Snowman Blog - Amateur Thoughts

Evian water knocks it out of the ballpark with the Roller Babies commercial. Absolutely awesome.

Josh Womack at the Long Beach Armada 2009 Training Camp Showing off his bat skills. Amazing!

(CNN) — Continental Flight 61, whose pilot died Thursday while flying from Brussels, Belgium, to Newark, New Jersey, has landed safely, the Federal Aviation Administration and Continental Airlines said.

The Boeing 777 landed at Newark International Airport at 11:49 a.m. ET Thursday, the airline said, after the 60-year-old Newark-based pilot died “apparently of natural causes.”

The airline said the crew on the flight included an additional relief pilot who took the place of the deceased man, and “the flight continued safely with two pilots at the controls.”

Asked whether the plane’s 247 passengers had been told of the situation, a Continental spokesman said only that the plane had arrived safely.

Passengers told CNN that they were not told, and only that an announcement for a doctor was made during the flight.

“I haven’t heard anything.” passenger Chris Balchuas, from Houston, Texas, told reporters. “They just said there was a medical emergency and were there any doctors aboard.”

After being told what had happened, he said, “Oh, that’s scary. I didn’t know anything about that.”

He said nothing was unusual about the flight, just that about “four or five fire trucks and a whole bunch of medical emergency teams” met the plane when it landed.

Another passenger, Dr. Julien Struyzen, says he responded to the announcement requesting a doctor and pronounced the pilot dead.

“He was clinically dead when I came in,” Struyzen said. Flight personnel asked him if anything was possible and he said “it was not.”

He did not give additional details.

Struyzen said all flight personnel were “very professional.”

Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the New York and New Jersey Port Authority, said the FAA told Newark airport officials to have emergency crews standing by for the landing.

The plane landed without any problem, he said, and a medical examiner met the plane to help handle the situation.

The pilot had 32 years of service with Continental, the airline said.

(CNN) — Police have placed a Sunday School teach under arrest in the killing of California 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, authorities said early Saturday.

Melissa Huckaby was placed under arrest on charges of kidnapping and murder, according to Tracy, California, police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. Police have not revealed what led to Huckaby’s arrest, but said it followed questioning. They did not offer a possible motive. Huckaby lived in the same mobile home park as Sandra’s family, and Sandra was friends with Huckaby’s daughter, Sheneman said. Sandra’s body was found Monday, stuffed into a suitcase in a dairy-farm pond. The girl, from Tracy, had been missing since March 27. The suitcase that held Sandra’s body belonged to Huckaby, Sheneman said.

Police have had contact with Huckaby before, but she does not have a record of violence, Sheneman said, without offering further details.

An autopsy was conducted on Sandra’s body on Tuesday. Autopsy results are not expected for four to six weeks, CNN affiliate KRON-TV reported earlier in the week, citing the coroner’s office.

Police have conducted hundreds of interviews in the case.

On Tuesday, authorities searched a Baptist church near the mobile home park where Sandra lived. The church’s pastor, Lane Lawless, and his wife, Connie, spoke to KRON as they drove by the church Tuesday. Lawless said police had seized computers, phones and other items from his family’s trailer, located in the same park as Sandra’s family. He said his great-granddaughter regularly played with Sandra.

 ”We’ve been in the park for 13 years, and we’ve known her and her sister since before they were born,” Connie Lawless told KRON. “So they’re like children to us; they’re like our children.”

The day Sandra was last reported seen, she returned home from school, kissed her mother and left to play with a friend who lives nearby. A short time later, wearing a pink Hello Kitty T-shirt and black leggings, she left to go to another friend’s home, according to a family spokeswoman.

Police said the girl’s clothing helped them identify her body.

photo and story provided by cnn.com

Eminem is back with a new album and just released his pop culture-driven first single and music video, “We Made You.” As anticipated, he makes fun of multiple celebrities including Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Simpson, Ellen DeGeneres, Amy Winehouse, Bret Michaels, Kim Kardashian, and many others holding down a Star Trek Theme, loved the video, what do you all think?

In Touch reports that Octomom Nadya Suleman was working out a deal for a reality show that would focus on her life as a single mom and search for love. This goes completely against the fact that Suleman said she wouldn’t do a reality show and pledged to remain celibate until her kids grew up. Obviously we can not trust everything she says giving that  Suleman’s word is worth donkey doo as she’s also said that she’s never had plastic surgery and that she didn’t use welfare.

Another news outlet confirmed with In Touch’s editor that Suleman told them she had reality show in the works, and they called the concept “Jon and Kate Plus 8? meets “The Bachelor.” They also confirmed that Suleman insisted that the show not use the term “Octomom” to refer to her.

Aggressive lawyer Gloria Allred isn’t hesitating to condemn Suleman for the planned reality show. Allred worked with the Angels in Waiting agency to broker a failed deal to provide free nursing care for the octuplets. Suleman ultimately rejected their help and claimed that they were judging and monitoring her. It seems like Suleman was right as Allred then talked smack about Suleman to the media, claiming that she used her babies as props and was more concerned about fame than her children’s well being. The Angels in Waiting agency also filed three reports with Child Protective Services on Suleman that focused on things like lax home security and Sulemam supposedly letting a nanny with tuberculosis around the babies.

Allred is now saying that this reality show is of course more evidence of what a terrible mom Suleman is:

Speaking exclusively to OK!, Gloria said that, when Angels in Waiting USA - the nursing organization she’d worked with to help Suleman - had visited the Octomom’s house, “it appeared to the nurses and myself that Nadya treated her babies as props and as part of a television set for those who were filming her.”

According to Gloria, there are two very different Octomoms. “When the cameras were not rolling she was absent from the babies and the nurses for significant blocks of time and never volunteered to feed the babies herself,” recalls the outspoken lawyer.

“She also asked AIW many times if they would agree that she could have a reality show. AIW is on the record telling her that they would not allow it because of the risk of infection from the presence of dirty cameras, audio equipment and electrical cords - and the concern for the emotional well-being of all of her children.

“Nadya now appears to be putting her money-making scheme of a reality show before, in my opinion, the best interests of her children. If she goes ahead with it she needs to spend less time looking for a man and more time mothering her 14 children.”

Not surprisingly, Gloria believes that Nadya’s motives are off the mark. “If she is looking for men, she is looking for love in all the wrong places. Rather than doing a reality show, she needs to deal with the reality that she has 14 children (a number with special needs) who need her to be there with them to love them and be a real mother to them. That is the reality that she needs to face.

“Her children need a mother who will protect them and their privacy, not a mother who appears ready to auction off their privacy to the highest bidder.”

[From OK! Magazine]

I don’t think Suleman is even an adequate mom but when someone like Gloria Allred talks so much smack about her it just makes me want to defend her. Suleman is a narcissistic woman who believes that things should be handed to her in life, including children. She’s arranging for their care though. It’s not up to us to say that she should be with them constantly or be super concerned at every moment if she has the means to hire help and they are well looked after.

The issues with the security and health of the babies need to be resolved, but condemning Suleman for that isn’t going to help her. If Allred wasn’t so antagonistic, she may have been able to convince Suleman to hire security and be more careful about the babies’ health. Octomom was willing to work with Angels in Waiting but they didn’t seem willing to stop judging her.

If she goes through with this reality show you can bet there will be a lot more people passing judgment on her. It sounds like a bad idea, but it’s not like she’s made the best decisions in the past or she wouldn’t be a single unemployed mom with 14 kids all conceived by invitro. She wants cash and fame and she’ll get it. Maybe someone else can help her be a more present mom by working with her instead of against her. It’s not like she doesn’t love her kids, she just also loves fame and cash.

Story provided by Celebitchy.com and Photo provided by Mavrixonline.com

Singer Chris Brown entered a Not Guilty pleas on both felony charges today. Chris Brown, know for his R&B hits, as well as the alleged beating of Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time, is 19 years old and faces probation and or up to 4 years and eight months imprisonment if found guilty.

I mean Seriously, has anyone else seen this police photo of Rihanna.. Not Guilty? Was this an accident? Did you “Not mean to”? Sheesh

photos provided by cnn and tmz

Ok, the worlds first Flying Hotel.. So many thoughts on this one. Lets start with the specs:

Since 2004, the company behind the Hotelicopter has been working to modify a Soviet-made Mil V-12 into two world firsts: the “world’s biggest helicopter” and the “world’s first flying hotel.”
As you might have guessed, the experience on board the Hotelicopter is far from your standard Motel 6. This gigantic flying Titanic machine features everything you would expect from a 5-star hotel—from private entertainment systems and room service to extras like spa treatments, yoga classes, gaming and a tea garden.

If you were wondering just how big and powerful this flying hotel really is, check out the specs:

* Dimensions Length: 42 m (137 ft)
* Height: 14m (45 ft)
* Maximum Takeoff Weight: 105850 kg (232,870 lb)
* Maximum speed: 255 km/h (137 kt) (158 miles/h)
* Cruising speed: 237 km/h (127 kt) (147 miles/h)
* Original Mi Range: 515 km (320 mi)
* Our augmented Mi Range - 1,030 km (640 mi)

The inaugural flight is set to take place on June 26th for an undisclosed price. Obviously, only the affluent need apply—but anyone that is interested can head on over to the Hotelicopter website to get more info about setting up a reservation.

Ok, my Amateur Thoughts:
Does my vacation aboard the Hotelicopter get delayed if a bad storm arives first?
Am I going to be ok with the turbulance at 6am?
How often am are we going to land and take back off for refueling?

Bottom line, I don’t think we are going to see these sprout up like condo’s in Myrtle Beach. 1 may be good and needed for those that have to do something new, but ill stick with my 2 bedroom timeshare every few months.

President Obamba took on questions from internet users yesterday, and one of the most popular questions was:

Will legalizing marijuana stimulate the economy as well as open up jobs? .. as seen in the video, the Presidents exact response was

No, I don’t think its a good strategy to grow our economy

Ok, time for my opinion. Whether for or against Marijuana.. Yes, it will open up more jobs and Yes it will stimulate and potentially grow our economy. Now based on the answer the President gave, he did not say he was against it, he just doesn’t think its a good strategy.

Out of curiosity, I Googled “How much money does California Make off of Medical Marijuana Each Year” and according to Chacah.com , the states sees 2% of all monies spent on Medical Marijuana. After searching for these numbers, I searched to see how much is spent on medical marijuana each year and various sources brought up 14 Billion Dollars a year. So lets do the math for just 1 state with limited clients:

2% of $14B = $280,000,000 … and this isn’t going to help?

It’s a given that Lebron James is Phenomenal, but its shots like this that leave me flat out amazed. If you are easily impressed, then this is going to blow your mind.. if you are hard to impress, then I found your cure. Enjoy!