zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sorry I have not posted lately. So busy working and sleeping. I still have not finished my christmas shopping and I fly out soon. Can't wait to see all the trees and hills again. Things are going to be really busy when I get back, so I'll be taking in some quality sitting-around time.

Elvis needs boats!

When I said I like cold dessert, someone up high must have misheard me. It's crazy-cold here in the desert.

On the plus side, the Helsinki University of Technology has developed a working air-guitar:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8383



I expect to see this tech being sold on Sony's PS2 Eyetoy line. If not, I'm makin my own!

Paint my fence!

Ah, there's nothing like pie to help build one's confidence. The Thanksgiving holiday was fun, if not way too short. I did not get a chance to go back to Athens for pals or property, but will have to schedule another trip in a month or two.

pro bono, para bono

Sorry I have not posted lately. I've been busy with training classes and work all week. I must say though, not having an actual television in the place is different. That's not to say that I don't waste my free time nonetheless. I plan to sample a microbrewery around here soon, and when I can get down to the store to get 6 gallons of water, I'll start in on some new brew.


Here's an irrelevant if not scary picture of Alexander Graham Bell. Great dude. You probably owe your livelihood to this man, so pour one for this homey.

Germans love this guy

Nothing much to post so here's David Hasselhoff and some puppies.

Up in the air

Went to Red Rock Canyon yesterday. Flew a kite. Big open spaces. Red rocks. Bought shoes and bicycle stuff. Ate steak. mmmmmm


Quote of the day:
'Lotsa power corrupts lotsatutley.'

Where's Sinbad?

To answer the question from a comment to a previous post:

'This doesn't look like The Apollo.Where's that clown, the Sandman, that gets rid of the crummy acts.'

As you can see, my friend, The Sandman is confused and does not know what to do or who to sweep. Nothng is sadder than a clown who is lost and is also a janitor.

!Señor Beebo esta aqui!

People sure are friendly around here. An open car window during one's motoring seems to be an invitation to chat. Not something I'm used to, frankly. Oh, and it appears that pedestrians have right-of-way here, unlike, let's say Atlanta. Whodathunkit?

The show was fun. We didn't do much other than set-up, break-down, and the in-between hop-to time. The techs that were managing the show (not us) were focused but entertaining. We made out with some minor swag. A good first outing.

PEZ mp3 player: http://www.pezmp3.com/index.php

Showtime!

Here's a photo of where I've been working since last Friday. I'll be here until Thursday or Friday. It's pretty neat working out of a temporary NOC like this. Excitement abounds.

retro, don't look back 'cause you're already there

My friend Sam finally got his camera working and has some sweet pictures of his Defender MAME cabinet to show us. This thing is the proverbial bomb.


http://www.softcardsystems.com/sah/defender/

Sam has really fixed this box up. The cabinet had water damage on the base, and had no features other than wood, black paint, and a template spray-job. No marquee, no faceplace, no moulding, no controls. It's looking pretty sweet now in Sam's loving hands. Rock on!

Some mothers do 'ave 'em

Last week was possibly the strangest week in this lil boy's life. A whole lot of coincidences. Highs and lows, including but not limited to the Aardman Animations fire, uncontrollable bad news, missing once in a lifetime events (DARPA challenge; Sumo), bumping into good friends unexpectedly, and relaxing with people I love.

No matter what, your family and friends are the most important things in life. Always.

Oh, and here's a dog dressed like a bee:
Beedogs

and for you cat lovers, www.stuffonmycat.com

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

My pal in Portland sent me a pic of his first batch. Here you go, have some FirstBrew!

It was tested yesterday...

As someone who works with network and systems troubleshooting and must type 'tested' a lot, I must remark at how close the 's' is to 'd' on a standard qwerty keyboard.

My friend Sam is building a MAME cabinet using a Defender cabinet I donated to his project, which another good friend had given to me. I just couldn't find the time to work on it. I will post a link to his project as soon as figures out how to work his camera.

I saw 'Inherit the Wind' and 'Bringing up Baby' the other day. I think the philosophical arguments posed in one really enforce the ones presented in the other. for example, If man is truthfully descended from ape, then Cary Grant probably would have just thrown poop at Katherine Hepburn, fin.

poop.

Forty Helens agree

The other night I did not catch The Decemberists at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. I am told it was an excellent show. I had actually intended to go with my friends before I took this new job, but then I had to depart quickly. Not so much like a thief in the night, but more as a rodeo clown falling out of a medical helicopter.

I'm sure I will get to see great shows here, but as it is, I regret not doing more with my friends in Athens. Eh, whatcha gonna do.

Things are busy as always. Pulling a 10 hour 4-day schedule is new to me, but it's nice to have 3 days off. Early shifts can be tough, especially when you came back late the last night from hangin' with your work friends. Luckily, geeks don't stay up too late anyway.

I will be seeing Serenity soon, hopefully. If you have never watched/rented Firefly, now's the time people. Serenity now!

Firefly http://imdb.com/title/tt0303461/
Serenity http://imdb.com/title/tt0379786/

I've found the only home-brew supply store in Las Vegas. The owner was a home brewer and decided to open the store when the previous only-brewshop-in-las-vegas guy closed up. They have a bit different array of brew styles available out here, although it's mostly coastal recipes. It's a little hard to keep a carboy under 80 degrees out here during most of the year. I may invest in a mini-fridge in order to try some lagers. My pal in Portland has also started homebrewing (after enjoying a persistent supply of the fine recipes I tried in Georgia). He's working on his first batch, an anchor steam ale. It should be very tasty. I also picked up an anchor steam kit and a chocolate stout mash pack. We'll see how that turns out...

The delightful 'Hang in there, kid' poster is an inspiration to us all. Yes you unflappable little kitty. I shall hang in there. I will do anything you say. Anything.

Use the force dummy

Yet another fascinating example of why you should never let your friends use the clone tool.

This is my tribute to my good friend Darth Lamont

I must crush you

Is it me or is this women afflicted with tinyheaditis? The tricks people will pull to make their electronics look smaller...creepy. I'd watch out for this lady if I were you...she could crush her own head with one hand.

You will not panic until you are ordered to panic

RIP Don Adams
1923 - 2005



http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1469532.htm
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/614352
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/27/BAG4OEUDL41.DTL

A childhood TV hero of mine, Mr. Adams taught me it's OK to be a bumbling agent. My family always came together to watch Get Smart. We still use his catchphrases to this day.

Schnell!

An old friend of mine once heard that you can measure the stress level of a society by the smallest unit of time that it measures. Think about that for 6x10¹⁸ attoseconds.

I'm still settling into the apt. here. I've not really explored the wilderness out here (aka. sand). I'll probably head to Lake Mead (aka. The Lake) some fine morn and do a little fishing.

If knowing is half the battle, then what is the other half? Pork chop sandwiches?

Morning Glory

Ah, Sunday morning at work. Good things about the early shift include riding my bike to work with zero traffic and a fine brisk wind. Bad things include the realization that most people stay up late on Saturday, and a subset of those folks are also very loud.

Speaking of Wayne Newton, I get to pass by his house anytime I want some Arby's Roast Beef. How many people can say that!? Well, it's not as fun as giving a high-five to Michael Stipe on the way to the grocer, but it's in there somewhere.

I hear tell of a house around here that was built to look exactly like the house on the Simpsons. It's been repainted and an old lady lives there (who won the contest but never has seen the show). I'll have to pop by for a hidely-ho neighborino.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/dossier/misc/simpsons/

Funniest thing read today:
"Jim, it's the pon farr, doncha know."

Viva Las Vegas

I seem to have found myself in a strange new place, filled with lights and tourists. I've taken a job in Las Vegas, one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. It's like Orlando, but here Mickey Mouse has a lounge act and a gambling problem. Oh, and there is no water. None at all. We all squeeze Wayne Newton for moisture, but he's almost tapped out.

The job is fun and interesting, but this kind of city life is a bit different than Atlanta and certainly different than Athens. For one, I have not been roughed up by any trees lately. And I don't start sweating when I open a window.

Oh, and Slurpees. SLURPEES!

No place to sit

1. Steal Mike's bicycle seat.
2.
3. Profit

This is the only motivation I can think of when trying to comprehend why someone would steal my bicycle seat.

Hope you like nutrigrain Gel-Farts, Mr. fancypants thief-guy.