ununbium

Scientists have created a new element. Element 112 - ununbium. They've only made 4 atoms of it and it last for less than a second, but it's still science on the march.

What your choice of reading material says about you

Recently, I've been reading A Bright Shining Lie (sort of off and on. It's interesting, but not really a page turner, so I intersperse. Vietnam is a tidge on the dense side as far as reading goes.) I was on a plane last week, heading out for a family vacation in the lovely Mountain West, and on the leg of the journey between Denver and Salt Lake, the guy sitting next to me on the plane was reading the book by Glenn Beck. (It had a lot of pictures in it.) So I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that simply based on the single books that we had each chosen to read on the plane, that guy and I have really different political views.

This plot seems familiar

Oh Star Trek and Star Wars, how you both toy with my affections.

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) on CollegeHumor

St Elizabeth Seton

Over the weekend, I went with my parents and grandmother out to see the shrine of St Elizabeth Seton, the first American born saint. The basillica was quite pretty. I'm not sure when it was built, because it doesn't appear to be 1960s/70s architecture, but she was only beatified in 1964 and canonized in 1972, I believe. I could be slightly off on the dates. But she was sanctified around the 1880s, so they may have started building then. We didn't actually go into the shrine, because the Mt St Mary's College choir and orchestra were having a concert in the basillica, which we went to instead. But it was a lovely afternoon drive out to picturesque Emmitsburg.




The picture is a little small, and crooked, but you can get the idea.

Orioles' Magic

I went to the baseball game on Saturday with S and my cousin (pre-season game between the O's and the Nats). The O's lost, as is their way, with the tying run on third and the go ahead run on first, but it was exciting to get back to the ballpark (even if it was the lame DC park, and not Camden Yards). That means summer is coming. Yay!

Kings

Recently, I started watching Kings. It's the biblical story of David updated to trashy soap opera. Which makes it awesome, by the way. The review in the Forward, however, did point out that while they remain relatively true to the source material (at least as far a story line is concerned), it can be a bit on the trite side. And, of course, since it's on broadcast, their ability to have sex and violence is limited. Which David did have both of, though on the show David is still the upstart under Saul (or Silas as he's called on the show), so no BatSheva and Uriah the Hittite. But still, it's certainly more engaging than a Cecil B DeMille biblical epic.

To brighten your day

Newborn leopard cubs. Need I say more...

Who knew saving endangered species could be so sweet.