Fictional Deadly Rock Becomes Reality

CAN AN ICONIC HERO IN BLUE AND A RED CAPE BE FAR BEHIND?

Turns out Kryptonite has been discovered.

No, really, it has. And we're not talking the element you find on the periodic table either.

A mineral has been discovered in a Serbian mine that matches the description of the alien rock that emits radioactive poison affecting certain other-worldly fictional superheroes.

When analyzing the new mineral's chemical make-up, a near match was found to already exist - in pop culture fiction.

I say "near" because its make-up of 'sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide lacks fluorine, which would've make it a perfect match to its description in the recent "Superman Returns" film. That, and it's not green.

But it does turn pink-orange in fluorescent light.

So... without diving too deep in the metaphysical philosophy that preaches that reality is merely formed by our thoughts and desires, I will spend a few minutes geeking out over the idea that where there is a rock, there is a hero not too far behind.

Fit For A Queen

As mentioned in a previous blog, Her Royal Highness, the Queen of England is coming to Virginia. Just in time for the reopening of the Commonwealth's capitol.

What? You didn't know that the Capitol has been closed for renovations for the past two years at the fine sounding tune of $104.5 million?

Well, we certainly wouldn't want Richmond looking a sham for the big 4-0-0 anniversary of Jamestown, now would we? Not with the Queen delivering a speech to a joint session of the General Assembly next Thursday, May 3rd, most certainly not.

Furthermore, discussions between her palace in London, the embassy in D.C. and the Governor Kaine's office are taking place to decide how best the visiting queen should acknowledge the event of last week at Virginia Tech.

I wonder if I can get her to sign my copy of "The Queen" - once I get past her security detail.

Proposal to Drill Off Virginia Coast

SOMETIMES YOU ONLY BEGIN TO TAKE NOTICE AND CARE WHEN IT'S CLOSER TO HOME

Though no drilling would potentially happen until 2011, the Interior Department is about to release a five year plan that involves a "major proposal for expanded oil and natural gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf." This includes Alaska's Bristol Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and Virginia - my Virginia.

Suddenly, I take notice; and suddenly I care a great deal.

All I have to do is picture in my head the spill of March 23, 1989 in Alaska's Prince William Sound involving oil tanker Exxon Valdez, and photoshop that imagery against the backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay and Assateague Island.


I think about area's famous blue crab.

I think about the seasonal swim of wild ponies across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague Island.

And maybe I'm going all Rachel Carson here, but despite the current conditions of the Potomac these years, I don't like the ideas of a drill station off the coastline of Virginia, just waiting for an accident to happen.

Hopefully and luckily two things will happen:

1. The plan will never be passed.

2. The power and control the oil industry has over our need for energy sources will finally be thwarted by new energy developments, and we can move on to have new energy crises - such as accidental fusion meltdowns threatening to consume entire continents.

Journalists Kindly Evicted From School

The student body of Virginia Tech has asked that the media and all journalists leave the campus effective early Monday morning; and it's a good thing they did.

I'm sure they've had enough of being a media-frenzy, three-course buffet. Unfortunately, many took what happened nearly a week ago as another opportunity to get the most story out there before everyone else. NBC released the home-made videos of the killer for crying out loud!

And those truly affected, have had enough for one lifetime. So the decision to ask the media to leave was "...made by the students, with the intent to regain a sense of normalcy, as [they] prepare to move forward..."

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does Whatever A Spider Can

It's official and it's most certainly happening. Our favorite neighborhood web-slinger will be singing his way into a Broadway musical.

And bring on the heavy-hitters! Tony award winner Julie Taymor is directed, with music supplied by Bono and the Edge.

So don't be expecting a comedy. In fact, I'm not sure what I would be expecting from this production. You think Peter Pan had an interesting time flying about the stage. Just because you throw big names behind it doesn't mean it wont flop (i.e. Wedding Singers: The Musical). This brought up a discussion with other theatre goers, and it turns that this is just the tip of a frightening trend of converting films in plays. A spec sheet actually went around for Top Gun.

Let's hope not.

But for our Friendly Spider-Man ... at least we know he can pull off the tights.

There Is No Pause

Monday, April 16th 2007, a man and his guns killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

You can catch the latest here: CollegeMedia
and here: CNN

But...

The world still turns in time around the Sun, and thus the days keep coming with no regard for respite. "Time moves forward" - 0r perhaps, "Tempus Fugit."

Such days when everyone is eager to react and react with flare, I find myself sitting back and allowing the many, many suddenly vocal participants to crowd the airwaves, the web, and every vacant corner with their 'many' words.

For what do I have to contribute; anything of merit or significance that would actually shift the tide of the great conversation?

Or perhaps, I watch instead of speak because their words ring so similar from the past. There is nothing new in death and endings in this world. Grief, though wanted to be unique by every individual wallowing in it, is still grief.

Watching those who become animated due to unwanted endings, teaches and reminds that Good steps out from the ashes, bearing the name "Beginnings."

Find the good, and let us continue living forward; for if we fail to pick our heads up, the one who took the lives of those 32 people, has taken our lives as well.

Yes, let there be talk and much of it. And then tomorrow, let us appreciate that there still is one by chasing it full stride.

CAN PLAGIARISM PREVENTION VIOLATE COPYRIGHT LAW?

ONLINE PLAGIARISM DETECTION SERVICE SUED

Turnitin, a widely used online tool across the nation by public school teachers, is in the defendant's chair as two local Fairfax high school students filed a lawsuit against them this past week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

They seek damages from the Californian based compay that exposes those who copy and cheat on their papers by comparing their work "against a database of more than 22 million student papers as well as online sources and electronic archives of journals."

The students are suing because their own essays and papers are added to that same database in the process, violating copyright law.

Robert A. Vanderhye, a McLean attorney, clarifies:

"The problem with [Turnitin] is the archiving of the documents. They are violating a right these students have to be in control of their own property."

Perhaps public schools should focus on teaching students to be creative and not copy others as opposed to spending so much effort in catching them in the crime.

A win for the student would be a considerable shift in the landscape of how teachers and professors across the country can and can't check students' work for authenticity.

SEEING RED

Painting the Highway Red

Not too long ago (April 4th) commuters on the stretch of Interstate 495 that passes through Littleton, Massachusetts - outside of Boston - might have thought they were seeing the world through rose-colored lenses.

500 yards of the northbound lanes changed from black to a bright crimson when "thousands of gallons of red dye" were spilled from a topsy-turvy tractor trailer.

The dye is the same kind used to stain wood mulch and is considered environmentally safe, though still not advisable for consumption by curious little squirrels.

When traffic reopened the following morning, the highway was still red.

No More Bloody Sundays

A deal has been made between warring factions of Northern Ireland today. Catholic and Protestant rivals are sitting down at the same table. This really could be, as many around the world hope, the beginning of an end to a crimson stained era.

This is too important for me to summarize. If you've ever cared or even known of the bloodshed in Northern Ireland, then read the full article.

We're talking of a conflict born in days of Oliver Cromwell, 17th century. Their struggles reach even farther back, when England first took reign over Ireland.

If You Build It, Will The Cows Wear Spacesuits?

Florida has Cape Canaveral, Houston has NASA Command, and soon New Mexico could have the "world's first all-commercial spaceport." That is, if the citizens of Las Cruces don't mind paying slightly higher taxes.

No, they're not talking more Roswell conspiracy theories. The desert valley that is much of southern New Mexico could very well become...

"Spaceport America -- a 21st-century portal for thousands of people hoping to blast into space as tourists, explorers, researchers and, maybe someday, as commuters to destinations halfway around the world."

Why d0 I envision the ghost of Disney's head laughing manically and bouncing in a jar of jelly when I read this?

And did you know that there are private companies all over launching rockets into space? One company took a rejected NASA idea and sent into orbit the first inflatable 'space hotel.' One problem - total vacancy. They didn't even send up a monkey to answer the front desk phone!

You should definitely check the full article linked above. It even reveals just what happened to some of those dot.com billionaires.