“I, me, my – three of the most used words in President Obama’s media appearance last night.” – Rush Limbaugh, May 2, 2011
Vital Statistics
Aches & pains: sciatica, temperature sensitivity, left hip
Current reading: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Recent listening: The Chess Story, Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, Beckology, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Steve Miller Band, Traffic, Boz Scaggs, The Rolling Stones
Recent viewing: CSI, God in America, Sin City, V is for Vendetta, Commando, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, Secrets Beneath the Ice (Nova), Real Time with Bill Maher, Japan’s Killer Quake (Nova), BBS: The Documentary
Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, WSOP Hold ‘Em Legend HD
Recently accomplished: Couch acquisition, Troop 820 collections, mowed lawn, new couch prep
Imperative To Do: Clean garage, clean gutters, new shelves for stereo, bank trip, bark dust, doctor appointments
Vital Statistics
Aches & pains: sciatica
Current reading: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Recent listening: The Velvet Underground, Alabama, Boz Scaggs, Steve Miller Band, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, The Who, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Funkadelic/Parliament, The Kinks, Sleep, The Small Faces, Traffic, Warren Zevon
Recent viewing: CSI, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Modern Family, Friday Night Lights, Big Love, Stripes, A Clockwork Orange, Fringe, No Ordinary Family, Six Million Dollar Man, The Simpsons
Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, WSOP Hold ‘Em Legend HD
Recently accomplished: Began Tivo repair (need new power cable), changed furnace filters
Imperative To Do: Troop 820 transactions, clean garage, clean gutters
Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 25, 2011
A few years ago I used to ride with Portland Critical Mass every month. Eventually, the numbers became so small that it seemed pointless to continue. Still, I’ve long felt a kinship with Critical Mass rides everywhere. Thus, seeing the following video taken Friday night in Brazil almost made me cry. One minute into the video, the joy and serenity is replaced with insane violence:
Mega Cool Super Church (and Technology)
Saturday I drove down to Happy Valley to pick up Graham following an overnight at his friend’s house. On the way there I saw a monstrous building and noted it was a church. On the way back home, we stopped so I could get a picture. I posted the first picture to Instagram (warning: link opens iTunes). In that picture, I included the sign as a point of reference but it somewhat eclipsed the gigantic church so I moved a few steps east and snapped another:
The Impact of War on Segments of the Middle East Population
Have you seen Google’s Public Data Explorer? It’s an interactive interface to some gigantic sets of data gathered from around the world (sorry, requires Flash). I found it when I searched for “population growth” on Google. If you click the chart at the top of the list of results, you can graph the change in population growth rates for any country from 1960 to present. The chart graphs the US population rate by default but you can turn on any combination of countries as well as the world population growth rate for comparison.
After playing with it for a few minutes, I wondered about Iran and Iraq, two countries that we all probably wish we knew less about:
Remember the Iran/Iraq war? You can see it right there in the data. Can you tell who “won” and who lost that war?
Continue reading “The Impact of War on Segments of the Middle East Population”
All I Got For Xmas 2010
Once again I had a very bountiful Christmas. Click the picture to see the details but my gifts included:
- Earth: The Book
- Microwave safe soup bowl
- Soup spoons
- Chopsticks
- Microwave safe coffee cups
- Instant coffee
- My four favorite Beatles albums remastered
- $75 in cash
- Personal audio mixer
- Let It Be…Naked
- Sugar free candy
- New earphones for my iPhone
- Six pack of grilling sauces/rubs
- Two iTunes gift certificates worth $45 (not pictured) – redeeming for various apps and songs
- Amazon gift certificate for $50 (not pictured) – redeemed for iLife ’11
Thanks to Buddy, Leroy, Tom, Jan, Michelle & Ric, Tina, Thomas, Graham and the Kittens. I know I’m hard to shop for and appreciate when people do so anyway.
Vital Statistics
Aches & pains: ankles
Current reading: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Recent listening: Les Paul & Mary Ford, The Mothers of Invention, Slick Rick, Gershwin, Jane Siberry, Glenn Miller, Brave Combo, Buckethead, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, King Crimson, Neil Young, Steve Goodman, Woody Guthrie
Recent viewing: Young & Innocent, Stage Fright, Rockford Files, Murphy’s Romance, Disturbing the Universe, Nova, WWII in HD, Alice in Wonderland, Long Day’s Journey Into the Night (aborted), More Than a Game, NBA Basketball, Hawkeye Football
Recent playing: Words with Friends, Fieldrunners, Pinball HD
Recently accomplished: Played “adult in charge” at recent Troop 820 campout, fixed broken gate, fixed leaky toilet, winterization
Imperative To Do: Resume biking, lingering Troop 820 issues, desk cleanup, Xmas shopping
Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll
If you were a teen in the 80s like me then you probably remember the short-lived sketch comedy series, Fridays, on ABC. Although it only lasted two seasons, it left an indelible impression on my young brain.
Sadly, a DVD release of those two seasons is reportedly held up by Michael Richards. Luckily, YouTube has most of their great sketches including the ones I’ve included below the fold:
Continue reading “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll”
iPhone online casinos
Prior to choosing the bestiPhone online casino, you must consider a number of factors that determine the ultimate outcome. The most important one is that there are no more games, so you are guaranteed that the jackpot will be one of the highest you can find. If the jackpot is a great value, then we are talking about a true money making opportunity.
What Are the Top Online Casino Games?
All online casinos offer something, the important thing is that there are a variety of options to suit your preference and budget, for example, if you are a fan of sports betting, then FanDuel is the website for you. A lot of people just want to try out a couple of games for a few hours and when the casino is not hosting a major game in any way, they will end up losing a lot of money.
You will have to make some adjustments based on how many times you can play a particular game and how much money you want to save up. A great option for a relatively low budget is to play a few games of blackjack with a lower rate than your other gaming options. I would highly recommend this option since casinos don’t typically offer you more than one time per day per device so it will give you the opportunity to play more often. Another way to stay safe is to use a burner device. A burner is just any portable computer that is easily taken into a casino with. It is perfect for gaming at a slower rate. Just make sure to have someone at your gaming table with you so that you are able to retrieve your device if it gets lost. A great option for a burner is your computer if you are at home. It will be a very cheap device to buy. There are many brands of cell phones that are great to use for gaming. You can find the latest technology that the cell phone manufacturers are using at electronics stores. All the phones are very small, you can actually fit a normal size computer in there. In addition to gaming, you should also be sure that you are using the right kind of casino game for your computer. In order to get the best out of a computer game, you must first understand the basics of computer gaming. The basics of computer games are fairly simple. The computer controls the playing of the game, and it uses your computer’s power to move and shoot. Once you’ve learned how to play a computer game, you will be able to use your computer to do anything you could possibly want. Once you know how to play, you should be able to learn how to become a casino pro. The difference between casino gaming and the traditional poker game is the playing of poker. A lot of the skill that one should have in the traditional poker game is not as important in casino gaming. In casinos, the goal is to get as much money as possible as quickly as possible. The aim of the game is to keep the board and cards from crossing the line. In computer games, however, the aim is to get as much money as possible. The goal of computer games is usually very hard to achieve. A good computer game player can be very fast at playing a computer game while also being good at all the other games that are played.
What’s the most important difference between a slot machine and a casino?
Many people think that the two are very similar. They are not. A casino is a more advanced form of gambling and more complicated than a slot machine. At a casino, you will usually have a limit on how much money you can play each day. You may also have a limit on how many