Simon Cowell sent me a letter!

Checking my various e-mails this morning, I was surprised to find one from a well-known celebrity/TV personality. It was none other than Simon Cowell, he of "American Idol" ex-judge fame who wanted to know "do you, a friend or a family member have what it takes to become a global superstar? I'm looking for the next singing sensation, someone with that special something - 'The X Factor.'."

It's not every day that one receives a personal letter from the king-of-mean and I wondered who had passed on my e-mail to him. Obviously, it was someone who wasn't familiar with my singing voice because if they had heard my renditions of well-known songs, they would never have suggested my name, although I do a mean version of "Respect" in the shower. In any case, Simon - I feel we are friends now - goes on:

"The X Factor is my new show launching this Fall on Fox. It's a make-it-or-break-it singing competition, and this time there are no restrictions. Solo singers, vocal groups and anyone over the age of 12 have the chance to win a $5 million recording deal with Sony Music. There's NO upper age limit"

The words "no restrictions" might give me an incentive to throw my hat into the ring, so to speak. I mean, these days there is technical help that could at the very least make my voice passable. Perhaps as a unique angle and being an artist, I could create a canvas for a song. Actually, I do that anyway but I digress.

What might make the difference as to whether I should enter is the opportunity of winning big bucks. As Simon himself pitches: "now is your chance, who knows, you or your group could walk away with a $5 million recording contract and a lifetime of stardom."

"The search starts in Los Angeles on March 27th, and then continues on to Miami, Newark, Seattle, and Chicago, ending in Dallas."

The $5 million dollars grabbed my attention but my hopes were dashed with these seven little words: "You have to be a U.S. citizen."

I'm a Canadian so that leaves me out. They'll never know what they've been missing, lucky for them.

No swat - flies know when they're being stalked

by Eleanor Tylbor

One can hear them flitting around the room, the drone of their buzz reaching human hearing range. The "normal" reaction is to grab the nearest object and wait until they are within swatting range in an attempt to rid the source of the annoying noise. The end result, however, for the most part is the fly lives to fly another day.

Once again and all in the name of important scientific research, U.S. scientists think they have solved the mystery of why flies are difficult to swat.

Given the scientific and medical issues and questions requiring their attention, one would think that there are more pressing issues than studying why harrassed humans miss swatting flies. Be that as it may...

They think - presumably unproven - that the fly's ability to sustain its life cycle is due to its fast acting brain and ability to plan ahead. Go figure that flies can plan ahead!

The study includes high speed, high resolution video recordings revealing that the insects quickly work out where a threat is coming from and prepare an escape route. Furthermore,
the research suggests that the best way of swatting a fly is to creep up slowly and aim ahead of its location.

So, the swat-er being the human, must anticipate the landing spot of the swat-ee being the fly, and wait and hope that the fly will at some point land in the vicinity of the waiting newspaper/ fly swatter/whatever, to hit the mark.

Read the entire story for hints on more effective fly-swatting and an explanation on how the research was conducted here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7586868.stm


The study has been published in the journal Current Biology. One wonders how much money was involved in this important scientific research.

For those who care, see a close up of a fly's head here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8463947@N08/701598636/