One of the great commercial flops of the early 1990’s was Crystal Pepsi. Only seven years after the failure of Coca-Cola’s “New Coke” formulation, PepsiCo got the idea to market a cola drink with no coloring. The product was original: existing clear sodas were usually lemon-lime, like Sprite and 7-Up, rather than cola-flavored. But despite an aggressive marketing campaign, Crystal Pepsi went flat as quickly as - well, soda.
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Throughout the second half of the 20th century, eastern European countries dominated gymnastics at the international level. The Soviet Union was renowned for its training centers that consistently turned out prize-winning gymnasts, but when the government dissolved in the early 1990s another Communist country was given the opportunity to showcase its gymnasts. Chinese gymnasts such as Yang Bo, Liu Xuan, and Mo Huilan paved the way for younger gymnasts to achieve great recognition on the international stage. One such young gymnast was Sang Lan, but her dream was shattered.
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Prologue: It is difficult to write about the death penalty without taking a side, but I am going to attempt to remain neutral. Additionally, this topic may make some readers uncomfortable.

A debate currently taking place in California questions whether lethal injection is a cruel and unusual form of execution. Out of all methods of execution currently practiced in the United States, lethal injection is the most common; if the California case determines that it is cruel and unusual, significant changes may be coming for how America executes its prisoners.
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In a bit of a departure from my encyclopedia-style non-fiction writing, today I’m going to describe my typical experience as an interpreter at a science fiction convention. This weekend will be my sixth trip to the Hunt Valley Inn north of Baltimore for the purposes of interpreting; I attended the same convention once or twice as a fan when I was a kid, but lately I only go to interpret. The two conventions I interpret for are Farpoint and Shore Leave; they are virtually identical in terms of format and most programming is the same, too.
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You can buy apples and oranges all the time. Bananas and grapes are also usually readily available, and if you need a lemon or lime for something they’re not too hard to find at the supermarket. Peaches, blueberries, and raspberries are common too. Even mangos, figs, and coconuts are not too hard to find these days. But there are literally thousands of fruits, some of which are much more unusual than others.
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Prologue: I have been meaning to write this piece for at least a year and a half. Thanks are owed to NonFicWriMo for finally spurring me to write it.

May 10, 1996 was the deadliest day ever on Mount Everest. Deaths are not uncommon in mountaineering, and Everest has claimed many lives in its history, including some of the strongest in the climbing community. But never before had eight people died in a single day: the greatest tragedy on Mount Everest. Even after the climbing season was over, debate raged on about what had happened on that day.
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The Jetsons. Scooby Doo. Tom and Jerry. The Flintstones. These familiar cartoon characters all originated from the same artistic team: Hanna-Barbera.
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Getting married in the United States is fairly easy. One man and one woman must intend to get married, get a blood test, and get a license. There is no proof of cohabitation, no proof of intimate relations, no time limits from your previous marriage. Establishing a domestic partnership, though, is more complex.
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Harvard University has been around longer than the United States - a lot longer. Only sixteen years after the Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock, they established an institute of higher learning that has lasted for more than 350 years.
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Known to millions of Star Trek fans around the world as the “Great Bird of the Galaxy,” Gene Roddenberry was the creator of one of the most successful franchises ever created. (”Great Bird” was a nickname stemming from a mythological creature from an episode of the original Star Trek.)
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