Googlemaps Street view!!!

Ok. This new feature by Google is amazing. If you search in Denver, CO or San Francisco, CA using Google Maps there is a "Street View" feature...then you move the little person and you can see photos of the street with a 360 view. It's amazing!!!

Unnatural Body Positions

Ok. In my attempt to find illegal clips of So You Think You can Dance on YouTube, I stumbled upon this AMAZING vidoe of a guy who takes popping and locking to a whole new level. Check out his video.

Considering I can't even moonwalk smoothly, I find his whole combo mind blowing.

So You Think You Can Dance - Have you Ever Taken a Dance Lesson?

Ok, so for obvious reasons I'm a HUGE fan of So You Think You Can Dance. The first couple of shows when they have the first auditions are always amusing and frightening. The sheer number of bad dancers who after their audition mention that they are also dance teachers - it's just criminal. One didn't even spot her turns - what is she teaching her kids???

And there are quite a few who clearly have been paying for lessons forever, but also have not had great teachers. I'm so lucky that my folks found me good teachers early. It really makes a world of difference.

Dorking Out about Adhesive Tarps

Spent a week at the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference for work, and was totally impressed by the XTarp product next door to my booth. You can see a video of the product on the Miami Herald site.

It's tarp that people can use for their roofs that has impressive adhesive, so you don't need to nail or use sandbags to hold it down. It can withstand 110 mph wins with huge levels of rain - keeping the interior completely dry. It's good for 15 years in the sun without any degradation, sticks to everything, and yet doesn't damage the material when it's been removed. Seriously, it's a product that is absolutely brilliant.

In Maryland, hitting pedestrians is not punishable by jail time.

Yes, unfortunately it's true. I attended the traffic court trial of the man who hit me with his car in January (I was in a crosswalk in Bethesda, with 11 seconds left on the walk signal). I don't believe I've ever been so frustrated with the criminal justice system.

Seems as though there is a loophole in the MD traffic law, where you can't charge someone with hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk in an intersection where there are working traffic lights. So basically, all the crosswalk signals in Bethesda (which also have traffic lights) are not safe places for pedestrians. You can totally disable a pedestrian by hitting them in those crosswalks, and you can't be charged with something that carries jail time. The guy who hit me, Kyle Meyer, was charged with failure to yeild to a pedestrian in a roadway, which he plead guilty to, but it's an offense that carries points and only up to a $500 fine.

So a Kyle hits me with his BMW Z3 going 25 mph, throws me 3 feet, I end up in the ER with injuries to my arm and hand that takes months to heal, where I'm worried about keeping my job due to my inabilty to type for a while (due to injuries) and I'm now paranoid about crossing the street....and he walks away with a $125 fine. I believe I've had a speeding ticket that cost that much.

The irony is that his attorney mentioned that he has a clean driving record EXCEPT for a DWI 3 years ago. So they let a guy who has been nailed for driving drunk, and has now been hit in a crosswalk with a walk signal get away with points on his record and a $125 fine. No jail time, not suspension, no traffic class, he's back on the roads...so watch out folks who walk in Bethesda - it is not safe to cross those streets even if you're in a crosswalk with a light.

Tart Bing Cherries Reduce Inflammation

I've found a new thing to try for my knee inflammation - eating tart cherries. Some researchers are saying that cherries even work better than over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs. Considering that I hate taking pain killers, and my knees are still holding onto fluid, and not 100% healed, what a great thing to try! Of course the study was partially funded by the California Cherry Advisory Board, but I like cherries anyway, and eating them more regularly would an enjoyable addition to my diet.c

Bird Flu? We should be worrying about Coughing to Death

A recent article in the Washington Post highlights a new TB epidemic. TB is only fully treated if a patient undergoes the full series of drugs, and in Russia and Africa, doctors are noticing a trend that may illuminate a new completely drug resistant strain. Many TB sufferers in Russia are homeless and that contributes to their inability to take all of the drug regime, but if they stop mid-cycle, they are letting the virus build up an immunity to the drugs. In Russia they are considering court ordered isolation for these carriers to limit the spread of TB to the rest of the population. Considering it can be spread via coughing, spitting or talking, it's easy to spread around. This is frightening - a quote from one of the drug resistant TB sufferers.

Daniels, for instance, was often homeless when he was in Russia, according to him and his wife, Alla Danielova, an English teacher. Daniels said he bounced among friends' houses, partying and trying to ignore the bloody sputum he was coughing up. "I knew I was going to have to treat it, but I had other plans at that time," he said. "I didn't think it was a big deal. Now I know better."

While his attitude is something that many of us can relate to, the impact this type of attitude and/or lack of education might have on global heath is chilling.

Performing at the Kennedy Center

What can I say? It was totally cool. Granted, it was the Millenium Stage, but it still was the Kennedy Center. After the sound check, we sounded great, we really knew our music and I was able to really get into some of the pieces. You can catch the recorded May 2nd show here:

It was a part of the Washington, DC's Six Month Shakespeare Festival.