Monday, January 31, 2005

First of all, it wans't a box of onions...

Snopes sniffs a little too close I am not sure that the estimable Snopes site will ever be challenged to debunk a gospel truth story that a certain roommate of mine once told.
I am inclined to say that this garbage tale, and the cat-in-a-bag that it links to, are both tame parables compared to his legendary "come-uppance for stealing" story about a box of onions in the attic.
I believe that the story is true and woe to you that tries to challenge the teller. When crossed he's been known to perpatrate vile deeds upon your car's ventilation system.

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Good fun

Teen Titans! Yep, the Titans are a great mix of DC goof a la JLA and anime. This episode throws in two cups of Yellow Submarine. I had a hard time keeping up with all the references.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

I-Ron chef

Hit it with a bat and then Bon Appetit! I just watched the second Iron Chef America with the pantsless Mario Batali cooking up some pretty tasty looking catfish dishes. I like that show. They have done a good job making it work without the Japanese camp aspect.

Friday, January 28, 2005

Tragedy

Weakly paraphrasing part of Bill Murray's "Cinderella Story", where he and Michael Jordan are on the last hole of a golf match with an enthusiastic crowd watching:

> So I yelled at the crowd "Who are you rooting for, anyway?"

> I think the answer hurt because it came so quick, and so certain.

> There are some questions that you shouldn't ask if you don't want to get hurt.

> "Are you going to go with him or me?"

> "Do you still love me?"

This leads up to the following question you also shouldn't ask.

Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

Have you had your knowlege tested lately?


Quiz Me!
After a long absence the mighty news quiz is back. Please take a moment to comment and post your results. I got six! Bill got four beacuse it is about current events and not old mummified events.

I'm glad the quiz is back because I was getting tired of the USA Today News Jumble.

Release the microbats!

Just as we had suspected I actually was thinking about bat evolution earlier this week. Thanks for sending this, Bill. If you are looking for a transfer out of the IASBS Dept of Giant Squid there are now openings on the Bat Missing Link Expedition.

I really was thinking about this. Serendipitous, ain't it?

Missed the quiz? Here's a look back.

History Quiz Me! Of course, Bill got a ten out of ten. I got a respecatble 8 when you see that I missed the one with more than five possible answers and the one about the formation of the United Kindom. I wish there had een a question about the Domesday Book. I know a little about that.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

In the name of love. In the name of luuuuve.

Whorehouse Old Day Just a moment after thinking that it would be inopportune to comment on the name of the bridgein light of a recent tragedy. I saw this story about a quaint new event. Think about the difficulty of writing about a mishap at the Gilbert festival. I hope there is not some freakish mass harpooning. It would be hell on the poor headline writer. Likewise for good news that comes out of it, like a surge in new employment opportunites or the awarding of a global trip.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Kinky for governor

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

But Keanu Reeves?

Still holding out for Sandman, I suppose I'm just a poor old fan but if they couldn't call the movie Hellblazer and they couldn't get Alex Winter for the role I hope they at least hired all fourteen writers from Judge Dredd.

Yes, I'm still bitter about Judge Dredd.

Sunday, January 16, 2005


Big boys don't need naps
Thanks for the free photo hosting, picasa pixies!

What a nice kitty.
Thanks for the free photo hosting, picasa pixies!

Friday, January 14, 2005

Roll your own Cassini-Huygens, courtesy of NASA

Hard one
Easy one
Here's a fun Movie for the kids showing the ESA's idea of what the trip was like for the children that rode on the outside of the C-H for the last seven years.
The CSA did not provide any fun Saturn probe activites. Bahdahbupbupbudabudabapbapbadah

Seven years later

How can I rid myself of several thousand dollars?

I could wait for this to hit eBay Thanks for sending this, Ted. Personally, I think I looks more like the Nuge.

Food based entertainment

Allez Cuisine! This will be a big deal at my house. I know the Vikings are stalking a playoff title but Bayless vs. Flay? I'm stoked.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Cold enough for ya?


Been to Duluth?
Thanks for the free photo hosting, picasa pixies! If you have, you'll recognize the arial lift bridge. It's a pretty tall item. It is not so tall that it should be completely obscured by frozen stuff. Duluth is a cold place. I talked to someone in Dain's Duluth office, about a half mile from this bridge, who expects it to be about 30 below zero tomorrow night. Woof.
The last time St. Paul got below 25 below we threw boiling water out of my apartment window to watch it freeze before it hit the street.
Tomorrw St. Paul is supposed to hit 8 below as a high and 25 below as a low.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Windy enough for ya?

Power! I am pretty sure I will do this and am considering the 100% option. I encourage other Xcel clients consider it also. Although it doesn't end up putting a 75 foot wind tower in my yard I'm still pretty excited by the opportunity. It seems a reasonable way to vote your dollars for wind power by paying a small premium on power you are already using.

Morning sickness? Hiccoughs? Farty? Sluggish after a big meal? Hungover?

Elixir! For over a decade I have known that there is magic in the world because I have seen how fast you can cure hiccoughs by sucking Angostura Bitters off a lime, but that I had known that shooting a couple of tablespoonsful could end wind and yowling cats. I can't begin to think of the times this could have been useful. I was moving one of the couple or three accumulated bottles around in the cabinet tonight and happened to read the oversized label.
Hard to believe that I hadn't bothered before. It's not like O'Gara's had a lot of other reading material laying around. I'll chalk it up to consistently having sparking conversation available.
More amazing than the story there and the claims for specific healthful benefit is the fact that I have had a bottle with the word 'flatulence' on it within easy reach for all these years and didn't even know it. I thought I had a sixth sense about these things.
I did a shot, about three teaspoons per the directions. I feel great.

Here's my plan. I'll have some each day until I use up the big jar, or suffer ill effects, or simply forget to continue the regimen. I'll keep you posted on the results.
I do not intend to discontinue that other experiment involving bottles of beer.


Here's the scoop on the oversized label; Lazy
Here's the long form history on the company site.

And here's the man among Menhatten

Monday, January 10, 2005

Everything old is new again

Get your Battlestar on. I have not yet seen enough to discourage me and I have read that there are 0 cute kids and 0 robot dogs. Good enough for this fanboy.

Work with clients?

You may need to add this to your "toolbox" Mr. Frank expalins new soft-skills for eCommunication. Tahnks to the cousins Graham for locating and forwarding this important lesson.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Are you sure?

Mr Lileks holds forth a bit on the subject of finality in today's column.
"what harm can be caused by a few twinkling reminders of celebrations past?
None. Except that the holidays are over. Done. Finished. Finito. Kaput. Christmas has concluded. The trial period has expired. The cheese is furry and the lunch meat has gone green. The pay-per-view you requested is no longer available. The kernels have ceased their rapid popping. The champagne is as flat as a Saturday newspaper. How many ways can I say this? The pool is drained. The sequel is in turnaround. The redshirt has beamed to the planet's surface. There's a pinkish stripe on the margin of the receipt. Judge Judy has gathered her papers and stood up. IT'S DONE. Game over, man! Holiday-wise, it is an ex-parrot! Stick a fork in it! Fork a stick in it! TAKE THE LIGHTS DOWN!"

Good work, man.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Goodbye, Will Eisner

Thanks.Among my favoite posessions is a 15 or 18 year old issue of PRINT dedicated to comics. It covers everything, or darn near it, and in doing so it does a fine job of putting Mr. Eisner's tremendous contributions in context.

Sunday, January 02, 2005


It's a new year and to celebrate, here's a photo of my good friend Darin.
Thanks for the free photo hosting, picasa pixies!

Thanks W3C organization.

Nice secret headquarters.Aha! Now that I have this old CSS reference bookmarked I can apply the ancient wisdom to modify this blog so that it now runs those links on the right side properly in mozilla browsers, which removes the last obstacle to your switching to Firefox! Yes, you! Unless you are Bill Gates, in which case you are now required to purchase the blog from me.