Last August, the US launched the Phoenix Mars Lander. Getting stuff there isn’t an issue. Getting it to slow down from 17,000 miles per hour and land is the issue. And the Phoenix was successful. Steve, at Whites Creek Journal, blogged about this yesterday and we’ve got the first photo from Mars after the jump. (Steve has more links to photos as well, just go there.)

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But the summer looms ahead of me like a blank canvas and my children are of the opinion that I was put on this earth to entertain them endlessly! (They’re wrong, of course, but not easily convinced otherwise.) So what I need is a plan. And it needs to local and cheap, better yet, free!

So, this summer, I want to take in some of the sights and attractions that Music City and its surrounding cities and counties have to offer.  It’s a self-serving venture designed to give an answer to the inevitable question of, “What are we doing today?” Would you like to join us? Please e-mail me at malia dot carden at gmail dot com. I’ll put together an e-mail list and send out announcements of when and where bloggers with school aged children will be hanging out. It’ll help me, it’ll help you. And if you have any suggestions for cheap or free outings, include that in your e-mail and I’ll put it on the list!

A special blog set up for you. We invite you to share your condolences here.

The Chapman family is so grateful for the incredible outpouring of love and support at this difficult time.

Happy Birthday, Aunt B!!!

One of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman’s six children was killed this afternoon when she was struck by a car said to be driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.

The child, Maria, age 5, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

She was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.

The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see the 5-year-old in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.

Our thoughts are with the Chapman family tonight.

Hang up and drive, people. And, since you can’t text without looking at the keyboard, don’t even try it.

This is of major concern to illustrators, photographers, cartoonists, and people who make a living by art, but it affects the rest of us as well. Your images posted on the web will be free game for commercial use if these laws pass. The law creates a bureaucratic nightmare for getting a copyright. Your photos could be used to sell products without your consent. From a form letter to Congress on the Illustrators Partnership of America:

The Orphan Works Act will affect all images from professional paintings to family snapshots. This includes any image, whether published or unpublished - or any that resides or ever resided on the internet. It will force me to register every image I make with privately-held commercial registries. All unregistered works will be exposed as potential orphans for commercial infringement.

This radical change to U.S. copyright law will shift the burden of diligence from infringers to rights holders. All of us will have to regularly monitor the unauthorized use of our most personal work - an impossible task because infringements can occur anytime, anywhere in the world.

The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) and Lamar Smith (R-TX).

Brent Rowell, a native of Bristol, Tenn., currently lives in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), Myanmar. He and others knew Cyclone Nargis would hit the Southeast Asia country on May 3, but no one expected the storm to kill more than 43,000 and leave tens of thousands missing and more than a million residents homeless. 

Head to her house to get the link for the full account of what happened.

H/T: Silence

I used to want to be a doctor when I was a little kid. I still like medical stuff (as long as it isn’t medical SCHOOL….) The night before last I had the realisation that I am a sort of doctor after all. It was a sad realisation but I am the only individual who knows all of my various problems and how they affect one another. More than once I’ve been able to say “you can’t give me that because it’s contraindicated with another treatment I’ve got.”

Having me for a patient must be just soooo special.

Twitter and blogs tend to focus on the mystery of the show. Katherine Coble has excellent recaps of the show and has a bittersweet relationship with it. She watches it and I tend to think she likes it, but she is also hard on some of the believability of some of the characters’ actions.

Of course, it is a television show but still, you get sucked in.

Jack Sheppard thinks he’s a leader–nice Christlike positioning of the bleeding wound in his side, don’t you think?–but I think he’s as flawed as leaders get.

I continue to find the mythology of the Island fascinating, while being bored by the cockadoody car action parts. The C4 in the ship was a big ol’ eyeroll for me. I generally hate the sight of C4 in any story outside of James Bond. It’s a visual shorthand for “big action sequence coming” and I am not a lover of big action sequences when they are misplaced.

Barry asked questions earlier this week on the mythology and some of the unsolved mysteries. (Update here: New post from him.) And I even throw in my two cents as does Reba.

One blog that has been following Lost breaks it down and brings on the funny.

And although he doesn’t have a recap up for last night’s episode up yet, Russ McBee, who came into the game late, is really enjoying it. His recaps are extremely intense.

“Lost” is the only TV show I’ve ever seen that required me to take notes in order to keep up.

That’s about right. If you have any observations because you are going to have to wait two weeks to see the finale, leave them in the comments.

Sometimes, I hate working with teenagers.

Go see what he’s talking about.

From here.

Mango-Jicama and Cucumber Salad
Fish Tacos with Guac
Sweet-Hot Bbq Tater Fries
Spicy Turkey Burgers
Tomatillo-Sauced Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms
Vegetarian Enchiladas
Strawberry Almond Pie
Salmon with Puffed Pastry and Pesto

Hungry yet?

No, I’m serious…go see for yourself!

I perused the article you reference and agree that you need to do more than discuss or agree/disagree. I’d start from the standpoint that the author’s argument is true - that people act more when it’s close to home. If you need more proof, check out this link about recent giving in the wake of tragedy.

More money went to Katrina than the tsunami or Burma, even though there were far (FAR) fewer deaths. Why is that?

In other words, I’d ask the class the question, “If a kid drowns in Burma, and no one’s around to notice, does it matter?”

Of course if does, like Gandhi’s son said in the Post article. But how can it matter TO US? That’s the real question of ethics, whether you’re a utilitarian or not - human behavior mainly operates on the question of what does it matter TO ME.

There’s a whole lot more.

Head here to read the rest. 

Here’s how. 

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h/t: Xark!

A woman accused of “cyber-bullying” a 13-year-old girl into committing suicide was indicted Thursday.

Lori Drew, 49, of O’Fallon, Mo., is accused of setting up an account on MySpace.com, along with others, to pose as a 16-year-old boy, “Josh Evans,” in 2006.

Ashley Grills, a 19-year-old employee of Drew’s, told “Good Morning America” that she created the fake MySpace profile, but said Drew wrote some of the messages.

She said it was Drew’s idea to find Meier on the Internet and see what she was saying about Drew’s daughter, a former friend.

Apparently the courts don’t think highly of this, and nor did we back last year. One of the things in the brought up repeatedly in the comments was we didn’t think that Drew would be punished.

Apparently we were wrong.

From Former Nashvillian Brittney Gilbert. 

Jeffrey at Shadows of Love is trying to find this puppy a home before it goes to the Humane Society on Saturday.

Can you help him out.

H/T Mack Farmer