it clear that she will keep playing tennis, once she recovers from her injury. She also said that she and Shoaib will support each other in their respective game.

"Yes, we will settle in Dubai after marriage. But I will keep playing for India and he will Inshallah play for Pakistan", said Sania Mirza.

When asked whom he will support during an India-Pakistan cricket match, Sania said, "I will continue to support India, but I will also support my husband". She revealed that she met Shoaib Mailk six to seven years ago.

Sania Mirza's wedding reception is likely to be held in Hyderabad on April 15. A grand reception will be held in Lahore later.

HT: Breaking News Online

"We know where you're going!"

This is an amusing if unsurprising graph from Chris Blattman's blog, who snarkily writes:

Edmonton’s water utility published this graph of water consumption during last Sunday’s gold medal Olympic hockey game. Roughly 80% of Canadians were watching.

I believe the beer consumption picture looks exactly the same, but upside down.

This reminds me of when I was a teenager; my family loves to watch ice hockey, and we went to many games at the local college. There was one character in particular (a season ticket-holder) who would get up in the middle of the second period during every freakin' game to go to the bathroom, and all his friends would start singing, "We know where you're going! We know where you're going!" :)

Watts Best of 2009

It's that time of year again! Happy New Year!

Reality Check: The White House Responds

The White House has started showing some cajones with respect to some of the more out-and-out lies spewed by Faux News' Glenn Beck. (It's about time!) The first of the lies debunked was particularly amusing. Apparently Beck is back from a time-travel trip to the future. Tell us, Glenn, how many gold medals did we win next year? For the rest of the lies and the White House's responses, click on either of the above links.

RHETORIC: BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT "HAD THE OLYMPICS." Glenn Beck said, "Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: VANCOUVER'S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010. Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]

Miscellaneous Links (18 June 2009)

Astronomy & Science:
SNR 0104: An Unusual Suspect (A supernova remnant (a star that blew up) with an unusual shape.)

Stars at the Galactic Center (The center of the Milky Way galaxy, as seen in infrared (heat) light.)

Streaming Dark Nebulas near B44

M13: A Great Globular Cluster of Stars (One of the better pictures I've seen of M13.)

NGC 6240: Merging Galaxies

Discovery Magazine: Holes of Silence (Sonic black holes. Cool!)

Science @ NASA: Mystery of the Missing Sunspots, Solved?

Climate change is already having an impact in the Midwest and across the US (The good news: a longer growing season (by one week) for crops. The bad news: temperature and humidity increases, more winter and spring rain, less rain in the summer (i.e., more droughts), more flooding, lower water levels in the Great Lakes, reduced air quality, more insect-borne diseases, pollen and fungi. But don't worry: global warming is just a hoax, doncha know?)


Comics:
Dilbert ("Too crazy too fast.")

One Big Happy ("Big deal! I know how to say, 'What's the matter with you? You're getting on my nerves," in Italian.")

One Big Happy (Grandma vs. Grandpa.)

One Big Happy (That's right, kids! All us daddies eat breakfast in our underwear. Don't puke while you watch! ;) )

Working Daze (I had a supervisor like this, a guy who kept calling me "Jim." (Not my name.) I could never get him to remember my real name, but when he asked for "Jim" I knew he was asking for me. :P )

Working Daze (Survivor's remorse.)


Science Fiction:
io9: The Composers That Make Space Adventures Epic (Can't disagree with a single one.)

ListVerse: Top 10 Survival Tips For People In Horror Flicks (#11: Teenagers should never have sex! ;) )

SciFi Scanner: Mary Robinette Kowal - Fantasy's Male Warriors Kick Butt (While Baring Butt)

SF Signal: It's Time For Indy To Hang Up His Hat, For Good

SF Signal: Do Literary Awards Affect Your Reading Choices?

The Architects' Journal: The architecture of Star Wars (pt I) (See also part II.)


The Truly Miscellaneous:
APOD: Pyrenees Paraselene (Every now and then, APOD publishes photos that have little to do with Astronomy. This beautiful picture looks down at the Pyrenees mountains, which separate Spain from France, from a local observatory.)

BWG: Asinine Assertion

Google Fusion Tables

IZ Reloaded: Laptop Uses AA Batteries

Kottke.org: 50 Films You Can Wait to See After You're Dead (I've seen three, "Son of the Mask" and "Catwoman," only because they were on TV, and "Rocky V," which was surprisingly good and shouldn't be on this list.)

The Mad Logophile: Foreign Words & Phrases (This diary over at Daily Kos examines the meanings of several hundred foreign words and phrases, including twenty-three from the Middle East, in Arabic, Persian and Turkish.)

WTF Is It Now?!?: Brett Favre, missing the spotlight, to torture country again

Yet Another Web Site: Are audiophiles really this stupid?

Yet Another Web Site: A really stupid article

Links for 28 May 2009

A little late but I have my reasons... :)

Politics:
Rachel Maddow Show: Cutting Through the Spin on Sonia Sotomayor

Fox talker Peters has a Gitmo solution: Just kill them all ("You have to wonder just what level of moral and ethical depravity you have to reach to be a Fox News talker these days. ... Col. Ralph Peters -- who doesn't exactly have a track record for probity to begin with -- went on Neil Cavuto and offered a solution to dealing with terrorists at Guantanamo Bay -- just kill them all.")

Krikorian: People should stop pronouncing Sotomayor’s name correctly. (It's amazing the amount of stupidity permeating the Republican party.)

Sotomayor and MLB (Interesting. "It was Sotomayor's ruling that forced Major League Baseball players and owners to resume the national pastime in 1995 after a 234-day player strike wiped out the final six weeks of the regular season and the entire postseason in 1994.")

‘Censored’ Abu Ghraib photographs show rape of detainees. (Both of male and female prisoners.)

Countdown: Worst Persons May 27, 2009


Miscellaneous:
The Phantom Torso Returns (The European Space Agency (ESA) sent a mannequin into space to determine radiation levels astronauts face. The conclusion: short trips (six months) to the moon are fine; trips to Mars may make the astronauts toast.)

Volcanic Terrain on Mercury

Japanese Binocular Soccer

This video is both amusing and so typically Japanese. Someone must have thought, "Let's get a bunch of guys to wear strange outfits while trying to play soccer with binoculars strapped to their heads." And what the heck is that one guy doing running around wearing a vampire bat's head?

Get in Shape!

Caught this one on Watts this morning. :)

Watts Up?

Sorry, bad pun. ;) Just thought I'd throw on a Watts "Best of Zap" video before going to bed. Highlights on this video include: Patrick Helmes' (of the German national team) goal against England, Mr. Tennis Head, and Theo Walcott's (of Arsenal) assist against Liverpool. I also thought the clown act on the velodrome (bicycle) track was amusing too. (What can I say? I like slapstick. ;) )

Matrix Cow

I caught this video on Eurosport's Watts in a slightly shorter version. It's rather funny. Check it out!

Utah Jazz Dancer

Yeah, he's a fan alright! Can you imagine finding out that you're stuck sitting anywhere near this clown for the entire game? (Like that poor woman who's sitting right behind him? ;) ) For the guys, watching this clown dance will likely cause them to lose any lustful thoughts they may have for the female dancers, along with the rest of their dinners. ;)

Just Do It!

This is a three-part series of commercials from Thailand that promote the benefits of daily exercise. All three commercials are rather humorous. Check it out!