Tag Archives: pictures

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.

0308081216.jpg

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.

 

0308081432.jpg

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

0308081433.jpg

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

0308081447.jpg

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

0308081450.jpg

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

9187 – Friday

Rainy day, as my voice post previous can attest.

50 things I’ve done meme continues with items 27-29. I…

27.’ran my own BBS system back in the early 80’s – an Atari 800XL with two ways to connect – a 300 and a 1200 baud modem…later I added a third modem that ran at 9600 baud. It used 3 floppy drives to share data. It boiled down to a simple message board with a few instances of trade wars on it. I was also the co-sysop of three other atari boards out there – the community was small, but there was a lot of signal – very little noise. Brent had his own soapbox on there.. “Kaiser’s Korner” where he did goofy right-wing rants – primarily to bait people into responding. His section didn’t last long, thankfully. My bbs eventually faded into a website, and then after quite a bit of rattling and rolling, a place for my own journal. Livejournal and current blogging software is a lot easier than hand-rolling every html page and uploading it.

28.’have a mortgage, and own (with the bank) a condominium in Deerfield Beach, Florida. I have been considering selling it, or keeping it as a backup crash pad of friends and relatives that want a place to be while in the sunshine state. It’s a one-bedroom on the third floor, with a huge porch. I’m especially fond of the iguanas that live out by the lake in the courtyard.. the ibis are a fave, too. Newton prefers the squirrels.

29.’Have been member of both the Civil Air Patrol and Boy Scouts – both were pretty positive expeiriences, and I’d advise anyone to try both, despite the boy scout complaints about deisim or sexism.


Guy on the bus yesterday evening reeked of old sweat, recent booze and other items too gross to go into. It wasn’t so bad, except that he got up, changed seats and sat directly in front of me… with no escape mechanism for me. My nose was tingling for about an hour afterward. brings to mind the following – Bus trips from DC to NY- Free wifi for the trip, too. (sort of like dc2ny ) I wonder how long they’ll stay “clean and fresh”?

Secaucus, N.J.-based Boltbus, a division of Greyhound Lines Inc., said tickets went on sale Monday for the service that will start March 27.

Boltbus will run between Metro Center at 11th and G streets NW and two stops in New York City — near Penn Station at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue and in south Manhattan at 6th Avenue and Canal Street.

Boltbus will compete with the Washington Deluxe, Apex Bus, Vamoose Express and DC2NY, a service that started in July 2007 between Dupont Circle and Penn Station in New York with a stop at the McPherson Square Metro station.

DC2NY launched in July and marketed the service by offering free water and high-speed wireless Internet service onboard.

Boltbus is not only also offering wireless, but it is also using a first-come first-serve incentive to sign up riders.

The company said one-way tickets start at $1 plus a 50 cent booking fee and become more expensive as the bus gets full. Also, Boltbus is offering a free one-way ticket for every eight round trips purchased.

Tickets for each bus company vary, but are typically between $30 and $40 round trip, which is significantly cheaper than Amtrak’s cost of about $140 and up for a round-trip ticket.

The buses tend to attract travelers and students who are looking for an affordable way to get between the cities.

Boltbus said it will offer eight trips daily, starting at 7:30 a.m. from D.C. to New York.


1 year ago – Cathy’s b-day, fawlty towers counterstrike, sleep pose quiz, hits map,

2 year ago – sunburn better, fliff, ubuntu, wendy/uber, top ten accidental discoveries, senior year, luthor, poll 4/5 truths, glow plants

3 years ago – LDMs, RI high-tails it, elevator prank, screaming turtle, sunburn recovery, doctor d, pelican memory, ghostbusters/gaming, weather tracking, first mention of google video, record bro, freeware alternatives, interaction quiz, Burdines dissolves into Macys, Florida gambling, greyhound rescue

4 years ago – visited with Kev, 12 things meme, bro, CoD, train ride pictures, Newt Healthy

5 years ago – Wakeup, SS card, LAN party, classifieds

6 years ago – groceries, cloud makers, Lj folks, virus PSA, mapmaking

7 years ago – fly me to the moon, edelweiss, web-gamesGeotarget

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.

0303082047.jpg 0303082047a.jpg


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

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.

S6301501S6301500S6301499S6301498S6301497S6301496S6301494S6301493S6301492S6301491Pano - S6301491 - 5091x2511 - SLIN - Blended LayerS6301486S6301485S6301484S6301483S6301482S6301481Pano - S6301478 - 4870x3753 - SLIN - Blended LayerS6301477S6301476S6301475S6301474S6301473S6301472S6301471S6301470S6301469S6301468Pano - S6301468 - 4842x2293 - SLIN - Blended LayerS6301467S6301466S6301465Pano - S6301465 - 3857x2459 - SLIN - Blended Layer0301081608.jpgS6301464S6301463S6301462S6301461Pano - S6301460 - 3566x4291 - SLIN - Blended LayerS6301459S6301457S6301456S6301455S6301454S6301453Pano - S6301451 - 5349x2396 - SLIN - Blended LayerS6301450S6301449S6301448S6301447S6301446S6301445Pano - S6301445 - 5088x4462 - SLIN - Blended LayerS6301444S6301443S6301442

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

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

.S6301417.S6301416 - blam- bullethole.S6301414.

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

S6301411.S6301410.S6301409.

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.


S6301392.S6301390.S6301388.

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

S6301386.

 

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

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

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

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

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!

0210081614.jpg

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

9054 – sat

Standard morning – good ol’ allergy shots. BHK noted that the reception area was more flirty with me than usual… I didn’t think so, but I got teased by the Mrs. all the way to Maerten’s, where we finally got BHK her engagement ring… 16 months after we got married! I’m happy that the designs worked out as well as they did…. The gang there were very good about the whole development process, and are always wonderful to work with. Jamie and Heather were especially caring and diligent throughout. Kudos to them!

cad development shots –

zpfile003.zpfile002.zpfile001.zpfile000

design sketches and wax molds for the gold casting
.von%20Berg.zpfile000.zpfile002.zpfile001

 

Cameraphone shot – doesn’t really capture the color, but the size is there… I’ll have to take a side view to show the ports better. I’m pleased at how well it goes with her wedding band.
0209081221.jpg

see Dandelion Wine, chapters 28-29.

Chapter 28-29 (The Swan) — Bill Forrester, with Douglas at his side, orders lime-vanilla ice at the soda fountain. His unusual request catches the attention of ninety-five year old Helen Loomis who invites him to visit her house tomorrow. Bill complies, and he and Helen start a friendly conversation about the appearances people keep up for each other, that soon diverges into Loomis acting as a “Time Machine” similar to Colonel Freeleigh to transport Bill into the pyramids of Egypt . Bill comments on how comfortable he feels talking to her, and Helen replies by reminding him that she’s only an old woman. While lounging in his chair, Bill attempts to envision her as being young again; he succeeds for a moment in seeing “the swan,” which he unintentionally says out loud, strangely disquieting Helen.

Bill continues to visit Helen every day for two and a half weeks, but only on the last day does he tell her what motivated him to visit her in the first place: a photograph taken of her when she was twenty. He had seen the picture in the newspaper for the town ball and intended to go to the ball to seek the beautiful girl it showed, until someone told him that the picture had been taken a long time ago and had been used by the newspaper every year since then to advertise the ball. Helen replies with an overview of a young man she once knew in her youth who was handsome but wild and reckless; he left her, but when she saw Bill at the fountain that day, she was strongly reminded of him — almost as if he was a reincarnation of her former companion.

Some time later, Bill finds Helen writing a letter addressed to him. Helen explains to him that she will be dead in a few days, and that the letter she is writing will come to him then. When Bill attempts to protest about the lack of time they have had together, Helen says that she believes that they will meet again sometime later — possibly in reincarnated forms. She tells him to marry and live happily, but says that he has to die before the age of fifty in order to ensure that when they are reincarnated, they will be of the correct ages and be able to meet and fall in love with each other.

Two days later, Bill receives the letter. Inside it is a note reading, “A dish of lime-vanilla ice.”

BHK and I timed it right.

My turn to get some goodies… we stopped off to pick up some comics at aardvark – noticed they have a lot of treehouse and a more looney labs games in stock. I picked up showcase presentsjustice league of america (eyed metamorpho, and ordered jonah hex ) , new abe sapien mini series, devi for bhk, all star superman #8 w/ zibarro

Stopped off at Mexico on the way home for some veggie taquitos, and full as happy little ticks, we rolled home in order to spend much of the rest of the day in bed, reading comics and snuggled up under the covers with the kitties.

Visited the in-laws for a moment to show off the ring and just say howdy…They were going to come over later for supper, but never made it. We’ll catch up with ’em tomorrow.

About 6-7pm, I got notice that the conversion to the new software at work had gone through, so I spent a few hours making sure elements were up to snuff for monday… I’m going to review it more tomorrow morning, but it was nice to get the bulk of it out of my hair this early. Sooner it’s looked at, the sooner the problem spots can be removed – or so the theory goes.


1 year ago – taste test, dave at codered, BHK girls day out

2 years ago – an owl!, tree pic, space piggy hits, plans with Dan to see wicked (canceled), home cost estimator, floating wind turbines, homeless man beating,

3 years ago – Rooster year, Kerby, palm doodle, nifty dolls, web-flowers, ljers who kill, machine gun vs katana, google maps, living with a corpse

4 years ago – RIP, J.S. , meme, Long distance , layers, GA success

5 years ago – tittles, palm pics, Pondering Newt getting pooch bro, incubus

6 years ago – bro email, morty the cylon, Emily Dickinson, Tulpas, links

7 years ago – Mooning over lies, lj drama, loneliesGeotarget