Worth Mentioning... Issue #10

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on May 30, 2008 at 10:30 AM, updated May 30, 2008 at 2:28 PM



Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to a very special edition of Worth Mentioning...

Today, I hit the double digits! Issue 10! Surely this is a monumental moment in the history of Internet Blogging. There's a literal ton of great stuff to do this week, especially in the H2/S2D section, where there is even a PRIZE BEING OFFERED THIS WEEK! I know it is difficult for you all to contain your excitement, so lets get to it, shall we?

Meet... This guy

Merlin "Miracle Man" German
Today's first story is a little bit sad, just to give you a heads up before hand. But it is a story that should be told.

Meet... this hero. Merlin German. The Miracle Man.

German was a 19-year-old marine who survived a roadside bomb blast that left his body with scars over 97 percent of his body on Feb. 21, 2005. He was rushed home from Iraq so is family could try to say goodbye.

When he arrived stateside, doctor's changed gears. This was no longer a quality-of-life situation. He was a fighter. German was doing relatively well and doctors decided to pull out every trick they knew to try and save him.

While German fought to rehabilitate and gain the ability to just sit up in bed, or speak a few words, doctors were removing the remaining good skin from the very scarce areas of his body where it remained, namely the top of his head and soles of his feet, and sending it out to labs to be grown into larger pieces of skin.

German had both artificial and cadaver skin grafted onto his body in some spots. He endured over 100 corrective surgeries to restore healthy skin. Everyday, German kept fighting. He began to walk again, joke around with his continually growing family. And his family grew large, from initially his parents to the nurses and doctors who cared for him to the other burn victims he inspired not to give up.

The ever-larger family was rocked when German passed away recently after a routine surgery to graft skin to his lips. It was devastating because of how hard German always fought, how steadfast and unflappable he was in the face of adversity.

He was flown home to say goodbye and lived to keep on fighting.

Merlin German, Miracle Man, passed away three years after he was supposed to have died. And he gave his life fighting to defend this country. Thank you, and Godspeed.

Earthians boring.
Peter Smith, Principal Investigator, University of Arizona.
This week was host to a very important technological, scientific achievement. Earth invaded Mars. Will our actions be taken in a hostile context by the newly-reached planet? Will we be able to coexist peacefully and produce a fruitful relationship? Will our Phoenix rover find only a pickup truck-driving alcoholic alien who will promptly drive back to his local bar and tell outlandish stories of close encounters all while being scoffed at and mocked?

Who knows?! The possibilities seem endless.

Seriously though, we dropped a big ole' toy car onto Mars so we can dig around and see whats underneath that top layer of dirt. NASA is hoping for ice or microbes or something similar. I believe they think either would be equally as fascinating. I know that guy pointing at his NASA hat would.

So what does it all mean? Well, first off, if aliens from mars are Martians, since we're invading them, I find it only fit to dub anyone involved with the project Earthians. Second of all, some nay-sayers claim our presence in space may be more contamination than good-will and cheer. Others valiantly defend our good name. It is our DUTY, fine sirs, to spread life to where ever it might be possible.

Overhead shots from Io9 detailing how the Lander landed.
Hub-bub and argumentative reasoning aside, this isn't a quest so much about finding or discovering life. No, I'm pretty sure that, while it would be ignorant to think that in the enormously open universe there is not one single planet somewhere out there that has developed some sort or living, breathing, aware creature, it certainly isn't on Mars. If it was so simple, I wouldn't feel so silly about all the times I was trying to flash mirror-signals from my bedroom window when I was supposed to be in bed at age 8.

No, this is more about finding out if maybe Mars could support life. You know, in case we need a new home sometime soon. Once the rivers, seas and oceans teem over their banks and spill into our land, we may get tired of so much water and need a new place to crash. And, from the looks of some of the photos, there is a whole lot of land to share up there.

Dibs on a spot where I cab still see Earth! I'm going to miss her.

They make movies about when this happens. Dawn of the Dead was one of them.

Val Thomas seems like a really nice, very sweet little old lady. But I have a bit of a problem, even after her miraculous recovery. I can't trust her. And it's because of her miraculous recovery.

Val Thomas
See, the thing is, Mrs. Thomas' heart stopped, three different times, and she passed away. Died. She was no longer with us. Doctors called it and started unplugging all the machines.

But her family wanted to donate her organs, so a ventilator was left on to keep the organs salvageable. 17 1/2 hours later, I repeat, seventeen and one-half-hour later,
AFTER rigor mortis had set in, and her skin began to harden, and her fingers and toes began to curl, and all external machine assistance had been stopped, save for a ventilator, Val Thoms woke up.

She. Woke. Up.

Miraculous: Yes, to say the very least.

But there is a part of me I can not convince to be at ease. Admittedly, this is my own problem, and probably a very singular one. I blame my age bracket, and the Hollywood environment I was brought up in the time of, but... I think Mrs. Thomas qualifies as an Ombie with a capital Z.

Not funny, I know, but I am not laughing. I am very happy for both her and her family. Truly amazing. I just hope she doesn't mind if I congratulate her from afar. I can't argue with the processing of my braaaaaains.

I mean, brain.

Super-Mega How To / Stuff To Do
Heretofore officially known as H2/S2D.

Go on long business trips overseas? Just restless sometimes? Want to help reset your internal clock and circadian rhythms? Skip a meal or two.

Homes are down, prices are up, and you have to sign out a college tuition-sized loan just to pay for gas. Want to make things a it simpler? How about a home made out of old cargo containers. Or a greenhouse? I know, I laughed at first, too. But check them out and then tell me you don't even at least consider it for a minute.

Straight from the horses mouth: who would be allowed to die in a catastrophe. Kind of a morbid approach. But knowing this lets us know who the we need to keep an eye out for, should the most unexpected happen.

Also health related: Cool stuff your body can do that you probably didn't even know.

Just because it's awesome, I include ten videos of guys whose teammates probably wanted to kill them.

This extensive list not only gives you lots of tips on how to become this summer's greatest Master BBQer, but links to a bunch more tip pages. In reviewing this list, I believe I am a Zen Grilling Master.

Food-related: Throwing a last minute party? Guests arriving any second? Drinks still warm and sitting on the counter? Chill them in about 120 seconds with this amazing trick.

Lost in the jungle? Then how are you reading this? Either way, you'll probably want to read this.

House not haunted enough? Order up a Ghost in a Bottle. This is very different than that Christina Aguillera song about genies.

Bored? Need something to occupy yourself with for the day? Don't have time to order up a Ghost in a Bottle and wait for it to arrive? Build your own ghost. Scare the neighbors, keep kids off your lawn! Act now!


Some of you may have already heard about this, so, I guess you've got a leg up on the competition, but either way, here it is.

This week, Linton Weeks parted with the Washington Post. He wrote one last article for them. It can be found here. While appearing to be a pretty standard article, it actually held a deeper message to some of his readers. First one to figure out the secret message and email me what it says wins. NO CHEATING. Please. I'll never know, though, so you're on the honor system.

Prize is a free copy the Sunday edition of whatever your local paper equivalent of the South Jersey News Online is (The Gloucester County Times, The Bridgeton News, Salem's Today's Sunbeam, whatever you want) hand delivered to your doorstep by yours truly, along with some iced coffee and donuts or a breakfast sandwich or whatever else you'd like, up to around $25. Paper will be brought on a Sunday worked out in advance, and if you live in an area farther than Philadelphia, northern Delaware or Central Jersey, I will mail you your paper, a box of donuts and a package of coffee, though no guarantee is made that the Sunday edition will arrive in time for the date printed on the paper. So, get to it.


That's it for this week, kids. Good luck, and, as always, it's been fun. Now, on to everyone's favorite part!


Collection of shots of abandoned bankrupt offices by Philip Tolendano.
Tim Nobel and Sue Webster's collection of trash built to resemble people when a light creates a shadow off the sculpture.
Collection of awesome light graffiti images, which are night images created by waving around colored lights in front of a prolonged-exposure shot.
A photographer leaps over the Grand Canyon onto a small outcropping of rocks for the perfect sunset shot. This image is more incredible than the sunset.
Link goes to an article on the incredible last tribe on Earth unspoiled by modernization or outside human contact. Pics of tribe shooting at an overhead helicopter.
My Picasso. I created it on this fun site, which gives you all the tools to create your own Picasso painting.


Take care of each other.

-- DJ McAneny