We tried the Kokopelli Beer Company, which is fairly new in the neighborhood. A bit noisy for my taste, but it was a good meal. They have a small “pizza and sandwiches” menu. The pizzas we had were tasty, and the drinks were good. I had an IPA (good) and a pineapple cider (not much flavor, I thought), and Cheryl had a regular cider (good) and a raspberry/chocolate stout (she liked it; I didn’t). I prefer the IPA at the Yak and Yeti, but I’m more than willing to go back to Kokopelli, as is she.
Had dinner with my daughter this evening
May 21st, 2014I have no idea where this came from
May 15th, 2014Dreams are strange things.
I woke up this morning convinced that it would be a worthwhile effort to produce a story, or comic, or animation, in which Kenny G delivered a PSA concerning the zombie apocalypse, in which he described how to tell his fans from zombies.
Cold Weather
May 12th, 2014So, we got snow yesterday and today. Not what I was looking for, but the average date of last frost is around the 20th, IIRC. It’s nice to get precipitation, even if it is cold.
I was out last night around 11pm, and the snow at that time was dry and hard – as it hit the leaves of the trees, it made a loud hissing noise. Long before morning, the snow had turned to large, damp flakes that stuck everything they fell on. Branches were drooping low when I got up, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there had been a lot of broken tree limbs in the area.
I’m looking forward to the weather warming up again, though.
Happy Star Wars Day
May 4th, 2014May the Fourth be with you.
I went to the Denver Mini Maker’s Fair yesterday. Lots of interesting booths, including two Star Wars-related ones. One had various R2-D2 units, including at least one screen-used one. The other let you have your photo taken on Tattoine:
I ran into a number of friends there – one runs a company that was exhibiting, and most of the others were associated with the Denver Mad Scientists, who were also exhibiting. A couple others were just attending, like me. I acquired a couple of small kits to assemble, and there are a couple of things I talked with vendors about that I’ll probably pick up later.
Fascism is always descending on America, but landing on Europe
April 8th, 2014I’ve seen that a number of times over the past several years. It’s obvious to me that it’s now landing on the US. What with the IRS scandal (still scandalously being ignored by the media), the lies about Benghazi, overreach in several areas by the EPA, the federal bunny inspectors, and a whole host of other things just in government, it’s obvious that we’re no longer a nation of laws, we’re a nation of oligarchs and bureaucrats.
Then you get into the media, which drives the popular culture, and it’s equally obvious. I seldom go to the movies or watch popular television shows anymore, because the viewpoint is blatant and almost omnipresent.
Because of the leftist orientation of Hollywood and the news media, and because of the leftist indoctrination being performed in the public schools and the colleges, our rights as citizens are being abrogated at all levels.
The First Amendment?
Freedom of association is a dead issue now. The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a Christian photographer penalized for not agreeing to photograph a gay wedding.
Freedom of speech is also gone. What with free speech zones on college campuses, free speech zones being set up by the BLM, federal plans to monitor newsrooms, and speakers of conservative and pro-Israel stances being prevented from speaking publicly, it’s obvious that free speech is for the left, and nobody else.
Free exercise of religion? Please. You’re not allowed to disapprove of gay marriage, except perhaps if you’re Muslim. Christian holidays are downplayed, because Muslims and atheists don’t approve of them.
The Second Amendment?
Besides all the other efforts to restrict availability of weapons, we now have a new argument: since Leland Yee was running guns and involved with Islamic terrorists, we have to pass the legislation he supports to restrict citizens’ access to weapons. Don’t know who Leland Yee is? See the mention of media bias, above.
The Obama administration has set up new rules that allow a single health worker to abrogate the Second Amendment rights of veterans.
Some Common Core lessons state that the Second Amendment requires gun registration.
I only know of one case recently that involves a Third Amendment argument.
The Fourth Amendment?
We know have municipal SWAT teams being used for “dynamic entry” in situations where a knock on the door would suffice. We have people being searched without the ability to see the search warrant, and the warrant being sealed when they ask about it, and their complaint about it being itself sealed, as well as the order sealing everything.
The Fifth Amendment?
Members of this administration seem to use it a lot, don’t they? When they’re not outright lying under oath, that is.
We’re starting to see some efforts by the states to assert their rights under the Tenth Amendment, but I don’t hold out a lot of hope.
The First Amendment issues also go into the Eich situation at Mozilla. California requires that anyone who donates $100 or more to a cause has that donation associated with them in a public database. Mr. Eich supported Proposition 8 in California some years ago, which stated that marriage was considered to be between a man and a woman. He’s now been forced out of his job by what some are referring to as the “Gaystapo.” That’s enforcement of an approved position in favor of homosexual marriages; it’s no longer permitted to hold a contrary opinion.
I can remember when the position of most homosexuals (at least, the vocal ones) was, “Marriage? That’s for breeders.” That’s gone down the memory hole, and don’t dare think that way, or you may lose your job, too.
I’ve deleted Firefox from my computers, in response. Currently, I’m using Safari at home, and I’ll be trying Iron. Vox Day has an interesting graph showing feedback received by Mozilla. I think it’s telling. So does Will Best.
It’s not looking good for this country. It’s not looking good at all.
It’s all over now
April 8th, 2014Today marks the end of support for Windows XP. Well, for most of us, that is.
I still use XP at work. Some of the software on the machine won’t run on anything else. I only got rid of my Windows 95 box at the office last year – a decision that’s cost a fair amount of my time recently, since we no longer have access to an obsolete-but-still-useful cross-compiler for a processor that’s past end-of-life, but still in use.
I understand why Microsoft wants and needs to kill XP, but I’ll keep using it. As I said, some of the software on my work machine won’t even run on Windows 7, how can it run on Windows 8?
Seventy Years Past
March 26th, 2014It was the 70th anniversary of the Great Escape this week. Technically, the night of the 24th into the 25th for the escape from camp itself.
I have, of course, seen the movie several times. I’ll watch it any time I come across it. I don’t remember if I read the book before or after I’d seen the movie the first time.
A very good story, in either form. If you’re not familiar with the story, the movie is probably more accessible. The book is more in-depth, and more accurate – there are differences. Either one is well worth your time.
Miscellany 24
March 19th, 2014Big roundup here of things that have been hanging around (non-political version).
It’s war! The ants are coming for our chocolate. The article is actually much wider-ranging, and quite interesting.
Need a handy reference for musical intervals? This may help.
Planning to record some audio at home? This may help.
How to take excellent notes and be productive with paper. I can always use the help.
This looks like an interesting resource for computer science.
I’ll want to spend some time reminiscing at this site.
Two scary economic charts, billed as documenting the demise of the American Dream.
An interesting list of Google Easter eggs.
I like these thoughts on the Starship Troopers movie. I didn’t much care for it myself; I’ve usually referred to it as “Paul Verhoeven’s rebuttal to Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.”
Google makes an emulator in Chrome for the Amiga 500. I still have two Amiga 2000s in my basement, although I’ve only got one monitor for them, and the hard drive on one needs to be reformatted. It’s too bad there was never a widely-available Ethernet board for them.
Men’s Health says these are the best over-the-counter medications.
The Smithsonian says these vitamins and supplements are worth taking.
Continuing on the subject of health, how old is your heart?
Here are photos of various famous locations. There are two photos of each location: one showing the normally-presented view, and one showing surroundings that aren’t normally seen unless you’re there. I’ve been to the pyramids of Giza, and it’s startling how close development has come to them.
Wanna learn something? Try here.
You can find over 22,000 comics that are out of copyright here. Via.
Man sublets his apartment, comes home to find a plus-sized orgy going on. Then he loses his apartment, because his lease doesn’t allow him to sublet.
Do incorrect and inappropriate use’s of quotes (like that one) bother you? Best stay away from this site, then.
I’ve seen the movie Head, but it was many years ago. There’s a link to the movie in this article.
It looks like there’s some good information in this gardening thread at Ace of Spades HQ.
They’ve found more Dead Sea scrolls.
Interesting art. I’ve seen similar things, but it’s still cool. Now, imagine the following in a Cockney accent: “That’s not a bird, that’s a bird!” Via.
Speaking of birds, but not really …
And not speaking of birds, but really! Rogue Chihuahuas overrunning a town?
I like this guy’s obituary. He’d have been fun to know.
What if the Winter Olympics had been held on Hoth?
I’m not surprised that this happened in Japan.
In 1731, King Frederick I of Sweden gave a lion to a taxidermist who had never seen one. Some of the comments are hilarious, also. I particularly like the first reply to this one.
Information you can use: 7 Myths About Storing Beer.
More Information you can use: Picking a lock with a hairpin.
Some people believe that this is the best newspaper correction ever. I’m not so certain of that, but I don’t have any other suggestions handy.
As a European, this is how I imagine Americans have breakfast. Via Protein Wisdom. The comments at both locations are good, too.
Looking for back issues of Starlog magazine?
Why do we do some of the things we do at weddings?
An interesting clock presentation.
These are impressive tattoos. Not that I’d ever get one, but …
Some carbon fiber musical instruments. I’ve played a Blackbird tenor ukulele and liked it, and I have a friend who is trying to set himself up producing carbon fiber soprano ukes.
I knew people drank more in the past, but damn! That’s a lot of booze!
How to make a sling from woven paracord. The site is often NSFW, but this post isn’t (unless your company employs extreme hoplophobes).
On the same website: If you ever feel stupid …
Remember the warehouse scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark? It might not have been too unbelievable.
Figure skaters caught in mid-spin. They look much more graceful and elegant when you don’t catch all the details.
When it goes, it all goes at once.
Giant desert art project in Egypt.
Sarah Hoyt is a local science fiction author. I met her at a party at a mutual friend’s place a couple years ago. This post on her history with SFWA is absolutely hilarious.
There may still be time to apply for this job – it’s got to be hard work. Then again, a lot of people like swords.
Were you aware that France was still conduction executions by guillotine as recently as 1977? Were you aware that the actor Christopher Lee attended the last one?
I wasn’t able to find an update on his recovery, but the fact that he survived going through a wood chipper is amazing. When I was in the Navy, if you were going to work on anything that could be dangerous if it were turned on during the process, you’d attach a red tag to the power switch. I wonder if they’ll implement a system like that for the wood chipper?
Boy, the Aussies don’t hold back with their PSAs, do they?
I have a friend who photographs most of his restaurant meals. I should send him to this site.
I think that’s about enough for now. I may do another one (with older accumulated links) later.
Happy Pi Day
March 14th, 2014
I don’t expect to bake anything like these; I have enough trouble doing anything at all with the upper crust of the pies I bake.
Correct me if I’m wrong …
March 8th, 2014… but wouldn’t the garlic be the organic component here (click photo for larger)?
