Stormy Saturn

It's amazing we have the opportunity to see things happening at over 740 million miles away!

Amplify’d from cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com

This Dec. 24 picture from the Cassini orbiter shows a huge storm on Saturn as a bright-colored whirl on the planet's disk. The raw, unprocessed image, which was received and released today, also shows the dark shadows of Saturn's rings on the disk.

Huge storm spotted on Saturn

Alan Boyle says:So you think this week's East Coast snowstorm is a biggie? Get a load of the monster storm system that astronomers are seeing on Saturn. Some astronomers have suggested that this is shaping up as a "Great White Spot" — a rare occurrence on the ringed planet — and now the Cassini orbiter has gotten its first good look at the phenomenon. Read more at cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com

 

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Holiday greetings from Charlotte, NC ... the birds seem to be enjoying the snow that arrived overnight http://amplify.com/u/jjit

All I Want for Christmas...

I like my Chia Pet after all.

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The worst gifts ever

At this point I would hope that all of the shopping has been done for Christmas and you are feeling pretty good about your gift-giving choices. However confident you might be, I suggest taking a look at the following gifts just to make sure that nothing even remotely similar turned up on your list this year. Seriously, these gifts are so horrible that it has the power to bring down holidays, friendships and relationships. Even a box full of coal would be an upgrade.

Animal weighing scales

Common sense dictates that you should never give someone a gift that could be misinterpreted as a hint that they might need to lose a little weight. This includes gym club memberships, exercise equipment and, most importantly, scales where pounds are represented by farm animals. Seriously, I don't think I could stress that last example enough. $41.38 - Lazybone

Handerpants

Don't be surprised when you are written out of someone's will after showing up for Christmas bearing a pair of tighty whitey underwear that is worn on the hands. Plus, much like your actual underwear, these have holes in them — so they aren't even going to be very warm. I'm more of a boxer guy anyway — but it's really hard to use your hands in the cold with boxing gloves on. $11.95 - Archie McPhee via Fashionably Geek

Personalized toilet bobblehead

Having a bobblehead custom made using a friend or family member's likeness isn't necessarily a terrible gift (especially if the person in question is kind of conceited), but go ahead and scan to the far right of this product image. Yeah, who wouldn't want a bobblehead of themselves on the toilet? Your mother would love it! $99 - Entertainment Earth via Nerd Approved

Razor blade soap

Soaps, lotions and oils are old standby gifts during the holidays, but this soap helps you clean those hard to reach areas … like the ones underneath your skin. Yes indeed, that's a real razor blade in there — and the glycerin in the soap will oxidize the metal over time. So how about a simultaneous shower and a shave with a rusty metal blade? Let's just hope that it comes with a tetanus-fresh scent. $6.95 - Feto Soap via Nerd Approved

Nothing

And now, the worst gift of them all — probably the worst gift of all time. It's Nothing — packaged nothing to be more precise. A bubble filled with air. The person that gives this gift isn't even trying to disguise their intentions. I mean, even getting coal is getting something. I could burn it for heat. But nothing … you can't do anything with nothing. And since it comes in one of those dreaded blister packs, you actually have to work hard to get at your nothing. Someone paid $9 to give you nothing. It's holiday cruelty of the highest caliber. $9 - iwoot via Nerd Approved Read more at www.msnbc.msn.com

 

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Roller Coaster Ride for Kicker

I tip my cap to Kyle for hanging in there through this. No one player should be held responsible for a single win or loss. Hold your head high, Kyle!

Amplify’d from msn.foxsports.com

Brotzman saves best, not-so-best, for last Sports Xchange BRIAN MURPHY

LAS VEGAS

Kyle Brotzman — Boise State’s kicker and the punch line to countless jokes in the last month — was bent at the waist, his hands clutching each side of his blue helmet.

Exasperation. Disbelief.

Brotzman was in the same position on Nov. 26, when he missed the second of two late-game field goals in an overtime loss to Nevada. The loss ended Boise State’s national title and Rose Bowl hopes. And it turned Brotzman, a previously little-known former walk-on, into a household name among college football fans. And now he’s the all-time leading scorer among kickers in Football Bowl Subdivision history.

Here he was again Wednesday night in Las Vegas bent at the waist, helmet in hands, having let a perfect first-quarter fake punt pass — a perfect Boise State play — fall through his hands a yard ahead of the first-down marker.

No. Not him. Not again.

Mercifully, the drop was a mere footnote, part of a busy day for Brotzman in the Broncos’ 26-3 victory against Utah in the MAACO Bowl.

He scored eight points against Utah on two field goals and two extra points to set the NCAA career record for scoring at 439, surpassing Louisville's Art Carmody. He had a perfect directional punt to Utah All-American returner Shaky Smithson. He made two tackles on kickoff returns. And one of his field-goal attempts was blocked.

It was an eventful end to an eventful career for Brotzman, one of Boise State’s key contributors during a 48-5 stretch the past four years. In addition to his kicking, Brotzman ended his career as the Broncos' all-time leader in punting average at 44.6 yards per punt.

Hopefully he becomes a name in the record book. Or perhaps a vague memory of that classic game in Reno. Maybe he's best remembered for his pressure-packed fake-punt pass on "The Riddler" in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl that led to the Broncos' game-winning touchdown.

We can hope that the end of his career marks an end as well to the stories about how Brotzman's miss cost the Western Athletic Conference about $8 million in a bowl payout. About how it cost Petersen a bonus for reaching a BCS game. About how it cost the Broncos a spot in the Rose Bowl.

But maybe it's just not that easy.

On the night Brotzman missed against Nevada, a 26-yarder that would have won the game on the final play of regulation and a 29-yarder on the first possession of overtime, his family received threatening and harassing phone calls. They called the police.

Then supporters created a Facebook page, "The Bronco Nation Loves Kyle Brotzman," and more than 45,700 people signed up — a backlash to the backlash. Boise's Bronco Stadium, home of the famous blue turf, holds just 33,500 people.

Maybe it resonates so much because we've all imagined being there. We've all shot one more basket or taken one final swing or putted one last ball. For the NBA title. With the World Series on the line. With a green jacket in the balance.

Very few get the chance to actually try. Even fewer wonder what would happen if they miss.

We'd probably end up bent at the waist, hands on the side of our head in despair.   Read more at msn.foxsports.com

 

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