Froodee

Living. Blogging.

Still waiting to be king at 60

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Prince Charles turns 60 this Friday.  Happy birthday and may you have many more.  As the Prince of Wales, Charles has made huge contributions to humanity.  He has turned a silent role into something that has spurred many worthwhile causes around the world.

CNN today reports that he now becomes the longest waiting heir to the throne.  Royal tradition says that he can only become the king when her mother passes away or she steps down from her throne.  Queen Elizabeth will host a party for Prince Charles this Thursday at the Buckingham Palace.  The Philharmonic Orchestra, of which Prince Charles is a patron, will be playing for a few invited guests.  Charles’ wife Camilla, on the other hand,  plans to throw a more private bash on Saturday at the prince’s rural estate, complete with a performance by rocker Rod Stewart.  That’s a cool party isn’t it? 

Now what does Prince Charles want as a birthday gift the most?  Some say the crown, but there are opinions that the Queen will be keeping it for life, so Prince Charles may have to wait until she has lived her days.  

Faster than a speeding bullet

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(photo by Wired.com)

 

Super super fast!  It’s the BloodhoundSSC and it’s made by the record holders of the fastest jet-powered land-rocket.  This time though they’re trying to beat their record of 763 mph by setting a 1,000 mph on this try.  It’ll be faster than a speeding bullet, they say.  

While engineering records are a little more for bragging rights, their motivation in setting this new record is quite laudable:

More than bragging rights are at stake in the ambitious project announced today. Noble and Lord Drayson, Britain’s minister of state for science and innovation, hope the three-year project will inspire children to pursue careers in engineering, mathematics and science, so they might solve the world’s most pressing problems.

It is a huge engineering feat… Bloodhound is 42 feet long, 9 feet tall and will weigh 6.4 tons.  Imagine that traveling faster than a bullet. Good thing they do this where there’s just hundreds of miles of flat land/or ice.  I couldn’t imagine doing it elsewhere!  Although I’ve read about New York taxis bragging about speed records… but that’s a different story altogether.

Daryl of Dunder Mifflin

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This news is a little sad for me because I am a huge fan of the TV sitcom “The Office”.  I’ve been following this show for the past two years and have really admired all the characters.  One of my personal favorites was Daryl, the Dunder Mifflin warehouseman whom Michael (the boss) always always try to “one-up”, to no avail.  

Daryl is played by actor Craig Robinson.  He was recently arrested due to an alleged suspicion of possesing ecstasy and methamphetamine.  Robinson’s publicist declined to comment Friday.  Robinson is scheduled to appear in front of a judge this coming August 21.

This is such a disappointment to a lot of The Office fans worldwide.  While we dare not pass any judgement, I personally am inclined that this incident will put a little dent on Daryl’s (the character) persona.  At any rate, we wish this news will soon pass and we can get back again at viewing Daryl as a funny boy soon.

Let the games begin!

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“The 29th Olympics is now open!”, this is a joyous statement made by Chinese President Hu Jintao. This is remarkably the single most watched event of the year, China has well braved the preparations and now the spotlight is on her. Retired Chinese gymnastics champion Li Ning was carried through the air to light the Olympic cauldron, and pyrotechnics exploded throughout Beijing as the crowd of 91,000 at National Stadium cheered wildly. It is history in the making indeed.

The opening ceremony was marked by a spectacular program, a well-rehearsed light display and synchronized performances to showcase the richness of 5,000 years of Chinese history to the world. With the Chines LOVING the luckiness of the number 8, the festivities officially started 8PM on August 8, 2008.

IOC President Jacques Rogge spoke of China’s long-held ambition to host the Olympics. “Tonight, that dream comes true,” he said.

Rogge mentioned the Sichuan earthquake, saying the world was moved “by the great courage and solidarity of the Chinese people.”

When Number 2 is near impossible!

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What do you do when number 2 is near impossible… and you’re hundreds of thousands of miles away from the nearest john?  You PANIC! 

I read from CNN.com here that fixing the toilet problem of the International Space Station has been the top priority mission today.  “So much so that a spare pump was rushed from Moscow, Russia, to Cape Canaveral last week for a last-minute ride aboard space shuttle Discovery. Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko put in the new pump, and the toilet started working normally again.“, CNN says.  I must admit that I was laughing out loud, literally.  That has just got to be the most expensive (and yet most important) operation for such an “important” project.

For two weeks, the three men living aboard the space station had to manually flush the Russian-built toilet with extra water several times a day. It was a time-consuming job and waste of water, not to mention an unpleasant chore.

So everyone — especially in orbit — was thrilled that the new pump seemed to solve the problem.

“Let’s start using it,” Russian Mission Control told Kononenko. “We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”