I've Stopped Using Windows Media Player

I moved everything to Real Player. It works so much better than Windows, because of the licensing software Microsoft added. It was always sputtering and using up way too much memory.

I also like that Real Player remembers where I left off when I open my media library. I like to go through the songs in order by Artist...so I don't get repeats.

I hope some day Microsoft realises they have to stop bullying us here consumers. I may have to buy a Mac if this keeps up (kidding, I would switch to Red Hat first).

Did I Mention I Hate Christmas?

Ok, "hate" is a bit strong of a word. I don't hate the concept of Christmas, worshiping or family time. It's the gift giving that drives me nuts. People are just fanatical about it here in the US.

They cry when they can't get a certain toy for their kid, literally cry. Let the kids cry and go find something else to give them. Boo Hoo, no more Hanna Montana Sing Along's in stock...whimper whimper, sob sob.

Your kids will survive and in another year, won't even remember Hanna, because they will be hooked on crack.

Get your kids something they have to use outside. Something they have to build or put together. Buy them some CD from old, that they have never heard of and let them try something new.

The best present I ever got as a kid was some kind of air gun thingy that would suspend a Ping Pong ball in mid air. None of my friends had or wanted one, so I felt god damn special, because I did. I don't think I asked for it, but that was 38 years ago. It was fascinating; I loved that toy for years.

Don't buy your kids what they want, surprise them with something you love.

P.S. Only one family in my neighborhood went crazy with the decorations so far this year, so when they get deported, all will be well.

Remember The Fallen This Week

Sgt. Alfred G. Paredez Jr., 32, of Las Vegas, Nev., died Nov. 20 in Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Marius L. Ferrero, 23, of Miami, Fla., who died in Baqubah, Iraq.

Cpl. Jason T. Lee, 26, of Fruitport, Mich., who died in Balad, Iraq.

Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson, 22, Rochester, Wash., who died in Baqubah, Iraq.

2nd Lt. Peter H. Burks, 26, of Dallas, Texas, died Nov. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Alejandro Ayala, 26, of Riverside, Calif., died Nov. 18 of injuries sustained as a result of a vehicle accident in Kuwait

I Don't See The Problem?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7109774.stm

The "father" must have been a piece of work to have the mommy wanting to hide the child? And the mommy must be the same for banging daddy on a "one night stand". This might be one for Philosophers, but abortion would be the likely outcome.

Group X Is Just Funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0PFi-g0UBs&feature=related

I have no idea where they are from, but they make me laugh.

Well Slap Me Silly

I had a pretty good Thanksgiving. The turkey was perfect! I was with both of my sons. Football sucked and my youngest son sprayed me with Pam cooking spray, but besides that, all was good. I made him skin potatoes for the first time. He did ok, but was slow.

I even had an "out of the blue" call from my cousin Ritchie, who I like a lot. We don't talk much and have nothing in common, but he's a good guy, very funny and a talented cartoonist.

I got the leaves raked before I started cooking, but after supper a front moved through and the wind seems to have piled up every loose leaf in the neighborhood in my yard. That never ends, I have been raking the yard since July.

Now I have a nice little buzz going, listening to the Doors and I am writing a dumb blog. Good day then.

Some Things Speak For Themselves

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5538780

Click the Play button under "Full 911 Audio".

Remeber The Fallen.

Sgt. Steven C. Ganczewski, 22, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., died Nov. 16 in Iraq
Sgt. Mason L. Lewis, 26, of Gloucester, Va., died in Baghdad on Nov. 16
Sgt. Kenneth R. Booker, 25, of Vevay, Ind., died Nov. 14, in Mukhisa, Iraq
2nd Lt. Stuart F. Liles, 26, of Hot Springs, Ark., died Nov. 13 in Bagram, Afghanistan
Spc. Ashley Sietsema, 20, of Melrose Park, Ill., died Nov. 12 in Kuwait City, Kuwait
Capt. David A. Boris, 30, of Pennsylvania. died Nov. 12 in Bermel, Afghanistan
Spc. Adrian E. Hike, 26, of Callender, Iowa. died Nov. 12 in Bermel, Afghanistan
Sgt. Derek R. Banks, 24, of Newport News, Va., died Nov. 14 in San Antonio of wounds suffered Oct. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq
Sgt. Christopher R. Kruse, 23, of Emporia, Kan. died Nov. 13 in Mukhisa, Iraq
Cpl. Peter W. Schmidt, 30, of Eureka, Calif. died Nov. 13 in Mukhisa, Iraq
Sgt. Joseph M. Vanek, 22, of Elmhurst, Ill., died Nov. 12 in Baghdad, Iraq
Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks, 28, of Troy, Mich., died Nov. 9 while conducting combat operations in Aranus, Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Patrick F. Kutschbach, 25, of McKees Rocks, Pa., died Nov. 10 in Bagram, Afghanistan
Spc. Jermaine D. Franklin, 22, of Arlington, Texas, died Nov. 9, in Jisr Naft, Iraq
Capt. Matthew C. Ferrara, 24, of Torrance, Calif., who died Nov. 9 in Aranus, Afghanistan
Sgt. Jeffery S. Mersman, 23, of Parker, Kan., who died Nov. 10 in Aranus, Afghanistan
Cpl. Sean K. A. Langevin, 23, of Walnut Creek, Calif., who died Nov. 9 in Aranus, Afghanistan
Cpl. Lester G. Roque, 23, of Torrance, Calif., who died Nov. 10 in Aranus, Afghanistan
Spc. Joseph M. Lancour, 21, of Swartz Creek, Mich., who died Nov. 10 in Aranus, Afghanistan

This is from just the last week. Most were killed by IEDs. Average age, a little over 23.

Time To Start Drilling In Alaska

The wildlife is screwed because of "global warming" anyway. Too late, sorry,later...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7100175.stm

So let's go get some damn oil!! I wouldn't bitch about a few hundred Special Forces heading south and destroying 1/2 of Venezuela's oil wells. I know they could do it too. F-You OPEC and Chavez, America sorts it's shit out when the rest of the world kicks us. Always has and always will.

We need to focus on Fusion!
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/non-renewable/nuclear.html

Want To Play Spin The Bottle?

That's what the UN does all the time and this is just another example.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7098902.stm

I guess I will just sit back and watch at this point. I am sick of arguing and writing about it. All of you believers, just go ahead and panic (just because some scientists want to get published by putting up incomplete and non-global studies). The scientist motto; "Publish Or Die". Even if it's crap and they know it.

If anyone wants to argue that climate is global and not regional, please contact me. Look at the last summer. Floods in England, Africa and Texas. Drought in California, the whole eastern US and Greece.

So you know, this massive CO2 increase is depicted graphically below. 1 is the year 1810 and 2 is the projected year 2010. 200 years, and we are showing the increase in CO2 in parts per million in the air... Click the image below to see the drastic change over the whole Industrial Revolution.

This is the graph they want you to see and be utterly shocked by;

It's the same data as I show in the first graph, it just has the top cut off. Much prettier. And how scary this looks, eh? I have to wonder, if all that CO2 was rising from 1860 to 1960, how can they rely on Ice Core Data? Wasn't the ice starting to melt already? Where's that data? What is the "global" sea level increase this year? No answer. What Island has already sunk beneath the waves? None. Why are you on an island at sea level anyway? That's stupid.

I'm just glad I have a good fridge, I should be able to muttle through...come on ice maker, my drink is empty.

All I know is, the US and Canada used to be covered with Glaciers (see Ice Age) and those are all gone. How high did the sea level rise then? What was sunk then? Where were humans then and what was our "carbon footprint"? Think about it.

Ok, CUT The Damn Troop Funds

I thought I would never say such a thing! I am a Vet myself.

The Pubs here in the US Senate are being exceptionally stubborn, so I say, no more bills on war funding and just let the money run out. The US Military is already shifting funds from projects on home soil to fund the wars, which will hit them hard in the long run.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7098793.stm
The most frustrating thing about this is the quote;
"We need to get our troops everything they need. We need to get it to them right now," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

He voted against the funding!!!!!! I could rip my hair out..oh wait, it's coming out naturally.

The actual voting...
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00411

This bill contained only a start date to begin a troop drawdown, no hard end date. So the Pubs have only themselves to thank for the troops not getting funded. I hope the DNC has a blast with this and the Pubs lose the ability to override all of these bills after the 2008 elections.

Now, since the cloture was voted down, there will eventually be weeks of debates and the Pubs will just vote the same way when it comes up for a vote.

Maybe we will be able to get something done, because the Pubs "requirement" of a 3/5ths to pass a bill won't matter, they will still lose. It will only take 10 more seats to accomplish this.

Of note; McCain and Lott failed to vote (lazy asses can't take time off the campaign trail), but Hagel, Smith and Snowe (all Pubs) voted for cloture. A little sanity out there..

My Chess Web Site Is Under Attack!

http://gameknot.com/under_attack.htm

They are shut down, but luckily they stopped the clock on all of the games, so I won't lose any games on a time out.

It is probably one or two of the major ass jerks that play on the site and are abusive when they lose. Big babies who eventually get suspended. If you don't know what a DOS attack is, just plug it into wikipedia.com.

I guess I will just post a bunch of dumb ass blogs ;).

Funny Short Video

http://www.donandmikewebsite.com/media-video.shtml

Isn't it ironic? She looks a little like Alanis Morissette.

Saudi Arabia...

It's not just for gang rape anymore... It is also the best place for the victim to get sentenced to being whipped (the bad whip, there are good ones) and jailed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7098480.stm

I know where I am building my summer home!

This Made Me Laugh

Don't try it though ladies..

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=3685939

Speak Your Mind.

It's funny at work. A week or two back I was in a large meeting, one of 3 teams that are implementing ITIL (google it) and the current meeting was overlapping into what the other teams were doing in their part of the effort.

I spoke up that the other two teams weren't getting much done. I think I used the phrase "miserable failure" at one point. It was really weird, because I don't even remember what I said, it was like I was possessed. I knew I was doing something important though. The current meeting blew past that and we got not much done, besides agreeing to meet again (typical of these things).

I was called on the carpet by my boss and told never do that again (no criticising things we are doing in house like that, in a open forum). Since then, I have had multiple people, which include my boss, say that I opened a whole new line of thought in the office. One of considering criticism and how often people bite their lips and say nothing. At least people are talking and thinking.

A nice change there and I do realize my error. Sometimes though, the worst errors bring the most remarkable results. We are human and things like this demonstate our faults and greatness at the same time.

Don't Marry a Bitch

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7093422.stm

Funny, I was paralyzed after I married mine, not before.

I Don't Hate Chuck

But I must say it is a show that is a bit contrived. I was impressed when they closed with an Eels tune, "Fresh Feeling" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH0hMpiVM3Y

Good song..

It has been making the rounds though.

Another Hang-Up..

I don't know who's side I should come down on in this matter. I guess I say kill them all though, they were in a brutal regime and probably took part in the many many murders and blatant rapes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7089872.stm

I just want it to go away like the Nazi did after WW2, swept under the legal rug. I suppose the biggest problem I have is that the US supported Saddam when he wanted to attack Iran after the US puppet Government fell there. What a historical mess and Iran has not forgotten any of this.

That's the root cause of all of these problems with the honorable Persians. The US took a US sized collective shit on them. The US has to stop fucking meddling in other's business. Like Pakistan, Iran, Israel... If we just sit back and watch, they will sort things out one way or another. Lets start drilling in Alaska right away though.. just in case.

Mo-Music..

Lene Marlin is new to me. Cute Swedish girl, but the new record is over-produced like most top 40 cookie cutter music. http://www.lenemarlin.com/ They have some videos.

The Sounds have been around for a while, also Swedish. Not bad, kind of 80's retro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-XCcFDhz90

Condoleezza Needs a Shower or Something..

She was on This Week this morning, and I was cracking up when flies kept landing all over her and distracting her (and me).

You can watch it here; http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3850710

Hmm, what else attracts flies? You know the old saying..

And don't get all pissed off and start slamming me, I am just kidding and have a lot of respect for Condie and her accomplishments.

This Is Different...

Like I would give these crackpots a penny? Buy a cow?? If I wanted to do some good for these people, I would send a tractor and some wheat seed. Better yet, some rice. With all the flooding in Africa, they should be able to grow tons of rice!
http://www.worldvisiongifts.org/

And for just $100 I can protect 5 families from malaria or help a sexually exploited girl! How the hell can they guarantee that?? Bunch of retards, or they think we are. Oh wait, this is America, we are retarded.

Shocker that the freak Patricia Heaton is the Hollywood face behind this rip off. Way to go Patty.

China Is Trying To Kill Us, Again

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/09/toy.recall/index.html#cnnSTCText

This is getting way out of control, why not just cut imports all together. It would send a clear message to these idiots that America won't tolerate such crap. I am getting to the point that I am afraid of meat too. The FDA needs to get on the ball, but they won't. Too busy with the bureaucracy OMB imposes to actually do their damn jobs.

At $100 per Barrel

How do you hit the Golden Gate Bridge with a tanker?? How does this take 3 days to make the national news?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/09/bay.spill.ap/index.html

Why is the EPA burying the story? Good luck finding it...

http://www.epa.gov/

Why did I have to hear about this first on BBC news?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7088231.stm

So at $100 per barrel, that's $138,000 worth of product (42 gallons per barrel) washing up on area beaches. What a damn mess and worth so little. It will take millions to clean it up.

One More Sock…

I have been doing my own laundry since I was 16 years old. At some point in my life, I was at the point that I had the washer pretty much full and then found another sock under a pair of jeans. I tossed it in, thinking to myself, “It can fit one more sock”.

So over the years, when I do laundry, that “one more sock” concept always creeps back into my mind. I wonder; can a washer always have enough capacity for one more sock? Obviously not. You reach a point where you just know it’s too full and stop putting stuff in. But anytime you hit that mark and stop, it would probably not be a big deal to add one more sock.

All that being said, look at your life and see how your family, work and play fill up your day (the big three). Then start adding the socks. Think about it, there are many other socks that get tossed in. Most of the time, these extra socks come from other people that want to demand your time to meet their own desires. Odds are you do the same to other people yourself.

So we have this overhanging weave of other’s wants and our own needs over our lives. This fills up the rest of our time and often pushes us to the breaking point when it’s one sock too many. I think the end product of this stupid thought process is; try to be a little more self sufficient and if you are so overloaded it’s killing you, say no to people who want your time.

I Know Where I'm Going to Retire

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7087829.stm

The good news is the fish have never been bigger and their teeth have never been whiter.

That's Inappropriate

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/7085241.stm

An 11 year old getting a "stripper-gram". Gosh. I will say I am way older than 11 and would love one for my Birthday in a few weeks. PLEASE!!?? Anyone...

I wanted tomorrow off..

I really did, I haven't had any time off in weeks and I usually take a 1/2 day at least every two weeks. But NOOOOOoooo....

I get a schedule today for a meeting I really don't have to attend, but will be expected to anyway, for Friday afternoon. Who the hell schedules a meeting for Friday, let alone in the afternoon. And it's right before the Veteran's Day long weekend (remember your Vets, I am one!!) so you know nobody is going to be thinking about what's happening in the meeting. They will be thinking Football, or a dinner date, or something.

I could just stamp my feet and cry like a baby :)

Georgia Is Going Crazy..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7083911.stm

I didn't know they were their own country?? I thought they just languished as the state above Florida and made a bunch of paper.

This is disturbing. These Russians they speak of probably come from Rhode Island, the only US state starting in "R"! And it's an Island too.

Seriously though, we have Georgia sandwiched between Russia and Turkey, both of which we are not buddy-buddy with right now. http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=40.580585,47.285156&spn=14.104887,31.245117&z=5&om=1 This whole region is getting unstable, and we didn't even have to bomb Iran to do it.

I am starting work on the bunker, ark and spaceship right now, just in case I have to hide, float or flat out leave the planet.

Eno Everyone Can Agree On, Even The Boss..

I know I hyped him before here, but every time this music comes up in my rotation, I am compelled to say something.
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=7704 (scroll down to the player)
Listen to AT LEAST to song 2. Oh, note the dates on the songs. Way ahead of his time. Eno is now a big time producer and still puts out new stuff from time to time.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7083339.stm

Yeah, George and Nicolas chumming it up. Nothing good can come of this. Nic turned out to be an ass and divorced his wife a few weeks after getting narrowly elected. France is as divided as the US.

According to this; http://www.icasualties.org/oef/DeathsByYear.aspx France has lost less people that a lot of other countries in Afghanistan. It amounts to 2.6% of US losses. I probably shouldn't bitch too much, because the US pushed for and started this.

I just don't like the guy and don't like him slithering up to Bush. It's like two snakes intertwined.

eeeek!

What a freaky week, and it looks to only get worse. I have meetings stack on meetings and have to pick which to go to and which to ignore. I should probably be flattered that people want me at their meetings so bad? Um, but I am still regularly ignored and stifled. I also pissed of a fair amount of people with some (admittedly) inappropriate comments. It just came out in frustration, I know most people want to get work done and move forward. I just don't know if they always have a clear vision to actually do that.

Even when I stick my foot in it, for the common good, nothing much comes of it. I say, sometimes, you have to step in some shit to move forward. I am not afraid to do so. It was my self imposed mission when I came to work at this place.

I will just keep doing what I do and raise eyebrows. It's a gamble to see if I will ultimately get promoted or canned. I like gambling for fun and life, sock it to me baby. I am not a fan of Casinos though.

Polyphonic Spree again

Uh, I missed the release of this new album back in the summer, probably because I was unimpressed with their second release. http://www.thepolyphonicspree.com/
I won't comment more on the third, because it sounds like the second one from what I hear so far.

I looked on utube and I see the band did a gig on the show Scrubs, a song from their first album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUHgKBw994A Not a bad show and not a bad album, but the show is up against another show I like more, so I don't watch it.

300

I decided to rent this off the high-def online cable service ($4.00). WTF? Am I the only person who was annoyed by the awfully cheap CGI blood splatter effects and all of the crappy light filters and hack edits they employed? Post production was obviously meant to save this weak ass movie, but that failed. I have seen better effects in many B movies back in the 70's.

It reminds me of the reason I DONT want to see Baeowolf. Why the hell make a CGI movie and go out of your way to make the actors look like themselves? Uh, Duh... Why not just make a live action movie with people?? I have no desire to see this, as it will be a waste. What are you guys thinking and how did you get any producers to sign off on it?

On the other hand, I think Hitman http://www.hitmanmovie.com/ has all the hallmarks of a really good movie. There are no big name stars, but the direction (watch the trailer) looks pretty slick. It opens about my birthday, so I think I will treat myself to a night out. I am a bit sick of the repetetive music on the trailer...

Another year wasted..

I know, it is only November. But I am looking back at this year (outside of work) and I have not really accomplished much. I did get my son into and out of Driving School (including 3 trips to the Maryland version of the "DMV", called the MVA).

I am in the process or building new flower boxes, out of PVC fake wood, to replace the rotting wooden ones. Almost done. I did get a new 50" plasma flat screen and figured out how to wire it up on my own, even got the High Def setup. It's going to be great for the games. I just don't have any friends to watch it with.

I guess my biggest fault is that I have not tried to make any new friends. I don't really need any though. I would like a girlfriend, one of those "no strings attached" ones. If that's a sticking point, I would settle for some twine or better yet, some thread attached.

I do have my eye on a certain lady, but she is in a bit of turmoil...um, it would probably wind up way too complicated.

I have been looking for a hobby and I think I have had a breakthrough on a story I started and hit a brick wall on. I will try to get into that and stop these pitiful posts. I think I still won't make any friends by writing a book. A catch 22.

My Halloween

I usually do a pretty good setup for Halloween in front of my tiny little Row House. I always have some kids who won't even approach the house. The wind picked up early, but died down after a while, so the Fog machine was not in use the whole time.
(Click to enlarge images)


This is Harold. I made him by hand with sewing help from my oldest son. That was about 7 years ago, maybe a few more. It's so dark, you can't see the detail in the face or hands that I carved out of foam rubber. Harold is about 7 feet tall overall, and suspended on black string. I usually have him on a long string than will allow him to swing down and stop just short of the kids that are trick or treating. This year, I tried something different and had him suspended as shown, but with a flip of the finger, Harold would lurch forward a few feet quickly, like he was attacking. It was a perfect effect. I terrorized anyone who acted cocky and all the older kids. I try to not make kids cry, but it has happened, which always makes me feel bad. ; )

It is a blast and I can't really demonstrate the black light effect and the spooky music I play too. I guess you would have to visit on October 31st and see it for yourself. Most of the other decorations are obscured in the pics. A real sword stuck in the ground, very realistic fake tomb stones, the rubber snake, strobe light and more.

Fun fun.

My favorite was a little girl that stomped up to the porch and confidently proclaimed "I remember you"... I let Harold do his thing and the little cutie ran like a gazelle, a solitary scream trailed off as she ran. Several neighbors even stuck their heads out of their houses to see what was going on. That's Halloween success. Three different kids stopped to pose for pictures too.