Star Trek fan film with real Star Trek actors. Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.
Data crystals exist now. link
The Milky Way galaxy is surrounded by a shell of hot gas. [link]
I don't think the squirrel intended to do that.
Noises from the Dwarf (25 years of Red Dwarf). Returns Oct. 4. I think I'm tearing up a bit.
A page of issues with the new iPhone's map software. [link]
Kirk and Picard moaning about their cable service. [link]
The guys who made the Star Trek film at the top of today's post are working on another film. Hopefully they use this as their theme.
Birds on Twitter. [link]
Man has leg broken by a light snack. [link]
Dalek relaxation tape.
Red Dwarf cast are up for a Doctor Who crossover. [link]
Remember, before it was cancelled Star Trek: Enterprise had a Doctor Who crossover planned. So it's not beyond reason.
Senate Republicans kill veteran job bill just so it won't happen on Obama's watch. [link]
Coal mine owner closes mine without pay to make staff attend Romney rally and appear in campaign ad. [link]
Richard Thompson didn't get to finish his last comic strip. Here he talks about what he had planned and why it didn't happen. [link]
Browser playable NES games. I haven't tried them yet and make no claims about how well they work. [link]
Push to Reject - that would have streamlined my dating life in high school. [link]
"Tears of Steel" - a short film by the Blender Foundation.
One guy's application to get a job on the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show.
Compilation of "There are two kinds of people in the world" scenes.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.
There are 3 kinds of people in the world: those who are good at math and those who are not.
Cartoon using an audio clip from Portal.
Follow this link. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_one_with_the_whales]
I care little for this song, but I like the music video. [link]
Play Pong at a crosswalk.
An interview about getting the rights to real video game characters for Wreck-It Ralph. [link]
Orchestra Gangnam Style. [link]
Librarians with tattoos. [link]
Yummy's kitchen may need to be redesigned to accomodate this. [link]
Free Charlie Chaplin movies... I'm assuming. Haven't watched any yet. [link]
More about the Lowline. [link]
Online hitchhiking. [link]
The 25 words that make up modern television. [link]
Least and most common PIN numbers. [link]
They're fish and artists at the same time. [link]
Taking Ecstasy in an MRI machine. [link]
A dancing building. [link]
Lord Byron's copy of Frankenstein. [link]
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: Mumtembur the whadeverteenth
This was suppose to go live yesterday.
So I spent something like... I dunno... hours, lots of hours, at this computer, in the office, going through these hundreds or thousands of pictures and sorting or deleting them. I was looking for pictures that included this particular strange color of green because of reasons. And then, after the longest day of longest days, something horrible happened. I woke up.
Sudafed can SOD OFF!
I try not to use Sudafed too much. In Kansas it's pretty much a requirement. Oxygen, water, copious amounts of antihistamines, and Sudafed. The water is there not for hydration, but to wash down the antihistamines and Sudafed. But in DC it's supplemental. Or, it's supplemental now that I'm going to an allergist. I didn't used to need it. For my next visit I've got to tell him to stop dicking around and hit me with the good stuff. Assume my nostrils are Hiroshima and Nagasaki and nuke the shit out of them. Because that 24 hour antihistamine stuff isn't lasting 12 hours and the supplemental stuff isn't covering the loss. Thus, the Sudafed is there so I don't drown in snot in my sleep. That's how I'm gonna die, you know. 80 years old, in the hospital with a nasty flu or something, and I won't have the strength to clear the boogers in my throat and I'll suffocate.
I'm a bit off topic. The point here is that Sudafed really messes with me. Benadryl doesn't make me sleepy. Sudafed, however, when taken daily, can destroy my ability to sleep. When taken once every few days the effects are lessened. Only one or two doses messes with my dreams. They become epic sagas with plots, sub-threads, themes, symbolism and other stuff that made you cry "bullshit" at your old English teacher. One of those dreams was the one I was talking about at the beginning of this post. It lasted most of the night. All except for the parts of the evening when I was awake.
Match that with these new hours of mine. To be at work by 7:30 I'm out the door by 6:00 so the alarm goes off at 5:30. I'm getting home at 5:30 PM if traffic goes well. That's half my day shot. That doesn't give me a lot of time to pull myself together and accomplish anything before a 10:00 bedtime. Particularly since around 8:30 or 9:00 I'm wondering if it's bedtime yet. And how is my nose tonight? Allergies bad? Will I have to start tomorrow by puking up a gut full of snot? Yes? Shit. Fine, more Sudafed. Maybe I can dream that I'm tossing and turning all night. I've had that dream a few times. I can only tell because in the dream I'm in some other bedroom. How much does that fuck with you in the morning?
"WRONG ROOM! Where am I? Wait. It's my room. From the future! Wait, what? No. Just my room. Where I live. Not at ... that other bedroom that I totally knew for some reason."
And I'm tired.
p.s. - Last night I spent the night creating blueprints for much of the neighborhood that I'm buying houses in. Then, for some reason, I was the guy who had to organize and coordinate the various construction groups. A couple of times I woke up and the dream continued to be superimposed on my bedroom. One of those times someone else was driving dream-me around or it could have caused an accident.
So I spent something like... I dunno... hours, lots of hours, at this computer, in the office, going through these hundreds or thousands of pictures and sorting or deleting them. I was looking for pictures that included this particular strange color of green because of reasons. And then, after the longest day of longest days, something horrible happened. I woke up.
Sudafed can SOD OFF!
I try not to use Sudafed too much. In Kansas it's pretty much a requirement. Oxygen, water, copious amounts of antihistamines, and Sudafed. The water is there not for hydration, but to wash down the antihistamines and Sudafed. But in DC it's supplemental. Or, it's supplemental now that I'm going to an allergist. I didn't used to need it. For my next visit I've got to tell him to stop dicking around and hit me with the good stuff. Assume my nostrils are Hiroshima and Nagasaki and nuke the shit out of them. Because that 24 hour antihistamine stuff isn't lasting 12 hours and the supplemental stuff isn't covering the loss. Thus, the Sudafed is there so I don't drown in snot in my sleep. That's how I'm gonna die, you know. 80 years old, in the hospital with a nasty flu or something, and I won't have the strength to clear the boogers in my throat and I'll suffocate.
I'm a bit off topic. The point here is that Sudafed really messes with me. Benadryl doesn't make me sleepy. Sudafed, however, when taken daily, can destroy my ability to sleep. When taken once every few days the effects are lessened. Only one or two doses messes with my dreams. They become epic sagas with plots, sub-threads, themes, symbolism and other stuff that made you cry "bullshit" at your old English teacher. One of those dreams was the one I was talking about at the beginning of this post. It lasted most of the night. All except for the parts of the evening when I was awake.
Match that with these new hours of mine. To be at work by 7:30 I'm out the door by 6:00 so the alarm goes off at 5:30. I'm getting home at 5:30 PM if traffic goes well. That's half my day shot. That doesn't give me a lot of time to pull myself together and accomplish anything before a 10:00 bedtime. Particularly since around 8:30 or 9:00 I'm wondering if it's bedtime yet. And how is my nose tonight? Allergies bad? Will I have to start tomorrow by puking up a gut full of snot? Yes? Shit. Fine, more Sudafed. Maybe I can dream that I'm tossing and turning all night. I've had that dream a few times. I can only tell because in the dream I'm in some other bedroom. How much does that fuck with you in the morning?
"WRONG ROOM! Where am I? Wait. It's my room. From the future! Wait, what? No. Just my room. Where I live. Not at ... that other bedroom that I totally knew for some reason."
And I'm tired.
p.s. - Last night I spent the night creating blueprints for much of the neighborhood that I'm buying houses in. Then, for some reason, I was the guy who had to organize and coordinate the various construction groups. A couple of times I woke up and the dream continued to be superimposed on my bedroom. One of those times someone else was driving dream-me around or it could have caused an accident.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The death of super hero movies?
For some time now I've been hearing about the predicted death of superhero movies. Like it's a fad that we'll soon get sick of and they'll go away. This is complete nonsense.
Back in the 40's there were serials such as Captain Marvel, Batman, Superman, Captain America, and The Phantom. Looking at them now they seem comical. They're aimed at children and seemed to spend more on catering than on costumes or special effects. For a long time superheros on screen were done so poorly that the 60's Adam West Batman was considered to be pretty good.
It wasn't until Christopher Reeve's Superman in 1978 that there was anything worth respecting in superheros on screen. Just don't get me started on spinning the world backwards to reverse time. Alas, after Superman II there just wasn't much to talk about until Michael Keaton played Batman.
Do you remember "Supergirl"? I used to watch it all the time when I was 10 and everything we had on VHS was stuff I recorded off the TV. But it wasn't good. Nor was "The Toxic Avenger", "The Punisher", that Spiderman TV series, "Steel" starring Shaq, the non-Michael Keaton Batmen, "The Shadow", "Spawn", Superman III and IV, and I'd swear there was a Captain America with a german accent in there somewhere. These were all bad movies by today's standards. By the standards of their own day they weren't awful.
Patrick Stewart in X-Men is one of the first superhero movies I was looking forward to. OK, I'd been looking forward to seeing him play Mr Freeze in a Batman movie, but he was bumped in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was followed by Sam Raimi's Spiderman. Both franchises got two good movies and then a third one some said signaled the end of the superhero movie genre. To me that just means they never understood what was good about the first two.
Those were followed by Batman Begins, Iron Man, Watchmen, Hellboy, The Incredibles, as well as the sequels to X-Men, Spiderman, and those listed earlier in this sentence. It seemed there was a renaissance in superhero movies. Daredevil, Catwoman, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Elektra - these pieces of crap fell in the middle of the superhero movie renaissance and helped show that it's not the superheroes, but the quality of the story and the acting that make a good movie. They warned Hollywood that an effort must be made. They can't just slap up anything with a superhero's name on it and expect to draw a crowd.
Today is the scheduled release date for The Avengers. When that was release in theaters it broke all kinds of records for opening day and weekend attendance and earnings records. It ended up as the third highest grossing movie ever. And all the lead up movies, except the Hulk movies, were successes of their own. That doesn't sound like a dying genre to me. In fact it's prompting Marvel/Disney to try some of their properties on TV. Like a new Incredible Hulk series and at least a pilot for a S.H.I.E.L.D. series.
DC/Warner Brothers has a Justice League movie in the works. Last I heard even Ben Affleck was turning down the chance to direct. They plan to spin off their next series of Batman movies from the Justice League film. But their Green Lantern movie didn't do so well. Wonder Woman got cancelled after all outside interest was lost with the firing of Joss "The Avengers" Whedon. I really wish I could find that essay about the series of failed Superman movie attempts between Superman IV and Superman Returns. I'll just say that when Michael Bay and Justin Timberlake are turning you down to direct and play Clark Kent then you really need to rethink your movie.
I will give DC/Warner credit. They can do cartoon superheroes a lot better than Marvel has been doing.
I'm not even getting into the really good fan stuff available on YouTube.
What I'm getting at is that superheroes are another genre just like science fiction, horror, James Bond, romantic comedy, or any of the action sub-genres. And they can be done in South Park style animation so long as there's a good story. They're not going to die off due to over saturation of the market or the audience getting bored, or running out of ideas (they have 80 years of monthly comics to draw from). If the superhero genre dies back it's because every studio suddenly starts thinking that any yutz can slap something out so long as there's somebody with a logo on his chest in it.
Back in the 40's there were serials such as Captain Marvel, Batman, Superman, Captain America, and The Phantom. Looking at them now they seem comical. They're aimed at children and seemed to spend more on catering than on costumes or special effects. For a long time superheros on screen were done so poorly that the 60's Adam West Batman was considered to be pretty good.
It wasn't until Christopher Reeve's Superman in 1978 that there was anything worth respecting in superheros on screen. Just don't get me started on spinning the world backwards to reverse time. Alas, after Superman II there just wasn't much to talk about until Michael Keaton played Batman.
Do you remember "Supergirl"? I used to watch it all the time when I was 10 and everything we had on VHS was stuff I recorded off the TV. But it wasn't good. Nor was "The Toxic Avenger", "The Punisher", that Spiderman TV series, "Steel" starring Shaq, the non-Michael Keaton Batmen, "The Shadow", "Spawn", Superman III and IV, and I'd swear there was a Captain America with a german accent in there somewhere. These were all bad movies by today's standards. By the standards of their own day they weren't awful.
Patrick Stewart in X-Men is one of the first superhero movies I was looking forward to. OK, I'd been looking forward to seeing him play Mr Freeze in a Batman movie, but he was bumped in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was followed by Sam Raimi's Spiderman. Both franchises got two good movies and then a third one some said signaled the end of the superhero movie genre. To me that just means they never understood what was good about the first two.
Those were followed by Batman Begins, Iron Man, Watchmen, Hellboy, The Incredibles, as well as the sequels to X-Men, Spiderman, and those listed earlier in this sentence. It seemed there was a renaissance in superhero movies. Daredevil, Catwoman, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Elektra - these pieces of crap fell in the middle of the superhero movie renaissance and helped show that it's not the superheroes, but the quality of the story and the acting that make a good movie. They warned Hollywood that an effort must be made. They can't just slap up anything with a superhero's name on it and expect to draw a crowd.
Today is the scheduled release date for The Avengers. When that was release in theaters it broke all kinds of records for opening day and weekend attendance and earnings records. It ended up as the third highest grossing movie ever. And all the lead up movies, except the Hulk movies, were successes of their own. That doesn't sound like a dying genre to me. In fact it's prompting Marvel/Disney to try some of their properties on TV. Like a new Incredible Hulk series and at least a pilot for a S.H.I.E.L.D. series.
DC/Warner Brothers has a Justice League movie in the works. Last I heard even Ben Affleck was turning down the chance to direct. They plan to spin off their next series of Batman movies from the Justice League film. But their Green Lantern movie didn't do so well. Wonder Woman got cancelled after all outside interest was lost with the firing of Joss "The Avengers" Whedon. I really wish I could find that essay about the series of failed Superman movie attempts between Superman IV and Superman Returns. I'll just say that when Michael Bay and Justin Timberlake are turning you down to direct and play Clark Kent then you really need to rethink your movie.
I will give DC/Warner credit. They can do cartoon superheroes a lot better than Marvel has been doing.
I'm not even getting into the really good fan stuff available on YouTube.
What I'm getting at is that superheroes are another genre just like science fiction, horror, James Bond, romantic comedy, or any of the action sub-genres. And they can be done in South Park style animation so long as there's a good story. They're not going to die off due to over saturation of the market or the audience getting bored, or running out of ideas (they have 80 years of monthly comics to draw from). If the superhero genre dies back it's because every studio suddenly starts thinking that any yutz can slap something out so long as there's somebody with a logo on his chest in it.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Recommended cinnamon roll
Next time you go to Starbucks you need to try their new cinnamon roll. This is another creation from The Muffin Man. He says you need to be sure you get it heated and in a box. Room temperature and in a bag won't cut it. Heated. Box. (See below.) One Starbucks gave it to me the other way. It was OK, but not nearly as good. You definitely want to follow the chef's instructions.
His perfect cinnamon rolls are those from the Amish community in Yoder, KS. Their no raisin/no nut variety. He admits that he didn't make it, but he's still pretty happy with it.
His perfect cinnamon rolls are those from the Amish community in Yoder, KS. Their no raisin/no nut variety. He admits that he didn't make it, but he's still pretty happy with it.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Special Edition: Farewell to Cul De Sac
Sunday is the final strip of Cul De Sac. Richard Thompson's Parkinson's has gotten to where he can't draw to his standards. The heads get squished and it starts to look like Family Circus. We certainly can't be having that. One is too many. And sure, John Callahan was quadriplegic and cartooning, but he didn't have to produce daily and his art was rubbish.
You can read the strip at http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac.
You can find his books at most new book stores.
Children at Play
Shapes and Colors
This Exit
The Mighty Alice
It's gonna be hard to find a signed copy of his latest book, "The Mighty Alice", but I've got one complete with DNA sample. Some day we'll create Cartoonist Park filled with Richard Thompson clones made from my book! Part cartoonist and part oak tree due to the discount cloners and that they're getting the sample from a book.
If you're really sharp, you can even find a collection from his other comic, Richard's Poor Almanac. And Team Cul De Sac books are still available to raise money for the Michael J Fox Foundation.
And, Richard, you're a cartoonist clear through. You can't just stop. Hopefully, once they have ol' sparky installed in your head, we can hope to see a collection of newer, post retirement stuff in 10 years or so.
You can read the strip at http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac.
You can find his books at most new book stores.
Children at Play
Shapes and Colors
This Exit
The Mighty Alice
It's gonna be hard to find a signed copy of his latest book, "The Mighty Alice", but I've got one complete with DNA sample. Some day we'll create Cartoonist Park filled with Richard Thompson clones made from my book! Part cartoonist and part oak tree due to the discount cloners and that they're getting the sample from a book.
If you're really sharp, you can even find a collection from his other comic, Richard's Poor Almanac. And Team Cul De Sac books are still available to raise money for the Michael J Fox Foundation.
And, Richard, you're a cartoonist clear through. You can't just stop. Hopefully, once they have ol' sparky installed in your head, we can hope to see a collection of newer, post retirement stuff in 10 years or so.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Friday Links: September 21
Russian video about assault weapons that work underwater.
A hack of the Star Wars Force Trainer operates a CO2 cannon. [link]
Obama and Romney's responses to 14 science questions. [link]
Guess which one said "...there remains a lack of scientific consensus on ... the extent of [global] warming, the extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk..."
Modern art audio tour done by kids. [link]
I haven't listened to it, but it seems interesting.
Elections are determined not by those running, but by the view of the party established in part by those who came before. George Bush is still more important to this election than Obama or Romney. [link]
A video about special effects guy Chris Cunningham. [link]
Video of a hermit crab migration. [link]
Open letter from an author to Wikipedia about an entry for his book that contains misstatements. [link]
The difference between a $99 suit and a %5,000 suit. [link]
Women for Akin site pulled after one of the women in the central picture found to be a Democrat agent. [link]
Weathermen get silly names. [link]
15% of Ohio GOP supporters say Romney deserves the credit for killing Bin Laden. [link]
Bird apartment with peep holes. [link]
Giant painted spiders on the roof! [link]
Bad childrens books. [link]
Sexism in geekdom. [link]
Junior female tennis player told by USTA coaches to stop competing until she got in shape. This also meant they weren't going to pay her expenses for competing in the US Open. [link]
Robotic walkers. [link]
Romney and the LGBT community. [link]
The economy told in animated gifs. [link]
How to streak at a sporting event and get away with it. [link]
Freaky anime girl. [link]
A texture that prevents water from exploding when it hits crazy hot metals. [link]
Previously unknown species of monkey. [link]
Room temperature superconductivity found in graphite grains. [link]
That's food? You're sure? [link]
A study in tustworthyness ques. [link]
The story of the only American not on Earth on September 11. [link]
No News
10 examples of backyard geniuses and the stuff they build. [link]
Homemade telescope. [link]
9 debunked myths about vaccines. [link]
Genes from 80,000 year old body help show the evolution of our brains. [link]
A hack of the Star Wars Force Trainer operates a CO2 cannon. [link]
Obama and Romney's responses to 14 science questions. [link]
Guess which one said "...there remains a lack of scientific consensus on ... the extent of [global] warming, the extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk..."
Modern art audio tour done by kids. [link]
I haven't listened to it, but it seems interesting.
Elections are determined not by those running, but by the view of the party established in part by those who came before. George Bush is still more important to this election than Obama or Romney. [link]
A video about special effects guy Chris Cunningham. [link]
Video of a hermit crab migration. [link]
Open letter from an author to Wikipedia about an entry for his book that contains misstatements. [link]
The difference between a $99 suit and a %5,000 suit. [link]
Women for Akin site pulled after one of the women in the central picture found to be a Democrat agent. [link]
Weathermen get silly names. [link]
15% of Ohio GOP supporters say Romney deserves the credit for killing Bin Laden. [link]
Bird apartment with peep holes. [link]
Giant painted spiders on the roof! [link]
Bad childrens books. [link]
Sexism in geekdom. [link]
Junior female tennis player told by USTA coaches to stop competing until she got in shape. This also meant they weren't going to pay her expenses for competing in the US Open. [link]
Robotic walkers. [link]
Romney and the LGBT community. [link]
The economy told in animated gifs. [link]
How to streak at a sporting event and get away with it. [link]
Freaky anime girl. [link]
A texture that prevents water from exploding when it hits crazy hot metals. [link]
Previously unknown species of monkey. [link]
Room temperature superconductivity found in graphite grains. [link]
That's food? You're sure? [link]
A study in tustworthyness ques. [link]
The story of the only American not on Earth on September 11. [link]
No News
10 examples of backyard geniuses and the stuff they build. [link]
Homemade telescope. [link]
9 debunked myths about vaccines. [link]
Genes from 80,000 year old body help show the evolution of our brains. [link]
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The lesser house
 |
| Annapolis Bog |
Here's the house that will henceforth be known as Annapolis Bog. I call it that because it's on Annapolis St and is extremely wet inside. The gypsum board ceiling in the front room has fallen. There's mold growing on the floor. Less fluffy mold is growing on the walls. The koi pond in the kitchen is completely unplanned.
I went back to the house after getting the keys. I wanted to move beyond the front room and see what else was going on. I can see the water in the kitchen. Through the front window I could see a hole in the roof. But that's about all I knew.
I texted Yummy and told her to expect a text every few minutes. If I stopped then something had gone wrong and she should send help. With that established I prepared to move beyond the front room for the first time. I put my foot through the door way and on the floor. I slowly started putting weight on the foot.
Yummy got a text message saying "nopenopenopenopenopenopenope".
There was no sound, but you should imagine the floor making a squelchy sound as it yielded easily to my foot. It was not unlike stepping on soaking wet cardboard. The first step was a complete failure.
I returned to my car to dwell on the dwipping dwelling. Maybe if I put down plywood or particle board I could walk through the house. Then I'd know what size it is and work out a new floor plan. Or I could call the contractor I plan to use on my other place and ask his advice. I kinda feel bad doing that since I'm not sure I'll be using them for this house.
Any thoughts on how to navigate this house sans death?
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: September 19
"... rape is an occupational hazard for women in the military, the way black lung is for coal miners." [http://drmathochist.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/the-invisible-war/>link
] - U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady
Sod off! Sod off and die, judge!
] - U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady
Sod off! Sod off and die, judge!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Return to the office
For about two years now I've been working from home. Today that ends. They finally got an archivist who needs to use software that I've written besides being told what his job is. So I have to be up by 5:00 to be out the door by 6:00 to be there by 8:00. And this is likely to be my schedule for the next few months until I can leave the guy to work on his own. This a significant change from rolling out of bed and starting work around noon.
I don't like it.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Friday Links: September 14
If all the Presidents got in a knife fight, who would win? [link]
Smallest government spender since Eisenhower. [link]
Greatest con man ever. [link]
Tales of procrastination. [link]
Court rejects Texas' minority voter discrimination law. [link]
Dog TV: a review by various creatures. [link]
Salvador Dali paintings for The Divine Comedy. [link]
Hitchcock Hallway. [link]
Life among the Yakuza. [link]
How a guy's family survived his kid getting a bug bite followed by an infection. [link]
17 names for sex in the 1800s. [link]
Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention gave fact checkers very little to say. [link]
Dogs may be more empathetic than people. [link]
How to simulate the universe in After Effects.
A former Republican who worked in Congress explains why he left and why both parties are broken. [link]
The 13 year old responsible for the planting of millions of trees. [link]
Lost 1 year old cared for by a pack of feral cats. [link]
Star Trek helped define the future. The first reasonably sized mobile phones were based off Kirk's communicator. Ipads look like data PADDs but make us wonder why Chief O'Brien had to carry around so damn many of the things. Hyposprays exist. Hospitals have Biobed inspired tech. There's prize money for inventing a real tricorder. Now Google Glasses are looking a heck of a lot something seen on the bridge of Cardassian ships in Deep Space 9. [link]
Meanwhile, on the ISS, a toothbrush safes the day. [link]
Seen the latest Batman movie? Does this remind you of his Tumbler (motorcycle)? [link]
49 glowing quadrotors flying in formation. That or aliens.
A Nook emulating an original Playstation. [link]
Did you miss Tropical Storm Kirk? NOAA had a sense of humor about it. [link]
Rule #1: Moffat lies. [link]
Abandoned Chinese Disneyland. [link]
Michael Bay and writers comment on leaked Ninja Turtles script. [link]
Mike. I saw Transformers and Transformers 2. For free. I wouldn't pay for that crap. I have zero faith in your ability to make this movie good.
Here's more about thatlaughable failure script. [link]
Thought the geckos in Fallout: New Vegas were funny? Here's what real angry geckos are like.
Homemade ED-E. [link]
An iceberg flipping over.
DragonCon costumes set to music.
That's a very convincing Westley/Man in Black.
Hoverboard test footage.
Episode 1 of the now untitled Inspector Spacetime.
Remote controlled cockroach. [link]
12 shot repeating flintlock rifle. [link]
I'm not sure what I'm looking at here.
English is a weird language. [link]
I saw the meme, but I didn't know the origin of the howler monkey Jesus picture. [link]
Illegal immigrant super heroes. [link]
Competition to animate the Graham Chapman autobiography. [link]
Half of the Intro to Congress class being investigated for cheating. The rest of the class clearly hasn't learned anything. [link]
Dr Horrible sequel still in development. [link]
Skyrim mod under development - Super Skyrim Bros. [link]
Midwest drought resulting in the Mississippi River flowing backwards. [link]
Another version of the stuck coin trick. [link]
J Michael Straczynski is working on a new show called... look, if you need to know more then you probably won't care. [link]
The next Batman may be spun off from the Justice League movie. You know, unless it sucks. [link]
Previously: Joss Whedon is developing Marvel properties for TV.
Now: ABC has approved a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot episode. [link]
How to clean the fan on your laptop.
From an UPCOMING EPISODE OF RED DWARF!
Someone broke in to the shed. Nothing stolen. All thanks to a guard Dalek. [link]
Hans Zimmer's studio. [link]
Metal Trololo.
How long can you go without cracking a smile? [link]
Bad idea ads. [link]
This was a bad idea. Rectal cancer bad. [link]
I'd heard about the work done to make this plant grow from 32,000 year old seeds. Now it's blooming, too. [link]
Movies that use crappy fonts.
What happens if everyone on Earth jumped at once? Nothing much.
How do they get home? [link]
I mentioned before that Progressive Insurance was defending a killer in court. Here's some follow up. [link]
How copyright and video streaming went insane. [link]
Antonin Scalia and his goofy interpretations of law. [link]
Pond Life: life with the Pond family from Doctor Who. A lead up to the current season. [link]
Smallest government spender since Eisenhower. [link]
Greatest con man ever. [link]
Tales of procrastination. [link]
Court rejects Texas' minority voter discrimination law. [link]
Dog TV: a review by various creatures. [link]
Salvador Dali paintings for The Divine Comedy. [link]
Hitchcock Hallway. [link]
Life among the Yakuza. [link]
How a guy's family survived his kid getting a bug bite followed by an infection. [link]
17 names for sex in the 1800s. [link]
Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention gave fact checkers very little to say. [link]
Dogs may be more empathetic than people. [link]
How to simulate the universe in After Effects.
A former Republican who worked in Congress explains why he left and why both parties are broken. [link]
The 13 year old responsible for the planting of millions of trees. [link]
Lost 1 year old cared for by a pack of feral cats. [link]
Star Trek helped define the future. The first reasonably sized mobile phones were based off Kirk's communicator. Ipads look like data PADDs but make us wonder why Chief O'Brien had to carry around so damn many of the things. Hyposprays exist. Hospitals have Biobed inspired tech. There's prize money for inventing a real tricorder. Now Google Glasses are looking a heck of a lot something seen on the bridge of Cardassian ships in Deep Space 9. [link]
Meanwhile, on the ISS, a toothbrush safes the day. [link]
Seen the latest Batman movie? Does this remind you of his Tumbler (motorcycle)? [link]
49 glowing quadrotors flying in formation. That or aliens.
A Nook emulating an original Playstation. [link]
Did you miss Tropical Storm Kirk? NOAA had a sense of humor about it. [link]
Rule #1: Moffat lies. [link]
Abandoned Chinese Disneyland. [link]
Michael Bay and writers comment on leaked Ninja Turtles script. [link]
Mike. I saw Transformers and Transformers 2. For free. I wouldn't pay for that crap. I have zero faith in your ability to make this movie good.
Here's more about that
Thought the geckos in Fallout: New Vegas were funny? Here's what real angry geckos are like.
Homemade ED-E. [link]
An iceberg flipping over.
DragonCon costumes set to music.
That's a very convincing Westley/Man in Black.
Hoverboard test footage.
Episode 1 of the now untitled Inspector Spacetime.
Remote controlled cockroach. [link]
12 shot repeating flintlock rifle. [link]
I'm not sure what I'm looking at here.
English is a weird language. [link]
I saw the meme, but I didn't know the origin of the howler monkey Jesus picture. [link]
Illegal immigrant super heroes. [link]
Competition to animate the Graham Chapman autobiography. [link]
Half of the Intro to Congress class being investigated for cheating. The rest of the class clearly hasn't learned anything. [link]
Dr Horrible sequel still in development. [link]
Skyrim mod under development - Super Skyrim Bros. [link]
Midwest drought resulting in the Mississippi River flowing backwards. [link]
Another version of the stuck coin trick. [link]
J Michael Straczynski is working on a new show called... look, if you need to know more then you probably won't care. [link]
The next Batman may be spun off from the Justice League movie. You know, unless it sucks. [link]
Previously: Joss Whedon is developing Marvel properties for TV.
Now: ABC has approved a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot episode. [link]
How to clean the fan on your laptop.
From an UPCOMING EPISODE OF RED DWARF!
Someone broke in to the shed. Nothing stolen. All thanks to a guard Dalek. [link]
Hans Zimmer's studio. [link]
Metal Trololo.
How long can you go without cracking a smile? [link]
Bad idea ads. [link]
This was a bad idea. Rectal cancer bad. [link]
I'd heard about the work done to make this plant grow from 32,000 year old seeds. Now it's blooming, too. [link]
Movies that use crappy fonts.
What happens if everyone on Earth jumped at once? Nothing much.
How do they get home? [link]
I mentioned before that Progressive Insurance was defending a killer in court. Here's some follow up. [link]
How copyright and video streaming went insane. [link]
Antonin Scalia and his goofy interpretations of law. [link]
Pond Life: life with the Pond family from Doctor Who. A lead up to the current season. [link]
Thursday, September 13, 2012
I'm in the potential future money
Monday! Monday or possibly Tuesday. One of those days for sure. Unless it's Wednesday. No, definitely not Wednesday. I'm buying a new house. TWO new houses. In Baltimore.
If you look around Baltimore you'll see lots of houses for sale cheap. $5,000 to $10,000 kind of cheap. Mind you, if you spring for the $10,000 houses be sure they come with a roof. No roof and you're being ripped off. Anything else (i.e. interior walls) is just luck. And, often, you're just buying the "house". The land is owned by someone else. To this other person you must pay land rent. That runs between $1 and $150 per year. So, not great houses. Yummy found a statistic saying there's 15-16,000 of those kind of houses. 9,000 of these really just need to be leveled. These 16,000 cheap houses form a ring of ghetto around the heart of Baltimore. Really. A ring. I mapped a few dozen of them and the pattern is clear.
Finding out about these cheap homes, I started to investigate. I may be able to retire on my eventual inheritance, but I'm not going to count on that. I need my own plan. So I looked at a few dozen places that didn't look too bad. I was trying to stay away from Land Rent. In that quest I found a spot in the most crime ridden parts of one of the most crime ridden cities. Did you see I Am Legend? You know how Will Smith had to set his watch for sunset to make sure he'd get home before the monsters came to kill him? I'd have to do something similar. And, once I saw the paperwork, there was Land Rent anyway. Fuckers. I lucked out because the title issues with the house took so long to resolve that the contract expired and I got out of the deal.
Yummy hated that house. For good reason. She did her own search and found the house some of you already read about on her blog recently. She sent it to me. My response was "That looks good. You gonna get it?" She said "Noooo. No no no. I can't afford... I can't... noooo... well, maybe." And she's gonna get it.
The great thing about her place isn't that it's only $15K. It's not that it has a roof and walls and plumbing and electricity and those rotting things can be fixed easily. It's not even the light rail station two blocks away. The great thing is that there's $2.7 Billion worth of development going on just beyond that light rail station. Apartments, hotels, offices, shops, parks, trails, and possibly a soccer stadium. And it's going to be bigger than the waterfront area that is the current heart of Baltimore shopping and tourism.
My houses are both within a block of her place.
One is a soggy mess that needs $80K worth of work. At least. It's a bog in there. Very bad. But fixable and only $11K.
The other is a different story. Someone was living there recently. It looks like my great grandmother's place. Lace doilies on the furniture, glass lamps, furniture dating from the 50's. It looks like you could move right in. I got the house from the previous owner's estate for cheap. $35K. I got the furnishings, too. Heck, the TV was half the reason I wanted the house. Yummy would be happy with the enameled kitchen table, but she's probably going to get the bathtub, too. Once I replace the 60 year old furnace and that leak in the roof the house is ready for renters. But, I'm offering Yummy the place first. Until her place is ready. Just so she can get her birds back out of my house. Then I find something to do with it for 10-15 years. Rentals maybe.
I write checks for my two houses on Monday or Tuesday.
The wood paneling isn't as awful as it appears in pictures.
There was a third place that we looked at for me. It photographed well, but... Ever get that "off" feeling from a house? This one had it and had it bad. The walls could have been bleeding and a voice screaming "GET OUT!!!" and I would have said "I can work with this." But not that third house. The contractor was going to buy the good house if I didn't. He wasn't even willing to work in the third house. There was just something horribly, horribly wrong with that house. It was rotten to it's soul. Nothing short of a complete gut preceded and followed by a huge fire would have fixed that house. If you're interested it's selling for only $29,900.
There's other homes in the area you can get if you want to try your hand at investing. Homes in good shape are running about $90K. There's still a good crop of homes in need of work for much less. Let me know and I'll help you find some.
If you look around Baltimore you'll see lots of houses for sale cheap. $5,000 to $10,000 kind of cheap. Mind you, if you spring for the $10,000 houses be sure they come with a roof. No roof and you're being ripped off. Anything else (i.e. interior walls) is just luck. And, often, you're just buying the "house". The land is owned by someone else. To this other person you must pay land rent. That runs between $1 and $150 per year. So, not great houses. Yummy found a statistic saying there's 15-16,000 of those kind of houses. 9,000 of these really just need to be leveled. These 16,000 cheap houses form a ring of ghetto around the heart of Baltimore. Really. A ring. I mapped a few dozen of them and the pattern is clear.
Finding out about these cheap homes, I started to investigate. I may be able to retire on my eventual inheritance, but I'm not going to count on that. I need my own plan. So I looked at a few dozen places that didn't look too bad. I was trying to stay away from Land Rent. In that quest I found a spot in the most crime ridden parts of one of the most crime ridden cities. Did you see I Am Legend? You know how Will Smith had to set his watch for sunset to make sure he'd get home before the monsters came to kill him? I'd have to do something similar. And, once I saw the paperwork, there was Land Rent anyway. Fuckers. I lucked out because the title issues with the house took so long to resolve that the contract expired and I got out of the deal.
Yummy hated that house. For good reason. She did her own search and found the house some of you already read about on her blog recently. She sent it to me. My response was "That looks good. You gonna get it?" She said "Noooo. No no no. I can't afford... I can't... noooo... well, maybe." And she's gonna get it.
The great thing about her place isn't that it's only $15K. It's not that it has a roof and walls and plumbing and electricity and those rotting things can be fixed easily. It's not even the light rail station two blocks away. The great thing is that there's $2.7 Billion worth of development going on just beyond that light rail station. Apartments, hotels, offices, shops, parks, trails, and possibly a soccer stadium. And it's going to be bigger than the waterfront area that is the current heart of Baltimore shopping and tourism.
My houses are both within a block of her place.
One is a soggy mess that needs $80K worth of work. At least. It's a bog in there. Very bad. But fixable and only $11K.
The other is a different story. Someone was living there recently. It looks like my great grandmother's place. Lace doilies on the furniture, glass lamps, furniture dating from the 50's. It looks like you could move right in. I got the house from the previous owner's estate for cheap. $35K. I got the furnishings, too. Heck, the TV was half the reason I wanted the house. Yummy would be happy with the enameled kitchen table, but she's probably going to get the bathtub, too. Once I replace the 60 year old furnace and that leak in the roof the house is ready for renters. But, I'm offering Yummy the place first. Until her place is ready. Just so she can get her birds back out of my house. Then I find something to do with it for 10-15 years. Rentals maybe.
I write checks for my two houses on Monday or Tuesday.
 |
| front |
 |
| living room. LOOK AT THAT TV! |
 |
| dining room |
 |
| kitchen. Yummy is all about that table. |
 |
| bathroom. That's the exact tub Yummy had been drooling over just a week before. Even the shower curtain hoop. |
 |
| bedroom 1 |
 |
| bedroom 2 |
 |
| bedroom 3 |
There was a third place that we looked at for me. It photographed well, but... Ever get that "off" feeling from a house? This one had it and had it bad. The walls could have been bleeding and a voice screaming "GET OUT!!!" and I would have said "I can work with this." But not that third house. The contractor was going to buy the good house if I didn't. He wasn't even willing to work in the third house. There was just something horribly, horribly wrong with that house. It was rotten to it's soul. Nothing short of a complete gut preceded and followed by a huge fire would have fixed that house. If you're interested it's selling for only $29,900.
There's other homes in the area you can get if you want to try your hand at investing. Homes in good shape are running about $90K. There's still a good crop of homes in need of work for much less. Let me know and I'll help you find some.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: September 12
The picture below is from the Republican National Convention. It's called as an example of poorly placed signs. I was born in 1975. Reagan is the first President I can really remember. To me, the picture reflects what "fiscal conservative" has meant my whole life. A fiscal conservative is a horrible thing. They complain about "tax and spend Democrats" when in fact the fiscal conservative spends way more and doesn't tax enough to even hope to cover it. The difference comes in where they spend. The tax and spend crowd spends money where it'll encourage future growth and enhancing the existing military. The fiscal conservative deregulates banks and polluters while buying the military things they don't want.
 |
| Needs some Obama data. Use this instead. [link] |
This is about the only area where I agree with the Tea Party. The deficit needs to go away. The debt needs to be paid down. I just realize that spending cuts must be done responsibly. You balance your budget so you can spend your way out of a recession. Like the one we're coming out of now. Then you use the good times to pay down the debt. Like what Clinton had set up before Bush took it apart.
So fiscal conservatives can sod off.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Bird brains
I'm not putting this in Friday Links because this has so many links of it's own. Some you've seen, already. It's about crows and ravens and their intelligence. Most are fairly short, but there's a couple of hour long videos. [link]
Monday, September 10, 2012
Baltimore Comic Con - A firsthand perspective
There's a load of conventions in the Baltimore/DC area this month. Baltimore Comic Con was last weekend, Small Press Expo the next, Intervention after that, then the DC Green Festival. And there's a Ren Fest going on around here somewhere.
I'm trying to get my copy of the Team Cul De Sac book filled with as many signatures as I can. Baltimore Comic Con had three names I needed. Small Press Expo will have two more. I need to study the list closer, but I know of at least one more at Intervention. There were more contributors than that at all three, but I already have quite a few in my book.
From Baltimore Comic Con I got a bunch of signatures.
David Finch writes and draws for Batman: The Dark Knight comic book. I got him to sign issue number one of the title that ran before the DC universe reboot. He wrote, penciled, and did the cover of that one.
Dan Didio signed a copy of Outsiders #26 that he wrote.
Dawn Griffin signed my Team Cul De Sac and I book 1 of her Zorpubert & Fred comic.
Roger Langridge signed my Team Cul De Sac book. He used to do Judge Dredd. I picked up his Knuckles the Malevolent Nun book.
Brad Guigar signed my Team Cul De Sac book. I wanted the complete Greystone Inn since my stuff from the Plan Nine Publishing fell apart, but he had none there. So I got the first two books from his Evil Inc comics.
Brian Keene signed my The Last Zombie and I picked up his Dead of Night.
Mark Waid was caught just as he headed of to a panel. He signed my number ones of the graphic novel versions of both Incorruptable and Irredeemable.
Conor McCreery signed my Kill Shakespeare book 1 and sold me book 2. There's also a touring play that will be performing at the Shakespeare Theater in DC soon.
Gene Ha signed my Justice League #7 (after the recent reboot) for which he was an artist.
Peter Tomasi signed my Batman and Robin #1 (post reboot) which he wrote.
Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza got me set up with the latest Looking for Group book since they'd already signed all my Least I Could Do books before mailing them out. Ryan knew who I was because I once used his God's-Gift-To-Women costume for Halloween and sent him a picture.
Joe Dunn and Phil Chan of Joe Loves Crappy Movies and other stuff sold me books from their assorted online comics. I didn't recognize their names, but I knew their work from actually reading it online.
Mike Raicht signed Yummy's Stuff of Legend and sold me Zombie.
David Petersen signed some Mouse Guard art for Yummy.
I was unable to catch up with Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows), Dan Green (Wonder Woman), Greg Capullo (Spawn and Batman), Frank Quitely (older Batman and Robin), Brian Bolland (Dial H covers), Garth Ennis (The Boys), and decided to skip Neal Adams (not overly impressed with Batman: Odyssey anyway).
I'm trying to get my copy of the Team Cul De Sac book filled with as many signatures as I can. Baltimore Comic Con had three names I needed. Small Press Expo will have two more. I need to study the list closer, but I know of at least one more at Intervention. There were more contributors than that at all three, but I already have quite a few in my book.
From Baltimore Comic Con I got a bunch of signatures.
David Finch writes and draws for Batman: The Dark Knight comic book. I got him to sign issue number one of the title that ran before the DC universe reboot. He wrote, penciled, and did the cover of that one.
Dan Didio signed a copy of Outsiders #26 that he wrote.
Dawn Griffin signed my Team Cul De Sac and I book 1 of her Zorpubert & Fred comic.
Roger Langridge signed my Team Cul De Sac book. He used to do Judge Dredd. I picked up his Knuckles the Malevolent Nun book.
Brad Guigar signed my Team Cul De Sac book. I wanted the complete Greystone Inn since my stuff from the Plan Nine Publishing fell apart, but he had none there. So I got the first two books from his Evil Inc comics.
Brian Keene signed my The Last Zombie and I picked up his Dead of Night.
Mark Waid was caught just as he headed of to a panel. He signed my number ones of the graphic novel versions of both Incorruptable and Irredeemable.
Conor McCreery signed my Kill Shakespeare book 1 and sold me book 2. There's also a touring play that will be performing at the Shakespeare Theater in DC soon.
Gene Ha signed my Justice League #7 (after the recent reboot) for which he was an artist.
Peter Tomasi signed my Batman and Robin #1 (post reboot) which he wrote.
Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza got me set up with the latest Looking for Group book since they'd already signed all my Least I Could Do books before mailing them out. Ryan knew who I was because I once used his God's-Gift-To-Women costume for Halloween and sent him a picture.
Joe Dunn and Phil Chan of Joe Loves Crappy Movies and other stuff sold me books from their assorted online comics. I didn't recognize their names, but I knew their work from actually reading it online.
Mike Raicht signed Yummy's Stuff of Legend and sold me Zombie.
David Petersen signed some Mouse Guard art for Yummy.
I was unable to catch up with Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows), Dan Green (Wonder Woman), Greg Capullo (Spawn and Batman), Frank Quitely (older Batman and Robin), Brian Bolland (Dial H covers), Garth Ennis (The Boys), and decided to skip Neal Adams (not overly impressed with Batman: Odyssey anyway).
My pictures of the event.
Standing in line.
 |
| Male and female Lokis talking with Death from Sandman |
 |
| From my spot three blocks from the entrance I could see the line double back. They're five blocks from the entrance. |
 |
| Chesty Sith and a Sith with one white eye (Star Wars). |
Still in line, but walking.
 |
| Wolverine and Catwoman |
 |
| Imperial Soldier (Star Wars). Probably a pilot. |
 |
| Darkseid (Superman) and ... dunno. |
 |
| Mmmm... from Mortal Combat, maybe? |
Inside
 |
| Lar Desouza and Ryan Sohmer (mentioned in the text) |
 |
| Thanos from The Infinity Guantlet and the next Avengers movie. |
 |
| Marketing for Six Flags. |
 |
| Doctor Doom and friend |
 |
| One of the Poison Ivys (Batman). Another I mistook for Merida from Brave until I got close. |
 |
| Batgirl, V (for Vendetta), and a barely visible Captain America talking while Rorschach walks by. |
 |
| One of the better Spidermen. |
 |
| Scantly clad chick. |
 |
| Stormtrooper (Star Wars) of the Endor variety. |
 |
| Batman and Scarecrow (they didn't know each other) |
 |
| Ninja of unknown origin and... Skeletor??? (He-Man) |
 |
| Wonder Twins (Super Friends) |
 |
| Scantly clad chicks |
 |
| Punisher. He had a grenade that ticks when the pin is pulled. |
 |
| Captain Marvel and sister whose name I forget |
 |
| Black Canary and Supergirl. Yummy loved this one. |
 |
| Scantly clad Manga? character. |
 |
| A damn good Bane (Dark Knight Rises variety) costume with a less skimpy Poison Ivy. |
 |
| I though the Hulk got bigger the madder he got. |
 |
| I think that's the lead from Kingdom Hearts, a guy dressed as a female Robin (Batman), one of the legion of Harley Quinn (Batman). |
 |
| Another Bane (Dark Knight Rises variety) and ... I have no idea who the woman is supposed to be. I'd say Poison Ivy except for the flower. |
 |
| Rorschach (Watchmen) |
 |
| Smiling zombie girl with zipper up her face. (sorry for the blur) |
In the lobby as we were leaving.
 |
| Doctor Strange |
 |
| Several Spidermen, Black Cat, and Mary Jane. |
 |
| Members of Cobra (GI Joe) |
 |
| From Space Balls. |
 |
| A member of U.N.I.T (Doctor Who) |
 |
| This Vulcan (Star Trek) should have appeared much higher on the list. |
 |
| A Stormtrooper (Star Wars) posing with a young Riddler, Joker, and Scarecrow (Batman) |
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