71a - Take a walking tour of Boston

Instead of just taking in one tourist site I decided to take in a bunch by taking a walking tour of Boston.

My day started by going to the start of one of the spurs of the community rail. While this was very convenient, I was kind of surprised at the cost. A round trip ticket was $15.50. The trip in to Boston took about an hour but rail travel is always fun and relaxing. The train ended up in South Station which is also a subway stop. I took the subway to Fenway Park. I must say that the subways of Boston are very confusing. Has I not been following a family that I overheard saying that they were going to the Park, I could have very easily gotten lost. My adventures at Fenway Park are covered here.

After my Fenway Park, I went back to the subway stop and headed to Faneuil Hall.

Faneuil Hall is a very historic location but has been turned into a giant commercial market. It reminded me a lot of Pike Place Market in Seattle but with a giant Cheers Bar.

From there I got a free map and headed towards Paul Revere's home.

My biggest surprise was that his house was 90 years old when he moved in and it was in better shape then parts of Fenway.

From there I walked to The Old North Church.

Fun Fact: The church is still in use as a church.

Outside of the church, there was a band and a float. At this time I had no idea what this was for but I was surprised that they actually had a float with a Saint with money pinned on it.


After the band moved on I headed down the street. Along the way I noticed that I was following a trail:

Turns out it is called the Freedom Trail and goes from historical landmark to historical landmark. I found out more information as I was using the free restrooms at the Freedom Trail Visitor Center. While I was there I checked out the brochures on the rack I discovered what maybe the greatest tourist attraction of time: Codzilla. Yes you read that correctly Codzilla!!!! Well Codzilla was back where I started so I decided to throw out my original plan and head back to One Long Pier.

Before I headed back I thought I should go a bit farther and check out the USS Constitution.

I decided that I did not want to spend an hour waiting to get on the boat so I would just live with pictures from the pier. I was really impressed with museum. They have a book called Six Frigates that I plan on checking out when I get home.

After that I headed back to my starting point. On the way I found out what the float was about.

Turns out it was Saint Agrippina Day and there was an actual Italian street fair.

After checking out the festivities I headed to Codzilla!!!

It was to bad that they broke the boat the day before. I wonder if they had an encounter with a Large Mothra Bass?

On the way back the there was incident on the train where an older lady was having heart issues but did not want emergency service until she got to her stop. Lucky for her the train crew called EMS and they arrived and took her to the hospital before she got any worse.

More pictures of the day here.

99 - Visit Fenway Park

So I am currently in Massachusetts for work. Originally I was scheduled to be there a couple weeks ago. This schedule was pretty firm so I went on-line and purchased a ticket to the July 22nd game between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox in historic Fenway Park.

Of course nothing ever goes as planned and the trip was pushed back a week and a half, the day before I was scheduled to fly. So now I am the proud owner of an unused ticket that I paid $105 dollars for and of course my rescheduled trip ended up during a long road trip for the Red Sox.

Well yesterday I did the next best thing to seeing a game at Fenway Park by taking a tour of Fenway Park.

The picture below is from the same general location as my ticket would have been, except on the first base side instead of the third.

This one shows the seats that I would have been in. According to our guide they are not the original seats but were a part of the renovations in the late 1930s. They are also the smallest seats in baseball.

The condition of the seats bring to mind my overall feelings of the park. It is a rundown poorly maintained and poorly planned facility. While I can forgive the planning because I can tell they are constantly trying to squeeze more seats in to a very small space. But I can't really forgive the walls that do not appear to have been painted in over 20 years or the brick walls that are crumbling or the seats that are falling apart. To get to many parts of the stadium you actually have to walk on the roof. In some places they have put a haphazard array of mats, but there are quite a few places where you are actually walking on just the roofing paper. I really would not have been surprised if I had found places that were just held together by duct tape.

So in conclusion I am sure I would have been more impressed had I actually seen a game, but without thirty thousand others the flaws of the stadium really stand out.

Well anyway here are more pictures.

101 Things in 1001 Days

After a false start last year, I have finally got my 101 list finished and posted. I am breaking "the rules" a bit by adjusting my start time and including items that were completed before the official posting date. I assure anyone reading this is that all of the items that are crossed off would have been on the list had it been posted on April 2, 2007.

The reason I selected April 2nd is that it was the start of the Mariner's baseball season and the first step that is needed for completing thing 28. Over the next couple weeks I will be doing post for all of the completed items.

The items marked with Redo: are things that were on my list the last time I tried to do this mission. I completed the tasks then but felt that since it happened before I officially started I would need to redo the tasks to get credit.

Demolition from the ground up

As found at Gizmodo

When the P&O building was constructed in 1965, each floor was hung from a huge beam at the top of the tower and supported by the central core. According to Matthew White, project director, the weight has to be removed from the structure from the bottom up. "Eventually the beam will be deconstructed at roof level, leaving the core, which will be demolished from the top down."

PS3 Quote of the Quarter

Actually, because the number of units sold was not as high as we hoped, the loss was better than our original expectation.

From Kotaku

Lego Jones Trailer

Everyone I know fromTennessee has been a dick

From Bits and Pieces

Puzzle Quested

From the Folks at Ctrl+Alt+Del

Apology NOT accepted

Funny Sign

Funny signs are everywhere on the internet. So I guess it is not that big of a deal too add my own picture of on I saw in Everett, WA

An apology to Jim

How to make your own Power Ring from Instructables

Thanks Gizmodo

Steroids Scandal Hits Major League Superheroes

Wired has something to say about Superheroes.

My favorite quote:

All other members of the league, including the Batman, have come out clean in their tests, although it was discovered that what Elongated Man was calling "Gingo juice" is actually 180-proof grain alcohol, and has nothing to do with his powers. He is currently in rehab.

Let us not forget the much needed Green Lantern slam:

"You have to understand here," he said, visibly weary from the ordeal. "The rest of the guys, they're always running and punching and lifting things. They get a workout just by doing their jobs. Me, what do I do? I think. I just hover there and whatever I think of, my power ring does. I may be flying around, but I have the superhero equivalent of a desk job. If I didn't watch my figure, I'd end up putting on so much weight I'd have to change my name to the Green Lighthouse. Given a choice between spending half my time in the gym and actually, you know, saving the world, yeah, I did a few 'roids."

That's right Jim. The entire Paralax saga was because of 'roid rage.

Lebron Etch-a-Scetch

Did Pirates really say Arrr?

Apparently not. Damn you Explainer and you dream shattering.

Mr Potato Head Jumps the Shark

I was OK with Darth Tator

I was OK with Spider Spud

But Optimash Prime just goes to far.

YouTube Video Killed the Radio Star

The Wrong Trousers covering first video shown on MTV by the Buggles.

PS I still have the 8 track of the original.

Who is right the writer or the reader?

First a post taken from Dave Ex Machina

Ray Bradbury seems to have caught a bad case of Intentional Fallacy.

Bradbury still has a lot to say, especially about how people do not understand his most literary work, Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953. It is widely taught in junior high and high schools and is for many students the first time they learn the names Aristotle, Dickens and Tolstoy.

Now, Bradbury has decided to make news about the writing of his iconographic work and what he really meant. Fahrenheit 451 is not, he says firmly, a story about government censorship. Nor was it a response to Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose investigations had already instilled fear and stifled the creativity of thousands.

This, despite the fact that reviews, critiques and essays over the decades say that is precisely what it is all about. Even Bradbury’s authorized biographer, Sam Weller, in The Bradbury Chronicles, refers to Fahrenheit 451 as a book about censorship.

So tell us, Ray. What’s it all about?

Bradbury, a man living in the creative and industrial center of reality TV and one-hour dramas, says it is, in fact, a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature.

You know what else might harm reading literature? Telling people who’ve read, enjoyed, and thought about your book for decades that it turns out they don’t get it. Why even write a book, Ray, if fifty years later you’re just going to stand up and say, “TV is bad. Oh, and you’re all wrong.”

No, Ray, we’re not all wrong. See, that’s the great thing about art: it’s not a quiz. There’s no right answer, not even yours. You wrote the book, you got it published, and then it went into the great big world on its own. For fifty years it’s made its way through the minds of others and now, suddenly, you want to write it again? You want “backsies” on fifty years of interpretation? Sorry, Ray, it doesn’t work that way.

This is not to say that Mr. Bradbury doesn’t have some worthwhile thoughts on the damaging influence of television. And it’s not to say that there isn’t a good dose of anti-television material in the novel. but to say any different or additional interpretation is “wrong”?

Next thing you know, you’ll be saying Guy Montag was a replicant!

I am so torn because I hate when the "critics" find deep meaning in works that don't have them. But then again I read Fahrenheit 451 and I thought it was quite obviously about the evils of government censorship. I have become that which I most hate.

New Favorite Word

Ambigram
An Example:

A place with a bunch.

Also from Neatorama

Cool Picture

This may look like a paint by numbers but is actually a photo. From Neatorama

If kids today don't learn from Tom...

They will end up making viral videos.

Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

History Lesson

This is what I was missing in my History classes... Fancy Graphics.

I am getting too old

From Across-the-Board

84% of women say they've met new men by ass grinding

A new survey was conducted by a medical resident at Queen's University, Kingston 143 women in clubs between the ages of 18 and 28 about what works when a man is trying to get their attention at a bar.

While most women in the survey said they preferred a man introduce himself and start a conversation when they first meet, about 30% said "grinding" is an acceptable way to pick someone up.

"Grinding" is exactly what it sounds like -- a man introduces himself to a strange woman by coming up behind her on the dance floor and rubbing his pelvis against her. In case you think this is a bit exaggerated, 84% of the women in the survey say this is how they have personally experienced new men introducing themselves.

Another startling finding in the survey is 3.5% of the women asked said touching their breasts was an "acceptable alternative to hello". Now, 3.5% is not very high, but if you're in a bar with 200 women, that means statistically somewhere there are seven of them who will let you shake more than their hands when you introduce yourself. Full article here.

Angry Video Game Nerd's Spider-man Trailer

Work related funny

Sonic Screwdriver

From Gizmodo:

Cool note of the day:

The most recent incarnation of the Sonic Screwdriver, as used in the most recent Doctor Who series, was a lot smaller than this one. Then, when the producers of the show saw this one (which had to be large enough to accomodate 3 AG13 batteries) they took the toy mold and cast an identical one.

Sex

From Across the Board

How does America rank sexually? Not high according to a global sex survey conducted by Durex condoms. In a country that's practically made porn a national pastime, and where releasing a highly embarrassing, "stolen" sex tape is the key to fame and fortune, the U.S. came in a dismal 23 out of 26 countries - beating out only Japan, Hong Kong and Nigeria.

On average we have sex just 85 times per year, way lower than the global average of 103 times. And when we do, we average 18 minutes per session. Not surprisingly, less than half of Americans (48%) are satisfied with their sex lives. via

• The least sexually satisfied people in the world are those in the Asia Pacific at 35%

• The most satisfied? Africans at 66%.

• People having the most sex - Greeks at 164 times per year, followed by Brazilians at 145 times.

• Africans spend the most time per session at 24 minutes, and Western Europeans spend the least time, 17 minutes.

• The age group most likely to achieve orgasm comes in at those aged 65 and over. Which is why grandma is always smiling.

Good news for the Brothers D. I guess.

When Ninja's Attack

From Dwight Schrute's Schrute-Space by Dwight K. Schrute

Every year, when spring comes, my mind goes to one place and one place only, Ninjas.

Every time you read about Ninja’s attacking somebody or assassinating some public figure, it seems to happen in the spring. I’m not sure why, it’s just the way it is.

Maybe it’s the fact that the spring is traditionally the new year in most pagan religions. It is also the Persian festival, “Naw Ruz” or “New Year”.

Whether it is a throwing star to the neck at a bowling alley, a poison spike that sails through an open window and lodges itself in the fleshy part of the leg, or a mysterious black-clad figure with a bo staff, perched up on the ceiling of your garage as you pull in your car from your awesome job, ninja attacks can and will happen anywhere and anytime.

And they happen to the best people too. Just ask my cousin Heindl. She has lost 12% hearing in her left ear from one.

Things to remember:

Be alert. Everybody loves a lert. (Ziggy joke)

Check ceilings first, when doing your safety inspections, that’s where they like to ‘hang’.

The best defense against a ‘shuriken’ or throwing star is a good offense. Also, armor.

You will never beat a ninja at a sword fight, one on one. When the Ninja draws his sword, fire your taser ™. A well placed taser ™ will take out even the most deadly of ninjas.

Show them that you know they’re there. Shout out, when entering a new locale or a suspicious locale, “I know you’re there, Mr. Ninja. Your element of surprise has now been taken away” [I’ve gotten many ‘funny’ looks for this kind of preparedness, but so be it. That is a risk I’m willing to take. Are YOU!?]

But most importantly, remember that a Ninja is only trying to kill you if someone has hired that ninja to do so. So for every ass-kicking Ninja trying to take someone out there is some alienated girlfriend, some enemy rival at the workplace or some Japanese feudal lord who has paid that Ninja to kill. Or worse.

I hope this web log has made your spring a more beautiful and restful time. That was the author’s intent. Also, fear.

Dwight Kurt Schrute, Assistant Regional manager, Dunder-Mifflin Paper
Chairman and Founder, Lackawanna County Ninja Preparedness Council

Zombie American

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Not a real cool product

But is still kind of cool.

Cool Video

I have never heard of these guys before but this video is Awesome.

The S is for Shakespeare

From Chris's Invincible Super-blog

Cool Product

This is such an obvious idea. Why is this the first time I am seeing this.

Why Heroes is going to ruin next years TV season.

So if you are reading this then you know that I am a huge fan of sci-fiction and fantasy and I am always excited when a genre show like Lost and Heroes is successful. The problem is that Hollywood is notorious for trying to recreate successes by looking at the surface of show instead of what actually makes it good. What that means is that the 07-08 television series is going to be very heavy on genre shows.

NBC:

Bionic Woman - Remake of the original by 1/2 of the team that recreated Battlestar Galactica. Starbuck from Battlestar is the bad guy in the pilot.

Journeyman - A time travel show staring the Lucius Vorenus from Rome.

Chuck - A nerd gets a spy database downloaded into his head. The second clip is great, Chuck vs a Ninja. Clips were very funny.

Heroes: Origins - A Heroes spin-off that will air while Heroes is on Hiatus. It will be stand alone episodes with none of the main cast.

CBS:

Moonlight - Vampire detective. Link is just to schedule but you can click on the schedule to see a clip. Looks very soapy.

ABC:

Pushing Daisies - A detective that can bring the dead back to life. My favorite of all the clips I saw.

Eli Stone - An attorney that hallucinates. Ally McBeal but with a male lead? George Michael!?!?

Cavemen - Geico Cavemen in a half hour dramedy. May actual be able to talk about race issue without people getting fired.

FOX:

New Amsterdam - An immortal cop in New York. The clips make this show look HORRIBLE.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Terminator spin-off. Can this really work as an on-going series?

The CW:

Reaper - A bounty hunter for the Devil. The pilot was directed by Kevin Smith.

Lady Liberty may be in trouble

I am not one to believe in omens and that might be a good thing. Last month my cleaning women accidentally knock the arm of my micro-scale Statue of Liberty Lego sculpture. Not a big deal easily repaired.
Then a couple of weeks later, I closed my freezer door and the arm fell off of my Master Builders Statue of Liberty Lego sculpture.

As you can see it fell it to a bunch of pieces. So this is going to take a little more time to fix. I will probably even need to find the original instructions.

I am just hoping the trend does not keep up the food chain.

Go to one game in every M's homestand - Take 2 - 2

Still on my Quest to catch one game during each homestand.
April 28th Against the Kansas City Royals. Went with Jason "Duece".


Unfortunately Weaver was pitching for the M's, so the final score was 3-8.

On the plus side it was Rally Towel night.

It was the hottest day so far this year and Felix was pitching so I made a solo trek to Safeco on May 15th (Super Tuesday!) to watch the Los Angeles Angels.

Final Score 11-3

Blog-a-rama

I have been busy at work and not wanting to touch a computer when I got home so I am WAY behind on my blogging. So I have set aside today to get caught up on the Stuff To Say. Let the flow begin...

Top Ten Surprises In The "Heroes" Season Finale

As read by Masi Oka (Hiro) on 5/15/2007 Late Show With David Letterman

10 - One of us gets whacked by Tony Soprano
9 - Show's slogan changed to "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World, Save 15% on Your Car Insurance by Switching to Geico"
8 - Judges go nuts after the pulse-pounding rumba I do with Billy Ray Cyrus
7 - We use our powers to lower gas prices, am I right, people?
6 - Devote entire show to figuring out what the hell is happening on "Lost"
5 - The telepathic cop wins a new car after reading Pat Sajak's mind on "Wheel Of Fortune"
4 - New hero has the ability to reduce acid reflux
3 - I beat the crap out of Spider-Man
2 - The invisible man gets caught sneaking into dressing rooms at J.C. Penney
1 - I use my teleporting powers to bust Paris Hilton out of the slammer

Ego Search

So I found this article on Lifehacker. It is about using a MonitorThis to build an opml file that can be upload in to you RSS Reader. With this opml file you can now monitor a group of RSS feeds that check for new instances of your name in the Interweb. I created one for my name and it found articles on my Uncle Jerome and Rugby player named Chris. Apparently Chris is actually a stud of a Rugby player and will be representing the US in the Rugby World Cup. Yeah I was surprised that there was a Rugby World Cup too.

This is just for people named Jim

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Things to Avoid

Listed in no particular order

1. The Plague
2. Stick in the Eye
3. Spider-man 3

How Many of Me

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 2 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Apparently 332 people share my last name in the USA.

Update: I just did a little playing around with this site and Jim and George will be sad to learn that they don't live in the United States. I will miss them.

Rant

Do you know what I can not understand...

Chocolate Covered Altoids.

I like chocolate. I like Altoids. But these are not two great tastes that work great together. I feel that chocolate is best chewed and Altoids are best sucked. So when I put a chocolate covered Altoid in my mouth, I want to bite down but I know if I do I will miss out on the curiously strong flavor. Food should not be confusing.

On a side Altoids Note, I discovered that I have three different collector's edition Altoid tins.


From looking on Wikipedia and eBay, it looks like I am missing Strong Man, Devil Pinup Girl (same image but with horns), Abominable Snowman (Rankin and Bass) and Ralphie (A Christmas Story).

Return of the Typing of the Dead

I am so psyched. One of my favorite Dreamcast games has a sequel coming.

Go to one game in every M's homestand - Take 2

So last year I started a do a 101 things in 1001 days list. I never actually got to the point of finishing the list but I still want to do one of the things on the list. And that list is to go to one game in every Mariner's home stand. Last year I made it until the middle of June until a sold out three game home stand against the Chicago White Sox ruined the streak. I did hit a couple of more games but gave up on the list.

Well this year I am making my second attempt:


April 2 against the A's:

As part of a Post Emerald City Celebration, I went to the game with Jim D., George, Jason, Jim H. and Chris. Jason and Keith were there as well but had seat in a different section. Mariners win 4 - 0. After the game we went to 13 Coins for dinner. I had heard many times how amazing it was. I had the ham and cheese omelet. It was good not great but good.
Here is the first pitch.
April 17th against the Twins:

I got tickets for work and went with Jason. The Mariners lost 2 - 11.
Here is the first pitch. As you can see these were amazing seats. I am so hoping to score these tickets again later this season.
This year they are doing a series of bobbleheads and as a promotion of the promotions, they had life-sized versions of the giveaways on display.

Stupid Blogging

I know it has been a week since my last entry but I have been busy and the gods of the computing have stolen my last two post. OK once was me when I accidentally closed my browser before saving the post I was working on but the other time was when my laptop crashed when I had largely finished a redo of the same post.

Well to make up for it you well see an inrush of backed up shitty posts. Consider yourself warned.

Update-a-rama

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything here. Mainly because I have been doing some heavy duty documentation at work so my desire to spend any more time on a keyboard has not been there. I am currently sitting in my office waiting for my ride to the Mariner's game to get ready, so I though I would spit out some posts.

First in Tech Stuff:

From Gizmodo:

Wi-Fi Fish Tank Lets You Care for Your Goldfish From Afar

Thanks to the magic of technology, soon you won't have to rope one of your friends into feeding your fish when you go on vacation. Mohamad Abou El-Nasr, an assistant professor at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Egypt, has developed the Wi-Aquarium, a Wi-Fi–equipped fish tank that allows you to feed your fish, control the lights, filter, and temperature, and even see your fish over the internet using a webcam. It'll even send you an email daily on the status of your precious aquatic friends. Now you'll never have to come home to a floater again — at least not one you weren't ready for because you saw it a few days ago via the webcam feed. –Adam Frucci

Quick update

The con was a ton of fun.

Saw a M's game was also fun.

Got a cold but am feeling better. Will do expanded update later when 100%.

Will leave you with best commercial I have seen in a long while.

Driving Directions

Between Seattle, Washington and London, UK
6,800 Miles and 31 days 4 hours
Step 18 is going to be tough though.

Thanks Google

Good Lordy

Just in case you were wondering 2:45 AM is way to freakin' early to get up. I am setting in the Plant at North Bend waiting for anybody to show up. I was told that I MUST be here by 4:30 if I was going to help with their problem. It is now 4:45 and I have seen no one save the security guard.

It's Back

My 360 is back in my possession. A day later than promised, but a day earlier than expected. Now I just have five hours of work to go before I see if I have a functioning device.

UPDATE: So the 360 is working but now Live is down!!!! I want my Castlevania!!!!

Flying Sharks

I watched the first episode of Planet Earth last night. Sorry about the lameness of the link but Discovery HD does not seem to have a page devoted to the series. I highly recommend anyone with access to a High Definition Television check it out. The episode I watched was called Pole to Pole and featured visuals from the North Pole to the South Pole. It was a week theme for the episode but the visuals were amazing.

• The world's rarest cat: the Amur leopard
• Mating dance of a Bird of Paradise
• The first hunt of African hunting dogs caught on film
• A Great White Shark jumping completely out of the water

The first three episodes aired last Sunday but are being replayed in heavy rotation. The next three episodes are scheduled for this Sunday.

Now that is what Willis was talkin' about!!!

Much spoilage on the season 3 finale of Battlestar Galactica. Consider yourself warned.

So Saul Tigh, Samuel Anders, Galen Tyrol, and Tory Foster are Cylons. I am not sure if the characters know they are Cylons or if the just suspect they are Cylons. Since the show has set up some Mystical Mumbo Jumbo in the past, it could be that is the actual reasoning behind the music and the meeting. Then again the people the have experienced the MMJ, has been Tyrol and Thrace. And since Thrace just returned from a certain "death", she could be the last Cylon model so all of the MMJ could just be programming.

Having these four be Cylons does bring up some interesting stuff:

• The three main leaders of the Cylon occupation of New Caprica were all Cylons.
• Hera is not the only Human-Cylon hybrid.
• There have been human models alot longer then expected, if Tigh has been in the service for 40 years. It is my understanding the Cylons were just created 50 years ago.
• Did Tory leave Hera for the Cylons on New Caprica on purpose?
• Are Cylons attracted to each other? Tyrol/Boomer, Sam/Starbuck?, Sam/Tory
• 20% (or more) of the Cylon models were on a ship scheduled to be decommissioned when the attack on the colony happened.
  

Lee finally gets a back bone and has probably his best scene of the entire show, but in doing so airs a bunch of dirty laundry to the fleet. Now that the legal system is up again do you see a civil suit for all the "forgiven" shit that has gone down?

To the surprise of no one, Starbuck returns. Does this mean that she is a Cylon? Only the creators no for now I guess :( I was really hoping that she would have been wearing a white version of her uniform. If there are any fans of the original series reading this they know what I'm talking about.

UPDATE: Ronald says they are!

Finally a compelling reason to own a PS3

Sony just released a new firmware update and new new free application. The free application is called Folding @ Home. It is a distributing computer application that is being used to sequence DNA to look for a cure for Alzheimer. Well according to Gizmodo, adding the idle PS3's to the mix has tripled the available processor cycles and that is with just 14,000 units online.

A good idea?

Today's Onion Radio News has a story about a "New Bill Will Send Illegal Immigrants To Iraq". I know this was posted as a joke but why is this a bad idea? Why not have a new path opened up to US citizenship for any qualified candidate that signs up for four years of military service. I would keep the existing paths to citizenship, and would just use this as an alternate path. I know this is not a new idea, since it was used as the motivation to join the service in Starship Troopers.

How we Wii

Popular Science has an article on how the Wii Remote works. Nothing ground breaking but still cool.

Long week

The stupid pink flowering trees are flowering again. So my allergies are acting up.

I was at the plant in North Bend until 7 PM on Monday. Went to help my mom with some computer problems in The Dalles on Tuesday. And I had to be back for a 9 AM for a meeting on Wednesday. Tomorrow I get to fly to Spokane for a project kickoff. The original plan was to drive to Spokane, so at least I am spared the ordeal of that 10 hour round trip car ride. Friday I get to try and squeeze 5 days of work into 1 day.

On my trip to The Dalles, I listened to "The Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell". It is a very unusual book. It relies heavily on quantum physics as both the narrative topic and the narrative force. The majority of the book seems to just ramble on and on about things that just seem to mean nothing. There is a point in the book were they spent 15+ minutes discussing the creation of a new drink...

Flaming Rum Monkey

Put a teaspoon of brown sugar, a sprinkling of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and a teaspoon of coconut syrup (the kind used in pina coladas) in a warm mug. Add a little boiling water--just enough to dissolve the sugar. Let the mixture steep for a minute. Pour in two ounces of dark Jamaican rum and one ounce of dark creme de cacao. Fill the mug with boiling water and stir.

Now for the flames! Put a pinch of brown sugar in a big spoon. Fill the spoon with 151 rum. To warm the rum, hold the spoon over the mug filled with hot water.

Light the rum in the spoon. Tip the spoon into the mug. The mixture in the mug will burn with a lovely blue flame.

Don't singe your eyebrows. Don't burn your tongue. Blow out the flames and try a sip of your Rum Monkey. Hot, sweet, and touched with coconut. Enjoy your Rum Monkey and dream of possibilities.

So the thing is the real author of the book is a minor character in the book. The book itself is about an author that is being pursued on a luxury liner by two of his pen names come to life. Kind of weird huh.

Hockey Night in Canada

This Saturday the gang and I went to see a hockey game in Vancouver. It was the Canucks vs the Red Wings. Since there were eight of us we decided a road trip was in order. And to make this a proper road trip, we even had a "it's just rental" moment. The hotel had an underground garage for us to park in. The height level of the garage was 6 feet 5 inches. The problem is the van was 6 feet 6 inches. Jim managed to scraped the top of the van. It was a white van so the scraped off paint did not show up, so returning the van should not be an issue.

We walked around downtown Vancouver in the rain. Had a great time, ate at a Greek restaurant for Liner (or is that Dunch). We stopped at this strange underground mall on the way back to the hotel. It was in the process of being remodeled, but was still pretty upscale. It was also pretty much all below street level.


As you can see, we had OK seats. The view was good but kind of high up. This picture was taken during the the player warm-up.

While this one was take during the first period.

Everybody loves the Zamboni. Not sure why, but they do. There is scientific studies that prove it. I'm sure that it was good old American grant money that was spent studying things that everyone knows.

Something I was not prepared for - Flying Killer Whale!!! I saw Orca, those thing are scary. And now they can fly and drop movie passes to "Blades of Steel"
The crowd was fairly rowdy. There was an problem during the second period when someone above us was throwing things at two Red Wing fans that were below us. Even after they were asked to stop the throwing continued, so they through a beer at the loudest group of fans. These fans of course returned the favor. This beer was not as thrown as well and managed to get some on us. There was a shouting match that ended up with ejections on both sides. The problem was that they apparently did not take the tickets of ejected parties because the Canucks fans were back by the third period laughing about the security. Thankfully no beer more beer was flying the rest of the game.

The final score of the game was 4-1 Canucks. The Red Wings fans among us felt this was because the Red Wings were sitting all of their stars so the they would be rested for upcoming conference games. I don't know if that is true, but I do know that the Canucks took them to school.

After the game, we went back to the hotel and ordered pizza and pasta. We took the food up the activity room were we could all comfortably hang.

I may not have mentioned that Saturday was St. Patrick's Day. Jim (2.0) has on his 101 in 1001 day list to drink a green beer on St. Patrick's Day. So the Jims, Jason (Duece) and I went looking for some green beer. On our way we found the results of a pretty spectacular accident. Unfortunately my pictures did not turn out so you will have to deal with my less than thousand word description. Basically a white SUV crashed in to a parked black SUV and then continued on in to a shop window. The black SUV was hit so hard that it pivoted 90 degrees.

I was very impressed at the crowds at the bars and pubs in downtown Vancouver. It made sense that all of the Irish pubs would have a long wait to get in, but all of the bars seemed to have a 30 minute wait to get in. Well at least for us normal folk. We did see a professionally dressed lady spit and slap in the face of a bouncer.

We basically gave up on finding the beer and were heading back when we found an off the beaten path bar, that was closing in 30 minutes but it did have green beer.

As you can tell Jim likes to bogart the alcohol.

Jim did get his green beer. I never did get a good explanation for why he had a crayon behind his ear. I am thinking he is hoping that we would eat at another restaurant with paper on the table like the Greek restaurant we had Linner at.

Happy Pi Day George

Yesterday was George's Birthday. Since he is the kind of person that would not volunteer that kind of information, I thought I would let the world know.

Well at least our small part of the world know.

I was a little disappointed that he did not remain clueless very long. About 20 minutes after putting up the sign, someone comes in and points at the sign and says "Which George?" Way to not follow directions. These are the kinds of people that make us have warning labels that say thinks like "Do not iron clothes while wearing them."

RSS Reader showdown

A couple of months ago, I was talking about my love of bloglines and how it had transformed my websurfing in the same way that Tivo had changed my TV watching. Well I was bored on a job site waiting for someone else to catch up to me so I decided to check out Google Reader again. I liked what I saw the first time I checked it out, but every time I would go and check out the new messages on a feed it would display all of the messages not just the new ones. After so tinkering, I found the "show only new message toggle" which made it a much more pleasurable experience.

Things I liked:
- Post's original formating is kept intact. Bloglines tends to show all html code as if you are viewing it with Notepad. After all formatting is for fancy ass programs like Word.
- Embedded videos actually show up. Not only do they not show up in Bloglines there is no indication they are even in the original post.
- Able to go to next post/page by pressing the space bar. Makes lunch time reading more convenient.
- Able to star articles that I find interesting so that I can come back and look at them latter.

Things I hate:
- VERY SLOW update time on some feeds. I first noticed this when I was asked about a post on a feed I read. I knew I was up to date, so I went to the originating site and saw many posts that I had not seen. I then checked Bloglines and saw that it too showed the post in question. Then on Saturday, I was doing a comment check run through the blogs kept by people I know and noticed that Technogreek had added a post 5 + hours ago and I had not seen squat. After some searching on-line and my own massive experience I think that they way Google looks at feeds is based on how many people are subscribed to the feed. I am guessing this because the feeds that are popular are the ones that seem to have quick updates, but my friend's feed seem to be dog slow.
- Unable to publish a list of my feeds. I am able to publish articles that I think are interesting which is kind of cool.

I had made up my mind to go back to Bloglines, but in the process of doing so I managed to delete all of my feeds. PEBCAK. So for right now I am going to stick with using both of them for right now, with Google Reader being used for the major sites and Bloglines being used for the friend sites.

I somehow doubt I will mention if I make a change again :)

UPDATE: So I am still liking Google Reader, but I liked to have my feeds listed. So I figured out how to export my Google Reader feeds and re-import to Bloglines. So you can once again check out my 88+ feeds here.

Red Ring O' Death

I decided I wanted to play a little 360 last night. Only 2.0 was online, but when I went to look at his gamer score the screen when blank. When I restarted the machine it came up with the "Red Ring of Death" I was tired and kind of pissed so I did not want to deal, so I left the research into what to do next until today. I found this site that looks helpful.

Travel Adventures

I finished up in LA quicker than my planed Wednesday departure, so I decided to try and get out of town earlier. Before making a final decision I checked the Alaska Air Website and discovered that there were seats available on all of the afternoon flights out of LAX. If you have ever flown out of LAX to Seattle, you may have noticed that there is a flight an hour between 3 PM and 10 PM, so I felt my chances of getting home on Standby were pretty good.

Little did I know the 11:30 AM flight was going to be canceled due to mechanical difficulties. Because of this standby was not going to be an option. So when I arrived at the airport at 1 PM, I was forced to pay a change fee to get a seat on the 5:30 flight. I was only able to do this much because of my MVP status with Alaska Air. Without this I would have had to get tickets on the 8:30 PM flight.

Well I found a quiet little corner of the airport and played a little Final Fantasy III on the DS while I listening to Stephen King's Cell on my iPod. After a bit I noticed that my battery was running out on the DS, so I went hunting for an outlet. While looking to find an unused outlet I noticed that my 5:30 flight had now been delayed until 7:00. I decided to play it safe and check with customer service. They told me that the plane was having mechanical problems in Seattle and had not even left yet. He put me on the Standby list for the 7:20 flight because there was no way I was going to get on the 6:40 flight.

So at 7:00 PM I am waiting for them to call my name off the standby list when I notice that there is no plane at the gate. Since they are supposed to be boarding this is not a good sign. It turns out this was supposed to be the second flight out for the plane that was canceled this morning. The good news was the plane was fixed. The bad news was they were having problems getting the plane moved to the gate. At about 8 PM they call out a bunch of names off the standby list. Mine was not on the list. So I am hovering by the desk waiting for the next batch when I here my name over the PA telling me to go to gate 33B for a seat assignment. I push myself through the crowd at 32, to stand in line at 33B. After about 10 minutes I get to the front of the line and they have no idea why they would have paged me to go to that desk since they were going to Vancouver, she suggested I try gate 34 since it was going to Seattle. This was of course the 8:30 flight that I would have gotten tickets on if I had not been an MVP.

I get over there when I over hear them say to grab the next names off the standby list since no one showed up. I quickly speak up that I had gone to Gate 33B like the message had said. She turns around and looks where she was and says "Opps". So I did get a seat on the plane. It was a middle seat... Next to a crying infant... Whose mother did not speak English and did not understand that the area underneath the seat in front of me was for MY carry-on luggage... Next to a smelly old lady... That had never learned that if I have my headphones on it is because I don't want to talk about your vegetable garden...

Well I made it home without killing anyone. I even had 35 minutes to spare until being forced to say that I came home on Tuesday.

Welcome to the 300 Club

Went to see 300 today and it was freakin' awesome!!!

Before I get in to the details of the movie, I wanted to talk about the journey that I took to get to see the film. It was not quite up to Homer's scope but it was at least mildly entertaining. Well at least to me. :)

Last Saturday, George mentioned that the Stop had gotten in passes to see a sneak preview of 300 on Tuesday and were we interested in having them. The answer was of course not yes but Hell Yes! With passes in hand I sent out the call to arms and it was answered by six of the usual suspects.

The original plan was that Jim D. was going to me me at my place at 4:45 from there we were going to pick up Beau and Mary Anne at 5:15 and Quiana at 5:30 and meeting Dawn and Jason at the theater at 6. As always plans never survive the battlefield.

You see I had scheduled to sign the papers on my refinance on Tuesday as well but that was at 10 AM. When I got in the morning, I found out that I need to go down to Boeing Auburn and that I needed to be there before 11. There was no way I was going to get both done, so I called the Title Company and asked to reschedule. At first they only had 4:30 available, but I would not have been able to meet up with Jim in time to get the 300 train on the track. luckily they called back and were able to schedule a 3 PM signing. While I was there Jim called and asked if I would be able to start a bit earlier, since he needed to stop at the Stop on the way. Since I had left work early anyway it was easy for me to meet him at 4:15. Well the stop at the Stop was much quicker then expected so we were at Beau's at 4:45 and Quiana's at 5. We took much shit from everyone for being early.

We arrived at Pacific Place at at about 5:20 and at that time the line wound around the top of the atrium. Well to make a long story shorter, after an hour plus wait we were about 15 people short for getting in. The evening was not a total waste because Jason took us all out to the Dragonfly (an aSian restaurant). Thanks again Jason.

So the moral of this overly long story is that if we had arrived when we were scheduled to we would not have even been allowed in the line since it had been capped by the management by that time. We still would not have seen the movie but we would have missed out on all the line enforced bonding.

While I was waiting for the non-movie, I had finally received word that the long planned but unfunded trip to LA was actually going to happen. So I knew I was not going to be able to see the movie with the regular gang. But since I was going to be a short two hours from San Diego, I figured that I would try and see the flick with Drew and Stacy. This of course meant that I was going to have to get two days of work done in one, but I was game. To do this I stayed late on Friday and went in early on Saturday. I was able to get everything I needed to get done but not all I wanted to. I got up early this morning and headed to SD. It was actually earlier then I like since this was the beginning of Daylight Saving Time. I got to see Drew and Stacy's house. It was nice.

Now the movie...

Last weekend I pulled the issues of 300 out of the comic boxes since I had not read them since the original issue had come out. Because of this I was able to notice some of the changed and missing elements of the story. The biggest change was addition of the subplot of the wife and "McNulty". I am not fond of this addition because it takes away from the narrative of having the last Spartan telling the story of the last stand since he was not there he should not know what happened. Then again how did the narrator know what happened after he left? I guess I should not look too deep. And that end credit sequence was cool. Frank Miller's art made 3D and brought to life.

To blog or not to blog

I had the need to go back and look for a link that I knew that I had blogged in the past. In the process of this, I realized that I kind of liked having a historic record of what I was doing and when I was doing. So even though I never seem to have time that I want to spend on this endeavor, for the sake of future generations I feel that I must...

OK the real reason I am going to start blogging more is that I have been working on a personal improvement project. For years I have been a pretty fair hunt and peck typer. Well I have been using a copy of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 17 for a couple weeks and now find my self needing more practice. While I use a computer at work, my job does not require me to do much real typing since most of the programing I do is mouse driven. So let this be my first official non-hunt and peck blog post.

What are the odds of that?

Interesting factoid from the Sci-Am Podcast:

If you drive 10 miles to pick up a lotto ticket, you are 12 times more likely to die in an auto accident then you are to win the jackpot...

Now you know why I always buy 12 tickets.

Water to Snow

This is Freakin cool.

This footage was shot at Mount Washington Observatory on March 6, 2007. Water was boiled to a temperature of approx. 200F and then thrown into the air which was at -35F. This turned it to snow instantly. The video has shots in real time and shots in infrared to show the water leaving the objects hot then dissipating in the cold air without touching the ground. Mount Washington Observatory is a nonprofit, member supported organization. For more information visit: www.mountwashington.org

Necco Sweethearts

I just finished my last box of Valentine's Day candy. I think just I shed a little tear.

Is The Lake House so bad it's cool?

I have not actually seen the Lake House, although I do have a small desire to see it since it apparently has something to do with time travel and I am such a mark for time travel movies. Though I have not actually seen the movie, I am under the impression that it blow quite large chucks. The thing that is weird is that I just watched two different TV shows back to back (The Class and Gilmore Girls), that referenced The Lake House as a bad movie that you can't turn away from.