Some of the news that is fit to print

Building a better mouse trap...

• "Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door." So says Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Well, apparently three Perdue University engineers have invented a better tricycle -- one that eliminates the needs for parents to run behind their kids holding the back of the bike for stability. The tricycle actually morphs into a bicycle and back again!

Called SHIFT, it slowly transforms from a tricycle to bicycle configuration as the rider pedals faster, then returns to trike formation as the rider slows down.

That's just too cool! (XDM take note! The B-man definitely needs one of these! Sounds like it may be a good gift from Uncle CJD and DMV!)

The team has even won engineering awards for the design!

Ain't technology just grand!

So-long 'HFS

I noted about DC-alt music standard WHFS suddenly switching formats three months ago to the Latino mix. The WP notes this morning that some of us may have been disappointed, but the station in the most recent ratings book saw a 69 percent increase. I guess there is an untapped market. A few interesting tidbits fromt the piece:
* Viacom's Infinity Radio started the station with essentially no staff. They used feeds from other stations and have backfilled the posts.
* Accordinig to the Arbitron rating people, 96 percent of hispanic homes get radio. Um, I don't mean to sound snooty, but  are there really homes that don't have a radio? I guess I just listen to so much radio, I just assumed.
* And a term I had not heard of -- "hurban."

All I have to say is thank goodness for XM Radio.

Tough week for the Daisy

I mentioned yesterday that this has been a long week. When I thought about it, it has been a long month. First, our dear friend MJ's mother passed away. Then my sister had some issues, which I will not share with the entire world other than to say that it was stressful. This week, it was my sweet dog Daisy the Beagle's turn in the pressure cooker.

Daisy has always been a heavy water drinker, but it was getting to the point that she was drinking non-stop and therefore peeing non-stop. My initial fear was that she was suffering from kidney failure because the girl's kidney's already don't work 100 percent. And I was terrified because there isn't much you can do with kidney failure. So it was actually a relief when the vet told us that Daisy is a diabetic.

What it means is that we have to give her insulin shots every morning. That means she has to eat something every morning -- one feeding is no longer good enough.

My first experiences with the shots are heartening -- it isn't as awful as I had envisioned. It does make things complex. When we travel, we will have to take the insulin with us, but it needs to be kept cold... It is complicated, but Daisy is certainly worth it.

It has been a stressful few weeks. I don't think we are all that disappointed to say good-bye to April and welcome May.

DMV and I will celebrate the end of the month in glorious style -- at the final final Cher concert at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend. It is the "farewell" tour that has been traveling around the country for years, but she says that this is the final final farewell. It could actually be given that the timing is just about 40 years after her first concert with Sonny. Regardless, it's Cher!

I'll report back, of course.

A pack with the devil!

That is the only way to explain American Idol this year -- Scott Savol has made a pack with the Devil! He sold what little soul he had and it has let him get this far.
Let me step back for a moment...
It has been a very busy week  -- more on that later today -- so I did not have time to do my usual AI05 post, but I will give you what my predictions were:
CJD's predictions:
Best performance of the evening: Carrie
Weakest performance of the evening: Savol... although Constintine tried to make a race of it. Hor-a-ble!
Who should be in the bottom three: Savol, Anthony, Constintine
Who will be in the bottom three: Savol, Constintine, Vonzell
Who will/should go home: Scott

As well all now know, Scott did not go home. In fact, Scott did not even make the bottom three. It was Vonzell, Constintine, and Anthony. Vonzell got to sit down and Constintine goes home amid a sobbing Paula.

So I am now convinced that Scott has made a pack with the Devil. How else can you explain Bobo The Wonder Idol's continued success?

We have officially entered bizarro-world!

And Bo, who is not a CJD-fav, is the only one of my original final three still in the race. It is just wrong! Bot is talented, but I just don't see him as a pop idol. And he pretty much does the same regardless of the theme. I guess the new CJD-fav would be Carrie, who is a bit on the boring side, but has great pipes.

One last aside... AI scandal watch. When does the ABCNews special air? The WP's TV columnist says the American public doesn't seems to care. I don't think that is the case. I just don't think anybody thinks this is a Quiz Show scandal. Are the number of calls fixed?  Save that, it falls short. If the big story is that Paula is goosing the boys she likes, that seems to fall far short of a scandal to me. She's a judge, for goodness sakes. Each week, she says who she likes and who she doesn't like... but I can't wait to tune in. Has ABCNews said when it is airing yet? Just checked...  tune in May 4 at 10p on ABC for PrimeTimeLive's "Fallen Idol"

Interpreting 'The Interpreter'

We saw "The Interpreter" last night -- the new thriller from Sydney Pollack starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. Before I get to the movie... I understand why the mega-plex movie theaters are all the rage. They have been widely seen as saving the cash hemorrhaging movie theater companies because they allow them to show more movies to more people at less cost. We, however, generally like to go to some of the classy, older theaters, especially the theaters with the big screens. There aren't many of those around anymore. We have DC's grand daddy of theaters, the Uptown -- which regularly wins the WP's best of the best awards -- is located in walking distance from us. (Another bonus for an eco-freak!) Unfortunately, the single theaters are just not nearly as convenient. We got back from running around at about 6:30, and of course the movie started at 7p. That just doesn't leave enough time to walk the dog and do the stuff that needs to be done. So we end up seeing it at the Georgetown mega-plex. (It is also nice, however. They remade Georgetown's old incinerator. Part of the building is now a Ritz-Carlton hotel and residences, and the other are theaters.) Anyway...

So we went to see "The Interpreter" and we had fairly low expectations. Despite Metacritic's findings, the reviews I saw were not great -- Slate.com, NYT,   and the WSJ. So it was difficult to not beat my expectations. But this movie really did. As you know, I don't like to give away too much of the movie. Suffice it to say, this is a thriller of international intrigue set inside the United Nations and New York. It is not Penn's finest performance ever. That being said, a bad Penn performance is better than most other actors. There are too scenes where he is a bit over the top. But it is still a good performance. Kidman does an excellent job, as always.

There were a few things that just seemed implausible -- the final scene, for example. (I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just leave it at that.)

Overall, it was a very enjoyable movie.

Grade: B-... Thumb up... three stars... 6 out of 10... whatever grading system you are most comfortable with...

Nothing lies like numbers

The WSJ has a wonderful columnist that the paper calls "The Numbers Guy," who delves into the statics and numbers trying to make sense of them. And today, he has an excellent bit about the "fact" people keep throwing around -- that Canadian police estimate that more than 100,000 Web sites contain images of child sexual abuse.

It turns out the Canadian police were citing the statistic from a three-year-old article in a magazine that stopped publishing in 2003. The magazine's source is a U.S. agency that no longer exists. And the agency that has replaced it can't track down the original source of the stat. The lesson: An old stat can get new life when "experts" repeat it, especially when there is no conflicting version of the number.

I love it when reports go above and beyond and question something that we all consider as a fact. As a journalist for years, it is always surprising to me that people take almost anything that is written down -- especially in newspapers or magazines -- as if it is Gospel. Just like nearly everything, they need to be interpreted through common sense. As always, the reader needs to ask, "Does this make sense?"

In this particular case, I'm not exactly sure how anybody would calculate how much child porn is online. And I'm not sure it really matters. If the number were larger, would we be any less horrified? Or would authorities be putting any more or less resources dealing with the problem based on the number? Kiddie porn is horrible and we know that it out there, but I'm not sure the number adds a lot to the debate.

Not that I have an opinion, of course.

McEwan on Earth Day 2005

"The sheer pressure of our numbers, the abundance of our inventions, the blind forces of our desires and needs, appear unstoppable and are generating a heat – the hot breath of our civilization – whose effects we comprehend only hazily," novelist Ian McEwan writes in a Los Angeles Times commentary on Earth Day, calling for "good science" to help reignite a conversation about the world's environmental problems.

AI'05... there will be six...

I have already said that I care less and less about this year's American Idol. The remaining people are a bore and the fact that Scott and Anthony are still in the contest but Nadia is not is just wrong. I watched last night, nevertheless. And so... CJD's take...

CJD’s AI take… 

Overall observations:

• It was a much better theme this week. It allowed them to strut their stuff much      more. But I was still left un-wowed. There is yet to be a performance this year that knocks my socks off. (sorry all you Bo fans! And how exactly was the song he did disco in any way?)
• Is Paula on crack? She has been totally wacky lately.
• Simon seemed tired. He usually has some interesting critique, but he was just off his game.
• Was there anybody that Randy didn’t like last night?
• There seemed to be some problem with the mix levels. Vonzell was quite good, but she seemed to be drowned out by the back-up singers.

Constantine… Singing the Bee Gees’ Nights on Broadway… Loved the all white jacket. I’m not sure what the deal with the mascara was. The judges say it is lame. Perhaps I just love the song, but I didn’t think he did that bad.

Scott Savol… Singing Everlasting Love… Best song in weeks. Of course, that is not saying much. He is totally out of his league. Can you imagine EVER buying a Savol album? And where did Seacrest’s “Scotty the Body” come from? It seems insulting at best.

Carrie Underwood… singing Donna Summer's version of

MacArthur Park … one of my favorite songs… I’m not sure she is the brightest light bulb on the Christmas tree. She called MacArthur Park good “despite the words” – some of which she forgot… again! Here are the lyrics. USAToday.com’s reviewer said her comment was “vacuous… I'm sure Jimmy Webb, one of the world's pre-eminent songwriters, must have enjoyed that review … Someone left her brain out in the rain.)"

Fedorov… Singing Tavares' Don't Take Away the Music… OK. He did OK. (I still think he is cute!) But honestly, didn’t you think, “Couldn’t somebody please take the music away from this boy!”?

Anwar… His version of September by Earth, Wind & Fire was better than the painful songs he has selected previously. I’m not sure it will save him, however.

Bo… So how is this song disco?

CJD Predictions
Best performance of the evening: Carrie
Weakest performance of the evening: Savol
Who should be in the Bottom Three: Scott, Anthony, Anwar
Who will be in the Bottom Three: Scott, Anthony, Anwar
Who should go home: Scott (if for no other reason then his general performances)
Who will go home: Anwar

AI votes... more wronger!

It has happened yet again, but this week, it is even more egregious. The AI voters are all wrong. Last night, they didn't boot Scott tubby Savol. Instead they booted my top pick, Nadia. Any top seven that includes Savol and Feteroff but not Nadia seems nothing short of appalling. Appalling, I tell you.

WP TV writer Lisa de Moraes put it best:

Because there are people who will vote for Scott Savol even after he insults them on national television, Nadia Turner got tossed from a super-padded "American Idol" episode last night.

Can I continue to watch after this? Yeah, probably, but really! How much is one expected to take?

AI'05... and then there will be seven...

It is Wednesday and that means AI commentary, analysis and predictions.

Prepare yourself to feel like you are in Abu Graib tonight -- it is an hour long results show. Thank GOD for TiVo... And before I get to my predictions...

Question: You have Hall and Oats sitting there. Why NOT have them be guess judges? What? Were they just walking through Hollywood and said, "Hey, we don't have plans on a Tuesday. Let's go see AI!" And then they get a little tunage on the show as well. Needless to say, I'm suspicious.

My general take is that the judges were on crack last night. I guess that is assumed for Paula these days, but... I usually expect more from Randy and certainly Simon. But they were just totally off on several people. They raked Nadia, but I thought she did a great job. I hadn't heard of the song before, but I thought she sounded great -- and a bit improvement over the past few showings.

An aside... USAToday notes that Nadia's song didn't actually match the theme -- songs from the year of your birth.

Speaking of elimination, I'm afraid my longtime favorite Nadia Turner could be the toast of the round. Not only did she pick a dull country ballad (Crystal Gayle's When I Dream), and sing it listlessly, but in a week when the contestants were charged with choosing a song from their birth year, she didn't even get that right. (She said she was born in 1977; When I Dream came out on an album in 1978 and hit the country charts in 1979.)

Simon was right on the money with Scott Butterball and I don't know what Paula was thinking. Scott almost sounded like he was gurgling on those low notes. And his comments in response to Simon – that he was somehow brave enough to get up there and perform. Here it is exactly. “"I'm up here and there's, like, millions of people at home who didn't have the nerve to do this.” Ummm, what? And finally… talk about a ugly baby! He hasn’t changed all that much, I guess.

Bo seems to have peaked early.Constantine, however, seems to be improving week after week. It may just be song selection, but whatever he is doing, it is working.

Feteroff... his best showing... perhaps ever... but he is still way out of the competition. But he'll make the final seven. (Who would have guessed that?)

And I know I put Anwar in my final three, but I would vote him off. BORING BORING BORING I don't know what the judges were talking about giving him all the praise. He has a great voice, but he is just SO boring. By far my biggest disappointment -- and given AI's performance this year, that's no small feat.

Carrie... She has a bit of the 'deer in the headlights' look when she gets outside of her comfort zone (ie, country), and she did miss some of the very high notes, but she looks great and 98 percent of the time is a excellent singer. She is currently my favorite to win it all.

Finally, my predictions:
Best performance of the evening: Constantine, Carrie
Weakest performance of the evening: Scott
Who should be in the Bottom Three: Scott, Anwar, and Feteroff.
Who will be in the Bottom Three: Scott, Anwar, Nadia
Who should/will go home: Scott

OH! And somebody here at work suggested that Scott and Nadia were dating? Has anybody heard that? GROSS!!!