Don’t ask me why I was at Vin Diesel’s Facebook page. But I found this:
Wait, art that celebrates Vin Diesel and tigers? Why does that sound familiar?
Oh right, it’s because I have it hanging in my living room:
Matt Cerrone Tweeted that if I record a rap album it should be called “Check Yourself Before You Trebek Yourself,” and I responded that I always planned on using “Check Your Ted” or “Only Built 5 Cuban Linx.”
Randy from The Apple had a better idea. Outstanding:
I made this for you guys:
For the first time a commercial spacecraft was launched into orbit and returned safely to Earth….
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, launched its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a Dragon capsule, at 10:43 a.m. Eastern time from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket appeared to operate flawlessly as it headed skyward.
Nine minutes later, the Dragon capsule reached orbit. It circled the Earth twice at an altitude of 186 miles before re-entering the atmosphere. Slowed by three parachutes, it softly splashed in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles west of northern Mexico. Ms. Garver said she had been told it landed within a mile of the recovery ship.
So it begins. Sweet. Since NASA’s clearly not getting me to the moon anytime soon, maybe we can benefit from a little competition, the free market and all that.
Also, I like that the company is called SpaceX. It’s the right mix of sounding like something from a dystopian-future movie and sounding like a extraterrestrial exploration enterprise owned by Xzibit. Ideally by the time they’re ready for human spaceflight, the rides will be thoroughly pimped.
I probably should have mentioned that the prior post was inspired by these amazing photos from a British photographer of water balloons exploding using high-speed photography. It’s kind of funny to imagine this guy drenched after every shoot:
A robot met its end near Coors Field tonight when the Denver Police Department Bomb Squad detonated the “suspicious object,” bringing to an end the hours-long standoff between police and the approximately eight-inch tall figurine….
A bomb squad robot was sent it to examine the troublesome robot before a bomb squad officer, dressed in heavy protective gear, took a turn.
Murray said that the bomb squad couldn’t be sure if the robot was safe or not, and so remotely detonated it at about 5:30 p.m. to “render it safe.” The robot exploded into several chunks.
I love the idea of bombing stuff to “render it safe.” This robot will be safest EXPLODED!
Clearly another case of cops blowing stuff up because they can. And I endorse that behavior, because if I were a cop I’d blow stuff up all the time. Also, due to my enthusiasm for explosives, I probably wouldn’t last too long in my cop job. Police offers have so many opportunities to get away with tons of destruction. In most cases, I admire their restraint.
Here’s what the menace in question looked like:
And remember, if we keep citing potential terrorism as an excuse to unnecessarily blow up obviously harmless items, then the terrorists have lost big time.
Look at that sprite. Here is a very smart man in a very stupid outfit:
From Jim Kiernan at Gothamist, a new mural by Kenny Scharf on Houston St.:
Everybody look at Mark Sanchez:
No, seriously. Look at him:
On my walk to the studio this afternoon I overheard a couple guys walking in front of me recapping the Jets game. I didn’t pick up much of their conversation, but I caught this:
“He threw two balls on the money.”
Presumably the man was referring to Sanchez’s last two passes of the game, the 42-yard strike to Braylon Edwards and the six-yard game-winning touchdown to Santonio Holmes on the next play. But I think “balls on the money” is a pretty apt way to describe Sanchez’s performance the last couple weeks. And I say that even though I have no idea what “balls on the money” even means.
It’s beyond cliched to refer to Sanchez’s poise, now that Deadspin exposed the N.Y. media’s penchant for using the term to characterize the Jets’ young QB. But watch the Jets’ last drive and offer me a better description. Or just look at the second picture above — taken immediately after the touchdown pass to Holmes. Sanchez isn’t even smiling yet. Brad Smith is giving his quarterback a well-deserved celebratory hug, and Sanchez appears to be still focused on the task he just completed.
Yesterday, for perhaps the first time in his young career, Sanchez — with help from his receivers — carried the Jets to victory. In the fourth quarter, with the Texans surging, the Jets’ secondary, offensive line and ground game all fell apart. Sanchez picked them up.
Some will say the Jets were lucky to beat the Texans, like they were lucky to beat the Browns and the Lions, and they don’t really deserve their NFL-best 8-2 record.
To that I say: Whatever. Look at Mark Sanchez.
Katherine — who reads TedQuarters for the sandwich reviews even though she’s not a sports fan — sent along the following Google map, which plots and color-codes every sandwich in the five boroughs that I’ve reviewed here.
The Hall of Fame sandwiches are in blue. Sandwiches receiving 80-89 ratings are in green, 70-79 are yellow, and 60-69 are pink.
This might be my proudest blogger moment. Finally, my efforts are legitimized.
View TedQuarters Sandwich of the Week in a larger map
Tedquarters 