When I signed into Blogger to write my blog yesterday, an offer to beta test Google's new Gmail service appeared. So, if you're on of my lucky few friends (ha ha) I'll likely send you a message from it just to see how it works....

I spent some time this weekend visiting Kim, and Saturday afternoon we went for a cruise around the Hidden Hills of Western Mass (after researching where we went for this blog entry, I found out that they call it that....)

The first place we visited was Knightville Dam, one of the US Army Corps of Engineers Flood control dams on the Westfield River. My dad had told me that we'd been picnicing there when we were kids. I distinctly remember driving past it on the way up to visit my Grandmother when we were kids. Seemed like a nice place to hang. We walked out on the almost 1/3 mile dam (and almost got blown away..the wind was so strong...)

The second little gem we discovered on our journey was Chesterfield Gorge. The gorge is a little upstream on the Westfield RIver from the dam, and I had no idea that there was such a great place tucked away here. The only unfortunate thing was that I hadn't taken my camera with me, because the water levels and the lighting was just perfect for some amazing pictures.

For more info on the Westfield River Watershed, check out these links:
Field Notes: The Westfield River Corridor
Westfield River Watershed Association

The news media have been flooded with reports about the rioting after the UCONN wins late last month. Personally, I think the rioters are pretty idiotic. I mean, what the hell were they thinking. I guess that's what happens when you mix young, stupid kids with a bunch of alcohol.....

Of course, our esteemed Connecticut State Police have been sworn to protect and serve..(and sometimes play a little Beer Pong??)

...and you wondered where I was going with this post????

NPR had a feature on Google on Morning Edition today. And you know how much I love Google. Hear the story, read about it, and many links are here.
Update- 4/14/04 9:00 PM
While listening to Morning Edition this morning (on the radio, can you believe it), they had another story of Internet Search Engines, and they mentioned that this hate site comes up near the top of the search list when you search on the word Jew. Google says that while they aren't anti-semetic, they will not block the item from coming up in the search. They offer this explanation. I think that though Google has been getting alot of grief about this, they're being fair and unbiased by allowing their search to index the entire web, good and bad. That's also the reason why I included the link to the site mentioned....

There's also a statement by the Anti-Defamation League on this topic as well.

I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind yesterday. I thought it was really good movie!! Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play two lovers in a bad relationship who decide to have their memories of each other erased by visiting a doctor who does that procedure. The movie does play around with time- it jumps forward and back in time. There are several other movies that I've seen that do the same thing, in particular Memento. I can see why some people don't like this movie though, it can be confusing if you're not into the whole messed-up time thing....but I thought it was good....

A review is here.
Another Review (this one mentions Memento)
Tons of Reviews

Delilah and I were watching Winged Migration this morning (the latest DVD I got from the club). It's a movie which follows the migratory patterns of birds around the globe. It's kind of in the same genre as Baraka, though this movie has limited narration (and I mean limited!) I was really amazed at the movie, but after I watched the "Making of" extra on the DVD, I realized the many of the shots were totally set up using birds that have been "imprinted" to follow humans (flying ultralights or moving vehicles). But it's still an amazing movie nonetheless.

On a related note, check out Operation Migration, a site about ultralight-led bird migration.

The lords of the local cable company (or not so local, as it's Comcast) finally disconnected the cable that I hadn't been paying for. I've been trying to occupy my mind with other things than watching television lately. This is a good thing, yes?? I have survived the world without cable TV before, I guess I can do it again. Delilah isn't too happy about it, but she doesn't have cable at mom's either, so I guess we will get used to it...

I think I really didn't watch that much TV, though. But lately, I've been vegging out more in the evenings with it, so I guess I can think of better things to do with my time. But if anyone out there wants to invite me over to watch American Chopper, Monster Garage and reruns of Third Watch, please let me know, ok??

So instead of watching TV, I have recently been listening to NPR online. It's great, cause you can catch up with their shows, without having to worry about when they are on the air (and they stream them with Windows Media Player, so I don't have to install that pesky RealAudio) My favorites so far:

Morning Edition
All Things Considered
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me
All Songs Considered

Last year (right around this time) Richie from The Daily Column burned me a copy of a disc of rock songs re-done as lounge music. They're done by a group called Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine. Anyway, I found this blog today that has a few MP3's of a few of his songs (some I have, some I don't). Check it out....(ooops, I messed u the URL on the first link, fixed it now!!)

Peep Central

Ok, ok. You know it's that time of year, cause the peeps are EVERYWHERE!
And now, the "Peeps Links List" :
Tracy and Mia's Peep-O-Rama
Peep Research
Peep Art
Peep Research at Staley Library
and last, but not least:
The Marshmallow Peeps Official Website
Happy peeping!!! Note:Sorry, the links weren't working, I fixed them....