Guarding the Queen

Recently, a man tried to crash his car into a bus carrying Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.  The Netherlands generally has enjoyed low rates of violent crime, and the fact that someone would want to attack the Queen came as a shock to the populace.

It reminds me of a story by Bill Bryson, although his story is about Copenhagen, not Amsterdam:

"In 1982, a year for which I just happen to have the facts at my fingertips, there were six murders in Copenhagen, compared with 205 in Amsterdam, a city of similar size, and 1,688 in New York.  The city is so safe that Queen Margarethe used to walk from Amalienborg Palace to the shops every morning to buy flowers and vegetables just like a normal citizen.  I once asked a Dane who guarded her in such circumstances, and he looked at me with surprised and replied, 'Why, we all do," which I thought was rather sweet."  -From Neither Here Nor There

image: Queen Beatrix, by Carla Rodenburg

Cyberspace: No Vacancy

Starting next year, you could have 'brownouts' while using the internet. Cyberspace is filling up. Internet traffic is growing at 60% a year. Why all of a sudden? More people are working online, the popularity of You Tube, and we haven't even factored in India and China yet where the Internet is growing by leaps and bounds. Companies are investing billions into expanding the Internet's infrastructure, but demand may grow faster than supply.

New Bargain Basement Price for Yankees Tickets

I am a baseball fan. Specifically, I am a Mets fan. Baseball fans either love or hate the Yankees. I fall into the latter category. When the Yankees decided to close the old stadium, I thought I have to go. It was difficult to have a good time, but I survived.

Well, this year with a new 1.5 billion dollar Yankee Stadium, I wanted to check it out. Turns out the Mets play the Yankees at Yankee stadium in June. Great! I was ready to pay $100 for each ticket. Try $900 each. I was a wee bit upset. I am getting to a point here.

Now I hear the Yankees are slashing prices to fill the stands. People are not buying the expensive $2,600.00 seats and it looks bad on TV. My tickets are still $900, but I am glad someone is getting a bargain.Check out this tour of the stadium.

What a concert, ball game or experience worth to you?

Unlucky Strikes

Have you ever been in a public place and asked someone to stop smoking?  Say you are waiting for a bus or a train, and you think the waiting area is nonsmoking - and then a great big gust of cigarette smoke wanders into you.  If you were very sensititve to cigarette smoke, maybe you'd make a show of being affected by the smoke, waving your hands in front of your face and coughing.  Or maybe you'd simply ask the smoker to put out the cigarette.

But then what if the smoker didn't put out his or her cigarette?  What if, instead of putting out their cigarette, they punched you in the nose?

That's exactly what happened to a woman in Melbourne, Australia.  Police are asking the public's assistance in finding the assailant.

Raising a future billionaire

Can you imagine raising Bill Gates? His father, Bill Gates Sr. writes about it in his book called "Showing Up for Life."



Sr. says his son became an adult around the age of 11. Apparently, the young boy gained the intellect of an adult almost overnight.



There were a lot of disagreements over the years, but some things remained constant. Sunday family dinners at the same time every week and matching PJ's for the entire family at Christmas. Unfortunately that picture wasn't published with the article.

Tomato Idol

The Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain is holding auditions to find the next "Idol"... for plants.  As the BBC puts it: "For 30 days tomato plants at Wisley in Surrey will "listen" to voices through MP3 headphones attached to their pots."  Those plants will be compared to a control group that will not "listen" to voices.  The voice which produces the most fruit will be crowned the Voice of Wisley.  So far 40 people have auditioned. Stay tuned for the results!

picture at cafepress.com

Enough with bar games, try real games

A company called Timeless Entertainment Concepts is trying to redefine how people meet and date. They're replacing clubs with a playdate. PlayDate is a monthly social event in 20 cities where single adults play board games like Monopoly, Connect Four and Twister.



That's just the start of the evening. After board games, the night continues with school yard games with an adult twist like Simon Says break dance and Musical Chairs where the woman end up on a man's lap rather than a chair.



Lets not forget the adult cocktails.

Enjoy the fizz of Prosecco

I did not start out today wanting to blog about Prosecco, but I like Prosecco's versatility.

The Wall Street Journal did a nice job of reviewing Prosecco from $9.99 to $25 per bottle.

You can find their recommendations here. I started using Prosecco for New Year's Eve and I like it. I think it's a good idea to keep a bottle in the refrigerator. Prosecco and maybe some good cheese.

Top This

Have you ever been on a bad date?

Contributors at myveryworstdate.com have told of some pretty bad ones.  My favorite is the date with the guy who's missing two front teeth.  He slips in protein powder into the salad dressing, and then reveals that's he's under house arrest.

No more crazy names for babies

That's what a judge in the Dominican Republic says. He wants to ban names like Acura, Pineapple or Dummy. He says the names are confusing and some give no indication of gender. The proposal will come in front of his commission later this year.

I'd imagine some school teachers might appreciate this.

All I have to say is no such rule guides celebrities.

If you could choose your name, what would it be? I met a Vietnamese man who changed his first name to Bryant when he became a citizen. He says he doesn't know why he selected Bryant.