Three is a Magic Number

Track the Polls

As the campaign winds down and election day nears, here are some tools you can use to track opinion poll results ...

• USAToday Presidential Poll Tracker - good trendline representation
• ABC News Poll Tracker - shows poll results with demographic breakdowns you choose
• Pollster.com - numerous results for a variety of races
• TPM Election Central Poll Tracker - non-graphical presentation of results from numerous polls
• Electoral-vote.com - downloadable poll results

You Make the Call

I captured this still from CBSSportsline video of game 2 of the Eastern finals of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Sergei Gonchar's shot bounced off Flyers Martin Biron and Derian Hatcher and appears to have crossed the goal line. The on-ice signal was no goal and that stood as NHL officials said there was no definitive evidence the puck had crossed the line. What do you think?

Strokes, Hepatitis, Depression, Cancer, and ... Over 50?

Make of this what you will. Personally I feel rather insulted that being "Over 50" is being categorized with mental and physical disabilities such as schizophrenia and cancer.

I captured these two screenshots from a current TV ad for Pittsburgh lawyers Berger & Green.

On the other hand, though, is there somebody I can sue because I'm over 50?

Really Old Beaver

I've got TV Land on with a really old Leave It to Beaver. Wally is not Tony Dow, and he has different friends. Ward is not Hugh Beaumont. Lumpy's dad isn't Lumpy's dad, but works for a milk company. This must be the pilot episode. I don't think I ever saw it before.

It's about Wally and Beaver collecting 1000 bottle caps to win a bicycle from a TV show. But there really was no contest. Wally's buddies had made it up. But the milk company gives them a new bike anyway. Ward then explains to the boys why it would be wrong to keep the bicycle.

How much did we learn about appropriate behavior from TV like Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show? How much did our parents learn about parenting?

Times Machine - NY Times

The New York Times has scanned and made available free online every issue of the paper from V1, N1, Sept 18, 1851 through Dec 30, 1922.

Pages are displayed just as they appeared originally. What a source of primary information!

TimesMachine - New York Times

Balanced and Fair?

Following are screenshots of two items in this afternoon's news feeds. The story is the same, but the headlines are distinctly different.

This one is from USA Today ...

This one from MSNBC.com ...

Whad' Ya Know at Penn State

Yesterday, I attended a presentation of Michael Feldman's live radio show, Whad' Ya Know?, at Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium.

I've been a fan of Whad' Ya Know? since it first aired on WPSU several years ago. I try to listen to at least some of the show every Saturday.

Whad' Ya Know? is a unique comedy-interview-music-game show featuring a fair amount of audience participation hosted by Michael Feldman. Feldman is joined by announcer Jim Packard, and band members John Thulin, Jeff Hamann, and Clyde Stubblefield.

It's always interesting to actually see people you've known only through their voices, how do they compare to the images of them you've created in your mind. Feldman was not all that different from what I had imagined, a bit shorter and a physical resemblance to Robin Williams I thought. Jim Packard was the biggest surprise. I knew he was an older man, but I had imagined him as being more robust rather than the tall, thin man he actually is.

I didn't think it was one of their best shows, but in all fairness, Feldman and his companions had to drive most of the night from Detroit after having three flights cancelled. However, I still found it very entertaining. I am very glad to have had the opportunity to see it in person.

Listen to the show

And the Idiots Shall be Rewarded

Perhaps you read some version of this story from ESPN --

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A 4-year-old boy was recovering
Sunday from a deep cut to his head after Colorado State wide
receiver George Hill collided with him during CSU's spring game.

Hill was catching a touchdown pass when his momentum carried him
into Caden Thomas on the sidelines Saturday. Caden was among
several kids playing on the sidelines as part of a kids' festival
at Hughes Stadium, said Caden's father, Mike Thomas. More...

I can't help but wonder what the kid's dad was thinking! Does he understand football is a game of very large people moving at high speed and a white stripe on the grass is not a protective barrier?

These people have been the subject of a great deal of media coverage including a national TV appearance on CBS's The Early Show.

... the phone at the family's Fort Collins home rang. It was CNN Headline News. During the next couple of hours, everyone else called, too, and by lunchtime the Thomases were headed to the airport. More from The Rocky Mountain News ...

Once again, we're going to reward irresponsible behavior with "fifteen minutes of fame".