At the local huge mega chain grocery store, they have plastic cups for sale with fun designs & pictures printed on the sides. The last one I got for myself had Superman on the side. My Darling Wife got a handful of them, princesses for the girl, Toy story and cars for the boys, etc. This one she got me had, of all people, Darth Vader on the side. My response:
Hey! How come I have to be Dick Cheney?
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Hyppocratic Oath: First, Do No Riot Policing?
Note carefully the job description of the guy speaking softly in the navy blue jacket.
Note to self: be sure to cover the "Medic" jacket with a "Riot Police Beat You Down" yellow vest before delivering a beating in public. Hat tip: Every Day, No Days Off.
Note to self: be sure to cover the "Medic" jacket with a "Riot Police Beat You Down" yellow vest before delivering a beating in public. Hat tip: Every Day, No Days Off.
Awesome New Kit Coming Down the Pipe
Anyone who ever needed to tune a bike's shifters, or who missed a critical shift, or who had to hold their shifter against the cable actuated derailleur on their bike, rejoice: Hydraulic derailleurs are invented. Done properly, this could be awesome product.
Anyone who ever needed to take a potshot at a fighting helicopter, despair: Now they can see where you are when you fire by detecting your muzzle flash, track you, and (assuming you didn't kill them right with the first shot) kill you back.
Anyone who ever needed to take a potshot at a fighting helicopter, despair: Now they can see where you are when you fire by detecting your muzzle flash, track you, and (assuming you didn't kill them right with the first shot) kill you back.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Vote for Herman Cain!
You never heard of him until today. Today he was trending on social media and dominating the most-searched ranking on Google. Herman Cain showed up at the Republican debate last night and walked away with 50% of the total vote, give or take a point depending on whose polling you look at. By being himself and speaking his heart on the spur of the moment, he swayed the voters.
He can win. I wish he would frikken announce already so I can support his campaign.
He can win. I wish he would frikken announce already so I can support his campaign.
Verrrrr Busy. Sorry.
My car got jealous at all the time I spent in the garage not working on it and decided to pretend to need a $450 brake job, then it settled on needing a new set of alternator bearings. I've been trying to find a place near my home with bearings, but I think I'm going to be headed into Austin to Texas Alternator Starter Service, where I got the last set 2 years ago. This, believe it or not, is high reliability for alternator bearings on my car. I think this is #8 in 12 years, the first at 6 months.
Boo. Oh well, at least I can DIY this thang. Still, it keeps me from blogging when I'm shoulder-deep in an engine bay.
Boo. Oh well, at least I can DIY this thang. Still, it keeps me from blogging when I'm shoulder-deep in an engine bay.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Say, That's Pretty Good!
I just took a test. Specifically, the XRite Online Color Challenge / FM100 Hue Test. It has seemed to me in the past that I am more picky about color than most people. For instance, in order to select two monitors for use at work, I went through ELEVEN of them before I found two with acceptable color rendering . . . and these were high-end 21" CRT monitors . . . weighing 90lbs. each!
Well this explains it:
(Click the image to see it full size)
Note: apparently I have perfect color vision. Somebody out there was using a black and white monitor or something to get this worst-score record:
*******
Now if only I could do something about this near-sightedness . . .
Well this explains it:
(Click the image to see it full size)
Note: apparently I have perfect color vision. Somebody out there was using a black and white monitor or something to get this worst-score record:
*******
Now if only I could do something about this near-sightedness . . .
IT'S GO TIME! BRING IT!
My Darling Wife had the Zoo out of the house all evening, and I was working on getting the garage cleaned up. I came in to the empty house and pressed the power button on the idiot box. Our televisor takes several seconds to boot up or whatever it does, and I completely forgot that I had pushed the switch. I went in to the kitchen to get some food.
I was halfway into getting some bacon* unwrapped, and I started hearing noises. Men's voices and strange noises. I was going for the release on my sidearm's holster, wondering WTH was going on but ready** to do violence. Then I heard another half-tick of the noises and realized the frikken television had come on.In related news, there is a show on the Discovery channel about hunting feral hogs in urban settings, and THAT of all things came on and almost got me going.
So. No harm, no foul . . . but WHY are these people relocating hogs? SRSLY you are capturing and relocating feral hogs instead of turning them into bacon? Hey, bacon! . . . now there's* a coincidence! No, they did turn one into bacon because it was blind and deaf from fights and would be even more of a hazard than the average boar.
. . . and I'm still waiting to be invited on a hog hunt . . .
********
**Yes, ready. If you are not, you need to change your mind.
I was halfway into getting some bacon* unwrapped, and I started hearing noises. Men's voices and strange noises. I was going for the release on my sidearm's holster, wondering WTH was going on but ready** to do violence. Then I heard another half-tick of the noises and realized the frikken television had come on.In related news, there is a show on the Discovery channel about hunting feral hogs in urban settings, and THAT of all things came on and almost got me going.
So. No harm, no foul . . . but WHY are these people relocating hogs? SRSLY you are capturing and relocating feral hogs instead of turning them into bacon? Hey, bacon! . . . now there's* a coincidence! No, they did turn one into bacon because it was blind and deaf from fights and would be even more of a hazard than the average boar.
. . . and I'm still waiting to be invited on a hog hunt . . .
********
**Yes, ready. If you are not, you need to change your mind.
Austin is Stupid.
You remember not three weeks ago when Austin approved $4M to buy a few new Police cars because they are going out of style production? Yeah, so Austin is as broke as the rest of the left-leaning municipalities around the nation. Today, they have announced that the Austin Police Department needs to find out where to cut out up to $4M to meet budgetary needs.
Yes, Seriously.
Hold on there.
Do you remember when Austin said they were going to spend $50M on helping non-English speakers in the government schools, then they said the same week that AISD was $92M shy on the budget? Yes, this is the same city. Chief Acevedo says there is nowhere else to cut but the personnel budget. I say to the chief: What about those new hot rods? How about that $180M specifically dedicated to salary and benefits? How much does it save if your TWO cadet classes next year go in with the expectation of a less-generous benefits package? Is it possible to defer payments to the ol' collectively-bargained retirement fund?
Some small cities have entirely disbanded and outsourced their Police departments. I don't suggest that is even close to what the APD needs to do, but cutting low-single-digits of percent out of ANY budget after the last "boom" decade is very likely to be only a matter of not doing the things we like to do. We'll see.
Yes, Seriously.
Hold on there.
Do you remember when Austin said they were going to spend $50M on helping non-English speakers in the government schools, then they said the same week that AISD was $92M shy on the budget? Yes, this is the same city. Chief Acevedo says there is nowhere else to cut but the personnel budget. I say to the chief: What about those new hot rods? How about that $180M specifically dedicated to salary and benefits? How much does it save if your TWO cadet classes next year go in with the expectation of a less-generous benefits package? Is it possible to defer payments to the ol' collectively-bargained retirement fund?
Some small cities have entirely disbanded and outsourced their Police departments. I don't suggest that is even close to what the APD needs to do, but cutting low-single-digits of percent out of ANY budget after the last "boom" decade is very likely to be only a matter of not doing the things we like to do. We'll see.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Fish Food Smells Fishy
They get a pass on:
1) Gunfighting OBL turns into unarmed OBL. Fog of war and initial reports confused.
2) Human shield wife turns into somebody else's wife attacking the assault team. Fog of war and initial reports confused.
3) Dumping him in the sea: No shrine to visit, no body to worship*
4) Not releasing the video - it prevents the release of criminal evidence, see point 14
They get a WTF on:
5) There is no video from the time the operators were actually in the building. The most crucial part is missing; we don't know why. SRSLY?
6) They will not release the death photos because the opinion of people at war with us is more important than the opinion of the citizens of our country
7) The body is forever gone, if they did what they claimed. No independent verification of death is possible, ever.
The rumor mills churn on:
8) Leon Panetta allegedly was the one to give the order to go - Obama couldn't make up his mind
9) The DNA test really only says: it is 1000 times more likely to have been a Bin Laden family member than a random person
10) The body was dumped to hide the freezer burn, or the fact that it was not OBL's body
Time will tell on:
11) Who else got photos? Somebody got photos of dead bodies around the compound and sold them to the Associated Press
12) Who will talk? Dozens to hundreds of people handled the body or were near it. Can they ALL resist going on Oprah? Will they be believed? Or silenced?
They look real bad on:
13) No proof has been provided to anyone in the public at-large. All you and I have to go on is their word that he is dead.
14) We sent operators into a foreign country with which we are not at war, to go after a man who was not condemned in a court of law and who was apparently not an imminent threat to anyone, anywhere, kicked his door in and shot him while he was unarmed. In some peoples' lexicons this is murder.
********
*Does it make me a bad person that I would like to see video of two menstruating women slinging Bin Laden off the BOW of a ship after a three-count? You take his hands, I'll take his legs, one . . . two . . . and under the keel and chopped into chum by the propellers . . .
********
Quotes of the Day:
"We don't need to spike the football"
"This is not who we are"
"The corpse is not a trophy"
"would endanger national security"
So here is what you are left with (for now): The Dear President says: I know he's dead. I've seen the photos and the DNA evidence. I saw the video. That is enough for you little people. What more could you want beside the word of yourruler President? I am superior to you, and my intellectual curiosity being satisfied is enough to satisfy yours, because shut up. No body for you. No photos for you. The video, it never existed. And no further comments will be forthcoming. Thanks again for voting Democrat.
1) Gunfighting OBL turns into unarmed OBL. Fog of war and initial reports confused.
2) Human shield wife turns into somebody else's wife attacking the assault team. Fog of war and initial reports confused.
3) Dumping him in the sea: No shrine to visit, no body to worship*
4) Not releasing the video - it prevents the release of criminal evidence, see point 14
They get a WTF on:
5) There is no video from the time the operators were actually in the building. The most crucial part is missing; we don't know why. SRSLY?
6) They will not release the death photos because the opinion of people at war with us is more important than the opinion of the citizens of our country
7) The body is forever gone, if they did what they claimed. No independent verification of death is possible, ever.
The rumor mills churn on:
8) Leon Panetta allegedly was the one to give the order to go - Obama couldn't make up his mind
9) The DNA test really only says: it is 1000 times more likely to have been a Bin Laden family member than a random person
10) The body was dumped to hide the freezer burn, or the fact that it was not OBL's body
Time will tell on:
11) Who else got photos? Somebody got photos of dead bodies around the compound and sold them to the Associated Press
12) Who will talk? Dozens to hundreds of people handled the body or were near it. Can they ALL resist going on Oprah? Will they be believed? Or silenced?
They look real bad on:
13) No proof has been provided to anyone in the public at-large. All you and I have to go on is their word that he is dead.
14) We sent operators into a foreign country with which we are not at war, to go after a man who was not condemned in a court of law and who was apparently not an imminent threat to anyone, anywhere, kicked his door in and shot him while he was unarmed. In some peoples' lexicons this is murder.
********
*Does it make me a bad person that I would like to see video of two menstruating women slinging Bin Laden off the BOW of a ship after a three-count? You take his hands, I'll take his legs, one . . . two . . . and under the keel and chopped into chum by the propellers . . .
********
Quotes of the Day:
"We don't need to spike the football"
"This is not who we are"
"The corpse is not a trophy"
"would endanger national security"
So here is what you are left with (for now): The Dear President says: I know he's dead. I've seen the photos and the DNA evidence. I saw the video. That is enough for you little people. What more could you want beside the word of your
Movie Review: The Mutant Chronicles
This went straight to cable TV on the Sci-Fi channel for a reason. If you like zombie/monster movies and are into steampunk artwork, and are doing something else while the movie is playing, you might like this movie. If you don't mind very-obvious CGI effects and cheezy cinematography as part of a moderately-predictable plot line, you may like this movie. If you like to holler "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" at the heroes of your movies, you may like this movie. Otherwise, not so much. I was ripping our CD collection to .mp3 and then polishing brightwork at the house while this one was on. It was basically background noise and steampunk eye candy every once in a while, otherwise it would have been switched off.
One thumb down.
Alternate ending suggestion: the heroes ALL die (spoiler: all but one of a dozen or so heroes do end up dead). The world is overrun.
One thumb down.
Alternate ending suggestion: the heroes ALL die (spoiler: all but one of a dozen or so heroes do end up dead). The world is overrun.
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