Archived News starting from 01-31-2004 and earlier
BlogThis weekend I attended the
Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. This was the third year in a row I've been to the event, which is always equally cold and fun. We decided to stay at a
bed and breakfast that was close to the rally, forgoing the traditional Mio Motel which we stayed at the previous two years. The first stage would prove to be the most interesting stage, where a car
got stuck in a ditch. The
rest of the rally involved the typical ice sheet turns which made stopping virtually impossible, but spectating quite entertaining. Another successful rally edventure.
The second and final weekend of the
LAN party was tonight. We started off with a quick game of NFS:U, followed by a few games of Starcraft. After everyone got sick of that, we played some Postal 2 before Scott introduced us all to Rise of Nations, a much more involved Real-time Strategy Game that was overwhelming for us simple Starcraft fans. By the time everyone left it was
ten below zero, unbelievably cold even by Michigan standards.
While out driving with
Stavos I happened upon the
White Castle Area Office. While most people think of food, we decided to take advantage of the recent snowfall and have some fun with my rear-wheel drive S-10. We started off with an
easy slide and moved up to a
spin stop. Since no police had yet arrived, we decided to get serious. A
figure eight followed by a
full 360 got us warmed up for a
good drift and finally, the
perfect drift. Who knew White Castle could be so fun?
As you may have heard, NASA has had trouble getting the Spirit rover on Mars to send back data. Well it appears the
jig is up and they are getting it back under control, so I think it's time for me to come clean. A few days ago I hacked into the rovers system and re-tasked it to explore the heat shield impact area. I have great faith in NASA, and it's clearly my favorite organization on the planet, but every joe blow knows an impact like the heat shield will throw up some serious debris. Why bother digging for alien fossils when you can just pick them out of the dust from the impact? After re-tasking and successfully exploring the impact zone (with mixed results) I had a hard time over-riding the commands from NASA and eventually shut down the rover to protect it from possible software corruption. The news media took this excursion of mine as a failure on the part of NASA, which is not surprising since the media is ignorant of everything not related to J-Lo. As a result, I've decided to let NASA do the driving from now on while I compile the results from my short jaunt across Mars. The rover will soon power back on and everything will be hunky dory again. J-Lo be damned.
Either Butt's
recent strike is over as of 1:30pm today, or somebody really liked his
picket sign. Whatever the case, my policy of non-negotiation has prevailed.
Internet Menace: listen you! You're mine and steve has no right touching you! we have the space program and you like it more than cars!
Tonight, despite the snow, five friends of mine came over for a
LAN gaming party. Our game choices progressed from Counter Strike to NFS Underground to Postal2 and finally back to Counter Strike after a failed GTA Vice City multi player attempt. The body gas expulsion level was high, signalling a successful meeting of geeks. Part 2 begins in one week.
One of the few redeeming qualities of life in Michigan is when it snows, and yesterday it snowed six inches. As
stated previously I love driving in deep snow. There is no greater joy in a vehicle than taking a turn sideways. The challenge presented by snow driving is a welcome change I embrace with many unnecessary trips before the plows go through and end my fun. Last year my dad bought me a
Craftsman Snowblower that I use whenever I get the chance. Not only did I clear off my own driveway, but I also cleared off both my neighbors and
Steve's driveway as well. The machine is unstoppable and I have hence decided to name it
Big Mama. Even while walking at a brisk pace it shows no sign of stalling. I took a
lot of photos before calling it a night.
Today, President Bush made his
long awaited speech about our return to the moon. His father made a similar speech during his years in office with no real results. The difference is this speech outlined specific goals and time lines to meet them. It also includes a reasonable estimate of the cost, whereas the former President Bush presented an astronomical amount of funding that was required. I'm genuinely excited about this return to the moon, and have no choice but to vote for whoever promotes space exploration. However I do find it difficult to believe everything outlined in the speech will actually come to pass. A significant contingent of critics are out to squash this plan claiming the money can be better spent on domestic programs. I say we've been doing exactly that for 30 years and nobody is any happier for it. A bold new plan for human space exploration will not only become a source of national pride, but a source of pride for humanity. Humanity is at it's best when it is facing a challenge, and lately we have become lazy and lost our focus. Entertainment is our primary occupation, not exploration. It's time to get off our couch and explore the universe. Imagine a world where humanity covers not only the earth, but the moon and mars as well. Science fiction suddenly becomes science fact and a new era begins. I desperately hope the agenda outlined in the speech comes to fruition. Regular human space exploration is long overdue, and to have it happen in my lifetime is a dream come true.
Another year, another NAIAS. This year I went with my dad and
Steve and continued the tradition of taking off work to go during a weekday to avoid the mass amounts of people that attend during the weekends. It was a
pretty good show, but no surprises. I was secretly hoping for the new Cougar to debut, but it looks like I'll have to wait another year or so. The
Ford GT and
new Mustang were highlights, along with the
new Corvette. A
hydrogen powered RX8 and a
hybrid Escape were also very cool. GM put out
IR download stations at each brand booth. A good idea in my opinion, and it made a cool "download complete" noise that was worth the 5-10 seconds of download time.
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