No Words Required – Just Watch...

The Future of Marketing...

If this is the future of marketing, then I love it!  This ad for a movie theater has been viewed by several million people, and the company who created it spent nothing to place it.  I, and about a bazillion other bloggers, have done it for them. 

I haven't been to a movie theater in over ten years.  Might even be twenty years.  My last experience was so awful that I haven't even considered going back. 

If I visit Austin, Texas again, I might just make a point of visiting this theater – just to see what people with the attitude displayed in this ad might have built.  I might like it!

Brilliant ad!

The Great Over-or-Under Debate...

I would never have guessed that so much energy had been expended on the burning question of the orientation of a roll of toilet paper on its holder.  I don't know whether to marvel at the ingenuity and passion of mankind, or to despair for various and sundry reasons.  The vector sum of all this is approximately: “Oh, my.”

Click on the image at right to see it in its full, er, glory...

(Very) Geeky Joke Collection...

From protolol.  Example:

“The problem with TCP jokes is that people keep retelling them slower until you get them.”

– eigenrick

Surprise! Or, How I Learned to Love Magnetic Foam...

The Voyager robotic spacecraft are still doing great science work, some 34 years after they were launched.  Scientists interpreting the data from the energetic particle and flow instruments have deduced that the two spacecraft are traveling through a “foamy” (i.e., filled with bubbles) magnetic field environment – a most unexpected finding.

You've heard me rant about this many times before, but one more time can't hurt: these robotic space explorers return far more scientific bang for the buck than our manned space program has ever dreamed about doing.  I'd love to see us dramatically reform our government-paid space program.  I'd be an enthusiastic proponent of something like this: cut NASA's budget by 80%, immediately abandon all manned space programs and anything related to them, and focus exclusively on robotic space exploration with specific scientific objectives.  Manned space exploration should be left to the commercial interests, if there are any...

Found in a Grocery Store Parking Lot...

Steak and lobster.  Lots of it.  Sounds absolutely wonderful.


Look what they're apparently having to drink with this food.  Farookin' Mountain Dew?  120 cans of the stuff?


But wait a minute!  My tax dollars are paying for someone else to eat this?

This is so wrong on so many levels.

I hear ads on the radio imploring people to sign up for food stamps.  The ads carefully explain that just because you have a job and are making money doesn't mean you can't qualify for food stamps.  They also explain that just because you pay income taxes doesn't mean you can't qualify, either. 

I wonder what does disqualify you?  I have a job.  I pay income taxes.  Can I get free lobster and steak, too?  But if drinking Mountain Dew is part of the deal, then count me out.

Seriously for a moment – how can we fix insanity like this?  I can only think of one way: throw all  the bums out of political office, and start over with a collection of randomly selected ordinary citizens.

That ain't gonna happen, I know.  But it's the only solution I can think of (short of an actual revolution) that stands a chance of working...

The Circle Game...

Reader Larry E. writes:

So a commission was put together to come up with a better way of teaching proper nutrition…. Cause the government is really good at that of course. So they spend a few million dollars and come up with the brilliant idea of using a … circle … yes a circle … cause it looks like a plate. In some of the articles I ran across they reminded us why government shouldn’t be doing this. The original food pyramid was modified after complaints from the cattle industry etc. that it made their products look bad. So nutrition by lobby…. Want to bet there was some of that this time too? Nice way of pulling in the belt there Mr. President…

If you know about the history of the federal government's nutrition recommendations, then you already know that there's very little science involved.  Take a healthy dollop of the current nutrition fads, add another health dollop of current financial pressures, and finally add the sheer idiocy that only politicians are qualified to bring ... and you'll have something like a “food pyramid” or our latest offering: at www.choosemyplate.gov

As if that wasn't bad enough, can you believe the ugly background color they chose?

Q.  Is there anything the government couldn't screw up?
A.  No.

ISS and Space Shuttle...

Reader Paul H. sends this along: a Russian Soyuz captured photos of the ISS and the space shuttle Endeavour together.  We don't normally see photos like this, as generally they're either photos of ISS taken from the space shuttle, or vice versa.

Here are many more photos of this encounter and a nice story on it.

Hospital Chart Bloopers...

Allegedly these statements all appeared on actual hospital charts.  I have no way of verifying this, but who cares?  Via my mom:

The patient refused autopsy.

The patient has no previous history of suicides.

Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.

She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it disappeared.

The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.

Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

She is numb from her toes down.

While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.

The skin was moist and dry.

Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

Patient was alert and unresponsive.

Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid. (OMG! that is some examination)

She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

Skin: somewhat pale but present.

The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.

Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Veterans Treated Like Rock Stars!

There's a city that throws a celebration every year (and a bigger one every five years) to honor the U.S. military.  But it's not a U.S. city ... it's the city of Pilsen, in the Czech Republic.  The celebration marks the city's liberation from the Nazis in WWII.  The photo at right was taken by Rick, who attended in 2010.  Note the flags.  Many more of Rick's photos here...

The Obama Approach...

Via reader Dave H.:

The kids filed back into class Monday morning. They were very excited. Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.

Little Sally led off: "I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30," she said proudly, "My sales approach was to appeal to the customer's civil spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success." "Very good," said the teacher.

Little Mary was next: "I sold magazines," she said, "I made $45 and I explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on current events." "Very good, Mary" said the teacher

Eventually, it was Little Johnny's turn. The teacher held her breath. Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher's desk. "$2,467," he said. "$2,467!" cried the teacher, "What in the world were you selling?"

"Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny.

"Toothbrushes!" echoed the teacher, "How could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?"

"I found the busiest corner in town," said Little Johnny. "I set up a Dip & Chip stand and gave everybody who walked by a free sample." They all said the same thing, "Hey, this tastes like dog crap!" Then I would say,"It is dog crap. Wanna' buy a toothbrush?" "I used the Obama approach of giving you something shitty for free, and then making you pay to get the taste out of your mouth."

Puyehue Eruption...

A great collection of photos of the Puyehue volcano erupting in southern Chile...

Iranian Plane Crash...

A mid-air crash a couple years ago took out their only AWACS-capable aircraft.  This clip, apparently taken from a nearby tanker aircraft, captures the aftermath...

67 Years Ago Today...

...the Allies landed 160,000 troops on the beaches of Normandy, beginning the prolonged assault against Hitler that would lead to his downfall.

Without the courageous action of these troops (and those of our Soviet then-ally in the East), the world today would be a very different place.

The numbers of our WWII veterans are rapidly dwindling, as these brave men and women are now in their 80s and 90s (my own father amongst them).

Anyone who has read much history knows just how large a debt we owe these soldiers.  Each year on this date I pause to reflect about that; this morning it will be the subject of my thoughts on my commute into work.  But this much I can say without any thought at all:

Thank you, WWII veterans.  Thank you for your service, your courage, and your perserverance.  This much younger American is profoundly grateful...

Depressing Chart of the Day...

Much more here.

Don't Tell Me that My City is Dying!

What a great music video, and set to one of my favorite songs (Don McLean's American Pie)!  This is Grand Rapids' response to a Newsweek article calling it a “dying city”.  As my longtime readers know, I don't much care for any city – but I sure do like the spirit of these folks!  To read the whole backstory, go here and click on “Show more”.  Meanwhile, just watch, listen, and enjoy!

Fujifilm FinePix X100...

When Debbie and I first planned our imminent vacation (back in December), I decided that this time I was going to bring along a point-and-shoot camera.  This thought came from two things: the desire for a decent camera small enough for me to carry everywhere on the trip, and the evolution of digital cameras to the point where a great camera could be made in a very small form factor.

So I did my research, not having kept up all that much with camera development.  I settled on a camera that was due for release in March, but had been extensively previewed and reviewed: the Fujifilm FinePix X100.  It looked like everything I wanted: high-quality, well-constructed, small, and simple – but capable of some very fancy photography when I wanted it.  I placed my pre-order, happy to wait until March.  That would give me plenty of time to get familiar with it before our vacation.

Then came the earthquake.  Amongst the more trivial of its effects was the delay of shipments on my camera.  Until yesterday, I still had no idea when it might show up.  Just a few days ago, Debbie and I discussed an alternative plan: I'd buy a readily available, less expensive point-and-shoot camera for the trip, and she'd use it for her dog shows afterwards. 

But yesterday afternoon I got a very nice email: my camera was being shipped, and should arrive on June 8 (next Wednesday).  They couldn't have timed this much more closely – I'll have the camera for just two weeks before leaving on vacation! 

I've got some practicing to do...

Chaparral Morning...

Debbie and I slept in a bit this morning; I didn't get outside with the dogs until dawn brightened the eastern sky.  The valley was gorgeous – wisps of mist here and there, as the evening humidity hit its peak. 

The normal summer cycle out here in the high desert chaparral is for high humidity at night (often 100%) and extremely low humidity (usually under 5%) during the day.  The transitions, both at night and in the morning, are extremely fast, driven by the sun's power disappearing at night and reappearing in the morning.  One result: it's common for us to see these beautiful morning mist and fog effects.

Our yard is full of things to see, hear, and smell.  The palo verde tree in our front yard is erupting into bloom.  Wildflowers, especially monkeyflowers, are out all over the place.  Because of our winter rains, all the native plants are showing very strong new growth.  I see manzanitas with as much as 5 inches of new growth, a very large amount for them.  The mosses on the rocks are still tinged with green, leftover from the rain last week.  That won't last long, though – another few days and they'll look like black paint on the rocks. 

The pines we recently trimmed look very different than they did.  Now the lowest branches are 20 feet or more high, and there are elegant trunks in plain sight.  The biggest impact, though, is that the hillside formerly hidden behind the pine branches is now fully exposed to view – a lovely vista of Mother Nature's art, with rocks that a sculptor would envy, a half-dozen mature manzanitas shamelessly displaying their red trunks, deep green ceanothus bushes, and splashes of wildflowers here and there.  The dominant wildflowers are the pale orange monkeyflowers, in perhaps a dozen bunches covering a total of about 100 square feet.  Lovely things, they are.

And then there's the early morning smells, one of my favorite things about the chaparral.  In the morning there's usually a gentle downhill breeze, with cool, moist air drifting down to the valleys.  Many of the chaparral plants – but most especially the sages – have sharp and distinct smells.  In the main, these are pleasant and attractive smells.  They are at their absolute best on these early mornings, being carried to my nose by the wafting air, and enhanced by the high humidity.  This morning they were superb.

As usual, the three brown dogs were fully absorbed in the odiferous universe.  They never saw the covey of quail running away, about 50 feet to our west.  Nor did they see the baby rabbit hopping frantically up the hill from us.  Racer, focused on a pine cone he captured, completely ignored the smells.  He saw both the quail and the rabbit, and went on full alert very briefly – just long enough to decide that the pine cone was more fun.

Debbie's “down the hill” in Bonita today, competing with Miki and Racer in an agility meet.  Just talked with her on the phone; she saw lots of wildlife today on the drive out of our valley.  She also had news that seems more important to us now that we're soon going to drive several thousand miles: the price of gasoline at the Steele Canyon 7/11 has now dropped to below $4 a gallon ($3.99, to be precise).  It's been a while since we've seen that...

Whatever Happened to the Successors of...

...the minstrel poets of my youth (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Joan Baez, etc., etc.)?

I'm sitting here in 2011 listening to Joni Mitchell's Clouds, an album I first listened to over 40 years ago, in the late '60s.  So far as I'm aware, there's nothing like that sort of poetic music, with meaningful and thought-provoking lyrics, being produced today.  Am I just unaware of it?  Or is it really that much out of fashion today?

Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on every one
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions that I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

...

My parents thought of Joni Mitchell as radical, and would not let me play her albums in our house. I had a record player (with a tube amplifier and electrodynamic speakers!) set up in an old chicken shack that we converted to an electronic workshop for me. There I could play all that radical music, like Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, and (gasp) Three Dog Night!

Steyn on Weiner...

Classic Mark Steyn piece.  A sample:

It's the political class doing all this relentless "work for the American people" that's turned this country into the brokest nation in the history of the planet, killed the American Dream and left the American people headed for a future poised somewhere between the Weimar Republic and Mad Max. So, if it's a choice between politicians getting back to work for the American people or Tweeting their privates round the planet, I say, Tweet on, MacDuff. Tough on our young college ladies. But, as Queen Victoria advised her daughter on her wedding night, lie back and think of England. Download and think of America.