Category Archives: Uncategorized

The worst songs of the 80s. However, any list of heinous songs that doesn’t include “We Built This City” is not to be trusted.

Norway postal service won’t ship your dead parakeet.

/it’s just resting

Friday afternoons.

I’m inclined to think there is a more mundane explanation than alien life forms raining down on India, but hey, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Choose Your Own Adventure making a comeback. I always ended up dead and had to backtrack. Good times, good times.

So in the stupid political moves today we have….

The comptroller—now, who came up with the word comptroller. I mean, it’s a cool word, but where does that come from—of New York had to apologize for suggesting that Senator Schumer (most annoying Congressperson evar. Could he be more narrowminded and smug?) would shoot Bush if he thought he could get away with it. Yeah, death to the president == not smart.

The world has gotten together and promised to buy Iran a Coke if they will give up their nuclear aspirations. Yeah, that’ll go well.

Roger Simon has some wise words for Hastert. Siddown.

I’m all for regular Joe’s going to space, but strapping yourself to a rocket-propelled crossbow bolt is not my idea of smart.

Greenpeace memo. If it’s real, it’s hilarious.

There may well be a solid third party in contention in the next 8 years, but not to worry, it won’t last. Besides, what would the party’s platform be? Less spending? Lose the progressives. Less war? Lose the conservatives. Less immigration? Lose the minorities. Less government intrusion? Lose the progressives. More government intrusion? Lose the conservatives. If the Libertarians with their fiscal conservatism and social liberalism can’t hack together a solid winning platform, who can?

I seem to remember posting something about this, but that could just be the mind rays trying to keep it a secret.

Jonah Goldberg defending the extremists.

Moreover, because politicians and mainstream journalists alike get the most grief from “partisans� of the Left and the Right, they both assume that the middle is the most enlightened place to be, since they think that’s where they are. But compromise is not always the smartest way to go.

Engadget gets a link just for mentioning Good Eats. And it is sorta a cool gadget.

Oh, there’s my rocket pack, minus the rocket. It really is a new century.

Helen Thomas vs Tony Snow on some guy who merely expressed how most of the country views D.C.

via Inoperable Terran

It’s okay to bring a knife to a gunfight if you are a Marine.

Pocketknife, make sure you note that. Pocketknife.

Obviously you wouldn’t be running Windows Vista Ultimate on a $400 computer but the fact that you could easily get a computer for less than the cost of the operating system is just crazy.

Apparently 3rd graders are writing stories for news.com.au. But if these unknown scientists are taking applications, I’ll live in space.

Also, the Mars rovers are getting an upgrade. Let’s be careful how smart we make them. We don’t want to have to fight them when we move in to colonize.

I’m a little confused on how using horses to help disabled kids is going to bring about Middle East peace, but the ways of Captain Kirk are clearly above our ways.

He is way over-played. If they’d like, I could come up with a list of other songs to add to that.

At least in one arm.

Building up Americans confidence in government and the economy:

President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations.

Apparently he’s just delegating authority presidents have had since the 1970’s, but that still doesn’t exactly give me warm fuzzies about the government or the corporate accounting world.

I’m taking over the WORLD!!!! one -alanche at a time.

Thank you, John Hawkins. My humble blog is not worthy the attention bestowed.

The sun is shining and it’s hailing. This is why I’m not a fan of spring and fall.

Do-it-yourself Lego flash drive. If only I had a flash drive.

And the proper tools.

And the willingness to invest the time in it.

But other than that there’s nothing holding me back.

The Manolo, he is a genius.

It is this latter fact which always makes the Manolo give thanks to the person who invented the electronic zapper of the bugs. This clever device it kills the pests while the electric blue sparks provide us with hours of joyful entertainment.

If only the zapper it could be produced in the extra-strength congressperson size, then this city of Washington, truly it would be the Garden of Eden.

IRS no longer enforcing a tax. Enacted during the Spanish-American War. Show of hands, who remembers that war?

Who turned up the stupid in Washington DC? Apparently it goes to 11.

Instapundit nails my original thought.

If I were a ravening Bush hater I would swear Karl Rove engineered this whole Iranian thing just so Bush could rush to the rescue right before the elections. Here we are nothing too newsworthy happening in Irag, and lo, right on cue Ahmadinejad comes along. If it were a movie I would groan at the predictability. Ahmadinejad’s belligerence and rhetoric is so preposterous it all but has to be staged. It’s all a little too convienent. So, everyone knows the UN isn’t going to stop Iran, and well, lookie here, Israel and the US have a plan to deal with the problem. Veddy interesting.

Over-representing facts will always come around to bite you. Like how I’ve been told that ecological disaster after disaster is coming and then they don’t come and now I’m really not concerned about anything you warn me about and don’t think we need to worry about global warming until I see a glacier out my window….Wait, I think there’s a fable about this.

Why?

Pretty much sums up the problem with Congress at the moment

WARRANTS: Not good enough for us, too good for you.

Great way to start the morning.

via Lileks

I don’t know why the school thinks it is any of their business what students post online.

Buy a MIT $100 laptop for $300 and donate the other two to the poor laptopless kids.

Ugly though. Very Playskool. But, if that’s what the kids are into these days, who am I to argue.

Hillary is trying to bring it back. It’ll slash fuel consumption because I’d rather walk on cactus barefoot than drive 55 through, oh, Montana, Utah, Colorado, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, Washington, Idaho, or any rather large state.

Next up, bring back Prohibition. We need the corn to make ethanol, after all.

I’m starting to think D.C. has been hit with a goof gas attack. Time to send in Bullwinkle.

Oh those wacky congressmen.

“You sent the FBI to investigate us, that’s unconstitutional!” They had search warrant, which, if I remember my civics class correctly*, means that the judicial check was played and you should shut up and stop taking bribes, morans.

“But I didn’t take any bribes”. Well then act like it and I might believe you. This circling the wagons makes me think you’re a little worried the idea that politicians take bribes might spread and you’ll get caught too.

*we never learned anything like that in civics, we just argued about stuff

But, I’ll be darned if I don’t like Robbie Williams. Since it’s British pop I think that makes it okay.

Right?

Now all we need is warp drive.

Okay, okay, I said no more posts, but first check out the first dozen or so comments in this post.

Busy day today, so I’m imposing a moratorium on posting for the rest of the afternoon and possibly stretching into tomorrow morning.

Your assignment is to use the links to the right, find odd or annoying stories and post them with a ambiguous opinion or veiled pop culture reference.

The shoe-pod.

Insert multiudinous Get Smart quotes.

And then you die of Ebola, or something Ebola-like, on a flight from Africa. Yikes.

Remember how Social Security numbers were never going to be used for personal identification outside the Social Security Administration? That was a good idea.

Google News never really grabbed me (heresy, I know), so I’m not crushed that they are purging the ungood hate speech.

Frank J. masterfully sums up how I feel about America. Read the whole thing.

Anyway, my point, whether I can come up with an appropriate intro or not, is that, even though it seems like we have no heroes in politics right now, America is still full of heroes and things worth fighting for. We have the liberty earned by our forefathers, our innovation, our spirit, our awesome economy, and our general kick-assery – and that should be more than enough to get anyone out of bed and glad to be alive each morning. As bad as things may get in Washington and on the world stage, there’s always a supermarket nearby with at least eight different types of Oreo cookies to choose from – and this week they’re buy one get one free!

Eurovision.

And the counterprotesters get to eat yummy chicken. Well, KFC anyway.

That Christians are the ones fighting “the man”. Crazy rebels

The Manolo, he brings the funny.

Congratulations to Josh and Deborah on their getting married! Poor Deborah, but she didn’t have to say yes.

B. Adelphia cable internets was out all afternoon yesterday, so that totally eliminated any hope of getting the stuff done I wanted to on the site. Yes, you suck Adelphia. Luckily it was rainy and dreary too so I couldn’t do yardwork and was forced to lay around watching Stargate all day.

C. I just found out that Roger’s is not going to be open on Sundays. That just sucks too. I find it hard to believe they are passing up that kind of profit, but more importantly they are cramping my summer Sunday plans. I was going to go there today, matter of fact. Mmm, burger and onion rings. Darn new owners.

D. I Am Sound by the Dandy Warhols has the catchiest melody I have had stuck in my head in a long time.

Go say hi to Matt. It’s his blog birthday.

Again, had I known, cake, etc.

Biting commentary on the techno-industrial music scene. Er, I mean techno-industrial system.

If I had some spare cash, I’d pick up some memorabilia.

This happens every Sunday somewhere in the world. Of course, normally, the Sun isn’t there.

Iran proposes badges for Christians and Jews in Iran. It worked so well last time someone tried it.

UPDATE: Never mind.

Scrappleface on DaVinci Code.

Film critics this week publicly acknowledged the release of the Ron Howard movie, based on the best-selling Dan Brown novel that blurs the line between fiction and entertainment.

Seriously, why all the fuss over DaVinci Code? I don’t understand Americans sometimes.

Remember back in the day when cnet.com had a utility that would check what programs and drivers you had and then tell you what updates are available to download? Yeah. Is there anything like that anymore? Freeware, of course.

So now you too can burn blu-ray discs. I’m not excited about all this. Mostly because I have to upgrade practically every technological type thing in my house to take advantage of it. And I’m not convinced that this is going to be around long enough to make it worthwile.

Seriously, these are some cool shirts.

Helping out the little guys. That is so American.

American taxpayers are in the onerous position of funding both sides in this war. The price of oil is US$50 per barrel higher than it was on 9/11. “Looking at it another way,” writes Gaffney, “Saudi Arabia — which currently exports about 10 mbd — receives an extra half billion dollars every day.” Where does it go? It goes on Saudi Arabia’s real principal export: ideology…. But, not content with funding the enemy in this great clash of civilizations, American taxpayers are also bankrolling various third parties, like Venezuela. And there’s nothing like increasing oil wealth to drive powerful despots down ever crazier paths ….

We give and we give and we give.

via Inoperable Terran

Captain Cook’s ship, Endeavour, may have been found. Oddly enough, on the ocean floor.

In an effort to keep you up to date on all the really important news, here’s a follow-up to the Alaskan elephant treadmill.

To sum up, like most Americans, she’s against treadmills.

It’s Frivolous Lawsuit Night at the ballpark.

“We realize that these giveaways as part of our Salute to Frivolous Lawsuit Night are fairly stupid and serve no real purpose,� said Curve General Manager Todd Parnell. “But if our fans don’t like them, then they can sue us.�

That’s awesome.

via Fark

Based on Moveon.org’s effectiveness, I’d take the donations as a sign that Google secretly leans right.

Back in the letter-writing days misunderstanding the writer’s intention wasn’t a problem, of course. This is a brand new problem we all need to know about.

It’s for journalists, but I think anyone can use it.

HEAVEN: Heaven is a term referring to the ultimate destiny of a certain number of souls. Depending on who you listen to, heaven is either: where all of us will end up (Origen); where many of us will end up (St. Gregory of Nyssa); where some of us will end up (John Calvin); where a small portion of us have, in some sense, already ended up (John of Leyden); where precisely 144,000 of us will end up (Charles Taze Russell); or where Jack Chick will end up (Jack Chick). Theologian Belinda Carlisle once posited that “Ooh, baby, heaven is a place on earth,” but explorers combing the globe have yet to confirm this.

Or

FUNDEMENTALISM: The belief that basic elements of play – like passing, ball handling, and defense – are the essential building blocks of a winning basketball team is generally referred to as “fundamentalism.” The fundamentalists formulated their doctrine in the 1980s against the showy, heretical play of Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers. Leading fundamentalist institutions include Bob Jones University and Syracuse. Larry Brown’s failure to get the Knicks into the playoffs has been seen as a major setback for the cause of fundamentalism.

via In the Agora

Gas prices are still more affordable than ever, historically speaking.

The problem, of course, is that I don’t, or didn’t, have to rearrange my budget every year to make up the price rise.

via The Volokh Conspiracy

Continue reading →

This happens to me and doorjams more than I care to admit. Which obviously means I should be working for NASA.

“The inaccurate perception of its distance and speed … prevented DART from taking effective action to avoid a collision,” the summary said.

So logically, the cameras are racist!

Cause no one dares suggest an alternative.

Here’s the great thing about northern latitudes. You can sleep in till 11, start working in the yard around noon and still get a solid eight hours in.

So maybe tomorrow I’ll get around to more Uganda pictures. I know you all can’t wait.

P.S. I really, really, really hate my pine trees. Well, not the trees per se, but the freaking pine cones and pine needles they drop constantly is what really makes me mad.

Alternative energy environmentalists vs. environmental er, enviromentalists.

Assuming a high yield of 10 tons per acre of switch grass would mean harvesting 100 million acres of land for fuel each year—an area about the size of California. In 2005, the USDA reckoned that there were 39 million acres idle in the conservation reserve program and 67 million acres of cropland being used as pasture, so dedicating that much land to grow fuel crops is not impossible. But planting idle cropland and pasture with fuel crops could have some deleterious effects on the natural environment and wildlife and possibly spark a fight between the naturalist and energy wings of the environmentalist movement.

Not because I particularly care about energy independence, I just think it would be amusing.

For the search “feelings of something crawling on you“. I think with a little hard work I can make it to NUMBER ONE!!11! oh yeah.

Why is the federal government even dealing with the issue? Shouldn’t this be a local matter?

House of Representatives lawmakers proposed a bill on May 9 that would block access to social networks and Internet chat rooms in most federally funded schools and libraries.

Black, tarry goop? Unexplained phenomena? Yep. It’s from aliens. With government help, of course.

A brief discussion of John Kerry.

If you like that you’ll love this.

It’s been a big week for Condi over at Princess Sparkle Pony’s.

DVD-sniffing dogs. But, it was a load of Rob Schneider movies, anyone could smell the stink of those.

This is what I want. This is not quite there yet.

It’s a little whiney, but Lileks has some brilliant moments today. Of course, how can you go wrong with Capt’n Crunch?

Other than a couple spikes, I’m doing well versus the universe.

Making Saturday morning cartoons work. You call that progress? Cause I don’t.

Yes, I enjoy DDR. But cartoons are for zoning out to, not for exercise.

Don’t look. It’s a top secret recipe I need later. Continue reading →

Paul Johnson on why we should be talking about political parties and their future.

Right Wing News accurately sums up how the right views the left’s policies.

Rumsfeld on the new media and the Pentagon on Hugh Hewitt.

Coolest video of the Mars rover you’ll see today.

via Fark

That’s right, salty.

Victor Davis Hanson on Hugh Hewitt’s show.

Maybe if the kids just sat around on the grass? That seems fairly safe.

They may be annoying thieves, but you have to admit they have style.

Well, well, well. How interesting that someone finally brought this up.

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday that “the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map.”

photos lifted from the Daily

Use a geranium leaf. More effort than it’s worth, but seriously cool.

Here’s more thoughts about donkeys than I thought possible.

I should get pictures of Uganda and the people thereof up starting this weekend. And that whole new theme thing is still in my big plans.

UPDATE: I also plan to weed and feed and mow my lawn this weekend, in case you’re reading this, my rather forbearing neighbors.

FURTHER UPDATE: I also need to fix my torn mudflap. I’m contemplating trading my Pathfinder in for something more fuelly economic, but then I would have to replace my cracked windshield. So upfront cost versus nickeled-and-dimed to death. Not to mention that it’s just a economic cycle and in 10 years the prices will be comparatively low again and I’ll want something I can fit stuff into. On the other hand, I’ll want to beat the rush to smaller vehicles that will drive the price of them up. Tough choice.

I love that board

Look how serious I am about it. The girls, they aren’t loud enough.

photo by Stephen Granat.

Terrorists are modding video games. Now you know.

A transparent toaster.

Idaho’s senators did fairly well in the anti-pork report card. Remember, the less you spend, the more I like you. Cause I’m shallow like that.

If you’re a climatologist the goverment wants to hear from you.

Christopher Hitchens replies to Juan Cole.

Death rays. That’s no moon!

Protesting in front of abortion clinics is unconstitutional, protesting in front of churches and cemetaries is a God-given right.

Those wacky Japanese. Pink teddy bears, guns, weddings, I don’t know.

Silly teachers, you can’t force students to pay attention. Why back in my day, when a TRS-80 was a svelte little machine, we still didn’t pay attention, and the TRS-80’s weren’t even on!

The fine line between genius and insanity is finally explained.

Google Calendar.

Google: Taking over the world one helpful program at a time.

The blogosphere, that is.

I leave and the country goes to heck.

I’m an idiot. Instead of transfering to the account I transfered from it. FAN-tastic.

Daylight Savings is still messing me up. I hates it, tricksy sun!

This will be my last post, well, from Idaho. I’ll probably get bored in the airport and post something this weekend, but anyway, I’ll be gone for the next three weeks to Uganda. Posting will be extremely sporadic to non-existant. I should probably go change those settings that control how long stuff is on the front page right now before I forget. Okay, good idea, I’ll go do that.

The sun causes global warming. Who knew?

Need to know things like this. It’s good to plan ahead.

Our power’s from Bonneville, right? Cause I’d like more than 24 hours, given a choice. Well, it seems Avista generates its own electricity. Interesting. Still I think that bodes well, should the worst occur.

Hugh Hewitt had a fantastic day with Mark Steyn, Christopher Hitchens, and James Lileks. Just keep scrolling.

Welcome to hell, here’s your accordion.

Dan Simmons, of Hyperion fame, on the future. Hopefully it remain fiction.

via Inoperable Terran

Regarding the NBC set up of Muslims at the NASCAR. Nothing happened.

No film at 11.

What records to keep and for how long. Finally I know it’s safe to throw away my Avista bills from 1997.

I just found a significant (to me) amount of money. Not enough that the cops should be called or anything. I know who it belongs to, but they would never know if I didn’t tell them and just for a second I thought, “I could keep this, and it sure would come in handy right now”.

I’m not going to keep it, but I sure thought about it. Those people who turn in thousands of dollars are super-cool. Hopefully someday I’ll be a better person.

Coolest website I’ve seen today. And I saw this one today, so that’s saying something.