Ray Bradbury - 88 and Going Strong

Born August 22, 1920. One of the giants. Good show, Ray.

Stand and Deliver

One of the most beautiful August Sundays seen in these parts. Did you enjoy it?

What a Rack!

It's my Dad's - since been mounted and hanging on the wall at the family homestead.

For those of you who subscribe to my blog via RSS: GOTCHA!

Maybe I'll Just Use Parsley

I do most of my grocery shopping on the way home from work. It's convenient and keeps me from making an extra trip. However, I've noticed that I tend to run lots of small errands on the weekend. In order to help manage my gasoline and grocery bills, I've decided to run errands on the weekend on my bike whenever possible.

Since the nearest grocery store is 6 miles away, I think this will really cut down on unnecessary expenses.

"Cilantro? Maybe I'll just use parsley..."

Lis Friemoth, The Garden Hoe, Can Help You!

Just in case you think I'm making this up. Note the text highlighted below.



Maybe it's me.

When In Doubt, Grab Your Shotgun

Because you never know: hordes of undead may be stalking you right now without you even knowing it.

And an ounce of preparation is worth a LOT of shells.

Political Commentary by YT

Handicapping the Presidential Sweepstakes:

Obama. I hear he's black. No, really! It says something about the sea change in America's political culture when we're more concerned with the religious orientation of a candidate's antecedents than with their race or place of birth. I'm sure this is a sign of progress. Obama doesn't strike me as a particularly strong candidate right now, mainly because I haven't seen a tremendous amount of substance or experience. On the other hand, he's shown unexpected resilience thus far, he's high on the likeability quotient, and Obama emotes Hope and Vision. And he's got really white teeth. I think his candidacy will only get stronger in time.

McCain. The GOP hates Johnny. What else can explain it? The party finally lets McCain have the nomination when the economy is drifting south, we're trapped in some nasty foreign adventures and food and energy prices are through the roof. And it's all under the watch of the least-liked Republican president since...ever? But they needed some goat to stake out for the lions.

Unfortunately, his most effective campaign strategy is that of a reformer but you can't really run as the reform candidate against your own party's president. I think he attacks Obama at his own great risk as well.

Do you hate those 'Obama is a rockstar' commercials as much as I do? The Republicans are really saying 'Hey, we know Obama is popular. Everyone seems to like the guy. You people are idiots.' Having the octogeniarian political candidate kick the voters' favorite puppy isn't exactly going to win you many votes come election day.

As an aside: The Clintons must be ready to eat their own livers right now. If Hillary hadn't run the worst major Democratic election campaign since Dukakis, she might well have the nomination and be the odds-on favorite to win the presidency.

A Seven Letter Word For Moron

Ever watch Jeopardy and dominate the contestants only to realize at the end that you've been watching the Teen Tournament?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Nuts!


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Some Things Can Be Taken For Granted

An American tourist is brutally attacked and murdered at a noted Chinese destination, the Drum Tower.

An American couple is visiting China to see the Olympics. The Husband hears of the attack and chooses not to tell his wife in order not to "worry her".

The Wife hears of the killing while visiting the Drum Tower during a BBC interview. She also learns that Husband already knew of the attacks, as well as separate terrorist bombings in the northwest.

The Husband isn't mentioned in the interview. Presumably, he's preparing to die as soon as the reporters are out of earshot.

Well I Guess They Had to Go With What Works

Game design at Microsoft.
Ads by Google.

Take the Challenge!

Find a meadow, preferably one that's at least an acre in size. Not sure where to find one? Idle housing projects are a good place to look.

Look for something like this:













Once you've found your meadow, stand on the downwind edge. Take out the Ipod earbuds. Listen. Take a few deep breaths.

Next, find yourself a really big lawn. Completed housing projects are a good place to look. Stand on the downwind edge of your chosen lawn and repeat.

You tell me which spread is beautiful and alive, and which one is sterile monoculture.

Would You Pair Red or White With That?

When I was growing up, I remember seeing ads for my favorite jackals, Habush, Habush and Davis.

Later, the advertisements were for Habush, Habush, Davis and Rottier.

Later yet, the spots simply named Habush, Habush and Rottier - and so it stands today.

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So, what happened to Davis?

Personally, I think Rottier ate him.

What are the Odds?

First, what are the odds of any single person being featured on an episode of Maury Povich?

On the other hand, given that a person was named after Maury Povich (hi Kamaury), what are the odds that their home life would lead them to be featured on an episode of Maury Povich?

At a certain point, some things become inevitable.

Quote of the Week

"I don't get it! Half the damn midwest is underwater and people won't stop buying Doritos."

Did Mario and Luigi Work for Scale?

In the Japanese version of Midway, do you shoot down countless hordes of American fighter planes?

If Supermariokart were to be made today, would there be an airbag requirement?

If Ubisoft released Prince of Persia today, would it violate the Patriot Act?

Madden '94: would we have stopped it back then?

Is Grand Theft Auto any worse than Death Race?

Did George W Bush played too much Axis & Allies back in college? Me, I think he was more of a Risk fan.

It's Official: Americans Make No Sense

According to a recent Pew Survey (courtesy of NYTimes), Americans apparently believe in everything.

"The new report sheds light on the beliefs of the unaffiliated. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, 70 percent of the unaffiliated said they believed in God, including one of every five people who identified themselves as atheist and more than half of those who identified as agnostic.

American beliefs:

• The Gulf War wasn't about oil,
  
• No Child Left Behind is really about the children,
• We can protect the environment without raising taxes or altering our lifestyle,
  
• and 20% of atheists believe in God.

No wonder the rest of the world thinks we're nuts.

Ah those hallowed tunes of yore!

What Would God Make If He Were a 13 Year Old Boy?

Spore is a game being developed by the folks who brought us Sim City. In the game, you build a civilization from the bottom up - literally. From unicellular beginnings in a world sea, the gamer creates life that can eventually spread across the universe. It can even meet other intelligent life.

That's the interesting part. You really do 'design' the organisms under your command. Each copy of the game will anonymously send your creatures to a database located on the internet, which will then populate other games. Similarly, the creatures created by other gamers will eventually feed into your game.

Which, of course, brings me to my main question: if a 13 year old boy were endowed with the ability to make creatures in whatever image he desired, what form would they take? Since, to my knowledge, you can't design a 'gun creature', there is only one possibility. Namely,



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Note, this may be NSFW..



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Well, I'd heard that the military had lowered their standards...

Ok. Is this some clever play on words that I'm simply too dense to see or has the Air Force confused 'site' with 'sight'?

I think I'd hire a Private Dectective

From a Fox News story about a pair of brutal murders:

An official investigating the double murder of two young girls in Oklahoma said
Tuesday the "shooter wanted these girls dead"

Our 'official' Stan Florence works for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. With analytical chops like this, I'm sure the FBI will shortly be beating a path to his door.

But wait - Stan the Man isn't done:

"There's obviously an issue here where the shooter wanted these girls dead and certainly carried that to its fullest extent"

Huh. Well, I'm glad they ruled out the possibility that the brutal double killing was accidental.