Archive for February, 2010

Even More Dubai Assassination Details

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The assassination of Mahmoud al Madbouh is still captivating me. Doesn’t it seem like wacky Cold War shit – but twenty-five years too late? At the very least it feels like Daniel Craig James Bond. Spys sans tuxedos.

Perhaps I’m just into it because it’s Dubai, where I always felt rather surveilled to begin with.

Anyway, here’s a The Wall Street Journal article written by a senior military and intelligence analyst for an Israeli newspaper: “Israel and the Dubai Murder Mystery” (the site is gated, so I made a page for it on my site).

Disney: Brand Factory

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Here’s an interesting Los Angeles Times blog entry from the other day about the Studio side of Disney and the changes Bob Iger is making there. Tragically it’s title only reflects a portion of the content, so don’t be swayed by that: “Disney taking a pass on one of the most profitable movies of 2009?

Key quote:

Disney chief Bob Iger is also busy transforming his studio into a Brand Factory, where nearly every film that hits the theaters will have built-in brand awareness, just like a new Procter & Gamble detergent.

Photoshop is 20

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Photoshop 1.0 logoI missed this one, Adobe Photoshop 1.0 was released on February 19, 1990.

Yes, on Friday Photoshop turned 20.

Here’s a quick website about the history: “From Darkroom to Desktop – How Photoshop Came to Light.”

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Check out the new trailer for the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty about the revival of Disney animation in the 1980s.

Waking Sleeping Beauty poster

I have the feeling once I see this movie I’m really really going to miss my old life.

New Jobless Era

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Just started reading this article from the March issue of The Atlantic: “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America“. Might not be a good way to start my lazy Saturday …

Disney and the 1960 Olympics

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Olympic RingsWe’ve had fun watching the Winter Olympics from Vancouver for the past two weeks. During the opening ceremonies I regaled Liz with stories about how Walt Disney and his artists worked on 1960 Winter Olympics held in Squaw Valley, California.

In fact, much of the pageantry of the ceremonies today is due to Disney’s influence fifty years ago.

I just came across an article by Leo N. Holzer all about the matter: “The 1960 Winter Olympics and Disney“.

Photo by Robert Reid, of the Sacramento Bee

We were just at Lake Tahoe this last summer, I didn’t know that the Tower of Nations was still up, I would have liked to have stopped.

Bummer. I guess next time …

Last Sardine Cannery to Close

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Apparently there’s only sardine cannery in the United States: in Prospect Harbor, Maine.

But in two months there’ll be none.

Got that fun fact from this Bangor Daily News article: “State plans aid for cannery workers.”

Gordon Edes

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Boston Red Sox LogoNow that Boston Red Sox spring training is in full swing with pitchers and catchers reporting, I wanted to share a link with you.

Apparently Gordon Edes, former sportswriter for the Boston Globe and then national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports has recently joined the new ESPNboston.com site. His new articles are here.

Play ball!

Stitch as Palpatine

Friday, February 19th, 2010

This is awesome and more than a little scary: “Holographic Emperor Stitch Figure Coming to Disney Parks“.
LE Holographic Emperor Stitch
The Limited Edition Holographic Emperor Stitch, in honor of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, is limited to 1980 pieces.

Iran Nukes

Friday, February 19th, 2010

We were talking about “what if Iran finished a nuclear bomb” at work the other day, and I was all over the map with what I was saying. Then yesterday I read this quote from a blog by Scott Thomas that sums up my point better than I:

That being said, the results of a Nuclear Iran would probably be a lot less spectacular than people making both pro and con arguments realize. Israel will always have its second-strike submarine based arsenal, and attacking Israel wouldn’t further the Iranian agenda in any way. And as North Korea has found out, having a nuclear strike capability isn’t a golden ticket into the First World or make you the baddest kid on the block. Of course, all this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep trying to dissuade them diplomatically and economically from arming themselves.

When one door closes … a window opens and I jump out of it

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Just found out that I didn’t get another job. This one a temp position. At a place where a co-worker / friend knows the president.

Ack.

Guess I should have brought the Target-brand Tums to work with me today.

Pet Care, Post Rapture

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Check out this BusinessWeek article: “Caring for Pets Left Behind by the Rapture“.

For a fee, this service will place your dog or cat in the home of a caring atheist on Judgment Day.

Awesome.

Tokyo Fantasmic

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

So the Tokyo Disney Resort just announced they’re getting a Fantasmic night-time show, similar to the one Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios show now. It’ll be open in April of 2010 as part of the DisneySea park’s 10th anniversary.

Tokyo Disney Resort logo

What makes this show different than the one shown in the other two parks is that it’ll be performed in the round smack dab in the middle of the park, taking up the entire Mediterranean Harbor.

Tokyo DisneySea map

Mediterranean Harbor is the body of water right below the volcano, the first thing you’d see upon entering the park.

Coconut Curried Chicken Stew

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

The Orlando Sentinel’s Disney blog just posted one of my favorite recipes from Boma, a restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge: Coconut Curried Chicken Stew.

You might recognize it from Newlywed in Dubai

More Dubai Assassination Details

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

More info about the assassination of Mahmoud al Madbouh from last month (see Dubai Assassination).

Apparently they’ve found info about some of the assassins: “Dubai killers stole identities of UK citizens“.

The Dubai papers played up the fact that it took either 11 or 17 people to kill him, but I think regardless of the size of the team, this is the key quote:

“His murder in his hotel room near Dubai’s international airport took 10 minutes and early forensic tests suggest he was suffocated. The assassins left on flights to Europe and Asia before the body was discovered on 20 January.”

He was dead before the Police even knew they’d been to and left the country.

Jeesh!

Spring Break Live

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of Spring Break, and I love me some baseball. Shoot, I even love Peter Gammons.

But this ad … there’s just something fundamentally wrong with it:


Personally I’d rename the concept, as a sixty-five year old white guy in a suit doesn’t sell “Spring Break” to me.

USB Outlet

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

This is the most genius invention I’ve seen in 2010 so far: Power Outlet with Dual USB.


If I owned my own house (and if I had $20 to spend) I’d totally buy one of these.

A New Person Every 13 Seconds

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Just read an interesting fact over at the Opinionator blog at the New York Times:

Through immigration and high birth rates, the United States is expected to add another 100 million people by 2050. If you don’t believe me, consider that we’ve added 105 million people since 1970. This is more than the population of France. More than Italy. More than Germany. Currently, we have a net gain of one person every 13 seconds.

William Edwards Moves to Otisfield

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

A little Edwards family history story for Tuesday. It was 213 years ago today that my ancestors moved to Maine. My great-grandfather’s great-grandfather, William Edwards, made the trek from Gilmanton, New Hampshire to Otisfield arriving on February 16, 1797.

Luckily the story was recorded by one of his descendants and published in 1916. Llewellyn Nathaniel Edwards, the gentleman who was the engineer on the Cribstone Bridge between Bailey Island and Orr’s Island in Harpswell wrote A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of John Edwards from which we borrow the following:

“William arrived in Otisfield, Me., Feb. 16, 1797. On the way from Gilmanton, he stopped in Gorham, Me., taking dinner with his brother, Richard. His son Simeon had previously come to Gorham and stayed with his uncle until the arrival of his father, when he accompanied him to Otisfield. The family and all household possessions were moved on a single ox sled. Over the stakes of the sled bed quilts were drawn to protect his wife and children and to furnish them shelter at night. The last eight miles of the journey was through the virgin forest, over trackless snow, “blazed” trees being the only guidance.

“It had been agreed between William and another party, probably the Proprietors of Otisfield that “they would have his house built by Feb. 15th.” As only the walls, however, were up, the family was obliged to pass the first night in a house which had the starry vault of a February sky as a roof.” (pg 220)

What kills me, I mean, besides the “not having a roof”, is that the last eight miles was forest. And that it was February.

Oh yeah, another thing. William’s wife Lydia (Baker) Edwards was pregnant, I’d say about six months so. She gave birth to baby Ephraham on May 17, 1797.

Ephraham ended up having a baby boy named … Joshua Edwards. He died in New Orleans during the Civil War, but that’s another story for another day.

Time For Temps

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Oh joy: “Use of Temps May No Longer Signal Permanent Hiring.”