Famed writer Michael Crichton died unexpectedly Tuesday night after a private battle with cancer, sources say.
Crichton, a 66-year-old medical doctor, was best known for penning "Jurassic Park" and his work with the television show "ER."
He also wrote "The Andromeda Strain," "Sphere" and "Rising Sun" and his 2004 novel, "State of Fear," in which he took on global warming and the theories surrounding it. He directed "Westworld" (1973), "Coma" (1978), "Looker" (1981) and "Runaway" (1984).
Crichton, who graduated from Harvard Medical School, won an Emmy, a Peabody and a Writers Guild of America Award for "ER," and won other awards as well.
So I've been really sick for the last two days and have spent the greater portion of the last 48 hours confined to bed. Fortunately for me--and I say that with complete sarcasm--the only thing on television this weekend and today was a marathon of all three seasons of "Flavor of Love."
Yes. Sadly enough, I watched 12 hours of Flavor Flav and his "Flavorettes" today and almost didn't hate it. All leading up to the season 3--and series--finale tonight, in which Flav was to decide between Thing 2 (below, left) and Black (below, right).
Because my brain is fried--both from the mind-numbing hours of "FOL" and the massive amount of medication I'm on--I won't even try to make this creative, but to report on reality television news that more than likely no one really cares about, here we go:
In a fashion similar to both "Rock of Love" and "Biggest Loser Couples" finales this year, a previously eliminated contestant went home with the prize, and in this case, it was FLAAAAVOR FLAAAAV.
The man, myth and legend selected one half of the set of twins cast this season (the thinner and better looking of the two, by the by). Thing 2, who had been eliminated two episodes before the finale, was brought back in a twist and it was pretty clear she was there to stay.
Good for them. Perhaps this one will work out, unlike Flav's first two "winners," but even if it doesn't, Flav has sworn off a "Flavor of Love:4."
The 78-year-old Dale Davis of Alta, Iowa, rolled a perfect bowling game Saturday night--impressive, right? But oh, I forgot...he's blind.
After over sixty years on the lanes, it was Mr. Davis' first 300 and the first-ever bowled at Century Lanes. He has a 180 average and bowls in two leagues. His 300 came in the last game of the league's rolloffs. Read an in-depth look at Mr. Davis' perfect game here.
I read in USATODAY, though, that Mr. Davis is a World War II veteran who lost his vision to macular degeneration. But wait a tick...if he just turned 78, was he 15 when he fought in the war?? I'm confused. Someone please let me know if you know the deal.
If you don't feel like reading this all, please watch this video. It's amazing. Not gonna lie--I got a little welled up.
The shorter version of the article is that 5-foot-2 Tucholsky, a senior softball player at Western Oregon, had never hit a homerun in her entire career. But when her team met with conference rival Central Washington in the second part of a double header Saturday, the part-time starter and unlikely hero jacked a three-run shot over the wall in center field, launching her to team in an eruption of high fives and celebration.
Except Tucholsky, in all her glory, missed first base during her homerun trot. She turned to correct her misstep and doubled over to the ground as her right knee gave out and her ACL tore.
The Western Oregon coaches knew that they couldn't touch Tucholsky or the play would be called dead, the hit would be recorded as a two-run single and the senior's first--and only--home run of her career would be taken away.
But a compassionate offer from the competition allowed Tucholsky to touch 'em all: Central Washington's Holtman, who holds almost every hitting record at the school and has seen her fair share of HRs, asked the umpire if she and the CW shortstop could carry Tucholsky around the bases.
"Honestly, it's one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me. She hit the ball over her fence. She's a senior. It's her last year...I think anyone who knew that we could touch her would have offered to do it, just because it's the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony."--Mallory Holtman.
The girls supported Tucholsky as they inched along the basepath to touch every base and scored the third run. Holtman's team rallied with two runs later in the game, which--had Tucholsky not scored--would have been enough to tie the game, but Western Oregon held on to the win.
If you want to see the event in action, watch the above embedded video.
An umpire later confirmed that the rule in question was misinterpreted on the field after Tucholsky's injury and later clarified by the NCAA. According to the rule book: "If an injury to a batter-runner or runner prevents her from proceeding to an awarded base, the ball is dead and the substitution can be made. The substitute must legally touch all awarded or missed bases not previously touched."
But no one at the time knew that, making this a completely selfless act that has deservedly received a lot of national attention and praise. Ahh, lots of warm fuzzies.
I don't think I ever wrote about VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" when it was on a few months ago (probably because it's not nearly as addictive as "Rock of Love"), but nonetheless, it turned out to be an extremely captivating and--can you believe this--real reality show.
And VH1 is bringing it back for another stint.
It appears as though Dr. Drew is back again, but there has been no confirmation on any cast members or when the next season will air. Stay tuned!
A CDC study this week found that 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD. And when we say 'teenage,' we mean 14-19.
I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here when I say that I find this extremely disturbing. You're like, in 8th grade and you have an STD? I don't even think knew what sex was at that age. And I'm pretty sure I didn't learn about STDs until senior year of high school.
About half of the girls studied acknowledged having sex. And one in four has an STD? That's like, a lot. And they were only testing for four STDs...
HPV, which is the leading cause in cervical cancer, was found to be most prevalent among the girls studied. And despite a recent outpouring of HPV prevention and awareness campaigns, parents need to wise up to the times and teach their kids what's up. Hopefully these numbers will serve as a wake-up call because kids are having sex way too young and being completely irresponsible.
...and let me tell you, I didn't even attempt to find a good picture to illustrate this point. I had enough problems studying my health textbook senior year.
If you haven't had breakfast yet today--hell, even if you have--head out to IHOP for a free shortstack of hot, fluffy, golden cakes o' perfection for National Pancake Day.
If you visit any IHOP today from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (dominant timeframe), you will receive three pancakes, free of charge. IHOP just asks that you "consider making a donation to support local children's hospitals through Children's Miracle Network.
During National Pancake Day 2007, IHOP raised $625,000 for children's hospitals. This year, they're looking to raise $750,000.
Renfro's troubled past with drugs was well-documented. In 2006, he served 10 days in jail after pleading no contest to driving while intoxicated and guilty to attempted possession of heroin from an undercover officer. He was also charged with cocaine and marijuana possession in 1998, and underage drinking and violating the terms of his probation in 2001.
The childhood star played in "The Client," "Sleepers" and "Apt Pupil," to name a few.
It's almost 2:30 a.m. and I cannot freaking sleep because I've had hiccups for like, 35 minutes now. No one's here to try and scare me and I've already tried drinking upside down and holding my breath and counting sheep or whatever the shit you're supposed to do. This lead me to the story of Charles Osbourne (right), who apparently hiccuped for 68 years straight. WHAT THE $%^. I would probably ask someone to shoot me if this lasted for more than two hours.
The Iowa man was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Attack of Hiccups after he his bought started in 1922 and ended in 1991, close to one year before his death. He began hiccuping 40 times a minute, and it later slowed to 20 a minute. I'm sure he wasn't inconvenienced at all.
And a fun fact from the incredibly credible source that is Wikipedia: It has been estimated that Osborne hiccupped 430 million times over the 68 year period. The average human only hiccups about 2,300 times in an average lifetime.
I got this information via Facebook event, and I'd like to put the word out for readers to lend a hand - it takes like, three seconds, and it's for a great cause!
Colgate-Palmolive and Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation have teamed up this year to help children with Sickle Cell Disease and their families cope by providing 'Fun Centers' in hospitals, and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia is in the running.
I know many readers are not from the Philly area, so I guess you could vote for another hospital if you really wanted to...but if it doesn't make a difference to you, vote for St. Chris' and help the kiddies!
Besides, Philly can't win Super Bowls or World Series or Stanley Cups...(haha, sorry, had to put that in there), you can help them win something!
Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead today in a New York apartment he'd been renting (not Mary Kate Olson's apartment as previously reported by the New York Times).
A masseuse with whom Ledger had an appointment arrived at the apartment and was let in by a housekeeper. When no one answered the door of the actor's room, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with pills scattered around his body.
Police discovered presciption medication around the apartment and the pills around Ledger's body were sleeping pills. In reading a previous New York Times article, the insomnia factor is a little eery:
"'Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,' he said. 'I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.' One night he took an Ambien, which failed to work. He took a second one and fell into a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing." -New York Times, Nov. 4, 2007
An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow. More updates as information becomes available.
If you have a few minutes and the urge to create your own erectile dysfunction or bladder infection television spot, check out this Web site.
You seven pre-made slides to create some really wacky commercials, or at least, that's what I came up with. The actions are a little delayed at times, but it's pretty entertaining.
Feel free to post your work in the 'what do you think' section.
Seriously, I've been afraid of clowns for as long as I can remember. I'm glad I'm not alone on this one.
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Sheffield polled children ages 4 to 16, in an effort to examine the best decor of hospital children's wards. The report found that all 250 children surveyed did not like the use of clowns and that several of the older children were afraid of them.
"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable" - Penny Curtis, senior lecturer in research at the university.
That kinda makes me feel bad for the clowns, but then I remember the first time I ever saw the movie It and I get over it.
The Book of Revelation in the New Testament contains a passage in which an angel is quoted as saying: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury."
So the man, who is in his mid-20s, chopped off his hand with a circular saw and put it in the microwave. When authorities arrived, the man was reportedly calm, but they took him to the mental health unit of a local medical center. Couldn't imagine why...
"It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived. He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn't bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad."--Capt. Ben Wolfinger said.
God is great and all, but oh man...this is the second body part cooking story this week!
Brooke Bates, of Austin, weighed 180 pounds as an 11-year-old. At 12, she carried 220 pounds on her 5'5 frame, at which time her family decided that diet and exercise were not working and they needed to seek medical attention. And instead of receiving a strict regiment from a nutritionist or dietician, Brooke underwent liposuction--and not gastric bypass because that's too dangerous.
You might be surprised by the numbers, though. Almost 3,000 people under the age of 18 underwent liposuction last year. Disgusting.
Now Brooke weighs 153 pounds and says she feels better because she's lighter and has boyfriends...because that's always validating [click here to watch Brooke's transformation, courtesy of Jezebel]. The twist here is that after gaining back a few pounds, Brooke is not going to have lap-band surgery.
So all you overweight teenagers out there, what have we learned tonight? Don't worry about exercise, playing outside or being healthy. Eat your garbage food and sit on your butts, playing video games and spending hours on MySpace. There's nothing wrong with teenagers having liposuction (sarcaaaasm!)
Becky and Kyle Armstrong welcomed new baby Faith Lynn to the world--and 2008--at the Gettysburg Hospital Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. But...she wasn't their first, first baby.
The couple delivered their firstborn child, Kaden Skye Armstrong, on New Year's Day last year and Kaden was the same hospital's first baby of 2007.
Hospital employees said they've never seen anything like it. No kidding, I don't think anyone could do that if they tried, which I'm sure they will now.
And a little fun fact: the babies' great-grandmother also shares the same birthday.
Again, my apologies for the lack of posting lately. Now that I've gotten the major headache holiday out of the way, hopefully things will be getting back to normal.
A study published in this week's The Journal of Neuroscience showed that a nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in a group of monkeys and allowed them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests.
The hormone could potentially help the 70 percent of Americans who do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night, myself included.
The authors of the study claim that orexin A reduces the effects of sleep deprivation but does not cause edginess and is apparently non-addictive.
Still, the spray would initially be used to treat people suffering from narcolepsy--a condition that the study states is caused by lack of orexin A in the brain. For the spray to become available to the average joe could take almost a decade, depending on the Food and Drug Administration's approval process.
But then it'll totally be so long coffee, hello nasal spray!!
Fourteen years ago, the man developed a bad case of dermititis and instead of seeking medical help, he decided to self-medicate using a treatment called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal.
"It wasn't until a friend I hadn't seen in several months came by my parent's place to see me and he asked me 'what did you do?.'"--Paul Karason
Side effects of taking colloidal silver include Argyria, which is an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of your skin, nails and gums--oh my God, you mean it turns your body blue??-- seizures and other neurological problems, kidney damage, indigestion, fatigue etc.
Karason (pictured above, middle) says he tries to avoid public places as much as possible. Maybe he can join the Blue Man Group? Ha--I'm sure he's never heard that one before.
Karason hasn't sought medical attention and is still drinking the treatment, but on a lesser doseage. Maybe he wishes to be a nice shade of cerulean; I mean, that was my favorite Crayola crayon, so I'd understand.
Famed writer Michael Crichton died unexpectedly Tuesday night after a private battle with cancer, sources say.
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