Thursday, June 30, 2005
Memories of yesterday
(This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Others joining in are Alex, Scott, JimK, and Moorewatch. If you wish to join in, feel free.)
How many of you remember School House Rock? It was a three minute song usually played on Saturday mornings that taught a segment of learning in a catchy little hummable tune that still sticks in your mind even decades later ("I’m just a bill, yes, I’m only a bill, and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill...").
Well, those were also pretty goddamned effective teaching tools, too. I encouraged all of the kids and nieces and nephews and grandkids to listen to them, too. I encourage you to pass them along.
I will be keeping the Best of School House Rock (45.2MB - Right-Click to save), kind of a sampler of all of them, available until my bandwidth is killed, so enjoy! (If you want a copy and I’ve already pulled it, drop me a line, and we’ll work out something.)
The little vignettes are wonderful, and should be passed on to the next generations…
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
I love the Internet
(This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Others joining in are Alex, Scott, JimK, and Moorewatch. If you wish to join in, feel free.)
Way back when, before other countries started getting into the act, the Internet got its start when Al Gore was sitting in his office one afternoon in… no, wait, wait, let’s tell the REAL truth.
It was actually a bunch of guys at DARPA that would have been called “nerds” a few decades later, who had managed to get a whole shitload of transistors and thousands of miles of wires to help plan the defense of the United States. They realized that if the Russians had any spies worth their title, the location of their NORAD mountain base would have been discovered pretty quickly, which means that they would lose its services if it ever took a serious hit. (Or hits, since enough explosive can destroy anything.)
At the same time, another set of nerds at Bell Laboratories had thoughts along the same lines, and started looking for ways to re-route necessary communications around areas that had been “taken off the net”. (I mean, who knows how important Aunt Millie’s apple pie recipe would be during post-apocalyptic negotiations?) This computer-aided switching and decentralized routing struck a chord in the first set of nerds and they decided to see if two computers could communicate information.
From those American geniuses comes the baseline of the whole concept, and similar access by a whole new generation of those who gleefully seized on this new technology to investigate the possibilities.
But it wasn’t until Al Gore really DID enter the picture, opening the DARPANet up to civilian use, that the Internet really took off. First as localized BBSs (and I ran one for a short while, back when 56K modems were brand-new), and then they started interconnecting all over the country, as colleges started linking up, and companies started seeing the possibilities.
Computers started speeding up and servers started storing massive quantities of data, as the massive number of people started swarming the web, it has grown to the point where even a schlub like me gets more than a hundred visitors a day.
America, what a country!
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Morgan Spurlock is an idiot
It takes a Class-A douche bag to push an agenda like this guy does.
… the producers told me. “Morgan wants the show to demonstrate to America that we are Islamophobic and that 9/11’s biggest victims are Muslims.” With this in mind, I agreed to be filmed only with final approval of my appearance, which I never gave. Thus I will not appear in Wednesday’s show.
I could be way off base here, but the last time I checked, the biggest victims of 9/11 are the people who died. That does even account for the families and friends of the victims whose lives will never be the same. But that isn’t important to Morgan Spurlock, who see’s one groups loss as his opportunity to push an agenda.
Spurlock gained a soapbox to preach from when his documentary, Super Size Me, gained national attention after it was nominated for an Academy Award in the field of Best Documentary. In Super Size Me, Spurlock ate McDonalds fast food for a 30 days, and documented his weight gain and declining health. While those with an IQ of less than 25, movie critics and award nominators included, thought this was simply amazing, a third grader with a basic knowledge of the food pyramid can tell you that eating nothing but fast food for 30 days will more than likely have some bad effects on your body. In other words, Spurlock documented something that was obviously bad for you, in an attempt to highlight his agenda that the American fast food lifestyle is unhealthy, yet beneficial to the corporate fat-cats he despises.
Therefore, I bring you Helo’s Ideas for Morgan Spurlock’s Next Documentary:
President’s speech….
NBC---at 8:37 pm EDT....interviewing Nancy Pelosi (who is looking SMASHING tonight...)
ABC---same time....interviewing Joe Biden
CBS--same time---back to whatever their network programming is (I’m not one of the three people that watch)
CNN--8:42--David Gergin (?) Joe Biden (man, he’s fast), and they’re pimping Larry King w/Johns Kerry and McCain.
What liberal media?
A real menu entry - no foolin’!
From a nifty little place we had breakfast at this morning. This was found under the “Omelets” section…
33 1/2. Flatlander’s Special
Raw liver, parsnips, peanut butter, organically-grown black jelly beans, sauteed grunion lips (2)*, gardenia petals & topped with mint ice cream.
(* - subject to when grunions are running)
The waitress was quick to point out it was a joke (as though I didn’t know it right away), so those of you who are hoping for a, shall we say, unique taste experience will have to keep looking.
But those of you who are just looking for a nice place to eat breakfast in Vegas, I will gladly recommend The Omelet House, located at 2160 W. Charleston (corner of Rancho).
In other news, the anniversary went off pretty well, and thanks to all of you for your kind comments. ("Drumiversary", Poosh?) 
We should be back home by midday tomorrow, barring traffic jams (although I don’t expect many of those on a Wednesday morning).
I hope everything went well at home, because I’m gonna need two days of rest just to catch up from three days of vacation! See you all later today for a Patriot’s Journey post. I forgot yesterday’s, dammit - just having too much fun, but that’s another great thing about America. 
Monday, June 27, 2005
Unpaid endorsement - NOT!
Bad experience last night, folks.
If you ever come to Vegas, be glad of the fact that this is a city that offers you so many eating places. That way, there is only the slightest chance that you will accidentally fall into this slop pit. Because, once I tell you what we experienced, you’ll NEVER be willing to head over there on purpose.
The place: Binion’s Horseshoe
The eatery (although I shudder with the thought of anyone expressing the word “eat” in the same breath as this place): the coffee shop/restaurant downstairs.
Way back when me and the missus were on our honeymoon, we chanced to stop by this very same restaurant, and splurged on the Prime Rib dinners.
She suffered from a mild case of food poisoning and I broke a goddam tooth on a small bone chip in the Prime Rib!
However, years had passed, and we chanced to be in the area last night (watching the light show above Fremont Street - a real treat, and a smorgasbord for pick-pockets), and decided to stop in to the same place, figuring that several years would suffice to either clean up its act, or maybe to have had a complete change of personnel.
While I can speak to neither of those issues personally, I will only say that it was the biggest waste of money since that $600 hammer so famed among pork-barrel politicos. I ordered a petit sirloin and she had the halibut.
Once again, she suffered from a mild case of food poisoning (enough to cause her to be throwing up, but not so serious that we had to break off the vacation), and my steak tasted like it had been recently reconstituted from a spare pile of sawdust and rat droppings. I had two bites, and only about half of the french fries. Even the coffee tasted stale.
Long story short, don’t ever waste time or money on them. I do not speak of their honesty in gaming or of the relative ratios of payouts or any of that nonsense. I speak only of the food (if that’s the word) being served (if that’s the word) by those people (if that’s the word).
I only regret that I didn’t heed the first lesson. Hopefully, you might learn from my mistake of trusting them a second time. You can trust ME that there will NOT be a third.
Oh, and the Missus is doing much better, and says to say “Hi” to all of you. I’m trying to talk her into running her own blog someday, but she’s still a little reluctant.
One last note, today is also our anniversary. Go raise a glass and celebrate - ‘cause that’s what we’re gonna be doing. 
Category: General morning entries | Humor/Entertainment | Weirdness |
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Live from Las Vegas!
(This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Others joining in are Alex, Scott, JimK, and Moorewatch. If you wish to join in, feel free.)
Howdy, y’all!
I’m writing today to tell you all about how wonderful this country is, and how there are sights and sounds and smells and tastes that can only be found here in the United States.
Las Vegas is one of those experiences. Almost anything imaginable can be found within its demesnes, and most of it is fun.
It isn’t the city that is drawing my admiration and praise - oh, no - it is the fact that we have the leisure time to allow cities like this to develop, where adults can have a good time, too. This city is like a Disneyland for grown-ups, yet there are things for the kids, as well. As I type this, I am watching people stroll past, each of them looking for the ultimate in good times, and Las Vegas is that oasis in the Mojave that issues the siren’s cry of promises and dreams, all there with just the pull of a handle, or the flip of a card.
I don’t even like gambling, but I’m having fun. The kind of nation that can allow us to have such freedom and leisure to pursue our dreams and desires, and all just a few hours away, even from the East Coast, is the kind of nation we want to preserve. And it is this kind of nation I am fighting so hard to encourage.
Meanwhile, how are YOU guys? 
Category: Humor/Entertainment | Patriot's Journey | Weirdness |
I have this co-worker…..
....famous last words, I know.
either way, he’s become herky-jerky about Iraq, and he’s saying stuff like, “We need to just get the f*** out of there.” Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard all the “WE’RE DYING OVER THERE!!” mantra....over and over and friggin’ over. It’s old, it’s a standard statement from the Left that we have gotten used to, especially since the Liberals, as Karl Rove said so clearly, decided to go with the Vietnamization of this world war.
But this guy is a Republican, and hates Democrats and Liberals.
This is a mindset that has been created in our society, by the media, and they (the media) are using that mindset to build anti-WoT sentiment.
Read on.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Going on vacation!
The Missus and I will be going on a short jaunt for our anniversary, so my Patriot’s Journey posts will be made from on the road for the next few days. Wish us luck, as we’re going to VegasbabyVegas! 
I intend to see a magic show by Penn & Teller if at all possible. They rock. 
The Constitutional Reset Button, Part 2
(This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Others joining in are Alex, Scott, JimK, and Moorewatch. If you wish to join in, feel free.)
Our Founding Fathers recognized that we might need to pull power back from the Government, so they did everything they could to ensure that we would be able to do so. The first freedoms in the Bill of Rights prove this. They are the Freedom of religion (the relationship between a person and his/her Diety), Freedom of Speech and of the Press (to express ideas, even if it isn’t in person), Freedom of Assembly (to get together and discuss options), and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances (to give them a final chance to compact their Governmental Feces).
If all else fails, there is the Second Amendment - the authority to push that button and the power to back it up.
Just food for thought… but I’m buying ammo.
Protecting the world from Israel
As we all know, Israel is the most dangerous nation in the world, with the well known exception of the United States’ genocidal mission across the planet. Therefore, world leaders including the amazingly powerful United Nation and European Union, called for Israel to ease-up on the checkpoints that are at every known border crossing.
World powers on Thursday urged Israel to allow Palestinians to move more freely around occupied territories, echoing a key demand from Palestinians ahead of the Jewish state’s planned withdrawal from Gaza.
The Quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations called on Israel “to take immediate steps, without endangering Israeli security, ... to facilitate rehabilitation and reconstruction by easing the flow of goods and people in and out of Gaza and the West Bank and between them.”
This, of course, highlights the dire need to protect the entire planet from Israel, who regularly invites suicide bombers onto their land in order to carry out massive attacks.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists will strike in Tel Aviv should Israel continue to arrest terror suspects in the West Bank town of Tul Karem, a senior figure in the terror group warned during a conversation with Ynet Saturday.
“For several months now Israel has been abusing villagers around Tul Karem, while blatantly violating the calm,” Abu Udai said. “We are giving Israel several days to end the activity, and if it doesn’t, our suicide bombers will shake the heart of Israel and Tel Aviv.”
You’ll notice the sarcastic tone I took when writing this post. I was wondering how it would feel to be one of the many politicians who believe Israel is somehow or another sponsoring and supporting terrorism, all of the while oppressing the entire Middle East. The only conclusion that I can come to is that groups such as the United Nation and the European Union really do not like Israel, and their blanket statements are made in order to make Israel look bad. If you remember that old saying, “If you say it enough times, people will start to believe it,” I think that’s what we’re look at here. If you look at the two constrasting articles, both with direct quotes showing exactly where each side is coming from, it’s not hard to see that many politicians are trying to pull a quick one. The entire world wants Israel to cut-back on the enforcement of their borders, when it’s plain and apparent that crazy Islamic-Jihadists will stop at nothing to blow themselves up and kill as many Israeli’s as possible.
I swear, people, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
Friday, June 24, 2005
The Constitutional “Reset Button”
(This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Others joining in are Alex, Scott, JimK, and Moorewatch. If you wish to join in, feel free.)
Our Founding Fathers were some radical SOBs in their days. What we would call “progressive” types. (Over the years, the meaning of “progressive” and “conservative” have almost completely reversed themselves, but that’s a rant for another day.) They had decided that the millennia-old traditions of the British Monarchy was not something they could tolerate any longer, and so they proceeded to start fomenting revolution because of what they saw as the unacceptable intrusions into personal lives, property and freedoms.
It’s time to start re-reading the Declaration of Independence.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Random quote from the Missus
"It’s gotta be embarrassing to be a Democrat nowadays.”
{What can I say? I agree with her.}
You know something?
(This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Others joining in are Alex, Scott, JimK, and Moorewatch. If you wish to join in, feel free.)
Sometimes you have to take it back to the most basic of levels. I think one of the greatest things about this country is something that no one really notices, in much the same way that fish don’t notice water.
It is this: CHOICE.
I was driving down a major road and started to cynically notice all of the advertisements and sale banners and balloons over the used car lots and the clumps of gas stations and fast-food joints and all the bright colors and flashing lights and started to just bitch and rant to the steering wheel (as I am wont to do upon occasion), and in a blinding flash of insight, it hit me. The reason why all of these businesses are working so hard to get my attention is because I have a CHOICE.
Big Mac or Whopper? KFC or Arby’s? Blockbuster or Hollywood Video? Wal-Mart or Target? Chevrolet or Honda? Two bedrooms or three? Roses or carnations? Two-door or four-door? DVD or DVR? Apple or PC? Wrigley or Double-Bubble? Coke or Pepsi? Or almost every variant in between…
All of those choices are made every day by so many of us, with the public deciding in its merciless fashion which choices are popular (vanilla ice cream) and which are not so popular (Gravy-flavored soda). And each of those choices will benefit the person on the other end of that transaction to one degree or other.
To be able to have the power to decide - on the spur of the moment, if necessary - whether or not to say yes to “You want fries with that?” is one of the most valuable things we have. We have the power to decide. To make a CHOICE.
So when you get pissed off at some stupid commercials, don’t hate the commercial, celebrate the freedom that forces them to fight so hard for your attention.
Wait a second … I’m a quiz whore too!
I blame Drum for my addiction to internet quizzes. And JimK. And Al Gore, since he invented the internet.
 | You scored as Idealist. Idealism centers around the belief that we are moving towards something greater. An odd mix of evolutionist and spiritualist, you see the divine within ourselves, waiting to emerge over time. Many religious traditions express how the divine spirit lost its identity, thus creating our world of turmoil, but in time it will find itself and all things will again become one.
What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com |