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The Sci Fi Channel reports that Max Headroom may return to TV. Unfortunately, I didn’t get into the show until after it got cancelled. It always seemed ahead of its time; it would be cool to see it get another chance…

The Guardian has an interesting report on how Canadians view the United States. “Essentially, Canadians regard all Americans as morons, unless proven otherwise.” Thanks, W. Actually, the story makes some compelling points about American apathy and ignorance towards Canada; one in particular stood out: “the Bush administration has compounded this with a series of gratuitously casual snubs. When the president spoke to congress after the attacks and praised Tony Blair and Britain to the skies, Canada – whose cooperation was crucial to the return to any kind of post-attack normality – was forgotten.” Thanks, W. Way to work that foreign policy…

This New York Times correction sounds like something out of a Monty Python sketch. Or The Simpsons: “I know what those words mean individually…”

Trent Lott’s remarks about Strom Thurmond have snowballed into a GOP leadership crisis. I knew he was moronic for saying what he did, but I never imagined it would get this bad. Let’s see what kind of spinmeister tactics are whipped out for this…

The Cap Centre (I REFUSE to call it the US Airways Arena) was demolished yesterday at 8:02 A.M. to make way for a new shopping center. What a sad end to an arena that holds some great memories for me. I saw my first concert (Billy Joel, 1989) and my first NHL game (Caps vs. Rangers?) there. I’m not a big NBA fan, but there are many that also know it as the home of the Bullets (the Wizards is the worst name ever!). I think most of all I’ll miss not having to drive all the way into DC for a concert or a Caps game, although Beltway traffic is its own challenge. There are a lot of people mourning the loss of the Cap Centre, and I join them. Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium met the same sad fate in January of this year, although initially there were plans to simply transform the stadium itself into a shopping area. However, in this case the structure was apparently unsound and it was decided to demolish it altogether, although for a time the famous Memorial Stadium facade remained. I remember flying back from New York last year and while flying over was shocked to see that they were in the midst of destroying the stadium. Memorial Stadium holds some precious memories for me; I saw my first Orioles game there back in the ‘70s (against the California [NOT Anaheim] Angels), the first of many. I have to admit that Camden Yards is a much nicer stadium, but that doesn’t diminish the great childhood memories I have of Memorial Stadium. I’ve never seen any NFL game at any stadium :-(, but the legacy of the Colts (and Ravens) goes without saying. I understand the need for (sub)urban revitalization, but I wish there was a way to do so without simply knocking down such icons of culture without any thought to preserving their legacy. At the very least I hope the Memorial Stadium facade is transplanted somewhere as a monument to Baltimore sports. I know I’d visit…

Irish scientists have taken it upon themselves to derive a mathematical formula for the perfect pizza. Images of pizza were “broken down and transformed into a mathematical formula to define the optimal pizza’s base area, spatial ratio between toppings and circularity.” OK, I guess anything that makes pizza better is fine in my book, but what I really want to know is: what is sweetcorn and what is it doing on a pizza?

The New York Times’ 2nd Annual Year In Ideas has a lot of interesting trends that arose in this past year. The actual link is found in the sidebar “The Year In Ideas 2002”, but since it doesn’t seem to be a permanent link I wanted to include both URLs.

Yahoo! reports: Russell Crowe to Wed Longtime Girlfriend.

Read this article by Ben Stein in Forbes Magazine. I’ve always admired Ben Stein, and he makes a lot of good points in the article. Of course, that doesn’t mean that anything will change, unfortunately, but one can hope…

The first controlled, manned flight of an aircraft was made by the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. But were they really the first? Although there is no definitive proof, researchers in New Zealand believe that “on or about March 31, 1903, [Richard] ‘Mad Pearse’…flew for about 140 metres before his plane crashed into the gorse hedge surrounding the farm that he never wanted and always neglected.” Apparently Pearse never claimed to be the first:

He never claimed to have truly beaten the Wright brothers, saying he hadn’t met his own exacting standards for “proper … sustained and controlled flight.” His descents were too erratic and his plane, he wrote to the Christchurch Star in 1928, wasn’t fast enough to steer effectively. “I had successful navigation within my grasp … but I decided to give up the struggle as it was useless to try to compete against the men who had factories at their backs.”

In the wake of the approaching hundredth anniversary of manned flight, this is quite a story. However, even if enough evidence is found to prove this claim, it does not change the lasting impact made by the Wright Brothers. I really look forward to attending some of the centennial celebrations in this coming year…