In the Headlights

I know it when I see it

Last night on Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints played the Atlanta Falcons.  The Goo Goo Dolls, U2 and Green Day entertained and former President Bush performed the coin toss.

The site is the Superdome which is 27 stories high and covers 52 acres, and cost $143 million in federal, state and private funds to refurbish. 

Excuse me.  Does anyone but me think this is obscene?  In an affluent country where we can't feed all our people or protect the citizens, in a city where some are still without adequate shelter, the thing in ravaged New Orleans that gets the money is a football stadium.  $143 million.

Maybe it will bring attention and tourists to the area, but the money the stadium itself generates will go to the owners and players.  There is no better known city or tourist Mecca than New Orleans at its best.  I can't speak for private dollars, but the public money should have gone to rebuild and improve the city.  That will bring more tourist dollars and life back to the city that ten stadiums.

Is it the symbol of New Orleans' rebirth?  Why not have the real thing instead of a symbol?

$143 million.  Even in today's dollars, that's real money.

Stress Buster

Feel like popping your knuckles?  Biting your nails?

Try this instead.

Compliments of RR who hopes stuff like this will keep me sane.

Ha.  Good luck.  It's way too late.

[Image via musieklijstjes.nl]

American Crossword Puzzle Tournament-My Results

By now, you know that I enjoy crossword puzzles.

The last two years, I have participated in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament from home.  My $20 buys my participation, I can solve and time myself at home, and have my puzzles returned graded, with my ranking. 

Each time, I felt I did great until I totally bombed the really hard puzzle (sigh).  One of these years, I'll nail that son of a gun, and my ranking will soar (dreams of glory).  And (horrors), I omitted a letter in the puzzle made by my hero, Merl Reagle. 

Here's how I did.  Remember that many of the contestants are hard core puzzlers.  Not innocent babes in the woods like me.

Division A (all contestants)                                                    166 out of 499

Division B (contestants who have not won a Division
A or B prize during their last seven tournaments.)                   127 out of 460

Division C (have not finished in the top 20% during
their last three tournaments)                                                   59 out of 386

Division D (have not finished in the top 40% during
their last three tournaments)                                                     7 out of 177

Division E (have not finished in the top 65% during
their last three tournaments)                                                     1 out of   89

In my age group                                                                       44 out of 141

Geographical location (South, including Arkansas
and Louisiana)                                                                         13 out of  34

Just wait until next year.

For more about the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, go see the documentary, Wordplay.

(Interestingly, when I wrote this, the numbers lined up, then when I previewed it, they were all over the screen.)

Ken Jennings in Jeopardy

If you think I meant "Ken Jennings on Jeopardy", you're wrong.  In fact, I'd bet money that Ken Jennings will never be on Jeopardy again.

A shame, that.

CNN.com's Entertainment section had an article about a blog post Jennings, the biggest winner by far on Jeopardy did about the show, in which he pretty much slammed Jeopardy, and its host, Alex Trebek.  But he was pretty funny, and I'll forgive a lot for funny.  And, for the most part, he was right.  That is, he criticized the set, and the way it hasn't changed in 20 years, and the clue crew, and made fun of Trebek.

Then he suggested they get hipper (uhoh, I think I outed myself as one of the unhip demographic that watches the show) clues, and maybe have the contestants do something other than answer questions to get points.

It was pretty funny.  Not uproarious, but OK.  And even if he was right about some of the stuff, many of us still think it is among the best TV there is. 

So it comes as no surprise that Jennings is taking some heat for his comments.  Fans don't take insults to their dear Alex lightly.

Jennings's apology:  "We regret the insinuation that Alex Trebek is a robot and has been since 2004.  Mr. Trebek's robotic frame does still contain some organic parts, many harvested from patriotic Canadian schoolchildren, so this technically makes him a 'cyborg', not a 'robot'."

Speak for yourself, Mr. Jennings.

[Signature image from Waxy.org]

Playing with Words

My friend Cate is aware of my affection for crossword puzzles, indeed, puzzles of all kinds, if you include my current sudoku addiction.

I had some free time today, and she suggested that we go see Wordplay, the documentary about Will Shortz, the New York Times crossword puzzle, and the 28th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.

Wordplay includes interviews with several repeat tournament winners, and many NYT puzzle addicts, like Jon Stewart, pitcher Mike Mussina, Ken Burns, the Indigo Girls, Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, to name a few.  Will Shortz, enigmatologist, NYT puzzle editor and NPR Weekend Edition Sunday's puzzlemaster steered us through the action, and we got to watch my favorite constructor, Merle Reagle, make a puzzle.

Much of the action follows a half-dozen strong competitors as they do puzzles at home, then as they converge on Stamford to compete.  The tension mounts as they start doing the timed puzzles, and as they jockey for first place in the billing.  The final playoff among the top three as they solve a huge, difficult puzzle on stage in front of hundreds of viewers is as riveting as anything in sports.

My Dad and I attended the tournament a few years ago.  It was great fun, and I hope to do it again some time.  It's a bit easier for folks who can easily drive to Stamford, Connecticut to make the tournament year after year.  For us, the trip to LaGuardia, then the $60 bus ride to Stamford was sort of prohibitive, especially when our flight back was cancelled and we got to spend the night in an airport motel (something I seem to be doing more and more these days). We did get to hobnob with Will Shortz and Merle Reagle, which made the hardships worthwhile.

But back to the movie.  It is a must see for every crossword puzzle addict, and I suspect that many who see this will make the pilgrimage in the next few years.  Some of the reviewers think that this is about geeks and nerds...if it be so, geeks rule!

 

For more about the contest itself, go here.

[Puzzle from Knowlton Mosaics, constructed by Frank Longo]

The Game of Life

It seems fitting that the first detox center for gamers would open in Amsterdam, the most understanding city in the world for many with other addictions.

Those who can't leave their computers for days and weeks at a time can go to the Smith and Jones "Wild Horses Center" for detox, followed by group and individual therapy by psychologists and psychiatrists who specialize in addiction.

Smith and Jones, addiction counselors, claim that up to 20% of gamers can develop dependency.  They have seen it in players as young as 8 years old.

Addiction occurs when everything else in life, like relationships, jobs and self care, in order to satisfy the alcohol, drug, gambling, or gaming drive.  While experts debate whether this is a real addiction, there is no doubt that thousands of gamers do it at every opportunity, and to many it is all they do with any free time, and what they live for.  And die for...as reports start to come in of dedicated gamers dropping dead, probably as deep vein thromboses in their legs travel to their lungs as pulmonary emboli.

It seems that gaming , like others addictions, is an escape from the stresses of everyday life, and becomes a coping mechanism--a flawed one--for surviving in the world.

If you can't send your gamer to Amsterday, you can contact the On-Line Gamers Anonymous (OLGA and OLG-Anon for help.

Here's a story about software to help the user step away from the computer.

I wonder if they'll open a detox center for bloggers.

[Story via Ars Technica, Smith and Jones and Fark.com.]

[Illustration from OLGA]

Mind Games

These come from RR.  I've used some of them individually in previous posts.  They're good brain teasers and mind tricks, and fun try on yourself and friends.

Read out loud the text inside the triangle below.





More than likely you said, "A bird in the bush," and........

if this IS what YOU said, then you failed to see

that the word THE is repeated twice!

Sorry, look again.


Next, let's play with some words.

What do you see?

 

In black you can read the word GOOD, in white the word EVIL (inside each black letter is a white letter). It's all very physiological too, because it visualize the concept that good can't exist without evil (or the absence of good is evil ).   

 

 

Now, what do you see?










 

You may not see it at first, but the white spaces read the word optical, the blue landscape reads the word illusion. Look again! Can you see why this painting is called an optical illusion?



What do you see here?

 

 



 

 

This one is quite tricky!

The word TEACH reflects as LEARN.

 

Last one.

What do you see?

 



 

You probably read the word ME in brown, but.......

when you look through ME

you will see

YOU!

    
Test Your Brain
This is really cool. The second one is amazing so please read all the way though.



ALZHEIMERS' EYE TEST


Count every " F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

(SEE BELOW)


HOW MANY ?

WRONG, THERE ARE 6 -- no joke.
READ IT AGAIN !
Really, go Back and Try to find the 6 F's before you scroll down.


The reasoning behind is further down.


The brain cannot process "OF".

                      
Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!



Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius.
                     

                     
Three is normal, four is quite rare.


More Brain Stuff . . .  From Cambridge University.
 
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.
 
 
cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty  uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig  to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,

it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the  ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat  ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll  raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey  lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas  tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Limits of Tolerance

When Zinedine Zidane got a red card in Sunday's World Cup Final after head-butting Italian Marco Materazzi, there was a collective gasp, followed by speculation about what Materazzi could possibly have said to get him to jeopardize the most important game in his career and the way history views him.  It must have been egregious and outrageous. Hideous and unspeakable.  But what was it?

Both players have spoken to the press, effectively saying nothing.  Both talked about what had not been said, skirting around the issue.  Some media even employed lip readers to try to determine what had been said, with no success.

I can't imagine what might have been said, but I do speculate that planning session in sports often involve thinking of ways to take out key opposition players, by fouling or even hurting them.  And taunting opponents is as old as mankind, in war or in sports.  I always thought the taunting was a kind of spontaneous harrassment between individuals.  But obviously it can make as big a difference in outcomes as taking out a player any other way.

And in sports, players are usually in a state of heightened rage, amped up by fellow players and coaches and the excitement of the game, and their own testosterone levels (in men's sports, anyway.  I can't remember the last time I saw a woman chasing an opponent around a court or field with mayhem on her mind.)

So I wonder if groups of players, officially or unofficially, sit around and discuss what they can say that will cause an opposing player to become unglued.

Do they research one another's pasts?  Seduce each other's wives and mothers, just to have a wounding barb to use at a crucial moment,  to make a crucial difference in a critical game?  One wonders.  And did Materazzi sit down to a glass of chiani with teammates later and say "well, that one worked" (only in Italian), and start plotting a similar strategy against an upcoming opponent.

Two Teams Enter the Arena...

I just watched the final game of the World Cup.  It was riveting.  It was exciting.  It was disappointing.

French striker Thierry Henry went down in the first few minutes, and for a while it looked as if he might have sustained a concussion.  He was able to return a few minutes later and played like a demon.

Each team scored in the first 12 minutes, and the rest of the game was a series of near misses, and close call injuries.

At one point, French captain Zinedine Zidane was down, and it looked like he had injured his shoulder.  Some cold numbing spray on it allowed him to remain in the game.  Would that the injury had taken him out of the game.

The game ended in a tie, 1 to 1, so that two 15-minute overtime periods had to be played.

Zinedine Zidane, aka Zizou,is 34 years old.  Known as "The Old Man", the charismatic star had come out of retirement to lead the French team in the World Cup.  Widely lionized, it was expected that win or lose, his career would close in a blaze of glory. Instead, it will be remembered for an ugly, violent act that is the last of his career.

All that ended in minute 110 when the teams were walking down the field.  I don't remember why the ball wasn't in play, maybe a player was down.  But out of the clear blue, Zidane turned around and head-butted Italian player Marco Materazzi in the chest, knocking him down.

A hushed silence descended.  Apparently, Referree Horacio Elizondo, who had been all over the action in this game, didn't see it happen.  However, the Italian goalie, Gianluigi Buffon created a stir, and the ref conferred with his assistants.  When he returned to the field, he presented Zidane with a red card.  He was ousted from the game with ten minutes to go in the World Cup Final, which might have ended differently had he not acted so rashly.

No one scored in the last ten minutes, so the game was resolved in one-on-one (kicker vs. goalie) penalty kicks. 

The Italians got all their penalty kicks in.  On the french side, David Trezeguet, the second kicker drove the ball straight toward the goal, where it deflected of the crossbar.  If the Italians had missed a kick and the French had gotten the rest of theirs the kicks would have continued.

No one knows if Zidane might have scored in the final ten minutes, or if he, a famed penalty kicker might have kicked in place of Trezeguet.  Or if morale on both sides might have been different leading to a different outcome.

What no one knows is why Zidane, previously cool and collected would have put a black mark on an otherwise glorious career in this fashion.

B.S. Bingo

L.C. sent us this.  I was amazed at how often I hear the phrases on the list.

 

Tired of attending long, unproductive meetings that take up most of your working day?

Do you keep falling asleep in meetings and seminars?

What about those long and boring conference calls?

Here's a way to change all of that.

1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call, prepare yourself by drawing a square. (I find that 5" x 5" is a good size.)

2. Divide the card into columns - five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks.

3. Write one of the following words and phrases in each block:

* synergy

* strategic fit

* core competencies

* best practice

* bottom line

* revisit

* expeditious

* to tell you the truth (or "the truth is")

* 24/7

* out of the loop

* benchmark

* value-added

* pro-active

* win-win

* think outside the box

* fast track

* result-driven

* empower (or empowerment)

* knowledge base

* at the end of the day

* touch base

* mind-set

* client focus(ed)

* paradigm

* game plan

* leverage

4. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of these words or phrases.

5. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout "BULLSHIT!"

Testimonials from satisfied "Bullshit Bingo" players:

"I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won." - Adam, Atlanta

My attention span at meetings has improved dramatically." - David, Florida

"What a gas! Meetings will never be the same for me after my first win." - Dan, New York City

"The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as fourteen of us waited for the fifth box." - Ben, Denver

"The speaker was stunned when eight of us screamed 'BULLSHIT!' for the third time in two hours." - Paul, Cleveland

"When I won and yelled "BULLSHIT!" the woman sleeping next to me slid off her chair!" James, Toronto

"The best thing to come along in a long time. Most of my meetings don't last very long anymore, since every time I win, I am politely asked to leave the meeting." - Jim, Guelph

Try this at your next meeting.  It really works.

[Illustration from 105.3 Kiss FM]