Hey check this out. It seems that lava flows indicate that the Earth’s magnetic fields occasionally reverse, which would have compasses worldwide pointing South. This is a geological ‘occasional’, though, which means the last time it happened was about 800,000 years ago (unless you’re Sarah Palin, in which case the last time it happened was when dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth together).

Of course you know what I immediately thought of when I read this news.

Ok, so actually I wouldn’t blame you at all if you had no idea what I thought of. Still, it gives me an excuse to link to an all-star Gambit from the past. The original site is lost to the mists of internets past (but you can still see it here, thanks to the magic of archive.org). I can only hope that the site creator takes some time out from playing D&D in his parents’ basement to reflect on the fact that he was kinda right. Ya know, if you leave out the mystery invisible planet and the worldwide destruction.

one of the two advantages of driving to work each day is that i get to listen to KFAN on my trip in and my trip back. i can’t do NPR anymore, KQ is too angry, ‘CCO is too old, and my musical tastes are stunted as of 1997. so it’s an easy decision. the drawback at this time of year is that this a football state during football season, yet i’m not a football fan. i pay cursory attention, maybe have the game on in the background of whatever else i’m doing, but don’t follow very closely.

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last christmas, i bought a new flat-panel HD-ready tv. our old tv was clunky, had a small screen, and needed to be replaced. ostensibly, there was no reason other than that to upgrade the tube. it’s been pretty sweet– particularly nature shows on the Discovery Channel’s HD version.

however, the main reason? october baseball. i wanted to see the grass in wrigley on HD. i wanted to see the laces on a schilling curveball in HD. i want to see roger clemens’s five-o’-clock shadow in HD. (ok, not that last part, but you get what i mean.) so imagine my surprise (and by surprise i mean frustration) when i learned that last night’s play-in playoff game was not on FOX, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, NBC, or STARZ, but, instead, TBS.

that’s right, TBS. the network that brought you family ties reruns, sex in the city reruns, and– most memorably– sanford and son reruns. i was briefly confused, wondering if somehow the braves had made the play-in game instead of the rockies or padres. nope. and it wasn’t a one-time, “oh crap where are we going to show this game” thing– TBS is splitting all division series and championship series games with FOX.

and, the kicker: TBS HD exists, but not in my HD channel tier. i called charter and talked to someone who couldn’t buy a clue if i spotted her $20; she actually told me to go do the “Live Chat Support” from charter.com instead. that was fairly entertaining, but the short answer is that there is no ETA on when TBS HD will be added to my programming.

so, your pity is appreciated as i’m stuck watching baseball just on a digital channel. i *so* know what, like, my ancestors must have went through.

i heartily concur.

praise jesus, says jon kitna.

it appears that, when i get to heaven, God will be wearing robes of honolulu blue and silver.

why, oh why, is the Creator a lions fan?