Thu - October 1, 2009
Death Train continues to stalk the innocent
While you weren't looking, there were two
collisions on Martin Luther King Way between cars and the new Link light rail,
one last
Saturday afternoon and one early
last Sunday.
Nobody has been killed by the train yet,
emphasis on the "yet."
Posted at 06:56 PM
Wed - September 30, 2009
Nature is violent
This post originally said, "Here
are some pictures of a mule killing a cougar," but it turns out the
mule was just tossing around the body of a cougar the mule's owner had
shot.
I didn't THINK a mule could kill a
cougar.
Posted at 07:10 PM
All aboard
Readers who have never been on an Amtrak
long-distance train and want to see what it's like can go to this
page and look at all the 360-degree photos this fellow took on his
2007 ride on the California Zephyr.
He took pictures in a roomette and a bedroom
(i.e., both main types of sleepers), in the various hallways, in the dining car,
in a coach car, and in the lounge car, so you can see the whole Amtrak-riding
experience. Unfortunately, he took the pictures of the sleeping rooms during
the day, but didn't get any at night, so you can't see what the rooms look like
with the beds down. Let me describe it: They look snug.
Cozy.
Take my word for it: If you are planning an Amtrak trip, pay the extra amount and get a sleeper.
Take my word for it: If you are planning an Amtrak trip, pay the extra amount and get a sleeper.
Posted at 04:42 PM
Sun - September 27, 2009
Wed - September 23, 2009
Good night, Ole
For people who miss Seattle, here on YouTube is video of
the Bardahl sign.
I expect Bardahl to soon be run out of town by
confiscatory taxes, to be replaced by something useful, like a cooperative
making organic dog food for nervous chihuahuas. Founded with federal stimulus
money.
Posted at 07:26 PM
Tue - September 22, 2009
The awkwardness leaps off the screen
I am enjoying AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com,
which is more than I can say for the people in the photos.
Some of them are just
excruciating.
Posted at 06:59 PM
Sat - September 12, 2009
Gotta light?
Here is a video
showing the test-firing September 10 by Alliant Techsystems of the first-stage
solid rocket motor for NASA's new Ares
I launch vehicle.
And what do YOU do today?
Posted at 01:39 PM
Wed - September 9, 2009
They still want to kill you
Those who chafe at the limits on carrying
liquids on airplanes may wish to watch this BBC
video showing what a mixed-on-the-airplane liquid-explosive
soda-pop-bottle bomb, of the sort the terrorists planned to use to blow up
airplanes back in 2006, can do to an airplane. You would not want to be on an
airplane that had such a bomb go off on the ground, to say nothing of at
altitude.
Three of that set of eight terrorists, British
followers of Islam, just
got convicted on a second set of charges, in case you haven't been
following the case. They hoped to blow up seven airplanes in one day, and kill
maybe 10,000 people, found the court.
Posted at 03:18 PM
Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog
I am not a big Weird Al Yankovic fan, and
this video
is about three years old, but I have now watched it about ten times and I laugh
every time. See if it doesn't make you laugh. I dare ya.
If you kids out there don't recognize the
music video he is parodying, here it is --
it's so old we didn't even have the term "music video" then -- and I hope you
recognize that that is Bob Dylan in the original, but the real joke is ... well,
if you don't get the real joke, you must have scored very low on the verbal part
of your SATs, that's all I've got to
say.
[Found at J-Walk Blog, who found it at Change of Subject.]
[Found at J-Walk Blog, who found it at Change of Subject.]
Posted at 01:57 PM
Tue - September 8, 2009
It ain't over 'til it's over, or until the streetlights come on
The Hoosiers
for Central Time Coalition has been formed to petition members of the
Indiana General Assembly, as well as school superintendents around the state, to
work to change Indiana to the Central time zone. Which is where it
belongs.
I wrote about Indiana's adoption of Daylight
Saving Time (DST) back in 2005, when that happened. The downside of the switch
to DST is that the 80 counties that are in the Eastern time zone are now totally
out of whack in the summer months, with the sun not coming up until mid-morning,
and the sun not going down until almost midnight. I exaggerate, but not by
much. And the
Coalition is worried because kids go to school in the dark the whole
year now.
(The other 12 counties of Indiana are in the Central time zone and are uniformly happy, productive, and non-groggy.)
At the time of Indiana's adoption of DST, the US Department of Transportation, which controls the nation's time zones, required each county to petition if they wanted to switch time zones, and a few counties in the Eastern zone did ask to moved to Central, and fewer still were actually allowed to switch, but most counties in Indiana want to align with Indianapolis, and until Marion County switches, the state will stay mostly in Eastern.
If the time zones were in the right place, the boundary between Eastern and Central would cut through the middle of Ohio. And it used to. But there has been a westward creep over the years, and it wasn't such a problem for Indiana when most of the state stayed on Standard Time year 'round, but now the flaw of being in the Eastern time zone is apparent.
I hope these folks succeed.
(The other 12 counties of Indiana are in the Central time zone and are uniformly happy, productive, and non-groggy.)
At the time of Indiana's adoption of DST, the US Department of Transportation, which controls the nation's time zones, required each county to petition if they wanted to switch time zones, and a few counties in the Eastern zone did ask to moved to Central, and fewer still were actually allowed to switch, but most counties in Indiana want to align with Indianapolis, and until Marion County switches, the state will stay mostly in Eastern.
If the time zones were in the right place, the boundary between Eastern and Central would cut through the middle of Ohio. And it used to. But there has been a westward creep over the years, and it wasn't such a problem for Indiana when most of the state stayed on Standard Time year 'round, but now the flaw of being in the Eastern time zone is apparent.
I hope these folks succeed.
Posted at 05:20 PM
Mon - September 7, 2009
Prime Rib of 'Roo
For the benefit of the shopping public, Southern Game Meat Pty Ltd
shares a chart
showing all the cuts of meat you can get off a kangaroo.
I'm not sure if they will ship to North
America, but you can call them and ask. They ship it in vacuum-packed pouches,
so it'd probably keep on the boat
over.
Kangaroo is very lean and tender and is high in iron and zinc.
[Found at J-Walk Blog.]
Kangaroo is very lean and tender and is high in iron and zinc.
[Found at J-Walk Blog.]
Posted at 03:43 PM
Wed - September 2, 2009
Flushed with pride
Here is the web site
SewerHistory.org. Can you guess what it is about? Yes, "Tracking
down the roots of our sanitary sewers." And they have some really interesting
stuff in there.
You know, the Romans ruled the world in their
day because they had aqueducts and sewers and nobody else
did.
I had a friend at Purdue who was a Civil Engineering major, in the Sanitary Engineering program, who used to always say, "Your [feces] is my bread and butter." Thirty years later and that still makes me laugh.
I found SewerHistory.org because I was reading in VintageSeattle.com about the great Ravenna sinkhole of 1957, the largest sewer collapse in the USA to that time, in which the main north Seattle trunk sewer, a six-feet wide brick-lined tunnel 145 feet below Ravenna Boulevard, washed out and created a hole 200 feet long, 175 feet wide, and 60 feet deep in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood. SewerHistory.org has some pictures of it.
I had a friend at Purdue who was a Civil Engineering major, in the Sanitary Engineering program, who used to always say, "Your [feces] is my bread and butter." Thirty years later and that still makes me laugh.
I found SewerHistory.org because I was reading in VintageSeattle.com about the great Ravenna sinkhole of 1957, the largest sewer collapse in the USA to that time, in which the main north Seattle trunk sewer, a six-feet wide brick-lined tunnel 145 feet below Ravenna Boulevard, washed out and created a hole 200 feet long, 175 feet wide, and 60 feet deep in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood. SewerHistory.org has some pictures of it.
Posted at 01:18 PM
Tue - September 1, 2009
His name was James, not Chuck
It says here
in the Indianapolis Star that a man and a co-worker were operating a
wood chipper in Atwood, Indiana, the other day, and the co-worker went across
the street for a while, and came back, and the man was not there
anymore.
Yep, the police say they found what they
believe to be "evidence" of him in the wood chipper.
Posted at 10:25 PM
Mon - August 31, 2009
They knew each other when. When what?
The
Daily Beast has an interesting little piece about famous people who roomed
together at college. We all knew about Tommy Lee Jones and Albert
Gore Jr, but it turns out there were many more such pairings.
None of my college roommates have become
famous, but they are all upstanding citizens, as far as anyone
knows.
Posted at 01:34 PM
Wed - August 26, 2009
"Ten minniss outta tha box you're onna Innnernet!"
In
an article on All Things Digital about the latest ads for Macintosh
computers, I discovered a reference to this
wonderfully funny thing: Someone took the series of iMac ads actor
Jeff Goldblum did in 1999 and slowed them down to half speed, and it really
sounds like a drunken friend trying to have a conversation with
you.
I think they may have used Amazing Slow Downer or something
to maintain the original pitch of his voice and the music, but we can overlook
that for all the mirth these videos engender.
Posted at 01:31 PM
Mon - August 24, 2009
Tue - August 18, 2009
"But I been done seen about everything ..."
Here is an interesting
video of a jumbo making a crosswind landing.
Surprisingly short landing
rollout.
Posted at 12:51 PM
Ouch
Speaking of accidents, check out this video of a head-on
collision between two BNSF freight trains last June, taken from the
cab of the lead locomotive of one of the trains involved.
If you look closely, you can see a crew member
bail out of the locomotive of the other train as it is about to be hit. A wise
man.
It looks like the train we are on runs though a stop signal right at the start of the clip, but I'm not sure.
It looks like the train we are on runs though a stop signal right at the start of the clip, but I'm not sure.
Posted at 09:49 AM
It had his number
Every time I drive or ride through the
mountains, I think about this
happening.
Now I will think about it
more.
You know, they put up signs by the highway that say, "Caution, Falling Rocks," or "Falling Rocks," or just "Rocks." But what the heck is the motorist supposed to do about these rocks, other than not drive on that road? You would not be able to spot a rock falling off the cliff above you, and swerve out of its way.
You know, they put up signs by the highway that say, "Caution, Falling Rocks," or "Falling Rocks," or just "Rocks." But what the heck is the motorist supposed to do about these rocks, other than not drive on that road? You would not be able to spot a rock falling off the cliff above you, and swerve out of its way.
Posted at 09:40 AM
Sun - August 16, 2009
Descent
I read somewhere, probably in someone's
now-lost Twitter update, the suggestion that they stop calling the President's
town hall meetings "town hall meetings," and instead call them "greenhouse
meetings." Because they are full of plants.
In
her most recent column in The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan
documents some of the difficult questions the President has been
facing:
"The first question was from a Democratic state representative from Dover named Peter Schmidt. He began, 'One of the things you've been doing in your campaign to change the situation is you've been striving for bipartisanship.'
"'Right,' the president purred. They were really holding his feet to the fire.
"'My question is,' Mr. Schmidt continued, 'if the Republicans actively refuse to participate in a reasonable way with reasonable proposals, isn't it time to just say ,"We're going to pass what the American people need and what they want without the Republicans"?'
"Stop, Torquemada, stop!
"The president said it would be nice to pass a bill in a 'bipartisan fashion' but 'the most important thing is getting it done for the American people.'
"Then came a grade-school girl. 'I saw a lot of signs outside saying mean things about reforming health care' she said. Here one expected a gentle and avuncular riff on the wonderful and vivid expressions of agreement and disagreement to be seen in a vibrant democracy. But no. The president made a small grimace. 'I've seen some of those signs,' he said. There's been a 'rumor' the House voted for 'death panels' that will 'pull the plug on grandma,' but it's all a lie.
"I'm glad he'd like psychiatric care included in future coverage, because after that answer, that child may need therapy."
As she says, "When George W. Bush did town halls like that—full of people who'd applaud if he said tomorrow we bring democracy to Saturn—it was considered a mark of manipulation and insecurity. And it was. So was Mr. Obama's."
Two other points Ms Noonan makes about this health care "reform" business that ring true:
"The president seemed like a man long celebrated as being very good at politics—the swift rise, the astute reading of a varied electorate—who is finding out day by day that he isn't actually all that good at it. In this sense he does seem reminiscent of Jimmy Carter, who was brilliant at becoming president but not being president."
"[The people] don't even know what the president wants, what his true agenda is. He never seems to be leveling, only talking."
Later, Mr Obama will look back on these as The Golden Days.
"The first question was from a Democratic state representative from Dover named Peter Schmidt. He began, 'One of the things you've been doing in your campaign to change the situation is you've been striving for bipartisanship.'
"'Right,' the president purred. They were really holding his feet to the fire.
"'My question is,' Mr. Schmidt continued, 'if the Republicans actively refuse to participate in a reasonable way with reasonable proposals, isn't it time to just say ,"We're going to pass what the American people need and what they want without the Republicans"?'
"Stop, Torquemada, stop!
"The president said it would be nice to pass a bill in a 'bipartisan fashion' but 'the most important thing is getting it done for the American people.'
"Then came a grade-school girl. 'I saw a lot of signs outside saying mean things about reforming health care' she said. Here one expected a gentle and avuncular riff on the wonderful and vivid expressions of agreement and disagreement to be seen in a vibrant democracy. But no. The president made a small grimace. 'I've seen some of those signs,' he said. There's been a 'rumor' the House voted for 'death panels' that will 'pull the plug on grandma,' but it's all a lie.
"I'm glad he'd like psychiatric care included in future coverage, because after that answer, that child may need therapy."
As she says, "When George W. Bush did town halls like that—full of people who'd applaud if he said tomorrow we bring democracy to Saturn—it was considered a mark of manipulation and insecurity. And it was. So was Mr. Obama's."
Two other points Ms Noonan makes about this health care "reform" business that ring true:
"The president seemed like a man long celebrated as being very good at politics—the swift rise, the astute reading of a varied electorate—who is finding out day by day that he isn't actually all that good at it. In this sense he does seem reminiscent of Jimmy Carter, who was brilliant at becoming president but not being president."
"[The people] don't even know what the president wants, what his true agenda is. He never seems to be leveling, only talking."
Later, Mr Obama will look back on these as The Golden Days.
Posted at 02:09 PM
The Canadian dog that did not bark
The New Democratic Party of Canada just held
its annual convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and failed
to drop the "New" from its name. Which some party members wanted to
do.
If they dropped the "New," they would just be
the "Democratic Party." It sounds like they are wanting to glom onto Obamamania
(just as it is fetching up on the
rocks).
But, in defense of the name change, they have been the "New Democrats" since the party's founding in 1961. How old does the party have to get before it is no longer "new?"
But, in defense of the name change, they have been the "New Democrats" since the party's founding in 1961. How old does the party have to get before it is no longer "new?"
Posted at 12:41 PM
Turn it off
If you use your cell phone while driving, you
should watch this
little instructional video from the United Kingdom.
Yes, the driver is texting, and texting is
more impairing than talking, but talking on a cell phone
while driving is more
impairing than a 0.08 blood alcohol
level.
So just knock it off. Don't use the g.d. phone while you are driving.
(Found at Gizmodo.)
So just knock it off. Don't use the g.d. phone while you are driving.
(Found at Gizmodo.)
Posted at 12:29 PM
Sat - August 15, 2009
With the modern toilets, you can flush in them all, too
He says he visited most of them by car. I
assume that's because when you are on a train, you can't get off at most
intermediate stops, and even the ones at which you can get off, you are told not
to leave the platform -- so, going by train, he would not have been able to get
all the cool snaps. But don't let that stop YOU from visiting every Amtrak
station by train.
Did you know Bellingham is the northernmost Amtrak station? I didn't either, but it makes sense.
Did you know Bellingham is the northernmost Amtrak station? I didn't either, but it makes sense.
Posted at 08:39 AM
Thu - August 13, 2009
Two Peas in a Pod
Here
is a little article that discusses the strong relationship between the
Chicago Democratic Party machine and the Chicago Mob; the latter was an
outgrowth of the former.
It is not exhaustive, but it gives you a taste
of what Chicago Democratic politics is like, dating back to Hinky Dink McKenna
and Bathhouse John Coughlin.
Here's something I learned from this article: I knew that Fred Roti was the Mafia's main man on the Chicago City Council -- everybody knew that -- but I did not know he was a "made man," i.e., an actual member.
Here's something I learned from this article: I knew that Fred Roti was the Mafia's main man on the Chicago City Council -- everybody knew that -- but I did not know he was a "made man," i.e., an actual member.
Posted at 10:07 AM
Greetings from Seattle
Ads by Google
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
XML/RSS Feed
Archives
Word of the Day
iChat/AIM status
Blogs I read
and sometimes
Site Meter Web Counter
I ping Technorati
Comments powered by
Twitter Updates
Wanted by the FBI
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Published On: Oct 01, 2009 06:57 PM
Published On: Oct 01, 2009 06:57 PM