Tag Archives: bhk

9072 – Tuesday

Foggy day but it dissolved after dark, somehow. Crossing the bridge, we couldn’t even see the barges!

Dentist – got my last filling done, and all that’s left is a crown…. and maybe an extraction of a wisdom tooth.

R’s Americantina – All you can eat taco night? As the kids might say… “FAIL”. We made it there ok, but the food was greasy, poorly portioned, and generally subpar.

All items looked like food service, rather than homemade. Tortillas, and anything from the fryer were especially bad. Greasy, limp onion rings, store-bought tortillas and frozen / re-heated chicken strips. The hard taco shells were cold and greasy – salsa was a poor texture and mediocre flavor.

The diet coke was both flat and low on syrup, effectively brown soda water.

I think we’d have done better to have gone to Taco Bell, feedwise.

Design-wise, it’s a beautiful layout, nicely branded, with vibrant colors and nifty wall-hangings. It’s a shame about the place settings and worse, the food that is brought out.

We didn’t sample the bar… I’d hate to see what the bartender would do to a margarita if they can’t get a taco right.


Garfield Minus Garfield is awesome. Remove the cat, and Jon is scary, funny and surreal. Plus, there’s this one, which isn’t really any of those.


Anonymous coworker on the death industry (especially interesting to me, as AC is a Marylander) Some FAQ

Fairly Related – Writing a WillI need to update mine! And do my dang taxes, by gum!


1 year ago – BHK and I on a snowy drive video, bass guitar, kitties, joe magnolia, heroes meme

2 years ago – dan bailed, don knotts (Mr Limpet) RIP, what do you want poll, netjaxer, mk12, Darren MCGavin RIP (Kolchak), dipkiss

3 years ago – Splenda downside, Pinkerton’s Superman, Geourl back, text to speech test, palm doodles, hiring the a-team

4 years ago – I’m a radioactive zombie, monkey hate clown!, got a $13.86 check, land mine detection flower, action figure art, desires in life poll, barbie prowler

5 years ago – pipe snag, Jim Rockford, Newt Vet, Movie idea, Pravda Headlines, I’m awesome, palm doodles

6 years ago – Star Wars Pants, spy-cow, Reizan, Scientists cross pigs with spinach, 1979

7 years ago – lj comments burpy, Kitty love, monkey-news, Proposed Indian Names for Certain White People, Hatt-Baby, Twist Endings, ineffable, Bozo Matic, Callipygean, cool picture of a grasshopper, poetry is all in the format, In the Skin of the LionGeotarget

9070 – mon – Lots of Asian Elements

Started the week by taking a new route to work! Get an extra 10 minutes or so to sleep in, Fewer road hazards and a shorter trip home! Seems like a winner, so far.

Rice and Beans combined with the last of our yummy thai/curry soup. I swear that BHK is an amazing chef. I suspect that if she went back into the restaurant field that she’d have quite a following.

We watched Curse of the Golden Flower last night… it seemed to continue forever, and didn’t grab me at all. I think that I was expecting Hero or House of Flying Daggers, and it just wasn’t that sort of flick. The sets and visuals were nice, but it just didn’t elicit any strong feelings or thought processes from me.


More pictures from our sushi night on Sunday, and another picture of the “Prisoner Inn” – Flickr uploader has been very flukey lately. It cuts off uploads midstream and drops items from the queue… I may just go with the web interface from now on.

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Last weekend, I couldn’t sleep at one point.. played a little Tf2, loaded the 2nd life update, but didn’t log on, and got to the last level (haven’t completed it) of Portal. So far portal-wise, I’ve gotten 4 accomplishments – not bad, given that I play about 20 minutes or so at a time, and half of that is spent just piddling around the environment.


via duchess_webb – I like these, and tend to do ’em when I spot ’em.

Leave a comment and ask, and I will –

1. Tell you why I friended you or at least try to.
2. Associate you with something – a song, a color, a photo, a word, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I’ve always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LiveJournal. (No stress about it from me – but I’d like to see it continue!)


via consumerist –

That $1,500 Prada bag may have been stitched by an illegal Chinese immigrant working in a Tuscan sweatshop.

Steve Warshak, the snake oil salesman responsible for Enzyte (and consequently for those “Smiling Bob” ads) was found guilty today of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. So was his mom.


Items recently eaten that may have negative / naughty-juvenile connotations, slang-wise.

Big ‘Mo – That had a much different connotation when I was in high school. I’d love to see a nascar kid wearing a BIG ‘MO cap…. not sure I could keep a straight face.

Screamin’ dill Pickle Pringles – Funny, yet, it’s about as extreme as tap water… or we just got the most feebly seasoned stack, ever. (Impulse’s comment about it being slang for gonorrhea is better than any gag that comes immediately to my mind.)

Hostess Cherry Pie – Cripes… look at the food values. memo to self, just eat a box o’ fat and salt. 11 points???

Not to be outdone, BHK recently had a “Jack Pack” of Beef Stick, cheese stick and pretzel stick.

Yikes.


via flying-blindlist of cat-lovers and haters throughout history. Also… having a cat help prevent a heart attack!


1 year ago – we build a snowman (with pics), birds, lots of snow, king kong, pasta

2 years ago – sad endings for sea cows, compusa fruitful, movie server, out with danny, newtcam action pics, tortoise herd

3 years ago – ten things meme, cute newt pic, liberated games

4 years ago – Bro drama, free music

5 years ago – fates, evil idea, doc trip, sorghum

6 years ago – mail, fonts, Celtic Religion – Knowledge base

7 years ago – Haiku, thoughts, flatus, dream fragmentGeotarget

9069 – Sunday –

BHK and I decided (after a little option juggling) to go on a little road trip to the Eastern Shore, visiting primarily Easton and St. Michael’s.

St. Michael’s is known as “the town that fooled the British” due to the clever action of early settlers. During the early morning hours of August 10th, 1813, British barges off the coast of St. Michael’s planned an attack on the town and a harbor fort. The people of St. Michael’s got word of the impending attack and hoisted lanterns high up onto the masts of their sailboats and into the tops of trees. The high lights caused the attacking British to overshoot the town. The rouse worked and only one house in St. Michael’s was hit by cannon fire. That house still stands as a private residence and is known as the “Cannonball House.” The cannon ball fell through the top of the roof and rolled down the stairs. The Cannonball House is located on Mulberry Street, adjacent to St. Mary’s Square.

I acquired a George Washington (it’s for the university, but just says George washington, with his face in a little cameo in the center) sweatshirt somehow – BHK got a giant one for her tiny mama, and it made it back to our house for laundry. It fits me, and I have since claimed it as my own.

I cannot tell a lie. I spilled some cherry pie on my George Washington sweatshirt. Irony? Or just me being a slob? Who says it can’t be both?!

We roamed the mostly silent roads and sidewalks of St. Michael’s… I’d say at least 2/3 of the shops were closed for the season, due to reopen in late march… but we did visit a few nifty spots that were open. A “Shabby Chic” sort of shop to get BHK a hair band and a tiny statue of liberty salt shaker, a wool store full of nifty yarn, a coffee shop that had mancala boards out (though we didn’t pause long enough for a game. Just as well – she’d have trounced me soundly, no doubt) – swept by the radio-research base to look at all of the spinny-antenna stuff, and get photographed by the man.

My big purchase of the day was an assortment of hot sauces. 44 cloves garlic sauce sounds especially yummy. More in depth reviews to follow as we try them.

Some shots from today, more to follow tomorrow, as flickr uploader figures out what I want.

a closed but “to be revisited” action figure / gamer / skateboarding store called the Bunker, Delicious and Cheap Natty-Boh Beer, A cafe that looks fresh off of the Prisoner TV series

S6301438.S6301437.S6301418 - welcome to your village.


Cool Radio Tower / Research Lab

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Geodesic Dome home! It was 4 or 5 stories tall.


S6301412 - dome home..S6301413 - geodesic dome.Pano - S6301412 - 7536x5232 - SLIN - Blended Layer.

Count Chocula’s hideout, near the Marine Museum

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Cool house, rules on ball-cap wearing next to betty boop, and decorative cabbage.


S6301408.S6301406 - keep your hat on striaght, punk!.S6301405.

Peace graffiti, kitty sign, fisherman bear.


S6301404 peace graffiti.S6301403.S6301402 fishing bear.

Iron Fence, more cool cabbage, headstones at the church


S6301401.S6301400 cabbage.S6301399.

More of the cool church and graves.


S6301398.S6301397.S6301396.


S6301395.S6301394.S6301393.


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Hey! More history! Frederick Douglass was a slave here! Thankfully, he moved on to other venues.

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see also – some attempts (not all successful) at a new panoramic stitching technique.

Pano - S6301410 - 4988x6122 - SLIN - Blended Layer.Pano - S6301397 - 2812x3879 - SLIN - Blended Layer.Pano - S6301394 - 5008x5321 - SLIN - Blended Layer

 

We ended the day at general tanuki’s – the bubba roll (coconut shrimp w/ avocado & peanut drizzle) and asparagus tempura rolls were especially good. we may end up taking larry there next time we get a sushi jones.. they do burgers (and some yummy looking specials), too! BHK and I split a Natty Boh and some spring rolls… it was a great end to a lovely day of walking around, getting some fresh air and just being together.

After we got back home, we watched the Prestige. I liked it, save for the ending. The buildup and interaction was good, but the closing was a little screwy. – I didn’t like the Tesla device / tank element.


Do Kev and Paul have to deal with Cthulhu at Guantanamo bay ?


1 year ago – lj notifications broken, model train expo, George Takei on Tim Hardaway

2 years ago – newt herd pic, sleep, quiz-meme, lost a kid before we were even called

3 years ago – Sleepy, Paris Hacked, Gorilla Cover Gallery, adding insult to injury pic, mel out of comm for a week

4 years ago – Newt-beliefs, Police pay an unkind visit (DRAMA!)

5 years ago – fairy tales, country bears, lj poop, palm doodle, A Reading Rainbow of Prophesies, misc news

6 years ago – Tulpa-thoughts, L&B have the baby

7 years ago – one of my favorite bear piccies, hoogerbrugge, Haiku arena is founded, rough translationsGeotarget

9068 – Saturday

Went to the train show with Larry and BHK after my shots – Fortunately, the ice has melted, leaving just water all over the place to drain… not a lot to photograph that wasn’t there last year, but I took a couple of small shots. (see the far more plentiful photos from feb 25, 2007, for the better stuff.)

We returned home, and we were all pretty good about keeping purchases to a minimum.. Larry got some Rolling stock and a cool soundboard.

Most exotic food item of the day… Larry shared his lunch with me.

He made a peanut butter, banana, mayo and potato chip sammich. Knowing this, I still took a big, healthy bite.

It wasn’t bad! Not something I would make for myself, but maybe reduce the banana and mayo by half, and I’d do it again easily enough. I’ve done pB, banana and honey before to good results, but this was a new level.


Hmm… Champions online, since marvel pooped out. Not a bad idea. I wonder how well it’ll do as a sequel to City of Heroes? More “whack a mole”, or will there be some cool Champeens roleplay?


Meme-sheepage, via Applelard

1.How old were you in 1980? 11 years old

2. How old were you in 1989? 19 years old

3. Were you a Toys R’ US Kid? Sure!

4. Did you watch Transformers? Not really, but I was familiar with ’em.

5. Did you see E.T. on the big screen? Yes… back when G-men had guns, not walkie-talkies, dang it!

6. Did you own a Lite Bright? Yup!

7. Who is your Favorite Golden Girl? Rose (I love Betty White’s range! Go St. Olaf! I’ve said too much.)

8. When someone says “Who you gonna call?” Ghostbusters! (Is there another answer to this?)

9. What was your favorite toy(s)? Army Men, Tonka Trucks, super hero dolls. (pre-action figure)

10. Did you have a Pogo Ball? nope! You’ll bust your butt on those things!

11. Did you listen to New Kids on the Block? Nope… some songs got radio play, or MTV though.

12. What New Kid did you have a crush on? None… I never really crushed on any pop singers.

13. Did you play M.A.S.H? Yup!!

14. Did you watch The Care Bears? No… I was a bit old and masculine for that. Cool chest logos and care bear stare power, though.

15. Did you have jelly bracelets? nope… I suspect this is mostly a girl meme.

16. Did you have a charm necklace and/or bracelet? nope.

17. Did you have a Glo Worm? My little cousin did.. I thought it was sort of creepy.

18. Did you ever own a slap bracelet? Yet another no from the boy in the crowd.

19. The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles? Breakfast Club (BHK is going to kill me.)

20. Did you have a crazy hair style? Nope. Generic Dutch boy cut as a youngster, to just a plain ol’ cut older.

21. What was your first bike? does a big wheel count? If not, a gray huffy.

22. Name one thing you still own from your childhood: A ceramic cookie monster made by my momster.

23. Did you have a Cabbage Patch Kid? Nope… too old and too male.

24. Did you dress like Madonna? Nope, but I dated or tried to date one or two girls who did.

25. Rainbow Brite or Strawberry Shortcake? Strawberry shortcake… though this version of Rainbow Brite is rockin’.

26. Did you watch Miami Vice? Yup! Pink buildings and too much stubble!

27. Did you own a pair of jelly shoes? Again, I yam a boyman!

28. Did you own a Trapper Keeper? At least a couple, as I was rough on them. most were boring blue / green ones.

29. Atari or Nintendo? Atari! (My first nintendo was the Wii)

30. Did you play Pac-Man? Dern tootin’… though I preferred Asteroids or Battlezone.

32. What movie scared you the most? Poltergeist. Pop-up monsters, mean tree and scary animated doll-clown!

33. Did you try to dance like Michael Jackson? Who hasn’t tried to Moonwalk??

34. What Is The First Thing That Comes To Mind When You Hear “Flux Capacitor”? Oscillation Overthruster.

35. What other colors did Pepsi come in? Clear

36. Roger Rabbit Or Howard The Duck? Roger was a better Movie, Howard was better everywhere else.

37. Did you ever beg your parents to have your school picture taken with the ‘LASER’ background? Like Max Headroom? Nah.

38. Do you know what the Ninja Rap is? Nope! Am I lucky?

39. Do you know why people cringe when they hear the word BUCKNER? Again, Nope.. am I lucky?

40. Can you name the family members from National Lampoons Vacation movies? Clark, Ellen, Rusty, Audrey, Cousin Eddie, Cousin Catherine, Cousin Vicky, Cousin Dale, Aunt Edna, Clark Sr., oh.. what was clark’s mom’s name?

41. Wally-World or Europe? I’d dig a visit to either, but I think I’d prefer Europe.

42. What was your favorite movie from the 80’s? There were a *ton* of good ones. Buckaroo, Time Bandits, Raiders… I could never choose.

some boy-type questions from applelard to make up for girlie ones –

43b Did you ever wear jams? Oh yeah ,all the time.. I loved ’em!

44b What about parachute pants? Aw, Hail no!

45b Finish this line: “By the power of Grayskull…” I HAVE THE POWERRRRRRRR

46b Did you have any Garbage Pail Kids? I still do! 😀


1 year ago – kitty pix, q&A meme

2 years ago – compusa victory, nanageddon

3 years ago – M & Anchorman, overtown website

4 years ago – Hating on Monday Meetings, Good Links for odd sound, I start giving away Itunes codes, bro screws up

5 years ago – Thinking about getting a hearse, dream edits, Streets of San Fransisco, Jim Rockford Answering Machine Archive

6 years ago – Went to ER over my back, Travel & Newt pictures, confluence

7 years ago -stomp furby, Pete & pete, got interviewed by The New Digital Reporter, How I define good/evil, the menstrualhut is born.Geotarget

9067 – Friday

Well, we got plenty of ice… about a quarter-inch on the porch alone, to say nothing of the roads. Forget the salt and sand… send out a fleet of zambonis! Is the plural of zamboni zambonies? Zambonii?

Worked form home today, though there were moments of spotty internet access. I suspect that I got more accomplished at the house, given the lack of sidebar interruptions.

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are OPEN under an UNSCHEDULED LEAVE policy.

This Means . . .

  • Employees who cannot report for work may request unscheduled leave for their entire scheduled workday. Employees must notify their supervisors of their intent to take unscheduled leave.
  • Emergency employees are expected to report for work on time.

After work was over, BHK made some yummy thai-style spicy/ sour soup – even more awesome than the stuffed peppers made earlier this week.

Larry’s wonder-truck braved the ice and made it over to repair our kitchen light fixture and reap the rewards of Tivo by watching the train crash top gear!


Cool pictures of inside-out stuffed animals.


Jake Shimabukuro Makes His Ukulele Gently Weep For Conan


Something good from W. Bush – on Friday, February 15, 2008, the President signed into law:

H.R. 3541, the “Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007,” which prohibits the automatic removal of telephone numbers registered on the Federal “do-not-call” registry; and

S. 781, the “Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007,” which extends permanently the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to charge fees to telemarketers required to access the Federal “do-not-call” registry and specifies the fees to be charged.

Both measures passed the House on a voice vote and cleared the Senate by unanimous consent.

Statement by the Press Secretary
Do Not Call Registry saved from mandatory reset


1 year ago – hyperdrive, my youtube account collapses, My first moment of unhappiness with Obama and hope vs Clinton, ovid

2 years ago – 2nd life, pics, monkey-sphere, bloodhound gang,

3 years ago – sushi and dan walkies, hunter thompson quits, cadmus jlu, freedom force, community populations, compusa rsolution, blinky explodes,

4 years ago – Monkey-mouse sperm, Alignments

5 years ago – weird news, oddball keywords, Russians link to me, community stats, mermaid art.

6 years ago – booboo’ed, Sally Struthers as soap-opera mind control, man stabbed with a swordfish.

7 years ago – Wanting things, noggin ache, Net use statsGeotarget

9066 – Thursday

Lunar Eclipse last night was lovely… clear skies, snowy ground and crisp air. A good time to be outside and looking at the sky, if just for a moment.

Somebody made a sacrifice somewhere, and the moon came back. Next time, the gods won’t be so kind!

Warnings about ice tomorrow… I may get a long weekend… (if my internet and power goes out… or I may get to work form home!) Then again, I may get to go into the office that’s mostly empty, and get a lot of work done there, too. I suspect any or all will be win.

Lovely leftover dinner tonight… last of the mexican bake while BHK and I watch The Last Legion. I think that she liked it more than I did… How’d they get Mr. Darcy, Ghandi and the Mistress of the spices together to make this flick? Apparently the Goths were vikings with scottish accents.


Six unused cases of recalled beef will be thrown away by schools in Maryland and Virginia. Said a school spokesperson, “Now that we know what it is, we can no longer call it mystery meat.”


Pictures of Awakening’s Move


So… Bush’s Approval rating is now 19%. Sweet Christmas.

(To break it down further 1100 people asked – Among Republicans (29% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 45% approve of the way Bush is handling his job and 50% disapprove. Among Democrats (43% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 1% approve and 99% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. Among independents (28% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 17% approve and 75% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president.)


This is Newton and Pyewacket, almost to a T.

I’ve neglected to mention that we watched the pilot for the new Knight Rider series.

It was only worth it for the Hoff cameo, and even that was pretty weak. Thank goodness for tivo and fast forward.

Psych was a little too scooby-doo for me last night… but watching the outtake of them singing “Somebody’s Watching Me” made it more than worth it. I also saw the graduation episode of Kim Possible. Nice that Drakken has some utility after all.


BHK was blessed with a double-kitty snuggle last night… I was too fidgety for the kitty love, apparently.


HD DVD is officially dead. Well, I’m glad we didn’t get Larry that DVD player for Xmas!


Giant fossilized frog named for the devil.

A giant frog that hopped around Madagascar 65–70 million years ago has been discovered.

Fossil fragments show that the frog, called Beelzebufo ampinga, could have measured 20 centimetres across its squat head, and probably more than 40 centimetres from snout to tail. The researchers nicknamed the monstrous beast ‘the frog from hell’; the official name comes from one of the many names for the devil (Beelzebub) and the Latin for ‘toad’ (bufo).


This college grad decided to live on the streets with just $25 and a gym bag to see if he could make it without any of the trappings of his upbringing, privileges, or contacts. After 10 months, he was moving into an apartment, bought a pickup truck, and had a savings of around $5,000. The point of the story is supposed to be that people are poor because they have bad attitudes. Which is technically true, but maybe he should do an experiment to see what being born poor will do for your “positive outlook.” – via consumerist.

Add a few more elements, like mental / physical health plus his gender, age and skin tone into the mix, and I’d be interested to see how much harder it’d be to get by if you changed variables around. I don’t like the implication that “anyone could do it”.

I also wonder who was left out of the shelter he stayed in for the first few months of his experiment? Did they go hungry as a result? Sleep on the street?

The more I think about it, the more I’d like to see him actually in the circumstances of hopelessness and fear being homeless can bring. I feel that knowing the safety net is there will give a false sense of confidence and comfort, too.

Anyone can go camping when they know full well that they could fix things with a phone call… how’s that song go?

You’ll never live like common people,
you’ll never do what common people do,
you’ll never fail like common people,
you’ll never watch your life slide out of view,
and dance and drink and screw,
because there’s nothing else to do.

He got to bail due to a personal tragedy at home… who else is allowed that? It’s a lousy experiment when you can change the variables and conditions at whim.


1 year ago – sunset and duck pics, naked gun, phone hearing w/florida, cyn’s new (now old) space!

2 years ago – 2nd life, frankenbox windows issue, modified newtcam subdomain, Samuel, I’m a nine

3 years ago – Atlantic shores hosp, motherboards, jokers utility belt, 2-headed baby, paris hilton hacked, jlu, angry beavers, comic essentials, danny teaches school about graphic novels, six-gun gorilla, ash, icon origin

4 years ago – Wishing for Dr. Feng Shui, Quit FFXI, Time out with Danny and his wife

5 years ago – DDoS on LJ, Friday five, Nordis is full of crap, parking spots pictures, The Groovenians = blah

6 years ago – robo-triffid, daily pictures, back hurting

7 years ago – Chariots of the Gods, reminders, Geocities stops hot links, my nesting instinctGeotarget

9065 – Wednesday, early in the morning, waiting for his ride.

Coughing… but poor BHK is feeling more sick than me. It’s certainly chilly this morning, and is expected to be snowy midday today. Quite a change from Monday’s balminess.


If anyone out there wants to send me a dvd of swarm of the snakehead, please do! BHK and I have been giggling like goobers for the past week about snakehead fish. If push comes to shove, we may fork over the $17 for the DVD, but I wonder if it’ll kill the pure goofiness of the previews. Maybe I can learn to sew, and make a knit snakehead ?

All silliness aside, the snakehead is a serious matter. I can’t help it if it’s a borderline chupacabra / area 51 / bigfoot sensation here, too.


Handwriting meme – (Forgive Scotto’s Messy hand, and blurry-ish cameraphone!)

Answer the following questions in your own handwriting:

1) Name/username.
2) Left or right handed?
3) Favorite letters to write.
4) Least favorite characters to write.
5) Write “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
6) Tag 5 people.

0219081530.jpg


Random Scotto factoid. When I see a symmetrical “heart shape” I pick out the two semi-circles on top and bottom triangle piece before I see the whole image. That’s why I like to draw mine unbalanced, or off-center. I don’t know what that means.


BHK and I went to Barnes and Noble last Friday and didn’t buy anything despite having a $50 gift card in my pocket. How did that happen?


Flickr user brandonwu got up bright and early to get this image on Monday morning. Lots of “Awakening” images were in the DCist Pool this past long weekend, as it’s to be dug up on Wednesday and moved to Prince George’s County. EXIF here. – via DCist

I hope to visit it after it was moved… I went there once as a young boy, when I lived in Alexandria.

That reminds me –

Nightmare Playgrounds – most seem to be from Russia and Prague… I wouldn’t mind visiting!

These creepy masterpieces of sculpture and landscaping can be found in playgrounds not only in Russia (even though this is where the majority of photos come from) but also in China, East European Countries, and even in the US – anywhere the grass-roots creativity goes bad and the bad taste gets promoted, often unintentionally.

Awesome. More Awesome.


1 year ago – Visited the Department of Homeland Security, DC pix.

2 years ago – rainbow pigeons, dr who, sirenity, hibernation, workplace closures?, Lost- dream, quiz-meme, questionnaire

3 years ago – ren-fest thoughts, river with a fear of heights, kid-style web layout?, soylent green, glass tile graffiti, danigolden+ham steak+jelly+scott baio=a good morning for me, puppet dj, uss jimmy carter

4 years ago – Danny takes his club to the Ren-fest, 5-year-old marries a puppy, evil eye, palm entry-bus, looking back to my earliest memories

5 years ago – Spending a lot, cute newt, hot showers, green onion cornbread

6 years ago – Lewis-y, Muppetty, limericks, a cute pair of boobies, speedy bus, ninja cow eludes police

7 years ago – valentines, online books, recommitted to walkies, Belief, Myth and FolkloreGeotarget

9064 – tues

Getting cooler already… 44 today as opposed to 74 yesterday. Let’s hope this isn’t an even slope into the weekend!

Best bumper sticker seen this weekend – “What would Scooby Do?”

Veggie stir fry with red rice tonight… yummy. broccoli, snap beans, snow peas, and carrots…. nom nom nom.

BHK and I were watching the Chocolate Challenge last night, where one of the contestants goofed up the Statue Of Liberty in Chocolate… fubared the arm, headdress and the tablets were missing (But did pretty well, considering the height of stress that seemed to be going on) – had me thinking of a Cloverfield moment. Apparently this image happens more often than I thought. (found via fark) I knew Planet of the Apes, of course, A.I., and Escape from New York… but look at ’em all. I totally forgota about the way-cool Thundarr the Barbarian one, and the Scene from Superman II.


Noel Kern’s Flickr has some amazing long-open shutter pics. Same with ihveissues.


The Pentagon says it has to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite because of the threat of a toxic gas cloud. Space security experts are calling the rationale highly unlikely. “Having the US government spend millions of dollars to destroy a billion-dollar failure to save zero lives is comedic gold,” one tells DANGER ROOM.


There’s going to be a total lunar eclipse Wednesday evening, (February 20th), which should turn the moon deep red as Earth’s shadow passes over it. Maximum eclipse will be at 10:26 PM EST and 7:26 PST. Besides North and South America, the eclipse will be from South America and most of North America (on Feb. 20) as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia (on Feb. 21). The next Lunar Eclipse is due December 2010.


Fidel Castro has formally stepped down as the president of Cuba, ending one of the longest tenures in the world as a head of state. Castro, 81, has been suffering from a long illness associated with a colon infection, and gave temporary power to his brother, Raúl Castro, 76, in 2006. Whether his resignation actually sparks changes in Cuba’s system of government remains to be seen, and many experts appear to be skeptical as to whether Fidel will actually accept a less active role in governing the country. Still, the end of Castro’s reign over Cuba marks a significant day in world history. President Bush has called for the release of Cuba’s political prisoners.


1 year ago – Amy visit ends, truncated thought, Mexican and Chinese food, weak internet

2 years ago – super corkscrew, new video card, pin up girls,

3 years ago – missed my condo, thin man, wall pictures, blue ice, geocache fountain, joker utility belt

4 years ago – CoH preorder, getting a TENS

5 years ago – sleepy and rock-headed

6 years ago – nice dreams, String Cheese Incident, Feng Tzu-Chen, FMM poop, cool swiss mecha-island

7 years ago – placentophagy, haiku, poop on TampaGeotarget

9063 – Monday – President’s day

HAPPY 8th, Li’L Bit! HOLY MOLEY! 8?!?!


As for president’s day, I certainly prefer the original “George W” to the one currently in office.

Ah, the blessing of a Monday off. Added bonus is a hopefully more gentle 4-day week ahead!

Got up, went to get shots… it was pretty crowded due to the holiday. BHK and I both got our appointments out of the way in a reasonable span of time. I’m about 75% through the third Harry Dresden book. It started out a bit weak, but has gained a nice momentum through the middle 50%. I especially like Mike & Charity Carpenter, even though Mike seemed pretty cornball in the first bit of the book.

After the doc, we went off to Annapolis to make use of the Joss gift certificate we got from Adam for Christmas… I was quite in the mood for a little sushi and tempura.

Alas, the curse of DC and its environs struck again. The weather was absolutely beautiful (mid 70s, sunny), and everyone in government (i.e., EVERYONE within a 250 mile radius, or more) had the day off.

No parking and Joss was full to the gills. That worked out to our advantage, as we toured a little bit until we stumbled into Lemongrass Too. The Fried Green Beans were excellent, and I really liked the Pa-Ram Jae (Deep-fried tofu sauteed with yellow curry with rice, veggies and broccoli, topped with peanut sauce) that BHK ordered… my veggie Pad Thai was good, as well. The crispy tofu appetiser was lacking, in comparison, but that might be just due to everything else being so good. We got enough for me to take for lunch tomorrow as leftovers…. double score. Not the sushi I was expecting, but a nice substitution. Really, only the second time I’ve had Thai since moving from Florida, and this time I was quite pleased.

We opted to walk a bit for a constitutional after our meal – there was a Best Buy next door. I picked up some wipes for my new (Xmas) monitor at home, seeing a sit has already acquired a few Newton / Pyewacket nose-prints. Additionally, we saw Lego Star Wars Trilogy being sold, and in a moment of game-lust, we picked it up. Both BHK and I dig the game, and it’s 2-player…. more bonding time for us! (Like we need it).

We headed home at about 3pm… the weather was still gorgeous, but getting a bit cooler. From what I understand, there’ll be snow by mid- to end-week… hardly seems possible, but I’ve seen stranger stuff.

Upon our arrival, it turned out that the in-laws had come over and were kind enough to take down our Christmas lights (they were too high for us to reach without a ladder.)

BHK was still feeling a little cottony, so we spent the rest of the day at home, resting and recovering energy.
I’m surprised… we really haven’t eaten much since midday, but it’s well after dark now, and neither of us are that hungry. We may have a little nibble in a while, but I suspect it’ll be a light dining night.


1 year ago – tracks in the snow pic, ghost rider, synchronicity with GP and Kat.

2 years ago – compusa saga continues, C&C generals, Li’l Bit 6!, song meme, newtcam up,

3 years ago – Lil Bit #5!, basketball w/danny, netflix du jour, loonatics 2.0

4 years ago – There 2.0, stress

5 years ago – expected last day at FMM, web-subscribers, barbie sex, Nordis hoses me.

6 years ago – Newt wakies, proxo, palm entry, haiku/ D&D class alignment

7 years ago – SOP, Territorial, haiku combatGeotarget

9061 – Sat

Woke up bright and early, rip-roarin’ and ready to roll. BHK and I had a tasty start of toasted bagels with cream cheese, and chugga-chugga-chugga.

After getting the parents, it was about… 11ish. Well, we didn’t lose too much steam – the in-laws were loaded for bear (girl scout cookies, soda-pop, and egg sammiches) we rolled out to our destination… Baltimore!

It was a bit of a drive, but the scenery was lovely, and the company was good… we all chitty-chatted about all manner of small talk.

We arrived at the Aquarium Parking garage at about noon, and headed off to see items lovely and aquatic… but it was not meant to be. The crowd there for the holiday weekend was vast… Chris didn’t want to navigate that swarm of roaming tourists. Totally understandable, if a little disappointing.

Upside… we had a secondary plan of action! The B&O Railway Museum! The place is sweet for folks that dig steam / diesel engines, or rail history at all (the B&O is pretty much the birthplace of American Railroading). We got a family membership to last us the year – it turned out the snow collapse of the roundhouse was 5 years ago to the day we returned. There’s still a lot of restoration going on to the trains that were hit, but most of them are in beautiful shape. BHK and I got a couple of pressed pennies to add to our collection.

(some of our walkabout pictures on flickr here. – more to follow as I upload and make some shots public that are currently hidden.)

Got pretty tuckered out after 5 or six hours there, filling my brain with train. We headed off to Annapolis for some Cheeburger Cheeburger (they’e getting a lot of play from us lately!) and then home to relax and unwind with the kitties – plans were to hang out and watch a movie with the in-laws, but they were too pooped to pop, so BHK had a lovely night together, instead.


I can haz The Entire Bible? Man, lolcats! Nice use of your spare time!

I wonder if this will win any converts in one direction or the other?


1 year ago – Amy visit, mac & cheese, fluxx and movie

2 years ago – eye close poll, work bail, boosh, canal discovery, compusa check?, gg

3 years ago – Jill Gone, BK & GO, JLU, Newt’s treat, mel-fade begins

4 years ago – Scotto on the enchanted path, bigfoot conference, Florida photos, Newt on his back

5 years ago – mickey gas mask, donkey kong jr, google bought blogger, mere-vallie, Scotto shop-palm, palm pic of the SG building, odd news

6 years ago – bloody mary mythos, feel poll, newt ill, rainy day, movie poll, fu-style, alphebetica cyberia

7 years ago – Haiku arena, weird al’s wishlistGeotarget

9060 – fri

BHK got me a bag of creme de menthe Hershey’s kisses. A large quantity of them currently reside in my Jonas Green Skull and Crossbones mug.

(Green was a troublemaker. He hated the Stamp Act, which among other things directly taxed his newspaper. Refusing to pay, he halted publication of his paper with the protest headline “The Maryland Gazette Expiring: In Uncertain Hopes of a Resurrection to life again.”

In the bottom right corner, he placed a skull and crossbones where the tax stamp should have been.)

They may be my favorite flavor of Hershey’s kiss yet. Green foil is an added bonus.

Date night tonight with BHK – we went to DuClaw, and she had a spinach salad, while I ate a pile of bread, cheese and potato-related items.


Toe The Line (Not Tow the line ) – That’s ok… I got Piss and Vinegar wrong… I confused it with the incorrect Pith and Vinegar.


I’ve just upgraded to ATi Catalyst suite version 8.1 and now a small white square a few pixels across in the upper left hand corner of the screen – I thought it was stuck pixels at first, but later discovered that it goes away when I remove the Catalyst icon from the system tray.

I’ll be interested to see if 8.2 remedies the issue. EDIT: maybeA white dot no longer appears on the windows desktop when launching the Catalyst Control Center. However, this issue may still be experienced under the Windows XP operating system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31715

No big whoop – it was a pretty easy item to track down.


meme time!

1. What is the geekiest part of your music collection?
Hm.. silly mashups of Gwen Stefani / Queen, or any all of They Might Be Giants.

Continue reading 9060 – fri

9059 – Thursday

Happy Valentines Day!

Got a lovely Kermit the frog card from BHK. Words can’t even begin to describe how much love I have for her. I hold her dearly in my heart. She makes every day a valentiney sort of day. Hard to get too worked up about a day that’s all about love and affection when I’m immersed in it all the time.

That’s a good thing!

As ol’ Bill Shakespeare put it,

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Tonight, we exchanged chocolates, and BHK made tasty mexican bake for me and the in-laws. (well, Chris… Larry had Hot dogs.) Dessert was 3-chocolate ice cream and orange cake with milk chocolate icing. nom nom nom.  More fun din  din news to follow, I’m sure.


The most awesome collection of superhero toys in one blister pack.

Movie Spidey 3 with a baseball bat!
Superman with a crossbow and terrible chest logo, riding a roaring dinosaur!
Bare-booty Hulk!
Pretty Decent Design Batman!

I would so totally pay three dollars for that. (But then again, I’d dig a Han Solo in Carbonite mini-fridge, too)


Metro says there were 84 assaults against Metrobus drivers in 2007, an increase of more than 50 from 2002. Now they’re talking about putting protective shields in for the drivers…. what about the other passengers? via WTOP


Two new dinos identified – Two previously unknown types of meat-eating dinosaur have been identified from fossils unearthed in the Sahara desert.


via Scheiner – Offshore oil rig evacuated after someone dreamed of a bomb.


I heard waterboarding referred to as a “mild form of torture” today.

The words torture and mild don’t go together in my book – not a gray area, as far as I’m concerned. Like “slightly excruciating”.


I just discovered SourceTV – pretty keen for game spectators. Not a bad way to develop strategy, either. (Learned about it per the huge Team Fortress 2 update – including a map with a train! – Nice of them to give gamers with no significant other something to do on valentine’s day.)


List of Famous (and kinda-sorta famous, maybe) Scientologists. I still can’t believe I missed hearing about Jason Lee.


1 year ago – stayed in for ice storm smashes our fence, ice pictures

2 years ago – Sand dollar, interjection poll, Miami cloud art, bro drama, Bang!

3 years ago – dream, war tuning, slacker, torrent tv, gm-ginger kitties, questions meme, christo, newt stalking pic, zefrank’s st. val history, whims-cute card, work peeve

4 years ago – V-day, hippie visit results, Nefertiti documentary mostly drama – not much document, cheese doodle sculpture, anonymous reviewer bug amazon

5 years ago – got the nordis gig, palm pics

6 years ago – n V-day poetry, JB figures out about SA & Me, wandering pics

7 years ago – How Do I Love Thee?, I resemble Dan Conner, Men cause the mutations, tea room & old TV, TMBG lyricGeotarget

9058 – weds

I need to call Val and wish her a good b’day… also the mom-in-law’s birthday. We went to Mama Lucia’s, and then back to headquarters for cake and gifts. She got Becoming Jane, the Jane Austen Book Club, a box of girl scout trefoils, and a load of mushy cards.

Power went out this morning, but was back on by 6ish. Lots of high winds and cold… another ice storm on the way late tonight? The roads weren’t as bad tonight as yesterday.


Crime scene template… I covet it, and want to get one for BHK. I was amused by the inclusion of nun-chucks.


Cool history of the moment – The Cadaver Synod – Pope Stephen VI, consecrated in 896, ordered the rotting corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, be exhumed and put on trial for various crimes against the church. Poor bastard was nine-months dead when they dug him up. Stephen dressed the ripe stiff in papal robes, propped it up in a chair, and proceeded to scream unintelligibly at it for several hours in front of a rapt audience. Afterwards, Formosus was declared guilty and his body was dragged through the streets of Rome, then thrown into the river Tiber. Not surprisingly, the morbid spectacle turned public opinion against Stephen. Rumors spread that the dead pontiff had washed up on the banks of the Tiber and was performing miracles. Stephen VI was eventually deposed and strangled to death in prison.

– Coilhouse was kind enough to remind me.


The only game idea better than velociraptor safari (you’re a velociraptor tooling around in a jeep, trying to run over raptors with a ball and chain hanging from the back of the vehicle) is jetpack brontosaurus. (Self explanatory.)


I heard the state of Virginia referred to as “Vajayjay” on the bus tonight, talking about weathe rand not getting to vote in time. That’s just got to stop, or my brain will explode. Oh, the pain. The pain!

Speaking of voting, I want to remind myself in the future of something. I’m not happy with *any* of our current candidates. Hillary is the most evil, but that doesn’t mean that I’m Obama‘s big fanboy. He’s just not as bad as she is. McCain is the least evil on the republican side, I feel… not that it’s hard to be the least evil in that batch.

I’m glad that the polls in Maryland stayed open an extra 90 minutes to allow for everyone stuck in the wet traffic yesterday.


The creepiest person you’ve gamed with. There’s a reason I’m picky about gamer pals. The story of Jack. Not for the squeamish. I can honestly say that to the best of my knowledge, they’ve all gotten up to use the restroom.

Thread stats here for more etc. I’ve mentioned some folks I’ve encountered over the years.


1 year ago – local wildlife pic, ice storm coming, feeling better

2 years ago – chilly?, swollen uvula, nohari, bongos, GND moving (she’s since married… as have I!), cookies?, auto stitched comic spread, super squid

3 years ago – ren-fest thoughts, bro-religion scam thoughts, lair, pretzel prefs, grocery store, lj-buddy collage, valentines zod, moris tepper, elektra barbie, unix cheatsheet, lj user a sexual predator

4 years ago – Ft13th, urban beasts, photo memes, workers screwing up, Joel Veitch (Elephants, Yeah!), Mage knight with Dave

5 years ago – bro mooching, gas prices , newt’s Problem solving, Nice email, scabby palm pics, space giants, Walter adopted

6 years ago – Alton Brown, Melting pot month, ornj on the mend, talky newt, sleepy day, condiment museum

7 years ago – lost empires, pipe-smoking monkey sings Sanford and sonGeotarget

9057 – tues

Just realized that I never got a call from my bro on my birthday. I haven’t heard from him at all since his phone was reconnected. I hope he’s doing ok… I imagine that he is.


Watched Hellboy: Sword of Souls over dinner of corn dogs and tater tots! nom nom nom. The movie was just ok…. I like good ol’ Hellboy and Co, but it seemed too rushed and way too much time on the pyrokinetic’s whining about “blah blah it’ll overtake me blah”. If they’d just kept it a bit lighter, I’d have liked it more… the scenes where he’s fighting an assortment of bad guys got sort of old, too… not sure what I’d have done to make it better.


We had just a teensy snootch of snow today. It was nice to see some falling flakes… they soon turned to light freezing rain. Not as lovely, but nice, too.


The Postal Service says a first-class stamp will cost 42 cents as of May 12. [AP via USA]


Hm, I was wondering how long it’d take for Leslie Nielson to appear in a superhero movie spoof. March 2008, it seems.

Movies I want to see (off the top of my head… I’m sure I’m forgetting some):

No Country for Old Men
Cloverfield
Sweeney Todd (is it still in theaters?)
Darjeeling Limited (Is it out on DVD yet?)
Spiderwick Chronicles
Indy 4
Jumper
Diary of the Dead
10,000 BC


RIP, Steve Gerber. Thanks for Howard the Duck, and Thundarr the Barbarian. Steve’s weblog.


Long overdue pictures of Cake and Cats. As always, clicken to embiggen.

since getting the Kitty DVD for Christmas, Pyewacket has been a regular couch potato, watching the tube with us, even if it doesn’t show chirping birds, fish, or rodent-type objects. Newton is a fan of the DVD, because that means his little brother is occupied while big brother can nap in peace upstairs, or use the litter box without having a little furry frined knocking on the door, asking if he can come out and play.

Watching the specialty cat video – fish portion – Taken while the tree and presents were still out… I’ve been very bad about unloading the camera.

pye likes his birdie dvd

Pye was also attentive watching the Super bowl. He rooted for the Patriots. They lost. It’s ok.

pye liked the superbowl..pye liked the superbowl. 2

He also likes to view psych upside down while having his tummy rubbed. Who wouldn’t?
pye streeeetching.

as part of the equal-ish time for orange kitties act of 1999 –

Newton Shamelessly diving into the dryer to be warm. We have to be ever vigilant not to put him on a fluff cycle.

newt seeking warm towels.newt looking for warmth

My army man birthday cake. Delicious, and gory.

birthday cake carnage.birthday cake carnage2.birthday cake carnage3.birthday cake carnage4.birthday cake carnage5.birthday cake carnage6


1 year ago – vallies, no 24 with the lads, a little sick, tv watching, acim update from TD

2 year ago – vegan lunch box, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, American horror, ren-fest, crayons, movies, Neutral Good, colored t’s, cowboy gorilla, Val’s B’day, newtcam pix,

3 years ago – stretchy dream, journalist fired, cosmic muffin, star wars meme, C&H cartoon fave, baby tosser, don simpson’s journal (since deleted?)

4 years ago – goodies from mimi, time out and about, comment time limit, kill the ducky

5 years ago – vallies, stinky outdoors, Drama deck poll

6 years ago – popular colors, nice walkies, cooked palm, Aunt Val’s B’day, blessing reminder, I’m put off by nin (child abuse)

7 years ago – vagg, Aesop, Happy, Sleepy, good people in my lifeGeotarget