Only An Illusion

The three best visual illusions in the world were chosen at a gathering last weekend of neuroscientists and psychologists at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Florida.
The winning entry, from a Bucknell University professor, may help explain why curve balls in baseball are so tricky to hit.

A properly thrown curve ball spins in a way that makes the air on one side move faster than on the other. This causes the ball to move along a gradual curve. From the point of view of a batter standing on home plate, though, curve balls seem to “break,” or move suddenly in a new direction.

This year’s winning illusion, created by Arthur Shapiro of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, may explain this phenomena. His animation shows a spinning ball that, when watched directly, moves in a straight line. When seen out of the corner of the eye, however, the spin of the ball fools the brain into thinking that the ball is curving.

So as a baseball flies towards home plate, the moment when it passes from central to peripheral vision could exaggerate the movement of the ball, causing its gradual curve to be seen as a sudden jerk.

You know. When I was a younger man and played baseball, I never knew that a curve ball really wasn’t happening and was only an illusion. If I had only known, maybe I would have been a better ballplayer!

I wonder. How many pro baseball players today believe that a curve ball is nothing more than illusion? Try convincing them of that!

How Much is That Puppy in the Window?

A Boca Raton, Florida, couple got a new dog, and it’s just like their old dog.

Not just the same breed and gender, but the same DNA.

Nina and Edgar Otto picked up their cloned yellow lab puppy at the Miami International Airport this week. Lancelot Encore was cloned from the DNA of the Ottos’ late dog Lancelot, which died of cancer in January 2008.

Guessing that pet cloning would one day be possible, the Ottos had DNA samples of their dog frozen five years ago.

The Ottos paid $155,000 in a San Francisco biotech firm’s dog-cloning auction last July.

Please reread that last sentence. $155,000!

BioArts International created Lancelot Encore in South Korea, where he was born 10 weeks ago.

Okay. Let me ask you a question. If you had a spare $155,000 would you clone a dog? Cat? Your child? Spouse? Anybody?

The answer for me? Simple! NO! I’d keep my money and spend it on something far wiser. Then again, just about anything would be wiser than spending money on a clone of anything.

I know that the Otto’s live in one of the most exclusive cities in the United States, maybe in the world. But come on folks. Go to the shelter. Rescue a dog. Look around town, there are hundreds of strays on the streets that could use a good home. Give the money to your local shelter. Feed a hungry family. Go on a missions trip and see what the world is really like—outside of your small, narrow, wealthy, mansion-driven world.

What a waste of good money!

Turning Evil into Good

Did you see the interesting story out of Miami, Florida, last weekend? It seems someone decided to drop hundreds, maybe thousands, of pairs of shoes on the freeway. I’m not sure why someone would do that or even where all the shoes came from.

The Florida Highway Patrol said thousands of work boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers, beach sandals, even pairs of inline skates, inexplicably materialized Friday morning on the busy roadway. Traffic was disrupted for hours. A private contractor was hired to pick up the sea of soles and deposit them in an empty field. The investigation into who discarded the shoes continues.

Out of the “devilish” act that was done, something great is coming out of it. A charity group has stepped forward to collect the thousands of shoes mysteriously dumped on a Miami-area highway and will send them to the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti.

Soles4Souls, a Nashville, Tennessee-based charity, is sending representatives to Miami to collect the shoes. The group will distribute them to people in Haiti.

I’m sure the people of Haiti will be blessed by this donation (well, other than for the inline skates, not sure there will be a demand for those).

Sure gives a new meaning to the Bible verse that reminds us that what men mean for harm, God can turn into good.

I wonder how many souls will be saved because soles were dumped on a Florida highway? Thousands, I pray.

The End of an Era

Saturday night, I watched a show on the National Geographic Channel. I know, I guess it shows my age, but there are some really interesting shows on there from time-to-time. I like to watch shows where I actually learn something.

This particular show was on the demolition of the historic Orange Bowl in Miami. The city of Miami decided to tear down the historic stadium to make way for a baseball field. The stadium had withstood decades, over 80 to be exact, of fans, games, storms, and renovations. Unfortunately, the staduim had gotten to the point where it was more expensive to renovate it than it was to build a new stadium.

As I watched the show, several lessons came out.

1. Nothing built by man lasts for forever. Here was a stadium that was built in the 1930s, I believe. The stadium was built with concrete and steel. Yet, in less than 4 months, the entire building was demolished and hauled away. 95% of the stadium was actually recycled, but still, the stadium itself is gone, torn down, demolished, only a faint memory. The same is true in life. Nothing you and I build will last forevever. Nothing.

2. What has value in one era probably will not have value in another. The stadium started out small and was added to over the years. As the University of Miami grew, the stadium grew. As the Orange Bowl game became more popular, so did the stadium. Yet, in the end, the stadium that held over 80,000 people, died a quick death. You see, in the day of skyboxes and luxury suites, the stadium didn't meet the needs of the fans and corporations buying tickets. Our jobs are like that. Our possessions are like that. Our homes are like that. What may mean the world to us today will have little value to those who come behind us! Those valued possesions may well wind up on the trash heap, thrown out by our own children.

3. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Orange Bowl stadium was once quite the stadium! It was the showpiece for professional football and the University of Miami. However, over the years, the stadium began to show its age. It had cracks, the paint was peeled, and the signs rusted. When compared to other stadiums, it was no longer a spectacle. I wonder, how many "mature" workers have been forced out of their companies because they had a few cracks and rust?

4. Even in demolition, humor can be found. One of the demolition company managers was asked if it was sad to see the old stadium come down. He said, "Not really. I'm an Oklahoma Sooner fan! Being a part of the demolition helps me to get even for all the times the Hurricanes beat us in the 1980s!" Hey, in life, you either cry or laugh. I think it is better to laugh.

5. Whatever is built in place of this stadium will also be replaced one day. This year, Yankee Stadium and Mets Stadium will be replaced by newer stadiums. The Atlanta Braves tore down their baseball stadium around the Atlanta Olympic games. Today, where their old stadium stood is now part of their massive parking lot. I have no doubt that the baseball stadium in Miami will one day become outdated and and eyesore. Most manmade things become just that.

6. While the Orange Bowl hosted countless Super Bowls and National Championship Games, even that couldn't keep it open. Fame doesn't equal eternity. Glory doesn't ensure success or future.

What lessons can be learned here? Well, those are six that I learned from watching the show. I'm sure there are dozens of others that can be written. Please feel free to share your ideas as you have time. Just remember, those words, while important to all of us today, won't last forever. One day, this blog will be closed, or blogs will go away, or the latest and greatest new communication tool will come along. My words and yours will disappear.

The only certainty we have in life is that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

The Real Christmas Spirit

Now, I’m really in the Christmas spirit!

The following story just does it for me. See if the story doesn’t do the same thing to you.

The story is from Parrish, Florida. Authorities say a west Florida man who lives with his parents has been arrested on a felony assault charge after he used a Christmas tree as a weapon to attack his father.

[Why don’t you re-read that paragraph. It’ll just warm you inside out. I just know it.]

According to the Manatee County sheriff’s report, 37-year-old Thomas Edward Lackie was arrested last week after he threw a 3-foot Christmas tree at his father. The tree missed, but Lackie then tried to use the steel base from the tree to strike his father.

[Again, re-read that paragraph. You’ll remember from the first paragraph in the story that this man lives with his mother and father. You learn from the second paragraph that the man is 37-years-old! 37! That’s just wrong.]

[You also learn that he tried to hit his father with a 3-foot Christmas tree. I’m sorry, how much Christmas spirit can you really have if you are putting up a 3-foot tree?]

His father and mother were able to grab Lackie’s arms to prevent the attack. Deputies say the tree could have caused serious injuries because the metal base weighs about five pounds.

Lackie was charged with felony assault. He denied trying to strike his father.

Are you surprised he denied trying to hit his father? I’m not.

Well, my holiday season is now almost complete. This story just did it for me. I really think I need to go out and find another tree to add to our decorations. I think I’ll make it a red one—after all, I’m quite sure Mr. Lackie was seeing red as he tried to hit his father!

Ugly Is Only Skin Deep

I know. I hear you. I especially hear Heidi groaning over the picture above. Sorry about that. But, to tell the story, you’ve just got to see the picture!

This is a sad tale or is that tail? I guess it could be both. You see, a one-eyed, three-legged dog that won the title of world’s ugliest pooch this summer has died.

The St. Petersburg Times in Florida reports that Gus, a Chinese crested dog, had cancer. He was nine years old.

Gus was rescued from a terrible situation and went on to win the annual World’s Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in northern California.

Gus came from humble origins. According to the fair, his adopted family in Gulfport, Florida, rescued him after learning he was being kept in a crate inside someone’s garage. He had one leg amputated because of a skin tumor and lost an eye in a cat fight.

Now, the best I can tell, the picture above was taken BEFORE Gus’s death; however, knowing how ugly he was in life, could he really look much worse in death? I don’t know. Well, his eyes are open in the picture…hopefully, someone would have closed them if this was taken AFTER his death.

Gus, if there are dogs in heaven, I really hope you go there. You do deserve a new body (if dogs get new bodies, and if they go to heaven). If you do make it to the golden streets, I’ll try to remember to look you up with I get there—I’m quite sure it will be far better than anything you’ve experienced here.

I just hope your new tongue will stay in your new mouth! The tongue hanging out—isn’t a good look! Not even for the world’s ugliest dog.