I spent Thursday carrying heavy things down two flights of stairs, loading them in a car, and then going back upstairs for 14 hours. I'm not sure my feet are going to support me Friday.
Favorite recipes of some famous authors. Mostly I just want to try the brownie recipe. [link]
British woman finds out how much bits of her would sell for. [link]
Coke and Pepsi are paying schools HOW MUCH!?! My high school just got a new scoreboard. [link]
Jodi Foster asks that child actors be exempt from the paparazzi horror. [link]
Tobacco companies lose against the new Australian tobacco labeling laws. [link]
An article about misquotations. [link]
How to make a -ahem- Giger counter. [link]
The Curiosity Rover Team did a bit on Reddit. [short version] [long version]
A slow, but functioning, Victorian car house. [link]
An attempt at a fridge free kitchen. [link]
14 horrible "facts" that Louisiana private schools are likely to start teaching. [link]
One of the Curiosity rover's creators tries to capture the feeling of everything working.
We're NASA and We Know It
What we know about immigration from Mexico is wrong. [link]
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
rough week
Not to speak ill of the dead, but Grandma picked about the worst possible time to die.
I got yanked away with several projects in the air.
One book that we're supposed to be getting to GPO.
Another that I needed to make changes to and return to the editor so she could get it to the author by the end of the month.
A new staff member coming in that I'm supposed to be directing, but I was going to miss the first day or two of work. Luckily, that one got fixed by the completely screwed up government bureaucracy.
And, oh, shit! That person's computer started doing systems updates the other day. So it's not quite ready yet.
In my personal life I'm trying to buy two houses and the bank is fucking around with the loan. So much of my time away was spent on the phone talking to either them or the bank that I brought on to race the first one. Winner gets the business. But both need a ton of information that was very hard to get at from Kansas.
Yummy is moving. I was supposed to help finish packing, get the other bookshelf and more of my stuff out, and help clean, paint, and move. Nope. Yummy had to do it on her own and had more than a few meltdowns over it. Today I'm going there early so we can get her out by the end of the day.
What made it worse is that she had to take care of Gandolf. She loves Gandolf, but I'm supposed to be taking HER birds to MY place since her parents won't allow them at her place. So after the movers left she was stuck in her apartment with no furniture but an air mattress and a non-functional pump because she couldn't take the birds anywhere.
While the movers were there Gandolf got locked in the bathroom so she wouldn't freak out or be in the way. She decided that was the time to eat the door frame she'd been eyeing for a couple of years.
My house needs a serious cleaning before Yummy comes back over. I was supposed to be doing that, too.
Since I had to rush off my car was left where the city would be sure to tow it on street cleaning day. So the first thing I had to do when I got back was find the damn thing. The city website that is supposed to tell you where your car is doesn't work even a little bit. But they do have someone who can look it up for you even at midnight. I didn't get her name, but I want to thank the DC midnight traffic enforcement phone answering person again.
Now lets roll back a week and change. On the Monday before last Grandma had another heart attack. She's had several. Most I didn't know about until much later. Grandma had been moved from the nursing home back to assisted living. After going to the hospital she told Mom "I don't want to go back to the nursing home." Mom told her "I don't think we're going to have a choice." Grandma took that as a challenge. Nobody tells her she doesn't have a choice! She'd die before she'd accept that! So her kidneys shut down.
I got the call Thursday at about 1:30. I had plane reservations before I got off the phone and was stepping onto a plane about two and a half hours after I got the call. My brother picked me up at the airport at 8:00. We went to the hospital where Grandma had just been moved. She was awake, which stunned my brother. She'd been out all day and he hadn't expected her to wake up. But she knew us both and we were able to say some proper goodbyes.
The funeral was Tuesday morning. She'd been cremated, so there was no viewing. The crowd was 10 times what we expected. Her son had passed away back in 1990 and we didn't know how to reach his kids even if they were on good terms with Grandma. That left Mom, Dad, my brother and I, and one cousin of Mom's for family. We were there, plus the people from the company Grandma did her investing through, the guy who sold her cars, the Red Hat Society ladies, people from the farms near Grandma's old dairy, people from Cheney where she lived for a long time, people from Clearwater where we lived and Grandma stayed in assisted living and nursing homes and built the town golf course, people from both churches Mom currently works at (and Grandma attended), people from the churches Mom worked at before (and Grandma attended), the people Grandma played cards with, people from Dad's side of the family who ended up adopting Grandma as part of their family since her side was so small.
The service ended with the song "A Bicycle Built For Two". Grandma's name was Daisy. We wouldn't have picked "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do..." as an appropriate song, but it's what she wanted. The mortician found an instrumental version to play so it wouldn't be as obvious.
The burial was just the 5 of us in the immediate family. Her first husband died in 1970. The stone was big enough for two, but Grandma refused to have her name put on it until she was properly dead. A hole was drilled in the ground by her side of the stone and some boards left to keep people from falling in. Her ashes went in the hole. A prayer was said. Lunch was had.
Now I'm back. Today is likely to be crazy busy. Don't expect a lot from Friday Links.
I got yanked away with several projects in the air.
One book that we're supposed to be getting to GPO.
Another that I needed to make changes to and return to the editor so she could get it to the author by the end of the month.
A new staff member coming in that I'm supposed to be directing, but I was going to miss the first day or two of work. Luckily, that one got fixed by the completely screwed up government bureaucracy.
And, oh, shit! That person's computer started doing systems updates the other day. So it's not quite ready yet.
In my personal life I'm trying to buy two houses and the bank is fucking around with the loan. So much of my time away was spent on the phone talking to either them or the bank that I brought on to race the first one. Winner gets the business. But both need a ton of information that was very hard to get at from Kansas.
Yummy is moving. I was supposed to help finish packing, get the other bookshelf and more of my stuff out, and help clean, paint, and move. Nope. Yummy had to do it on her own and had more than a few meltdowns over it. Today I'm going there early so we can get her out by the end of the day.
What made it worse is that she had to take care of Gandolf. She loves Gandolf, but I'm supposed to be taking HER birds to MY place since her parents won't allow them at her place. So after the movers left she was stuck in her apartment with no furniture but an air mattress and a non-functional pump because she couldn't take the birds anywhere.
While the movers were there Gandolf got locked in the bathroom so she wouldn't freak out or be in the way. She decided that was the time to eat the door frame she'd been eyeing for a couple of years.
My house needs a serious cleaning before Yummy comes back over. I was supposed to be doing that, too.
Since I had to rush off my car was left where the city would be sure to tow it on street cleaning day. So the first thing I had to do when I got back was find the damn thing. The city website that is supposed to tell you where your car is doesn't work even a little bit. But they do have someone who can look it up for you even at midnight. I didn't get her name, but I want to thank the DC midnight traffic enforcement phone answering person again.
Now lets roll back a week and change. On the Monday before last Grandma had another heart attack. She's had several. Most I didn't know about until much later. Grandma had been moved from the nursing home back to assisted living. After going to the hospital she told Mom "I don't want to go back to the nursing home." Mom told her "I don't think we're going to have a choice." Grandma took that as a challenge. Nobody tells her she doesn't have a choice! She'd die before she'd accept that! So her kidneys shut down.
I got the call Thursday at about 1:30. I had plane reservations before I got off the phone and was stepping onto a plane about two and a half hours after I got the call. My brother picked me up at the airport at 8:00. We went to the hospital where Grandma had just been moved. She was awake, which stunned my brother. She'd been out all day and he hadn't expected her to wake up. But she knew us both and we were able to say some proper goodbyes.
The funeral was Tuesday morning. She'd been cremated, so there was no viewing. The crowd was 10 times what we expected. Her son had passed away back in 1990 and we didn't know how to reach his kids even if they were on good terms with Grandma. That left Mom, Dad, my brother and I, and one cousin of Mom's for family. We were there, plus the people from the company Grandma did her investing through, the guy who sold her cars, the Red Hat Society ladies, people from the farms near Grandma's old dairy, people from Cheney where she lived for a long time, people from Clearwater where we lived and Grandma stayed in assisted living and nursing homes and built the town golf course, people from both churches Mom currently works at (and Grandma attended), people from the churches Mom worked at before (and Grandma attended), the people Grandma played cards with, people from Dad's side of the family who ended up adopting Grandma as part of their family since her side was so small.
The service ended with the song "A Bicycle Built For Two". Grandma's name was Daisy. We wouldn't have picked "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do..." as an appropriate song, but it's what she wanted. The mortician found an instrumental version to play so it wouldn't be as obvious.
The burial was just the 5 of us in the immediate family. Her first husband died in 1970. The stone was big enough for two, but Grandma refused to have her name put on it until she was properly dead. A hole was drilled in the ground by her side of the stone and some boards left to keep people from falling in. Her ashes went in the hole. A prayer was said. Lunch was had.
Now I'm back. Today is likely to be crazy busy. Don't expect a lot from Friday Links.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: Todd Akin
Todd Akin is a horrible human being. You may have heard about his comments that rape doesn't lead to pregnancy.
Voters in Missouri need to be sure to vote in November and vote Claire McCaskill.
Come on. I have faith they can do it. They elected Mel Carnahan over John Ashcroft and Mr. Carnahan was dead.
Here's more of that interview. It runs 8:40. The rape comment was deleted, but it's still full of stupid.
Voters in Missouri need to be sure to vote in November and vote Claire McCaskill.
Come on. I have faith they can do it. They elected Mel Carnahan over John Ashcroft and Mr. Carnahan was dead.
Here's more of that interview. It runs 8:40. The rape comment was deleted, but it's still full of stupid.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Book Review: WWW: Wonder
It's late and I'm having trouble caring. So this will be a bit short.
WWW: Wonder is the third part of the latest trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer. Long time readers know that I read everything this guy puts out. He's awesome like that. And I guess other people must do the same. Every book in this trilogy I couldn't find until a year after the release. I couldn't find the first book until the second came out. I couldn't find the second until the third came out. It was at least a year after it's release that I found this book.
The series is about an artificial intelligence that arose on the internet. In the first book this happened. In the second bookthis happened
. In the third book Webmind has gone public. It holds hundreds of thousands of simultaneous chat sessions around the world, pieces together the research of several scientists to cure cancer and solve other problems, it calls the President to talk about why the White House tried to kill Webmind, it goes before the UN to give a speech, and things like that. One military mind at the White House still wants Webmind dead, though. He goes on a campaign to recruit the best hackers, but when they start to vanish he assumes that Webmind is killing them off and releases the vulnerabilities to the world.
It was a good book and I liked it. It just ended in such a way that I'm expecting a fourth book. I don't think there will be. It just seems like it should be ongoing.
WWW: Wonder is the third part of the latest trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer. Long time readers know that I read everything this guy puts out. He's awesome like that. And I guess other people must do the same. Every book in this trilogy I couldn't find until a year after the release. I couldn't find the first book until the second came out. I couldn't find the second until the third came out. It was at least a year after it's release that I found this book.
The series is about an artificial intelligence that arose on the internet. In the first book this happened. In the second book
. In the third book Webmind has gone public. It holds hundreds of thousands of simultaneous chat sessions around the world, pieces together the research of several scientists to cure cancer and solve other problems, it calls the President to talk about why the White House tried to kill Webmind, it goes before the UN to give a speech, and things like that. One military mind at the White House still wants Webmind dead, though. He goes on a campaign to recruit the best hackers, but when they start to vanish he assumes that Webmind is killing them off and releases the vulnerabilities to the world.
It was a good book and I liked it. It just ended in such a way that I'm expecting a fourth book. I don't think there will be. It just seems like it should be ongoing.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Book Review: Limited Liability Companies for Dummies
Most. Useful. Textbook. Ever.
Seriously.
We've all gone through any number of textbooks that were rubbish. Science textbooks that didn't explain anything. Math textbooks that really thought they were explaining things, but didn't. English textbooks that are really just a collection of short stories. Programming textbooks that tell you everything but how to start a new program or how to compile it. Programming textbooks that tell you everything but how to use the libraries that you bought the damn book to figure out! And, even some medical textbooks that I've worked on that don't actually tell me anything useful. I guess the doctors are already supposed to know what I was looking for and need to know the more bureaucratic rubbish in the books I'm thinking of.
But "Limited Liability Companies for Dummies" is different. This book is incredibly useful. Naturally, if you're not looking to start an LLC this book would seem pretty lame. But if you're interested in starting a company AND cover your ass from lawsuits you're gonna love this book. The author writes as if she's sitting at a table with you explaining the problems and pitfalls in running different kinds of companies and how to avoid them. You can read straight through like I did, minus a few sections that had nothing to do with what I was interested in, or you can skip around. She understands that most people won't want to read the whole thing but will flip straight to what interests them. So it's not just early chapters pointing at later chapters that expand on certain topics, but later chapters point at earlier chapters for the same reason.
Even if you don't want to start a company, the book lists other reasons to form an LLC. The family farm has been operating with liability insurance for decades. But my brother may want to run things different since he doesn't live on the farm or because he may need to take on a partner. Someone else might be interested in using an LLC for estate planning.
I used to be dubious of the Dummies books. The early stuff seemed to be "Light Switches For Dummies". But when I wanted something on LLCs the first thing I thought of was this book. Then I looked for other books on the subject and came back to this one.
I've got one LLC for a rental property that is pending. I'm gonna start up two more for the houses I'm getting very soon (possibly this week). I'm using the company owned by the author of this book to act as my Registered Agents (see the book for details) largely because I found the book so damn useful.
Seriously.
We've all gone through any number of textbooks that were rubbish. Science textbooks that didn't explain anything. Math textbooks that really thought they were explaining things, but didn't. English textbooks that are really just a collection of short stories. Programming textbooks that tell you everything but how to start a new program or how to compile it. Programming textbooks that tell you everything but how to use the libraries that you bought the damn book to figure out! And, even some medical textbooks that I've worked on that don't actually tell me anything useful. I guess the doctors are already supposed to know what I was looking for and need to know the more bureaucratic rubbish in the books I'm thinking of.
But "Limited Liability Companies for Dummies" is different. This book is incredibly useful. Naturally, if you're not looking to start an LLC this book would seem pretty lame. But if you're interested in starting a company AND cover your ass from lawsuits you're gonna love this book. The author writes as if she's sitting at a table with you explaining the problems and pitfalls in running different kinds of companies and how to avoid them. You can read straight through like I did, minus a few sections that had nothing to do with what I was interested in, or you can skip around. She understands that most people won't want to read the whole thing but will flip straight to what interests them. So it's not just early chapters pointing at later chapters that expand on certain topics, but later chapters point at earlier chapters for the same reason.
Even if you don't want to start a company, the book lists other reasons to form an LLC. The family farm has been operating with liability insurance for decades. But my brother may want to run things different since he doesn't live on the farm or because he may need to take on a partner. Someone else might be interested in using an LLC for estate planning.
I used to be dubious of the Dummies books. The early stuff seemed to be "Light Switches For Dummies". But when I wanted something on LLCs the first thing I thought of was this book. Then I looked for other books on the subject and came back to this one.
I've got one LLC for a rental property that is pending. I'm gonna start up two more for the houses I'm getting very soon (possibly this week). I'm using the company owned by the author of this book to act as my Registered Agents (see the book for details) largely because I found the book so damn useful.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Friday Links: August 17
These glasses turn the lights in the room off when the wearer blinks. In theory the wearer will think they're broken since they can't see the lights when they're off. [link]
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has called on government contractors to layoff personnel just before the election. [link] This is yet another reason why I think Republican politicians operating at the federal level are scum. There's some good ones working in some states, but I don't know of any working at the federal level.
Lets turn now from driving the economy off a cliff to walking into poles and glass doors.
Romney has the single most deceptive campaign ad in televised campaign ad history. [link]
Floating volcanic rocks. [link]
A Louisiana school is forcing out students who refuse to take pregnancy tests. [link]
The Scientology prison. [link]
Steve Wozniak prints his own money. Literally. [link]
Ecuador has granted asylum to Julian Assange. So he's stuck in their embassy in England. [link]
An fund raiser to build a Tesla Museum on the site of his Wardenclyff Tower. [link]
How the lizard became the snake via a series of transition species. [link]
A doctor that took notes while overdosing from cocaine. [link]
A homemade centrifuge that tests if lava lamps would work on Jupiter. [link]
Military version of The Onion. [link]
Back yard kiddie roller coaster made of PVC.
Another Scientology insider spills the beans, with early emphasis on Tom Cruise. [link]
Alien skull replica. [link]
That's roughly US$860.
Bunches of free stuff. [link]
After Aperture - the immediate aftermath of Portal 2.
Julia Child would have turned 100 this week. Someone made this tribute music video in honor of the occasion.
The story of Progressive defending a killer in court against the person Progressive insured. [link]
I'm sure every insurance company has some reason to make us dislike them, but this one is pretty horrible.
MANWITHSCARYFACE!
Home made record for an old Fisher Price record player.
And a how-to make your own. [link]
Is "Like"ing people free speech? [link]
Sprinter breaks his leg mid-race and keeps going. [link]
House Speaker John Boehner says Obama is avoiding personal responsibility for the drought. [link]
Why is [state] so [adjective]? [link]
Parkour doggie!
Photographic evidence of what cats do all day. [link]
Pictures from the deep sea recovery of a spy satellite. [link]
A guy goes fishing with a digital camera in a torpedo case. Instead of footage of him fishing he got a pod of dolphins. [link]
A US Powerball simulator. Shows just how bad the odds are. [link]
This looks like my attic. [link]
People giving their Eagle Scout badges back to the Boy Scouts. [link]
I was a scout, but never made it to Eagle. If I had I'd be on this page, too.
Another step forward in the development of a Tricorder. [link]
What's up with all that tape we saw being worn during the Olympics. [link]
A letter about an unauthorized beaver dam and the response. [link]
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has called on government contractors to layoff personnel just before the election. [link] This is yet another reason why I think Republican politicians operating at the federal level are scum. There's some good ones working in some states, but I don't know of any working at the federal level.
Lets turn now from driving the economy off a cliff to walking into poles and glass doors.
Romney has the single most deceptive campaign ad in televised campaign ad history. [link]
Floating volcanic rocks. [link]
A Louisiana school is forcing out students who refuse to take pregnancy tests. [link]
The Scientology prison. [link]
Steve Wozniak prints his own money. Literally. [link]
Ecuador has granted asylum to Julian Assange. So he's stuck in their embassy in England. [link]
An fund raiser to build a Tesla Museum on the site of his Wardenclyff Tower. [link]
How the lizard became the snake via a series of transition species. [link]
A doctor that took notes while overdosing from cocaine. [link]
A homemade centrifuge that tests if lava lamps would work on Jupiter. [link]
Military version of The Onion. [link]
Back yard kiddie roller coaster made of PVC.
Another Scientology insider spills the beans, with early emphasis on Tom Cruise. [link]
Alien skull replica. [link]
That's roughly US$860.
Bunches of free stuff. [link]
After Aperture - the immediate aftermath of Portal 2.
Julia Child would have turned 100 this week. Someone made this tribute music video in honor of the occasion.
The story of Progressive defending a killer in court against the person Progressive insured. [link]
I'm sure every insurance company has some reason to make us dislike them, but this one is pretty horrible.
MANWITHSCARYFACE!
Home made record for an old Fisher Price record player.
And a how-to make your own. [link]
Is "Like"ing people free speech? [link]
Sprinter breaks his leg mid-race and keeps going. [link]
House Speaker John Boehner says Obama is avoiding personal responsibility for the drought. [link]
Why is [state] so [adjective]? [link]
Parkour doggie!
Photographic evidence of what cats do all day. [link]
Pictures from the deep sea recovery of a spy satellite. [link]
A guy goes fishing with a digital camera in a torpedo case. Instead of footage of him fishing he got a pod of dolphins. [link]
A US Powerball simulator. Shows just how bad the odds are. [link]
This looks like my attic. [link]
People giving their Eagle Scout badges back to the Boy Scouts. [link]
I was a scout, but never made it to Eagle. If I had I'd be on this page, too.
Another step forward in the development of a Tricorder. [link]
What's up with all that tape we saw being worn during the Olympics. [link]
A letter about an unauthorized beaver dam and the response. [link]
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Return of the Gandolf Quotes
Gandolf and I watch a lot of Hulu and Netflix. But not all of her great lines are TV related.
While looking out the window recently she said "I'm so happy."
A few minutes later she said "Let's see what they will eat." I think she has plans for the sparrows.
I don't know what was going on in her head, but I got a random "My butt's sorry".
Me - "Yummy's on the phone. Anything you want me to tell her?"
Gandolf - "Dip de dur dip de dur dip de dur."
Gandolf ran through a whole bunch of tones bouncing up and down the musical spectrum. I said "That was awesome, Gandolf!". She said "Yeah. I got it."
Gandolf has a switch that she uses to turn her radio on and off. After listening for awhile she said "Awww shut up." and flipped off the radio.
The Claw, Yummy's cat, came out of her bedroom after a nap. Gandolf says "Hi, cat."
Yummy had been watching Gandolf while I was out of town. Yummy moved a towel that she'd been using to hide some books and found one of her hard cover books was missing about 15% of the cover. Gandolf had not only eaten the cover but had replaced the towel. Yummy turns and says sternly, "GANDOLF! What. did. you. do?!" Gandolf replied "Don't. Eat. The book."
For some reason Gandolf just started a monologue that occasionally mentioned "Birds of war".
Gandolf was yelling at some Howard University truck that beeps when it backs up, telling it to "stop it", "quiet"!
She does the same with the conures when they get too loud.
She took off from the back of the couch and flew to her perch. The conures did their usual "BIRD! HOLY SHIT! DANGER!" noises. Gandolf said "sorry".
Gandolf has a thing about dogs. She loves them. Hallmark was selling a toy dog that barks when it hears certain key words. The commercial shows a mother and daughter reading a book with the toy dog. It was really setting Gandolf off. The dog barks and then Gandolf barks.
While Yummy was house sitting some extra cats Gandolf started talking about the cats. Lots of garbled syllables, but there was meowing and something that sounded like "...because he's a boy." The boy cat had certain... er... generous masculine endowments.
Gandolf is gonna blow. She sounds like a bomb in a movie counting down to detonation. "Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Hello. Boop. Boop."
"Three Four Five. Gonna kill that brat. Six Seven Eight. That's a good dog."
Me: I just got a big box with your name on it.
Technically, my name, but it's coming to you.
Yummy: A big box?!
It is a great dane puppy?!!
me: If so it needs bigger and more air holes.
Theresa: Hmmm...
Is it a new car?!
me: I suppose if we put it together ourselves and it only needs to fit you.... sure, why not.
(later)
Me: Gandolf was giving your box the eyeball. Now she's trying to engage it in conversation.
Theresa: The box with my puppy in it?
me: The puppy/car. Yep.
Theresa: Tell her, NO!!
me: Don't talk to the puppy/car?
Theresa: Don't CHEW the puppy/car!
me: No, no. She just want to chat it up.
Gandolf turned off the radio and said "stop".
Gandolf is clucking up a storm. She was head dancing to her own chicken sounds.
"yipyipyipyipyepyipyepyepyipyipyip...."
Gandolf just called me a "fool". "Garbled jabber babble, FOOL!"
Mom has a tiny dog named Hannah. One day Gandolf and I are disagreeing on what a dog says. She started doing Hannah barks and I was imitating her. Then she asked what a dog says and I still did a Hannah bark. Gandolf corrected me with a deeper woof.
While looking out the window recently she said "I'm so happy."
A few minutes later she said "Let's see what they will eat." I think she has plans for the sparrows.
I don't know what was going on in her head, but I got a random "My butt's sorry".
Me - "Yummy's on the phone. Anything you want me to tell her?"
Gandolf - "Dip de dur dip de dur dip de dur."
Gandolf ran through a whole bunch of tones bouncing up and down the musical spectrum. I said "That was awesome, Gandolf!". She said "Yeah. I got it."
Gandolf has a switch that she uses to turn her radio on and off. After listening for awhile she said "Awww shut up." and flipped off the radio.
The Claw, Yummy's cat, came out of her bedroom after a nap. Gandolf says "Hi, cat."
Yummy had been watching Gandolf while I was out of town. Yummy moved a towel that she'd been using to hide some books and found one of her hard cover books was missing about 15% of the cover. Gandolf had not only eaten the cover but had replaced the towel. Yummy turns and says sternly, "GANDOLF! What. did. you. do?!" Gandolf replied "Don't. Eat. The book."
For some reason Gandolf just started a monologue that occasionally mentioned "Birds of war".
Gandolf was yelling at some Howard University truck that beeps when it backs up, telling it to "stop it", "quiet"!
She does the same with the conures when they get too loud.
She took off from the back of the couch and flew to her perch. The conures did their usual "BIRD! HOLY SHIT! DANGER!" noises. Gandolf said "sorry".
Gandolf has a thing about dogs. She loves them. Hallmark was selling a toy dog that barks when it hears certain key words. The commercial shows a mother and daughter reading a book with the toy dog. It was really setting Gandolf off. The dog barks and then Gandolf barks.
While Yummy was house sitting some extra cats Gandolf started talking about the cats. Lots of garbled syllables, but there was meowing and something that sounded like "...because he's a boy." The boy cat had certain... er... generous masculine endowments.
Gandolf is gonna blow. She sounds like a bomb in a movie counting down to detonation. "Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Hello. Boop. Boop."
"Three Four Five. Gonna kill that brat. Six Seven Eight. That's a good dog."
Me: I just got a big box with your name on it.
Technically, my name, but it's coming to you.
Yummy: A big box?!
It is a great dane puppy?!!
me: If so it needs bigger and more air holes.
Theresa: Hmmm...
Is it a new car?!
me: I suppose if we put it together ourselves and it only needs to fit you.... sure, why not.
(later)
Me: Gandolf was giving your box the eyeball. Now she's trying to engage it in conversation.
Theresa: The box with my puppy in it?
me: The puppy/car. Yep.
Theresa: Tell her, NO!!
me: Don't talk to the puppy/car?
Theresa: Don't CHEW the puppy/car!
me: No, no. She just want to chat it up.
Gandolf turned off the radio and said "stop".
Gandolf is clucking up a storm. She was head dancing to her own chicken sounds.
"yipyipyipyipyepyipyepyepyipyipyip...."
Gandolf just called me a "fool". "Garbled jabber babble, FOOL!"
Mom has a tiny dog named Hannah. One day Gandolf and I are disagreeing on what a dog says. She started doing Hannah barks and I was imitating her. Then she asked what a dog says and I still did a Hannah bark. Gandolf corrected me with a deeper woof.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: August 15
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has called on government contractors to layoff personnel just before the election. [link]
This is yet another reason why I think Republican politicians operating at the federal level are scum. There's some good ones working in some states, but I don't know of any working at the federal level.
I don't agree with everything Democrats do, but Republican politicians are pretty much [redacted]. They can all sod off.
This is yet another reason why I think Republican politicians operating at the federal level are scum. There's some good ones working in some states, but I don't know of any working at the federal level.
I don't agree with everything Democrats do, but Republican politicians are pretty much [redacted]. They can all sod off.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Movie Review: Iron Sky
My fellow internet citizens may have heard of this movie a few times over the last three or so years. For you I give you this link to find a showing in your area. [link]
Mind you, that link is only good for those of us in the United States. People in other countries may have better luck with http://www.ironsky.net/.
For those of you who haven't heard of Iron Sky before, let me introduce you.
These trailers came first. Back then they were trying to raise money to finish the film. They got you pumped! FUCK YEAH I WANNA SEE THIS MOVIE!
I got a bit worried by this trailer. They were making it a comedy? And it didn't come off in the trailer as a very good comedy.
I guess they didn't find a distributor in the United States. Thus, the only showings I know of you have to get tickets for through that Tugg.com link. Somebody has to organize a showing. That person could be you.
Luckily, DC Geeks organized a showing Friday night. I was there. AND THIS MOVIE WAS AWESOME! At first the comedy bit seemed awkward. Particularly the extra black talking black man as an astronaut. But, then you get into the flow of the movie and that goes away. They managed to blend action and spoof and pull off both beautifully. As you can see from the early trailers the special effects weren't anything to poke fun at. Particularly for a fan funded movie.
I will get this on DVD when it comes out. When that will be I have no idea. If you can see it in the theater I recommend it. Due to the nature of the distribution method you're guaranteed to be there with people who are psyched about this movie.
Mind you, that link is only good for those of us in the United States. People in other countries may have better luck with http://www.ironsky.net/.
For those of you who haven't heard of Iron Sky before, let me introduce you.
These trailers came first. Back then they were trying to raise money to finish the film. They got you pumped! FUCK YEAH I WANNA SEE THIS MOVIE!
I got a bit worried by this trailer. They were making it a comedy? And it didn't come off in the trailer as a very good comedy.
I guess they didn't find a distributor in the United States. Thus, the only showings I know of you have to get tickets for through that Tugg.com link. Somebody has to organize a showing. That person could be you.
Luckily, DC Geeks organized a showing Friday night. I was there. AND THIS MOVIE WAS AWESOME! At first the comedy bit seemed awkward. Particularly the extra black talking black man as an astronaut. But, then you get into the flow of the movie and that goes away. They managed to blend action and spoof and pull off both beautifully. As you can see from the early trailers the special effects weren't anything to poke fun at. Particularly for a fan funded movie.
I will get this on DVD when it comes out. When that will be I have no idea. If you can see it in the theater I recommend it. Due to the nature of the distribution method you're guaranteed to be there with people who are psyched about this movie.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Friday Links: August 10
A short TED talk by a guy who created a fusion reactor in his garage. [link]
A wordy article about the hovels of lots of different castaways. [link]
If you put other planets in orbit of Earth in the same orbit as the moon, what would they look like?
The story of the how Graphing Calculator was written by people Apple had fired. [link]
A video of a guy making a bike out of cardboard. [link]
A proper spider chart and a more realistic spider chart. [link]
A labyrinth made of 250,000 books. [link]
A bad ass who pronounced his own death. [link]
A birthday party with The Avengers. [link]
That story is based off of a Memo From Fury. [link]
A fish photographed at the cellular level. An ENTIRE fish. [link]
The internet's reaction to the Mars rover landing. [link]
Also... [link]
Google's self driving car has reached 300,000 miles without an accident. [link]
Richard Dawkins is not a Mitt Romney fan. [link]
Fictional product placement that ties together various TV shows. [link]
Quick bullet point summaries of various Terms of Service. [link]
Joss Whedon is spoken for through June 2015. He's writing and directing The Avengers 2 and help develop some Marvel TV series. [link]
Luke should have died inside that tauntaun. [link]
Someone used the Source Film Maker to remake the rescue of Morpheus from The Matrix.
A counting song that turns dark after about 30 seconds.
Simon's Cat has Olympics fever.
Because of the drought, more of the US is disaster areas than isn't. [link]
Lego compatible weaponry. [link]
Christopher Eccleston to play the villain in the next Thor movie. [link]
There used to be Olympic medals for Art. [link]
Could be interesting to bring back. Summer games, winter games, and artistic games.
Some campers were rescued from a pack of coyotes. [link]
Really? Because my brother's dachshund drove off a pack of coyotes from his yard. Gave the alpha dog a bloody nose.
Do NOT run over a cop's foot. [link]
Some guy cashed a promotional check. The bank took it. Much, much later they realized their mistake. [link]
If you put other planets in orbit of Earth in the same orbit as the moon, what would they look like?
The story of the how Graphing Calculator was written by people Apple had fired. [link]
A video of a guy making a bike out of cardboard. [link]
A proper spider chart and a more realistic spider chart. [link]
A labyrinth made of 250,000 books. [link]
A bad ass who pronounced his own death. [link]
A birthday party with The Avengers. [link]
That story is based off of a Memo From Fury. [link]
A fish photographed at the cellular level. An ENTIRE fish. [link]
The internet's reaction to the Mars rover landing. [link]
Also... [link]
Google's self driving car has reached 300,000 miles without an accident. [link]
Richard Dawkins is not a Mitt Romney fan. [link]
Fictional product placement that ties together various TV shows. [link]
Quick bullet point summaries of various Terms of Service. [link]
Joss Whedon is spoken for through June 2015. He's writing and directing The Avengers 2 and help develop some Marvel TV series. [link]
Luke should have died inside that tauntaun. [link]
Someone used the Source Film Maker to remake the rescue of Morpheus from The Matrix.
A counting song that turns dark after about 30 seconds.
Simon's Cat has Olympics fever.
Because of the drought, more of the US is disaster areas than isn't. [link]
Lego compatible weaponry. [link]
Christopher Eccleston to play the villain in the next Thor movie. [link]
There used to be Olympic medals for Art. [link]
Could be interesting to bring back. Summer games, winter games, and artistic games.
Some campers were rescued from a pack of coyotes. [link]
Really? Because my brother's dachshund drove off a pack of coyotes from his yard. Gave the alpha dog a bloody nose.
Do NOT run over a cop's foot. [link]
Some guy cashed a promotional check. The bank took it. Much, much later they realized their mistake. [link]
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Book Review: The Toaster Project
"Left to his own devices he couldn’t build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich and that was it."
When he thought about it he saw how little he could do. If society collapses would he be able to help rebuild?
There's a certain mental image of a generic grandpa sitting at the table or at a work bench fixing something. That something is usually a toaster. Sometimes a radio, but usually a toaster. It's simple. You open it up and you can probably figure out what's wrong. A spring that's loose, a coil that's broken, a piece of metal that's bent. How it works is obvious and can be fixed by a guy with some tools. But could you build one?
The book isn't very long. I cleared about half of it while riding the subway to it's southern end (with two transfers). The rest I polished off while waiting for the office printer to spit out a book and a rather nasty fast food lunch. It's interesting and amusing, well written and easy to read.
The video below has the author talking about the project. It's a quick summary of the book with the benefit that he has video.
Additional details and footage are available at his site. I've got quite a few family members that I'd consider getting a copy of this book for.
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: August 8
This TED video was originally... some say banned, but I don't feel the word fits. They had initially decided against posting it. But the outcry was great enough that they did. Who knows, maybe the point of "banning" it was to make sure it got widely viewed.
There's a lot of people that are talked about in this video that deserve a big Sod Off.
There's a lot of people that are talked about in this video that deserve a big Sod Off.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Curiosity landing on Mars
A recording of the live feed from NASA of the landing of the latest and largest of the Mars rovers along with the first pictures.
Short version.
If you've missed the build up to this mission let me fill you in.
The previous two rovers landed on Mars surrounded by air bags. They'd hit the ground and go bouncing and rolling for quite a distance. This was protection, but it also ensured they'd end up rolling to a low point where water most likely would have run to, once upon a time.
Curiosity is too heavy for the air bag landing. The bags would rupture and the rover would smash. Something more like an lunar landing was needed. Something with thrusters that would stop the descent and land gently. But that stirs up a crazy amount of dust. The dust gets into parts and covers the solar panels so the batteries can't charge. So in this case the machine with the thrusters hovers over the Martian surface while lowering the rover on cables to the planet's surface.
Google "Seven Minutes of Terror" if you haven't seen the video about how it works, yet.
Short version.
If you've missed the build up to this mission let me fill you in.
The previous two rovers landed on Mars surrounded by air bags. They'd hit the ground and go bouncing and rolling for quite a distance. This was protection, but it also ensured they'd end up rolling to a low point where water most likely would have run to, once upon a time.
 |
| Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers. |
Google "Seven Minutes of Terror" if you haven't seen the video about how it works, yet.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Gandolf and the TV Quotes
We were watching "The Muppets". Gandolf got very interested in the beginning and then started to tune out. But when Tex Richman started saying "maniacal laugh. Maniacal Laugh!" Gandolf started laughing evilly.
Later in the movie, Kermit is walking along all depressed. His plans are a failure. Gandolf tells him "It'll be alright."
We were watching the American version of Being Human. After the queen of the vampires killed her daughter the vampire main character yells "Now you have to live with what you've done!" Gandolf yelled back at the screen "YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
We were watching a cartoon based on the African superhero Black Panther. Some white guys are using hired black labor to move supplies. As they reach the border of Wakanda (Black Panther's country) the white guys all run like hell. The team leader insists that he'll make the Wakandans learn the true meaning of fear. Gandolf says "Well that's never good."
During Beakman's World she kept making sound effects.
We're watching a zombie movie. It's near the end. There has just been a big zombie attack. People are dead, the survivors are all messed up and need to hold onto each other to walk. Gandolf says "No big deal."
We just started the pilot episode of "Alcatraz". The guards are walking the empty prison.
Guard - "Where is everyone?"
Gandolf - "Shotgun control. AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
You may recall her seeing a cartoon Clark Kent tear open his shirt and yelling "Soo'erman!" Well, while watching "Xmen: First Class" we got to the scene with Prof X and Magneto approaching Hugh Jackman in a bar. Gandolf moved her head forward a bit, pointed an eye at the screen, and said "woo?". Yeah, you could hear the question mark at the end. She recognized Wolverine.
While watching "There Will Be Blood" there's a bit where someone goes deaf. He's struggling and thrashing against people who are trying to help. People are telling him to "hold still" and "stop that". Gandolf starts telling him "Don't!"
We were watching the pilot of The Big Bang Theory and Gandolf wasn't impressed. She was quiet the whole time. As soon as it was over she goes "shit". But you should hear her laugh her ass off at reruns of Cheers.
After a whole bunch of episodes of The Incredible Hulk she started singing along to the opening theme. She started dancing to the opening theme to Star Trek: Enterprise after a couple of seasons. I considered giving her away after that. Good show, CRAP THEME!
In this episode of Smallville Lex has been exposed to a canister of gas and is coughing. Gandolf started coughing along.
Gandolf watches a lot of TV and movies with me (obviously). I didn't realize how narrow her field of exposure has been. We're watching some lame movie about the underdog sports team who comes back to win and get the scholarship. The other team has spent the whole movie getting team members to drop out for work or better opportunities or sex or blackmail or whatever. But at the end of the movie they tried to get rid of the guy that's been motivating the former mascot who has come up to lead the team. He shows up late and everyone, including Gandolf, thinks he's not coming. So when he shows up Gandolf gets all excited.
Later in the movie, Kermit is walking along all depressed. His plans are a failure. Gandolf tells him "It'll be alright."
We were watching the American version of Being Human. After the queen of the vampires killed her daughter the vampire main character yells "Now you have to live with what you've done!" Gandolf yelled back at the screen "YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
We were watching a cartoon based on the African superhero Black Panther. Some white guys are using hired black labor to move supplies. As they reach the border of Wakanda (Black Panther's country) the white guys all run like hell. The team leader insists that he'll make the Wakandans learn the true meaning of fear. Gandolf says "Well that's never good."
During Beakman's World she kept making sound effects.
We're watching a zombie movie. It's near the end. There has just been a big zombie attack. People are dead, the survivors are all messed up and need to hold onto each other to walk. Gandolf says "No big deal."
We just started the pilot episode of "Alcatraz". The guards are walking the empty prison.
Guard - "Where is everyone?"
Gandolf - "Shotgun control. AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
You may recall her seeing a cartoon Clark Kent tear open his shirt and yelling "Soo'erman!" Well, while watching "Xmen: First Class" we got to the scene with Prof X and Magneto approaching Hugh Jackman in a bar. Gandolf moved her head forward a bit, pointed an eye at the screen, and said "woo?". Yeah, you could hear the question mark at the end. She recognized Wolverine.
While watching "There Will Be Blood" there's a bit where someone goes deaf. He's struggling and thrashing against people who are trying to help. People are telling him to "hold still" and "stop that". Gandolf starts telling him "Don't!"
We were watching the pilot of The Big Bang Theory and Gandolf wasn't impressed. She was quiet the whole time. As soon as it was over she goes "shit". But you should hear her laugh her ass off at reruns of Cheers.
After a whole bunch of episodes of The Incredible Hulk she started singing along to the opening theme. She started dancing to the opening theme to Star Trek: Enterprise after a couple of seasons. I considered giving her away after that. Good show, CRAP THEME!
In this episode of Smallville Lex has been exposed to a canister of gas and is coughing. Gandolf started coughing along.
Gandolf watches a lot of TV and movies with me (obviously). I didn't realize how narrow her field of exposure has been. We're watching some lame movie about the underdog sports team who comes back to win and get the scholarship. The other team has spent the whole movie getting team members to drop out for work or better opportunities or sex or blackmail or whatever. But at the end of the movie they tried to get rid of the guy that's been motivating the former mascot who has come up to lead the team. He shows up late and everyone, including Gandolf, thinks he's not coming. So when he shows up Gandolf gets all excited.
Friday, August 03, 2012
Friday Links: August 3
A trailer that makes 2001: A Space Odyssey look pretty interesting.
Smoke ring blowing volcano. [link]
A soldier returns for his kid's 5th birthday dressed as a Jedi. [link]
Meet the Cores.
The flags on the moon have been bleached white. [link]
Adderall: The good, the bad, and the ugly. [link]
The letter from Kubrick to Clarke that let to "2001: A Space Odyssey". [link]
A fake meat that I'll actually be interested in trying. [link]
Now where's my rack grown beef? Pictures of brains in an old laboratory. [link]
Here's a couple of people that recover bodies from the bottom of lakes when the police refuse to do the job. [link]
Young gorillas who have learned to disable poacher traps. [link]
Twist tie figurines. [link]
A pedal powered washing machine. [link]
The wheel of governmental something something. [link]
This Olympic fencer got screwed. [link] Baby bears being rescued from a dumpster.
Memos from the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. [link]
Reporter (or guy posing as a reporter) attends the Westminster Dog Show on acid. [link]
How did he not get arrested for this? Really, it's hard to distinguish between this and someone going and being a smart ass. He wasn't sufficiently stoned. A story by a teacher who had a student dose him with Acid during a field trip. [link]
Fish slapping bear cam. [link]
A giant ship shipping ship. [link]
A French company trademarked the logo used by Anonymous. There's no way this could end well. [link]
"Come with me if you want to fish." - a retired Terminator
Too much Olympics?
I agreed back in the days when there were only four networks. Now my TV is all online and they're not preempting my shows. In the initial screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" Bane was nearly incomprehensible. They fixed that. Here's before and after audio. [link]
You can hear a TARDIS buzz the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.
These videos keep getting yanked. If it doesn't work use your Google-fu. Mr Bean was part of the opening ceremony, too. [link]
One judge has ruled that drug companies can't pay competitors to keep drugs off the market. But he may be the only judge who feels this way. [link]
Someone made a punch card reader. [link] There are no term limits for the Vice President of the United States. [link]
There's not only no evidence that cell phone radiation causes cancer, but there's evidence that it may fight Alzheimer's. [link]
Smoke ring blowing volcano. [link]
A soldier returns for his kid's 5th birthday dressed as a Jedi. [link]
Meet the Cores.
The flags on the moon have been bleached white. [link]
Adderall: The good, the bad, and the ugly. [link]
The letter from Kubrick to Clarke that let to "2001: A Space Odyssey". [link]
A fake meat that I'll actually be interested in trying. [link]
Now where's my rack grown beef? Pictures of brains in an old laboratory. [link]
Here's a couple of people that recover bodies from the bottom of lakes when the police refuse to do the job. [link]
Young gorillas who have learned to disable poacher traps. [link]
Twist tie figurines. [link]
A pedal powered washing machine. [link]
The wheel of governmental something something. [link]
This Olympic fencer got screwed. [link] Baby bears being rescued from a dumpster.
Memos from the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. [link]
Reporter (or guy posing as a reporter) attends the Westminster Dog Show on acid. [link]
How did he not get arrested for this? Really, it's hard to distinguish between this and someone going and being a smart ass. He wasn't sufficiently stoned. A story by a teacher who had a student dose him with Acid during a field trip. [link]
Fish slapping bear cam. [link]
A giant ship shipping ship. [link]
A French company trademarked the logo used by Anonymous. There's no way this could end well. [link]
"Come with me if you want to fish." - a retired Terminator
Too much Olympics?
I agreed back in the days when there were only four networks. Now my TV is all online and they're not preempting my shows. In the initial screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" Bane was nearly incomprehensible. They fixed that. Here's before and after audio. [link]
You can hear a TARDIS buzz the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.
These videos keep getting yanked. If it doesn't work use your Google-fu. Mr Bean was part of the opening ceremony, too. [link]
One judge has ruled that drug companies can't pay competitors to keep drugs off the market. But he may be the only judge who feels this way. [link]
Someone made a punch card reader. [link] There are no term limits for the Vice President of the United States. [link]
There's not only no evidence that cell phone radiation causes cancer, but there's evidence that it may fight Alzheimer's. [link]
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Vote for Yummy
Previously: [link]
A food desert is any area where it's difficult to get healthy food. This definition includes most of Baltimore. So Yummy has a plan. Now: The entry has been made. Voting has been underway for a bit. We're not going to win, but we could use your votes. The proposal can be seen at http://urbaniteproject.com/portfolio/forage-baltimore/. [larger view] Vote for "Forage Baltimore" at http://urbaniteproject.com/proposals/
A food desert is any area where it's difficult to get healthy food. This definition includes most of Baltimore. So Yummy has a plan. Now: The entry has been made. Voting has been underway for a bit. We're not going to win, but we could use your votes. The proposal can be seen at http://urbaniteproject.com/portfolio/forage-baltimore/. [larger view] Vote for "Forage Baltimore" at http://urbaniteproject.com/proposals/
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX
IMAX movies come with higher resolution, bigger screens, and additional footage on the top and bottom of the picture. The problem is that these big Hollywood movies that claim to be in IMAX are only partially in IMAX.
Christopher Nolan said the IMAX version of The Dark Knight Rises would have something nobody had seen before. So we went to see it again. The shape of the picture kept changing. Only 72 of the 164 minutes in the movie was shot in IMAX. And that's the most of any IMAX targeted Hollywood movie so far.
The special bonus between the regular and IMAX versions of The Dark Knight Rises happens when a gate slams down. As it falls the scene transitions between normal and IMAX. And that hasn't been done before. A style change without a scene change.
Whoopty fart. Big fat hairy deal. Enjoy my money, because it's gonna be a long time before I see another IMAX movie. It doesn't add shit.
Christopher Nolan said the IMAX version of The Dark Knight Rises would have something nobody had seen before. So we went to see it again. The shape of the picture kept changing. Only 72 of the 164 minutes in the movie was shot in IMAX. And that's the most of any IMAX targeted Hollywood movie so far.
The special bonus between the regular and IMAX versions of The Dark Knight Rises happens when a gate slams down. As it falls the scene transitions between normal and IMAX. And that hasn't been done before. A style change without a scene change.
Whoopty fart. Big fat hairy deal. Enjoy my money, because it's gonna be a long time before I see another IMAX movie. It doesn't add shit.
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