OK, I can finally let the cat out of the bag.  It’s SO exciting!

I am going to be working with the web team of (drumroll….) ADAM FREAKING CAROLLA!!!!!

I went into the offices and spent some time today…met Adam, met Donny, met Sandy, the IT guy I’ll be working most closely with.  I get started next week!

I’ll be doing some WordPress maintenance and posting, RSS and XML work, some Social Media, and down the line (hopefully eventually they’ll let me, once they get to know me and become aware of my patent awesomeness, LOL) SEO work for the podcasts.

I’ve been SUCH a huge fan of Adam and his many projects for so many years that it’s a real honor to have the opportunity to contribute to his team.  Also, as a died-in-the-wool internet geek, can I just tell you how amazing it is to have the chance to be a part of the team that puts out THE MOST POPULAR PODCAST IN THE HISTORY OF PODCASTS???!!!!!

I am beyond stoked right now!!!!

Here’s what was the top story on Buzz when I checked my Yahoo mail this morning -

And here was the news when I searched Google News -

The lesson?  Crowdsourced news can bring interesting things to the forefront, but not all of it will be true!

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This was in my newsreader this morning. Just wow.

Source: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/22/airliner-overshoots-airport-pilots-blame-discussion-ntsb-has-questions/

By Mike M. Ahlers
CNN Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) – A Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Minneapolis overshot the Minneapolis airport by about 150 miles Wednesday evening, and federal investigators are looking into whether the pilots had become distracted, as they claimed, or perhaps fell asleep.

Air traffic controllers lost radio communication with the Airbus A320, carrying 147 passengers and an unknown number of crew, when it was flying at 37,000 feet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

There was no communication with the airplane for more than an hour as it approached the airport, the board said.

The aircraft flew over its intended destination – Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain Airport – and continued northeast for approximately 150 miles over the next 16 minutes. The airport’s controllers then re-established communication with crew members, who said they had become distracted, the safety board said.

“The crew stated they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness,” the board said in a news release.

A board spokesman said the agency is examining all possible explanations for the mishap, including whether the pilots may have fallen asleep.

The safety board said it is scheduling an interview with the crew and has secured the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder for examination. Cockpit voice recorders record cockpit conversations and other noises.

The safety board said the Federal Aviation Administration and Northwest Airlines are taking part in the investigation.

Check out the below video, also featuring Donald Faison, where Zach Braff combats the rumor that he has died.

It’s frickin’ hilarious! I know people say that he has a bad temper, but cracks me up.

Here’s the vid – transcription is below:

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Zach: Hi! It’s Zach Braff here. I’m alive. There was a big internet rumor today that I was dead, that I ODed on some pills. It’s not the case. I’m alive, I’m here at Scrubs shooting the new Scrubs Title Sequence. Which is a little bit like dying, so I guess that was semi-accurate. Also, I would never off myself with pills. If I had to do it, I would do it the way that everyone else would do it, by hitting myself with pots and pans.

A couple innaccuracies you should have noticed when you saw the thing, if you believed it.

One. The dude said that, let me just pull it up here, he said that I was found in my 32,000 square foot estate in Beverly Hills. Look, I’m not Oprah, all right? That’s a big ass house. And, you know, I’ve got a nice house, but 32,000 square feet – that’s like some Oprah shit right there.

Oh, and also, I think it’s funny that when I posted earlier that I was alive I didn’t really get that many “likes.” And I think there should have been way more likes out there for those of you who like me, when I said that I was alive.

On a positive note, I was able, when my friend Donald Faison called me frantically, I was able to work out with him that if I do ever die, I would like him to sing an R&B version of Wind Beneath my Wings at my funeral.

So I just want to say to Chris Laga-laga-nella, who apparently is the douchebag that started this, you win my first ever “Douche of the Day” award for making my Mom upset.

And now, to play us out, Donald Faison with an R&B rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings”

Donald (singing): Did you ever know that you’re my hero? You’re everything I would like to could be? OOOO I could..

Zach (interruping): I’m sorry to interrupt, but would you mind just urbaning it up a little bit? R&B it up.

Donald (singing): Did you ever know that you’re my hero…

Zach: Thank you everybody.

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This is just incredibly sad to me. You’re young, a kid, and you decide to do one wild and impulsive thing – and it probably cost you your life.

This, from CNN:

(CNN) — The mother of a 17-year-old Rochester, New York, high school student who vanished over the weekend on spring break in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, says she did not give her daughter permission to go on the trip.

Brittanee Marie Drexel’s mom says she thought she was at the beach in New York, not South Carolina.

In an appearance on HLN’s Nancy Grace, Dawn Drexel said her daughter, Brittanee Marie Drexel, has never run away.

Drexel said the high school junior stayed in touch with her by phone, and she last spoke with Brittanee on Saturday afternoon.

“I asked her what she was doing and she says ‘Oh, mom, I’m at the beach.’ And it was an 80-degree day in Rochester so, of course, I thought maybe she was at the beach in Rochester with one of her girlfriends that she had said she was staying overnight,” Drexel said.

Drexel said she asked Brittanee to call her later and the girl agreed. “I said, ‘I love you, Brittanee’ and she says, ‘I love you, mom.’ And then we hung up the phone.”

Brittanee is believed to have last been seen Saturday evening, though an unconfirmed sighting may have placed her at a restaurant on Sunday.

She was staying with friends at the Bar Harbor Hotel on North Ocean Boulevard, according to police reports.

According to the Associated Press, Freddie Mac CFO David Kellerman is dead in an apparent suicide. Damn…I know work pressures can be bad, and his were worse than most. But he had a five year old daughter! Very sad.

This, from WCBS News and the Associated Press:

NEW YORK (WCBS 880 / AP) — Farifax, VA police tell CBS TV affiliate WUSA in Washington DC the acting head of Freddie Mac, David Kellerman, has committed suicide.

Police responded to the Kellerman home after receiving a call from his wife.

Kellermann was 41-years-old.

Sabrina Ruck, a Fairfax County police spokesman, confirmed to the AP that Kellermann was dead, but she could not confirm that he committed suicide despite WUSA reporting that Fairfax police told them it was a suicide.

Kellermann’s death is the latest blow to Freddie Mac, a government controlled company that owns or guarantees about 13 million home loans. CEO David Moffett resigned last month.

McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac and sibling company Fannie Mae, which together own or back more than half of the home mortgages in the country, have been hobbled by skyrocketing loan defaults and have received about $60 billion in combined federal aid.

Kellermann was named acting chief financial officer in September 2008, after the resignation of Anthony “Buddy” Piszel, who stepped down after the September 2008 government takeover. The chief financial officer is responsible for the company’s financial controls, financial reporting and oversight of the company’s budget and financial planning.

Before taking that job, Kellerman served as senior vice president, corporate controller and principal accounting officer. He was with Freddie Mac for more than 16 years.

Well, it’s an odd love triangle – Marilyn, Gwen Stefani, and Gavin Rossdale. But there you have it. Marilyn has told InTouch Magazine that Rossdale had to deny the affair because of his growing music career, but that Gavin Rossdale is the love of his life.

The affair had been alleged by Boy George in the past, but Rossdale had, indeed, denied it.

Here’s a video of Marilyn:

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Tracy Pollen is starring in a new Lifetime Original movie based on the disappearance of Teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba and her mother Beth Holloway’s unending and tenacious search to find out the truth behind what happened.

It airs tonight, Sunday April 19th, at 8 pm.

Here’s a trailer:

I gotta tell ya, for a three minute and sixteen second video, it basically hits all the high points of the issue.

Now, if only Doogie Howser could come in and save it in real life!