Memorial Day

Though the sprinklers came on while we were there (seriously, on Memorial Day Weekend?), it was good to see all the people out there, remembering.

Needtobreathe

Needtobreathe is a Christian band that I like, they have kinda a southern rock vibe. They just released this, a new video.

By the way, don't you hate it when an artist releases an album, and then releases a video a year and half later? Just sayin'.

Interesting Website: Freedom in the 50 States

A friend emailed me this website that rates states by "freedom," both economic and personal.

One of the graphs they have:

That's not a great trend, but still kinda interesting...


And one with colors:

I'm surprised Colorado is the same color as Texas.

Check it out, let me know what you think.

Meanwhile, the City is Attacked by the Province of Saskatchewan!

This video has about every early '00's internet pop culture reference you can think of in it.

You Take My Bacon, I Take Your Thumbs. It's an Even Trade

Let me start off by showing you a picture.  This picture is the background of my phone, so I see it everyday.  I see it and I love it.

Can you see it?  The luscious, hot, dripping fat, clinging to a crispy, tasty, and salty bacon?  What you see here was two pounds of premium bacon before I fried it into its metamorphosed state.  That's right.  What was once two pounds of gooey caterpillar was transformed into it's beautiful butterfly form.  I could go on, but I probably shouldn't.  We'd be here all day.

So when I say that this issue cuts me deep, please believe me.

From Alan at Snarkybytes comes something most interesting.  Something evil is in the air.  Something so despicable that I had to put down my thoughts in comic form.  The nanny state has been moving into total control territory at a rapid pace lately, and I'm sure many of you have heard stories about the government trying to regulate foods with "high" amounts of sugar, fat, and salt.  Fat and salt, the two things that make bacon what it is.  Here it is, my next political comic:

This will be the straw that breaks this camel's back.

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me... 

Is now

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the BACON from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the BACON from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found BACONITY
But you can't take the BACON from me...

(Apologies to Joss Whedon, but I'm sure he'll understand)



...

My Ginger Beer Recipe

Today I made Ginger Beer!  I have had different types of store bought, and I made it last year, so in order to make some Dark 'N Stormies, I made it again! 

I cook by taste, so none of this should be taken as gospel truth.  Play with it, taste it, make it how you like it. That's what makes cooking fun!

To start off with, I peeled a big ginger root.  It went into the food processor with maybe two tablespoons of water, and was chopped till it was nice and fine.  This was pressed through a strainer to get the liquid.  I repeated the process with some more water to get more of the gingery flavor.  To this was added about a cup and a quarter of lemon juice and maybe a cup and a half of sugar.  Those are the two ingredients that you can play around with until you get a taste that you like.  I also added 2 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar, just because the internet said I could. Enough water was added to make it into a little less than 2 liters, and then the whole thing was poured into a clean plastic 2-liter bottle.  A packet of baker's yeast was added, with a little bit more water to wash the yeast out of the funnel I was using and into the bottle.  Screw on the cap tightly and put it into a cooler, dark area for a couple of days, or until the bottle is firm.  The yeast eats the sugar and produces carbon dioxide (HAHAHA! I CREATED GLOBAL WARMING!) which carbonates the liquid.  While the yeast does also produce some alcohol, there really isn't enough to be considered above "trace." So it's fun for the whole family!

Making your own Ginger Beer is as easy as pie--give it a try!

I Visited the New Cabela's!

Yesterday me and my brother went to see the new Cabela's in town (FINALLY).

The outside:

That's my brother in the yellow shirt.

The inside:

 I looked at the guns and dreamed.  My one goal for the summer is to take a concealed handgun class and get a good pistol.  Speaking of pistols, anyone got any recommendations?  I like the LCP just because it is so small and I could keep it in my pocket, but I can't help but think it is too small.  I have also been looking at the Ruger SR9c and the Springfield XD sub-compact, but you know that 9mm is .45 set to stun.  But then a .45 caliber handgun is bigger than what I want to carry everyday...

In the gun library they had an 1860 Henry lever action rifle worth $46,000.

And here is a picture of a t-shirt that appealed me:

w00t

I didn't get anything (this time), but my brother got a beefy leather belt that will last him 'till he's 86.  It was fun.  I'll probably go back at least once a week... this isn't good for my pocketbook.

On Mexico

Attention Mexico,I feel it is time that someone pointed this out to you:

And, as JayG says, that is all.

Weird...

I just got a hit from Iran

Interestingly enough, it's not of this page but of this page.  Weird, huh?  Maybe I won't get any death threats after all.

Borepatch: News and Comentary

Borepatch has a couple of very good posts that were very interesting to me.  The first goes over the crumbling and tumbling of the leftist agenda over the past 30-40 years, and the other talks about the winds of change coming for Obama, and fickle young voters.  If you haven't read them, you should.

And they both reminded me why I lean libertarian.

Power from a phone line

Kinda interesting, useful if your main power goes out, and looks pretty easy to do if you have some basic skilz.
Power from a phone line

3.1415926535897932384626...

No, the bananas aren't in the pie.  It's strawberry-rhubarb, homemade (with the exception of the strawberries).  Not even a recipe used.

What kind of user interface do you use with your pie?

OMNOMNOM

Dust in the Wind...

The wind has been blowing like mad, here, and it just keeps getting dustier and dustier. 

The normal view out the back door:

Now looks like this:

Yuck! It actually smells like dust inside, which doesn't bode well for my allergies.  We'll just have to pray for rain...

Pentacost Sunday

A hymn:

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,
and make me love thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no opening skies;
but take the dimness of my soul away.

Has thou not bid me love thee, God and King?
All, all thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see thy cross; there teach my heart to cling.
O let me seek thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh;
teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,
one holy passion filling all my frame;
the kindling of the heaven-descended Dove,
my heart an altar, and thy love the flame.

Culture Clash?

I have a mild case of culture clash.  In MT, which is traditionally know as being very conservative, I live in Butte, a mining town with very strong union roots and as such is wackily Democratic.  In CO, usually known for some of the environmentalist hippies/ski bums, I live in Grand Junction, which is considered a Republican stronghold.

My stereotypes are all outa wack.

Something's wrong here...

Can you spot it?  "Non-Toxic." 

...

Oh good.  That means that I won't be poisoning the little vermin when I snap their necks.

Marketing.  Pbfft.

How Much is too Much?

Ted Turner is... CAPTAIN PLANET!!!!!

First:


Then:

Poker Face is Much Better With Christopher Walken

'Cause the original was badder than than a swamp cooler full of dead fish.

Wise Wisdom of the Gormogons

You're liberal if you think the government is empowered to tell you how to behave in every room of the house except your bedroom.

You're conservative if you think the government is empowered to tell you how to behave in no room of the house except the bedroom.

You're libertarian if you greet the government on your front porch with your shotgun telling it to get the hell off your lawn unless it's got a warrant before it gets a chance to open its mouth.

Except I don't yet have a shotgun... it's second on the list, after a good concealed carry weapon.

Chickens and the Sunrise

We have little chicks...

and big chicks.

And every morning is a variation of this:

I'm going to be sad when I have to start going to work... such is life.

Cabelas Grand Opening

Tonight is the new Cabela's Grand Opening here in town.  I'm not going, 'cause half the town will be there.  Maybe I'll go tomorrow, when the other half of town goes...

Super Mega Ultra Roadtrip Photo Post

On Monday I drove the 700 miles south from MT to "Happy Valley" (AKA, NOT DENVER, SUCKAS!) Colorado for the summer. Because using your cell phone while driving is now being illegalized across the nation, I decided to use my camera instead. While the pictures may be blurry, and have bug splotches in them, and be washed out from the sun, I'm going to do it anyway. You don't have to watch if you don't want to.

Just some mountains near Dillon, MT.  Scenes like that are why I don't live someplace like, anywhere east of the Mississippi.

Somewhere in Idaho, there is this giant grain silo that always makes me smile.  Also seen is the elusive floating watch.  It's elusive because it's transparent.

A forest fire, also in ID.  This is probably going to be a pretty bad fire year, as there wasn't a whole lot of snow.

The Miasma Cloud of Smog Lake City comes into view.  No offense to anyone who lives there, but I hate SLC.  A hundred miles of pure suck. And there are places in UT so much prettier.

Leaving the City, and tilting at windmills.

The Bookcliffs come into view south of Price.  Almost looks like home!

Just a few more miles to go!  I always thought the "Colorful Colorado" thing was silly--here you are, out in the brown desert, and you have a brown sign.  Meh, that's marketing for you.

There's home!

And here's another one that I took, just to make hippies cry:

Also seen in this picture is the top half of my face, if you can find it.

And now I am home for the summer.  One more semester left, and then I'll be a real engineer! Though not a Professional Engineer--that requires four years working under a P.E. and another Evil Test.    But I digress.

Draw Mohammed Day

Keepin' it classy with a white tux and martini.

Update: More are here, and here, and with those links I'm sure you can find more.

Update II: The definitive list here.

Breaking News!

I got a new computer!  It's an ASUS.  Assuming it keeps going, it should have enough guts (its supposedly a gaming laptop) to last me many years. Well, at least two.  Though it is bigger than I wanted, it was in town, and I wanted an ASUS, which you can't really order online like I am used to doing with Dell.

Just because, here's the video to a song that came with my computer:



I think that guy is using some sort of illegal substance...

Robin Hood Movie Review

My first Summer blockbuster for 2010!  I think I will present a review in stream of consciousness bullet point form, because it's easier.

Could be called: "Gladiator II: Return from the Mainland."
No historical accuracy at all.
Backwards D-Day.
Why did the archers leave the high ground?
Cary Elwes is still the only Robin Hood with a British accent.
Little bit of American politics, little bit of Communism/Hippie Commune.
I liked the "rise and rise again until lambs become lions" line.  I don't know why.
No historical accuracy at all.

It wasn't worth $10.50 at the theater.  It might be worth $10.50 in the used DVD rack.  But I think I'd rather have the first Gladiator.  Sequels are always a letdown.

What the... HOW MANY NAKED TEENAGERS?!?!

How's that for a title? Sure to get a ton of google hits.

I was reading the newspaper, because it was there, and came across the Annie's Mailbox, you know, the "Advice Column." If you are prepared to wash out your eyes, mouth, ears and other body orifices, then read on. If not, then just keep scrolling down.

What I present next may astound and amaze you.

Dear Annie: My husband and I are in our mid-60s. For the past five years, we have been the guardians of my daughter's 13-year-old son, "Jake." When I married 12 years ago, I certainly didn't expect to be raising a teenager at my age.

I know that raising kids today is nothing like it was 30 years ago, but Jake seems well adjusted. He's a top student, an outstanding athlete and a fine young man with friends we approve of. Here's the problem:

Jake recently asked if he and his friends could sleep in the nude when they stay over. He has been teased about living with "the old folks" and claims we are the only ones who don't allow it. I checked with the other parents, and they confirm this. In fact, at "Jay's" house, the boys remain unclothed all day. Jay's mother says they are often naked while playing video games, watching TV or snacking in the kitchen. They frequently appear in the nude at breakfast if they are going skinny-dipping in the pool after. She sees no need for them to dress.

Annie, I'm not opposed to nudity. I have no problem with Jake sleeping naked in his room or skinny-dipping — even the coed kind. But somehow, the idea of six teenage boys running around the house naked all day bothers me.

Hubby assures me that it's a "guy thing" and all teenage boys do it. He remembers fondly how he swam naked at the YMCA through his college years at an all-male school. He says it builds character and is a significant male bonding experience. Indeed, he encourages it.

I don't have anyone to ask about this. Our best friends are our contemporaries and would be appalled if their grand kids ran around naked. Have you ever heard of this before? Is it common? How do other parents handle this? — Not Over the Hill

Are... are we in Ancient Greece? Did I... somehow miss the time warp? Should I get out my olive oil?

Seriously, if you were a grandma, and had 6 naked teenagers running around the house, how would you react?

Dear Not: In certain times and places (swimming pools, overnight camp), group nudity among young men is not unusual. Being naked all day, however, is much less common, and we would not encourage it.

Don't be badgered into agreeing to something that makes you uncomfortable. You do not have to allow it, nor do you need to apologize. It's your house, and you get to set the rules.

Damn straight.

...moving right along...

Update:  at 8:20:03 pm on May 16, the first hit from Google, "Nude Young Males."  That was actually a bit slower than I expected.  Internet, you have let me down.

Super Mega Ultra Camping Photo Post

Over the weekend, as a sendoff for summer, some friends and I went camping. We were initially going to go into the Crazy Mountains, but the little blue Subaru we were in only had 5 inches of ground clearance, and there were 7 inches of snow. Shoulda driven my Jeep. So we went south instead, to the Absarokas south of Big Timber. There was still too much snow up high for a good hike, but we made it as far as we could.

First:  Food.  One of the many things we ate were Hobos.  Basically, you put a bunch of meat and vegetables into a foil packet and cook it on the coals, like so:

I love car camping.  We went through $75 worth of groceries.  One of the other things we ate goes right along into the food category, as seen at Borepatch and here.  Bacon.  I think we ate a pound of bacon apiece.  With the grease, my friends (I claim no responsibility) decided to fry some carrots.

Carrot Bacon Explosion!  They claimed that the carrots tasted great.  I did not try them.  I value my life.  If you follow my freinds' examples, do not blame me for your hospital bills.

Next, there was the hike.  There were too many trees to see very many grand vistas and too much snow to get above the treeline, but I got some nice pictures of some bear tracks.  We followed them almost the whole way.  I figured they were probably from the late afternoon before.

That's my boot down in the corner.  This bear was about twice as big as the one Michael Bane's Wife saw here.  That one was a black bear (at least, to my knowledge, there are no Grizzlies in CO) and the track we saw were probably from a Grizzly Bear.  My room mate, bless his heart, brought along his Sig .380, which would probably be just enough to edge the bear from angry to really angry.  But we didn't see the bear, so all is well.
 

 
There's the two guys I went with.  I have pictures with me in them, but why would I give away my secret identity?  Maybe sometime.

This was from the drive out.  It was a good weekend.  Bye Montana! See you next semester.

Oh, Wow...

Sorry about that... I went camping over the weekend, and then today I drove 700 miles south. Which all makes for light blogging, but I have some pictures that might be intersting when I get them up. As for the compter situation, right now I'm using my mom's computer... went to Best Buy and such today to see, but I think I need to shop around a little bit, and I might wind up ordering one online. And I'll probably start work here pretty soon, but my boss is pretty laid back. So who knows what will happen next!

Saturday Explosions: Double Duece

I don't know what these Australians are doing with a French tank, but I like the video anyway.



And while on the subject of people with funny accents blowing stuff up, how could I forget to mention the old Top Gear Classic...



Why oh why can't more Brits be like Jeremy Clarkson?

More Car Fun

To go somewhat along with the little old ladies beating up stupid angry guys, I present to you another video:



"I AM SUPERMAN!!! WITH MY AMAZING STRENGTH I WILL STOP THIS CAR WITH MY BO... hey wait up there, no, wait, I'm not ready!"

Real smooth. On video.

In a Pitaful Attempt to Make SOMEONE SOMEWHERE Think, I Link to Borepatch

Because really, he's much better at it than I. My forte is random videos on youtube.

But I digress...

If by some strange twist of fortune you are on my blog and don't read Borepatch, you had better get over there and read this. That's some good stuff.

Surfing Sheep?!?!?

Ummmmmm...



...yeah... sorry bout that.

Eskorzo

Let me tell you a story.  It is a story involving a missing roommate, the magical land of penguins, and a side trip to Spain. 

Two years ago my roommate went to Antarctica for school--he is in Geophysics and they were mapping the sediments under the Ross Ice Shelf or something scientificy like that.  As part of this project, he had to go to Granada Spain for a conference.  While he was there, he picked up a couple of CD's--one of which was the album, "Paraisos Artificiales," by a Spanish Pop-Rock-Ska band called Eskorzo.  It is pretty catchy, if you don't care what the lyrics are about.  I mean, they could be singing about drowning kittens and eating raw potatoes for all I know.  Of course I had to Google it, and I found a music video on Youtube:



Pretty catchy, eh?

Books of 2010: The Bellmaker

I'm not too proud to admit that sometimes traveling back to the days elementary school is fun.  Over the summer I found a box of my old Redwall books, by Brian Jacques, and, remembering them fondly, decided to read through some of them again.  They are real nice--cold cut good vs. evil, predictable plots, talking animals, a ton of food and drink, and swashbuckling adventure.  And I can read through one in a few hours without breaking a sweat.  So I just read "The Bellmaker."  It was great fun.  If you have any youngsters in your life, sit down and read one of these with them.  If you are just tired of textbooks (my excuse, anyway), sit down and read one.  If you are looking for some cheap entertainment, sit down and read one.

I rate it at 11/10.

Random Joke

Have you heard about that new corduroy pillow that just came out? It's making headlines.

Angry Guy Beat Up By Old Ladies After Running A Red Light And Cliping Them

I have no idea if this is real, but the guy on the phone sure thinks it's funny.

And this one goes right along with it.  I remember seeing this a loooooooong time ago (like, the '90's, man)



I will always remember the wisdom of both Commandment #5, "Honor your Father and Mother," and the old saying, "Don't fight an old man; he'll just kill you."

Ur Doin it Rong

I was watching the news at the tire place (getting my tires rotated) and they were talking about NYC Mayor Bloomberg. He's apparently touring Europe right now, looking at the wonderful ways they've advanced the police state. Yay.

I was in New York City for three hours over spring break, and while I kind of wanted to have more time there, I can't say as how I ever, ever want to go back. Actually, I don't think I would like to go much further east than North Dakota. You can have your "wonderful" cities and the press of humanity--I'll take my Rocky Mountains and freedom, thank you very much.

Why I Didn't Choose Yale

It's an entertaining video, sure, but it's a liberal arts college.  It's the type of place that engineering students make fun of.



Why did I choose the school I go to? Because I can go to class without a frikken dance number breaking out. Sheesh. Those liberal arts folks need a brain to go along with their enthusiasm.

And this seems like a good place to put the age old engineering joke:

The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"
The graduate with an Accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?"
The graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

Steampunk Band?

They are called "The Cog is Dead." 

Go to their myspace and look at the pictures, and listen to the music.  It is very odd, and yet imaginative and cool, just like steampunk in general.

From my brother, who has very strange taste.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Spoiler Alert!  Don't Read This If You Don't Want To Know About The Ending Of The Movie!  You Have Been Warned!

I watched "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" over the weekend (as well as "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic"--strange combination, I know).  Leaving aside the arguments about historical accuracy that inevitably come up with a movie like this, it was very well done.  there was one thing I was unsure of at the end though.  Were the filmmakers trying to make me feel sad at the pointless loss of the son, or pity for the SS Officer father? The other people in the Concentration camp weren't talked about at all--what about them?

What they made me feel was anger. This movie pissed me off at Nazis.  Are you some new-era Nazi Skinhead Wannabe?  You'd better keep it quiet.  The second you bring up your "superior race" crap I will pistol-whip you to the floor, man, your freedom to believe what you want be damned.  I will not be supportive or complacent.


OK.  Take a deep breath...

Doctrine

Also know as total depravity.  Read up.  I won't say that I'm a five point Calvinist, but I won't deny it either.

Sorry, but I can't help it.

Sorry I was away for the weekend. I had to get away from my apartment for a couple days before I went crazy. Over the weekend I branded cattle, made barbecue pork ribs, hiked to the top of a mountain with some friends, came back down, shot at some gophers, and ate Jambalaya.

Until I get a new computer (in a week or two), I don't know how much I will be able to do here. My vast readership will dwindle away to nothing and I'll have to start from scratch...

And to hold you over for a while, here's Star Wars in LEGOvision in 2 minutes, found from the Gormogons.



Except, if you read the books, Boba Fett escapes the Sarlacc. Just, you know, so you know.

Update: I just realized that I didn't follow rule #26 on my hike, and my face is all red. Ouch.

Zombieland Rules

I just watched Zombieland, and was quite taken with the rules.  A little bit of Google-Fu, and I found the full list:

1 Cardio

2 The Double Tap

3 Beware of Bathrooms

4 Wear Seat belts

5 No Attachments

6 The “skillet”

7 Travel Light

8 Get a Kick Ass Partner

9 With your bare hands

10 Don’t Swing Low

11 Use your foot

12 Bounty paper Towels

13 Shake it off

14 Always carry a change of underwear

15 Bowling Ball

16 Opportunity Knocks

17 Don’t be a hero (though some rules are made to be broken)

18 Limber Up

19 Break it up

20 Its a marathon, not a sprint, unless its a sprint, then sprint

21 Avoid Strip clubs

22 When in doubt Know your way out

23 Ziplock

24 use your thumbs

25 Shoot First

26 A little sun screen never hurt anybody

27 Incoming!

28 Double-Knot your shoes

29 The Buddy System

30 pack your stain stick

31 check the back seat

32 Enjoy the little things

33 Swiss army Knife

It was quite entertaining--about on the level of Shaun of the Dead, with a bit less paradoy.  I liked Tallahasee's Mare's Leg (but I'm a sucker for it after watching Firefly reruns all these years)--and why did Columbus only have a double barrel?  Anyway, if you don't mind a bit of gore, it is well worth it.

Update:  I keep running into situations where I say to myself--"Oh, rule 4."  These things are infinitely applicable.

Well...

I guess not having a computer is good in one respect, at least.  I have now cleaned all of my guns that needed it.  Next, I suppose I could... clean them again. 

...

I think I am going through withdrawls.  Which is pret-ty darn sad.  I almost wish I had some homework to do...

A Buddhist Joke

A Buddhist goes up to a hot dog stand, bows his head and says, "Make me one with everything."

Weeping Uke

Steven has an amazing piece of musicianship up on his blog, so I thought I would go and find one to go with it.  I give you: While My Ukulele Gently Weeps:

Computer Update

Well, I took my laptop to a computer fix up place, and it would be a $300-400 operation. You can get a new computer for that, so that is what I am going to do. This is what the compy looked like just before it turned into the six-fingered (or screened, in this case) man of the computer world and was killed by Inigo Montoya:

                                                               OOOOOH!  PRETTY COLORS!

Luckily this happened after I was done with any reports of the semester, so I have no real reason for a computer (except to blog at you, my fine viewer!), and for now I can get by with school computers or my roommates old desktop.  Unfortunately, there are no real computer places in town to buy one, and if I ordered one it would get here after I leave for home for the summer.  We'll see what happens...

In other news, I got to go shooting (bought some ammo at the gun show) over the weekend, and blew a bunch of holes in a milk jug. 

The gophers evaded us, though.  They're out, in between bouts of snow, but they're quick little suckers, they are.

As I said before, don't expect too much for the next couple weeks, though I might find time to post some random YouTube videos.  For now, I only have one question:  anyone know anything about laptops these days?

Computer Broken

I had six tiny, tiny screens. It was hard to use. Now it is at the shop. Hopefully it will cast less to fix than a new computer...

No idea how long it will be away, for now I am using my roommate's old clunker. Till I get it back, don't expect too much.