As subtle as a flying brick.

Archive for November, 2004

Yeah..

i gotta say though, way too many people wash up in the communal showers, way too many fat guys. The showers are laid out badly, I have to walk through the communal ones to get to the enclosed ones, and yeah, way too many dudes don’t bother to make it that far.
I’m not a homophobe, I just don’t dig showering with the general public.


Ooopsy

Heh, well we went to the YMCA again this morning, and I hope we end up going every morning. I feel so damn lively today, sore, but lively.
I sorta screwed up this morning and made Jenn late for classes, oops! Before heading down to get a shower at 7:30, she asked if i was coming or working out for another hour, since i dont have to start working till 9:00 am. I told her sure, but after getting out of the shower I couldnt find her and I didnt see the car out in the parking lot. So I thought she’d heard me say no, and taken off for school.
So I figured while I had time I went and talked to a trainer about scheduling some time so I could get myself entered into the system to track my stats.
Yeah.. turns out she had just taken longer in the shower then I did, and was waiting for me downstairs by the door. I had looked there, but yeah, I guess not at the right time. Once I noticed her I told her to take off as fast as her lil bum could carry her and I finished talking to the trainer and stuff. I feel pretty bad, I’ve never made her late for school before, I hope I didn’t put her off of going in the morning. We’re slowly getting our act together regarding that place, we aint never did the yuppie thing before.


YMCA

So I finally got my YMCA membership on the 11th, and tonights the first night I’m going to get a chance to use it. Yay! My picture on it looks pretty normal, I was/am happy with it. Also I finally got my health insurance and life insuance papers filed, now me and the Jennifer can relax and soak up the coverage.
The Jennifer just curled up on the couch to sleep, her head is on my lap, shes so cute 🙂


It’s news when..

Man bites Dog


Virtual Bartender

Virtual Bartender. Despite the name, lousy at mixing drinks. But she has other assets.


Ancestoral research tool

Today, the National Archive made over 5 million records of World War I Medal Cards available online. Search for an ancestor, or an historical name. As an example, here’s Winston Churchill’s record [pdf].


Vending Machine Hamlet

Found this while working today, unfortunately I’m sick, so I couldn’t laugh as much as I wanted.

Shakespeare probably didn’t have a toy in mind for the title role when he penned his vengeful tale. But that was before a frustrated, 20-something actor decided it was time someone performed classical theater with a cast that can fit in a suitcase. Tiny Ninja Theater – now an international touring company – is presenting its latest production at Performance Space 122 (PS122) in Manhattan this month. “Hamlet” is the third major Shakespeare work the plastic cast has taken on, having already conquered “Macbeth” and “Romeo and Juliet” since its debut in 2000. A simple principle guides the troupe: “There are no small parts, only small actors.”
“They don’t complain, they’re very hard workers,” deadpans Mr. Weinstein on opening night, Oct. 28, after shedding the dark shirt and overalls he wears over street clothes for the performance. “Sometimes you can push them too hard. But they’ll leave you in the lurch, too…. If I forget a line, they’re not going to cue me, you know?”


Back seat to the Hummer

smarttruck3
The International Truck and Engine Corporation and the US Army are showing off the oxymoronically-named Smart Truck 3, the replacement for the Humvee. The beast weighs 3,000 pounds more than the H2 and is three inches taller and four feet longer. Amazingly though, it apparently guzzles less gas. From the Independent:
“The army also wants the vehicles to be marketed to other customers such as government agencies or regular Joes who only feel right using a stepladder to get behind thewheel.

The commercial version would not have the electronics designed to detect anthrax, the Kevlar armouring on the underside, the night-vision cameras and the 25-inch LCD touch-screen computer monitors.”
For nerds, here’s more info.


Band singing a Bob Dylan song visited by Secret Service

Snip from ABC News story:

Parents and students say they are outraged and offended by a proposed band name and song scheduled for a high school talent show in Boulder this evening, but members of the band, named Coalition of the Willing, said the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. The students told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver they are performing Bob Dylan’s song “Masters of War” during the Boulder High School Talent Expose because they are Dylan fans. They said they want to express their views and show off their musical abilities.
But some students and adults who heard the band rehearse called a radio talk show Thursday morning, saying the song the band sang ended with a call for President Bush to die. Threatening the president is a federal crime, so the Secret Service was called to the school to investigate. Students in the band said they’re just singing the lyrics and not inciting anyone to do anything.
The 1963 song ends with the lyrics: “You might say that I’m young. You might say I’m unlearned, but there’s one thing I know, though I’m younger than you, even Jesus would never forgive what you do . And I hope that you die and your death’ll come soon. I will follow your casket in the pale afternoon. And I’ll watch while you’re lowered down to your deathbed. And I’ll stand o’er your grave ’til I’m sure that you’re dead.”

Yeah.. I think some people are a little too eager to call in the secret service at the slightest hint of anything even mildly out of their realm of understanding. Shit, I hope Slayer plays that town someday, Hah, that would rock.


Just Like Mom Used To Make

Jones Soda announces today its limited edition holiday pack of five new seasonal flavors which includes: Green Bean Casserole Soda, Mashed Potato & Butter Soda, Fruitcake Soda, Cranberry Soda and Turkey & Gravy Soda.
Yummy! I think they did this last year too.. and if they did, it’s still as shocking and gross, and I still want some.


NASA and the Rain Man

CNN reports that researchers at NASA are taking CT and MRI scans of Kim Peek, the inspiration for Rain Man, to study how his brain is changing.
Not only are Peek’s brain and his abilities unique, noted Richard D. Boyle, director of the California center performing the scans, but he seems to be getting smarter in his specialty areas as he ages.
The 53-year-old Peek is called a “mega-savant” because he is a genius in about 15 different subjects, from history and literature and geography to numbers, sports, music and dates.


Special-purpose clubbing phone


I like this new phone design, especially for the camera feature, its like a bond/spy camera setup. Not enough to justify buying it, but enough to oggle it.


The 7280
is a tiny phone intended for use as a “club phone” — when you get home from work, you take the SIM out of your bulky camera/calendar/smartphone and stick it in this tiny little keypad-less (voice-activated) twig of a phone with a small built-in camera and go out on the town. It’s just the right size for a night out on the town, and has just the right features for a lightweight communications context like being out barhopping.


Geek time

Star Wars: Episode III teaser trailer.


Unionized Clergy?!

Some members of the clergy with the United Church of Canada are looking to unionize over four thousand pastors across the country. Their compliant, bad working conditions and sweatshop wages. Haha… yeah.


Fun!

Woman controls blender by making noises at it. I think I like this a little too much..


Secret doors disguised as bookcases

Hidden Doors manufactures and installs custom secret doors disguised as swinging and revolving bookcases.
When we build our house in a few years, I’ve already got plans to make one of the bookcases in my study into a secret passage to my den/server room, this just makes it ever so much easier to do.


Steven Wright

“I spilled Spot remover on my dog. Now he’s gone.”


Xmas Shopping

To get ready for christmas, I’ve already started looking for Jenns perfect christmas present, and I think thats it, but then again no gift says “Peace On Earth” like this.


Spammer Jail

First Felony Spam Convictions, Hopefully the first of many.


The Moon rox

A time lapse photo of the recent lunar eclipse ( which I missed )


Voice-operated airplane

MIT researchers have developed a voice-controlled aircraft guidance system that enables a pilot in one plane to control a nearby unmanned air vehicle (UAV, sorta like the ones in stargate, yes I’m a nerd) by talking to it. Here’s a quote from the official press release:

“The system allows the pilot to interface with the UAV at a high level–not just ‘turn right, turn left’ but ‘fly to this region and perform this task,'” said Mario Valenti, a flight controls engineer for Boeing who is on leave to pursue a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. “The pilot essentially treats the UAV as a wingman,” said Valenti, comparing the UAV to a companion pilot in a fighter-plane squadron.


Marry a Canadian?

Plotting your escape? Marry a Canadian.
Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism


I want a Superman version..


This quilt was made out of 1.5″ squares laid atop a pattern generated by laying a game screencap over a grid Paint Shop Pro 8.
This shit blows my mind, I actually want Jenn to make me a Metriod version, but yeah, a Superman quilt would rock.


Hidden Pictures

Lots of cool Hidden pictures. I found 3 before I had to start looking at the answer key, they rock.