Showing posts with label Austin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austin. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Apollo Says "Aloha Austin"


As Snoop Dogg might say, "Austin fo shizzle sizzles". Temperature in Austin reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) on August 4, 2008, a record for the year (so far). As of August 4th, Austin had 42 days with temperature at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius). This was the number of 100-degree days in year 2000, which was the hottest year in three decades. The record for the most 100-degree days was set in 1925, when Austin hit that mark 69 times.

When I observe/experience adverse conditions like this, I try to find a person who I really can't complain to. In this case, that person would be any resident of Marble Bar in Western Australia. Like in Death Valley, they have sizzling summers. Between October 1923 and April 1924, they experienced 162 consecutive days of 100+ degrees Fahrenheit (world champions in this category)!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Tesla's Field Day in Austin Area


Watched an interesting program on Nikola Tesla, on History Channel yesterday. Nikola's why not? attitude coupled with Texas-size ideas really impressed me - he conceived some grandiose projects like harnessing power from lightning and Niagara Falls, and wireless transmission of electricity across the globe! I didn't know until yesterday that Tesla was the inventor of radio and not Marconi; I think my school books said otherwise.

The funny part is, as we were watching this program involving lightning and Tesla, there was this spectacular lightning display going on, right in our backyard. KXAN reported a tornado sighting near Lakeline Mall which is not very far from where we live. So, for the first time, we obeyed (and really felt like obeying!) the TV warnings based on Live Doppler Radar, and spent a few minutes in the bathroom while the storm was passing Round Rock. Here are some photographs (that I found on the Internet) from yesterday's storm in Austin area. Heard that some large oaks were uprooted by the wind, many windows were broken, and about 11,000 folks in Austin area will be without power through Sunday.









Thursday, August 23, 2007

Will Wynn Will Win

Austin's Mayor Will Wynn
Austin's Mayor Will Wynn's name is all setup for pun. I wonder if he used a slogan like "Will Wynn will win" during his mayoral election campaign:-) It is good to know that Austin continues to be one of the most beautiful and desired cities in the US for living in.

Austin Mayor Will Wynn is sporting a Prada* suit in the pages of September’s Esquire magazine. In the photo, part of a series of portraits taken at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Los Angeles in June, Wynn sports a two-button wool suit ($2,425) and silk tie ($160) by Prada and a cotton shirt ($99) by Charles Tyrwhitt.

The piece includes a short interview. “Right now, I’m quarterbacking the youngest, most-educated, safest, fastest-growing city in the U.S.,” Wynn, 45, is quoted as saying. When asked about his greatest triumph, he says: “I feel like Napoleon bulldozing medieval Paris. We have seven tower cranes up right now.”

Though I am not a big fan of city politics, from a few TV clips that I watched during channel surfing, I thought mayoral campaign would be a fun thing to watch. It was amusing to note that homeless cross-dresser Leslie Cochran won 8% of the vote and Dale Reed, a cab driver, won about 5% of the vote in 2000. And then, I enjoy the spirit of Restaurateur Marc Katz (Katz never kloses) who lost to Will Wynn in mayor elections for his continued light-hearted local TV ads "I may not be the mayor, but I am the pastrami king"!

Now, his opponents might call this Devil Wears Prada!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

O. Henry Pun-Off 2007

I had pun in the sun pretty much the whole day Saturday (05.19.07). Started the day with a 17-kilometer walk/jog on the Town Lake. In the afternoon, Rama and I went to the 30th Annual O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships (organizers called this event, Austin's thirty little secret!). We topped the day off with The Road to Austin concert sponsored by Freescale and watched Bonnie Raitt play guitar from a close distance. Though I am not too crazy about her music, we waited in a 1/2-mile long line for entry, as she is a famous singer who won nine Grammy's.

The coolest thing for the day was the Pun-off. I am impressed by the ability of some of the contestants who came up with a rapid fire of puns. The rules were simple: Two or 3 participants would go on stage. The judges give them a (random) topic and contestant #1 should fire a pun on that topic within 7 seconds or so. Then, #2 will have 7 seconds to come up with a pun on the same topic, and then it would be #3's turn. They keep taking turns - the last one standing wins.

Those who fail to come up with a pun and those who make more than two unsuccessful attempts get eliminated. They keep changing the topics very fast (the participants will not have prior knowledge of the list of topics). This event went on for about 5 hours as there were a large number contestants.

The judges and the emcees were real pundits with very keen sense of humor. They spun funny yarns on the names of the participants, pun topics, weather, ..., just about everything.

Here are some puns I liked from O.Henry Pun-off website punpunpun.com! I heard some of these b4. I provided links to a couple of items as they probably are not well known outside the US.

For a fencer to admit that he's been foiled is a hard thing touche.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower.

2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds.

Paradox: Two physicians.

Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1
billygram.

1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz.

When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter =
Eskimo Pi.

A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.

A plateau is a high form of flattery.

The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Finally, here is a creation of Mr. Gary Hallock

We've Bin Laden him alone for years so why is George Bush so determined to kick Saddam's a#@ now? It's obvious he wants to divert America's attention from the tanking economy. I think he just wants to give Saddam a whoopin' of mass distraction.

Waging war in the midst of a recession is a sure fire way to put our economy into the tank. Speaking of things going into the tank, how about the price of gasoline lately? When I filled up with regular yesterday at my local Diamond ShamIraq station I sure felt sorry for the poor ethyls whose cars use premium. I'll bet they wish they would OPECed a more fuel efficient car. Even if this war is over quickly, it might still create a long termoil crisis ANWR likely to see troops drilling in Alaska soon.

The Turks are still not shore they want us to Ankara ships on their soil so Bush appears ready to take Kuwait and sea attitude. Christian soldiers in our Navy have always been able to warship freely in the open sea so I guess they may have to sortie things out for US. At any rate Bush seems pretty Syrias about pressing this war. So by April 15th I'm sure Saddam will wish he had arranged attack shelter to
cover his assets.

Why does Bush have such great attraction
To press for this bellicose action,
Our troops to amass
To kick Saddam's a#@
A whoopin' of massive distraction?

2007 O.Henry Pun-off Awards