Scottobear: @BeaucoupKevin – http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/buzzaire.shtml not a coffee IV, but close! (via Twitter / Scottobear)
Category Archives: Uncategorized
8901 – Monday
Restless night sleeping, accidentally booted Newt off the bed once, but he stuck with me throughout the night. BHK was restless too, but I didn’t leg-sweep her out. Pye visited briefly, but high-tailed it after the barest commotion. I dreamt that BHK and I were hunting animals, tagging them for reference, and re-releasing ‘em into the wild. A side effect of geocaching, perhaps?
Bugah & Neil went fishing – to no avail, as the water was too choppy.
Half day tomorrow! North Beach Fireworks are going to be something else!
via jwz – Search for Lonesome George mate is long shot
While scientists search for a mate for “Lonesome George” – the last known survivor of a species of Galapagos tortoise – some say the effort to fend off extinction may be in vain. Even if a mate is found, George has not been interested in reproducing in the past and may not know how, former keepers and others who have worked with him said.
“He has problems … he probably never saw a female and male of his own species reproducing,” said Swiss biologist Sveva Grigioni, who worked with George 13 years ago.
Grigioni, now back in Switzerland, said she could normally get tortoises to ejaculate within minutes, but spent months manually stimulating George and never extracted semen from him.
Age is not George’s problem. He is estimated at between 60 and 90 years old, and could live to be 200 and still reproduce, scientists say.
The visual differences in tortoises from different islands were among the features of the Galapagos that helped 19th Century British naturalist Charles Darwin formulate his theory of evolution. Since then, the tortoises have been hunted by pirates for their meat and their habitat eaten away by goats introduced onto the islands. George, who weighs 198 pounds, was found on Pinta in 1971.
Reviewing Openads for the company’s ad server for the web. it seems pretty reputable and reliable, thus far.
Fire drill this morning was a welcome break in the day – cool outside, everyone seemed laid back and calm – helped move the rest of the time that much more rapidly. the 2pm meeting went well… lots of good information for me to ruminate over the next few projects. I really dig that I’m in an environment that will allow me to use the skills I have! (Last gig wasn’t bad, but a lot of repetition. This time, there’s a lot of room for creative thought along with brute force.
Day closed with S’mores over a fire pit, some preview fireworks, and then Bugah and I played a bit of “Destroy All Humans”. Not a bad thing.
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)
Scottobear: National Geographic TV is awesome. A lion just attacked a buffalo, who fought it off and then a lion ALMOST fought an alligator. AWESOME! (via Twitter / Scottobear)
8899 – Sunday
We spent most of the day out and about, Geocaching with the Newsoms. They’re really into it, with a little over 100 finds in recent memory. It was fun tooling around a bit and seeing what’s what. I also dropped off tinkle pig in a cache… time for her to see the world. I retrieved a toy soldier cast from civil war bullets, who will ride with Bruce Moose and Gaytor until a suitable resting ground is found for him. The cemetary caches are almost always my fave – the woods were a hoot too, but ticks are a real fear for the kids, especially since Em was out sick just recently. (Heck, nobody wants lyme disease.)
A brief synopsis of Cache visits-
placed Hula Wyvern (Travel Bug Dog Tag) in Little Southern Maryland School [visit log] placed “Wajima, Japan” Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug (Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug) in Little Southern Maryland School [visit log] 
found Little Southern Maryland School (Traditional Cache) [visit log] found Parkkin Cache (Traditional Cache) [visit log] found Flashover (Traditional Cache) [visit log] found Can you see the ghost?! Again! (Traditional Cache) [visit log] found Relaxation for Redlights (Traditional Cache) [visit log] found Book Worm (Traditional Cache) [visit log] found Time is the key (Traditional Cache) [visit log]
Aftwerwards, we took a quick pitstop at Aardvarks, had an ice cream and picked up kanoodle for BHK (I’m sure I’ll be playing it too.)
Spent a little more time puttering around Solomon’s Island, went to Stoneys for dinner. (their treat! yum!)
On the road between points, I got a call from my Mom, and it turns out that Bro isn’t in a work crew, but just a rehabilitation center. Taking classes, etc. Hopefully some of the lessons will stick, but if not, at least he’s out of circulation for a while.
After that, we paused at the Barker’s to water the Mom-in-Law’s plants, and to do a little dock-walking. I paused for a breather upstairs, but before I could get my nap on, Adam and Kendall showed up to say hi and to drop off some fireworks.
NEW YORK (AP) – A peacock that roamed into the parking lot of a Burger King in New York City was beaten by a man who insisted it was a vampire.
Animal control officials in Staten Island say the bird was beaten so fiercely that most of its tail feathers fell out and it had to be euthanized.
The seven-year-old male peacock wandered into the restaurant parking lot and perched on a car hood last week. Charmed employees had been feeding it bread when the man appeared.
A restaurant worker says the man grabbed the bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started stomping it. She says when he was asked what he was doing, he responded, “‘I’m killing a vampire!”’
Employees called police, but the man ran when he saw them.
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)
8898 – Saturday
Took care of bills and had a nap while BHK ran to the store for last minute provisions – guest feeding is important. I was really bushed after last week’s Danny-visit, and was needing the makeup sleep.
Misc cool stuff – Earth and Jupiter as seen from Mars picture and Desktop Tower Defense game. The latter is fairly addictive.
First major foray as a handyman-hubby looks to be repainting / doing some tile in the #1 bathroom. The former owner painted over wallpaper, and the steam heat of showering has slowly started to curl and peel… not to mention get a little bit of mildew underneath… time to peel it up, put down some grout and tile that bad boy. (After our guests leave – BHK and I will probably start next weekend.)
I wonder why so many people update their journals primarily when they’re annoyed – is it more cathartic to just get peeves out on paper (or on screen) than it is to write about more enjoyable pursuits? Maybe that’s why so many people kill off journals periodically, too.
I’m enjoying revver more than youtube… primarily because the compression isn’t as foul.
Newsoms got here without a hitch – it’s always good to see ‘em. The boys are planning on doing a little fishing while here, and the girls are looking forward to some non-fishing related fun.
Played some Godzilla Melee and Rampage with Bugah, who is always up for some city-stomping fun while other folks hung out. Good folks, nice times.
Tonight we had some hot dogs on the grill (giant ones BHK found, and some jumbo veggie-doggies for me), took a walk on the boardwalk and beach, picked up a bottle of wine or two and some chocolate, and returned home to play a little Hunter & Gatherers. Bugah won handily, despite saving his river-huts until near the very end. I think Carcassone H&G plays better with more than two players.
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)
8901 – Monday
Restless night sleeping, accidentally booted Newt off the bed once, but he stuck with me throughout the night. BHK was restless too, but I didn’t leg-sweep her out. Pye visited briefly, but high-tailed it after the barest commotion. I dreamt that BHK and I were hunting animals, tagging them for reference, and re-releasing ’em into the wild. A side effect of geocaching, perhaps?
Bugah & Neil went fishing – to no avail, as the water was too choppy.
Half day tomorrow! North Beach Fireworks are going to be something else!
via jwz – Search for Lonesome George mate is long shot
While scientists search for a mate for “Lonesome George” — the last known survivor of a species of Galapagos tortoise — some say the effort to fend off extinction may be in vain. Even if a mate is found, George has not been interested in reproducing in the past and may not know how, former keepers and others who have worked with him said.
“He has problems … he probably never saw a female and male of his own species reproducing,” said Swiss biologist Sveva Grigioni, who worked with George 13 years ago.
Grigioni, now back in Switzerland, said she could normally get tortoises to ejaculate within minutes, but spent months manually stimulating George and never extracted semen from him.
Age is not George’s problem. He is estimated at between 60 and 90 years old, and could live to be 200 and still reproduce, scientists say.
The visual differences in tortoises from different islands were among the features of the Galapagos that helped 19th Century British naturalist Charles Darwin formulate his theory of evolution. Since then, the tortoises have been hunted by pirates for their meat and their habitat eaten away by goats introduced onto the islands. George, who weighs 198 pounds, was found on Pinta in 1971.
Reviewing Openads for the company’s ad server for the web. it seems pretty reputable and reliable, thus far.
Fire drill this morning was a welcome break in the day – cool outside, everyone seemed laid back and calm – helped move the rest of the time that much more rapidly. the 2pm meeting went well… lots of good information for me to ruminate over the next few projects. I really dig that I’m in an environment that will allow me to use the skills I have! (Last gig wasn’t bad, but a lot of repetition. This time, there’s a lot of room for creative thought along with brute force.
Day closed with S’mores over a fire pit, some preview fireworks, and then Bugah and I played a bit of “Destroy All Humans”. Not a bad thing.
8900 – fire drill! 070207 1012a.jpg – No smoke, no fire
0702071012a.jpg, originally uploaded by scottobear.
fire drill… it was fun going *DOWN* 11 flights. thank goodness we can take the elevator back up! Nice morning for it.. cool outside, maybe 72F. Beats summertime noon.
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)
8900 – fire drill! 070207 1012a.jpg – No smoke, no fire
fire drill… it was fun going *DOWN* 11 flights. thank goodness we can take the elevator back up! Nice morning for it.. cool outside, maybe 72F. Beats summertime noon.
8899 – Sunday
We spent most of the day out and about, Geocaching with the Newsoms. They’re really into it, with a little over 100 finds in recent memory. It was fun tooling around a bit and seeing what’s what. I also dropped off tinkle pig in a cache… time for her to see the world. I retrieved a toy soldier cast from civil war bullets, who will ride with Bruce Moose and Gaytor until a suitable resting ground is found for him. The cemetary caches are almost always my fave – the woods were a hoot too, but ticks are a real fear for the kids, especially since Em was out sick just recently. (Heck, nobody wants lyme disease.)
A brief synopsis of Cache visits-
| |
placed Hula Wyvern (Travel Bug Dog Tag) in Little Southern Maryland School | [visit log] |
| |
placed “Wajima, Japan” Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug (Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug) in Little Southern Maryland School | [visit log] |
| |
found Little Southern Maryland School (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
| |
found Parkkin Cache (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
| |
found Flashover (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
| |
found Can you see the ghost?! Again! (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
| |
found Relaxation for Redlights (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
| |
found Book Worm (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
| |
found Time is the key (Traditional Cache) | [visit log] |
Aftwerwards, we took a quick pitstop at Aardvarks, had an ice cream and picked up kanoodle for BHK (I’m sure I’ll be playing it too.)
Spent a little more time puttering around Solomon’s Island, went to Stoneys for dinner. (their treat! yum!)
On the road between points, I got a call from my Mom, and it turns out that Bro isn’t in a work crew, but just a rehabilitation center. Taking classes, etc. Hopefully some of the lessons will stick, but if not, at least he’s out of circulation for a while.
After that, we paused at the Barker’s to water the Mom-in-Law’s plants, and to do a little dock-walking. I paused for a breather upstairs, but before I could get my nap on, Adam and Kendall showed up to say hi and to drop off some fireworks.
NEW YORK (AP) — A peacock that roamed into the parking lot of a Burger King in New York City was beaten by a man who insisted it was a vampire.
Animal control officials in Staten Island say the bird was beaten so fiercely that most of its tail feathers fell out and it had to be euthanized.
The seven-year-old male peacock wandered into the restaurant parking lot and perched on a car hood last week. Charmed employees had been feeding it bread when the man appeared.
A restaurant worker says the man grabbed the bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started stomping it. She says when he was asked what he was doing, he responded, “‘I’m killing a vampire!”‘
Employees called police, but the man ran when he saw them.
8896 – todays harvest
8895 – Thursday
Took BHK and her mom out for Mexican dinner last night, as the mom-in-law is a bachelorette while LB is in Salem, working on the house to be rented. I think CB will head up there with Tigger this weekend, and depending on how our guest plans pan out, perhaps BHK or possibly even the two of us will go up to help straighten things out as well.
I look at the commute to work with planner’s eyes lately… which I find funny, due to suspicions that much of Maryland’s growth has gone far outside any of her initial city / county-wide designs. The way a tiny village can swell to a small town and even a huge city like Baltimore is a fascinating evolution.
Perhaps it’s due to my new job and playing Sim City / Carcassone-type games, but looking at residential areas, how roads, rivers and rail act as amazing connection between homes, churches, businesses, farms, graveyards and whatnot. There are many relationships between people and terrain. I love how almost every church here has an attached bone yard, and how broad the space can appear be between the towns. Sometimes, it’s only one road into and out of town, which gives a huge sense of isolation, but also one of knowing that it is connected to *somewhere* else. The fact that I can wander around and see so much history (granted, the majority from the 18th century onward) fascinates me to no end. Sometimes when I look at places in Calvert County, I can mentally see what it was like before older structures weathered so much and the newer structures were put in between (or added onto the elder ones). Still-operating horse drawn buggies driven by the Amish frequently help with the visualization.
There are old bridge pilings without the road-sections across the top near 95 that look like ancient ruins; the new on-ramp doesn’t really match the travel route of the old path. I wonder how many abandoned roads and paths were lost once asphalt and gasoline-powered vehicles became the standard?
Sometimes it seems like each little town is made from the same (or at least very similar) parts from the one just before it, up the road a ways. That church was on the other side of the road, and the tobacco barn was brown, not gold… and about a half-mile to the northeast. The whole place was at the foot of the hill, not the top. Sometimes it seems as if the people are slightly interchangeable, as well. Soccer mom with stroller and dog. Old geezer picking up trash on the side of the road. High school kids futzing around.
The Suburbs are different than the Commuter Towns of Bowie and Waldorf… I prefer North Beach to either of those locations.
Don’t get me started on the DC roads. I don’t blame L’Enfant’s great design, as so many others came and revised the plans, but I’ll always prefer a two-way travel grid-type situation over curves for major city roads. One-way streets that curve up onto themselves and don’t simply run N/S or E/W is just asking for trouble. That said, it is a beautiful place to see.
Tonight’s supper of zucchini and squash parm with cheese tortellini and salad was fantastic. The soy flour really holds onto the veggies better than wheat. BHK really did a fantastic job! There’s a nice feeling when 80% of what’s on the dinner table is grown in your back yard – The only things bought were the salad dressing, cheese tortellini, flour, and drinks. I’m really looking forward to our potatoes and peas coming in soon… I’m also contemplating soybeans and a beehive for next year. And maybe a pair of overalls and a wide-brimmed straw hat. 😉
8894 – yummy from our garden (pic and picked by bhk)
8893 – Wednesday –
We are immersed in beauty but our eyes have no clear vision.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
It was broiling outside at midday… 95, but “feels like” 101! That’s some hot, swampy, yuck outside. Days like this are when I’m glad I’m not a roofer. I’m glad it’ll rain later on… hopefully that will cool things down a smidgen.
Poll thought – What’s more in line with what you like to read about in another person’s news / pop culture links?
Apple’s Iphone
Iraq
Harry Potter
Danny and BHK went to see knocked up… both said that I dodged a bullet by going to work instead. Danny gave it a 4. Considering the fact that there were a couple of cute girls in it to ratchet the film up about 2 points, it must’ve really been terrible. BHK gave it a 1, saying that it’s possibly one of the two worst movies she’s ever seen. The two women behind them walked out of the movie, which is what BHK feels that I would’ve done.
I’m surprised; because those are the first two negative reviews I’ve heard about it. Hopefully BHK and I will have a better time with the new Die Hard movie. (or FF2 [even if doom is the weak point], Spidey 3, or Pirates 3, all of which neither of us has seen) It’s been a span since we last saw anything in the theater… Shrek 3, I think. I wouldn’t mind checking out 1408, for that matter.
Danny really enjoyed Shaolin Soccer, however. It is hard to say which he preferred between that and Kung Fu Hustle.
I hope he had a good time while he visited… he sure seemed to, save for a lot of commuting time and that just couldn’t be helped. He was a good sport about some minor tribulations, like the very hot green curry – BHK made some awesome mac & cheese which should obliterate any unhappy mouth-scalding memories. He got on well with BHK and Pye… declaring Pyewacket his favorite cat ever. Newton was a bit gruff with him, suspected so because Danny’s arrival almost always signaled my departure.
I was a little concerned about BHK this morning – between dropping me off at work and dropping Danny at the airport, she was in a minor collision with road debris that flew off of another vehicle – about the size of a hammer, it spun up and under the Love Cube. I’m just glad it didn’t strike her or the windshield.
I’ve come to realise that we have way too many pirate ships all over the place.. They need to be consolidated, sorted and put into some sort of storage system so we can create fleets off the cuff comfortably and with a minimum of space thievery.
More Port Authority info to chew on –
http://aapa-ports.org/home.cfm
Re-inking Thor pool in Flickr. Pretty nifty concept.
I’m thinking of trying Risus with BHK, to introduce her to RPG gaming. We didn’t get to do any RPG stuff while Danny was in town,but maybe next time. BHK and Dan played Hunters and Gatherers, and quite liked it.
Maybe do a mod of LCR , too? With blank dice , maybe.
8892 – Danny and the Simpsons (taken by BHK)
8891 – entered via palmtop at lunch
We had our pirate “battle royale” 3-way 100 points each pirate fleet combat… BHK was quite menacing with two giant crabs helping her ships, but Danny took the game in the end via gold. I got really tired the last hour of the game – the start delayed by abut 2ish hours due to our wonderfully “grand central station” aspect of the house… it is always preferable to visit with family and friends than to hunker down and play.
Tonights plans include eating home made mac & cheese, playing Hunter & Gatherers, Witch Trial and then watching Shaolin Soccer.
I really like having Danny over, but I am a bit fatigued by the work/play/sleep/repeat method. I look forward to just vegging out a little bit. After Danny launches, Misti and the gang are coming, and then Amy. July will be is a busy month.
Got good news regarding the condo issue – via some counter-commandoes
Yesterday I spoke with Harold Hyman, chief of compliance with DBPR here. He confirmed the good news that, as I was told last week, they had basically found everything dealing with the election scam in our favor and the decision was confirmed by his boss in Tallahassee. The report is being prepared and we should get it in a few days. He also added however that, although they are firm in their decision, the board can and probably will appeal. This will delay things by maybe a few weeks. Knowing Horst, Phoenix and Tucker & Tighe, an appeal (and maybe other tricks) would seem inevitable. Well, we will rid ourselves of them this summer no matter what they do!
We’ll see. I am glad that the condo regime is getting a bit of a shakeup.
via Beaucoupkev – Life-sized Gigantor memorial to be erected
Kobe, Japan will be the home of a life-sized Gigantor statue.
The 18 meter high, 70 ton Ironman-28 will carry the price tag of 135 million yen. The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2008.
Debuting in 1958, Tetsujin 28-gō was the first “giant robot” series, which became a staple in Japanese pop culture.
The statue will serve as a double memorial, marking both the birthplace of creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who passed away in 2004 in an apartment fire, as well as celebrate the revitilization of the area, which was devastated in the 1995 Kobe earthquake.