Tag Archives: bhk

9216 – Saturday

We went to the aquarium last night! pictures and details later – what a nice idea of BHK though… open until 9pm friday night.

Things on the agenda:

Allergy Shots.
Alice’s Party.
Dinner out – Maybe Paper Moon or some Baltimore location.
Rest, relax, recharge.

Got Next Friday off – BHK and I are going to check out the cherry blossom festival or some other fun thing as a little spring fling. I’m almost more interested in people-watching than taking in the beautiful blooms. Hopefully, going on a weekday will reduce mob issues. (Friday’s cherry blossom events ) I wouldn’t mind paying the Jefferson Memorial a stopover, or riding a paddle boat in the tidal basin.


via 4thletter – Re-imagining of the old avengers cartoons: The Newer, mightier, more Ultimater Avengers!… waning, some foul language and a blurred out, but naked Hulk. (I was also amused by the “24 in 1994” pilot.


The Examiner reports that Metro’s oldest rail cars have become so worn, their aluminum floors are cracking under the carpeting. Metro says the cracks pose no immediate safety risk to riders, and that when cracks are spotted, cars are pulled from service and the aluminum is welded back together. The old cars aren’t due to be replaced for at least five years.



50 things you’ve done meme continues at 45 – I…

45.’ have been in few physical fights in my life, and most have only lasted a short span… as a result of those melees, I’ve discovered that it is better to fight tactically with a cool head, than when angry… of course, if you’ve got a cool head, who wants to fight? I’ve never had much choice, as I’m a poor runner – easier to take down an opponent than to run away at a speed where I’ll be taxed and overcome, anyhow. When overly emotional, I’m a more frightening combatant. Unless common sense overrides fear or rage, I will continue to attack an opponent (no matter what they’re condition is in) until I’m exhausted. It’s a wonder I never killed anyone including myself during puberty.

These days, and for a long time now, I’m quite passive. I can still get the short hairs on my neck up if life or loved ones are threatened, but for the most part, I try to channel my energy into more useful pursuits. My skill at fighting is poor… I could stand some updated martial arts training, even boxing would be good – my primary strengths are the ability to take a hit, grappling and hitting my opponent hard and heavy.

The last time I was in a real fistfight was more than a decade and a half ago…and that one was more of a “grab-punch-done” sort of scenario. I was working at the bookstore, helping a woman out in the kids books. A guy, probably in his late 30s, early 40s (I was maybe 23?) comes over, grabs my arm and says “you’ve helped her long enough, it’s my turn”. His physical contact caused me to tense up, and I told him if he didn’t let go of me, then I’d punch him in the nose. He responded with “yeah, right”… I counted to three, and then popped him one in the face. He landed square on his backside, and I told him in a phrase littered with profanity to get out. He did, but he also contacted the store manager. Despite my feeling that I was in the right, I was fired the same day. My next job was assembling furniture while I finished off my Bachelor’s Degree.

Since then, I’ve been in a few low-level conflicts, but nothing that would cause me to “go in swinging”, usually because the issue was defused befor eI had time to build up a full head of steam. I’ve been hit in the face with a pool cue… but it was an accident. That did stop us from kicking the guy off the grounds, but I didn’t press any charges.

Worst fight in my life was with a jerky in my freshman year of high school. I really had no experience in the HS arena, and the guy sucker-punched me in the gut and then kneed me in the privates. I pretty much keeled over immediately. He dropped out before I got a chance to plot any great revenge on him – I suppose it’s just as well, because I’d probably be doing time to this day if I’d done any of what went through my mind that week.

My favorite encounter involved the end of my senior year in the cafeteria during 2nd lunch. A fellow senior and I were doing the ape behaviors of open-palm pushing one another, building to a bigger fight. My brother, looking to protect me, took one of the aluminum food trays and slammed it loudly over my enemy’s head. It was loud, but didn’t do any real damage, save to break up the fight with laughter on both sides.



1 year ago – BHK ill & irritated, free psp t-mobil wifi, north beach link, I’m swiss, haiku, D&D gaming grant

2 years ago – coloring book wakes up, zefrank’s log pretty keen, y/n meme, gesture poll, monkey doodle, abstract doodle

3 years ago – Dizzy bear flashbacks about GP, Kat, Danny, and past game group members, blackstronauts, newt angles, alex toth, nameless dread, click to save the world, lunsford

4 years ago – lemon fanta, diet pepsi slurpees, pet sweaters, bro stuff, awesome man,Galaxy Quest, mp3s, virus, apt/newt pics, chernobyl cyclist

5 years ago – There, light bulb pops, the rack, TAG approaches, heroX=mediocre

6 years ago – ice dreams, mock French, animal cams, keywords, yahoo plays bad, peep research, hut destroys a troll

7 years ago – Random Mail, music mix, palm BS picture, pantywaist poll, storms, blogger downGeotarget

9214 – Friday!

Weekend looms ahead! Going to Alice’s party, celebrating her passing the bar… about a year ago. It’ll be nice to see her again – last time was at paper moon well over a year ago.

The Egg salad made from last Sunday’s hard-boiled Easter dye-jobs was especially good this week. BHK’s Mac & cheese is rocking my socks exceptionally well, too.

I can’t believe that tickets fro the Smothers brothers is $90 at the rams head. I want to go, but not so much at $200, 8pm on a weeknight. I still have half a mind to write in Pat Paulson for president, even though he passed away over a decade ago.

Presidential Campaign Slogan: “I’ve upped my standards. Now, up yours.”


50 things you’ve done meme continues at 44 – I…

44.’have done more than my share of critter killing and eating, despite my current feelings about doing so. If I was starving to death on an island covered with baby bunnies… well, baby bunny for dinner. I know how to kill and dress duck, boar, deer (all hands-on) and squirrel, alligator, rabbit (in theory, I saw my dad do it). I have lopped the heads off of chickens, and wrung their necks, too. I’d still rather do the slaughtering of a bird than do the cleaning.

I’m very happy to say that I haven’t wanted or had to do that for a *very* long time… but if I was lost in the wilderness, I feel that I could survive better than some, at least food-wise. The boar is something that I’d have to use high-powered rounds on… those guys are nasty. I wonder if I could do a pit trap for a pig? I suppose it’d work, not that I ever will need one.



Recent photos in phone or in archive –

My office desk (see notes here, for the OCD aspects of the journal),
with BHK memorabilia and a toy-train zoom-in

0326081423.jpg

I love my coasters – made from the label portion of old 33 1/3 records.
0326081424.jpg


Newt Yawing the other day – That’s how I was feeling, too.

newtyawn



Recently, Pye waited politely for Newton to finish eating – very chummy these days. I’m glad that they’re so much more buddy-buddy. All I ask is that nobody bugs anyone else while eating or pooping… not too hard! Newt actually gave ol’ pye a one-lick after pye’s bath yesterday… I imagine they’ll be grooming one another sometime around 2012. (or sooner!)



Added a doodle to the voice post… not sure if it’s worth 1000 words, though.



1 year ago – nice folks at the county, cherry blossoms, spring started – pear trees, BHK into reality tv, EPC a flop, adam & tennis, easter coming up.

2 years ago – code template, interest cloud, pda cam dies, p&B in german, song tapper, bus on fire doodle

3 years ago – easter manatee, complimented, server/servant, spliced people, germs

4 years ago – Lj then and now (I spend less time now), bro, ice cream cake, Smokey & the Bandit

5 years ago – bro got me some Godzilla movies at the gift store up the road.

6 years ago – minority report poll, breakfast with Danny, grabber rabbit meme spreads, Words describing animal traits, Ketchup packet bear, Klaatu’s speech, scary dream, link-to poll

7 years ago – babelizer, mushy-feelings, book-burningGeotarget




9213 – Thursday

Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness You’ve got to dig proper arrow placement.


Where did all the daffodils come from? One minute, it’s all brown grass and stick trees, the next… *DAFFODIL CENTRAL* – and tons o’ ducks. Geese before, but now there are mallards en masse.


So, there’s a new B-52s record out? Are they still called records, even on CDs and mp3 players? I guess they’re all recordings. I’m looking forward to hearing it. They’re going to be at the 930 club in April, and DAR in June… I’ll have to see who the openers are… Cyndi Lauper is opening for ’em in June.


Per Ze’s Request in colorwars (i’m still teamorange!)

A picture of when I was a little Scotto – Age 9 –

scotto and derek - 1978

I’m on the right, Bro on the left at about age 7. Even then, I didn’t like to wear ties. To keep in that vein, I’ll mention something about that age in the meme below.

More pictures below the cut.



A year earlier –
scottoandderek-1977

Us, a few years later – 2004, maybe? Near Bus Station in Ft. Lauderdale.
bmc-svd


My favorite recent picture of me? Honeymoon – October 29, 2006 St. Augustine, FL – at Ripley’s. See also, BHK.

bhk & scotto in a hollow tree trailer - ripleys!

She brings out the little boy in me.




50 things you’ve done meme continues at 43 – I…

43.’was a sergeant in the safety patrol in elementary school. The big trip to Washington DC was no big whoop to me back then, as I was living in Richmond or Alexandria, VA at the time. I’m back in that boat now that I’m living in Maryland… but I don’t have the cool reflective orange belt and shoulder sash with a badge anymore.. I had to turn it in at the end of the school year. My duties were to assist the crossing guard with kids in front of the school.. .holding the stop sign and making sure that everyone made it over OK. The guard was a soccer mom, and gave me my first taste of coffee that I liked. I think that she put 3x sugar and 3x cream in it. I got her a Santa coffee mug for Christmas that year, and she gave me some cupcakes with red and green sprinkles on ’em. I don’t remember her name, but she had a cool van… all earth tones of brown and tan… could probably tote 12 people comfortably. I can proudly say that there were no accidents on my watch, despite some nutty drivers.



The Miami-Dade police department will begin experimenting with high-tech drones as law enforcement tools beginning next year.

Although the military has been using unmanned aircraft systems for years, this will be the first time they are used in law enforcement.

“We are aware it is a great responsibility. The FAA is looking at us to see if we can professionally manage this program,” said Lt. Cliff Nelson of the police department’s aviation unit.The flying camera is called a Micro Air Vehicle made by Honeywell. The MAV is remote controlled, unarmed and unmanned and can soar over 10,000 feet. (See the Micro Air Vehicle here.)

Miami-Dade police said only licensed pilots with the aviation unit will operate the devices because the airspace in the county is so busy. Only the Miami-Dade police department and the Houston police department were given permission by the FAA to experiment with the drones. “The capability of the unit is phenomenal,” said Miami-Dade Detective Juan Villalba.

The unmanned aircraft will be used during SWAT team and tactical operations, especially when officers need video of a heavily armed suspect.

The Miami-Dade police department has not yet taken possession on its drone, but the Houston police department has and is already conducting tests. Miami-Dade hopes to use grant money to pay for the MAV. Officials said the units are pricey. Depending on the complexity of the system, they can cost several thousand dollars to more than a million.


I can easily see a well-placed weapon mount on that thing. My first thought was of those flying combine drones in HL2, taking your picture, and later attacking you with saw blades. See: Scanner / Manhack. The video link above is very cool… I’d be interested in seeing how long it would take to automate.


1 year ago – back mending, bhk cold fading, mission impossible squirrel video, blogger death threats, larry and tigger vet trip picture

2 years ago – V movie, political ramble / revolution, boca/popular comics, pictures from walkabout, newt playing fetch pics

3 years ago – Easter, Deadbolt, Danny recap, K, piccies, personality test, heard from everway gamers, kitties video, walking octopus, waterbus

4 years ago – Procrastination, Henchman, search warrants/LA, booger eaters, vacuum cleaners, Brian Blessed, heroclix, zombie pinups

5 years ago – jkg, TAG, souls, Bahá’í, soul & body, leaving FMM

6 years ago – dream, dented the door with my mitt, sleepy and grumpy, how I sleep w/newt, small hands=rude, army men, Dan Bfast, lab grown meat, dali museum, secret fun spot, 2 dead celebs

7 years ago – lj bump, baby newt pic, one ring, mush, thebot, palm art, John DenverGeotarget

9211 – wednesday

Midweek, already, eh? Good for us, good for us. No fire, flood or blood to worry about on any of the major fronts of my life.


I agree with Apelad. Hummus *is* the new salsa. I can’t believe we had 3-layer hummus as an appetiser *before* breakfast of french toast on Easter.


BHK sent me a beautiful card via the John Adams minis series… picture of a tree in front, with the quote:

“I am, and till then, and forever after will be your Admirer and Friend, and Lover” , John Adams, April 11, 1764.

I love her so much – she’s the best thing about my life!


The 6 cutest animals that can still destroy you. (contains profanity.)

Especially telling is this line –

On four recorded occasions in the last 50 years, chimpanzees have abducted, killed and eaten human babies. That’s human with an H, as in Homo Sapiens, as in a human baby getting wrenched out of its mother’s arms, dragged off into the forest and devoured by a chimp. We are not making this up. (Note, link is not for the weak of heart.)

See Also – The 5 most horrifying bugs in the world.


Lego Plastic Man, you say? Awesome, I say. See also, the Justice League Museum Project.


50 things I’ve done meme continues with #42. I…

42.’hauled butt all over the office yesterday. I don’t think that there was a stretch of more than ten minutes where I was sitting the entire time. I think I get to mark down at least 30 minutes of light activity for that… but probably worth more. Funny how sedentary a computer job can be, and then up and out and run around! My most active job was roofing, back in the days when I had a strong back and could tolerate working in the florida sun in august, surrounded by drunks. Best shape of my life, though.


1 year ago – Pictures from lookout point drive, cold/ back issues with bhk and me

2 years ago – made a couple of bucks, Hero dial, tree zoo, ladybug, shin splints, quizzes

3 years ago – danny visit, moskau, balloon wizard doodle, slugbaby snowsuits, Jarvis Sow Bung System Model VC -for the cutting out of sow bungs, Caffeine contents per serving, coconut bonk, taser rick Sanchez, famous homosexual quiz, Jesus-scented candles, finger-wendy’s

4 years ago – Newtie-reaper, policy almanac, GP&K coming to town, Parkland cops bad, cargo ship aground, wandering piccies

5 years ago – Sickies, schoolhouse rock, bro dating

6 years ago – hydrant, alton brown, Halle Barry Freakout, weird emma, annoying cabbie, aa, tcup, Disney/Dali

7 years ago – plh, grumpy at boss, maple cologne, slackerjack, treatsGeotarget

9209 – tuesday

Gentle day yesterday, for the most part. We had a little trouble at the ol’ Subway Sammiches joint… the sandwich-maker had a lot of communication issues. Both BHK and I couldn’t get across to him or his partner what was wrong with what they made for her. I ended up getting my sandwich, but BHK went home with nothing… made a turkey sandwich here, instead. I think she came out ahead, but so much for her not having to put something together for dinner.


13 reasons why you should not be a freelance writer .

My weaknesses are certainly in the marketing department – but the big one for me is the need for security. I really don’t want a gig that doesn’t give me a regular check as my main (or only!) source of income.


In the “News I didn’t get on time category: William F Buckley died ?

Also, how come I didn’t hear about the Hillary fib on St. Patty’s until today?

Clinton’s tale of landing at Tuzla airport “under sniper fire” and then running for cover is simply not credible. Photographs and video of the arrival ceremony, combined with contemporaneous news reports, tell a very different story. Four Pinocchios. [edit/update – she admits that she “misspoke“.]

I found an interesting list of flip flops from both democratic candidates, too – (and, not to be unfair – McCain’s flip flops are whoppers, too.)

Thanks for nobody to vote for, team Democracy!


Note to Self – remember some gym clothes for midday work out.


50 things I’ve done meme- 10 to go! I…

40.’have portrayed Santa Claus many times in my life, not just when overweight, either. It started in 7th grade, Mrs. Glenning’s Class – a organization for mothers of twins asked me if I could do the job – in 7th grade, I was already about 5’9 or 5’10. Later, I did it for the children’s reading group at the library and bookstore where I worked… finally, I have been Santa for the ‘borgs twice. So.. that’s 5 times I’ve helped Kris Kringle out by being a body double. Kids tend to dig it, and I tihnk I do a pretty good job. I can let out with the HO, HO, HO’s, and most kids think it’s cool that santa is head and shoulders taller than their mom and dad… I didn’t realize that was an issue until one little boy pointed out that I was taller than his mom, voice full of awe.

41.’ have tried to be slow, in the Hoss Cartwright manner of slow…

Slow to raise a hand in anger;
Slow to judge a man.
Slow to jump to conclusions.

I have some days that are better than others. I try though, and often succeed. Once I make it to “Succeeds as much as a sane man can” I’ll be pretty happy with that.


1 year ago – newt, pye, tigger and a spongebob ice pop in the sun pictures, bro drama, hot fuzz preview, springtime cough

2 years ago – porch entry, newtcam pic, consulting work, zeppelin hotels, hornsuit

3 years ago – dr who leaks out, tree, death as a doodle, in the news, tmbg-bloodmobile, missing a brown-eyed girl, squirrel names, pirate vote

4 years ago – playing with icons, palm doodles, magical flesh fearing saw, bro still in the pokey

5 years ago – throat tickle, possible gig, FMM stuff

6 years ago – yahoo kills pop3, Can Asians Think?, llamas!, spring break, Egyptian musk, cat-recognition flap, rice dreams

7 years ago – Green Eggs & Hamlet, moody, China, Sophomore Uses List Context; Cops Interrogate

Geotarget

9208 – monday

Items of Note – BHK really was wearing a purple shirt with an orange overshirt and rainbow hat for Easter. The doodle did not exaggerate. see also –
The doodle page on my flickr account

I liked Into The Wild more than Becoming Jane. The soundtrack was the biggest part of my liking Into the Wild… my take on his story is “Abused rich kid commits suicide very slowly.” From my perspective, he was very selfish… but most kids are. The lead actor was solid… but somehow, I don’t think I’d have wanted to spend much time with him as a person…. maybe just enough to be friendly to someone who was feeling pretty alienated. At least he helped the hippies get back together and was family to the old man. Becoming Jane wasn’t bad… just not really my cup ‘o tea.

I went way over points, but stayed within my bank.. barely. French toast for breakfast, three-layer hummus, easter basket goodies for midday and chinese food for dinner isn’t my way of keeping lean.. but it was all dang tasty.

Easter Basket contents –

BHK got gerber daisies (orange and assorted colors), coupons for assorted behaviors (like not being snarky during costume dramas), and some pastel paint pens… additionally, she got a green purse, a sort of crosshatched purse, the rainbow-ribbon hat, and a sort of chairman mao meets the beatles cap.

My basket was a plush green-striped silly snake, with seed packs for broccoli, bottle gourds, decorative cabbage and pumpkins of all sizes – also peep-chick vials of candy corn, and orange cream filled baby eggs, a molecule ball and a monkey cup! Pictures to follow, doubtlessly.

We also got a treat basked from Larry and Chris – peanut-butter filled pretzels, salsa, chips, and all manner of trader joes-type treats.


1 year ago – buzz-cut pic, shoofly pie, arizona pizza, a little sick

2 years ago – funnel clouds, nice gabbing, alligators door-to-door, you go to my head, black and white 2, v for vendetta, musical meme

3 years ago – readablog, banksy, laughing boy audio, pictures, birth chart

4 years ago – condo falls through, lj being bad, GIMP, AIM games, chimp mask, first remarked on how the Roanoke/Lumbee entry is still active, origin poll, Calliope fest

5 years ago – cool chemical reactions, pronunciation query, gael returns , a pic of newt

6 years ago – Happy chats, urban ruins links, some website renewal ideas, old icons

7 years ago – Baron Munchausen, computer needs fixifying, Coconut song, Oscar Picks, Crayola Crayon color time line

GeotargetVisitor Map

Geotarget

9203 – Saturday –

Went to Fuddruckers Thursday night with BHK and the in-laws… I got a bunless veggie burger with cheddar cheese and a side salad. Not bad, for what it was. I’m more happy that we ate out at a place that Larry really likes. We drag him to Mexican, Thai or whatever else, and he’s not usually that keen. (He gets a taco and french fries when we go to Mexico… close enough to a burger for him!)

On the way home, we spotted the ATW man – he’s got an easter basket. (a better daytime short to follow, hopefully.)

0320082055atw.jpg

p.s. here he is as a leprechaun, since I forgot to post it at st. patty’s.
S6301503 S6301504

Today, barring cancellation, we hit Cheeburger Cheeburger for a late lunch today with Adam, Eric, Tina, Matt and BHK in Annapolis. I’ve been saving points for the trip. [edit – we did! a good time was had by all!]

Morning plans include replacing a window at the Brown house with Larry, but I suspect that timing will make it a project for next weekend rather than this one.


Two cool things that I want – A palm-sized cell phone jammer, and a hoverlounger.


1 year ago – haircut local color pic

2 year ago – time distortion, senior kitties, shleep, movie meme, acim worker overview

3 years ago – Calimocho, escort crazy man (with sound files), netflix slacking, LEACH

4 years ago – morning has broken, weak Spanish knowledge, Wondering about JTD, winged sandals, Kenya, free movies legit, robo-predators, word count, 2! 2! undead movies nearby

5 years ago – Bro pissing me off, haiku, bro meets porn stars.

6 years ago – pen refill dream, baby llamas

7 years ago – cool weather, my 1376th post, talked to ckirk, ornj, and Devil-troll ticks me offGeotarget

9202 – friday

End of the week, at last, at last. Back is feeling a bit better… must’ve slept on it right on Thursday night, for a change! Maybe, if all goes well, we can hit the Carl Barks exhibit in Baltimore. We have midday plans for Saturday (see below), and who knows what Easter Sunday will bring – but if not this weekend, perhaps sometime before the end of the month… I don’t have a strong need to visit – the review is not the most complimentary (mainly due to the fact that most of his early stuff that I like is long gone, trashed back in the day)… but if we’re in the neighborhood visiting the Art Museum, or the Aquarium, why not? (more on Carl Barks )


I don’t think the the lj content strike is going to make a difference, and I’m more interested in seeing how much of my reading list changes, if at all this weekend. If lj poops out, there are plenty of other sites that offer similar functionality… and my RSS reader will allow me to collect feeds from whoever wants me to read ’em.


Regarding teamorange – the first colorwar2008 scrimmages will begin in a few days. I’m interested to see what sort of project Ze has in mind. So far, I’ve found teams blue, verygreen, puce, chartreuse, purple, gold, plaid, red, pink, white, clear and brown in addition to orange. If any other players are reading this, let me know, so I can follow you on twitter! #FF6600, baby! [update: See also – colorwars – there’s a team octarine!]

It seems ol’ Ze has quite a following – but I knew that. I just hope he uses his mighty net-powers for good, rather than evil.


Lunch tomorrow with Adam and his twin bro Eric. It’s always interesting to see them together, because they were raised in different households. Adam, at his mom’s (and more to the point, mostly at Larry & Chris’s), Eric at his pop’s. Adam seems to be the more together kid, athletic, better in school, less shifty. Eric is the party guy, partying hard, skipping class and spending more time looking to mate than to study; I.e. typical 18-year-old male.

Nature vs Nurture, live and in front. Both are basically good guys, and similar as brothers can be – but hardly duplicates.


I sneakily added a video to the lunchtime rendezvous entry about a week or so back. Filmed with the palm-cam, the image is warmed, grainy, and silly, not to mention in quicktime format. For some reason, google video doesn’t transfer sound properly form the palm video during the conversion, so I’m hosting it in my old lj archive location on my website. Speaking of which, I have a palm doodle there that reflects that there’s still a lot of rain happening at the ol’ bus stop, but I don’t mind.

windy, too, though I don’t have that much length anymore, hair-wise.


Best worth1000 competition in a while. Superhero ModRen some are better than others. I’m partial to this one.


1 year ago – work review, cakery cookies, steve jobs on music, spore coming

2 years ago – sleepyhead, ren-festige, Chacarron again, comic-book picture, condo commando, network named elements, Sandra Day O’Connor comments on right-wingers, star wars concept pics, don’t walk through words, political profile quiz

3 years ago – Fragments, Chatted a cutie, BEAR TRAP/ PUNCH!, homeopathy=placebo, ref desk, giant sea monkeys, walkabout pics, rhemish, Parallel Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

4 years ago – local search sillies, copyright disclaimer, zombie minis, missed bro

5 years ago – palm pic, whiskerliscious-fuzzy-paw newt-pic, cat eaters, the coffee song, interviewed @ starmark

6 years ago – radiology, reading lensmen books, riker in trouble for DVDing, corpse Tupperware, Elisabeth, and a bunch of dead links.

7 years ago – IMT politics, and so onGeotarget

9201 – thursday

Happy first day of Spring!!

 S6301505

Egg-dying went well… the white spots denote 4 eggs that cracked, and the ones TM took home for herself and MO. Adam took one – he’ll be giving it to a girl at school – and he certainly enjoyed the fajitas that BHK made. Larry and Chris (and mostly Adam and Tina, too) spent the bulk of the visit glued to the tube while BHK and I did the majority of coloring. My faves are the family eggs (there’s a Scotto, BHK, Pye and Newt in the mix) as well as a couple of oddballs – speckeld ones and hot pink / green… both of which are more vibrant than this photo shows. more in depth pictures later, possibly.


GP‘s got me interested in Encounter Critical. It’s by S. John Ross, an added bonus (I dig the mechanics of Risus, though I’ve never played it.)


twitterwise, I’m on the Orange Team. icons when in civilian duds, and on team business.

orangenewt - regular twitter icon.orangenewt2 - orange team icon

How could I choose another color?


I really want the cell phone legislation banning use of a handset while driving in Maryland to pass. The beltway is rough enough without people crimping necks and not looking at the road. Whatever happened to the idea of pulling over to talk?

I’d love to see some sort of magic technology that blocks non-emergency cell phone use in the driver’s side of a car while the wheels are moving.

Same goes for the front-seat DVD players, and audio systems that go louder than a range of safely hearing what’s going on outside of the vehicle, as far as I’m concerned. Color me a fascist, but I don’t need anyone being more distracted than they already are… If I could find a way to implement a breathalyser / urine tester for safe driving, I’d probably do that, too. And bumper-transponders that forbid tailgating based on the speed of the vehicles in question.

Heck, just use my magical wishing ring to stop all accidents – one of my characters, miniMAX first developed his size-changing abilities by trying to develop desolidity tech for vehicles… they never crash into one another!

After all those years, I still want a hyper-intelligent 4-inch tall talking ape to be my lab partner in fighting crime and solving the world’s ills… or clean, safe teleportation technology. Or a magic wishing ring that can put people in protective bubbles, and heal them when they’re hurt.

Thoughts about this is coming from the fact that I’m having trouble feeling a lot of sympathy for TM’s uncle…. he apparently tried to kill himself by driving his car into oncoming traffic. Seriously… I understand being in pain and lashing out, but there are *PEOPLE* driving and acting as passengers in the other cars! If you want to off yourself, I have no problem with that… but leave everyone else out of it.

I feel bad for TM, though – she’s been dealing with his nonsense for a long time, and right before this happened, she blew him off via the phone, and her other family did the same. I don’t know all the details, but I hope that once he’s out of the hospital he gets worthwhile treatment, and a maximum sentence for attempted suicide / attempted vehicular homicide / assault with a deadly weapon(car). I know his head is full of bad wiring, but I’m finding it very hard to forgive his behavior, no matter how sick he is. I just have to understand that he’s not in his right mind, and hope that he is removed from driving and doing anything that can hurt anyone else until he is sufficiently repaired.


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 38. I…

38. ‘have written 9200 journal entries prior to this one, the vast majority of them posted publicly to the world. Some entries are only a line or two long, others are entire short stories, continued across a few posts, because each entry only holds a maximum of 65,535 bytes. (That’s about 16,000 4-letter words.) The journal will be 8 years old in just under two months.

39.’has owned scottobear.com since 1998… that was 10 years ago, March 12. It will need to be renewed again before March 11, 2013. I’ve got some time to scrape up the money to do so… it’s pretty dang cheap. My website’s look has changed a few times over the years, as has the content under the hood… it is quite due for a fresh coat of paint, and a revisit to the links contained inside. I started my first website with ol’ geocities in 94-ish, back when it was free, and before it was owned by yahoo. that arcane url is lost to me, maybe forever? Who knows if I can dig it up form the web sometime? either way, it was migrated to scottobear.com about 4 years later, and has remained there ever since.


From assorted sources (vchip, mgk, time) – a photo series of rival Kenyan tribes fighting for land with bows and arrows.

Look closely. This is Kenya, specifically a hill overlooking the Olmelil Valley, where Maasai warriors are clashing with members of the Kalenjin tribe on a regular basis. The tribal violence is a depressing comment on a country that only a year ago was promoted as a stable democracy in volatile West Africa. TIME has an interesting photo journal of the battles.

“We were using swords but they were not effective,” says Sylvester, 24, slashing a knife in the air. “In a day we can make between 80 and 100 [arrows],” he adds, refusing to give his last name out of fear. Community members pool money together to buy the necessary tools in secret; the arrows are then distributed within the neighborhood. Local leaders know about the arrow factories, but police forces do not.

Victims with arrows, sometimes poisoned, lodged in their heads and chests have become increasingly common“, say officials in Rift Valley hospitals.

“We cannot know the time of day when they (Kalenjins) will come. If they catch you off guard, you’re dead,” says Samuel, 25, holding a bundle of ready arrows.

Kalenjin elders train their boys how to use bows and arrows from an early age, the Kikuyu men say. But Kikuyus have had to learn quickly to fight back with the same tools. Several secret workshops employing 50 workers churn out bows and arrows for munition. “We have no other choice for now,” he says.


1 year ago – first full day at the calvert gig, bhk and I go shopping for work clothes, grownup table talk, spam attractive entry

2 years ago – rebis picture, deaf language, chacarron, math, phallic removal, open source, fake cigs as meds, prisoner comic book

3 years ago – Brady Kids welcome the equinox, shamrock shake, cosmic truth, mp3s,experimental gameplay, get your tasty hot sweet potatoes in Japanese,teen kidnappers, good advice, invisible mermaid airfare

4 years ago – openoffice, Visited w Dan, open door poll, people of worth

5 years ago – Al gore, Blue’s clues, Cranky Finn

6 years ago – Spring!, Socks, overturned issues, Linda let go from FMM, LJ directory, cool picture link

7 years ago – walkies, 2 chris-sites, both have long since been left dormant, lj brokenGeotarget

9200 – Wednesday

Egg-dying tonight! Tina, Adam, possibly in-laws and BHK for coloring chicken ovals! Pictures to follow tomorrow, no doubt. Chris is a bit late picking me up, so I can keyboard away at this for a little bit.


Haiku in my brain –

that piece of paper
covered in doodles and such
where did I put it?


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 37. I…

37.’was the data librarian for the Atari computer club, back when Atari actually made a home computer or twelve that were actually useful as office-type gizmo as well as game machines. I had an 800XL with a bank of happy chip modded 1050 floppy drives that I used for a BBS, but I also had an Atari ST, that I learned the bulk of my first usable programming knowledge on. (LOGO on the TI-99/4a notwithstanding – come to think of it, I did some Spirograph stuff on the ST, too.) When the club dissolved, I was left with a huge crate of free software… including some nifty CAD stuff, and a pile of MIDI music software. I dabbled for a while with both, but the programming was more interesting to me at the time. I suspect if you asked me now, I’d be fooling with a keyboard and midi cables. I built my first homebrew sound digitizer on the ST, and used it mostly to do startup, shutdown noises.. not to mention the occasional silly soundboard program.


Chewbacca is quite the dapper Victorian don’t you think?


Via sci-fi scanner – Doctor Who Originally Conceived As an Insane, Malevolent LSD Junkie

 

Everyone knows Doctor Who: He’s the malignant alien time-traveler hopping around the galaxy in an invisible UFO, right? With eyes filled with madness and a heart dripping with hate, he constantly pops tabs of LSD to relive the horrors of his immortal past. When he’s not under the throes of a hallucinogen-induced bender, he is using his time-traveling UFO to pop into the past and stop the caveman from inventing the wheel, Isaac Newton from discovering gravity and Gutenberg from inventing the printing press… all to consolidate a horrific vision of the future that is entirely of his insane devising. Right? Right?

Well, no, of course not: The good Doctor is a benevolent force who hops around the universe in his TARDIS, trying to do good deeds and help the people he loves whenever possible. But bizarrely, this was not the original idea for Doctor Who, as the notes coming out of the BBC’s archives make clear. Rather, he was originally brainstormed to be an insane, malevolent LSD junkie.

“A feature of the new Doctor will be the humour along the lines of the sardonic humour of Sherlock Holmes. The metaphysical change which takes place over 500 years or so is a horrifying experience… in which he relives some of the unendurable moments of his long life…” the archives read. “It’s as if he has had the LSD drug and instead of experiencing the kicks, he has the hell and dank horror which can be its effect.”

Needless to say, the producer shot this idea down, giving us the good Doctor we’ve all grown to love. But, my god. I would kill for this vision of the Doctor: an insane, time-traveling Dr. Gregory House.

A reactionary on a bad LSD trip – Doctor Who?


Say what you want about Obama, but that’s a heck of a speech right there. No doubt I’m the 1,795,403,543rd news source to mention it this morning.


1 year ago – newt and pye on cam, first day at county, Ze:The Show is over, squid vs yellow submarine,

2 years ago – condo area pic with duck, i don’t like cricket

3 years ago – Lunsford, Atlantis, car crash test, voice post

4 years ago – club 977, Wine & Food, itunes, lj spam, Fri-5, nearby donations,First hint of New Dr Who, Newt big-head pic, color associations

5 years ago – heat, bad job recruiter, UT

6 years ago – city relic quiz, got into an argument with Astley, work nonsense, happy ending

7 years ago – awake but paralysed for surgery, com ideas, animal eyesGeotarget

9199 – tues

Workity work lived up to its name – there was a lot of hustle today, still catching my breath at the bus stop.


I really want to see the John Adams series, but no HBO. I guess waiting and getting it on Netflix will have to do!


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 36. I…

36.’was a pretty avid gamer, back in the day. At my peak, I was playing in 4 different groups a week. (Granted, some of the groups had crossover – GP and Kat were in two of ’em) I tended to compartmentalize my buddies back then – for whatever reason, I liked to keep the potatoes separate from the corn and the meat on the plate. Some friends-groups were linked, like GP & Kat, while others rarely even knew I was “gaming around”.

Best gaming group ever was probably with just GP and Kat… “Brave and The Bold” stories. Two heroes, each of us got as much airtime or limelight as we wanted, and precious little lag from pokey party-members. The 4-6 player groups were good too, but when you don’t have to wait so long for a turn in combat or a say in dialogue… it’s the best. My biggest issue with extended groups is dealing with loners (sure, works in comics, but everyone else has to go into standby while they’re off doing their own thing and hogging everyone else’s play time. Best solution for that is probably keeping a character journal, and giving the GM a *brief* list of character developments between sessions. It’s just not polite to go toddling off. I don’t mind it as much when it goes sort of hill street blues style, where groups split off together into 2 teams, dividing and conquering… but that can make things slow,too. 2 to 3 players is about perfect. (4 with a gm).. wait a minute, I think I’ve covered this a bit before.

It’s funny, but I have a mental block about most of PM’s characters I recall Black Lotus (because I ran solos for her), but I don’t remember anything more about harlequin, aside from the name. She had a swordy person, a ninja-y person, a horse-trainer, a shadow controller, some sort of fairy-friend in the Ars Magica game… but most of the names and personality slip my mind.. I think mostly because she kept her characters quite secret, though pretty heavily detailed if you did get a chance to read backstory or . I can remember Doug’s Kit, KW’s Chrysanthemum, and of course Danny’s White Bow and Man of Iron quite clearly, for good or for ill. Tony’s Silver Hammer and Russian Ben Grimm knockoff. All told, everyone had a good time.

Oh- Minglegrin… that was the name I was looking for. I can’t make fun of the name much… character names like miniMAX, Zero, Parabola, Trism, Luhki Hornblower, Doc Firestone, Chuck Hurler – not to mention character names I can’t think of off the top of my head… the albino ape from the earth’s core and the grumpy cop from the paladins game that was paired with Danny’s loony officer.


A very cool Planet of The Apes timeline. (movies, TV episodes, and etc) – GP, you might want this as a character reference!


I Am (No) Scientologist, Will Smith Says – Moviefone – I guess the boycott is off then for Hancock! BHK is happy, I’m sure.


1 year ago – Behind the Mask, Tigger Adopted!, whistle blowers get some clearance,

2 years ago – bethany, st patty plans sacked,

3 years ago – much work, webjay, Danny invite, George, potential condo piccies (many mock the pre-move decor)

4 years ago – Astronaut Jones, Square Bear, speak and spell, Frank R paul, I create an fdle syndicated lj

5 years ago – iwo jima in the rock garden, I start using jarhead, wish for peace

6 years ago – facemaker, cab stacking, poem tag, timeline, roles I’ve filled, cool bunker

7 years ago – cartoon logic that works, alice, I want tasty snack food, lone gunmen, workplace desiresGeotarget

9197 – monday

Happy St. Patty’s, All you Irish!
(And I think everyone is Irish today.)

Happy Saint Patty's!

Not much to say today – BHK invited TM, Chris, Larry and Adam over for dinner tonight – veggie-loaf and split pea soup (or hot dogs for larry) – Adam couldn’t make it, but we planned an egg-dying session for Wednesday.


WWCalc – Mar 17, 08 (4.0.6 USA) – went over my set by .3 – teach me to have a smidgen of cake!

Water: 5 Veg/Fruit: 5 Milk: 1
Points: 40.8 Adj: 0 Act: 3.5 Rem: -0.3
Bank: -0.3 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 15 Point: 15 Act: 4
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 4.0 points
2.9: granola breakfast bar
1.1: Rice; white; glutinous; cooked; 1/3 cup

Lunch: 10.9 points
0.4: Salad dressing; italian; commercial;diet;2 calories per tsp
0.0: Lettuce; iceberg (includes crisphead types); raw
0.1: Cucumber; peeled; raw
3.4: quorn nuggets 3-4
3.4: quorn nuggets 3-4
0.6: Applesauce; canned; unsweetened
3.0: Medium Cheese Slice

Dinner: 17.7 points
4.4: Soup; split pea; prep w/eq vol milk
4.4: Soup; split pea; prep w/eq vol milk
4.4: Soup; split pea; prep w/eq vol milk
1.9: Gardenburger
1.6: Bread; italian
1.0: Cake; baby slice

Snack: 8.2 points
4.4: Pretzels; hard; plain; salted- 10 minis
3.8: vanilla almonds ~24 nuts

Activity Log: (Min:Int:Points Desc)
12:L:1.0 Bus-walk
30:L:2.5 Crazy office


I want this freaky quadruped robot. It can carry 340 lbs, and is as sure footed as a mountain goat. Maybe If I put a robo-llama head on it, BHK will want one, too.


1 year ago – St. Pat’s, the ikea nightmare begins, newtcam returns to 24/7

2 years ago – st pats, snake son a plane, 4 things poll, lighter elements

3 years ago – Irish stuff, work, dog, hippie, writing

4 years ago – St Pats, Ordered CoH, email fixed, bro rant, work issues

5 years ago – St Pats, Purim, post #5490

6 years ago – many now-dead links, last sentence quiz, doctor, newt fetch

7 years ago – St PatsGeotarget

9196 – sun

0316081029.jpg

Reading an autobiography about Gene Wilder (Kiss Me Like A Stranger) – bhk thinks it looks like he’s in bed with the kitties.

Went to Lowe’s with BHK, Larry and Chris to grab a bit o’ tile for our bathroom, and hit the store to grab Chris some tax software. Stopped at Cheeseburger in Paradise on the way home – had a late lunch at about 4:30. That’s about the size of things for our slow but comfy Sunday


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 35. I…

35.’honeymooned and visited all of the Ripley’s / Oddity museums from Florida and Maryland. BHK and I both have a huge interest in oddities, weirdness and general WTF observation. I think the Ripley’s in St. Augustine is the vastly superior one, plus, St. Aug is a wonderful place to mill around. BHK and I drank from the fountain of youth while we visited the Ponce De Leon region… so I guess I’ll be doing the journal for quite a span.


Götz von Berlichingen had a problem. It was 1504 and, at the tender young age of 24, the plundering knight, mercenary and all around bastard had the upper part of his right arm torn off in a cannon blast. As someone who made his living off war and already had a sizable enemies’ list, Götz needed his killin’ hand.

So he got another one. Made of iron.

That’s one awesome prosthetic.


In addition to green, the new five dollar bill is purple and yellow. The colors of my old black-lite army, back in the day.


Tips for photographing the cherry blossoms.


Water: 3 Veg/Fruit: 7 Milk: 1
Points: 30.5 Adj: 0 Act: 0.0 Rem: 1.5-6.5
Bank: 15.0 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 15 Point: 15 Act: 4
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 11.8 points
1.5: Cheese
1.1: Rice; white; glutinous; cooked; 1/3 cup
0.0: Veggies
2.0: Egg; whole
2.0: Egg; whole
2.0: Egg; whole
1.6: Bread; whole wheat
1.6: Bread; whole wheat

Lunch: 0.3 points
0.0: Garden Salad (w/o dressing)
0.0: Garden Salad (w/o dressing)
0.0: Fresca; Large
0.3: Sauce; teriyaki; ready-to-serve

Dinner: 16.6 points
3.1: Cheese; cheddar
1.9: Garden burger
1.3: Sauce; BULLS-EYE Original Barbecue Sauce
4.0: Shrimp; breaded & fried; fast food – 1/3 serving
3.0: Cake; other than all butter
3.3: Ice creams; chocolate

Snack: 1.8 points
1.8: fat free milk 1 cup


1 year ago – got the Calvert County gig, more shamrock shake, Louise & in-laws, monkey cap, Raines, The Riches, The Microscopic trout and the Machiavellian Fisherman

2 years ago – grampa poll results, RS taught to burn and forgets, folks go to brazil, ultrasound critters, Marvel Florida, gg winding up for an exit,

3 years ago – Freedom force, Thumbkin, Josie Conell, moot back (he’s been gone awhile again), regional wifi scan, netflix queue, account locations,making fiends, Lumbee updates, pinecone

4 years ago – Danny Solo, Devilfinder, Paper toys, elephants-Yeah!, pages back up, COH

5 years ago – lovey, storms

6 years ago – palm-doodle dreams, guest map, location poll, Bert’s Love Song, decent left, menstrual hut memo page

7 years ago – evil news, got a permanent accountGeotarget

9195 – Saturday

Quite the journey today – We put the March in Ides of March!

We slept in, but got to the doc’s in time for my shots and BHK’s draw. After the requisite needle sticks, we launched ourselves toward the Eastern Shore once again – original intent of going to Baltimore for the Aquarium was sidelined for a day that maybe we can bring Adam along with us and I’ve got a non-cellphone camera.

Plan #2 was to go to St. Michael’s, now that season has started – check out the marine museum there, and have a spot of supper at the Crab Claw.

Those plans were stymied by a hand-stenciled sign marked “Flea Market Next Left”. With a quick mutual nodding of our heads, BHK and I changed course – we meandered through the building, fairly impressed. There was an oven cooking up hot dogs at the front door, along with plates of baked goods… mostly brownies and blueberry-muffin bars. Tools of all sorts, used books, some nifty antiques, too. BHK snapped up a phonebook-thick book of vegetarian recipes for $2, a keen jadeite set of salt and pepper shakers (not antique, but tres cool for $10, and I snagged a blueberry bar for a measly buck. (I almost got a blue-cobalt glass mr. peanut jar, but discretion worked for me. I really had no place to put it.) Fortunately the Salt-shaker guy took checks. (He said that he took credit cards too, but didn’t give ’em back.)

We left with our treasures, happy as a couple of proverbial clams, and continued toward St. Mike’s. Mid-journey, I realized that it was already nearly 3pm, and I remembered the museum closed at 4.. and we were pretty dang hungry – ready to eat now rather than later. – So, a second trip to general tanukis, then! Not as fantastic as the first time, sushi-wse, but still a fine place to land for lunch. Grilled Cheese was tasty, but the home made french fries would’ve been awesome if they weren’t quite so limp.

After a satisfying meal – we stretched our legs a bit. I got to visit the bunker, and picked up a couple of stickfassupervillain and spaceman. (marked at 20% off of $10 each) Armed with toys, I was ready for a little more shopping with BHK… we sniffed around a few boutiques, and at a place called La de da, she got a green hair band with and assortment of rhinestones in it – we though tit was $16, but rang up as $6 at the register… score! We continued through a yarn store with a cute yorkie working there as a greeter, a large pet shop, and then came upon crackerjacks toy store… that’s my kind of place. We got a few little wind-up critters – BHK got a tiki drummer (drums are a triceratops and tyrannosaur skulls), a pink hula-robot – and I got walking neon green monkey the plays the cymbals.

Happy in our purchases, we began our journey home… we were going to get together with the in-laws tonight to watch becoming Jane, but they weren’t in the mood – so we side-tracked into annapolis to see Be Kind, Rewind. It stopped playing there, so we caught In Bruges. I liked it more than BHK – she scored it slightly below average (a 4/10) while I skewed just the other side (6/10).

The corn is always the best part of movies at the bowtie theater… dialogue with the candy-counter gang was fun… you could see each stereotype pretty clearly. The blonde bubbly girl who likes chick flicks, the lumbering oaf guy that enjoyed hanging out with the girls, and the brounette chick who is the big fan of british stuff, black comedy, more pseudo-sullen than the others.

The pic below was at one of the boutiques… the first meeting place for Maryland Freemasons, now selling frou-frou chic stuff to tourists.

0315081528.jpg


Archaeologists in Greece have discovered the 1800-year-old skull of a young woman who may have undergone primitive brain surgery. An alternate theory says she injured her skull when she suddenly realized she could have had a V-8. Whenever I see the word skull these days, I think Skrull.


Water: 2 Veg/Fruit: 0 Milk: 2
Points: 43.4 Adj: 0 Act: 2.5 Rem: -3.9
Bank: 15.0 Adj: 0

Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 2.0 points
2.0: oatmeal; blueberry

Lunch: 22.0 points
3.0: Sushi; California roll
7.5: Grilled Cheese 6″ Sub
11.5: French Fries; Large

Dinner: 12.8 points
1.1: Popcorn; oil-popped
1.1: Popcorn; oil-popped
3.3: Butter oil; anhydrous
3.3: Butter oil; anhydrous
4.0: Cheese Pizza; slice of large

Snack: 6.6 points
1.8: fat free milk 1 cup
1.8: fat free milk 1 cup
3.0: blueberry cake bar
0.0: Diet Coke; King

Activity Log: (Min:Int:Points Desc)
30:L:2.5 shopping


1 year ago – my chicken stalker pic, david and gil visit pics, shamrock shake

2 year ago – papa johns meat, almost a dinner party, mp3 zappa, 2nd life pics, irish quiz, grandparents quiz

3 years ago – free flow, dreams and fragments, night stalker, zombie test, batman newtimes, pete & pete, cadavers away!, wedgie, autodialer, magnetphrases, beheading, I used to believe…, adp off call, mootpoint praise

4 years ago – strip mall of sin pics, doug made it to Seattle

5 years ago – French toast origin… not invented by “Mr. French”, bus piccies, name game, movies with Dan, pelican poem

6 years ago – grand conversation, love quiz, a good Friday five, odd news, miss Cleo born in LA, of American parents, crossword stuff

7 years ago – first hint of the scooby movie, good vs bad stuff about the day, gnomes on snailbackGeotarget