Sunday, October 01, 2006

As if we ever needed proof that some people have WAY too much free time, comes this story. A triumph for anal retentives and grammar freaks worldwide. And, wait, if he knows this, maybe HE'S got those missing 700 boxes of NASA stuff. On second thought maybe someone should look into this. And like we REALLY would have known one way or the other in 1969. I know OUR family's TV was black and white......

THE FOLLOWING WAS EXCERPTED FROM AOL NEWS.COM
That's one small word for astronaut Neil Armstrong, one giant revision for grammar sticklers everywhere.
In a graphical representation of the famous phrase, a computer programmer said he found evidence that the missing "a" was spoken by Armstrong and transmitted to NASA.
An Australian computer programmer says he found the missing "a" from Armstrong's famous first words from the moon in 1969, when the world heard the phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
The story was reported in Saturday's editions of the Houston Chronicle.
Some historians and critics have dogged Armstrong for not saying the more dramatic and grammatically correct, "One small step for a man ..." in the version he transmitted to NASA's Mission Control. Without the missing "a," Armstrong essentially said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
The famous astronaut has maintained he intended to say it properly and believes he did. Thanks to some high-tech sound-editing software, computer programmer Peter Shann Ford might have proved Armstrong right.
Ford said he downloaded the audio recording of Armstrong's words from a NASA Web site and analyzed the statement with software that allows disabled people to communicate through computers using their nerve impulses.
In a graphical representation of the famous phrase, Ford said he found evidence that the missing "a" was spoken and transmitted to NASA.
"I have reviewed the data and Peter Ford's analysis of it, and I find the technology interesting and useful," Armstrong said in a statement. "I also find his conclusion persuasive. Persuasive is the appropriate word."

And this, this is my kinda joint......
Slices of chocolate pizza. Syringes that squirt liquid chocolate into your mouth. Warm double chocolate fondue. Israeli restauranteur Max Brenner's new chocolate bar off New York's Union Square, Chocolate By The Bald Man, caters for chocoholics of all ages -- and is pretty much a disaster for anyone trying to watch their weight. Brenner has opened 19 restaurants worldwide in the past six years -- in Australia, Israel, Singapore and the Philippines -- but this is his first in the United States with plans to open a second in New York's East Village later this month. Sitting in his restaurant that has the feel of a European cafe but with zany wallpaper and pipes across the ceiling giving it the look of a chocolate factory, Brenner explains that he set out to create a chocolate culture. "I believe chocolate for people is not just about taste. It's about memories, about fantasies, about fun," the bald-headed Brenner told Reuters as he melted, mixed and poured a variety of chocolate concoctions. "People want the whole chocolate experience. A ritual. So I created a ceremony around chocolate with special cups and utensils." Hot chocolate is served at his restaurants in oval-shaped cups tapered at one end called "hug mugs" that are cradled in hands. Coffee comes in "kangaroo cups" with a pouch or shelf for chocolate. Ice cream popsicles come with bowls of melted chocolate, chocolate waffle balls and caramelized pecan bits. "Everyone loves chocolate in the way that we do it. It crosses all ages and cultures," said Brenner, a European-trained pastry chef and chocolatier, whose bald head is used as the logo for the stores. The name Max Brenner is actually a composite of two Israelis, Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner, who launched the business 10 years ago in Israel as a chocolate shop. But when Fichtman left after a few years, Brenner came up with the idea of a chocolate bar -- a restaurant serving chocolate with a gift shop -- and opened his first store in Sydney in 2000, adopting the Willy Wonka-like persona of "Max Brenner." In 2001 Israel's second largest food and beverage company Strauss-Elite bought into the company, partnering with Brenner and opening a string of more restaurants to spread the chocolate gospel. But in these days of health conscious eating are people still lured by chocolate? "People love chocolate. It makes them smile. I believe the happiness it causes does magic things for your health," said Brenner, 36, a slim man, who eats chocolate daily but admits he goes to the gym every day too. "If you do it in moderation it is good for you." Name: Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man Location: 841 Broadway + 16th Street Prices: Main courses about $10, drinks about $4, Kids menu.

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