MetaYak

Which is harder, a slap shot or a tennis serve?

Yesterday Zdeno Chara won the hardest slap shot contest at the NHL All Star game with a 105 mile per hour slap shot. But I remember hearing that a tennis serve can top 150 miles per hour (Andy Roddick, 155 miles per hour). That sounds really fast! Could it be that there exists a tennis player who is stronger than Big Z, the monstrous 6 foot 9 Slovakian hockey player with the legendary workout ethic?

Thankfully, no.

A hockey puck weighs 6 ounces, a tennis ball only 2. Therefore a hockey puck traveling 105 miles per hour has about 37% more energy than a tennis ball traveling 155 miles per hour. The proof, as they say, is left as an exercise for the reader.

That will also explain why no-one (to my limited knowledge) has even had their leg broken by a tennis ball. Maybe Andrew Ference would like tennis.

Aaarrrhhhhh

By the way dad, it really is "farv" and not "fav-re".

Hockey skill pad / artificial ice

I've poked around the web looking at various commercial hockey skill pads and amateur videos of people trying to make their own. The home-made ones seem to be pretty flimsy, people are using acrylic sheets that crack when they try and take a slap shot.

So what have I learned? Well in bullet form

• Some patent applications that I dug up (here and here) suggest polyethylene for artificial ice, with a silicone lubricant
• A 1/4" sheet is the size of a commercial skill pad. I guess that will be thick enough not to crack. This particular one is $90 for a 3' x 4' pad.
• You can buy a 2' x 4' x 1/4" polyethylene sheet from uplastic.com for $27 plus shipping.
• You can probably get silicone lubricant in a spray can at any hardware store.

PS If you are still waiting for this post to be funny... well, sorry. It isn't.

Dropped a nickel

Young Levi got the wrong girl pregnant

Not a shotgun wedding; a high velocity assault rifle wedding!

"A statement released by the campaign said that Bristol Palin will keep her baby and marry the child's father. Bristol Palin's baby is due in late December.

The father was identified in the statement as Levi, but the campaign said it was not disclosing his full name or age or how he and Bristol know each other, citing privacy."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26496189/

The Tragic Hero

Image credits

http://www.tkstoystand.com/IMAGE1/STAR_WARS/sw_pic_anakin_01.jpg
http://www.rabittooth.com/800x600StarWarsWallpapers2/AnakinSkywalkerV3Wallpaper.jpg
http://www.desktopextreme.com/photos/Star_Wars_Empire_Darth_Vader_329200543049PM311.jpg
http://www.afi.com/Images/tvevents/laa/connery/GeorgeLucas.jpg

How to Sell a Car

Presented by the Maine School of Marketing:

1. Park the car by the side of the road with a For Sale sign in the windshield.  Do not specify price.   Leave through 2 winters.
2. Trade 5 yards of clean fill to a friend who lives on a busier road.  Park car additional 2 winters.
3. Wash car.  Hammer out road kill dents.  Write 'Good Condition' with magic marker on the For Sale sign.
4. Reject first offer.  Only a sucker takes the first offer.
5. Make additional For Sale sign.  Straighten and staple 2 coat hangers to sign.  Push coat hangers into ground near a busy intersection.  In the case that there is no busy intersection, post at nearest flashing red light.
6. Accept any offer.
7. If no offer comes, buy another car of the same make and model.  Park old car behind house and use for spare parts.

The Same Old Argument

  Human image : chuck.bergeron / flickr

Not Cool by Association

Rabbit heard it here. He doesn't know what a green eyed monster is but he understands the rest.

The Green Monster

This one's for you Andy Carnell. How are you doing out there?