This is the view we had for a week during our vacation at Hilton Head Island 2007. Click the image to enlarge.

• A civil engineer, Mike Strizki, lives in and constructed the first ever solar hydrogen house that runs completely from “homemade energy”. By using solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells, storage tanks and an electrolyzer, he’s able to convert electricity generated from renewable sources into hydrogen. This amazing setup provides year around power to his home, yielding an utility bill of zero. Total cost was $500,000 to produce the system and half of the cost was paid by a grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
• More than four times the number of natural disasters are occurring now than did two decades ago. The world suffered about 120 natural disasters per year in the early 1980s, which compared with the current figure of about 500 per year. The number of people affected by extreme natural disasters, meanwhile, has surged by almost 70 percent, from 174 million a year between 1985 to 1994, to 254 million people a year between 1995 to 2004. The number of geothermal events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, has barely changed while floods and wind-storms have increased from 60 events in 1980 to 240 last year, with flooding itself up six-fold. - Oxfam (The Oxfam study was compiled using data from the Red Cross, the United Nations and specialist researchers at Louvain University in Belgium)
• The city of San Francisco has decided to omit gender from ID cards it will issue to city residents so as not to offend the transgender community. Activists argue that it’s highly inconvenient  for people who change genders to make their legal documents match their new identity.
• A French chef set a world record this week for barbecuing the largest animal - A 1,213 pound camel. Three tons of wood were needed to roast the beast.
• Dutch police this week arrested a teen for stealing $5000 of virtual furniture from a virtual hotel in an online game.
• The worst city in the U.S. is Detroit in my opinion. According to the Congressional Quarterly’s analysis I’ve been proven right. Detroit is the most dangerous city in the U.S., followed by St. Louis and Flint Michigan.
• Soldiers weary of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980. Nearly 4700 soldiers deserted this year - a 42% increase over last year. - Assoc. Press
• A massive volcano under Yellowstone National Park is stiring, exuding enough magma beneth Earth’s crust to lift the park about 3 inches every year. - National Geographic

This weekend my family held it’s second annual gathering at the Renaissance in Cleveland to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree in the square downtown. It’s becoming a bit of a tradition and I have to say it’s quite a festive time that helps us easily slide into the holiday season. Part of that tradition is reliving one of our family’s favorite Christmas films “A Christmas Story”. My wife and I, most of my family and well, most of the people I know can quote this movie with the the best of them. Actually it’s becoming a part of our vernacular and we reference parts of the movie all year long because it’s so ingrained in our lives.

Part of the experience at the hotel is the Christmas Story “Package” where (for a very small fee) you get to upgrade your room to include valay parking, a package of trinkets from the movie and a fun trolley ride to the Christmas Story House where a majority of the movie was shot back in 1983. If you want to read about how the movie has rejuvinated the local neighborhood and (probably) made the investor a semi-rich man you can click here and here.

The reason I’m writing this though is to show a photo that I thought was hilarious. My friend and I were sitting at a bar in Tower City and we noticed that someone had left an autographed photo of Jim Moralevitz on the bar. I immediately thought that “Someone is getting paid to sit and sign their signature and they were an extra in the movie!?”. I held on to the photo because I thought someone else might get a kick out of this. But after a little research I found out that Jim works the gift shop and tells stories about the movie, answers questions for rabid Ralphie fans and on occassion signs a photo for fun.

After watching the film again we noticed that you can barely see Jim in the movie which I thought was even more hiliarious that he was signing photos. But his largest contribution to the film was actually his second job of babysitting Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) and Ian Petrella (Randy) during the shooting!

From what I can see though, Jim is not looking to make a buck off of his appearance in the film. He’s a retiree that loved his fifteen minutes of fame on the set with the cast, enjoys that he’s a small part of a very iconic holiday movie scene (Fra-GEE-lay anyone?), appreciates that the house is rejuvenating his old neighborhood and genuinely loves the movie and appreciates that others do too. After all, he did a have a small part in something that we all love and revisit every year which is something not many people can say. Next year I might go to the house again and this time I might ask Mr. Moralevitz for a signed photo of my own just for fun and for the experience of hearing first hand, behind-the-scenes stories from a movie that I love.

From The Christian Science Monitor “On a recent Saturday, Mr. Moralevitz, a former polka-band drummer who was an extra in the movie, stands behind a display case sharing behind-the-scenes moments with visitors until he’s hoarse. “I had the pleasure of delivering the leg lamp,” he tells those stuck in front of him. No, he tells the latest person who asks, he was not the guy who shrugs when Mr. Parker asks what’s in the crate. He was the guy behind the crate.”

• Sfumto means blending in Italian and the Mona Lisa is one of the first paintings to use this realistic effect. The Mona Lisa background was also one of the first portraits to use an imaginary background as well as a background that became less detailed as you went farther back - an important innovation that added to the realism. What was the woman’s real name in the painting? Experts disagree but the best guess is Madonna Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini, the wife of a wealthly Italian.
• The number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society, researchers said in a report calling for a major justice-system overhaul. It recommends shorter sentences, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalizing recreational drugs.
• The earliest episodes of “Sesame Street” are available on digital video! Just don’t bring the children. According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” - New York Times
• Former WH flack Scott McClellan has a new book coming out wherein he reveals that people in the Bush Administration had him fronting out lies to the public about the WH leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s CIA ties. ”The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. “There was one problem. It was not true.
• You can now order The Genuine Lost In Space® B-9™ Robot. This is the 6 1/2-foot, animatronic remote-controlled version of the B-9™ Environmental Control Robot from the classic Lost In Space® television series that ran from 1965 to 1968 has a 240-w att audio system, and speaks 511 pre-recorded phrases performed by Richard Tufeld, the original voice of the robot from the television series. Cost: $24,500
• The 2008 elections are still a year away, but this morning outgoing Homeland Security Adviser Frances Fragos Townsend told CNN that al Qaeda may target the presidential elections. She said that while there is currently no “specific information,” “we know that Al Qaeda views these periods as being a particularly vulnerable period.”
• Two groups of scientists have successfully transformed human skin cells into stem cells, potentially granting unlimited access to the foundation cells which can replace diseased or damaged tissues and organs, it was announced Tuesday.
• A week ago, a Saudi appeals court increased the punishment for the female victim of a gang rape. The woman, who had been appealing her original sentence of 90 lashes, was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes after her appeal. Asked to offer the administration’s position on the court ruling, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Monday that the administration was “astonished,” but had “nothing else to offer“. Bush quoted in his second inaugural speech “We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend…that women welcome humiliation and servitude.”
• The decline in the number of Americans smoking has stalled at 20.8 percent. It has dropped every year for almost 40 years.
• As of November 2007 there is only one person alive that served in World War I. His name is Frank Buckles.
• The tallest man alive in the U.S. according to the Guinness Book of World Records is 7 foot 8 George Bell.
• Liberals are more likely than conservatives to tune into political commentary programs with which they philosophically disagree. 22% of conservatives say they never expose themselves to opposing views. - Zogby/Lear center poll
• It’s now official - breast feeding is superior to formula feeding. A recent study of 3000 babies showed that babies that we’re breast fed had an IQ 7 points higher than those of bottle fed babies.
• Claim: The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year in the U.S. - False (Snopes.com)

I recieved this letter today (in my email of course) regarding the Auman Family Estate. Apparently I have a long lost relative that just died and I’m now a millionaire! I’ve been around long enough to see enough scams that I immediately laughed at this one but I thought it was a good opportunity to point out the flaws for others that might be considering contacting someone like this in the hope that a letter like this might be legit. Let me break the bad news to you; it’s fake and we’re all just as poor as we were when we woke up today.

Here’s how it works:

Consumer receives a letter or e-mail advising them they are entitled to an inheritance from a distant relative they do not know. Consumer is asked to provide bank account and personal information to complete the necessary paperwork. Later a bill is received for inheritance taxes and the consumer is advised to send the money in advance of receiving the inheritance. The consumer sends the large sum of money, but never receives the inheritance, and in some cases may receive a worthless check.

Here’s a standard letter:

I know this Letter will come to you as a surprise, though I do not intend to embarrass you. Let me start by formally introducing My self to you. I am Honourable Denis Abidi of 50 Rue du Commerce, Lome-Togo a solicitor at law,personal attorney to Mr Peter Auman, nationality Of your country, who lost his life in recent Tsunami disaster while on vacation with his family in Thailand at the famous tourist resort Island of Phuket.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at USD17,000,000.00 (Seventeen Million US Dollars) left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Security Finance Firm where this huge amount were deposited.

The said Security Finance Company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated within the next twenty one official working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives, I seek the consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased since you have the same last names, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer.
I have all necessary information and legal documents needed to back you up for claim.
All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement.

I look forward to receive your response
Best Regards.
Honourable Denis Abidi

IF you receive information like this via email research it here and possibly check the fraud information here before doing anything. Ask questions, probe and see if anyone can track down the source of the letter or email. The best action is to delete the email. If it’s legit they’ll surely take a more formal approach to contact you directly. I have to think that it’s much harder to get my Gmail account than it is to get my address or phone number.

Last year we went to Disney and I captured these cool images of the castle and the nightly fireworks show. Click on the image then you’ll notice some thumbnails to the right where you can click through to see the next photos.

This is a gallery of really old photos that my mother found and gave to me to scan in. Most of the images are of my grandparents Catherine and Joseph Ott in the earlier stages of their lives. Newly weds, new cars, new babies, new home. I love photos like this and plan to scan in more as I can acquire them from my parents stash.

I was at Woodstock 99 and unfortunately witnessed the arson and distruction first hand.

You can view my other photos from the event by clicking on the image.

• A South Korean man who is best known for his campaigns for clean public restrooms has officially taken the lavatory life to a new level and built a house that looks exactly like a toilet.
• Kent Hodgson is a 22-year-old New Zealand student/inventor that has unlocked the secret of the known universe: how to ice-out a warm beer. Dubbed the Huski, his invention is a portable device (no larger than a pen) that you drop into a bottle of beer. Once Huski hits the bottle it works in an instant, bringing your barely-drinkable beer to a crisp, cool temperature four-times colder than ice.
• Barack Obama has said an employer has a greater chance of being struck by lightning than of being prosecuted for employing an immigrant who’s in the U.S. illegally. That turns out to be pretty close to the truth. - FactCheck.org
• A 106-year-old man has married an 81 year old woman. The groom Pan Xiting has set the Guiness World record beating the previous record of an 103 year old man marrying. It’s never too late for love.
• Of every 1000 seniors that move to Florida to retire, 481 eventually move back to where they came from. - Marketwatch.com
• The U.S. has so far (2007) spent twice as much in inflation adjusted dollars to rebuild Iraq as it did to rebuild Japan following the destruction of 67 Japanese cities by fire-bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs.
• Between 2001 and 2005, 2570 teachers in the U.S. were punished for sexual misconduct.
• Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas have the least attractive residents of any U.S. city. - Travel/Leisure/CNN
• With third-quarter shipments of 1.3 millions computers, Apple has moved into third place among U.S. computer companies.
• The Ohio State Buckeyes $109 million athletic budget provides an average of $110,000 for each of it’s 980 atheletes, about triple what the school spends to educate each student.