If flying to space doesn't happen, then this might be the next best thing.

I already have my June 15th ticket to see Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden, but if I really wanted to over-indulge it is possible to book a seat on Ed Force One and fly with the band on the way to gigs in Lisbon, and Trondheim, Norway this summer. And don't think for a minute that Maiden hires their own pilots. No. Singer Bruce Dickinson actually flies the plane!

I mean, just look at the plane! How fucking rock 'n roll is that!

I'm so there...in 2010...but I'm there.

While we engage in pointless squabbles about who will be the next president, and continue to drop trillions of dollars into a war with seemingly no end, it's easy to lose site of actual milestones in the advancement of our species. This week, a California aerospace company, XCOR Aerospace, joined Virgin Galatic in the quest to provide affordable space travel. Set to launch in 2010, XCOR's Lynx suborbital spacecraft will be able to take private citizens beyond the Earth's atmosphere where they will experience a few minutes of weightlessness.

So, what's affordable? XCOR is not saying what the pricetag will be, but Virgin is taking reservations on the second generation of it's private spacecraft for a cool $200,000. That may seem like a shitload of money, but to see the curvature of the Earth and experience weightlessness, it's money well spent. I'm already sold on the promotional trailer.



Don't write this off as being the pipe dream of an eccentric entrepreneur. There's something very poetic about seeing mankind make an effort to return to the stars from which we came, and it's extraordinary to see achievements like this in our lifetime.

The best TV show now has the best website ever

If you ever bought a box set season of South Park DVDs, you may as well return them because you can now watch every episode in its entirety on the new southparkstudios.com.

Worth reading is this Onion interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker. If there is a better job than being a lawyer for the show and finding out ways to kill off a likeness of Strawberry Shortcake without getting sued, I haven't heard it.

Oh, and apparently kids in Dallas are getting hooked on "Cheese", and I ain't talking about Chedder.


And one last thing. Here's the trailer for "Heavy Metal".

Easiest. Bet. Ever.

Not sure if this is true or if Adage is out ta get me. Dr. Pepper is offering to give away a single can of their delicious soft drink to every American (yeah, all 300,000,000 of us) if Guns N' Roses (well, mainly Axl) releases their long-awaited new record, "Chinese Democracy" this year. Now, you may be thinking, "You're crazy, Dr. Pepper", but this record has been, what, fourteen years in the making. It's so easy for Dr. Pepper to make a wager like this but I guess anything goes in today's marketing campaigns. Either way, if you're a GnR fan you win. Think about you being one of those people who really want to hear this record. If it's released, you're happy. If not, don't cry because you now have a free can of Dr. Pepper.

Here's what shocked me about this story. By 2005, Axl had already dropped $13 million into producing this record! Considering he started it in a time before most households had the internet, and well before the advent of Napster, how the fuck does he expect to make that back with the music industry struggling to figure out how to actually sell records anymore? If anyone has an idea, please discuss.

Um...nightrain.

Good for you, dude

Sorry, I'm a day or two late on this one. Still have the Stowe glow.

So our new governor has openly admitted to using bud and blow. And good for him.

"More Americans have tried a lot more during that period of time and gone on to lead responsible lives and hopefully have lived their lives to their fullest," he said."

Wow! That almost sounds (ahem) perfectly reasonable. What's he doing in politics, I wonder.

You know what's awesome?

P1180593
Originally uploaded by bre242

Not going to work and spending the weekend snowboarding in Stowe, VT where 18" of fresh snow fell on the day we got there.

What sucks is that I now have the bug to go all the time, but alas, 'tis the end of the season. Definitely investing in new boots and bindings for next season while keeping the same Burton Air board that I've had since 1995. I'm old school.

06.15.08

I can't wait! This looks awesome!

Taking your passions to the grave

A Michigan-based company, Eternal Image, is selling a line of baseball-related urns and caskets. As in, get your favorite team's logo on the ceramic and wood container that is holding the charred remnants of you.

Apparently, they're claiming to have already sold 50 Philadelphia Phillies urns.

Fortunately, if baseball is not your thing, but Star Trek is, they have that covered too.

Finally got around to watching The Speech

Prior to heading up to Vermont I did get around to watching the big Barack Obama speech on race he delivered in Philadelphia last week. Because of all the hype surrounding his address I figured I would weigh in with my two cents.

On the whole I think he succeeded in delivering a very mature and rational oratory on race-relations in 21st century America that effectively speaks to a generation of voters whose views on race are in deed more complex yet refined than baby-boomers. Again, in spite of some underlying liabilities in his candidacy, this is what makes him appealing to me. Well, that and the fact that the other two candidates seem like their rule would be a third term of Bush.

However, in spite of the level of maturity of many aspects of the speech, it should be noted that Obama is guilty of creating this predicament himself by making excuses for his crackpot Rev. Wright. And this has less to do with race and more to do with the fact that simply leaving the church (a seemingly sensible thing to do) would call into question his faith - a maneuver that would basically be political suicide.

This article perfectly sums up my feelings. Unfortunately there are things that Obama just didn't, couldn't, and probably shouldn't say.

"It is, of course, good to know that people like Reverend Wright occasionally do help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. But wouldn't it be better to do these things for reasons that are not manifestly delusional? Can we care for one another without believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is now listening to our thoughts?

Yes we can...

...Obama's candidacy is genuinely thrilling: his heart is clearly in the right place; he is an order of magnitude more intelligent than the current occupant of the Oval Office; and he still stands a decent chance of becoming the next President of the United States. His election in November really would be a triumph of hope.

But Obama's candidacy is also depressing, for it demonstrates that even a person of the greatest candor and eloquence must still claim to believe the unbelievable in order to have a political career in this country. We may be ready for the audacity of hope. Will we ever be ready for the audacity of reason?"