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October 27, 2013

Driving In The Texas Panhandle

Stumbled across video while looking at Texas Panhandle tornado videos; I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain this is east of Amarillo, between there and Panhandle (the town).


If that's where it is, it reminds me of the first time my British friend Helen came over to see me. Her flight was later in the day and by the time we picked up her luggage and got out of town, it was just about sunset and we were right at the same place on the road as in the video.

The traffic was much lighter than in that video and she commented on it. When, after about ten or fifteen minutes,  the second or third car passed us going the other direction in the westbound lane, I joked and said the highway was starting to get busy. She thought I was serious, but I told her it was fairly normal for a weekday, plus the "rush hour" after 5:00 was already over and explained to her about the busy traffic early in the morning and at quitting time at the Pantex Plant and also how many people who worked there or in Amarillo lived in Panhandle or the small communities or clusters of houses nearby, making for a lot more traffic than at the current time of day.

We drove along for a while longer, not saying much and I was amused at her staring out the window at the scenery, such as it was. The landscape along that part of I-40 is apparent in the video; other than power and telephone lines and barbed wire fences and the occasional house, the view stretches nearly unbroken all the way to the horizon, nothing to catch the eye other than a few lights twinkling on top the cell towers.

After several minutes of silence, she said something to me, but I couldn't understand it so I asked her to repeat it. She did so, but I still couldn't understand the word she was using and had to tell her I still couldn't understand what she had said. She repeated it one more time, slower:

"It's. all. so. vahst." Vahst? What is that, I wondered, some sort of British slang?

Then it dawned on me what she was saying...

 VAST.

October 26, 2013

Breaking Bad on Ice

Breaking Ice

yoho


yoho yo-ho [yoh-hoh] interjection, verb, yo-hoed, yo-ho·ing.

interjection

1. (used as a call or shout to attract attention, accompany effort, etc.)

verb (used without object)

2. to shout “yo-ho!”


Lots of things I could say about "yoho", but instead I'll just post this video:

Touch Effects

Touch Effects is an amazing time waster, truly deserving of the label; it is both addictive and mesmerizing.

Easy to begin:  just put your cursor within the field and click the left-hand mouse button.  The tiny balls will begin to ebb and flow and holding the button down and moving your cursor across the screen will create an even larger effect.

Customize the effects by changing from gravity well to magnetic repulsion, particle tethers from off to on, draw mode from rainbows to balls and blur effect from off to on.

I just noticed something odd;  after playing with the game while writing up this post,  I switched tabs back to this one to complete it and it sure looked like the balls were moving in the below screen shot.


October 25, 2013

UK or US?

Where do you belong?

You Belong in Both

You are flexible, easygoing, and adventurous. 

You belong in the USA, UK, and any other country that will have you.

You make yourself at home anywhere, and you don't have any problem adapting to local customs. You blend well.

You love a life full of experiences, and you feel like there are many chapters to your story. You are open to it all.


You may feel a bit more comfortable with certain people or regions, but you don't let yourself get too comfy. For you, it's important to shake things up. 


Fingernails vs Toenails

It can take from three to six month for a fingernail to grow back, but a toenail can take 12-18 months to grow back completely. The growth rate depends upon a number of factors including age, sex, heredity, time of the year, diet and exercise.

October 24, 2013

Stop Watching Us


Great video...on the surface. These Hollywood celebs bring up Nixon, yet say absolutely nothing about the person they were, in a large part, directly responsible for putting into office. You screamed about Bush and the Patriot Act, but are silent about this administration, the one that has vastly expanded these domestic spying programs?

Hypocrites.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Earl Scruggs & Friends

Earl Scruggs, banjo - Glen Duncan, fiddle - Randy Scruggs, acoustic guitar - Steve Martin, 2nd banjo solo - Vince Gill, 1st electric guitar solo - Marty Stuart, mandolin - Gary Scruggs, harmonica - Albert Lee, 2nd electric guitar solo - Paul Shaffer, piano - Jerry Douglas, dobro - Leon Russell, organ - Glenn Worf, bass - Harry Stinson, drums



Honestly, it doesn't matter if you're a heavy metal or rap, country or classical music fan, if you weren't tapping your toes by the end of that, you're nearly dead. (or might as well be)

October 23, 2013

Punk'd Puppy

I recently subscribed to the YouTube channel Talking Pets and love it.

October 21, 2013

Louis Braille

Louis Braille was only 15 when he devised his raised-dot writing system for the blind. Braille, who lost his sight at the age of three, started working on the dot patterns when he was 12.


October 19, 2013

The Heisenberg Legacy

Great Breaking Bad tribute.

Warning:  *some* language, violence, drugs

October 18, 2013

Born in a Pile of Leaves

You Should Have Been Born in the Autumn

You are an idealistic but also hard working person. You want to make the world a better place.

It's likely that you have a list of causes that you support - and a plan for advancing all of them.

You are a natural leader and organizer. You naturally sort out chaos and figure out what the first steps are.


You are confident in your abilities, but you also always have a contingency plan. Failure is not an option for you.

You know what you believe, and you are resistant to changing your mind. Others may find you frustratingly stubborn.


If you don't like how something is going, you're likely to take it over. You know you'll do a better job. 



October 17, 2013

blowzy



blowzy blowz·y [blou-zee] adjective, blowz·i·er, blowz·i·est

1. having a coarse, ruddy complexion.
2. disheveled in appearance; unkempt.


My middle name is Blowzy.

Unmarried Priesthood Judgements

I created a post today, but it had quite a few screen shots, so I backdated it so it wouldn't "stretch" out the page. (I prefer the posts closely match the length of the side navbar) The title of this post seems crazy, but check out the post and you'll see why it is.

Crazy Chicken Captions

October 15, 2013

He Left His Mark

After watching the final episode of Breaking Bad several times, I finally noticed something in the last scene, proving once again that the people involved in the show really put a LOT of thought into the tiniest details.

Here's a short video of the ending:



I hadn't noticed that when Walt's bloodstained hand slid down the stainless steel vessel, it had left a distinct "W".



It might have just been an accident, but I don't think so.

October 14, 2013

Haunted Worley Hospital

The Eyes Have It

You Are Whimsical

You are a dreamy, imaginative, and visual person. You paint complete pictures in your mind.

Your daydreams are like movies. You can transport yourself to a time and place that you may or may not have seen before.

You see the world from an upside down, inside out position. You just process everything differently.


Your vivid imagination amplifies everything around you. One small object or occurrence can set off a chain of events in your mind.

The world sees you as highly creative and enigmatic. Many people would like to 'pick your brain', but they don't know where to begin.


People are blown away by the thoughts and ideas you do share with them. No one can wrap their heads around your way of thinking. 



Happy Columbus Day!

The official name of the Niña (one of the three ships of Christopher Columbus) was the Santa Clara. It was common for ships of the time to have both an official religious name and a nickname which sometimes was the feminine form of the owner's name. That was the case with the Santa Clara, whose owner was Juan Niño of Moguer. (the feminine form of his name is Niña)


Graphics courtesy of PhillipMartin.com

October 13, 2013

A Rat By Any Other Name

The Norway rat (commonly called the brown rat), did not originate in Norway, but rather from northern China.  The rats spread to Europe in the 16th century and were transported to North America in the mid-18th century on ships carrying grain from England.  They were named for Norway in the mistaken belief that they had arrived in England aboard Norwegian vessels.

October 11, 2013

snollygoster



snollygoster snol·ly·gos·ter [snol-ee-gos-ter] noun Slang
a clever, unscrupulous person.

I never had heard or seen this word used, but I sure can think of quite a few people to which it could refer.

We've elected many.

John Cazale

John Cazale (August 12, 1935 – March 12, 1978) appeared in only five films in his six-year film career, but each one was nominated for Best Picture. He is the only actor to have this multi-film distinction.


I'm An Open Book

I'm totally against banning books; to ban a classic book such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of the "N word" is political correctness run amok. Sure, there are books that aren't age appropriate, but to ban books from the general populace because of what someone else decides should or shouldn't be read smacks of Orwell's 1984 (which is another book that has been banned from certain libraries)

I took this test several days ago and forgot what the other results were;  I'm semi-surprised at my results because I've never seen the movie or read the book (although I intend to) but other than that, the rest of the description fits me.

You Are The Hunger Games

You have a wild imagination, one that is not easily satisfied by run of the mill stories and novels.

You like to be transported to a completely different world. You like to be immersed in a life that is nothing like your own.

You don't mind an outlandish story - in fact, you require it. You prefer a book that's not just about ordinary, every day things.


There's nothing you like better than being lost in a book - especially one with a strong plot and protagonist to root for. 



October 9, 2013

tittup


tittup tit·tup [tit-uhp] noun, verb, tit·tuped, tit·tup·ing or ( especially British ) tit·tupped, tit·tup·ping. Chiefly British noun

1. an exaggerated prancing, bouncing movement or manner of moving. verb (used without object)

2. to move, especially to walk, in an exaggerated prancing or bouncing way, as a spirited horse.


"Chiefly British noun"

Uh, OK.

Droid Factoid

Out of all the actors in the six Star Wars movies, only two have appeared in every movie; Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2 and Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO.