Funny commercials

The rough side of running in the US...

CHICAGO—Citing the sobering statistic that over 10,000 of the 12,800 slayings in the United States in 2006 were reported by joggers, a national coalition of fitness enthusiasts called upon government officials Tuesday to impose measures that would reduce the likelihood of runners discovering lifeless bodies.

"We joggers have lives outside of finding violent-crime victims," said jogger Elizabeth Riccardi, who recently stumbled upon the remains of a double-pickax homicide while jogging around the Bartlett Reservoir near Scottsdale. "We're willing to cooperate with law enforcement, but we don't all have the time to be consoled with a blanket and a cup of coffee while some cop asks us the same tedious questions."

Riccardi said that some joggers have become so fed up with the dead-body encounters that they've been forced to run only on busy sidewalks, to the chagrin of pedestrians.

"I don't run through Lincoln Park after 6 p.m. anymore, I steer clear of that alleyway by the liquor store, and I definitely do not jog by the river at all," Chicago resident Chaz Montgomery said. "But, without fail, every few months I make another gruesome, routine-disrupting discovery."

"I just want a good cardiovascular workout," Montgomery added. "I never asked for this, not during an intense incline push or even a slow cooldown."

LEADING FINDERS OF CORPSES

Sacramento-based runner Keith Stafford said the problem has gotten so bad for him that after he happened upon his latest body, an unidentified newborn girl, he considered "leaving it there under the park bench for someone else to find for a change."

"Why must runners bear this burden?" Stafford said. "My brother's a baker, but he never opens his oven to find a severed head inside."

To help remedy the problem, the American Joggers Association has proposed creating special police jogging units in major metropolitan areas. The units, active chiefly during the early morning and late-evening hours, would patrol parks, beaches, docks, vacant lots, factory grounds, and other common dumping sites for grisly murders.

AJA President Nancy Staudenmeyer said that the problem now affects more than just recreational joggers. "[Kenyan marathoner] Evans Rutto would most likely have won last year's Boston Marathon had he not come across an execution-style murder during Mile 19, and been detained and questioned for over an hour," Staudenmeyer said. "And because the victim's hysterical mother barged in on his interrogation, Evans wasn't even able to finish the race."

The AJA has created a support network for corpse-finding runners, establishing a toll-free hotline and holding a series of 5K "fun runs," all held in sealed-off, freshly cleaned, well-lit gymnasiums. The AJA also produced a series of print and TV public service announcements depicting an exasperated jogger discovering the body of a mutilated prostitute and immediately text-messaging his congressman.

"The PSAs have been very effective for raising awareness," Staudenmeyer said. "There were a lot of joggers out there who thought they were the only ones finding bodies. Once they learn they're not alone, we can all work together to find a solution to this major inconvenience."

Still, many have given up running altogether, saying that the prospect of finding a naked body cut up with surgical precision has sapped whatever enjoyment they used to derive from the activity.

"I wanted to find something to replace running, so I took up fishing, " former St. Paul, MN jogger Derek Janowitz said. "That is, until my canoe bumped into that floating [strangling] victim."

"I finally just gave up and bought a Stairmaster," he added.

Public officials have not yet addressed joggers' concerns. Some privately admit that having joggers find dead bodies is a more effective and vastly more cost-efficient crime fighting alternative than using local law enforcement.

U.S. legislators want to replace Edison's light bulb with fluorescent

EDISON, N.J. (AP) - One of the inventions that put this central New Jersey town on the map could go the way of the typewriter and the horse and buggy if some U.S . legislators have their way.

The incandescent light bulb, perfected for mass use by Thomas A. Edison in the late 19th century, is being supplanted by fluorescent lighting that is more efficient and longer lasting. Last month, California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine announced he would propose a bill to ban the use of incandescent bulbs in his state.

And Thursday, New Jersey Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis introduced a bill that calls for the state to switch to fluorescent lighting in government buildings over the next three years.

"The light bulb was invented a long time ago, and a lot of things have changed since then," said Chatzidakis, a Democrat from Burlington. "I obviously respect the memory of Thomas Edison, but what we're looking at here is using less energy."

Many states encourage their residents to replace their incandescent bulbs through a federal program supported by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

In New Jersey, the state where Edison acquired more than 400 patents for innovations such as the phonograph and electric railway car, utility is trumping nostalgia. The state recommends switching to compact fluorescent lamps as part of its Clean Energy Program.

More than 1.2 million of the lamps and fixtures were distributed in 2005 through the program, according to the state Board of Public Utilities.

But even if the bulb's demise is on the horizon, Jack Stanley is not yet ready to flip the "off" switch.

"It's a convenient target. It's easy to see and easy to critique," said Stanley, curator of a museum that celebrates Edison's inventions in the town that has borne his name since the 1950s. "But think about the benefits and compare them to the drawbacks and your argument is already made."

Edison perfected the process of making the long-burning filaments used inside incandescent light bulbs so they could be mass produced.

Fluorescents, which create light by heating gases inside a glass tube, were developed in the early 20th century and sold publicly by the 1940s. They are generally considered to use more than 50 per cent less energy and last several times longer than incandescent bulbs.

However, the mercury vapour inside fluorescents can damage the environment if the bulbs are broken, leading some states to require businesses that use large quantities of fluorescent lights to recycle them.

Even Stanley acknowledges that, more than 125 years after its invention, the day may be approaching when the incandescent bulb takes its place alongside Edison's original phonograph in the pantheon of revolutionary-but-outdated inventions.

"It's a 19th-century invention that was perfected in the 20th century," he said. "That's part of the evolution of all inventions."

Crazy Bride

Too crazy to be real?? Looks like it...

Interesting "research" from Spain

Phenotypic differences between male physicians, surgeons, and film stars: comparative study

Abstract

Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References

Objectives To test the hypothesis that, on average, male surgeons are taller and better looking than male physicians, and to compare both sets of doctors with film stars who play doctors on screen.

Design Comparative study.

Setting Typical university hospital in Spain, located in Barcelona and not in a sleepy backwater.

Participants Random sample of 12 surgeons and 12 physicians plus 4 external controls (film stars who play doctors), matched by age (50s) and sex (all male).

Interventions An independent committee (all female) evaluated the "good looking score" (range 1-7).

Main outcome measures Height (cm) and points on the good looking score.

Results Surgeons were significantly taller than physicians (mean height 179.4 v 172.6 cm; P=0.01). Controls had significantly higher good looking scores than surgeons (mean score 5.96 v 4.39; difference between means 1.57, 95% confidence interval 0.69 to 2.45; P=0.013) and physicians (5.96 v 3.65; 2.31, 1.58 to 3.04; P=0.003). Surgeons had significantly higher good looking scores than physicians (4.39 v 3.65; 0.74; 0.25 to 1.23; P=0.010).

Conclusions Male surgeons are taller and better looking than physicians, but film stars who play doctors on screen are better looking than both these groups of doctors. Whether these phenotypic differences are genetic or environmental is unclear.

Full article at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1291?eaf

Revelstoke Mountain Resort is coming...

January 16: Today in the heart of Revelstoke, in a major public announcement to the community, Revelstoke Mountain Resort announced a $22 million gondola and high speed quad chairlift contract with Leitner Poma Canada Inc. that will make Revelstoke Mountain Resort North America’s longest skiable vertical at 1,829 m (6,000 ft). The Resort also announced the signing of a purchase agreement contract for a spring takeover of renowned local helicopter skiing operation, Selkirk Tangiers. The signing of these contracts, in combination with the Resort’s acquisition of CAT Powder Skiing, will make Revelstoke Mountain Resort a one-stop destination for helicopter, snowcat and lift skiers from around the world.

“Revelstoke has been my favorite place to ski for years. This is the epicenter of world class helicopter and snowcat skiing, and now, with the signing of this contract with Poma and the upcoming contract with Selkirk Tangiers, Revelstoke Mountain Resort will be a world-class, one-of-a-kind ski resort.” said Don Simpson, Chairman of Simpson Property Group Canada, Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s developer, “You will literally be able to get up in the morning and have the world’s greatest adventure playground at your doorstep, with helicopter, snowcat, and lift skiing all accessible from the village.”

Over 1,000 enthusiastic community members attended the announcement and celebration in a show of support for this long-awaited $1 billion four-season resort located on the edge of the Selkirk Mountain Range. Politicians including His Worship Mark McKee, Mayor of Revelstoke; Norm Macdonald, MLA, Columbia River-Revelstoke; Kevin Krueger, MLA, Kamloops-North Thompson and Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development; and the Honourable Larry Campbell, Senator, were in attendance, as well as community groups like the Revelstoke Ski Club.

“We have been waiting for years for the dream of this resort to take shape and now it’s finally happening,” said Mayor Mark McKee, “This is a monumental day for all of us in Revelstoke and I’m thrilled to be a part of it all.”

The Revelstoke Mountain Resort development team also presented a $10,000 donation to the Canadian Avalanche Association and the Canadian Avalanche Centre, headquartered in Revelstoke, as well as a $5,000 donation to the Revelstoke Community Foundation, the official centennial legacy project of the community of Revelstoke. The celebration event, emceed by former Canadian Women’s Ski Team champion, Kendra (Kobelka) Wilson, was attended by over 150 local schoolchildren who were greeted with cookies and flags emblazoned with the brand new Revelstoke Mountain Resort logo. A family barbeque, sculptures by the Canadian Snow Sculpture Team as well as an audio visual display of Revelstoke ski history and lifestyle followed the announcement.

“From all of us at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, we want to thank the community of Revelstoke for their patience and support,” added Simpson, “Revelstoke Mountain Resort is no longer a dream, it is now a reality.”

Peter Schlunegger, current owner and operator of Selkirk Tangiers, explained that following Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s spring takeover, the team of expert guides and professionals would remain the same and that Schlunegger would continue to assist the resort with the management of the heli-skiing operation. The spring 2007 acquisition of Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing will mean that, in total, Revelstoke Mountain Resort will boast over 500,000 acres of skiable terrain. With phase one of lift installations beginning spring 2007, the first 8-person gondola and high speed quad chairlift will be operational by fall 07/08 in time for the official opening of this proposed $1 billion resort. The gondola will initially take skiers from the upper village to an elevation of 1700 m while the high speed quad chairlift will begin at 1595 m and rise to 2245 m. In 2008, the gondola will be extended, creating North America’s longest vertical descent with 1,829 m (6,000 ft) of lift serviced ski terrain.

Located just minutes from downtown Revelstoke, B.C. (population 8,500) and only hours from international gateway cities like Vancouver (631 km), Kelowna (199 km) and Calgary (413 km), the Revelstoke Mountain Resort area is already a popular local, national, and international ski getaway. Over 8,000 heli and cat skiers flock to the region annually to enjoy the 40 to 60 feet of annual snowfall (about four storeys high) and superb backcountry terrain. In addition to offering world-class snowcat, helicopter, and lift skiing, Revelstoke Mountain Resort will also be a multi-phased resort community featuring a village helicenter, hotels, condominiums, town homes and single family lots. Over 5,000 homes are part of the long term plan for this sustainability-driven resort. A design and architectural team with years of resort planning expertise, including Perkins Design Associates and Ray Letkeman and Associates, master planned the Resort Village which will house commercial, retail, and residential space. Through each stage of planning, Revelstoke Mountain Resort has engaged a team of industry leading experts including Enkon Environmental, SE Group, Integrated Design Studio Inc., Patty Xenos Design, Urban Systems, Skelton Design, and Holland Barrs Planning Group. As part of their effort to reduce environmental impact, this team has developed a comprehensive sustainability strategy that strives to reduce emissions, utilize green fuels and transportation, build green and energy efficient buildings, as well as support local businesses. Real estate offerings in this master planned resort community are marketed exclusively by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, a Vancouver-based luxury real estate firm whose Revelstoke Mountain Resort Presentation Centre opened today at 122 Mackenzie Avenue in downtown Revelstoke. The first release in Phase 1 of the resort will include 60 resort condos ranging in size from 450 square foot studios to 1500 square foot penthouses. The homes are expected to be released in spring 2007 and buyers can register for more information at www.discoverrevelstoke.com