The Olympics have not even started yet and I am already sick of them. I feel saturated from every angle with talk of Olympians doping and wearing space aged swim suits, China just being completely messed up (great choice there), the torch being attacked SEVERAL times on its journey to China, and everything else that the Olympics brings with it. I didn’t expect it to infiltrate Project Runway though.

The designers go on a field trip (it feels like they have every week, doesn’t it?) and meet up with Apolo Ohno. Quick side note… Apolo Ohno must have the best agent ever. He is on TV shows constantly. So, he tells us that the designers will create an outfit for the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics. They go to some museumish area and look at pictures and memorabilia from past Olympics, because some have never seen an opening ceremony before. Even after seeing pictures, some are still just so confused as you will see below. But let’s start with the winners first, shall we?

Up first was the winning design by Korto, and I have to say I liked this one as well in the context of the challenge. It was simple, lightweight and the whiteness of it catches the eye, especially with a bunch of Olympians in a row. The detail of red leather on the shoulders and waist was also needed to break it up and keep it from being too white.
Next is Terri’s design and I thought that this one would win. There have been so many opening ceremonies that I can recall with the Olympians in blazers, and I thought this was a modern, stylish approach. I think it strays a bit too far from athletic wear, which is why she didn’t win, but it is cute none-the-less.
To the right is Joe’s I love USA outfit. We get it, pander to the patriotic judge, but the proportions on the skort are bizarre. It is cute and effective, but there is something about it that really irks me. It may be the sunglasses, it makes it look less athletic and more beachy.

I’d say the bottom three this week were the worst bottom three ever. They were all so completely off the mark and just plain wrong.
We’ll start with the worst… Jennifer’s on the left. Um… I don’t see a single thing about this that says America. Everything about it says ‘let’s get sody-pops at the drive-in.’ Judge Nina Garcia got it right when she talked about how Jennifer couldn’t remove herself from the equation when it came to the different challenges. And unfortunately, her stuff has all been just as dull and dreadful as possible. Sorry girl, but I won’t miss you.
In the middle is Daniel’s dress. If the blue fabric was a better shade of blue, if that material was less shiny and if there was some white trimming in there, it might work. But there aren’t any of those things, so we are left with an old movie’s view of what a flight attendant in the future would wear. As a designer, Daniel is a scattered mess. I don’t see him making it through more than 2 or 3 more episodes.
To the right we have Jerell’s design. To me, it is terrible. And I think it actually looks better in that picture than it did on television. It looked like Ragedy Anne became first lady and then lost her mind. The hat, sweet lord, the hat. Gross. It was only safe because it actually had red, white and blue. It is going to take a while to try and forget that… it’s the stuff of nightmares.

I must say that I am really enjoying this season, but there is not a single designer that I am rooting for just yet. I have a few that I would like to see Auf’d, but there is nobody I totally hate. Good casting this year.

I finally got my Wii Fit in the mail yesterday. After setting things up yesterday, this morning was my first time really using it. I must say… I love it. Whoever came up with the notion of turning yoga and exercise into a video game is a genius. The setup and format of the whole “game” is so well developed. I am flabbergasted.

Is appears that all of America is pretty impressed as well, considering it took over a month for me to be able to track it down. I lucky found the site Wii Tracker. It lists all the online retailers that sells this fine product and updates itself every ten minutes to show where you can buy the product. Even with the tracker site, it was still nearly impossible. Most sites would break up their meager supply of Wii Fits and sell them for super short chunks of time, so it became an evil battle trying to get to these web sites before everyone else. But it feels good that there are so many people fighting to get a product that will actually make them healthier.

But how can a small step-like product make you healthier? Let’s go category by category, starting with yoga. As you are standing on the balance board and doing the sun salutation, there are gauges that show how centered your body is and they put a representation of that on the screen for you (a circular area with a red dot showing where your center is). So you are focusing on holding the positions, yet keeping your body balanced in the acceptable area, and following the expanding and constricting circles on screen which show how you should be breathing. It is a bit much to take in all at once at first, but it gets easier as your body gets more comfortable doing the exercises. On top of that, you get a grade depending on how balanced you were and if you held the position, so you can keep track of which positions you need to work on more.

The same is pretty much true for the aerobics/cardio, strength building and games section. Each is set up so you can see how well you completed the task and as you do it more, it unlocks more exercises, the ability to go longer or do more reps, and new games. It keeps daily track of your weight, balance, coordination, body mass index and uses all this to determine your Wii Fit age for that day. It helps you to set goals and reminds you of how you are doing on said goals. It even encourages you if you aren’t as steady as you should be while you do your exercises. And for those who don’t even like to know how much they weigh, you don’t have to! You can simply look at your body mass index information to see how you are doing and set your goals off of that.

It is all very well organized and exciting. It told me not to get discouraged that from last evening to this morning I only lost .2 pounds. It also reminded me that body weight can often fluctuate and I would be better off weighing myself at the same time every day. It is full of helpful little tips like that. When I tried to set my initial weight loss goals, it reminded me how much a week was recommended to avoid gaining the weight back on and suggested I set a new goal. You can even choice to have a male or female trainer to help you (which you can change at any time).

So far… I am thoroughly impressed, and we shall see if that continues over time as more activities and exercises are unlocked.

by Matt Bors

The Phoenix Mars Lander has been a roller coaster for me. Ever since I was about 8, I have been very interested in space, astronomy, planets and the like. I have been closely following the events as Phoenix traipses around Mars gathering data. For those out of the Mars loop, Here’s a quick fill-in:
Phoenix, an unmanned spacecraft, landed in late may on Mars’ arctic plain. Here, they hoped to find ice, water and signs of life. Silly Phoenix took a picture of his footprint:

and they found ice. Later tests also found traces of water in the soil. One bold scientist stated that the soil on Mars was in good enough shape to grow asparagus and similar vegetables. But recently, the discovery of perchlorate in the soil has thrown everyone for a loop.
So I am trying to understand as much as I can about what exactly the presence of perchlorate can mean. By this, I mean going to wikipedia.org of course. There are a lot of scientific words that defy logic, but what I am getting is that this is not a good thing, but not necessarily a bad thing. Certain forms can be considered an unhealthy toxin, some forms can be used as rocket fuel, and on Earth it was even used to treat Hyperthyroidism for many decades. It apparently is found in drinking water in 35 states, and there are several of those states that have set up laws concerning the maximum amount that is allowed to be in drinking water.
So the presence of perchlorate isn’t exactly a deal breaker. It certainly isn’t going to help life, but if further tests show that the presence is small, it may not be a hindrance either. There is even breaking reports showing that the soil of Mars is similar to that of Chile’s Atacama Desert, which ironically has been used as an analog for martian soil and also contains perchlorates. Even in this desert, there are some microbes that survive somehow, as well could be the case on Mars. So the search continues.

Is there life on Mars? The answer is a definite Mayhaps.

To learn more about perchlorate - click here
To keep up to date with all the Phoenix Lander madness - click here

For those that have not been watching the return of “The Mole” on ABC, it was really quite good. With one episode left and the final reveal of the Mole’s identity, I am as confused as ever.

First there is Mark. From the very first episode, he was the guy that I was 100% convinced was not the Mole. Family man, keeps talking about winning the $$ so his wife doesn’t have to work anymore, obsessed with taking notes on everyone, constantly worried about exemptions. But lately I am wondering if that is all just the Mole’s best cover ever. Through earning a lot of those exemptions he cost the team money and he personally would not even attempt two of the missions. If he is the Mole, I’ll be pissed, simply because I had been rooting for him to win the damned show.

This woman, Nicole, is insane. She threatened another contestant’s life, claiming that she knew how to do it AND not leave any forensic evidence. She blatantly pretended to be the Mole at every turn she could and watched as all the people falling for her act were eliminated one by one. It’s a good tactic as a player, but if she is the Mole, she did a terrible job concealing her mole-ness and mayhaps that is the most brilliant cover of all. Maybe the Producers wanted to spice up the format of a traditional hidden Mole with a more blatant one. It would be an interesting choice if she wasn’t so irritating while doing it.

There were two people I wanted off the show from the moment it began. The first was 60 year-old Liz and the second was Craig the fatty. I’m not being mean, it is just the easiest cover if you are the Mole. You aren’t expected to perform as well as everyone else, therefore nobody suspects you when you do poorly. For some reason my gut tells me that he isn’t the Mole, but was cast simply so that everyone would think he was the Mole. But there is another part of my huge gut that says he has got to be the Mole!

Writing this out solidified my theory, which is as follows. And I have changed this so many times now. I really think Craig is the Mole. He usually does poorly and when he is not, its because someone else already is. As for the winner, I really hope it is Mark. He has tried so hard and really done a great job. I thought he was going to run away forever when they destroyed his journal, but he managed to come back. Nicole has been so horribly annoying to watch, I would be really unhappy if she took the money home. She’s smart and fast, but Mark had an advantage by seeing the dossier at the last mission.

So my final prediction:

Mole: Craig
Winner: Mark
Loser: Nicole

We will see in one week. If you haven’t seen the show, get caught up here.

I have been cigarette free for two solid weeks now, and it does feel pretty good. I do get cravings, but I don’t really think they are nicotine cravings. It’s more a need to hold a cigarette in my hands and perform that ritual that I had done countless times… removing the cigarette, blowing in the filter to clear excess tobacco, the lighting and first inhale, the tapping of the ash and the oddly missed act of putting a cigarette out.

But I am trying… I exercise to replace that feeling I used to get from the first cigarette of the day and have started a love affair with tea to replace that post-meal cigarette. The main tool in my cigarette battle are Dum-Dum pops. I carry them everywhere. The stick protruding out of my mouth is very helpful and it doesn’t hurt that they are delicious. I even keep an ashtray on my desk to put them out in to get that psychological need.

The realization I had today was kind of a difficult one. I ‘luckily’ got sick last week and that was a great help because I physically couldn’t smoke. So I decided to quit with one cigarette left in the pack. Pretty hardcore, right? But if cigarettes weren’t over $8.00 and I wasn’t living on an incredibly lean budget I would be smoking one right now. I know I need to not smoke cigarettes, but at the same time… I really want to smoke one. Will I remain cigarette free? Mayhaps.

I have started and erased dozens of openings to perfect this first post. I don’t know what I’m trying to say or trying to do with this blog, so that’s what I have to say. I’m going to talk about random crap. Celebrities. TV shows. Politics. Theater. But I’m not going to stop there. Oh no. I am going to talk about books. And movies. My goals. Fears. Cats (I have two and I love them). Friends. Family. Deep space exploration. Basically, any topic I suddenly feel the urge to discuss. So yeah… that’s my first post.