Gosh, if this is also one of Google's famed hoaxes, well, that's just plain mean ... Official Gmail Blog: Typing in Indian Languages.

Oh that wacky Google is at it again. It's almost April Fools' Day, when our favorite non-evil tech company always comes up with some funny shenanigans.

Although this year's Google Mini isn't nearly as funny as some of the past hoaxes, such as 2002's PigeonRank™ clusters of low cost pigeons computing the relative value of web pages (a play on PageRank), 2005's Google Gulp line of "smart drinks", 2006's Google Romance, or my personal favorite, 2007's Gmail Paper - the ability to request a physical copy of any message which they'll send to you in the mail.

Genius.

Here's the Boston Globe article about last night's hockey game: "It's the Terriers -- by a nose".

Ugh, I'm sick of college basketball. Other than for betting, who really cares about the Final Four?! Besides, it's still hockey season. And Boston University has had quite the weekend.

Last night the Terriers beat Ohio State 8-3, and tonight took out the University of New Hampshire on a power-play goal with 14.4 seconds left.

BU's in the Frozen Four! They haven't done that since 1997 (when I was a junior).

Here's a full look at ESPN.com's 2009 NCAA Men's Hockey Bracket.

The Terriers play Vermont next, on April 9 at Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center, at either 5 or 8:30 p.m. (on ESPN2). The winner of that game goes on to the Nation Championship on April 11 at 7 p.m. (on ESPN).

For the record, BU has won four national titles, the last in 1995 (my freshman year).

We had a fantastic day yesterday skiing at Shawnee Peak in Bridgton for their final weekend of the season.

Oddly, it was the first time we'd gone skiing all year, and the first time Liz had been skiing since "The Incident" back at Ski Dubai, which was two years ago tomorrow (see Why I'll Never go to Ski Dubai Again).

It was great to see my little cousins (two of the "Flower Power" kids from our wedding) and to ski with them, as well. They're both such interesting and nice little people. Good skiers, too!

I wish I had photos to share, but I left my camera in the car when it was foggy in the morning. Luckily for us the afternoon was sunny and probably fifty degrees.

A perfect day.

Well, it looks like Las Vegas Boulevard South is free of the urban blight of a foreclosed-upon $11 billion mixed-use complex, as this afternoon MGM Mirage ponied up the cash to keep CityCenter going: "MGM makes payment to keep CityCenter".

But this story, my friends, is far from over.

Hey, remember that Vegas project that Dubai was investing in with MGM, CityCenter?



Well it looks like it's going to hell in a handcart. On Monday Dubai World, the investment arm of the Dubai royal family, sued partner MGM Mirage. That's never good.

Now they've hired bankruptcy counsel, and will likely default on a $220 million payment due today.

So what decade is this? I mean, what do we call it? The last one I knew a name for was "the Nineties" and that was ten years ago. Some people have tried to call this decade "the Aughts" like back a hundred years ago, when people called 1905 "Nineteen aught-five".

I only ask this because last night Liz and I were talking, and I mentioned the soon-to-be 2000-and-teens. I pondered aloud, will those be the "Twenty-teens"?

But what about 2010, 2011 and 2012, I asked her, do we still call those the "Twenty-teens"?

"No," she said, "I think those will be the 'Twenty-tweens'."

Oh, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers would be so proud ...

Oops. We missed the New Kids on the Block at the Cumberland County Civic Center last night.


But honestly, twenty-three years later, don't you think it's time they changed their name? I mean, at what point are we going to be able to call them "Old Men on the Block"?

Just read a fascinating story over at Newsweek: "The Gitmo Guard Who Converted to Islam".

Twenty years ago today the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground and spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

The spill is pretty much the most devastating man-made environmental disasters ever to occur at sea.

I was going to buy gas today, I usually go to the Exxon station in South Portland. But today I might go to Hugo Chavez's Citgo instead.

No more Curt Schilling for the Red Sox. Apparently he announced his retirement on his blog today. (I can't seem to get it to load right now, as probably the entire New England internet is trying right now.)

It's sad, but not entirely unexpected, I guess. I mean, getting paid $8 million last year for nothing was kind of a rip off, but man, game two of the 2004 World Series ... how can you beat that?

So the Boston University Men's Ice Hockey team beat rival Boston College last night, 3-2, in the Hockey East semifinals.

Apparently all three of BU's goals came within a 44-second span.

Dang.

Liz and I had talked about going last night, we could have easily made it to Boston by 8 pm, but instead we opted for a dinner out in Brunswick.

But I guess we have another shot tonight, they play for the Hockey East Championship against UMass Lowell at 7 pm.

So the other day I learned that my work computer blocks Twitter, so I couldn't follow my brother's vacation Twitter from Walt Disney World (see No Tweets For You!).

Now today he and my parents are again at Walt Disney World, and again my work computer has thwarted me.

See, they just emailed me a photo from a Kodak Incredible Picture Lab through Kodakgallery.com (presumably from the Imagination! pavilion at Epcot, which is sponsored by Kodak) which requires the latest Flash player from Adobe.

And guess what? My friggin' work computer does not have the latest Flash player from Adobe.

So I download it. I go to install it. Oops! I do not have the proper administrative privileges to install the plugin.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH!

I am so jealous/frustrated on so many levels right now.

Man, when we lived in Dubai I said it'd be fun (or at least, funny) to have professional baseball players try and play cricket.

And now they did it.

Well, I should say Manny Ramírez did it.


Yes, in the long litany of shit I'm just not clever enough to make up, yesterday Manny Ramírez learned cricket from Australian star Shaun Marsh: "Ramirez back in action".

I'm sure you've seen this already, but I just have to point out this might the first time I've ever said, "Wow, that's badass" about the US House of Representatives: "House sets up vote on taxing AIG bonuses".

Awww, Mötley Crüe was at the Cumberland County Civic Center last night!


Mmm, two umlauts means it's good.

But don't worry, the New Kids On The Block will be there next Wednesday.

Seriously.

It must be "Bad 80s Band Reunion Month" or something.

The New York Times has an article about whoopie pies today: "Whoopie! Cookie, Pie or Cake, It's Having Its Moment".

You know, up until about 2002 I didn't realize that whoopie pies were so very regional. See, that was when they were featured on Oprah's show, and my bad bad then-girlfriend was watching it and called me at work. Actually, she was at work, too, in the same building. See? Watching Oprah at work - she was bad. Bad.

Anyway, the article also mentions the Magnolia Bakery, which I guess was first featured in Sex and the City but the rest of us know from SNL's Lazy Sunday digital short. You know, the rap song about going to the The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie:

But first my hunger pains are stickin’ like duct tape.
Let’s hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes.
No doubt that bakery’s got all the bomb frosting.
I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling.

Mmm, after all of this talk I really could go for a whoopie pie.

Not to be a cynic, but ... what the hell, I'm good at it.

Last night the USA played Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. Over at Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan wrote a good article about it: "Red, white and blue, through and through".

He starts off with a story about a spectator at the game, a spectator who is US Army Sergeant and brought with him an American flag that's been in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The thing is, Puerto Rico is part of the United States - it's a self-governing unincorporated territory.

Puerto Ricans have US citizenship (even if it was only so they could be drafted into the military for World War I, but I digress).

Puerto Ricans have US passports.

Puerto Ricans are going to have a freakin' State Quarter this year.

So my question - isn't this a bit like the United States playing the United States?

This article is a week old, but since it's about baseball's off-season dealings there's no real expiration date. And since it's pretty interesting, I'll share it.

Here's ESPN.com's Jayson Stark's: "Boston's moves could pay big dividends".

Pretty much the gist is how the New York Yankees are paying CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett something like $432 million for many, many years, while the Boston Red Sox are only paying John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito and Rocco Baldelli $12.5 million guaranteed dollars (additional money is available in incentives).

I was going to try and draw some comparison between brash, flashy New Yorkers throwing their money around, and the more intellectual, precise Bostonians, but then I remembered the Celtics. Danny Ainge thinks he's Steinbrenner over there.

(But hey, it worked!)

Dude.

Dude.

Have you seen the new ARod photos from Details Magazine?

Yes, that hated third-baseman and steroid user is doing something weird and offputting ... again.

This time he's kissing himself in a mirror.

(Shudder).

Dude.

Let's go dye something green, eh?

Not to inundate you with all things Disney, but today is the 10th anniversary of the official grand opening of Epcot's Test Track.

The first time I went on it was in March of 1999, right before its official grand opening.

That was the year I flew out from Los Angeles to meet my brother and his college friends. Crazy trip, I took a redeye Friday night after after work, got in to Orlando at some ungodly 5 or 6 am hour, took a shuttle to the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds, found their tent (yes, tent), shook it, woke them up, got cleaned up, and did a 16 hour day at the theme parks.


Back to Test Track. Wasn't impressed with it then, still not today. "But it goes 64.8 miles per hour!" So what, I do too, everyday on the highway.

But I could just be bitter. I miss the original World of Motion.

In case you missed it, Boston University beat UMaine last night in the third game of the three-game Hockey East quarterfinals: "BU finally KO's Maine".

Now they go on to face Boston College on Friday at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Oh friggin' hell!

Just tried to access my brother's Twitter page and apparently it's blocked by my workplace's "smart filter".


Awesome. Friggin' awesome.

I can't be in Florida, now I can't even read about it.

Are you kidding me?!

Yesterday Portland Press Herald writer and iFriend Justin Ellis had a good line about the naming of the Portland International Jetport:

"Can we please not call it that until we have more international flights coming though? Also, is it just me or does Jetport have the wrong tone? You expect to see Tony Stark at a Jetport."

Right on, right on. Reminds me of the second Newlywed in Dubai post ever (see Safe in Dubai, pt. 1):

"I use the full name only because it's the biggest joke in the universe. 'International Jetport'. Jeesh. The place only goes up to Gate #11 - and I don't think I've ever seen gates #1-5. It's the smallest airport I've ever been to. It makes Burbank (or the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, or the Bob Hope Airport, or whatever the hell they're calling it now) look like Chicago O'Hare."

Of course, that was before Iron Man came out, back when most of you wouldn't get a Tony Stark reference. Not that I even harped on the "Jetport" part. But it does sound a little Tomorrowland, doesn't it? A little 1950s retro-future. Buck Rogers and stuff. Like its full name used to be "Portand International Jetport 2000".

Speaking of, I wonder if we could get the FAA/IATA airport code changed to "PIJ"? I just checked, it's available. Pocatello Regional Airport in Pocatello, Idaho is "PIH" and Glasgow Prestwick International Airport in Scotland is "PIK", but no "PIJ" is listed.

The "PWM" is from the original name "Portland-Westbrook-Municipal", by the way. You know, before the wide array of international jets began frequenting the airport on a regular basis and thus the name just had to be updated ...

Well, my brother is in Walt Disney World right now, the lucky punk.


Specifically he's at Disney's Animal Kingdom this very minute. A half-an-hour ago they saw a steel band outside of the Finding Nemo stage show. Last night they saw the wreck of Pleasure Island. Their luggage is lost.

I haven't talked to him yet, but I know this all through his Twitter page.

And now you can follow along, too.

Just found this other photo of the newly redesigned iPod shuffle.


Doesn't this almost seem TOO small?

Like breakable, losable small?

Huh, somehow I missed an article in yesterday's New York Times by one of my favorite professors from Boston University, "How Not to End Another President’s War (L.B.J. Edition)".

Robert Dallek is one of the foremost scholars on LBJ, although now he's also branched out with several books on JFK, FDR, Truman, Nixon, Regan and the bunch. He's got to have authored near twenty books now. One of them I've always meant to read, something about the making and unmaking of Presidents. (Possible hint for an upcoming birthday, perhaps?)

You've got to be kidding me! This is either sad, hilarious, or genius. Maybe all three? "Dodgers ‘curious’ about free agent Pedro Martinez".

So if my calculations are right, when the Los Angeles Dodgers eventually sign Pedro Martinez they will have employed, at one point or another, the entire roster of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox, save for David Ortiz and Kevin Millar.

And Millar only has a minor league deal with the Blue Jays, I bet they could get him for cheap ...

Oh no! The Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai has closed!!!


We spent more than a few dinners there, but you know that from before, right?

What?

Apple just introduced a new iPod shuffle today?!?

And it's smaller than the old clippy one?!

What?


The new one and the old one. You might not be able to tell, but it's actually smaller than a AA battery!






Dang. I mean, I like my clippy iPod shuffle, but this is pretty badass.

And this is why I love baseball: It's not always the team with the biggest names or best players that wins. Twice.

I mean, can you name a baseball player from the Netherlands?!

Yes, I think I might just need a Netherlands WBC jersey after this ...

"Honkballing Dutch deliver KO blow for ages"

Have you seen anything about the shanty town going up in Sacramento?

This is one of the scariest things I've seen about the Recession yet. It's an honest-to-God Hooverville.

(I've said it before and I'll say it again for the record, I didn't vote for Schwarzenegger in 2003, nor did I vote for any of the other 133 joke candidates. I voted for the Lieutenant Governor, who, you know, had political experience and junk. Silly me.)

Did you see the Time article "The 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America"?

Number five is the Boston Globe.


Wow, I can't picture a world without the Globe.

Wow.

A couple of quick stories today. First, how in the world did I miss this one?!

Remember when the Atlantis, The Palm hotel opened back in November with a $20 million party of fireworks and a whole host of celebrities from Oprah to Kylie Minogue to Charlize Theron to Wesley Snipes?


Yeah well it turns out that Wesley Snipes, who was recently convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for not filing income tax, is currently out on bail, and only allowed to travel abroad only to London and Bangkok for film commitments.

And then photos of him at the Atlantis party showed up, and now we get this: "Judge Yanks Snipes' Passport".

Oops.

Next we have the answer to an age old question - what happens when you flip the bird in Dubai?

I was always told it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad. The article itself isn't that interesting, besides the first sentence (emphasis mine): "A deputy CEO of a real estate group has been cleared of charges for pulling his middle finger in public, a crime punishable by deportation."

Damn!

You think the boys at immigration on the US side would laugh at you when you told them you were kicked out of a country for flipping someone off?

Next, a more serious story, Dubai has banned smoking shisha (you know, hookah pipes): "Dubai Municipality bans smoking shisha in public".

People over there must be livid - this is a key part of local custom. It'd be a little like taking away their coffee, or not letting them drive at 200 miles per hour on city streets.

Then we have sports - the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens just finished. In the inaugural women's event Australia beat New Zealand in overtime on Sunday.

I wonder how women playing rugby went over with the locals? Or are they all still pissy because they can't smoke in public?

For the men's event Wales won.

Next, for fun, apparently David Hasselhoff is currently is spending some time in Dubai.

Lastly, a story that harkens back to what put Dubai on the map. No, I don't mean terribly phallic mega-skyscrapers, I mean sex-in-public.

And apparently someone has done it again.

This guy is screwed though - apparently he's claimed in court that no one was watching him when he had consensual sex with his female partner on Jumeirah beach.

You just admitted it! You idiot!

What can you say, he's from Myanmar. Those Brits did lying and being smarmy so much better.

Wonder if those two ever got married back in England ...

I just had the best drive into work - it started snowing.

How awesome is that?

(And no, I'm not even being facetious!)

I love that in Maine we can have 60° F (15.5° C) weather on Sunday, then snow on Monday morning. Every day is a meteorological grab-bag, you just never know what you're going to get ...

I know that it'll be nice to have the sun out for longer in the afternoon but man is it dark out in the morning now that we've switched clocks.

Weather.com says that sunrise is at 7:03 am, sunset is 6:39 pm.

This morning was so dark that our crazy cat who's usually my alarm clock at 6 am was still asleep on my feet when my alarm went off. In fact, I woke him up. Had I been in a more jovial mood I might have called attention to this switch in roles.

But it was dark and I was tired.

Fifty years ago today the Barbie doll was first released. 

Wait, she's fifty?  I dunno, looks to me like she's had some plastic surgery ...

Har har har ...

It's Saturday morning, I feel like cartoons! If only they'd made one about Watchmen ...

diddly-doop, diddly-doop, diddle-doop ...

So about twelve hours from now, if all goes as scheduled, we'll be watching the Watchmen movie. 6:40 showing at the Cinemagic Westbrook.

I'm trying to not get overly excited for this movie, as the 12-issue, 400-some-odd page comic book on which the film is based is quite sprawling. There are ample ways in which the film could be screwed up. Terry Gilliam, David Hayter, Darren Aronofsky and others have tried to make this and failed.

But still, I'm pretty excited.

Somehow, in preparing to go to this movie, I'm reminded of another movie that fanboys united were drooling over just about ten years ago. Hindsight being what it is, I guess we all should have been worried when we learned the full title was Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But we were young, naive.

In May of 1999 I was just a year out of college and working at Disney Animation, in the story department of what would eventually be named The Emperor's New Groove. I think at that time we might have been calling it Kingdom in the Sun, or possibly my personal favorite Production 1331. (No, amazingly enough "The Emperor's New Groove" was not the first name we kicked around. Imagine that.)

Anyway, the AMC Theatres in Burbank had an Episode 1 showing right around noon, so somehow the story artists convinced the department manager that they needed to see the movie as soon as possible. She agreed. Why they needed me, their trusty production assistant, to come along was never fully explained. Guess I could have taken notes if someone said something pertinent to the llama-based cartoon they were supposed to be writing at the time.

As we all know, Episode 1 was one of the worst movies ever to be shot on film. In fact, I think the real reason George Lucas shot the last two movies in that series on digital video was that Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm teamed up and decided never to sell another frame of 35 mm film to Lucasfilm. But I digress.

The worst part of the Episode 1 experience, I mean, besides watching that God-aweful piece of junk (Midichlorians make people Jedis? Are you serious?!) was returning to work at 2 or 3 pm. Disney Animation, at that time, was still one of the largest installments of movie nerds on the planet. Especially Star Wars nerds.

We were silent.

The few people who did ask us how it was were fended off with non-statements such as, "You can wait to hear about it, the Force is strong in you."

Lying to the wide-eyed Star Wars nerds turned my stomach.

Then again, so did Jar-Jar. My ever-present desire to cause no harm to the animation artists almost caused me to write a building-wide email pleading everyone to stay home that night, rewatch A New Hope with a loved-one.

Of course, that was before midnight screenings, and the blogosphere, so I'm sure right now on the internet there are many, many reviews of Watchmen out there. Spoilers, if you will. Which is why, for the next twelve hours, I'm only reading news from ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports.

Last night I discovered that John Locke mentioned the Temple in season one season finale of Lost, right before the smoke monster tried to pull him into its rabbit hole (see "You'll Blow The Temple.").

Well this morning I went to abc.com to re-watch that episode and double check it.

After a few too many 30 second ads for Hamburger Helper I found it - at about 46:35 (not sure if it's the same timecode on the DVDs, they might excise the "previously on Lost" bit).

It sounds like an overdub, and Kate is saying something else at the same time, but it's there. I swear to you.

Here are some screen captures, in case you too want to go scout for it yourself ...