ManIs5

I know it's extremely unlikely and perhaps impossible, but let's say the Large Hadron Collider DID create a black hole. How long do you think it would take to spaghettify the entire planet? If I'm on the other side of the globe, would I have time to hear a distant rumbling? Would I have time to say "OH SHI..."? Or would it be more like turning off a light switch?

Uthgerd the Unbroken, Esbern and Delphine. I acquired Uthgerd in the Bannered Mare in what seemed like the regular way to get a follower. She has all the usual follower conversation options, including sharing items. Esbern and Delphine showed up together when I was attempting to re-forge the three pieces of the Gauldur Amulet in the cave under the waterfall. I couldn't complete the re-forge because the emerald claw wouldn't unlock the door, even though the combination was right. I can't share any items with Esbern and Delphine, but they follow me everywhere and fight for me. Delphine occasionally says "Lead on to Sky Haven Temple" or something like that, which is apparently part of A

So I have the three pieces to re-forge the amulet, the NPCs met me outside Reachwater Rock, we go in through the waterfall, retrieve the emerald claw, go up to the door with the three rings, and THE RINGS WON'T TURN. Xbox 360 version. I get the message to press A to turn the Outer/Middle/Inner rings just like other doors of this type. But when I press A on this one, nothing happens. Any ideas?

That gave me no joy, no excitement, no anticipation. Just modern-day LA? Yawn.

Here's a thought: leave tax rates alone, but place a small fee on each Wall Street trade. Seems to me that we could raise the revenues we need, without the fight over adjusting tax brackets.

I have to get back to work. Does somebody know the average number of Wall Street trades per year? I'd like to divide the (roughly) one trillion dollar deficit by that number to get an idea of what kind of fee could close the gap without other means of increasing revenue. And yes, I know we need to cut spending too, but we're never going to balance the budget through cuts alone.

My gym is one of those with several screens around the room showing pop videos. I'm more of a metal guy when I'm lifting, usually with some Tool or Disturbed in the earbuds. But yesterday, a video caught my eye. It was too far away to identify, but here's the gist:

WWII-themed dancers, men and women, plus some Rosie the Riveter diner thing -- all with some old-school (I'm talking 1940s) dance moves and a blonde, a brunette and a redhead featured. The weird thing was, it had fantastic synchronicity with Tool's Parabola.

What was I watching?

I know it might be pedantic, but if you use "it's" as a possessive, your writing skills are lacking. Readers (and employers) who know better will think less of you. And yes, I know you've seen it done wrong so many times (I'm looking at you CNN.com) that you might have become confused. But really: it's = it is every time.

Semantically, it just feels better to me.

So all my Network Solutions-hosted domains can't send email, their site won't load and their phones are busy. Anybody else having this problem? Anybody know what the fuck?

I honestly cannot imagine pooping without the internet to keep me company.

Whenever I sit down to work (usually writing), I'd like to have some music on. But, maybe because I'm also a musician, I get sucked into any tune I hear and can't focus on my work.

I'm tired of working in silence. Has anyone else had this experience? Have you found anything to listen to that doesn't completely distract you?

Traditional film = width + height + time.

"3D" film = width + height + time + depth.

HEY MAN -- That's 4 D's!

I'm constantly hearing from pundits, the president, congress people, etc. that taxes are going up for people making over $250,000. Why doesn't anyone explain that taxes are going up on INCOME over $250,000. No one seems to talk about the fact that your first tier of income has one rate, the next tier has a slightly higher rate, and so on until all the money over $250k is taxed at the highest rate.

I don't have the tax tables in front of me, but it seems entirely possible that if the lower bracket rates go down, and you make a little over $250K (lucky bastard), that your TOTAL tax bill might go down a bit because of the lower rates you're paying on your first $249,999 of income.

This has