March 17, 2008
Being Irish Means
* you will never play professional basketball
* you swear very well
* at least one of your cousins holds political office
* you think you sing very well
* you have no idea how to make a long story short
* you are very good at playing a lot of very bad golf
* there isn't a huge difference between losing your temper and killing someone
* much of your food was boiled
* you have never hit your head on the ceiling
* you spent a good portion of your childhood kneeling
* you're strangely poetic after a few beers
* you're poetic a lot
* you will be punched for no good reason...a lot
* some punches directed at you are legacies from past generations
* your sister will punch you because your brother punched her
* many of your sisters are Catherine, Elizabeth or Mary...and one is Mary Catherine Elizabeth
* someone in your family is incredibly cheap
* it is more than likely you
* you don't know the words but that doesn't stop you from singing
* you can't wait for the other guy to stop talking so you can start talking
* "Irish Stew" is the euphemism for "boiled leftovers from the fridge"
* you're not nearly as funny as you think you are, but what you lack in
talent, you make up for in frequency
* there wasn't a huge difference between your last wake and your last kegger party
* you are, or know someone, named "Murph"
* if you don't know Murph, then you know "Mac"
* if you don't know Murph or Mac, then you know "Sully"
* you'll probably also know Sully McMurphy
* you are genetically incapable of keeping a secret
* your parents were on a first name basis with everyone at the local emergency room
last but not least...
Being Irish means...
* your attention span is so short that---oh, forget it.
March 15, 2008
Crazy Captcha Codes
If you've posted to most any forum lately, you'll be familiar with the "captcha" code that's used to weed out spambots. The above are some of the ones I've seen in this past week.
The frustrating thing about captcha codes is that they're sometimes hard to read; when it requires a case-sensitive input I often wonder- is that a lower case "L" or is it an uppercase "i"? Is it an O (oh) or is it a 0 (zero)? Sometimes, as you can see in the examples above, the letters are at all sorts of angles and it's hard to tell a "Z" from a "T" or an "S" from a "5".
I've had troubles deciphering them and used the "hear it!" feature only to have the code change after I've listened to the sequence. I've even input the code and then had my post vanish into the internet ozone. (thank goodness I've learned -- from my years in MSN Groups -- to copy any post before I send. I do it out of habit now, even with my emails)
My favorite captcha codes are those that use two or more random words. This one was especially "titillating".
They could've just used a photo, though.
Chew On This Quiz
| You Are Peppermint Flavored Gum |
 You have a sharp mind that is always churning. You are mentally hyper. You're always thinking of something. And while your mind is always on, you're not the most physically active person around. Some people make mistake you for being lazy, but the truth is: you never relax. You tend to get so deeply into your projects that you ignore everything around you. You are creative and cutting edge. You love telling people about your newest ideas and discoveries. |
March 14, 2008
Just gettin' ready, that's all.
Gettin' ready for the next four years after the election, either way.
rodomontade
rodomontade \rod-uh-muhn-TADE; roh-duh-; -TAHD\, noun:Vain boasting; empty bluster; pretentious, bragging speech; rant.
This was the word of the day today, from the feed in our right-hand navbar.
I wondered if rodomontade.com has been taken so I checked.
It's for sale! Price: $1,895.00
That seems fairly expensive, but if all the jerks and buttwipes I've encountered on the 'net chipped in a penny each, they could have it!
Which One Am I?
I was browsing through a forum last night, reading the posts and wondering if I wanted to join. I happened to look down at the bottom of the page, and like a lot of forums, it had a "Who is online now?" feature.
As I said, I wasn't a member, so I was either counted along with four other guests or three other robots.
March 9, 2008
No Burger for Me Today
Thank goodness the Pak-a-Burger has changed hands (again) and that the new owners have repainted the building and put it back to the original white w/ red trim. The color the last owner painted it, Harvester gold w/ green trim(local h.s. colors), reminded me too much of baby poo - which isn't much of an appetite stimulus.
Was glad to see they have new hours, too, but when I went there earlier to get me a burger, it was closed! I couldn't understand why; I got down there late, but I sure thought they'd still be open at 2:30!
Dogged by the law in Pampa
Brush with Pampa lawmen leads to bounty hunter life
By Cheryl Berzanskis
Duane Chapman was just a skinny kid when he lived in Pampa in the 1970s. Now he's cable television's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and rounds up bail-jumping criminals on the A & E Network.
Chapman, who operates a bail bond business in Hawaii, styles himself a man once on the wrong side of the law who became a Christian family man, bail bondsman and bounty hunter who puts the bad guys away. His television persona is larger-than-life and expressive, rough around the edges but golden at heart.
Chapman moved to Pampa after he married his first wife, LaFonda Sue Honeycutt, in 1972. His time there, especially the hazy events of one crucial evening, set much of the stage for what came after.
"I'd like to say I became a man in Texas," Chapman said, "and always and forever carry that Texas star in my heart, and always and forever I will make Texas proud."
A fatal shotgun blast later
Chapman was involved in the Sept. 15, 1976, homicide of alleged pimp and drug dealer Jerry Oliver in Pampa. Chapman, 23 at the time, and three others were charged with acting together to kill Oliver.
Court records indicate the quartet went to Oliver's house because they heard he had marijuana. But an argument broke out and Donald Wayne Kuykendall, wielding a sawed-off shotgun, shot Oliver.
Charlie Love retired from the Pampa Police Department in 2001 and currently works for the Roberts County Sheriff's Office. He was one of the first officers to arrive after Oliver was shot at his Pampa home at 1072 Prairie Drive.
Love took Oliver's dying statement as he lay bleeding inside the modest one-story home. Oliver gave Love names. Officers pieced together the rest.
The next day, officer Randy Stubblefield arrested Chapman. Stubblefield and another officer, Preston Bailey, waited in the alley behind Chapman's home at 501 Roberta St. as two officers approached the front door. Chapman barreled out the back door and Stubblefield tackled him.
The other suspects, Ruben Garza, Cheryl Fisher and Kuykendall, were arrested the same day.
During the trial, Kuykendall testified the shooting was accidental and occurred while he and Oliver struggled.
Judge Grainger McIlhaney handed Kuykendall a 10-year sentence. Garza was given a 10-year probated sentence. Fisher pleaded guilty and was a witness for the state. She received eight years probation.
Chapman, who had two previous convictions, was sentenced to five years in prison. He began serving his time Aug. 18, 1977, and was paroled Jan. 31, 1979. His parole was terminated Dec. 20, 1980.
Old ties to Pampa reinforce new life
Stubblefield, who later was elected Gray County Sheriff, heard from Chapman in the 1990s.
"One day when I was sheriff, I got a phone call and it was Chapman," Stubblefield said. "(He) told me he was doing the bounty hunter work, and he was gonna do a story about his life and he wanted to come to the old Gray County jail where he was incarcerated so he could get some pictures.
"I told him we had built a new jail and the old jail (was) abandoned and had been scrapped out. So he never did come to Pampa."
Harold Comer, the former district attorney who prosecuted the group, recalled Chapman as "just a skinny kid."
Comer said Chapman was "kind of a self-centered young man" and active in his defense. The late Bill Kolius of Amarillo defended him.
Comer said the four's motive for attacking Oliver was inconsequential.
"I can just see them sitting in that car, and I think it started when Garza said 'I'm gonna kill him,'" Comer said. "I call it a melody of murder. They just orchestrated this out of this ego and machoism.
"The more I thought about it and read over the record, I doubt if any of these defendants, these kids, had they been acting alone, would have taken a shotgun and killed this victim (Oliver)," he added. "But acting together and feeding off each other's ego and machoism or whatever you want to call it, did some planning."
Years later, Comer got a telephone call from Chapman.
"I just want to let you know I'm doing better," Chapman told him.
"I said, 'What are you doing?' and he said, 'I'm a bounty hunter,'" Comer said. "He just wanted me to know that he was following gainful employment and not involved in crime."
Chapman says he wanted Comer to know his life had turned out well.
"I was very ashamed of what happened in Pampa, Texas, and he (Comer) was a very decent guy," Chapman said. "I wanted to call before he left office and say I wasn't all rotten to the core."
Most of the people Chapman knew in Pampa have died, he said. He mostly kept in touch with the late Sheriff Rufe Jordan.
"I know it sounds strange to say, he was like a stepfather to me," Chapman said.
In fact, he said, Comer and Jordan told him that he could do something better with his life.
Shortly after he was released from prison, Chapman got his chance at a new beginning.
His wife, LaFonda, filed for divorce while Chapman was in prison and retained full custody of their two young children. Chapman was struggling to get back on his feet when a judge ordered him to pay thousands of dollars in back child support.
"I told him I wasn't going to pay for it because I wasn't there - I was in prison," Chapman says in a biography on his television show's Web site. "So he said, 'Do you know what a bounty hunter is, boy?' I said yes. He held up a picture and said, 'Can you find this boy? I said yes. He said 'If you find him, I'll pay $200 of your child support.'
"Well I only needed about a week to find this guy. ... My first bounty."
Another success story emerged post-1976
For Fisher, the events of Sept. 15, 1976, were life-changing. She went from a church-going 17-year-old to an adult defendant accused of a serious crime.
Before Oliver's death, Fisher had never had so much as a traffic ticket. She did, however, have a ton of attitude and smoked pot. Her family's wild child, she said.
Fisher was 16 when she met Chapman at Caldwell's Drive-In, a teen hangout. Chapman would drive over on his motorcycle, sit and visit. It was a year and a half before she knew he was a married man.
"He was a skinny little kid," Fisher said.
Chapman, Garza and Kuykendall were in Fisher's car when they went to Oliver's house. She didn't expect a quick trip to steal drugs to turn deadly.
"I thought we were gonna go over there and take what pot Jerry Oliver had and leave," she said.
Fisher served five years probation and then turned her life around. She earned a general equivalency diploma, and her probation officer petitioned Judge McIlhaney to drop her conviction so she could go to nursing school.
"The next thing I knew, I had a paper that said the indictment had been dropped," Fisher said. "I owe those two people my life."
Fisher, a nurse for 25 years, still lives in Pampa and has heard from Chapman sporadically over the years. He's called her twice about a book, and she ran into him coming out the door of the local newspaper office about 10 years ago.
Chapman told her he was living in Colorado, had a bail bond business, and was trying to set up a book and movie deal and asked her whether she wanted to be involved.
"I'm still trying to live it down here in Pampa and you moved off, and now you're wanting to write a movie to talk about it," she recalled telling him.
Of the four involved in Oliver's death, Chapman said he and Fisher had become successful. He said today, neither would have been convicted because they were in the car's backseat when Kuykendall shot Oliver.
But something had to happen to stop his criminal activity, Chapman said.
"And believe me, Huntsville did," he said.
Old associates dubious of Dog's TV persona
Stubblefield and Fisher don't have confidence in Chapman's born-again Christianity, which plays a role in his television show.
"Duane Chapman found Jesus on the Gray County jail house floor," Fisher said. "He wanted people to think that happened during his arrest. He came out cussing and acting just like he did before."
Chapman brought his wife and two children to see Fisher while she was in jail. She said he told her he'd found Jesus and he'd be around to help with anything she needed.
"Then I watch the show and see this family group saying their family prayers," she said. "Then they do their bounty hunting and just curse like the gutter rats they're picking up.
"What infuriates me is the way he's manipulated the things that have happened to him in his past to make him into this person he is now."
Part of Chapman's persona is reformation, and he believes the life he has led since Oliver's death reflects that. Chapman said he has gone 30 years without a felony conviction.
"No other ex-con has been as successful as I have, legally," he said. "I can't even remember being a criminal. I was a moral criminal, and finally the good morality took over."
A racial slur that got Chapman in trouble with A & E didn't surprise Fisher.
Chapman's well-publicized derogatory telephone rant about Monique Shinnery, his son Tucker Chapman's girlfriend, led A & E to suspend production of his show Nov. 2.
On Nov. 1, Chapman issued a public statement apologizing for his "regrettable use of very inappropriate language."
On Feb. 19, A & E announced "Dog the Bounty Hunter" would return to production.
Filming started Monday in Hawaii, but Chapman doesn't know when episodes might air.
March 4, 2008
100 Days, 100 Nights - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
I've bought a half-dozen single mp3s from Amazon, and now 'n then they send me a link to some freebies. I d/l several last night and this was one of them. I may very well buy the album.
March 3, 2008
Sunset in Tennessee
This is today's photo from a feed I have on my Google start page. The website, JS Nature Photo, has some stunning nature photography of Tennessee and Colorado.
I enjoy it and look forward to it each time I enter the page. The feed is seldom, if ever, "down" and loads quickly. They also provide other customized feeds and hosted scripts.
Hungry Deer
I've taken some not-so-hot deer pictures to post, but this one came from a neighbor.
The caption on the email said this was taken in Eagle River, Wisconsin. These folks put out corn for the deer to eat. (the little piles of dark color in the snow)
You'll need to click the pic to view it in larger detail, but up near the house, at the top left third of the photo, it looks to me as though that's a wolf and just to the right of him, a huge bobcat/cougar.
Absurdly Cool Freebies
Not a bad freebie place; from the website:
Freebie Finder is an automated free stuff aggregator. It is designed it to collect free stuff offers from top freebie sites, while filtering out most scams and referral pyramids.
March 1, 2008
Una Paloma Blanca - George Baker Selection
The song is playing on the radio as Gilmore, in a fantastic performance by Tommy Lee Jones, is being driven to another building where he is to be executed by firing squad.
No Vote IS a Vote!
I voted yesterday; absentee voting here in Texas was all this last week and I wanted to make sure I got mine in just in case I couldn't vote next Tuesday, March 4th.
I don't mind announcing to the world for whom I cast my vote: I registered as a Republican so I could proudly select Ron Paul, even though I'd bet a thousand dollars (more if I had it) that he'll not come remotely close to securing the party's nomination.
It was also important to me (and my fellow Texans) that I vote on the three Ballot Initiatives; two were concerning illegal immigration * (I voted "SÃ " ) and the other concerned limiting govt. agencies and their budgets. (nutshell synopsis, sorry. Again, a "yes" vote from me)
*Actually, only the first specifically targets IA; the second was about requiring ID in order to vote. To me, the two are closely interconnected. The third was also couched in such language "except in case of emergency" and I figure it won't have much "tooth" to it.
I left every state race "blank", that is, I cast no vote on them. It's my own form of term limits initiative / protest vote and I've never liked seeing anyone run unopposed. I generally vote for the Libertarian candidate in the state races in the General Election. (Railroad Commission, elected judges, offices like that.)
I voted against the incumbent in the senatorial race, and that is one I wish I had researched more (read: some, any) before I went and voted. Be that as it may, both were Republicans so there surely wasn't but a nickle's difference - or less - between the two.
It's been a while, but I have been known to register as a Democrat in order to vote for a particular local candidate running for city or county office. I did that several times in order to help out someone I knew who held county office and was doing a good job.
Being a rare exception of not voting for incumbents, I voted for a friend of mine in a county race even though she was the only one running for the office; she's doing a great job and is honest to the utmost. She and I spoke a couple of years ago about not voting for certain offices and she agreed with me it sent a message to candidates running unopposed.
For example, if a thousand votes are cast in the election and the candidate had no opposition and received only something like 400 votes in the primary, it showed that even the candidate's own party base was dissatisfied. I can only hope that state and national politicians can see the same thing.
I do not reside in the precinct, or I'd have liked to have voted in a local constable race. One man, Don Fletcher, is running in order to help abolish the office; he won the election last time on that platform and as soon as he was elected, he resigned the office. If the post isn't filled for seven consecutive years it's permanently abolished and would save local taxpayers the sum of $42k annually, the budget for the position. Fletcher wouldn't have run for office this time, but another man, Curtis Broaddus, filed and he was forced to file again.
Read more at the Pampa News website
(I have some opinions about that, and the doofus who is trying to milk the taxpayers for a cushy job, but will withhold them for now. I'll update after the election in another post. )
The funny thing was when I went to the Courthouse to vote, there were two tables, Dem. and Repub. and the latter's line stretched all the way out into the hallway and there was no one at the former. In fact, the election officials, four nice older ladies, switched right in the middle of my registering because the Republican table had been so busy the women needed a break.
A man right behind me and I had been chatting a little bit while waiting in line, and he asked if I had ever voted with the new electronic machines they were using. I told him I had once, but didn't like it, we needed a "paper trail", hanging chads and all. He agreed, and when it came time to vote, I asked for a paper ballot. The woman looked a "little" perturbed, but complied with my request. Immediately, the guy behind me chimed in "I want one, too!"
Within seconds, the same refrain went all the way back down the line, at least to the ones in earshot. "Me, too!" "Yeah, I don't like them machines, either." People coming from already voting were clamoring "Hey, I didn't know we had a choice!"
Now the look towards me was a bit more than a "little"perturbed.
That's OK; I've seen that look on women's faces before: my ex-wife's, my mom and sister's, various girlfriends, sales clerks and waitresses, etc. I'm really not a perturbing sort of guy, but it's my delivery, I'm afraid. I start off being super-nice and cordial, polite to the nth degree, then I screw up their expectations by insisting upon something that is going to cause them some grief and/or extra work.
Doesn't help much even if you keep smiling at them; you've done screwed up with them, horsefly.
We've Lept the Leap
Leap Year/Day was almost over before I noticed the date and I wouldn't have noticed except I got my cable and gas bills a day "earlier" than expected and that Carol Paul (Dr. Paul's wife) was celebrating her b-day yesterday.
It reminded me of one of my best friends; his granddad was born on Leap Year and I remember his family getting together to celebrate his 21st birthday. Now, the man was turning 85 years old, but he had only celebrated 20 "real birthdays" in the past, that is, the day on which he had been born had only "come around" every four years.
I once dated a woman who had a delightful little girl and she too had been born on Feb. 29th. I helped her mother with a birthday party, the girl's "second" birthday. (she was turning nine)
Being born on Leap Year would be much better than being born on Christmas Day, I think. No parents are going to deny their child a birthday except for every four years, but being born on a major holiday would be a bummer, what with one's birthday being pushed to the side in favor of Christmas.
At least you could save on candles.
I remember a time when I was in the third grade (I think) It was a leap year and one of the guys in the class ahead of me stopped me in the hallway and asked me what was 8 times 8.
Was this some sort of hazing? I started to panic. Was he trying to trip me up, make me look foolish? (he wouldn't have had to asked a question, just hung around me for a day, he'd seen plenty of foolish stuff)
"Uh....sixty-four?" I answered tentatively. I wasn't for sure; math never was my strong suit.
"Nope." he said, while unwrapping a piece of hard candy. (Jolly Ranchers, remember them?) I waited, figuring the punchline would involve some sort of upperclassman oneupmanship on me. Rolling the candy around in his mouth, he replied with a cinnamon-scented rejoinder:
"Nope." he repeated "Eight times eight is 65."
"It's leap year, after all."
I would've guessed "Jr. Hi."
TV Reviews
I ran across this sticky in another Blogger site while researching a local news story. I was suprised to see it at such an advanced level. (I had another similar sticky a few months back; it showed the "worth" of one's blog and mine never got above $0.00)
After submitting this site's URL, I got the code, then decided I'd go back to looking at the other websites that referenced the story of which I was wanting to learn more. I found a website that had some information that pertained to what I was seeking, then noticed that it linked to the one I had just visited.
Seems that the two sites have been fighting; one is a left-wing nutjob and the other is a right-wing wacko
Drama, don'tcha just love it?
February 28, 2008
The Brightest of Stars
Another beautiful wallpaper or printable poster from the NASA website:
Swirls of gas and dust reside in this ethereal-looking region of star formation seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. This majestic view, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), reveals a region where low-mass, infant stars and their much more massive stellar neighbors reside. A shroud of blue haze gently lingers amid the stars.
Known as LH 95, this is just one of the hundreds of star-forming systems, called associations, located in the LMC some 160,000 light-years distant. Earlier ground-based observations of such systems had only allowed astronomers to study the bright blue giant stars present in these regions. With Hubble's resolution, the low-mass stars can now be analyzed, which will allow for a more accurate calculation of their ages and masses.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
February 25, 2008
Cat Vid
Mischievous feline shenanigans are underscored by the whimsical "La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie)," by Italian composer Gioacchino Antonio Rossini.
February 24, 2008
Zach Is Back
The Dallas Cowboys have announced the signing of Zach Thomas to a one year contract: 1 million in base salary, a million in the form of a signing bonus and a million in incentives. (not announced, but generally geared to the percentage of plays during the season and/or if he makes the Pro Bowl)
Personally, I was against the signing. Dallas has quite a few pressing needs such as shoring up the defensive secondary and finding a receiver who can stretch the field. (IOW, has "speed") The linebacker spot is one that Dallas is deep in personnel and at first glance, it seems as though Thomas is a "biscuit shy" of being large enough to play an interior LB spot in the 3-4 which Dallas employs.
Still, Miami used the 3-4 over the last few years and Thomas excelled in that alignment, making the Pro Bowl each year except for this last one. Something that has been thrown out in the hundreds of forums discussing this signing is the fact that Thomas has more tackles in his career than does any other defensive player now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Very Impressive.
Another concern of mine is Thomas' age (he's 34, think he will turn 35 before or during next season) He's getting on up there in age where the end of his career is definitely in sight, so I was glad to see Dallas not break the bank or mortgage the future to sign him.
Also worrying many is the fact that Thomas missed most of last season with a concussion (given to him in the Dallas game) and then was in a car wreck with his new bride and suffered from a concussion and subsequent migraines.
Since this was a "bargain basement" type signing, getting Thomas for not much more than the NFL minimum for a veteran, then I will have to give my reluctant approval to the transaction. (not that MY opinion counts for a damn thing)
The funny thing to me is that Thomas' public statements said he was proud to be a Cowboy, but in my conversations with his own grandmother (I sort of know the family, his uncle lives only a few blocks away, but have met Zach only once. More on that later) when Zach entered the NFL draft, I found out that Thomas didn't like the Cowboys and was glad he wasn't drafted by them.
Of course, people can change their minds, but I believe money talks louder than anything else!
His grandmother said the rest of the family would've been happy to have seen Zach with a star on his helmet, esp. since half of his games would've been played in Dallas, fairly easy for his family to attend.
As I've mentioned in here before, Zach's father is responsible for building the Groom Cross, and that's one of the reasons I bring up a football related topic. The main reason I posted this is because Zach is from this area and played his last year of h.s. football here in Pampa.
This article isn't about Thomas' signing so much, but to mention the back-and-forth going on about it all in the football forums. Some are more than pleased with the transaction, while others bemoan that it is the beginning of the end of hope for this current crop of players and that Jerry Jones (DC owner) is once again meddling with the team, forcing it into mediocrity--once again.
I thought of making the following the theme of this post, but decided against it. "Zak is Bak!" was more in line with what I was thinking, esp after this post. (a fair example of the level of posting in football forums...heck, ANY forum)
I'm curious as to just how much money a chicken costs?
I dunno, guess it's just me, but if I don't know the meaning of a word, I don't use it. Also, if I don't know how to spell something, I will go look it up. I'm sure many of us do the same thing - we're all guilty of the occasional typo now 'n then - but I'm anal to the point of being mortified if I let something like "poultry" escape my keyboard into the Internet Ozone, especially if I meant "paltry".
John Lennon, when once asked if McCartney had written the lion's share of their collaborative efforts, replied "That's such a paultry question; I refuse to answer it. "
Where do you hang crooked politicians? Why, from the pol-tree, of course!
I could go on, but won't. Aren't you glad?
February 23, 2008
Goat Cussin'
Went to the horse lots today to see how the animals were doing; I had heard there had been a fire out there and I was concerned about some of my favorites. I didn't see Jack the Mule, but an old pal was standing out in the road as I was leaving. Somehow he knew I was in the vicinity and I *might* just have an apple for him. (and I did!) I call him "Beezlebub" because he looks satanic, but he's really pretty sweet. For a goat, that is.
He really doesn't smell very good, but then again, none of them do, esp. the billys. (they pee on their whiskers) He held still long enough for me to get a video of him. I greeted him with the normal Texas salutation, one with an obscenity. He replied in kind.
February 18, 2008
Always Alliteration Admiration
KVII-TV in Amarillo is using another one of my crappy photos again on their 5 o'clock broadcast (on right now) as well as on their website.
Original post: Hay! (it's cheaper than corn)
February 15, 2008
The very end of one, some might say
You Are a Colon |
 You are very orderly and fact driven. You aren't concerned much with theories or dreams... only what's true or untrue. You are brilliant and incredibly learned. Anything you know is well researched. You like to make lists and sort through things step by step. You aren't subject to whim or emotions. Your friends see you as a constant source of knowledge and advice. (But they are a little sick of you being right all of the time!) You excel in: Leadership positions You get along best with: The Semi-Colon |
When I took this test, I expected to be ellipses.
I just thought....
February 14, 2008
Colorado Lightshow - Rocket Reentry
I was reading an article on the Wired website: Pentagon Unveils Rogue Spy Sat Shoot-Down Plan and stumbled across this vid.
(from the YouTube site)
According to NORAD, this is a Russian SL-4 rocket body that re-entered the atmosphere over Colorado and Wyoming. This rocket body is "space junk" from an earlier launch of a French Satellite on December 27, 2006.
Amazingly, the reentry occurred nearly 60 miles up and 300 miles to the West over the Four Corners area!
Cactus Heart
This was taken last year out at my friend Andy's house, just past the city limits.
Some grasshopper decided to do a little botanical engineering and carved out a heart for his girlfriend. I guess the relationship took off, because there's millions of grasshoppers this year.
I used to date an ol' gal who had a heart like this; no, it wasn't made of cactus, but it certainly was covered in thorns.
February 12, 2008
Tilted Perspective
I think I was leaning.
Pretty sure I was. I've always leaned a bit to the right, in reality and also politically. I walk pretty straight on the days my back eases up some.
I believe I was focusing more on the light standard than on the background object, the huge Cross.
Whatever, it's a little bit disconcerting, isn't it?
February 11, 2008
500 Miles - The Proclaimers
I like this acoustic version better than the regular vid.
A toe-tapper in any dialect or language.
Buddy Hollyish, I'd even say.
February 10, 2008
Archer
This is my pal's dog, Archer, named after the small town near Wichita Falls where my friend's son found him. (Archer City is the home town of Larry McMurtry, the author of Lonesome Dove, Hud, Terms of Endearment, The Last Picture Show (one of my all-time favorite movies and was filmed in Archer City) and McMurtry won an Oscar for his screenplay of Brokeback Mountain.
Archer will fetch a stick until you're tired of throwing it, and if he gets tired first, he will run off with it and rest a while, but you'd best not leave or he'll come out and drop the stick at your feet and bark until you start playing with him again.
The legs belong to my pal's wife.
Old Truck
This is an old Chevy truck parked out on some land my friend's dad leases and on which he runs a small cow/calf operation. Other than the peeling paint, the old truck looks to be in good shape, with most of the windows intact.
-sigh- Who am I kidding?
Pretty old truck, though.
I wouldn't want to go traipsin' off around there in a another month or so.
That looks snakey as hell to me.
Whomping Willow
Not for sure what sort of tree this is, but it reminded me of the Whomping Willow in the Harry Potter movies/books.
I want to go back down there at a different time of day and take some more photos; the sun was just too low on the horizon to get good detail.
Hay! (it's cheaper than corn)
A couple of the cows on my friend's place. They look to be some sort of Hereford-Charolais cross with maybe some Simmental in them, too.
The hay was in those huge round bales and my friend's dad has some "corrals" to put around the hay in order to keep the cattle (and horse) from trampling on it.His dad uses these corrals most of the time, but rolls out a bail now and then along the ground.
I commented on it, wondering why he was putting one bale in the enclosure, but putting another on the ground.
He said his pop does that because the little calves like to lie on the hay.
Out to Pasture
Went down to Miami to watch the Pro Bowl w/ my pal and we went to put out some hay for his dad's cows and their calves. This is his dad's old work horse, now retired. (as is his dad)
Friendly old thing, he let me rub on him and he sniffed out the sugar cube in my pocket.
He sure enjoyed the hay we put out for him. (and the cows and calves)
February 7, 2008
1/3 NOT Normal
| You Are Fairly Normal |
|
February 4, 2008
Happy Birthday, Alice & Clint!
No, Alice and Clint aren't my next-door neighbors.
"Alice & Clint" as in Cooper (born 1948) and Black (1962).
Two of my favorite performers having the same b-day, how cool is that?
I think they should do a duet together.
I can see the titles now:
"Put Yourself in My Coffin", "A Better Ghoul" and "When I Said I'd Kill You".
Alice Cooper could bite the head off of a chicken while Clint played the harmonica.
February 2, 2008
Look Out !
It's Groundhog Day!
My pal Garazon and I both share a fondness for the "holiday". I am not for sure the origin of HIS like for the date, but I always thought it should be a celebration that spring isn't far off.
If the groundhog see his shadow, spring is postponed for six weeks. (I guess that's the way it goes; never for sure about that)
I guess we'll have six more weeks of bad weather because the sun was shining bright this morning. So, according to the legend we're assured of another month and a half of winter, but we almost always have six weeks of bad weather after the first of Feb.
I don't think there's any groundhogs around here, but there are a few prairie dog towns left, those that haven't been wiped out by the ranchers and/or the Bubonic Plague.
Anyway...here's to Garazon and his new love, Alison:
Lightness of Being
The bright sun dissects the airglow above Earth's horizon in this view photographed with a digital still camera from the Space Shuttle Columbia during the STS-107 mission.
Space Shuttle Columbia and the STS-107 crew perished during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.
This image was d/l from the NASA website.
The morning the Columbia disintegrated over the Central Texas skies I was working the night shift and was supposed to have been off by that time. In fact, I had told a co-worker that we should watch the sky and we'd be able to watch the shuttle coming in on its approach to the landing spot in Florida.
He was skeptical, but I assured him I had watched the shuttle land before; once was at night, an awesome sight. I had to use binoculars, but I could make out the shape and the red glow in the sky, the trail left by re-entering the atmosphere, helped focus on the spacecraft.
That night we had to work overtime and after the couple extra hours of work added onto the other work-filled eight hours, I had forgotten about the landing. We were getting into our cars that cold Feb. morning when I noticed some odd looking vapor trails in the southern sky. It was nothing new to see them, what with the winds and the jet stream dipping down south during this time of the year.
Little did I know it was the result of the disaster.
Rick Husband, commander of that flight, was from Amarillo. The city airport is now named after him.
Breaking the Tie
From a poll at the Dallas Cowboys websiteI cast the tiebreaker vote.
Which means I have doomed the Pats to a loss.
I'm horrible at handicapping ball games. I learned my lesson after losing an entire paycheck on the '78 Super Bowl.
UPDATE: Went back to the website (I visit it nearly every day) and voted again in the poll. (a proud Texas tradition, going all the way back to LBJ; "vote early, vote often")
I don't know why the site allows more than one vote, but it does, or seems to allow it. Be that as it may, it was really strange to see the updated results (regardless if my vote counted or not)
I'm wondering if the bookies are spamming the polls?
I'm not very good at these things (lost the paycheck, remember?) but I will predict a Pats win, 34-14.
February 1, 2008
What Kind of Meat Are You?
| You Are Fish |
 You have a well formed palate and a daring appetite. If it's served to you, you'll at least try it. People are pretty scared of your exotic ways. But once they get a taste of you, they're addicted! |
January 24, 2008
January 19, 2008
January 16, 2008
Love or Money?
| You Would Choose Love |
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January 9, 2008
Who'd a thunk it?
| You Are a Total Brainiac |
|
Amarillo - Tony Christie
Courtesy of the Royal Dragoon Guards in Iraq.
God bless 'em all. I wish they were all home, or at least in Amarillo.
