Tagged “fun”
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2021 Bikes
COVID doesn't make biking to work easier.
Year Distance Bikes to Work Start End Comments 2021 5090 km ? ? ? 2019 6956 km / 4322 miles 160 Feb 4 Dec 10 2018 6860 km / 4263 miles 144 Feb 19 Dec 5 2017 9258 km / 5753 miles 179 Feb 20 Dec 7 2016 7530 km / 4679 miles 158 Feb 29 Dec 8 2015 6393 km / 3973 miles 139 Mar 10 Nov 6 2014 5978 km / 3603 miles 124 Mar 21 Nov 7 2013 4377 km / 2736 miles 104 Apr 2 Nov 8 2012 5450 km / 3406 miles 120 Mar 13 Oct 26 2011 4763 km / 2977 miles 106 Mar 27 Nov 4 Bike to Work bike only 2010 4849 km / 3031 miles 95 Apr 7 Nov 3 2009 3356 km / 2013 miles 79 Apr 17 Oct 22 2008 3211 km / 2006 miles 73 Mar 30 Oct 16 -
Happy New Year! 2019 bicycling statistics
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2019 | 6956 km / 4322 miles | 160 | Feb 4 | Dec 10 | | 2018 | 6860 km / 4263 miles | 144 | Feb 19 | Dec 5 | | 2017 | 9258 km / 5753 miles | 179 | Feb 20 | Dec 7 | | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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2018 Biking year in review
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2018 | 6860 km / 4263 miles | 144 | Feb 19 | Dec 5 | | 2017 | 9258 km / 5753 miles | 179 | Feb 20 | Dec 7 | | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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2018 - Here we go again
Yep, so it's 2018, time to update the table.
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2018 | tbd | 3 | Feb 19 | tbd | | 2017 | 9258 km / 5753 miles | 179 | Feb 20 | Dec 7 | | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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2017 Bike to Work
Final results!
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2017 | 9258 km / 5753 miles | 179 | Feb 20 | Dec 7 | | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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Bikes to work....so far
The updated year so far.
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2017 | 8xxx km | 170 | Feb 20 | TBD | | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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2017 Biking so far
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2017 | 7xxx km | 140 | Feb 20 | TBD | | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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Breakfast in Coverville
The Coverville episode Breakfast in Coverville is out! You can find my brilliant cover of Breakfast in America there as track number 4, plus lots of other covers by fans of the Coverville podcast. You can download the entire album as a zip file as well.
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2016 Biking
(Assuming I don't bike tomorrow.)
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2016 | 7530 km / 4679 miles | 158 | Feb 29 | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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Playing with Scott Sigler
Per Scott Sigler's message on Facebook, here's a link to what time the Super Bowl starts.
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2016 Biking
Not completely official, but this is what is done so far
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2016 | 7503 km / 4662 miles | 158 | ? | Dec 8 | | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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Biking 2015
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2015 | 6393 km / 3973 miles | 139 | Mar 10 | Nov 6 | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3603 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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Bike to work 2015 YTD
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2015 | ??? | 105 | Mar 10 | xx | | 2014 | 5978 km / 3623 miles | 124 | Mar 21 | Nov 7 | | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
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Bike to Work Roundup - 2012-2013
|+ Year |+ Distance |+ Bikes to Work |+ Start |+ End |+ Comments | 2013 | 4377 km / 2736 miles | 104 | Apr 2 | Nov 8 | | 2012 | 5450 km / 3406 miles | 120 | Mar 13 | Oct 26 | | 2011 | 4763 km / 2977 miles | 106 | Mar 27 | Nov 4 | Bike to Work bike only | 2010 | 4849 km / 3031 miles | 95 | Apr 7 | Nov 3 | | 2009 | 3356 km / 2013 miles | 79 | Apr 17 | Oct 22 | | 2008 | 3211 km / 2006 miles | 73 | Mar 30 | Oct 16 |
2013
- 4377 km / 2736 miles
- 104 bikes to work
- Started Apr 2, ended November 8
2012
- 5450 km / 3406 miles
- 120 bikes to work
- Started Mar 13, ended October 26
2011
- 4763 km / 2977 miles (bike to work bike only)
- 106 bikes to work
- Started March 27, ended November 4th
2010
- 4849 km / 3031 miles covered
- 95 bikes to work
- Started April 7, ended November 3rd
2009
- 3356 km / 2013 miles covered
- 79 bikes to work
- Started April 17, ended October 22nd
2008
- 3211 km / 2006 miles covered
- 73 bikes to work
- Started on March 30th, ended October 16th
- Covered the distance from Los Angeles, CA to Davenport, IA (and a bit into Illinois)
- Based on working every day for 52 weeks, this comes out to be 28% of the time! Actually, a bit higher if you take away holidays, vacations, etc.
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2011 Bike to Work Roundup
2011:
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4763 km / 2977 miles (bike to work bike only)
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106 bikes to work
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Started March 27, ended November 4th
2010:
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4849 km / 3031 miles covered
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95 bikes to work
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Started April 7, ended November 3rd
2009:
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3356 km / 2013 miles covered
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79 bikes to work
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Started April 17, ended October 22nd
2008:
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3211 km / 2006 miles covered
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73 bikes to work
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Started on March 30th, ended October 16th
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Covered the distance from Los Angeles, CA to Davenport, IA (and a bit into Illinois)
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Based on working every day for 52 weeks, this comes out to be 28% of the time! Actually, a bit higher if you take away holidays, vacations, etc.
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15000 km
Yesterday, my bike odometer turned over 15000 km. I was excited! Amazing how much it all adds up over the years. Currently up to 86 bikes to work.
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2011 Bike to work progress
2011:
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3690 km / 2300 miles
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80 bikes to work
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Started March 27
2010:
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4849 km / 3031 miles covered
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95 bikes to work
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Started April 7, ended November 3rd
2009:
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3356 km / 2013 miles covered
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79 bikes to work
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Started April 17, ended October 22nd
2008:
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3211 km / 2006 miles covered
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73 bikes to work
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Started on March 30th, ended October 16th
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Covered the distance from Los Angeles, CA to Davenport, IA (and a bit into Illinois)
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Based on working every day for 52 weeks, this comes out to be 28% of the time! Actually, a bit higher if you take away holidays, vacations, etc.
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Cyanotype photography 2
Notes to someone who wants to do this:
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I modified the lens to be mounted to a toilet paper tube, so I could focus the image. I also cut a hole in the back of the box and taped some waxed paper over the hole so I could see if the image was in focus before taping the sunpaper to the back.
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Make sure your hands are dry before touching the sunpaper! You will remove the chemical if you do get it wet.
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You need bright sunlight for this to work. I just did a 1 1/2 hour exposure in bright (but cloudy) weather, and the image was severely underexposed.
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Lemon juice doesn't seem to make that big a difference to the end colors.
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Cyanotype photography
I have recently begun experimenting with direct cyanotype photgraphy. Cyanotype paper is more commonly known as 'sunpaper', 'sun paper', or something similar. Basically, the chemicals on the paper react to the ultraviolet light from the sun. After a few hours of exposure, you wash the paper off in water (or water and lemon juice, as I did), and your results are made permanent.
All I did was take a shoe box, cut a small hole in the lid, tape a plastic magnifying glass to it, tape a piece of sunpaper to the bottom of the shoe box, and sit it out in the sun. I got lucky that the focal length of the magnifying glass focused the image to the back of the box almost perfectly. I might try making a SLR type camera next.
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End of the biking season for 2010, start for 2011
As 2011's bike to work season rolls around, here are the statistics for 2010's Bike to Work season:
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4849 km / 3031 miles covered
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95 bikes to work
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Started April 7, ended November 3rd
For 2009:
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3356 km / 2013 miles covered
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79 bikes to work
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Started April 17, ended October 22nd
For 2008:
* 3211 km / 2006 miles covered
* 73 bikes to work
* Started on March 30th, ended October 16th
* Covered the distance from Los Angeles, CA to Davenport, IA (and a bit into Illinois)
* Based on working every day for 52 weeks, this comes out to be 28% of the time! Actually, a bit higher if you take away holidays, vacations, etc.
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Odd Halloween Tale
My wife and I went with the kids trick or treating. I left a bowl of candy by the door with a note to "take one". Of course, some older kids quickly emptied it. However, when I returned to refill it, there were two 9-volt batteries sitting behind the bowl, one with a sticker on it: "God Loves You; Asbury U.M. Church; www.asburyerie.org". Very clever and caring advertising, indeed.
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50 Watts Per Channel, Babycakes
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Software engineering
This quote from Twitter makes me laugh. The fellow who wrote it was a software engineer; don't know what he's doing now.
Thinking about my next job -- to continuew with real time software or to try my luck as aschool bus driver.
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Chicks dig Yowie
According to information provided by Cryptomundo and Adam Gorightly, the chicks dig Yowie!
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The funniest scene in Star Wars that I never noticed.
In the scene where the Millennium Falcon has just blasted off from Tatooine, Luke points at a light and says, "what's that flashing?" Watch carefully, and Han Solo slaps Luke's hand away before he says "We're losing our deflector shield. Go strap yourself in." After I saw that, I laughed and had to watch the same scene. I don't know how I missed that one.
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Farmville Neighbors
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End of the biking season for 2009
Well, I gave up a few weeks ago. Here are the statistics for 2009's Bike to Work season:
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3356 km / 2013 miles covered
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79 bikes to work
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Started April 17, ended October 22nd
From 2008:
* 3211 km / 2006 miles covered
* 73 bikes to work
* Started on March 30th, ended October 16th
* Covered the distance from Los Angeles, CA to Davenport, IA (and a bit into Illinois)
* Based on working every day for 52 weeks, this comes out to be 28% of the time! Actually, a bit higher if you take away holidays, vacations, etc.
Looks pretty close. I think I could have started a bit earlier. I quit as late as I could due to the length of the days. Plus, I biked some extra distance to get the miles up!
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Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
This is what I do to roast pumpkin seeds. As I am lazy and don't really want to go around buying special ingredients, here is my bare bones recipe for yummy roasted pumpkin seeds. You will note that I use the words "or so" a lot in the following recipe. Use this as shorthand for "improvise as required". This is a recipe that MacGyver would use in a pinch. This has been reposted several times, but works good every time!
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Wash the pumpkin seeds. I have not found a quick and easy way of doing this, nor of getting the pumpkin seeds separated in the first place. I assume that the only way is manual labor.
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Lay out the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. Improvise as required if you do not own a cookie sheet or aluminum foil. I think non-stick aluminum foil would work best, but use what you have lying around.
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Salt them pretty good.
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Put them in an oven at 250 degrees F. According to my [](house of conversion), this is about 120 degrees C.
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Using a spatula (or pencil or stick or something), move them around every 20 minutes or so. The idea is that you don't want them to stick to the aluminum foil, burn, etc. You want them to dry out evenly.
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They should be done in about 3 hours or so.
That's it! Eat and enjoy. I know other web sites have you adding oil and such, but if you are a bit culinary impaired (like I am), this is an easy way to get a nice result without too much work.
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New Page of Friends
Well, here is my new page of friends (getting rid of the old one since most of the links have died. Bummer. Well, I want to keep the names and places somewhere online here in hopes that those that have lost their site will contact me sometime in the future.
Waldorf Family Tree - Links to the Waldorf family tree and family news. Here's another family tree.
Peter Andersson - From my days in Trollhättan at Saab. Check out his band, Jungle Juice. This link seems to be really old. Peter: Var är du någonstans? Kebab?
Ze's Homepage - Another Saab friend, Markus Winqvist, with his topics about everything from Sweden to Thailand to Trains!
The Mercury Monterey -53 Homepage - Hans Tanderud and his 1953 Monterey
Thomas Eriksson's Homepage - Trolhättan friend, lots of Win 98 info. He and his wife Pia Eriksson were really cool. Now, the page has vanished away (Folkshögskola i Trollhättan websida)
Fred Ghofulpo - My Dad´s homepage - done quite nicely by Virginia Jones! Well, it was, until it vanished. Here's a copy of it on archive.org. The graphics seem to have disappeared.
Homol'ovi Home Page - Where I worked in Arizona doing archaeology one summer. People I'd like to drop me a line: Doug Gann, Lauren Meserve, Alex Benitez (lost your e-mail, sorry).
Tom Jennings - GE Friend, avid runner
Here are some people I'm looking for. Lots of tags have been added so that hopefully people searching for them will run across them here:
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Aaron Running - MTU - Michigan Tech - Michigan Technological University
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More to be added...
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Online Microscope
Here's an online microscope. Pretty cool stuff to look at, including pacreatic islets.
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Voice mail
Got something to say? Leave me a message at +1.419.745.6487. This goes to my gmail account kb8dsg at gmail.com, which I don't check that often. However, why not give me a call?
Of course, I no longer know if this works, but...whatever.
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It's not a race
For those of you who aren't racing (the first rule of Super Secret Bike Commuter Race is you don't talk about Super Secret Bike Commuter Race), here is a calculator for determining your score as you're riding along.
Here are the British rules:
The Game
Dropping / Pulling anyone higher in the Food Chain Number makes you stronger and more attractive to burds*. Getting dropped / trying to keep up with anyone lower means your soul hires a kudos remover to lower your self worth. If you scalp someone you have to maintain or extend your lead for such a time as to have the dude you passed admit to themself "I was done". Nipping by, then running into a side road / hiding in traffic won't wash, Be honest with yourself. *Not strictly true
Rules:
1/ No Dangerous Manoeuvres (Don’t be a danger to any other road users or yourself) Falling off causes pain to you and others around you, don’t do it! (oh and you loose yer points)
2/ Don’t ride like a c0ck, we’re all just trying to get somewhere!
3/ No passing at Lights/Junction/Crossings, if you do, it doesn’t count
4/ All passing on open road ONLY. Filtering in traffic is null and void (you know whether you’ve dropped someone fairly, and haven’t turned off straight afterwards)
5/ Pavement passes, either you or the target is void
6/ Show no pain, unless, like me your face is just like that
FOOD CHAIN NUMBERS:
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Scooters
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Roadies with shaved legs - like girls *
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Proper rapid Single speed (real men, messengers, tarty shiny fixies) *
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Roadies with hairy legs - like men *
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Faux Single Speeds (fakengers, dirty/functional bikes, silly egg beater gear) *
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Touring Bikes (Mud Guards) *
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"Fast Hybrids" *
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MTBs on Skinnies *
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MTBs on Nobbies
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Bromptons / collapsing bikes
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MTB full sus on Nobbies
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Shoppers
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Shoppers wicker baskets
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Electric bikes
- Pedal Adjustment +1
• ONLY FCN 2-5 gain points for overtaking the same FCN and Higher Chainers
• Recumbents, Tandems and Segways are worth +2 points as a rare bonus
• Sinclair C5 +20 points as a hens teeth bonus
FCN Adjusters:
CLOTHING:
None:+3
Non-Cycling: +2
Baggies: +1
Lycra: 0
Team Kit: -1
TDF Jersey: -2
BAGGAGE:
Panniers: +1
Back Pack/Courier: 0
Nothing: -1
HEAD GEAR:
Face Mask +1
Helmets/Nothing/Sunglasses: 0
Bike Caps / Wrap arounds: -1
ACCESSORIES:
Herman's Safety Wing" (orange plastic lolly-pop): +2
Trailer:+2
Beard: +1
Child seat (each): +1
Power meter: -1
Aerobars: -1
Coloured tyres -1
PEDALS (If you can identify) FCN2-8 see note above:
Flats: +1
Toe Clips: 0
Evidently Clipless/spds (cycling shoes): -1
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- Detroit Lions get a visit from some real NFL players
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Gone with the wind
Apologies in advance...
Scarlett O'Hara: "Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?"
Rhett Butler: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
So, I guess it was a Rhett-torical question.
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Robots in disguise
On my way to work this morning, I spotted an SUV with a Transformers Decepticon logo on the back window. Cool and geeky, both at the same time.
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Pounds makes sense in hexadecimal
For years, I've wondered why there were 16 ounces in a pound. Then, being the computer geek that I am, it finally makes sense: ounces should be written in their native hexadecimal format. For example, a 1 pound 10 ounce steak would be written as 1.A pounds. 3 pounds, 15 ounces would be 3.F, and so on.
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A wolf loves pork
Watch this amazing animation: photographs of photographs, all telling a story. Much easier to watch than explain.
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Close Range
Looking for a bloody, violent video game? Don't want to waste time running around, aiming, and avoiding being shot? Try Close Range.
It's just like Doom, but without the running, aiming, and avoiding of being shot.
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Garnier commercial music
The Transplants - Diamonds and Guns. What an awesome piano riff.
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Dog running in his sleep
This is not just an ordinary dog running in his sleep. I had to wonder (a) what he was dreaming about, and (b) what he thought when he woke up.
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Roller races in Erie
A friend of mine forwarded an e-mail to me about some bicycling roller races being put on in Erie. Chris Coulston's e-mail reads:
I recently put together a device which allows up to four cyclists to race one another on rollers. I made a video about the device and posted it on YouTube under RollerRace. The motivation for building this device was to hold Gold Sprints races. Together with the guys at Competitive Gear we will be hosting gold sprints at the Boardwalk Bar on Sunday January 25th in downtown Erie. Registration will start at 1pm, racing at 2pm. There will be a $5 registration fee, spectators are free and welcome. Each race is a 500m standing start race, run in an elimination form. Other races in different formats may be held, time permitting. The bar will be open and the kitchen should be serving. Please note that this event will be taking place in a bar serving alcohol, I'd advise leaving anyone under 21 at home. A variety of bikes in different sizes will be provided. All the bikes will be equipped with toeclips and straps, so your sneakers will work just fine. The Kreitler rollers being used will be equipped with fork stands so riding the rollers will be almost as easy as using your trainer. Of course you are encouraged to have fun and dress up in your team kit, a chicken costume, or a speedo/cape combination. So practice that high speed cadence and get the word out. Invite that neighbor who expressed an interest in cycling last summer.
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Swedish movie in Erie
Let the Right One In, a Swedish language film, will be shown at Mercyhurst on April 15, 2009.
I guess it's only slightly ironic that it's a vampire film, and it's on tax daỵ.
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Recursive bedtime story
My son wanted a bedtime story. Here it is.
Once upon a time, there was a boy named William. He told his dad that he wanted a bedtime story. "Go to sleep," said his father. "Please?" asked William. "Oh, okay," said his father, "here it is."
Once upon a time, there was a boy named William. He told his dad that he wanted a bedtime story. "Go to sleep," said his father. "Please?" asked William. "Oh, okay," said his father, "here it is."
...
I did it three levels, and he got the idea.
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Them! Re-imagining
One of my favorite movies of the 50's science fiction era was Them!, a movie about giant mutant ants attacking people. This would be a perfect movie to redo with modern special effects. Above is my idea of what would constitute a good remake: lots of flamethrowers, giant ants (of course), all taking place in New York City. New York City is photogenic enough for lots of monster attacks. Another good city would be Paris, due to lots of sewers.
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Seen on Freecycle
This was an interesting request I saw on the local Freecycle mailing list:
we need a door for our bathroom our dog kind of ate ours
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Frosty the Snowman = T1000?
When watching Frosty the Snowman tonight, it occurred to me that Frosty has the same physical properties as the T1000 from Terminator 2. When Frosty melted into a pool of water, Santa opened the door, cooled the air, and brought Frosty back to life.
Food for thought. Or not.
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Installing a custom USB controller for Frets on Fire on Ubuntu
Last year, I made a custom USB controller out of a piece of wood and a broken joystick for Frets on Fire, a Guitar Hero type game for Windows and Linux. Since I moved to Ubuntu Linux, I wanted to get the controller working again. Here's what I did:
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'sudo apt-get install joystick' to install the joystick software
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'sudo apt-get install joy2key' to install the conversion software
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'sudo ln -s /dev/input/js0 /dev/js0' to create a soft link to the device driver. I think this may be skipped (see last step).
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Created a '.joy2keyrc' file (see below)
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'joy2key -dev /dev/js0 -config fretsonfire'. I think maybe '-dev /dev/input/js0' works as well, but it hasn't been consistent for me. Oftentimes, I have to press control-C to exit out of this program when it says 'select a window'...however, it still seems to work fine.
The contents of .joy2keyrc are:
START fretsonfire -thresh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -X -buttons q w e r tI then ran Frets on Fire, and configured the 'key' settings for the appropriate frets.
I'm not sure if the instructions above are really perfect, but they worked enough so I could rock a bit!
Update: I've been having problems getting /dev/input/js0 to show up, even if I plug in and unplug the guitar (joystick). It seems if I go up and search for new hardware, none is found. However, this seems to sometimes trigger the driver (or whatever) to be loaded. Maybe there's a better way.
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Michael Myers from Halloween
This was the second time that I spotted a guy dressed as Michael Myers from the movie Halloween standing at the corner of 38th and Sterrettania, at the corner occupied by CVS Pharmacy. He wasn't doing anything, just standing there, legs slightly apart, arms out from his sides. Extremely spooky and threatening! I hope to spot him again next year.
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War of the Worlds
From one of the first three people to get vaporized by the heat ray in the 1953 version of War of the Worlds:
Don't mess with something when you don't know what it is.
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Maximillian
I was searching the net for pictures of Maximillian, in my mind the scariest robot ever to grace the screen of cinema. Having found none really good, I found a clip of the movie The Black Hole (1979) and took multiple screen captures, trying to get a decent image. Not too bad. I could use a bit of photoshop (actually, the Gimp) training, though.
A bit of history for those of you not acquainted with this machine: He floats around menacingly, doesn't speak a word, and murders one of the protagonists (Anthony Perkins) with a set of spinning blades attached to his arm. After that happens, his master, the mad scientist Dr. Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell), whispers to another protagonist, "protect me from Maximillian." Obviously, afraid of his own creation.
If that doesn't make you a scary robot, you're not trying hard enough.
Click on the picture to enlarge.
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Draw your own clock
On this webpage, you can use paint-like drawing to draw your own numbers. When you're done, click on the bottom large button (the one above it clears your work), and you can view the result.
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Angelina Jolie - Geocacher
In the line at the supermarket today, I noticed that in a picture of Angelina Jolie, she had what appeared to be a series of latitude and longitude numbers tattooed on her arm. I found an explanation for four of them, the lat/long values of the birthplaces of her children.
Life must be interesting for Brad Pitt.
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ROM CHECK FAIL
If you're looking to waste a half an hour or so of time, go back to the 1980s with ROM CHECK FAIL, a strange mashup of various 1980s games (Pac Man, Space Invaders, Spy Hunter, Super Mario Bros., etc.). It'll make you laugh even if it doesn't seem to make much sense.
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The Drake Equation
The Drake equation is a way of estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations that can have the capability of communicating with us. However, this comic (xkcd) provides valuable insight on the missing variable in the equation. I keep laughing at it. Probably because it's the most truthful variable in the entire equation.
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New Job Offer in the EUROPE
Wow, I got a fantastic job offer in the mail. Details seem pretty sketchy, but it looks good so far:
We are glad to offer you a job position with our company. We need someone to work for the company as a Representative/Book keeper in the EUROPE. This is in view of our not having an office presently in the EUROPE.
It worries me a bit that they are looking for someone to manage an entire content, but I'm sure that Pastor Collins Joe knows what he's talking about.
My job requirements:
Your tasks are:
1.Recieve payment from Customers.
2. Cash Payments at your Bank (Upon the paper instruction enclosed in same envelope alongside the cheques).
3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission/pay on each Payment processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of commission/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to.(Payment is to forwarded either by MoneyGram or Western Union Money Transfer Preferably).
Excellent. This money laundering seems easier than I thought.
I'll have to give this serious consideration as I have always wanted to work in the EUROPE.
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Heluvagood Cheese humor
The other day, I spotted this on the package wrapper of Heluvagood Cheese:
Father Time. Pres.; Geo. Experience,
Secy.; Death & Taxes, Treas.
I sent an e-mail to their consumer affairs e-mail address, and got the following response:
The original owner of the company had a sense of humor and did not believe in title, he referred to himself President of the Company as Father Time, the Secretary as George Experience and the Treasurer as Death & Taxes; when we purchased the company we decided to put the saying on several of our packages.
It's good to see that big companies still have a sense of humor!
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Doctor Who: Cybermen Meet the Daleks
Seems like an awful lot of my life parallels this dialogue from Doctor Who. Best exchange ever.
[The Cybermen and Daleks meet]
Dalek Thay: Identify yourself!
Cyberman: You will identify first.
Dalek Thay: State your identity!
Cyberman: You will identify first.
Dalek Thay: Identify!
Mickey Smith: [to Rose] It's like Stephen Hawking meets the speaking clock.
Cyberman: Your repeated request is illogical. You will modify.
Dalek Thay: Daleks do not take orders!
Cyberman: You have identified as 'Daleks'.
Dalek Sec: Outline resembles the inferior species known as 'Cybermen'.
Dalek Caan: Basic scans confirm presence of crude cybernetic constructs on worldwide scale.
Cyberman: Our species are similar, though your design is inelegant.
Dalek Thay: Daleks have no concept of elegance!
Cyberman: This is obvious. But consider, our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks; together, we could upgrade the universe.
Dalek Thay: You propose an alliance?
Cyberman: This is correct.
Dalek Thay: Request denied!
Cyberman: Hostile elements will be deleted. [they shoot at the Dalek, but it is unaffected]
Dalek Thay: Exterminate! [exterminates both Cybermen]
Cyber Leader: [to another Cybermen] Open visual link!
[the Cyberleader appears on a screen in front of the other three Daleks]
Cyber Leader: Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen.
Dalek Sec: This is not war. This is pest control!
Cyber Leader: We have five million Cybermen, how many are you?
Dalek Sec: Four.
Cyber Leader: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?
Dalek Sec: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You are superior in only one respect.
Cyber Leader: What is that?
Dalek Sec: You are better at dying.
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Contradictions in Ice Ice Baby
Ok, this is several years (decades?) late, but I have something that's bothering me: Vanilla Ice's music. Not the music itself, but the lyrics. And, in particular, these lyrics:
Gunshots rang out like a bell
I grabbed my nine all I heard were shells
Falling on the concrete real fast
Jumped in my car slammed on the gas
Bumper to bumper the avenue's packed
I'm trying to get away before the jackers jack
Police on the scene you know what I mean
They passed me up confronted all the dope fiends
Ok, based on this, there was some gunplay. Vanilla Ice then jumped in his car and sped away before something bad happens. The cops show up, pass over Vanilla Ice, and get the 'dope fiends'.
If there was a problem yo I'll solve it
Here's where I see the problem. Vanilla Ice did not solve any problems. All he did, when the confrontation happened, was to speed away in his car when the police had to clean up the mess. Basically, he chickened out.
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