Tag Archives: chris

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

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

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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

9194 – friday

Dinner with Cathy & Dave tonight… say goodbye to any saved points when I have a slice of birthday cake. (sans army men). We played a bit of apples ot apples afterward, with Larry winning the first round, I won the second.


Added image to “The Good Life” for photo Friday – me and Newt Snoozing. (#127 )


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 34. I…

34.’helped to plan, plant and harvest a family garden for the first time last spring. I really thought a 10 x 12 foot patch wouldn’t produce more than a little vanity salad food, but we got a huge crop, especially of peppers, zucchini and cucumbers. My faves were the potatoes and zucchini.. oven baked goodness. BHK turned my lifelong disdain for zucchini into love with her baked veggies in soy flour, and covered in tomato sauce. Yum. Potatoes, I’ve always had a fondness for.


I guess I’m coming late to this info, but per springheel jack – “RIP Basic (ad-free) Accounts. Your current ‘basic’ accounts are supposedly grandfathered (until they decide otherwise), but no new ones can be created. Communities too.”


The 8th Icehouse Game Design Competition is underway, and any previously unpublished game that uses Looney Labs’ Icehouse pyramids can be submitted. The deadline for entry is June 20th. Whether or not you enter, you can participate in the judging process. Details at the link above.


Current day’s eats:

Breakfast –

two breakfast granola bars

snack –

unsweetened applesauce / pretzel sticks
diet coke

lunch –

veggie pocket pie
veggies and rice

dinner –

3 slices of medium cheese and veggie pizza
Birthday cake and ice cream!


1 year ago – kitty feeding, the host, no cable modem yet.

2 years ago – sleepy, newt playing and chitty chatting, palm doodle, wifi hotsync, safety ape, sex offenders, mulligrubs

3 years ago – hello tomorrow, Robots movie, found art pictures, alligator sounds/swamp witch, silly putty, pi day, IR webcam hack, free fonts, tallyhall, ashes scattered, polar bears, open records, memory meme

4 years ago – subpages broken, Shazam!, Dead Like Me, CS sucks as a tech, vamp game

5 years ago – walkabout pics, lovieness, got unreal server hopping

6 years ago – mush, Roman tub, dreams of owning a pet grooming store, insurance woes, and palm doodles

7 years ago – Happy b’day kundalinidreams (no longer ljing), Dkmfkmkglklkgbkvbkbv,looking for a job as demagogue…(I’ll still take it, if anyone’s wanting), happy unbirthday to me, uck!, edit this page (now dead),sop, a timeline of Scotto history,veggie lo mein, muppet trivia, and Rolf singing you and I and GeorgeGeotarget

9188 – sat

Up and at ’em – Sat visit to the allergist, and then we drove on to Richie’s to meet the in-laws for some wandering.

Arranged to get my referral for the back doc on Wednesday – I have to call back monday morning to make sure it’s all in order.

Finished our puzzle.. I’d say 8 hours total form start to finish. we had 1000 pieces all right, but one of parts was missing, and one was doubled!

d’oh! ah well.. it was fun assembling it, anyhow.

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richie’s grill – bar side is open until 2am, now… midnight not late enough! When BHK and I arrived at 12:30, it was dead – no lunch crowd besides us. By the time the in-laws made it (about 1), a few more people had wandered in, but for a saturday, I’m sure the waitresses were hungry for tips.

 

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Oysters… we did a sneak peak at the Chesapeake bay foundation.

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More Oysters! For building an artificial reef and bringing some health back to the bay.

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Freaky Beetlejuice house.. oddball sculptures and columns in the wrong locations… full size shows more, but needs a full photo shoot.

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weird fence – full view doesn’t do it justice – I’m going back with a real camera next time.


1 year ago – wanted to see 300. (That’ll teach me.), elf defense for undies thief

2 years ago – jojo, fib answers, garfield minus voice balloons, coral springs walkabout,

3 years ago – Millennium Spheres, new dr who, dice quiz, Earth2/We3, Jack benny, Donner party, Karma?, bittorrent

4 years ago – motorcycle Chernobyl tour, led mug, jk to revise hp, dan tech slips, bluto song, haiku

5 years ago – palm pics travel, WWII thoughts, site down

6 years ago – Newtosill, Daffy duck, Morning here, dreams, poem tag, bubblegum alley, cute animals

7 years ago – The bed, Cool old comic books, disclaimer, OJGeotarget

9184 – Wednesday

BHK’s taco salad din din last night was awesome, in taste, health, and the ability to produce flatus. Veggie meat, two kinds of beans, and certain garilicy veggies are just asking for a bit of methane production. The yummy factor was the biggest win, however.

Tonight, we’re headed to Bilvil the Beachfront Cafe for supper – review to follow tomorrow!


Looks like Clinton is still in the race after Texas and Ohio. Ah well, at least this will give Chris and I something to debate about some more on the road to work. I get sort of stuck with Obama, mostly because he’s the other contender for the Dems.


Happy 75th Birthday, Doc Savage !


50 things I’ve done meme continues – 21-26 I ran out of time! Will continue until I hit 50 if I can as the week progresses. – I …

21.’was part of a team that coded a geopositioning system to help find missing kids. Basically, find a point on a map, call everyone within a certain distance on the map with a pre-recorded message alerting folks to be on the lookout. In addition to finding missing people, it has been used cross-country for evacuations, fire alerts, boil water, and other trouble items. Sadly, the same type of software has been put to more commercial use by telemarketing campaigns including politicians and localized ads. Biggest issue – the calls tend to originate from a VOIP or difficult to track location, so you have trouble contacting them to be put on the do not call list… unless the message you get includes a contact number. I guess any tool can be an offensive weapon in the wrong hands. I use hammers to build things, not to cave in skulls… I promise!

22.’made the final leap to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian in 1990. Last hot dog was on 7/4/90… tried being vegan for a year, and didn’t like it. Sorry Milk, Eggs and Cheese… you get eaten. I sometimes lapse on things that have more than 4 legs, or less than 2. (Conch, Clam, Crab, etc.) Despite my diet, I still am of considerable size, both height and circumference. I am taller than I am around by a reasonable facor… I’m not a sphere.

23.’have been homeless for approximately a month, living on the beach in South Florida. It’s not fun, it’s not like camping, and I don’t care to repeat it ever again. I can’t imagine it in winter up north. If I ever meet that kid (last link in my entry here ) that said it’s just a question of attitude, I just might be prompted to introduce him to what that sort of fear, depression and hopelessness feels like.

24.’saw my brother sink from happy, healthy and smiling guy to a conniving, manipulative, strung-out and sick junkie.

25.’submitted myself for product testing when money issues were especially tight. Toothpaste was worth $20, use for a month and get paid after a tooth check. I got in on a big study – It was a pretty sweet deal at the time. Given an asprin, put in a sensory dep tank a few times a day, have blood drawn each time you come out. I got $1700 for it, a month’s worth of food and board, and electricity to play on my Atari ST during the downtime. The downside was that I was confined to the grounds for a month and very few of my friends at the time came by to visit. I could call out and say hello, but seldom did anyone call me…. which caused me to review my friendship with those people quite a bit at the time. I shared a room with another study member, but he left a day into the testing because his son passed away. I still feel bad for my first mental response – “I get my own room! Right on!” The biggest problem wit hHazelton was that it was frequently confused with hazelden, a drug rehab center.

26.’told a ghost story to my brother about a monster in the basement that was so convinicng, neither of us ever went down there again without an adult escort. I was about 7, my bro was half that. I was glad when we moved out of that house. Sadly, the story isn’t really that scary to an adult… or that original. I suspect I saw that Dr. Who with the crawling pentacle hand – “ELDRAD MUST LIVE!” Side note, I had a little-kid (non-sexual) crush on Sarah Jane Smith for quite a span. I wanted her as a babysitter more than my actual one.

so, only 24 more to go? ack!


The company that made “Airborne,” — a supposed remedy for colds — have settled a lawsuit brought by customers who were upset to learn that the “clinical trials” that proved that it worked were faked.


1 year ago – interviewed at calvert, flew kites

2 year ago – animated newtcam archive, bhk chat, bat-folk, Friday 5, tmbg

3 years ago – scottobear.com renew, trip to deerfield, free fonts, chat crash w/bhk,gp puts me on to spidey bible, what? WhaT?, H2GT2G, Chimp attack, giantsteps

4 years ago – blogspam treatment, work, serial adder, 7-eared kitty, clown sweater, Ephemera, visited bro

5 years ago – book meme, palm doodles, picture issues

6 years ago – mopey, bro helping out, Dick Hymen – Master of Jazz Piano, super tugboat, Newton’s name, pet name poll, magic ingredients

7 years ago – Perseus tools, loved ones sick, flying monkeys, The 30 Least-Quoted Lines from Shakespeare, nosepilot, 5k compGeotarget

9079 – monday

Monday monday – back to work! Not much to post about… general purpose day, but BHK picked me up afterward. We met Chris and Larry at Lemongrass – Larry wasn’t gaga over it, but the rest of us enjoyed the feed. We parted company soon after – BHK and I hit the store and got the boys a new water fountain and a toy or two. I barely fended off BHK’s request for goldfish and crabs and hammies and gerbils and kitties.

ATW man has varied a little from his valentines outfit.. now he has a red wig on, no heart shaped box of candy, and the rose still clenched betwixt his teeth.

If anything, he looks a bit like a grateful dead album cover at the moment. hard to get good detail with the camera phone and a back light, but bigger gets a bit more.

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Taking a hint from edbook, six years ago (friends only link) –

50 things I’ve done in my life: (I’ll do it 10 at a time each weekday, I think, due to time constraints.)

1. ‘was run over by a car while riding a motor scooter – snapped my collarbone. If the front wheel had been 6 inches to the left, I’d be dead.. 2 feet and I’d have been fine. The car never stopped to check on me, it just kept going. I didn’t know it was broken at first, until I called GP on the phone and he advised that I flex my arm. After I unblacked out a moment later on the floor, I went to the hospital. Only bone of mine that broke… unless you count teeth.

2. ‘have been every male part of a wedding ceremony, short of the priest. (ring bearer, usher, best man, groom). In that order. Will I be ordained enough to do the last one someday?

3. ‘saw at the very least five different kinds of consensual crime performed in under an hour… my last night as a bouncer. The pay was good, but not worth going to jail for… even if nobody there was complaining.

4. ‘met my wife thanks to the internet,  livejournal, and an ex-girlfriend.

5. ‘got a scholarship to clown college, but opted for computer science… more lucrative, and I don’t do well with sawdust-based environments.

6. ‘is allergic to cats, but happily fostered and then adopted Newton-kitty when he was 3 weeks old – bottle and rag fed him every 4 hours when he was still in the nursing stage. I now live with 2 cats and don’t show allergies much around them, but other animals will give me red eyes and sneezles, until I adapt to ’em.

7. ‘worked for an organization that helped to search for missing children. I think that my heart was in the right place, but I’m glad to have moved on. It can be heartbreaking to hear about a kid that didn’t make it, or to see petty behavior on the part of an org or the police result in stupidity that could potentially cost a kids life. Plus, I don’t like being rattled every time the cell phone rings… now when the phone vibrates, the worst thing is a downed server or a weather issue. It’s taken me about a year to get out of fireman-alert / stress mode every time the phone rings. I do feel that the national center is the best place to turn to when a child is missing.

8.’worked in a library through most of college and high school – during hurricane Andrew. Got to reshelve and relocate books while wearing a miners lamp on my head under rows of black plastic tarps… no power, no lights or AC. Until discovering them underfoot in the stacks, I had no idea scorpions lived in South Florida. Also, people bring porno to “read” in the rear stacks… ick.

9.’was also in the civil air patrol during Andrew, and got to see how destroyed homestead got… I had a huge amount of pity for the folks in NOLA that I might not have if I didn’t see areas of just rubble and water where homes used to be. We got to round up food and water for people out there… it’s what I imagine it to be like in an area struck by war.

10.’has offered spiritual advice to people, even though I have no idea what, if anything, is beyond the veil of what we can see. I’ve helped people through crises of faith and to find a common ground where elements can be conflicted even though I haven’t the foggiest about my own faith… and I’m ok with that. I don’t know if that makes me a hypocrite or what.


So, Tron 2, the movie in 2011? I’ve got to wonder about that one. Will I see it? Yes, if it’s going to be in 3-D. 3-D makes everything at least a little bit awesome. I’m sure that BHK will want to fo see national Treasure 3… and I’ll be fore it, if it’s in 3-D, too… but no word on that.


The son’s tooth helps to save dad’s sight

Rob McNichol’s son — also called Rob — didn’t think twice when the chance arose to help his dad to see again by giving him a canine tooth.

Father-of-eight Mr McNichol snr (57) was blinded in a work-place accident, when liquid aluminium exploded in his face in November 2005.

But he can now see again after doctors, using groundbreaking surgery, inserted his son’s tooth in his eye.

The surgery, Osteo Odonto Kerato Prosthesis (OOKP), involved fitting a living canine tooth with an optical cylinder and transplanting it into the eye cavity

The surgery, which costs an estimated €40,000, is believed to be the first of its kind to be carried out on an Irish resident.

Pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, Osteo Odonto Kerato Prosthesis (OOKP) surgery is carried out on patients for whom conventional corneal transplants will not work. It entails replacing a damaged cornea with a live tooth root and attached optical cylinder


John McCain apologized for a supporter’s use of Barack Obama’s middle name. And rightly so. Only his mother should use his middle name, and then only when he’s done something really naughty.


1 year ago – Sunny day sends our snowman away, pictures, star fleet battles revamp (I never did buy it), I touch witch’s rock in leonardtown- pic, also witch’s other stuff (trash can, tree, flagpole, picnic table, and ash tray), veteran memorial, google traffic, dating persona

2 years ago – router dies, kids tp, tree-hugging, get human database, my blue heaven,

3 years ago – power out, mark lenard, color wwi pics, free stock photos, 20 ways to say no, knife, razors and laws, vonnegut on writing, newt pictures and doodles, cravings, costume changes, handy freeware

4 years ago – pondering public entries, nice gab with the Cs, ADP sucks again, Zombie Recipe, Cat w/hands, gov overrides names

5 years ago – 03/03/03, MRE, rudimentary lj search engine

6 years ago – fake trading floor, Olive Garden screed, Hsien-Yu Pi-Jen

7 years ago – Owls in Myth & Culture, 3-d fax printing, DogenGeotarget

9078 – sunday

Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast! A good sized crew was here earlier, David, Larry, Chris, BHK and I all scarfed down tasty flapjacks… Before that David and I played a little lego star wars on the Wii while BHK prepped in the kitchen.

After Breakfast, BHK busted out the a sailing ships and seafaring puzzle, to work on while David and I finished out game… after he headed out, Larry and Chris high-tailed it… so BHK and I were left with about 994 pieces of the 1000 bit puzzle to put together.

I took a little break midday to rest my back, as it was still pretty sore, but got up at about 4 to have some late snacks (too late for a full blown lunch), and watched the soup, some eddie izzard, and we went back to the ol’ puzzle. More Izzard in the background while we sorted pieces and just had some nice family time.

I’d say we got about 90% of the puzzle done before I started to really ache again… we rested in the living room and caught up with a little more tv, and now it’s time for bed. Hot showers and heating pads seem to help the most. Larry and Chris never came by to have supper with us, but Larry did drop off leftover chinese food… BHK did Beans and rice, while I had tofu and broccoli.


1 year ago – we first meet Tigger (I thought she was a he), happy in NB, eclipse, running bear & white dove

2 years ago – Newt Checkup, 2nd life, Lent, Demonic tots, RPG cliches, poor lunches, schizo-art

3 years ago – netflix, avdp trimming, ann nortons, superhero motivationals,euro-seekers, I scream-you scream, new term, disney fonts, viva browardpix, florida school study, poor applicants

4 years ago – Newt-clipso, ADP did poorly her first night, Spiders dine on their master, Gators, lj-spam

5 years ago – Newt Better, pc virus, pioneer 10, Balloon v1.0, lotr quizzes, cool motorcycle helmets

6 years agoNewt at the vet pics, shadow govt, my first panorama, stikfas

7 years ago – CJ adventure (filtered for submissions), up late, newt checkupGeotarget

9077 – Saturday

March Begins! David spent Friday night at his pal in DC’s place, but returned to us this morning… after my shots, we headed out to the Museum of Visionary art w/ BHK and David, and then to Edgar Allan Poe‘s burial site (and his 13 year old at wedding-time cousin-wife ) at Westminster (little known factoid, BHK was the tour guide to the Poe site, and has keys to the crypt there.)

Most of what was done and seen can be expressed in photos… sadly, you’re not supposed to take pics inside. ( I did sneak one with the camera phone , however.) clicking on items below will go to larger images. No ghosts captured at the graveyard, but I had fun doing some more stitching.

My favorite bit was probably the giant bird, nest and mirrored egg outside the museum. The egg glittered like an 8 foot tall disco ball in the setting sun.

To be honest, the interfaith art exhibit didn’t do a lot for me… I was more interested in the permanent items, including the kinetic sculptures art cars, and painted screens.

Guy in the green hoodie is David, BHK’s cousin – I think he had a nice time with us. BHK managed to dodge my best efforts at capturing her candidly.

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We caught up with Larry and Chris after sundown – stopped off at cheeburger cheeburger for frings and shakes! My back was tricking up, so I begged off the jam session- hitting the sack with a heating pad early tonight.


1 year ago – newt and pye’s distant relative – Kiddo – the transatlantic airship kitty, GP, tina, gaming, and 2003, transfusion song

2 years ago – memes & links, dino pic, windows live pigs in space mefi, hop sing, haha ray

3 years agotorn mime video awesome, zombie-like news story, book, idiopathic, Japanese Macaque, choicepoint data theft, duckie bath, yahoo video, kaleidoscope, mapper of doom, viva broward pictures

4 years ago – Blueberry Doughnuts, Meme, Factoid and so on

5 years ago – Dorky-Newt explanation, Vet Visit, AI 20 questions, TV schedule

6 years ago – Evil proggy struggle, baby critters, folks getting fired over weblogs, palm piccies

7 years agowhy wiccans suckGeotarget

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

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

9056 – mon

Big wins of the day – I had a leftover birthday macaroon tupperware-sealed in my desk in the office! Nice treat for mid-afternoon.. still moist and delicious. Added bonus, going out for Monday night half-price falafel night after work with BHK and the in-laws – with special guest Adam!

Adam seems to be adjusting to living in an apartment near campus quite nicely… better place than I had in school, for sure… private bedroom with a private bathroom. I think he’s adapting to a land full of college age girls very happily.

We picked up 8 new dress shirts and a pair of sweat pants at Value City for under $60. I still don’t know how BHK’s shopper-sense works, but I’m glad she uses it for the powers of good, rather than evil.

Got an hour or so of TF2 in before bed… tried to play with Helen and Mattie, but their server was maxed at 32…. I’m discovering that I like playing the medic and the scout.


I can’t believe that I never knew that there is (soon to be “was” come 2009) Library of Congress police force.

The Library of Congress police force were formed in 1950 as an unarmed force that was designated to control entry and exit procedures for the library and its tunnels that connect the buildings to the rest of the Capitol complex. As of 1987, the LOC police have carried guns.


Note to self – Legit, free downloads of ancient games I never got around to playing when they cost money. Maybe my rickety old laptop will run ’em comfortably? Wild metal!

also, favorite freebie little game of the nanosecond – Shift. Clever little thing. I dig it – once I find a way to port it to the palmtop, woe is my value on my commute home!


Wow… quite a turnout re: Anonymous vs Scientology. interesting pictures. shots from the DC protest.

Supporters of Anonymous, the loosely organized group of internet activists who have attacked the Church of Scientology recently with videos and server hacks, appeared outside D.C.’s Founding Church of Scientology center on Sunday. The protest was part of a planned “global day of action” with the stated purpose of setting off a government investigation into how Scientology got tax-exempt status.

The Feb. 10 protests, which took place in dozens of cities, were initially announced last month after a video attributed to Anonymous coincided with an online effort that managed to temporarily knock out servers belonging to the Church of Scientology. The date was chosen for the protest because Feb. 10 was the birthday of Lisa McPherson, who died of a pulmonary embolism in 1995 under the care of a branch of the Church of Scientology. (via DCist)


1 year ago – value city – shopping march, johari, snugs

2 years ago – no opa, first maid service, bus pic / entry, mechanical dreams, ft laud baggage with human head, NotLD w/bunnies, johari, newtcam

3 years ago – planning the week, the room, misc thing quiz, einstein the parrot, e-journalists fired

4 years ago – sleepy day, first taste of Arnold Palmer in a can, Kerry looks like Herman Munster, C words

5 years ago – interview gear, bus palm- post, feelings, dodge rampage, Stop. Hammer time.

6 years ago – anti-erection law, newt counts coup, last day of year of the horse, finn poop, smit

7 years ago – AOK playing, lj-poetry, meanie dream, pork fat in chocolateGeotarget

9056 – sun

Got up bright and early to take care of more work stuff.. got it off of my plate by 10 am. Newton and Pyewacket hung out in the office with me, bringing soothing purrs and general cuteness to assist with the pretty boring machinations of general purpose analysis. (See cam picture posted earlier)

Once that was done, BHK and I crawled back into bed for more cool-weather Sunday snuggles. Both the boys have beens snoozing in the bed with us lately… warmest spot in the house, without a doubt.

At about 1ish, we finally got up and at ’em… invited the in-laws to Cheeburger Cheeburger. While BHK was in the shower, I installed an updated firewall on my system… it gave me a few hair-pulling moments, but managed to get it working before we headed out. What should’ve been a “click-click done” was more of a “expletive expletive click click click click click click expletive done” sort of thing.

Cheeburger^2 was nice… even nicer that the in-laws insisted on paying, even though we invited them! Veggie burger, frings and a chocolate-cherry shake for me! (BHK had similar, but her veggie burger was teriyaki with pineapple – mine was more standard lettuce, onion ring, cheddar, honey mustard, pickle combo)

Swung by ATW on the way home, and he’s all ready for valentine’s day!

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He’s holding a rose in his teeth, wearing a beret and a striped shirt, holding a heart shaped box. what a romantic!

My back was seizing a bit this weekend but is feeling better tonight. We watched the pilot and following episode of Eli Stone upstairs… not bad – depending on how the writing continues, it could be excellent or peter out. Not a bad framing device for morality / guidance tales sort.


1 year ago – buttered Chris’s nose at tinas

2 years ago – songbird, Opa, micro retro, FREE PANCAKES!, personality awareness, scary mary

3 years ago – Bro & HI, website income to AmeriCares, I miss CJ, Danny gets Debate, mirror newt pics, still talking to mel, #3 for kp/rs shenanigans, Newt Love, Danny sick (and he was again last year), sedef & crew adorable, MmmmMMMmonkey, masked grader

4 years ago – shopping for condos, zombie night club

5 years ago – memes, dreams, Streets of San Fran, computer sculptures, Pith, Good quote of the day, interviewing, hot shower

6 years ago – up early on a Sunday, Finished reading FAFCwGM, nice weather, tulpa plot

7 years ago – kid tv-memories, valentinesGeotarget

9053 – friday

Whoosh and bleh… I’m bushed!

Chinese food at in-laws, and watched Jane Austen Book Club… surprisingly good. BHK said it was better than the book.

Chris’s B’day is on the 13th… a trip to the tea room is out, since high tea was cancelled, due to lack of interest. ah well. We’ll find something else nice.


Going to try to set up a yahoo live streaming cam for newt and pye, here – http://live.yahoo.com/scottobear

we’ll see how it goes. The old default one may be better for me.

Yahoo Live! is a live video streaming site that lets users broadcast to a wide audience on the web. The video performance was quite impressive when we browsed for channels to watch (make sure that you’re looking at a user that has a decent upload speed).

There are other online video broadcasting applications like Veodia or Mogulus but the sheer video performance of Yahoo Live is much better than both. Note that Mogulus as a lot more features to create your own TV channel.

Mogulus test – http://www.mogulus.com/newtcam – I like that I can leave a clip running when it’s not live.


Pirates Vikings Knights II HL2 mod is out and looking sharp.. but where is my Monkey, Robot, Zombie game?

( Video overview ) – I do like the Pirate Captain’s Parrot Attack.


“Cornell University researchers have succeeded in implanting electronic circuit probes into tobacco hornworms as early pupae. The hornworms pass through the chrysalis stage to mature into long-lived moths whose muscles can be controlled with the implanted electronics.”

Aieee! Zombie Cyborg Bugs! Can Deathlok be far behind?


Ah, the ol’ attractive nuisance issue –

Ars Technica has an interesting article about how you could be fined $1000 if minors use your unprotected WiFi access to browse for adult material. That’s a bill that is discussed in Utah.

“If you live in Orem and your next-door neighbor’s kid uses your open WAP to look at pictures of naked women, you could find yourself on the hook for a $1,000 fine. Yarro thinks that’s fine, telling the Tribune that people “should be responsible for their barking dogs and their Internet access.”

Attractive nuisances are a strange thing.. I understand the theory, but where is the line drawn? A teenager breaks into your back porch and drowns in your pool… and you get sued by the parents sort of thing. I guess the phrase “went to reasonable lengths to prevent” will get used a lot.


1 year ago – picnic in the loft, local interests, interview meme, rpg class quiz

2 years ago – 1-year breakup, newt monkey, flavor crave poll, haiku, 3-d painted rooms, pigs in space, phone-post fog walking, guilt meme

3 years ago – jb gives me filth for my birthday, cable out, bad juju, taco ninja viagp, superman jerk, river walkabout pics, Mel and I are done.

4 years ago – Residence / Faire / ‘Zilla / Shapes , Memory Fragment, Z-squad, Money

5 years ago – playing with palm-modem, dream of hot applesauce vendor & snuggling up at a basketball game.

6 years ago – bro hit on his bike by a cop, bibles in hotels, walkies, FMM lost use of the Net during working hours, Talk about Chupa / small hands,tiffany in playboy.

7 years ago – 100 monkeys debunked, FMM sold Tampa, fending off the end of a flu (history repeats itself, I guess!), Suzy’s crappy computerGeotarget