Shots

Some shots from the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor (you can also see them in the photo strip above also). We went during low season, so it wasn’t as crowded as would be normal, but because of the size of the facilities, there is a limited number of people that can go per day — something like 5,000 people. Last time I went there was no way I could get there early enough to get tickets (by the way, admission to USS Arizona is free — there’s no need to book a tour).

Mentally ill man is killed on jetway in Miami after claiming he had a bomb. Lots of guessing followed by conclusions of “sorry, but the right thing done” on the news programs tonight. The entire incident appeared to have taken only a minute from the man’s run off the plane and the air marshals’ pursuit and takedown. Apparently, the marshals were on high alert for a 50-year-old Egyptian claiming to be an Iowa university student that was inexplicably released even after his shoes tested positive for explosives. In any case, if I’m on a plane and some dude with a bag yells that he has a bomb, forget the marshals – given half a chance I and every other able-bodied passenger would pummel the guy like they did with sneaker-bomber Richard Reid.

Reading this month’s Wired magazine about rising oil prices, ads today have almost as many words as the articles that they accompany. During the dot com boom, ads had few if any words — the ideal would be a big picture coupled with 3 to 5 words. In Wired, a car maker ad on the inside cover has over 270 words. A major bank even has a whole board game for improving your credit. I don’t know if it’s an attempt to blend in with the content, people nowadays have increasing attention spans, products are just way more complicated to sell, or maybe marketeers are just shooting in the dark.