Raymond Johnson @ downclimb.com

Ever get that feeling that you just read something really, well, so naive it's disturbing? There's an article (full text found here ) in today's Northern Iowan (our campus newspaper) by Katie Hammitt, NI Features Writer, that talks about the health benefits of using tanning beds. That's right, the benefits . Did somebody skip too many biology classes? The article claims that tanning is a "healthy activity", saying that tanning strengthens the immune system and even fights cancer. You've got to be kidding me. A freshman female was quoted as saying "I know it can be bad for your skin, but you only live once. I figure by the time I get skin cancer, if I would, they'll have a cure, so I don't have to worry about that." You only live once? You only die once, too, and there are many opportunities for painful and expensive surgeries and other cancer-removing treatments. This article is part of a series dealing with "health and ha...

If you're an observer with attention to strange details you can make a trip to your local grocery store or large discount shopping chain an entertaining experience. I went to our local Hy-Vee food store (the famous one where St. Louis Rams' MVP quarterback Kurt Warner used to work) and, among other things, noticed that when you check out the first item shown purchased on your receipt is the name of your cashier, and the price is $.00. I wonder if Christie K. knows I bought her for nothing?

Okay, I know downclimb.com isn't taking shape as quickly as I would have hoped, but that is the way web development generally goes. If you remember when I first put up this section, you'll recall I was using a service called "Blogger". I've been pretty pleased with it, pleased enough that I just signed up for their "Pro" service. It won't make what I post here any more interesting, but things are a little nicer from my end. Check out what they have to offer at http://www.blogger.com .

I've been really quiet lately. I should have made a post about that guy in Colorado who got strangled by his pet python. That meets my definition of noteworthy news. Anyway, I've been working on some web stuff, doing some programming, making some thesis progress, and doing some job hunting. I can't say that I've made any truly significant progress in any of those areas, but I've gained in each one. I guess that's just how it goes sometimes...

There's a great article at the Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune about University of Minnesota wrestling coach J Robinson. I've had a few brief encounters with J Robinson, and I've heard many more stories, and I think the article gives a good description about the general feelings towards this very successful but contraversial man. I don't know what it feels like to have J Robinson on your side, but as an opponent he makes you uneasy because you have no reason to question his desire to beat you. And I'm sure that's exactly what he wants you to feel.

MSNBC.com is running a story about Super Bowl commercials. Included are clips of noteworthy past commercials, including the famous "Macintosh" ad that Apple ran in 1984. Is it just me, or is that commercial still one of the coolest commercials you've ever seen? They could play it this Sunday and I'd still want to buy a Mac. I'm not saying I would, but I'd want to...

The Denver Post has a great update about the Baca Ranch purhcase and how it will allow for the creation of a Great Sand Dunes National Park. If you can't tell, I'm really excited about this. It's a good thing.

Here's some really great news - Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Monument has moved a big step closer to expading and becoming a national park. The Denver Post reports that the Nature Conservancy, with some help from Yale University, has agreed to buy the 97,000-acre ranch adjacent to the dunes. I visited the Great Sand Dunes last summer and I'm very glad to see the plans to go from monument to park take action. I get a lot of mail asking me to donate money to various environmental and wilderness causes, but knowing this is the kind of thing the Nature Conservancy does will probably help me with any future money-giving decisions. Until then, I'm just a poor college student who had fun one day playing in the sand. :)

I just read at ESPN.com that one of my all-time favorite football players, Dick "Night Train" Lane, has died. I only knew of him from little bits of film, but he's the kind of player you don't forget, especially if he was allowed to tackle you. His trademark clothesline tackle (the "Night Train Necktie") was so violent that it was outlawed by the league. Not many people have earned that kind of distinction.

Maybe there is justice in this world - the Internet Movie Database is again showing "The Godfather" ranked as the #1 user-rated movie of all time, ahead of "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". LOTR was good, but not that good. Check out all of the top 250 movies .

While I was watching a bit of the football game on Sunday and I wondered if Pat Summerall is somehow jealous or bitter towards John Madden because of Madden's relative success in hardware store advertisements. If you don't remember, Summerall advertised for True Value and Madden for Ace Hardware, but it's been a long time since I've seen a True Value ad or commercial. Ace features Madden on their website but True Value makes no mention of Summerall. In fact, there are only a few pages on the web that mention the Summerall-True Value connection. ( Here's a little proof of existence if you need it .) I'm sure Summerall can conceed to Madden's success in the video game arena , but as hardware guys they should have been equal. In fact, if you were involved in a building project of your own, who would you rather have running around with sharp tools? Give me Summerall anyday - Madden would be a couple lost fingers waiting to happen. So why is this now s...

Another "must see to believe" story . James Earl Jones? James Earl Ray? I can tell the difference - can you?

While we're on the conspiracy theory theme, check out "Who Killed Clinton's Dog? What did Buddy know, and when did he know it?" by Mickey Kaus. I only gave it a quick read, but it looked like good stuff. Maybe even Al Franken quality. (Or maybe not...that's a pretty high honor in my book.)

If you're into asking "What if?" types of questions, President Bush's choking incident yesterday should give you a lot to think about. Okay, let's jump straight to the worst-case scenario: What if Bush had died? Given the state of the world, I'd like to see what the conspiracy theorists would have come up with. This could have made the JFK assassination theories look like a back-page obituary. We probably would have heard ideas about the "Al Qaeda Pretzel" and "The deadly pretzel sent from Allah", along with ideas of poisoning, bioterrorism, secret death-rays, The Force, the One Ring, yada yada yada... With this in mind, let's just all be thankful that our president is okay. If you want to worry about something, worry about the state of American journalism. (Fox News anyone? The game show of news outlets...)

I just made a little update to downclimb.com . I've been working on stuff and hopefully I'll have a working site in place soon.

Because I'm currently on winter break I've had more time to watch TV. I mostly watch reruns of old shows, usually M*A*S*H, Law & Order, Roseanne, and The Cosby Show. While the shows are great, I'm getting tired of the commercials. I'm sick and tired of advertisements for stuff that makes your teeth whiter or for electrical pads you stick to your body for purposes of massage or "exercise". At least before Christmas we had some classics, like the Clapper and Chia Pet. I don't know if this is directly related, but I was also bothered by hearing the muzak version of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" while at the mall. Sacrilege!

Must see to believe: "LePOT" .

YeEeeeEeEee!!! Ren and Stimpy reruns are on VH1! If you aren't familiar with Ren and Stimpy, there isn't any amount of explaining I can do that would make you understand. It's all stupid but genius, and I laugh almost constantly. I was flipping channels tonight and found myself right in the middle of the rubber nipples episode. Happy happy joy joy... My all-time favorite episode has to be the "Robin Hoek" when they re-do Robin Hood. I think I even have that one on tape somewhere...

I couldn't help but notice this story about "Buddy Clinton" at the Washington Post . Dog hit by car...what can you say?

I've been a Muhammad Ali fan ever since I was in my early teens. I remember being at my grandfather's house and ESPN was re-showing the first Ali-Norton fight. My dad told me to watch because Ali was the greatest fighter that ever lived (even though Marciano was dad's favorite). Ali's jaw was broken in the first or second round of that fight, but he fought on and lost on a close decision. I'm not sure what it was about him, but I was hooked. I found a copy of Ali's autobiography and read it several times, then scoured the library for more. I taped rebroadcasts of Ali's fights and watched them over and over. I still watch the Thrilla in Manilla every month or two - not just because of Ali, but because I've come to realize that Joe Frazier was equally great, although in entirely different but perfectly complementary ways. I haven't gone to see the new Ali film yet, although I probably will in the next few weeks. I know some of the reviews sa...