I think learning to run barefoot as a kid probably helps a lot of those African runners with technique.

I switched to barefoot running recently. I'm working on building up the callouses on my skin and do small distances with no shoes at all. Feels great, even in the street. I use Vibrams for longer runs. My joint pain has disappeared. Long story short, my running shoes were making me run badly. I don't hit my heel on the ground anymore, and I land with much more bend in my knee. My stride feels more fluid ... and I have to say a lot less bouncy. I still don't have the extension, but I'm working on that.

This NPR report has an interesting video comparing the stride of a runner who wears shoes and a runner who always ran without shoes. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123031997.

"Are you even listening to me?" I was wondering exactly the same thing, Jon.

I don't think I quite qualify as a sifter, but I plan to attend. Bringing my teenagers along.

Kept waiting for them to break into a Thriller routine. Now that would have been awesome.

Gerbil.

I've definitely seen it here before. And it's a fake.

It's actually a Malamute. Both Mals and Huskys are neat dogs, but I like the Mal as a family dog a little better.

It's a black-tailed prairie dog.

I'm no fan of religious freaks, but it looked like the fat guy was just trying to adjust the lights after it became apparent that the crew wasn't going to do anything. Those lights are burning HOT and it looked like the people protesting had little room to avoid the heat and discomfort. Both the fat guy and the lady taking the video said the lights were hot and shining on some kids. While I disapprove of bringing kids along to these protests, protesting is legal and even if kids weren't involved it's not really fair to burn any people with these lights when they have limited space to avoid the beams.

Awesome. Best agility I've ever seen. German shorthair pointer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Shorthaired_Pointer.

The implications here are enormous, as suggested by Radio Lab here: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2010/04/16/segments/149570. Radio Lab suggests we've reached the limits of human and scientific understanding and use this computer program as an example. The piece also talks about other researchers who have used the program to input biological data, I believe complex DNA and protein interactions (can't re-listen to it right now to confirm for you). The point is that the computer spit out a whole lot of interesting equations ... which were previously unknown to science. No paper can be published on these equations because the way we generated the equations don't fit conventional scientific methods. Fascinating stuff.

I expected a new punch line, but I guess the real life punchline was too good to top. http://www.videosift.com/video/Richard-Dawkins-What-if-youre-wrong. As an atheist, I was girding up to see if I'd chuckle at South Park's take on Dawkins a la the Mormon episode, "Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb."