They who sacrifice enlightenment for power are never free.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Factory worker steals motorcycle one piece at a time
So the very next day when I punched inZhang, a worker in a motorcycle factory in China, was no doubt thinking of Johnny Cash's 1976 hit single when he embarked upon his scheme to steal a motorcycle by smuggling one part at a time home with him. "I don't have that much money, so I came up with the idea of taking the parts home and assembling them on my own," he said.
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends
I left that day with a lunch box full of gears
Now, I never considered myself a thief
GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years.-- "One Piece At A Time"
Johnny Cash
(written by Wayne Kemp)
It took him five years but he was able to pull it off. And then he was pulled over as soon as he hit the road for lack of driver's license and title to the bike. Zhang was fined, put on probation and had to return the motorcycle to the factory (and presumably fired).
(It also reminds me of that episode of M*A*S*H where Radar is trying to mail a jeep back home one piece at at time :-)
Back from the weekend
A lot of zaniness piled up on my desk. I'd better get to work.
I heared you people behaved yourselves pretty well while I was gone. For that you can buy a candy bar and pretend I got it for you :-P
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Gone for the weekend
Back Sunday night or Monday. Unless something crazy/bad/extraordinarily ridiculous happens that demands posting about, no new articles for the next few days.
Probably some fresh and new stuff when I resume next week :-)
First trailer for James Cameron's AVATAR
Haven't been able to find it on YouTube yet, so for the time being you'll have to watch it in Quicktime format. Which may be for the best anyway, since Quicktime is much more high-res.
Avatar certainly looks good. So far as what the story is supposed to be about, I'm not quite jazzed about it. Yet, anyway. But hey, I've been pleasantly surprised about a movie before, maybe this one will too.
Avatar opens this coming December 18th.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
12,000-year old barbecue joint found in Cyprus
Archaeologists working on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea are saying that a cave discovered there in 1961 may have been a take-out barbecue diner used around twelve thousand years ago. Except that instead of beef or pork, those ancient Cypriots were feasting on small hippopotamuses... and the human's appetite may have helped drive the species into extinction.Thousands of prehistoric hippo bones found in Cyprus are adding to a growing debate on the possible role of humans in the extinction of larger animals 12,000 years ago.I wonder what kind of sauce they used on those hippo ribs.First discovered by an 11-year-old boy in 1961, a tiny rock-shelter crammed with hippo remains radically rewrote archaeological accounts of when this east Mediterranean island was first visited by humans.
It has fired speculation of being the first takeaway diner used by humans to cook and possibly dispatch meat. It also adds to growing speculation, controversial in some quarters, that humans could have eaten some animals to extinction.
In Cyprus, where islanders' love of the barbecue is alive and well to this day, it would have been the pygmy hippo, or "Phanourios minutus," an endemic species resembling a large pig which apparently vanished around the same time people appeared on the island...
Two giants of journalism have passed away
Enigmatic but always sincere and true to himself. That's how I'm always going to think of Robert Novak - called and not without reason "the last of the shoe leather newspaper reporters" - who passed away yesterday at age 78 after a heroic battle against brain cancer.
Novak embodied and epitomized everything that it's supposed to mean to be a reporter: working hard, cultivating sources, and never taking anything at face value. A lot of people are calling him a "conservative" commentator. I don't know if that could really be said about Novak. He was the kind of journalist who, better than most, separated his politics from his profession. But when he had to weigh in on the issues he did it on his own terms. As Novak once observed: "Always love your country — but never trust your government!"
And it goes without saying: Robert Novak was a damned brilliant writer.
And then today comes word that Don Hewitt has died at age 86 from pancreatic cancer.
Hewitt's place in television history would have been secured for any number of things: the first nationwide satellite news broadcast, producing and directing the presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon, and a bunch more during his more than half a century at CBS.
But it was his idea for a new format of television journalism that Hewitt will be most remembered for. As he wrote in his autobiography "The formula is simple, and it's reduced to four words every kid in the world knows: Tell me a story. It's that easy." In 1968 60 Minutes premiered. It has been the most acclaimed, the most respected and at times the most feared television news program ever since.
Thoughts and prayers going out to the families of both men.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
"Too funny!" Billy Bobb videos on YouTube
Holy cow!! Now I have seen everything.
Years ago there was a local television station called WGGT Channel 48, broadcasting from Greensboro. This was back when unaffiliated stations were extremely independent in their programming and such. Well, WGGT might have been one of the last to have what many people will fondly remember as a "horror host": a home-grown character who presented various scary movies and sci-fi flicks on Saturday afternoons.
Except that WGGT did things a little different. It's "horror" host was a goofy redneck named Billy Bobb, and his show was called Billy Bobb's Action Theatre.
And believe it or not, someone somewhere has a trove of old recordings of Billy Bobb from WGGT and is now putting them on YouTube.
Here's a set of promos for Billy Bobb's Action Theatre...
And here are some commercials featuring Billy Bobb for area businesses...
I wonder whatever happened to Billy Bobb's puppet sidekick Junior Prankster. Probably moldering away forgotten in a sock drawer somewhere.
What else can be said but "Too Funny!" :-)
Mozart killed by strep throat?
That's what researchers are now saying about the famous composer. Instead of foul play or fouler pork, it might have been nothing as mundane as an infection of streptococcus that took Mozart's life at the age of 35.Read the rest of the story here, including all kinds of neat details about gory death in the Austrian Empire.
Southeastern Conference bans social media at sports events
"No Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or TwitPic!" That's the dictate being sent to sports fans and students of Southeastern Conference member schools if they want to attend athletic events. Under its newly adopted media policy, the SEC has informed its schools that "Ticketed fans can't produce or disseminate (or aid in producing or disseminating) any material or information about the Event, including, but not limited to, any account, description, picture, video, audio, reproduction or other information concerning the Event."
It's effectively a ban on all so-called "social media". Per the new regs, a fan could get ejected from the premises simply for using his iPhone to take a picture of himself at a Gators football game and sending it to his friends on Facebook.
So what's behind this boneheaded move? The $3 billion contact with CBS for the next 15 years, giving that network exclusive media rights to cover SEC games. In other words: if you go to an SEC event, you and your cellphone are potential competition to a multi-billion dollar broadcast television corporation equipped with the latest cutting-edge high definition technology.
This isn't entirely unheard of, but for a collegiate athletic conference to crack down on the fans themselves is certainly new (and treacherous) ground to tread. Not to mention darn near unenforceable.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Don't sin at your own funeral, sez cult leader Johnny Robertson
If anyone still harbored doubts about Johnny Robertson - leader of the local cult calling itself the "Church of Christ" - those were erased during last night's broadcast of What Does the Bible Say? on WGSR Star 47.1 from Reidsville.
During the program, which included pre-recorded footage of Robertson speaking yesterday at his "Martinsville Church of Christ", Robertson exclaimed that to have the wrong funeral is grounds enough to displease God! Robertson told his followers to make sure that no instrumental music be played during their last rites.
Here's the transcript of what Johnny Robertson said at "Martinsville Church of Christ" on August 16, 2009 (with bold-faced text indicating spoken emphasis)...
"If you haven't determined how your funeral is going to go, you need to! Because you have family members who do not agree with what I just quoted from the Bible in Ephesians 5:19 about speaking to yourselves in songs, hymn and spiritual song! They will have you in your funeral, all kinds of pianos and stuff like that playing, and you won't want that not at all! But if you haven't said so, guess what? Your family gets to do what they want to do. So let me encourage you today, as we sing that song and we think about going home: when you leave us here behind, as you go home, make sure you leave us some instructions and your family some instructions so EVERYBODY knows how your funeral is SUPPOSED to go. We won't want people dishonoring you, your memory when you leave, what we mean by that is dishonoring you before God. So make sure you make those instructions, young or old, and give them to somebody else who is faithful and will make sure those things get carried out."So according to Johnny Robertson, you are sinning before God if you have musical instruments playing at your funeral. Which makes it all so vital that you leave explicit directions prohibiting pianos, organs and the like from being used when you can't raise any objections from your casket or urn.
That is hyper-legalism to the nuttiest extreme that I have ever heard of.
Heck, Robertson and his followers are worse than the Pharisees were! Jesus took the Pharisees to task for the ridiculous lengths they went to in following the law. In the case of the "Church of Christ" cult (again, it has nothing to do with the regular Churches of Christ) they can't follow the law nearly enough so people like Robertson have to make up law that's not even scriptural! Ephesians 5:19, from the New International Version, simply states "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord". Nowhere does it ever say in the Bible that to have instrumental music is an affront to God.
And then there's the glaringly obvious fact that for all his boasting about "knowing the Bible better than anyone", that Johnny Robertson does not have much of a sincere knowledge of the Bible at all. Because if he did, Robertson should already understand that...
"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord."We can't dishonor God after we have already left this world and gone into His presence. And not Johnny Robertson or anyone else should have this kind of unhealthy focus on whether our funerals are "right or wrong" anyway.-- 2nd Corinthians 5:8 (NIV)
It's the life which Christ has given us that matters most of all: that life free by grace according to the rule of love, and not enslaved to the rule of law.
I have an idea...
It came to me when I happened to catch tonight's CBS Evening News (which I don't usually watch at all).
Want to know how to economically revitalize the newspaper and television news industries, and increase enlightenment among the general public in one fell swoop?
It's very simple: ban the words "conservative" and "liberal" from usage by professional journalists.
Those words are worse than useless. They are woefully outdated terminology. The only function of "liberalism" and "conservatism" is to excuse one's own intellectual laziness.
(And truth be known, I'm seeing a lot of laziness in CBS's reporting tonight... but not really more than one would expect from CNN or Fox News either.)
That's no doubt a big reason why television and print journalism is suffering a slow and lingering death. The alternatives on the Internet - which are not confining themselves to a paradigm that was faulty well before it was obsolete - are attracting a vast audience wanting and demanding a fresh look at things replete with new ideas. Dumbed-down "debate" along the conservative/liberal lines is horridly boring... and doesn't represent reality at all.
People are getting tired of fakery and illusion. There is a dire and growing hunger for truth that we haven't known very much in living memory. And if the traditional media has any desire at all to survive, it's left with no choice but to commit to the higher standard of ideas, and abandon adherence to the lowest common denominator of cheap ideologies.
Neill Blomkamp's ALIVE IN JOBURG
District 9 was the big winner at the theaters this weekend. A lot of folks are raving about how this movie is much better than a summer box office blockbuster deserves to be. I'm looking forward to catching it again later this week.
In the meantime, here is Neil Blomkamp's short film that inspired his District 9 feature film. You won't be spoiled by watching Alive in Joburg but if you've seen District 9 you'll certainly catch the similarities...
eBay auction for crypt above Marilyn Monroe
Elsie Poncher says she needs money. But instead of pawning her wares or otherwise liquidating what most people consider to be normal assets, Mrs. Poncher has opted to sell off what must be one of the most unusual pieces of real estate in the world: she's selling the tomb of her husband at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles. The crypt is currently occupied by the remains of Richard Poncher.
It's also located directly above the final resting place of Marilyn Monroe.
And what's more, Elsie Poncher is auctioning the tomb on eBay.
The initial bidding began at $500,000. As of this writing eBay Item #320412140795 "Crypt Above Marilyn Monroe For Sale" has received 23 bids and is up to $2,750,600.
Here's the item's description:
Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe. This crypt in the famous Westwood Cemetary in West Los Angeles currently occupied above Marilyn Monroe is being vacated so as to make room for a new resident. "Spending Eternity next to Marilyn Monroe is too sweet to pass up", recently quoted by Hugh Heffner, who has reserved his place in eternity next to her. The lucky bidder will be deeded a piece of real estate that he or she will make their last address. And below you will be Marilyn Monroe. In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her."In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her"...?!
Words fail.
But in case anyone's interested, here's a photograph of what Mrs. Poncher is selling on eBay:
And she even takes PayPal!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Safety First: Why Apple should never retire the iPod Classic
There's some tragic news out of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania this weekend: a 19-year old woman is dead following an automobile accident. And apparently the motorist was distracted by the iPod she was trying to work while driving the car.
Before writing anything else, two things need to be said: I have no idea what model of iPod the driver was using. And I'll be the first to admit that I also use my iPod while driving. I might as well come clean on that much because otherwise I wouldn't be able to share these thoughts to begin with...
Normally, I don't think it's much of a problem to talk on a cellphone or work an iPod while driving. It's not much different an effort than messing around with the radio trying to find a good station (and it's pretty darned rare to hear of any crash being caused by touching that dial). Just for safety's sake though, I don't usually do things like that unless I'm securely on the road (i.e. not about to make any turns) and not otherwise distracted by anything else. 'Cuz hey: at that moment the velocity of the car is gonna be my top priority.
But I also don't believe that a driver should be text messaging while going down the road. That's a lot of focus and attention getting demanded from a device as opposed to passive use just by talking into it, or using simple movements with your thumb.
And that's one of the reasons why I ain't been keen on getting an iPod Touch, either.
I've tried the iPod Touch before, either at an Apple Store or one of those that some of my friends own. Personally, I found the model to be much harder to passively use than the original design of the iPod Classic. Even a simple task like changing the volume requires considerable visual contact with the device. And to use the iPod Touch (and the iPhone for that matter) most efficiently, one more often than not has to use both hands.
None of these things have ever been an issue with the iPod Classic and its simple, yet extremely functional click wheel. A driver can very easily adjust volume and skip tracks in an album with only the gesture of a thumb... and without having to take the eyes off the road. If need be, a bare minimum of visual confirmation (again, not more than to glance at the car's stereo system) is all that's needed to change album or artist or podcast.
Is the same ease of use of the iPod Classic to be found on the iPod Touch? If it's there, I haven't experienced it. There's definitely not enough to want to trust myself with working an iPod Touch while on the road. I can and do however have plenty of confidence that I can work my iPod Classic while in my car... just as I do every day. But that's not something I could see doing with the iPod Touch at all.
Some are reporting that Apple might be preparing to drop the iPod Classic model entirely, and compel its users to adopt the iPod Touch instead. I can't think of a worse thing that Apple could do with its popular multimedia device (yeah, even worse than not giving us the option to easily replace the battery) than to abandon the iPod Classic. And I say that as one who is absolutely eager to eventually get an iPod Touch: I'm just waiting for the flash storage capacity to catch up with what I'm used to from the hard drive of the iPod Classic (though I still wouldn't wanna drive with it). There is not only room for both models but a substantial need for consumers to be able to choose between the two. And for those of us who have operating a motor vehicle as an integral part of our daily lives, the iPod Classic is obviously the more safety-conscious alternative.
Ideally, I would love for Apple to not only retain the iPod Classic, but to continue advancing it along with the latest technology (an iPod Classic with more than 80 gigs of flash storage would be nice, hint-hint).
I just hope that Apple isn't considering letting the iPod Classic go just because the company wants to push sales from its App Store for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Doing so would certainly neglect a substantial portion of its users who appreciate the iPod Classic for its proven reliability, its iconic look, and its quality of being safe to operate in most any circumstance.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Hypocrisy: Republicans launch site to track wild spending
So the House Republican Conference has just started up a new website dedicated to helping "the public and the press keep track of the billions of taxpayer dollars spent each year on government projects".
Who the hell do these people think they're kidding?
WHERE was this kind of concern from the Republicans about "billions of taxpayer dollars" between the years 2001 and early 2009, when they had the White House and for most of that time control of the House and Senate?
George W. Bush and his allies misspent more money from the public treasury than any other presidential administration in modern American history. Thus far the fiscal practices of Barack Obama have not been intrinsically different or substantially more wasteful than those of his predecessor. And it could be readily argued that Bush and his Republican colleagues certainly paved the way for whatever Obama will be doing for the next three or seven years.
The Republicans may complain about Obama's reckless abandon... but it was certainly the modern GOP that showed Obama and the Democrat party how to do it big and bold and without apology.
