Dan Birchall

A three-minute video clip shot at the 2.2-meter telescope on Mauna Kea, showing me filling one of the cameras with liquid nitrogen.

While shopping today, I noticed some colorful boxes of Wheat Chex. These boxes had more green on them, because in America, when a corporation wants customers to understand that its food is  good for them , it makes the packaging green. Whether the food's green or not. The first box I noticed was a good half-pound lighter than the usual Wheat Chex box, and only $1.00 cheaper ($5.79 versus $6.79 - cereal is  expensive  here in Hawaii!), but I quickly found a "regular-sized" box that cost the same as before. So... why the green? Chex have been relatively good-for-me all along, right? A-ha! The old box reported 180 calories per serving, while the new box reports 160 calories per serving! That's 20 calories, less, or an 11% reduction in calories. Wow, this is great! And how'd they do this, you ask? By cutting the serving size, of course. Instead of having 1 cup of Wheat Chex, General Mills wants you to have 3/4 cup. Yep, that'll cut those calories.

 My routine drive home from work was a little less routine today. I finished my work a little after 3 pm, 48 miles from (and 2.6 miles above) home. Started down the hill, and wound up right behind another vehicle that was heading to the same office as me in town. At the intersection with Saddle Road, they were a little way ahead of me, and managed to pull out in front of a couple pickup trucks, which I then wound up behind. It was drizzly and foggy, and Saddle Road is narrow, winding and sometimes steep, so nobody was eager to exceed the speed limit by much. Within a few miles, we had caught up with another truck, and a couple other vehicles weren't far behind me. After milepost 22 (counting down to 0 in Hilo), there's a curve to the right, a short uphill, curve to the left, downhill, curve to the right, uphill, curve to the left, downhill. I came up the first hill, curved to the left, and as I went downhill and around the curve to the right, noticed the vehicl

Watt White, lead singer for The Smashup, made a funny little song ridiculing those who buy "retro" t-shirts featuring 1980s rock or metal bands they've never even heard... and I haven't seen the lyrics out there anywhere, so here they are. Take Off Your T-Shirt (If You Can't Name A Song By The Band That's On It) (spoken) Sabrina, Sabrina, check it out! My new t-shirt! Oh my God, oh my God, you look rad! Like, I know! I know! Yeah! Wait, what's... Qu... eens... ryche? Oh. I dunno. I think I'm gonna rip the collar off it. Oh. I cut class, I skipped school, I hauled ass, to sleep out, In the parking lot of Coconuts, Where they had the Ticketron Tower two, obstructed view, I saw the show that changed my life But I did not see you, so Take off your t-shirt, Miss Metallica  You were two years old when "Ride the Lightning" came out You felt no pain when Burton died  But you cried when they canceled &

Having solved all problems relating to actual crime in West Midlands, the police have begun looking after more pressing matters. For example, the  Daily Mail  recently reported on three 12-year-olds who were arrested, DNA tested, interrogated and incarcerated for two hours... for climbing a cherry tree. Meanwhile, the  BBC  notes that playing too much hopscotch will also get you a visit from the local authorities. We need one more for the hat trick / trifecta, so... what else should English children be set upon for by the police?