Annnnd, the domination of the women continues on Top Chef Season 6 episode 4. In the quickfire challenge, Tom Colicchio and a guest judge raised the stakes: the loser would be immediately sent home. The challenge? To produce a stellar snail dish. Kevin once again nabbed top honors with snails, candied bacon and mushrooms. Jesse, Ashley and Robin landed in the bottom three, where they were given 20 minutes to create an amuse-bouche in a three-way cook off. Jesse, after a long stay in the bottom, was finally sent home. Her last words were, "I promise I don't suck this much." It's possible that people's nerves get the best of them, especially on national television. But so far, that hasn't affected Jennifer, Kevin or Michael V., who continued to amaze into the elimination challenge.

Well, actually, due to his victory, Kevin had the special honor of sitting out the challenge and eating the other chefs' meals along with the judges, who included a round table of top French chefs, including Joel Robuchon. As for the other competing chefs, they were asked to draw knives engraved with the names of French sauces or proteins. Each sauce naturally corresponded to a protein, matching the chefs up in pairs. Ash and Hector did steak and peppercorn, Eli and Laurine a lobster and lobster bisque, Ashley and Mattin chicken and veloute, Bryan and Mike trout and bernaise, Ron and Robin frogs legs and Jennifer and Michael V. rabbit. Ron and Robin proved to be an interesting pair. While Robin buzzed around the chill Ron like a hyper bee, it seemed as if Ron might become irked. He maintained his cool, however, showing his temperment (and appearance) are more akin to an easy-going Jabba the Hutt.

In the end, Jennifer and Michael V. and Mike and Bryan shown. The show is getting a bit repetitive with those on the top. Clearly, talented chefs always perform well on Top Chef. But I don't think I've seen another season quite so lopsided, with those in the bottom unable to move up, and those on the top firmly planted there. It's like the poverty line. Any way, Bryan pulled in the win with his skillful cooking on the trout. His prize: cooking in Joel Robuchon's Las Vegas restaurant for a week.

On the bottom were Ashley and Mattin with a botched and overly bacon-y veloute sauce and Hector and Ash with an overcooked and improperly carved steak. Ashley is really the only one here who is no stranger to the bottom. But in the end, it was Hector's mistreatment of the meat that sent him packing. He was certainly an interesting character that brought a unique, authentic Latin american style of cooking to the show. I guess French cooking was his downfall. Next week: cooking outside in 100 degree weather. Goody!

Surveying damage...Michael Jackson interment...Troops killed in Iraq
LOS ANGELES (AP) — All residents forced to flee the massive wildfire burning north of Los Angeles have been allowed to return to survey the damage. Firefighters have been able to set controlled burns and remove dry brush overnight as they continue efforts to surround the fire. It's scorched nearly 219 square miles.

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — Michael Jackson will be interred in a mausoleum later today. The service will be private. Jackson will rest in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown L.A. Hollywood stars including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields are also interred there.

CHOWCHILLA, Calif. (AP) — It looks like Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins will die in prison. Atkins admitted stabbing actress Sharon Tate to death 40 years ago. She's now terminally ill with brain cancer, but a California parole board has denied her requests for freedom.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Two U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq. The U.S. military says the soldiers' died when their vehicle rolled over in Diyala (dee-YAH'-lah) province. It's giving no other details.

BEIJING (AP) — Residents of the western Chinese city of Urumqi (uh-ROOM'-chee) have been demonstrating in the streets. Eyewitnesses say hundreds of majority ethnic Han are protesting deteriorating law and order in the city. Safety fears have been high since July's deadly rioting between the Han and the region's Uighur (WEE'-gur) ethnic group.

Danaher Buys Instrument Business for $1.1 Billion

Diversified toolmaker Danaher said Wednesday it will pay $1.1 billion for MDS Inc.’s instrument business in a move to add mass spectrometers to its offerings, while cutting an additional 3,300 jobs and closing 30 facilities, The Associated Press reported.

Danaher, which makes medical equipment and Sears’ Craftsman tools, will gain 50 percent ownership in Applied Biosystems and MDS’ joint life sciences tool venture, AB Sciex, which focuses on mass spectrometers. It will also gain full ownership in the former Molecular Devices Corp., which focuses on analytical instruments.

”AB Sciex is the market leader in mass spectrometry and its instruments address the needs of a broad scientific community involved in many applications including the research, applied and clinical markets,” said Danaher President and Chief Executive Officer H. Lawrence Culp Jr., in a statement.

He said the purchase will compliment the company’s existing medical technologies business.

Under the deal, MDS will receive $650 million while Life Technologies will receive $450 million for the joint venture deal. Life Technologies, based in Carlsbad, Calif., was created by the merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems.

Meanwhile, MDS said the sale allows it to focus solely on its Nordion business, which provides medical isotopes for molecular and diagnostic imaging, along with radiotherapeutics.

”The board and executive management team believe the proposed path forward provides the greatest opportunity to unlock the value of MDS businesses in the near-term and enables a substantial return of proceeds from the sale of the MDS Analytical Technologies business to shareholders,” said MDS Chairman James S. A. MacDonald in a statement.

US Open Tennis 2009, Schedule, Fixtures, Live Scores, Live Streaming.

The 2009 US Open Tennis Championship will be held from 31st August to 13th September, 2009 at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City.

Mourners Begin Filling Into Basilica For Funeral Mass,

BOSTON — Mourners dressed in black and in dark suits, taking cover under umbrellas, are entering the church where Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be remembered this morning.

President Obama, who arrived in Boston on Friday night, left his hotel early today, dressed in a dark suit and overcoat, to walk across the street to the Fairmont Copley Plaza for a 10-minute private visit with Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy.

The day’s somber mood is matched by gloomy weather. Rain and unseasonable cold enveloped the area as tropical depression Danny moved up the East Coast.

Mr. Obama will deliver a eulogy at the private service, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Mission Hill.

White House aides were mum about the eulogy the president would offer, but Mr. Obama is expected to focus on the impact Kennedy had on American life since first being elected in 1962.

Google’s gaggle of geeks has always been careful to wrap its complex projects in very user-friendly packages. The behind-the-scenes code is esoteric at best, but the presentation is clean, simple, and designed for grandma. Yet, every once in a while, Google gives a wink to its fellow geeks.

For example, search for Ascii art. If you’re nerdy enough to have heard of Ascii, you’ll quickly get the joke.

The usual Google logo in the top-right corner has been replaced by an Ascii version.

Never heard of Acsii? It’s a kind of digital art that uses computer letters to paint objects – something like a Lego project but instead of bricks it uses dashes, hyphens, X’s, O’s, slashes, and whatever else your keyboard can come up with. Google's logo is pretty simple, but Acsii experts have crafted alphanumeric masterpieces, such as pictures of supermodels, TV celebrities, and monocle-wearing velocipedes.

It’s unclear when Google planted this Easter egg, but it seems many people learned about it for the first time last night after the company’s search czar Marissa Mayer revealed it in a Searches for Ascii art shot up around midnight, according to Google Trends.

On the topic of hidden gems, here’s another goofy one: Go to Yahoo's homepage and click on the exclamation point in the top-and-center logo. I won’t spoil the surprise – just make sure your volume is at an appropriate level.