D Blog

Avett Bros Video

2006-07-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

Recorded at the Flying Anvil in Greensboro. One of my favorite songs.

Hard Polka

2006-06-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

I've always loved Polkacide, a band that has the attitude of a "hardcore" polka band, although their music is about as corny plain-ole polka as you can get.

And then I read about KORPIKLAANI today. Once again, not true "hardcore polka" that I know must exist somewhere, but they obviously live in the rarely visited region where metal and polka meet.

I get the impression these guys would eat most accordion players. HERE'S a video.

BEEF BURGER 45cents TODAY

2006-05-02T08:52:00.000-05:00

I heard the tail end of a radio promo yesterday about BEEF BURGER (great site here).
Rumor has it that TODAY and TODAY ONLY, they are selling the burgers for 45 CENTS, to celebrate their 45th anniversary.
If you havn't seen the way a BEEF BURGER is made, go check it out... they broil the beef on a rotating merry-go-round. Beef goes on the top shelf and the bun goes on the bottom shelf... that way all the fat and juices land on your bun and you don't loose any. Brilliant.
I'll post a photo if I end up going there for lunch today.

Bush for Student Council

2006-04-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

Unlike most Highschool student council races, nobody can accuse national politics of being a popularity contest.

Slapping Alligators

2006-04-06T07:53:00.000-05:00

I made a phonecall this morning for business. The man on the other line, who I don't know very well, other than one face-to-face meeting and several phone conversations said almost immediatly after picking up the phone, in a strong southern accent:

"Can I call you back in a few minutes? I'm in the middle of Slapping Alligators."

I said okay.

I hope he is able to call me back soon. Alligators bite.

Avett Brothers at The Flying Anvil

2006-03-20T17:02:00.000-05:00

The band I currently wouldn't hesitate to call my favorite is playing at the grand opening of Greensboro's newest concert venue, The Flying Anvil, in May. I bought my tickets today... I bet they sell out soon (when they played at Cat's Cradle a few weeks ago, they were gone months in advance)

May 12, 2006 THE AVETT BROTHERS
with Mad Tea Party, Beaconwood
$12
Doors open at 8pm Buy Tickets

RSS - Really Simple (time) Suckification

2006-03-14T17:28:00.002-05:00

RSS-type data streams are arguably revolutionizing the internet, business, and the whole concept of "linked".
In the meantime, the only purpose I see for it is to waste a growing portion of my day by feeding me articles, blogpost, photos, etc. that I would like to see.... But in reality I don't have the time to.

Sure I'm getting much more relevant info that I want, but that's the problem... Overall, I'm getting MUCH MORE INFO than I was when a website was just a website. Now there is enough interesting content being created and organized daily to fill up 24 hours of just reading.... but unfortunately, accumulating knowledge for knowledge sake, doesn't really create any value.

Web 2.0 is a dangerous timesucker for easily distracted people.

Strange New Products

2006-03-10T08:23:00.000-05:00

I ran into an awesome blog called:
Strange New Products
The author simply finds and reports on new sure-to-fail consumer products. Very amusing.

House of Cosbys

2006-03-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

Cloning Bill Cosby
Be careful if you decide to clone Bill Cosby

DrankTank

2006-02-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

I've started a new blog:
DrankTank: The Beverage Blog
It's all about beverages.

I plan on compiling reviews, news, photos, ideas, comments, etc. about beverages of all kinds.

If you know anybody in the beverage industry, let them know about it.
Better yet, if you know anyone who drinks soft drinks, coffee, beer, milk, juice, or water.... tell them there's now a place for them.

No Horseplay

2006-02-24T14:49:00.000-05:00

Too bad for these guys that physics and the human body don't work like they do in a Marx Bros. movie.

"The two were running down a third-floor hallway at Stacy Residence Hall shortly after midnight, university spokeswoman Karen Moon said. Their momentum carried them through a window at the end of the hall, and they landed on a concrete ramp leading to the dorm's basement-level laundry room."

Web 2.0 for Dummies

2006-02-17T16:02:00.000-05:00

HERE is the most bookmark-worthy site I've seen in a long time.

Pandora

2006-02-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

Apparently this is really popular, but I had no idea it existed until just now.
http://www.pandora.com
They must have an amazing database of songs and tags.
Put in a song or artist you like, hit play... Very excellent.

Good Beer

2006-02-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

I tried my first beer yesterday... my first beer that I brewed, that is.
To my suprise, it's good. American Wheat.
Not amazing or the best beer ever, but it sure beats Bud.

Coming up next: Nut Brown Ale

SKY JUICE

2006-02-09T08:46:00.000-05:00

Thirsty?
Originally uploaded by Urbn.

In an effort to begin bringing you the most interesting Beverage stories of the day, apparently there is a fad in Malaysia right now to call drinking water "SKY JUICE".

Here is one skyjuice-drinker's commentary on ordering a regular water at a Malaysian restaurant.

Close call on Vodka supplies

2006-02-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

Russia was about to run out of Vodka this week! The government put a new tax on Vodka production effective JAN 1, 2006... but according to the articles I read, something went wrong with the tax stamp printing and distribution that caused ALL production to shut down for the last month!
Amazing. As incompetent as our government may seem at times, I challenge anyone to name a government anytime in history that had so much on it's plate and did a better job. Shutting down a whole industry (vodka) for a month because of poor planning OR destroying a city (New Orleans) because of poor planning... I just hope we live and learn.

Life goes on. Vodka will be produced and New Orleans will come back. (the N.O. link is a good article about the port of N.O. coming back online... it was a MESS for anyone who handles logisitics of any kind in that part of the country... like yours truely).

Grace Kelly, Princess of Morocco

2006-02-08T08:01:00.000-05:00

Oh my. Just when controversy over the IGNORANCE of western society toward the Islamic world is about to boil over again, along comes NBC's coverage of the WINTER OLYMICS.
Below is a little clip taken from http://www.nbcolympics.com/countries/5056774/detail.html
Surely they will catch this and fix it soon.

************************************************************

Morocco

Located about 90 miles south of Torino, Monaco is a famous tourist spot and tax haven on the Mediterranean coast wedged between France and Italy. It has been an independent principality for more than 300 years. The late Princess Grace, formerly American movie star Grace Kelly, was married to Monaco's Prince Rainier.
************************************************************

Blond Joke

2006-02-03T19:38:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I missed this blond joke! It's the best one I've ever heard. I don't usually put crap like this on the blog, but this one is worth looking at.

Brokeback to the Future

2006-02-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks again to Marty for more bloggable content.

This is a brilliantly edited trailer for Brokeback to the Future

Comparing Manwich and DSL

2006-02-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

In Greensboro, NC there are primarily 2 choices for broadband service providers. DSL with Bellsouth or Cable with Time Warner. I have had cable for a long time now.

I really hate Bellsouth DSL. From my experience, it's a pain to install (filters, etc), slow (compared to cable), and unreliable (especially true if you are cursed with a @bellsouth.net email address).

HOWEVER, I have been known to put up with unpleasantries like sitting in coach or buying store brand Manwich. So when the bellsouth telemarketer called last night, I didn't hang up immediately. In fact, the longer I stayed on the line expressing how much I don't like DSL, the better the deal they were willing to give me. He didn't even bother with the typical DSL sales soundbites like "you'll have a direct connection to the office, as opposed to sharing bandwidth like cable" because I shot that retarded stuff down early. Nope, this guy went straight for the wallet... he knew I already had the real Manwich... the only way I was going to go with the nasty tasting generic stuff is if it was a LOT cheaper.

Long story short, Bellsouth must be desperate. They offered me $150 visa check card, a free modem, a reduced monthly price, and no contract. Duh. Who in their right mind would turn that down. I might keep 2 ISP for a few months and still come out ahead. Or if I keep it for 6 months, they'll send me an additional $75 check card. Wow. Good business.

Flickr Ransom Note

2006-02-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

Someone has built this neat little application: http://metaatem.net/words

I can't get the html creator to work, but that's probably becasue I sell lumber instead of program computers.

Beer label

2006-01-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

for Rick
Originally uploaded by plapp.

I guess I need to print these.

Don't Red Bull and drive

2006-01-23T14:23:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by argusmaniac.

The idea of the beverage blog is starting to amuse me. Be on the lookout. In the mean time, here's yet another beverage-related post on D-Blog.

According to BBC news a man in the UK was sent to jail recently for consuming 20 cans of Red Bull and "ferrying members of his family to various parties during the night". His depression combined with his huge overdose of caffeine sent into a crazed altered mental state where he lead police on a 50 mile chase!

I have reached this insane level of caffeine several times. Just last week, I reached the level of pacing around a lumberyard for 3 hours hoping my heart wouldn’t explode.

Beverage Blog?

2006-01-21T17:11:00.000-05:00

Hmm. Casually looking over my very low-traffic blog, I realized over half of my posts are about beverages of some sort. Maybe I should dissolve the "D BLOG" catch-all that nobody reads and promote a "all things beverage" blog. Reviews, photos, etc.

Self-heating coffee

2006-01-21T17:09:00.000-05:00

Self-heating coffee
Originally uploaded by dshular.

I couldn't walk by this in the store. It's self heating coffee!! Some strange chemical I guess. Now you don't need fire, microwave, or stove to have hot coffee.

Wasting time on line

2006-01-10T08:34:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me when I get a forward from someone about a girl with cancer whose dying wish is that I forward her letter to 10 people, or I myself will get cancer. Or a photo of a giant cat. Or a warning that my cell phone is about to be under attack by telemarketers.

Kudos to the people that think up this crap... but shame on the people who don't take the time to google almost ANY phrase in the email and see that 99.99% of this crap is fake.

True, I probably spend more time reading about the origin of these hoaxes when I get one than if I had just forwarded it to 10 friends in the first place. I like reading urbanlegend.com and the like, but today I ran across about.com's network of hoaxes. It is more fun to browse around.
HERE are the current top 25 hoaxes.
HERE is a slideshow of photoshop jobs that have gotten way too much circulation.

Skiing Drunk

2006-01-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

I like to Ski. I also like beer, wine, and some liquor.
I really like this article about US Olympic skier Bode Miller who likes to ski drunk.

My Beer

2006-01-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

For Christmas I got a beer making kit. A good one. So I've started making beer. I'm very happy about that.

I'm going to need bottles. Many many bottles. I can't use the kind you twist off, so don't give me those... it's the pop top ones I'm interested in.

If you drink beer and live close enough to save your empties for me... I'll return the favor by giving you some beer once my first batch is done.

Rollergirls

2006-01-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight at 10pm on A&E is the premier of ROLLERGIRLS. I'm not a big fan of reality TV, but this one has got my attention, at least for one episode.

Best of all, while googling to get more info on this, I ran across CAROLINA ROLLERGIRLS. There is a league based in Raleigh. Road Trip!

Milk Challenge

2005-12-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the internet, I can probably never run for a political office. There are too many strange aspects of my life cronicled here. For example, I ran across my college friend Patrick's website the other day, which included photos and commentary of me drinking too much Milk and throwing up into a bucket in my back yard.

HERE are the emails leading upto the event.
HERE are some photos and commentary.
And since everyone else is doing it, I've posted some photos 1 2 3 of the event as well.

Hubble finds moons around Uranus

2005-12-22T16:46:00.000-05:00

Middle Schoolers, late-night talkshow writers, and I all delight in how easy the jokes will be for this one.

Bye Bye Bell

2005-12-22T09:56:00.000-05:00

My dad has worked for a local telephone company in East Tennessee for almost 30 years. He's still got a few years until retirment. I used to think maybe the land-line telephone companies were going to make it at least until his retirement.

I doubt it now.

Almost weekly there is some news or new technology that puts us a little closer to unimitied, universal, FREE phonecalls... from anywhere to anywhere. Good thing my dad is the DSL expert... that at least has got a few years left in it.

As for the land telephone, I'm not sure why I still pay $35 per month for a system that only lets me call from my house, and extra charges if I call anyone outside of a 30 mile radius. Kinda silly these days.

NYC Strike

2005-12-20T14:04:00.000-05:00

I don't claim to know anything about NYC. But I've been in the situation where it would really suck not to have public transportation. There aren't a whole lot of photos yet on flickr, but I liked this one.

What to do with Leo?

2005-12-19T11:47:00.000-05:00

I'm a huge West Wing Fan. I've been watching it since the very early episodes (Martin Sheen's first term as President). The show always amazes me how they can create characters that are so noble.... Something that NOBODY thinks of when they think of real politicians. Even though the show has gone down hill the last season or two, I've stuck with it.

Late last week, John Spencer (aka Leo McGarry), one of the main actors in the show died of a heart attack. If he hadn't died, I actually had his character pegged as a future President of West Wing. Spencer's character is currently running mate of likely winner Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits).

Here was my big "what-if" senario:

Santos wins the election in the next few episodes.... there is an assassination attempt in the last few minutes of the season finale.... cliffhanger all summer on if he is going to die or not...... First episode of next Season, Santos dies leaving Leo President. THEN, Leo can bring Martin Sheen (President Bartlet) on as Chief of Staff (McGerry's role before hitting the campaign trail)... completing the roll reversal the two life-long friends have talked about since the beginning of the series! I know this had to be at the top of the possible senarios the writers had dreamed up!

That would have made for good TV. Oh well. Good luck to the writers now. They have gotten themselves into a mess. Who is going to be Santo's VP candidate now? And more importantly, how do you get rid of Spencer's character? Disappearing on an extended vacation or getting ousted from the political scene because of a scandal (like Toby Ziegler) just doesn't fit.

So why not just give him a sudden heart attack and let the character die with the actor (like they did with John Ritter in whatever show he was on when he died)? Well, I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure the first episode of this season had a flash-forward to about 3 years in the future that included Leo McGerry. So either they just ignore that, or they are going to have to get really creative.

Since the series is going downhill anyway... more toward the ER/SoapOpera Drama type show... it wouldn't surprise me if they just put him in a coma until the series ends. Too bad.

Freakonomics

2005-12-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

I am facinated by the difference between correlation and causation. Some people call it econimics. I have even mentioned it in previous posts. Once you think about this kind of thing, you can see people making arguments based on correlation all the time.

I have been reading the book FREAKONOMICS, which is a bold attempt to take on social issues with the objective mind of an economist. Good stuff. The authors are excellent at finding appropriate control groups in the real world so their conclusions hold water.

Some of the conclusions: Roe VS Wade caused a huge, unpresedented crime drop; Sumo Wrestling is extreamly corrupt; and the invention of crack has done about as much bad for the black community as the civil rights movement has done good.

Here's an interesting article tackling the question of how much will it cost a woman to have a baby now or 1 year from now.

Math Trick

2005-12-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

1. Grab a calculator

2. key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)

3. Multiply by 80

4. Add 1

5. Multiply by 250

6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number

7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again

8. Subtract 250

9. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer?

Think smaller, think more legs.

2005-12-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

On the radio today I heard a McDonald's commercial for the McRib. Apparently, they have decided to do away with it forever. The ad says it's been around since the mid-80's and has a huge cult following, and mentions the website mcrib.com. It's supposed to be a farewell tour.

From the look of the website, the execs at McDonalds must have seen the Simpons episode making fun of Krusty's "ribwich", which had to be discontinued because the unnamed animal it came from became extinct ("think smaller, think more legs"). As for the real McRib, the new campaign actually goes so far as to introduce a fantasy animal, the boneless pig.

What really makes me sick about this campaign, is that it works. Yeah, it works even on me. Damn McDonalds. I hate the place, but they are everywhere, their food is cheap, and for the most part, edible. And now that you can get fairly healthy food there, and they are using an ad campaign that basically says "our food is freakin' scary" (like the McGriddle and McRib campaigns), you've got to give some credit to the execs at McDonalds. If I had that hell job, I don't think I could do it any better. I want a McRib now.

FAT TIME

2005-12-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah. Yesterday was my first EGG NOG MILKSHAKE of the year. God Bless Cookout. And I'd like to give thanks to whatever twist of fate put such wonderfull shakes within a 2 minute drive of my office. Fat time is here.

Squeeze An Egg Into A Bottle

2005-11-28T12:08:00.000-05:00

If you've never done the experiment where you squeeze a hard boiled egg into a glass jar, do it. For some reason, it always amazes me. INSTRUCTIONS.

No more shopping!

2005-11-22T15:25:00.000-05:00

I hate shopping. I've been doing Christmas shopping online for years, but I ALWAYS running into the same problem... I wait until the last minute and then can't get it shipped in time.... so I end up having to go to stores anyway.

GOOGLE has just introduced the perfect solution.
1. Go to Froogle.
2. Search for what you are looking for.
3. Click LOCAL SHOPPING and enter the ZIP you want to search.
4. Voila. Maps to the closest and cheapest places to get it... with live inventories from most stores.

So no worries this year. I've got at least a month before I have to worry about buying gifts for people.

EVIL BANKS

2005-11-21T08:49:00.000-05:00

I spotted this bumper sticker at an antique bottle show. The truck also sported a padlock and a NRA sticker. This guy knows security.

Who controls the internet?

2005-11-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

I typically start my day reading the headlines from BBC, CNN, and a few other news sources. This morning, I noticed something a little bizarre from the headlines describing how the US/UN negotiations on domain control are going.
BBC Reports: US retains hold of the internet
INFOWORLD Reports: U.S. caves in over monopoly control of the Internet

What? Aren't these 2 headlines about the exact same thing? How can they possibly both be true? So much for my plan of scanning the headlines to get the news. I guess I'll actually have to read the articles to see what is going on.

"Fiscal Hurricane"

2005-11-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

A 'fiscal hurricane' on the horizon. Today's article from USA TODAY is about the most depressing and realistic prediction of the US economy I have seen in a long time. Put simply, nobody from either party is addressing the historic budget problems we have. Because politicians suck at selling tax hikes and budget cuts, it would be suicide if Democrats try to cut spending or if Republicans try to raise taxes. But economists say both have got to happen, and soon. The author compares our fiscal situation to that of Rome before it's collapse.

I had an history professor back in college that liked to compare the US empire to that of Rome. He predicted we were already on the road to making tragic Roman mistakes like blurring the line between pop-culture and politics (Ventura? Schwarzenegger? Commodus?).

You know, I REALLY love this country and it would be really nice if it was still around when I'm old, I'd even like to give my kids a shot at growing old in the USA. Why the hell won't politicians look past the next elections for once. In 2008 voters and the media must find a way to steer the discussion away from relatively insignificant issues like monkeys, fetusus, and 2 dudes kissing..... and force politicians to address the real issues, like how they are going to keep this country's budget from imploding on itself in the next 50 years.

The Scene

2005-11-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

Finally. I've been wondering why Greensboro dosn't have an art movie house. No doubt it would go over well here. I havn't been here yet, and it seems like they're taking a strange approach to it, but it's something:
http://www.thescene.us/

Grapefruit.

2005-11-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

Looks like I've hit a blogslump. To my 1-2 readers out there, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been busy and strange lately.

So, here's one for your reading pleasure. I learned something today. I think it's one of those things that somehow you go YEARS not learning about... but to EVERYONE ELSE in the universe, it's common knowledge. A little piece of common sense that I can only assume everyone learns in elementary school slipped by me somehow.

See, I've always hated grapefruits. Bitter to the point of inedible. But apparently, I've never been told, or never seen anyone eat them correctly in 26 years of fruit eating. You don't eat the skin that's on each slice! If you eat it like a orange, it tastes nasty. But I'll be damned, if you just take the thin clear skin off and eat the really red stuff.... it's great. Amazing. I had no idea. If you read this, I'd love a quick informal survey.... Did everyone know this but me somehow? Leave a comment.

"Can I quit now? Can I come home?"

2005-11-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

We all use email for silly, chatty bull on a daily basis. So, you can't really criticize someone for occasionally using their work email to get fashion advise, arrange a dog sitter, and if they are a little careless, maybe even complain about their job.

That is, of course, unless you are the Director of FEMA and there are hundreds of people under your responsibility dying that very day because of poor Hurricane Katrina planning and execution! In case you haven't already seen the story, or read the emails... HERE is a link to some of his emails during and a few days following Hurricane Katrina.

What a jackass. I wonder how a guy like that gets into a position of.... oh wait, yeah, that's right.. HE IS APPOINTED BY THE FREAKIN' PRESIDENT!

Saddam Hussein & Mel Gibson

2005-10-31T12:41:00.000-05:00

Can you pick the power-hungary, money-loving, jew-hating, crazy-eyed rich guy with a nappy beard out of this line-up?

(They really should go as each other for HALLOWEEN)

Photo of Photos

2005-10-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

Now I really love Flickr. I noticed last night they finally added the ability to order prints. So today at about 5:10pm, I ordered these two 8X10s. At 5:40pm, I showed up at Target and there they were. They sold me a couple of frames too. I've got my account setup so if you are a contact of mine, you can print my photos too. (I get no royalties unfortunatly... Yahoo & Target make all the money... but the prices aren't bad).

(Low Tax) Looper

2005-10-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

I have no idea what sparked this in my memory, but I had to share it. While attending college at Tennessee Tech University in the tiny town of Cookeville, TN, there was a story that got major national attention... Probably the only time something noteworthy has happened in several decades in Putnam County, TN. But it's a nutty story that you should hear about if you missed it.

The county tax assessor legally changed his name to "Byron (Low-Tax) Looper" so that would show up on the ballot when he ran for State Senate. Unfortunately for Mr. Low-Tax, the incumbent Sen. Tommy Burks was well loved and there was no chance, even with a witty name, that he was going to be defeated in the election.

A few days before the election, Low-Tax decides to show up a Sen. Burks farm and murder him! And some strange law on the Tennessee books says that a dead guy can't run for office... and there can't be a replacement if the election is within 30 days.... so now Low-Tax, the murderer, is unopposed in the election.

Luckily, Ms. Burks, who is now a widow, is a quick thinker and begins campaigning a write-in ballot for herself. She wins by a landslide! In the meantime, Low-Tax is on the run and hiding out in Arkansas. They finally caught him and he is currently serving time in Brushy Mountain State Prison (which happens to be the same prison James Earl Ray was in, and escaped from in 1977).

Somebody has done a good job telling the story on wikipedia.

Being fat makes you eat doughnuts

2005-10-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

Oh, how I love to read the many "studies" that crop up on the internet almost weekly. Apparently, any ass with a clipboard hanging around a university can throw some numbers together, look at them from any angle they want, and some highly visited online news outlet will publish it as truth. HERE is one yahoo considered worthy of their bandwidth. The numbers show that a lot of smokers are stupid. Fine. No suprise, but at least worthy of mention.

However, their conclusion: Smoking must make you stupid.
AHHHH! Idiots!

The article does at least mention (very briefly) the study's downfall "The reason for the observed associations is unknown, and the researchers did not investigate the 'cause and effect story'"

If more fat people are hanging out at Krispy Kreme than skinny people, the first conclusion should NOT be that being fat makes you want doughnuts! Get your cause and effect straight people. Sorry to keep refrencing FSM, but that has about the same logic as my previous post.

Global Warming & Pirates

2005-10-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

Much to the relief of coastal areas, there is new evidence pointing to a significant reduction in the freqency of hurricaines, earthquakes, and global warming in the very near future.

The evidence I speak of, of course, is the increase in pirates. If you are ignorant to the statisically proven relationship between these two, you need to further study the teachings of FSM.

CONTRA CONCERT TOMORROW

2005-10-20T13:43:00.000-05:00

WUAG Presents: Contraband, We Versus the Shark, Ho-Ag

Friday, October 21st

8pm, UNCG Faculty Center, Greensboro, FREE!!

We say this often, but this show is extremelly special. The main reason being it is only the 4th ever performance of Contraband. Who are Contraband you ask, well they are a project that has a band play the soundtrack to the 1988 Nintendo Game, "Contra" while two dudes beat the game in under 20 minutes. This will all happen live and one night only.

EL MUNDO LOTTERY

2005-10-20T07:32:00.000-05:00

I've gotten dozens of emails in the last 5 years telling me I have won some foreign country's lottery (usually somewhere in Europe, or, surprise, Nigeria). But yesterday in the mail was something that really surprised me. An envelope, delivered by snail mail, with a real stamp on it from Spain, and the .78 euro postmark from Spain. No return address, and a simple white address label for my address. "SPAM" coming by snailmail was not at all my first thought, considering I know a fair amout of people across Europe, either natives or American transplants, who would write me. Much to my delight though, the envelope did not contain a letter from a long lost friend, but a notification that I have won $615,810 from "EL MUNDO SPANISH SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY COMPANY S.A."
I was speechless! How amazing! How wonderful! I felt so honored that a spammer had taken the time to print off... IN COLOR... a 2-page notification (complete with instructions on how to pay the 10% maintenence fee up front), print my address onto a label, then spend about a dollar to send me their junk from Spain! This morning, I just laughed at the 2 Viagra offers, and the prince of Nigeria who wanted me to help him get the royal fortunee out of the country. These people need to send me a letter. Emails are so impersonal, cheap, and common. Unfortunatly, I think more people are more likely to fall for the print version. I seriously doubt they get the same return on their money as a free email campaign, but good luck to them with all their hard work.

2005-10-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

Right now, you can't order prints from flickr's website, but there is a "backdoor" they are not advertising yet. They have partnered with QOOP, whick is more about printing posters and books than the traditional single-print photo. If you just go to their site, you can link to your flickr account and try it out. The random photo posters are a good novelty item.

Spies Like Us

2005-10-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

There are two articles on BBC today related to spies. The news getting the most attention is the announcment of the next JAMES BOND, Daniel Craig. This will be the 21st movie and the 6th Bond.
Fortunatly, the US government has a plan to counteract the threat from a new British spy on the world spy scene. Like our response to 911, the planned response to the Bond announcment is to reorganize, reorganize, reorganize. The National Clandestine Service will now be in charge of all foreign spies. People will be getting new titles, paychecks will come from different parts of the budget, and "Jose" (our new head spy's codename, which is not nearly as cool as "007") will probably get a new stapler.

I bet this guy pukes

2005-10-12T06:46:00.000-05:00

Today, some random gas station employee in Indiana is planning on drinking a Mountain Dew every ten minutes for 24 hours straight. You can get live updates HERE. I did something very similar once (well, actually twice) with Cream Soda and Cheerwine. I bet he ralphs before sundown.

Joshua Tree

2005-10-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

look at photos

2005-10-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

My first round of FLICKR photos are up. I went ahead and got a PRO account. They say they can keep the private photo private, the friends photos to friends, family just for the family, and my public photos circulating all over the world. If you got an invitation from me, sign up. It probably means I alredy have photos of you on there, and you are "prequalified" as a freind or family. This is a really cool site, even if you just stick to the free account and never upload any photos, browsing interesting photos is excellent. If you like a photo, make sure to mark it a favorite.... and once you get an account, feel free to help tag my photos with relevent words. COME ON IN

Study Touts Coffee's Benefits

2005-10-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

ARTICLE
I saw this "study" when it was first published a month or so ago. Anyone who has ever been around me before noon, knows I REALLY like coffee. But, as much as I love coffee, I laughed when I saw this article because of it's ridiculous argument. It simply says that Americans drink a lot of coffee. That’s all it says! It never mentions the actual level of antioxidants in each source. This "study" was obviously commissioned by the coffee industry. Coffee is WAY down the list on where you should get your antioxidants from. We just drink a whole lot more coffee than we do pomegranate juice or green tea, or whatever the other good things are that don't have the negative side effects of coffee. We could probably do a study that concludes something like "AMERICANS GET MORE GREEN VEGETABLES FROM BIG MACS THAN FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE"... That doesn’t mean we should encourage eating BigMacs, it just means that we eat a bunch of BigMacs and they happen to have a little bit of lettuce on them.

Dynamite & Gates

2005-10-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

Napoleon Dynamite and Bill Gates in a very funny movie together. You should watch this.

Captain Jack Rackham

2005-10-06T15:09:00.000-05:00

My pirate name is:

Captain Jack Rackham

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Google maps tip

2005-10-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of Google Maps. For some reason, I never bookmarked it, and everytime I wanted to use it I would actually Google "google maps", which is just retarded. Now, Google Local and Google Maps are the same, so even though maps is still considered beta, you can get to maps through the main google page.... just click on LOCAL above the search bar. This is going to save me at least a second everytime I want a map. Although, I'm going to have to use this shortcut about 90 times to make up for the time it took to post this tip.

Longwang

2005-10-04T10:17:00.000-05:00

In the Atlantic Ocean, we name hurricaines after real human names. In Asia, however, there is a lot of variation on how they name typhoons. I bring this up simply because "LONGWANG" is now hitting China. HERE is a complicated summary of how they do the naming.
By the way, Longwang means "Dragon King" in Chinese, nothing else. LONGWANG NEWS.

October

2005-10-03T15:32:00.000-05:00

October is without a doubt my favorite month. It's just about perfect in my opinion. It has got colorful trees, german beer, moderate weather, an extra hour sleep, and Halloween. I highly reccommend combining as many of these items and indulging in them as much as possible all month.

2005-09-30T13:23:00.000-05:00

like watching paint dry

2005-09-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

Oh wow. My friend sent me the first photos of their first baby. It's been so long since middle school health class, I had no idea a they were this developed at 9 1/2 weeks! Amazing how detailed the ultrasounds are now. Hooray for science.

Bog Garden Falls

2005-09-28T09:46:00.000-05:00

Greensboro is getting a man-made waterfall. I don't think this will have the same effect as a large downtown man-made waterfront that some genious city planners have suggested in the past, but it's pretty cool anyway. This link is especially for Scarlett and any other water-oriented Civil Engineers who may run across this blog.

Carnival

2005-09-28T06:46:00.000-05:00

We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise last month. It was excellent. This morning the story is breaking about the contract that FEMA signed with Carnival immediately after KATRINA for the use of 3 cruise ships for 6 months, for $68.67 MILLION. In government spending terms, it's true this is just chump change, until you do the math. If the cruise ships were used to their full capacity for all 6 months, FEMAs cost is $1375 per passenger per week. I did a quick search and the MOST EXPENSIVE Carnival 7-day cruise I could find was $800, and any idiot with a phone or computer could find them for way less. This is for a trans-Atlantic, full service European cruise... Not a stationary, no entertainment cruise that FEMA got. This is not to mention the fact that the ships aren't even HALF FULL!!
I personally don't have time to do the math on how many MILLIONS we would have saved by simply sending any interested refugee on a 6-month luxury cruise around the world. Obviously the FEMA negotiators didn't either.

WWFSMD

2005-09-27T11:26:00.000-05:00

If you havn't heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, READ THIS NOW.

HOMBRE

2005-09-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

Clinton Hwy. Knoxville, TN.

I have no idea.

Who's In China?

2005-09-22T07:33:00.000-05:00

A mildly amuzing "Who's on First" parody, starring W.
http://www.otoons.com/politics/condoleeza.htm

Flickr

2005-09-21T07:05:00.000-05:00

Today I finally discovered Flickr. If you are into digital photography, or even like looking at interesting photos, this thing is awesome and I will definitely be a part of it soon. The best part is browsing public photos using tags. For example, you can look at a bunch of Oktoberfest 2005 photos by going here. (My favorite I ran across being this one). For $25 a year, they let you store UNLIMITED amounts of high-res photos permenatly. Pretty sweet.

RC and MOON PIE

2005-09-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

My humble contribution to "southern cooking" night with friends. Scarlett made Drunken Sweet Potato Casserole with colorful marshmellows and Jack Daniels.

Pee Wees Dino

2005-09-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

I recently rediscovered a CD containing the photos from our Aug '04 trip to LA, VEGAS, and Joshua Tree trip. This is the dinosaur from Pee Wees Big Adventure where he meet Simone. It was filmed at a real place, and the resturant looks exactly the same inside as it does in the "LARGE MARGE SENT ME" scene. MORE HERE

2005-09-13T20:27:00.000-05:00

Lawrence Welk quotes:
"I just had an idea that went right over my head."
"You know, it's a long world."
"I just let it in one ear and out the top of my head."
"You go over there and play the accordion. I'll stay here and beat off the band."

I like Jack

2005-09-09T20:05:00.000-05:00

Wireless internet, some jack, and a friday night in the front yard

2005-09-09T19:04:00.000-05:00

Me. Giant grill. Asparagus. Sausage filled jalaapenos wrapped in bacon. A Pina colada in a tiki cup. I realised I hadn't published many photos of the tiki party. There's some better ones than this, but not sure if others want me to exploit them.

JET MAN

2005-09-09T11:04:00.000-05:00

Speaking of jet packs, this photo was taken in Knoxville, TN in 1982 at the World's Fair. I was there (although too young to remember). My parents have a similar photo they took. These things should be at Target for $150 by now.

How not to fund an infrastructure 101.

2005-09-09T10:15:00.000-05:00

Here's an article from this month's WORLD TRADE magazine highlighting (in my opinion) one of our greatest challenges as a nation that is certain to "hit the fan" within the next few years. I think KATRINA is a prime example of a fundamental flaw with democracy. Long-term, expensive projects like totally redesigning cities, levees, and highway infrastructures cannot get the funding they need because politicians will no longer be running for office when the fruits of the projects are seen. Instead, money goes to quick-fixes because that brings political popularity NOW.

If engineers and planners had been properly funded anytime in the last four decades, KATRINA would have done far less damage and possibly saved 1000s of lives, not to mention Mardi Gras 2006. This is not the fault of any particular administration, but a simple fact we have to struggle with in a democracy. Unfortunately, It's already too late build the infrastructure necessary to avoid complete highway gridlock in the very near future. Somebody better start mass producing jetpacks and flying cars soon.

Laborless Day

2005-09-07T07:27:00.000-05:00

Didn't ride the bus, but did cancel the 600+ mile roadtrip planned for Labor Day weekend. That's much more of a contribution to the gas shortage than making a special trip downtown just to say I rode the bus. I can kinda golf now. Played my first real non par-3 holes over the weekend and didn't hurt anyone at least. R&R was much needed and much done over Laborday weekend. Now back to work, which is better now that the slower summer months are winding down.
This is a lame-ass journal entry type post. That's the worst kind. Photos and funny links are much better. Nobody cares that I had a ruben for lunch yesterday (but in case you do, HAM'S on High Point Road has a damn fine ruben).

Ride The Bus

2005-09-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

Gas supply is bad right now. I'm going to give riding the Greensboro buses a try this weekend. It's cheap, and actually goes near most of the places I go. Best of all, you can take your bike with you if where you want to go is a little far from the stop.
GET SCHEDULES HERE

CORN CAM

2005-09-02T07:38:00.000-05:00

A CornCam viewer writes:

"I grew up in the Virgin Islands and thought it was the best place on earth. However, after seeing the corn cam I truly know the meaning of paradise. My wife and I are planning an Iowa road trip this summer to see the majesty, otherwise known as the corn field."
http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/corn_cam/

Blog from "ground zero" in the Big Easy

2005-08-31T07:53:00.000-05:00

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/

In other news...

2005-08-30T07:32:00.000-05:00

They are saying hundreds are probably dead from hurricane Katrina. Possibly thousands will be homeless this morning. Up to millions of people will spend their work mornings reading the news on line and every blogger in the USA will be forced to at least reference the events. It's a terrible tragedy, but we can't forget to keep ourselves informed of the fake news as well at a time like this. http://www.theonion.com

Aquarium Drink

2005-08-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

Look the same. Taste the same.

Magical Wonderful Animal

2005-08-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

My first attempt at BBQ turned out excellent. Grilled the 15lb shoulder for 16 hours at 200-250 with indirect heat.

TIKI PARTY

2005-08-25T12:49:00.000-05:00

THIS SATURDAY
MY HOUSE

PARTY DECK

2005-08-24T09:04:00.000-05:00

We went to Monday night's GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS game and got to sit in the PARTY DECK. Good view, bad game. The visiting team (from some very unmemorable town) squished the grasshoppers. Even though the scoreboard is the second largest in minor league baseball (66 feet tall with a 17'-7" x 23'-6" video board)... it couldn't handle the 12 runs the visiting team got in ONE inning because it only had space for one digit.

Free Bus Pass

2005-08-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

As part of a citywide campaign to promote public transportation (in the wake of oil price increases), the City of Greensboro is giving away free bus passes.
Get yours at http://www.dumpthepump.net/passes.aspx

Pour House

2005-08-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

Got back from vacation yesterday about 4 hours early thank's to Royal Carribean's last minute cancelation of our airboat ride through the swamp. Luckily we were able to get a early flight back to Greensboro instead of sitting 7 hours at the Orlando airport.
Last night we went downtown to checkout the POUR HOUSE, which according to GOTRIAD is the newest brewery in Greensboro. We were a day early to buy one of their new brews. Although the bar has been open for months, he dosn't plan on start selling the beer until tonight... BUT, my friend Sara and I did get the be THE VERY FIRST testers of their VERY FIRST BEER. As a microbrew fan, I was honored. He let us try a Raspberry flavored lightly-fruity beer that was the only one about ready. Very good and I'm glad the number of places you can go get a microbrew in Greensboro is growing.

2005-08-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

Our hotel last week. Taken from Cococay island.

2005-08-13T00:27:00.000-05:00

I took this photo on my new CANON SD500. Amazing what the underwater case can do while Snorkling in the Bahama's.

Suicide and an Astro Pop

2005-08-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

I had a huge suicide today. The first in about 15 years I'm guessing. Remember, you get your cup and get a little bit of EVERYTHING at the soda machine. At the ballpark (Levi's Field in Powell, TN) you could order a suicide and the lady would know exactly what you meant and had no problem making one. I don't know if you would get a soda or a restraining order if you tried to order one now. But you can make them yourself at Subway, I had just forgot about them until my revalation today.

2005-08-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

AKA "RED OAK" Is the 2nd best local brewery/bar in Greensboro as far as I know. Natty Greens beats it, and there is the new POUR HOUSE which I havn't checked out yet.

2005-08-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

This is the Sunsphere

2005-08-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

My first photoblog. Chose a farily random photo... This looks like a typical midwest dairy, when in fact, it's the middle of the desert in Mexico. (yes, that's highly irrigated grass, an American flag, and a replica of a real dairy from the states).

Finally.

2005-08-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

It's time to BLOG. 3+ years out of college and already years behind on how people do things on the internet. So it's time I join the fad, or the future, whatever the hell this is.... It's my first blog.