Random Thoughts: January 9, 2008

** the old route i used to take to work when i lived in Davenport a couple of years ago is a mess this morning. a combination of smoke & fog caused zero-visibility on I-4 in Polk County. there is now a 14-mile stretch of the highway that is shut down due to the visibility issues causing a pile-up of between forty and seventy vehicles (can't be sure yet because emergency officials can't see well enough to count them), at least three fatalities, multiple injuries, many vehicles burned or still burning, people trapped inside cars, and two Medivac helicopters that could not land because they could not see the ground.
(photo from The Ledger)
what i don't understand is why on earth anyone thought that "controlled burning" was a good plan during the driest months in Central Florida. but more than that, i am thankful that i no longer need to travel this route to and from work every day.

** i am all about the learning of random information the last few days. these lessons brought to you by the Hollywood Writers Strike. =P

** while watching Dirty Jobs last night, did you know that when male llamas fight over mating rights, they ummm... try to bite off each other's ::ahem:: piece of the anatomy no man wants to be kicked in?! that's one way to prevent someone from stealing your intended mate: castrate him. with your teeth.

** good Lord... i don't even want to know the searches that will result in hits on my blog for *that* little tidbit.

** Dirty Jobs also taught me that life pretty much sucks if you're born a tilapia.

** while doing some reading, i also learned that "the Balinese believe that babies come to the earth as gods and do not become human until they reach the age of six months, at which time they honor them with a formal ceremony that includes touching their feet to the earth for the first time." while it's not something *i* believe, i find it very very interesting that they hold their infants in such high regard.

** i also learned something that made me a little annoyed with my playlist. apparently some of the songs only come through as 30-second clips when i embed it in my blog. the thing is, you can't tell which songs will do this. when you're logged into the site (the account is free), all of the songs on my playlist work fine. there are some songs that are still only available in 30-second clips, at the artist's or label's request, but those are clearly marked as such. you get *no* warning that a song is only available in full-length if you are logged into your imeem account until you embed it & then try to listen. grrrr...

** i have discovered a few new blogs that i'm really enjoying. i think it may be time to give the ol' Blogroll in the left sidebar an update!