Monday, August 30, 2004

Yesterday I saw "Alien vs Predator" and "Throne of Blood". Check out the Movieskeptics Blog for my astute observations.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

Ahhhhh....Ummmmm.....Ick!

I have no idea what to say about this.
Hmmmmm....

Let's see how the French handle this one.

As Franklyn Madson(Derek Jacobi) said in Dead Again "I, for one, am v-v-v-very interested to see what happens next."

And just for giggles....

  • TOP TEN REASONS FRANCE STINKS
  • 1. David Letterman: "France wants more evidence [of Iraqi violations]. The last time France wanted more evidence, it rolled right through France with a German flag."
  • 2. Dennis Miller: "The only way the French are going in is if we tell them we found truffles in Iraq."
  • 3. Jay Leno: "I don't know why people are surprised that France won't help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn't help us get the Germans out of France!"
  • 4. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.: "Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? It's not known, it's never been tried."
  • 5. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.: "Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day -- the description was: 'Never shot. Dropped once.'"
  • 6. John Xereas, manager of the DC Improv "Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in World War II? And that's because it was raining,"
  • 7. Jed Babbin, former deputy undersecretary for defense for George H.W. Bush: "Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion."
  • 8. John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona: "You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it."
  • 9. An old saying: Raise your right hand if you like the French.... Raise both hands if you are French.
  • 10. And even an unwitting French President Jacques Chirac: "As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure." which prompted the reply: "As far as France is concerned, you're right." ---Rush Limbaugh


I love this game....

Okay, I might've just violated some NBA-held copyright, but I'm referring to the Olympic Basketball Championship Game. It quit being close towards the end, but I very much enjoyed watching these 'ferners bust their asses for Olympic glory. I've written before about how I've been disappointed with the Team U.S.A.'s performance and some of the players' behavior. Maybe next time we'll field a team that plays international-style basketball better. I also hope that the next "dream team" is composed of folks willing to behave like Olympian and live in the Olympic Village.

Friday, August 27, 2004

Yeah, I know she's been dead a coupla weeks, but I love this...

  • JULIA CHILD (8/13/04) - The French Chef. Ms. Child wasn't French. She wasAmerican. Apparently, she was a spy too. Yup, Julia was in the OSS stationed in Europe. She was posing as an administrative assistant (what they used tocall a Secretary). She ended up marrying another American spy, Paul Child. While they were stationed in France, she learned to cook. The rest is history. Here's why we loved her: When asked by Jaques Pepin what kind of wine shepreferred with picnics Julia replied, "I like beer." Ah, to have such words ofwisdom as a homage.

Thanks to the guys at O.B.E.

Of course, we all knew it.....

It's starting to look like those pesky terrorists are at it again....is this an example of what we can look forward to here at home?

I've never flown out of a Russian airport, but I know first-hand that many foreign airports (some of those in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, and Thailand) had pretty poor security before, and after, the 9-11-01 attacks. In Manila and Singapore, even before the 9-11-01, attacks, the security was just as good as, or better than, any American airport I've used. Perhaps because they are countries who have dealt with/are dealing with home-grown terrorists that are part of a Muslim minority.

Hopefully, the Russians will overcome their tradition of institutional incompetence and improve their airport security. If they do not, we should seriously consider limiting their direct flights to the U.S. , as we did with Saudi and several other countries for too short a time after the 9-11-01 attacks.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Missed it by that much.....

Mike found this interesting story, about the most recent asteroid near-miss. In fact, this is the new record for the closest a large asteroid has come to our atmosphere since we've been keeping track these past few decades. It wouldn't have been a Bruckheimer-quality disaster had it hit, but still....it's scary

Monday, August 23, 2004

The days of "Flesh Gordon"may be gone forever.

Well, it looks like the glory days of adult films with cool names have come to an end. Beware, this website is a Canadian attempt at Onionishness....

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Free Folk at the Games

What you think of the current administration not withstanding, you cannot dispute that the United States has done more for the cause of post-WWII freedom than our European Allies. Here's a lovely article, found by Mike, discussing some athletes from countries whose citizens have benefited from American intervention.

Friday, August 20, 2004

The guy tried to hire Johnny Cochran, but it was a BLACK Bear he was accused of shooting.....

If they convict this guy, I say we declare open season on Kentucky jurors.

Of course, the guy should've remembered to shout "it's coming right for us!" (scroll down the page a bit for the download), before he fired.
Can anybody say Voorhees?

When I saw this headline, I had Friday the 13th flashbacks.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Mecca-Cola

I know that some of you guys never believed me, but here.....read it and weep....I've tried Mecca-Cola, and found it remarkably like the Big-K Cola of old.

Now, that story about the "Jammin' Jim Jones" Flavor Kool-Aid....well, maybe that was a fib...


Oh, by the way, make sure that nobody has stolen your pituitary gland.
Maybe my parents knew something after all.....

An interesting study shows that my parents were right not to let my sister hang out with college guys during her junior high years. I wonder how the girls in my 8th grade class who were wearing highschool seniors' rings ended up. According to the article, probably poorly.

Monday, August 16, 2004

From the Hudson Review

Another good article by an American living overseas, in this case, pondering why those dern 'ferners hate us.
Austin High's football schedule


Since Mike has been too lazy to put up his team's schedule, I thought I'd help him out.


Sunday, August 15, 2004

Dream Team Nightmare

Hey, the bums deserved to lose...and I'm especially glad they did after watching their lazy performance and then reading about how the "Dream Team" doesn't even stay in the Olympic Village. While it's not on the same scale as that whole war thing, this kinda stuff makes them 'ferners hate us even more.
Fetal Fotos

We at reproduction central haven't yet decided if we're going to do this, but we wish we had thought of the idea....
Shoulda said "property", not "pursuit of happiness".

Hopefully this is just part of the ongoing West Coast freakshow, and not the shape of things to come for the rest of America.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

James Cameron designing firearms for U.S. Military

Take a look at the XM8 (and here, here, and here), which should soon be coming to a battlefield near you. Remind you of the guns from Aliens?

And speaking of Aliens, I've found Newt, aka Carrie Henn, or at least a picture and blurb about her as a grown-up.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Anybody want to bet which country'll be next to get a taste of the American military? For centuries, even when the Brits were more-or less ruling it, Sudan has been a dungheap with various ethnic and religious groups dominating, enslaving, or killing one another. The United Nations is really generating the headlines with it's threats of "STOP THAT, OR....WE'LL SAY STOP THAT AGAIN!"

It's pretty safe to say that few, if any, world governments are willing to militarily engage "The Sudan" in order to stop the genocide and slavery that's going on. One recent European Union report states that there is no genocide in Sudan, but it all depends on what the definition of "is" is....um, I mean "genocide".


  • At the same time, further qualified backing has come unexpectedly from a European Union fact-finding mission. This team has concluded that there is no evidence to say that what has happened in Sudan’s troubled western province is genocide. The investigators then go on to define genocide as the planned extermination of one people by another. Their report concludes, however, that there have been widespread attacks and tens of thousands of murders prompted by racial prejudice. Though the Darfur refugees cowering in refugee camps on either side of the Chad-Sudan border may not appreciate the distinction between genocide and racial murders, that distinction is important for the rest of the world.


During my time in Saudi, I, personally, saw that Sudanese slaves are still owned by (at least one) Saudi family, and almost daily I read accounts in various news sources ( especially the BBC, and ArabNews---aka, the green gospel) accounts of atrocities in Sudan. For anyone who thinks racism is bad in the United States, you've seen nothing until you travel in the Middle East, even counting the states with the highest percentage of "racial hate crimes":

  • The five states with the highest numbers of hate crime were: California (1,648 incidents, 22.1% of total reported incidents), New York (693, 9.3%), New Jersey (570, 7.6%), Massachusetts (430, 5.8%), and Michigan (416, 5.6%). These five states comprise 44.7% of all incidents reported in the United States.

The current media coverage reminds me of the gear-up for the Yugoslavian adventure of the previous decade, and I believe that our boys (and unfortunately, our girls) are going to end up slogging through Sudan before too long. I hope that my prediction is wrong.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

If you are trying to make sense of the craziness that runs rampant in our past and current Middle East policy and our "intelligence" failings regarding the same, Juan Cole's blog makes for a good read, and he gives good link.

Some good articles on the most recent highly published intelligence/decision-making screw-up can be found here, here, and here.


Monday, August 09, 2004

New Update on "A Religion of Peace"

Apparently, aherents of Islam are involved in a few tense situations in the world. My favorite food critic and right-wing radio guy, Michael Savage, has compiled a list of them. "He an odd fella" (as Mugs Boyd would say), but I often get a kick out of his stuff. This is shamelessly lifted from The Gate Tree, a magnificent ruin.
The reason that Dr. Atkins didn't die of Breast Cancer, revealed at last by Cancerfacts.com, which is a pretty cool website, and sometimes leaves my patients knowing more than me.....

Dad-gummit.....back to the drawing board

It seems that the ValueJet approach doesn't work in chasing the X-prize. Of course, I wish these guys, who are the heirs of the Wright brothers (or at least Larry Walters), the best in their continued aeronautic/astronautic adventures.

see also the Snopes entry on Larry Walters
Hellfighter takes his battle to the Celestial Front

Legendary oil well firefighter Red Adair is dead. Being a Texan, my childhood probably contained a more Red Adair worship than those of you who never had the good fortune to live in the Lone Star State. He was/is recognized as a giant among men, probably mostly due to his apparent fearlessness, his will, and his drive to succeed at his chosen task. He is part of the same pantheon as Ross Perot and Lance Armstrong, and I hope that his passing was a peaceful as possible.

Sunday, August 08, 2004

DeHaye for Ayor-maye

An old buddy and fellow Malleteer, Michael DeHaye, is running for the mayorship (mayoralty?) of Huntsville, Alabama. I haven't seen D-Hey in years, but we wish him all the best in "Malletizing" the "Rocket City". Thanks to MRay for finding this.

pc

Saturday, August 07, 2004

Smile Tennessee District 8

My random weekend morning Tennessee news search found this....."Eugenics" Expert, and All-around Nutjob Makes Futile Run for Tennessee's 8th District Congressional Seat. My current home state makes the AP Wire.....Hurray!

Fortunately, this whackjob has no hope of winning, but I certainly expect for the GOP to disown this guy. For our readers overseas and outside of the South, I want to make it clear that this wingnut's idealogy doesn't represent a statistically significant portion of the Tennessee populace. Or at least......I hope not.
From Afterbirth to Lance Armstrong to Uwe Blab

As expectant parents, Ferlie and I have been reading all manner of prenatal, birthing, and baby-rearing stories, particularly regarding how these things are accomplished in a myriad of ways. I particularly enjoyed this one, by an American writer who's successfully spawned, on two separate occasions, in Germany. I looked around for more stuff by her, which led me to this article about Lance Armstrong and how his drive to succeed is pooh-poohed by our neighbors across the pond. The writer is Emily Berns, who has lived in Munich for several years, and she's apparently also an aspiring romance novelista.

From my days living and working overseas, I remember (with some fondness, actually) having the opportunity to look at American culture through the eyes of the international media, and with the commentary of foreign friends and co-workers, mostly folks who'd never been to the States. I believe that Ms. Burns hit this nail squarely on the head.

N.B. The second article is from The Weekly Standard, a publication which seems to be swinging from the conservative side of the political spectrum. Be forewarned, Ann Coulter ads may appear.

Oh, and just so you know, the husband that Ms. Berns keeps referring, Uwe, is not Uwe Blab, the 7'2" former Indiana Hoosier and Dallas Maverick. He's apparently living in Texas, wearing a suit, and selling some sorta 'lectrical stuff.

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Ferlie and I went to see the Nashville Sounds play for the first time last night. We had a pretty good time, despite that fact that the Sounds' performance was absymal. Of course, I spent a lot of my childhood playing and watching baseball in Midland, Texas, which was then home to the AA Midland Cubs (now the Rockhounds, an A's affiliate), so I have an affection for badly played baseball. There has been a lot of talk about building a new baseball stadium for the Sounds, but I hope that it doesn't happen. The Sounds didn't even fill 1/5 of the seats, and that was with hundreds of tickets given away free. Greer Stadium, the Sounds current abode, suits them fine, and any plans to build new digs are based on 4 things. 1) graft 2) greed 3) stupid fan-love 4) nothing else.

If you haven't been, give it a whirl. The tickets are cheap, the parking is free, and even bad baseball is better than watching a game of Commie Kickball (soccer, for those of you who don't know Rogers).
Despite the innate computer ineptitude that comes with being me, I have my DSL working at the new stack o' bricks. Ferlie and I are very much enjoying our new place, and the transplanted pepper garden seems to have survived.

Ferlie had another OB appointment today, and we had the joy of hearing the heartbeat of "Baby Blue Eyes" (a nickname given by my sister-in-law, who is herself expecting twins) for the first time. It'll prolly be a couple of weeks before my stethoscope will pick up anything other than the usual Ferlie-racket, but the ultrasonic doppler picked up the boom-shicka-boom of the little one's ticker right away. Dr Thornburg, who was recommended to us by Marissa and Hatch, seems to be a no-nonsense sorta sawbones, and we think we like her fine. Dr. T said it was too early to tell if it's twins by just listening, so we'll be wondering about that for another 10 weeks or so. Anyone who can guess the number, sex, and names of our spawn will receive wonderful and valuable prizes, so send in those entries.

Ferlie has passed on to a new craving. For the past 4 days, we've feasted on fajitas at El Jalisiense Tacqueria, which is a pretty darn good Mexican joint. For starters, they serve Horchata, which is a refreshing rice drink (try it, I can't really do it justice....I heard a kid call it 'Mexican Kool-Aid"), and serves to take the edge off the hot chile burn. The fajitas are better than any other restaurant's in town, and I like their salsa, which comes with lots of cilantro. The waitstaff seems to be exclusively female, and he service varies from fair to fawning. An even bigger plus is that the cooks will respond to your requests for 'extra spicey' without considering it a challenge to their manhood. Now that Ferlie's 'delicate condition' allows it, we happily drive past several Mexican places, including La Espuela and Las Palmas (which isn't bad for a 'syndicate joint', it just suffers by comparison) to eat there.