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9/30/2010

Books of 2010: Monster Hunter Vendetta

Started reading at 15:15 9/29/2010, finished reading 14:00 9/30/2010. That's with going to classes today. Stayed up till two last night.

Monster Hunter Vendetta, the newest Larry Coreia book, is very entertaining. Once again, he takes all of the horror movie cliches and fantasy fairy tale creatures, mashes them together with a group of badass goofballs who have all of the coolest toys, and purees it with a blender made out of explosives to serve you a piping-hot cocktail of pure awesome.

Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, it makes me sad. I mean, there are gangsta garden gnomes! What are you still reading this for? Go and read Monster Hunter!

I rate it four hundred and fifty seven bajillion out of ten.

Religion Quiz!

15 questions asked, 15 questions answered correctly.  Booyah!  Though to be fair, the one on transubstantiation threw me for a loop for a second--but then, I'm not Catholic.

I had to do it, as the article that linked me there was talking about how atheists know more about religion than those who identified themselves as Christian.   But then, the quiz covers religion and not Christianity, so it is a loaded headline.  If you actually look at the statistics, the "White Evangelical Christian" category got above average or tied on all of the "Christian" questions, falling off on the stuff about Ramadan and Nirvana.  I mean, really, the 64% that Atheists got isn't exactly a passing grade either...

Take it here.

RPS25--THE GAME!

That little picture in my sidebar way down at the bottom is of the new and improved version of Rock Paper Scissors, that has 25 choices.  I just noticed that they have now made a flash game version of it, so you can go and make vital life choices without even interacting with a real person!

Though, word of warning, in my messing around with it, the computer had the alarming ability to win 80% of the time...

9/29/2010

Tactical Kindle Case

Along with Monster Hunter Vendetta, there came another package with the Kindle case I ordered (instead of that Oberon one).  It's made for the Kindle 2, so it's a bit big, but since I was just looking for something to keep it from breaking in half if I threw it in a backpack, this will work fine.  And it was $10 off amazon.


So there you have it.  The end to that ordeal.  Unless Magpul decides to make a real Tactical Kindle Case, with rails for book lights and injection molded grips.  I would spring for that.

Look what came in the mail!


Let's see how long it takes to read it through the first time.  I tend to read books like they're movies, i.e., fast fast fast.  That causes problems with textbooks and deeper stuff, but it sure makes something like Monster Hunter fly right by.

Added:  Started reading at 15:15, 9/28/2010.

Today's computer lab question

So yesterday there was a girl in a backless dress.  Today in the computer lab I'm sitting next to a Muslim girl wearing one o' them hijabs, and I can't help but wonder what she would think about the music in my earbuds, which is Israeli Trance-Techno.  She must be pretty liberal to come to an American university, but still I wonder...

Added:  She just got up and left, but then two other Arab looking guys came and sat down.  Same question to them!

Anarchy

This made me laugh.  After all, how can you have an organized anarchist group?

If you don't stop in to Dr. Boli's every once and a while, you owe it to yourself to start. [checks syntax] Yeah.

9/28/2010

Fighting Bigots with simple pictures

Linoge at Walls of the City has a very interesting post up that shows the number of gun owners in the US compared with the number of violent crimes committed with firearms.

Click to embiggen

You should head over there for more pictures and more descriptions of them. It's good stuff--simple and powerful.

News of the Heeby Jeebies

"Canadian Woman Cut in Half to Save Her Life."

Reading that story just freaked me out.  I'm glad for her and everything, but if it ever comes to the point in my life where the doctors say, "We need to cut you in half to save your life," I'm just going to say "Nope.  I have a better idea. I'm going to take up HALO jumping as a new hobby."

Why In the World?

While in the computer lab right now, I saw a girl walk by wearing a backless dress.  Why in the world would you wear a backless dress to school?  I mean, this is pretty much redneck/trailer park country--the people of the city call themselves "Rats" and are proud of it.  It's a "dry campus" (yeah right), so I know there are no cocktail parties going on.  I think all you would get out of it is a cold back...

Poor Shoppers

In the spirit of Borepatch, I present to you a picture:


Thanks to a link from Tam, I seem to have found minor fame on the interwebs.



So now shoppers who are looking for a high quality custom leather case for their kindle have a choice: the actual company or a rant about hippies...

And in case you are wondering, I did finally buy a case. But it's a neoprene thing that was made for the kindle 2, and thus is slightly too big, but also on sale for about 10% the cost of the Oberon one.

I would have bought one from magpul if it was offered, but can at least take solace in the fact that the neoprene one is black, and thus tactical.

9/27/2010

Epic Music

This whole shtick started with Rob, when he posted a music video by the Quemists. Intrigued, I went to pandora and made a channel devoted to that type of music. Eventually, the band Infected Mushroom came on, at which point I was spending so much time on youtube clicking on their music that I broke down and bought the album Viscous Delicious. This way I can listen to it without the browser open, which is helpful also to keep me on track with homework.

I present to you the most epic song on the album: Heavyweight.



Electronic music may not be the thing for everyone, but I enjoy it. Probably too much...

A seriously weird web comic

Weird but cool... some really good production values going on in there.

Romantically Apocolyptic

Monster Hunter Vendetta Comes Out Today

Because I am a mindless follower of Larry Corriea, and he told me to tell you.

And if you haven't ordered it yet, what's your problem?  You actually like to watch the forces of evil win?

Here's my review of Monster Hunter International.

This Just in: Democrats think that I am a moron, will vote for them

Because apparently the "youth" are all mindless democrats.

Still, the article made me laugh--like where someone says that people aren't "disenchanted" with Obama, and that's why they're all worried about losing all these elections.

May I refer you to the free dictionary?

Added:  I suppose I should say that I am not disenchanted at all with the democratic agenda.  Because I was never enchanted to begin with. 

9/26/2010

Star Gazing Party

Last night my church had its annual star gazing party.  We got to see Jupiter and it's moons, some other random stars (can you tell that I'm not big into astronomy?) and of course our Moon:


Here seen through a red filter.  I took that picture with my cell phone camera looking into the telescope, so I don't think I did a bad job at all.

Aside from all that, it was just a beautiful night, at a great location (a lovely house up in the hills north of town), and great food--hot dogs roasted over a campfire, which are one of my favorites.

A Wise Saying

Well, actually, it's just a misspoken wise saying. I was talking to our neighbors and tried to say "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," but what came out was "Don't lick a gift horse in the mouth."

I think it still counts as a wise saying though. You probably shouldn't lick any horse in the mouth. Or at all.

Aaaaanyways...

9/25/2010

Caliber Thoughts

The other day me and my roomate were just goofing off and looking at all of the different calibers we have sitting around here. I give you one of the most absurdly over-armed college apartments in the neighborhood (I can't boast too much, because it is Montana, after all):


from L-R: we've got .22's, .380's, 9mm, .45 ACP, .223, and .300 Remington Ultra Mag (for that extra kick).

Then, because I was just working on a lab report and had excel open, I made a little graph:

Not that it's useful for anything...

And none of this counts our neighbors, who have six or seven more assorted hunting rifles and shotguns. And none of this counts the other rifles back home in CO that have my name on them (another hunting rifle of a more "reasonable" caliber, and a varmint rifle). And all of this is from four relatively poor college students.

So to all you gun banners out there:  if an "arsenal" is 6 guns (or whatever number you want to pull out of your ear to make you happy), and just within these two apartments we have over 15 guns, are we planning a revolt?  Or a mass murder?  Or are we just people who enjoy shooting--for recreation, self-defense, and preservation of our way of life?

Despite what the Brady Bunch would have you believe...

I went shopping yesterday with my XD on--my first time out and about with it.  The video store, both sporting goods stores, Goodwill, the ranch store, and the shop that sells Carhartt stuff.  No blood was shed in the streets, no long, drawn out hostage confrontations with the police, nothin'.  My gun must be broken.

But what I was shopping around for I didn't find.  I was looking for a stiffer leather belt--the one I have now is wide enough, but not quite stiff enough, and the ones I have that are stiff enough aren't wide enough.  After that Oberon Leather kerfluffle, I am slightly ashamed to say that I have now fallen in love with another expensive custom leather product

Perhaps this would be a good time to learn how to do leather working...

Added:  I decided to make the belt into my birthday present, instead of anything else (like a kindle case that will last longer than the kindle).  Sure, it ruins any surprise, but is much more practical. 

9/24/2010

Two years ago today

My dad died, a month after my younger brother left home for his freshmen year of college, three weeks after turning 50 and two weeks after going to the hospital.  Some sort of rare lymphoma.  My mom got two weeks of the traditional empty nest, before it was suddenly even emptier.

I still sometimes want to ask him a question, and realize I can't.




Two years ago.  Seems like it was longer, seems like it was yesterday.  Memories are weird.


I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

--2 Timothy 4:7

9/23/2010

Cheese!

I just discovered two books on how to make cheese in the Project Gutenberg archives.

You know, because it's not like I have enough hobbies already.   But I guess I'm kinda with NancyR on the whole "Excels at Nothing" thing, that is, Jack of all trades, master of none.

Added:  and can you tell that I'm not working on homework?  It's not obvious, is it?

Cheating in the Schools? Not so fast...

My school apparently has a "big problem with cheating."  In fact, one of my professors mentioned that the Saudi Arabian Government (there are a lot of foreign students here, mostly in the Petroleum Engineering Department) sent a letter to the school telling them that they need to clean up their act and take care of it, for our "Reputation is on the line." 

Here is where the issue lies--the students who are cheating are the foreign students.  In all of my time at this school, through my direct experience and through my freinds', the only times we have seen cheating is with the foreigners.  I mean, I'm sure the "natives" do it too, but it's the Saudis and the Kazakhs who are the ones who send down someone to distract the teacher and then pass tests (!) around, who always expect someone else to do the homework for them.

So to the Saudi Arabian Government, go blow it out your ear.  Your own students are the ones who are hurting our "reputation," and if you stop sending them it will not hurt my feelings one bit. 

A Moral Story

From an email I got--you know the type:

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt  into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With  each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

*****

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.







NOW .......

Enough of that crap. The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

9/22/2010

Headline of the Day

"Scientists Uncover Skull from Horniest Dinosaur Ever"

Either someone was really bored, or someone needs to take a class on english idioms...

Either way, I'm laughing!

How's this for an insult?

I'm reading a book that has a bunch of historical Christian texts from Ireland and Wales right now, and in Muirchu's Life of Saint Patrick, a pagan king is described as "Depraved in his thought, intemperate in his words, evil in his actions, bitter in spirit, angry in soul, impious in body, unfeeling in mind, a gentile in lifestyle, and stupid in conscience."

I should try to remember that one.

Sometimes...

9/21/2010

That was weird...

I was just thinking about going out to run some errands, and was just about to take off my gun to leave the apartment, when I realized I don't have to anymore.

Whoa. That was kinda cool.

Y-Man is my Hero



And Y-Man's Prayer:

God help my country in the coming time, and God grant me a good target picture, a steady hand, good cover, and enough ammo, God forbid that it comes to that...Amen!

9/20/2010

Why?

"Three Shot on Army Base."

This. 

Shouldn't. 

Happen. 

And frankly, the fact that things like this can happen at a military base, and people there have to wait 4 minutes for the police to arrive is a major reason why I am wary about the Navy possibility.

Package in the Mail

I seem to received a package in the mail today that contained a CHP.

POWER UP!



I hear this song and I just want to have an epic battle against the forces of evil. It's so epic it hurts. It why I both love and hate 80's music.

Weekend in Review

Saturday went up to the bottom-most lake below Mt. Haggin. That is definitely not a day hike if you want to go all the way up. In and back was ~10.8 miles, all uphill one way and all downhill the other. Kinda brutal on the knees. Would be a good two or three day backpacking trip. Afterwards we went to McKenzie River Pizza and sociallized. They ahve the most amazing desert--a chocolate chip cookie that comes out in a piping hot tiny cast iron skillet, crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle, with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Brigid, if you read this, I encourage you to see what you can do with the concept!

Sunday went to church, and after church I shot holes in things with a .22 pistol. It was fun.

Now I have my first full week of school since three weeks ago, what with Labor Day and that dumb Economic Summit. Yay...

Ok, sorry about that

Sorry about all those bad jokes yesterday. There's a guy in my church choir with me who tells only pirate jokes, so I've been collecting them for a long time. What better day to get them out of your system than Talk Like A Pirate Day!

To wash the taste of bad jokes away, here's a video:

9/19/2010

One More Pirate Joke

Shiver me timbers! Be there no good pirate jokes? Yarrr, no, none of them ARRRRRRRR!

Another Pirate Joke

Why be piracy so addictive?

Yarrrr... it be because all ye have to do is loose one hand, and ye be hooked!

Yet Another Pirate Joke

Yarrr... what restaurant be a pirate's favorite?

Harrrr, it be AAARRRRBYS!

How to Talk Like a Pirate

9/18/2010

Can someone explain to me...

...Why I keep getting hits from this website? Why is my blog on a list of links that is on a page that just has a picture of the Kenyan flag and a picture of the French flag?

I scream my confusion to the heavens! Like Captain Kirk!

Squirrel Rights

Some people should avoid alcohol. Because if they aren't drunk already, I would be very scared to see what they come up with if they were.

Dear Waste Management

To whom it may concern:

Thank you for your years of overpriced service. However, when it came time to switch to the local company, there are some issues. To cancel your service requires a phone call to a 1-800 number. Upon reaching the office in Denver, it was discovered that the bill was under my late father's name, and you would require a death certificate to cancel the service. This information was delivered to my mother in a manner that was neither polite nor understanding. You were a heartless bureaucratic bastard about it. In short, I wish a pox upon your eyes and a prompt chapter 7 bankruptcy upon your business. Please refer to these pictures for more information.

When I receive a call from my mother because she needs to rant about something like this, it kinda ticks me off.

The local company, Rocky Mountain Sanitation, however, says on it's company profile page:

"...a small, local company [can] compete successfully and offer better personal service, attention and value to its customers. Eight years later, the company has grown from two trucks and one employee, to eleven trucks and thirteen employees."

And when my mother called, she talked directly to the owner, who was friendly and polite, and will be paying half as much as she was for TrashNationwide. So anyone out there who is looking for trash service in the Grand Junction, Colorado, area, let me recommend against Waste Management and for a local company.

Hiking

If all goes according to plan, I will be going here today.

We probably won't go to the top, but we wanted to see how doable it is. This is like a scouting trip!

Cool! That's never happened before!

I seem to have had a minor Tamalanche yesterday, and broke 100 sitemeter views in one day for the first time. That was kinda cool!

9/17/2010

More School Administration Shenanigans

I hope I don't have to keep doing this, but here's another little annoying thing that the school administration just started doing. Starting this semester, all incoming freshmen, local or not, have to live on campus. There is record enrollment this year. They already had crowded dorms before this policy--are not enough rooms in the dorms for even more students. This means that many students who were planning on living on campus were forced out, and any local students who were counting on living at home to save money can't. A guy I know who is homeschooled and has been taking classes during "high school," is seriously thinking of going elsewhere--if you are going to be paying for room and board anyway, why bother staying local?

It is yet another little, stupid, policy that makes me wonder what the school administrators are smoking.

V-22=Cool

I have a friend who works at the airport back home in Happy Valley, and he sent me a picture of a "Transient."


Despite the long (politically convoluted) process of getting those V-22's up in the air, it always makes me happy to see some piece of new amazing technology put into action.  It also makes me happy when they fly over my house, but I may just be weird that way.

Interesting Iranian Video



And you might should go here for other news on Iran.

uh...uh...uh...Obama MUSICAL?!?!?!

Seems like someone's enthusiasm outran their brain... again.



Yes, they are
.

Might I refer you to this audio file, to play after watching the video? It sums up my feelings quite handily.

From Big Hollywood, which is always good for your random pop culture.

Now, forgive me while I rest me head on my desk and cry.

9/16/2010

Global Warming is dead!

Long live Global Climate Disruption!

Seen first at those purveyors and distributors of wisdom, the Gormogons.

The things you can find in Urban Dictionary...

Goofing off on the interwebz, I found this.

Now I want one.

Wow. He's really into it.



And I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Would you vote for him?

Cowboy Music

Lone Star Parson has got me all thinking about Cowboy music again.  I had to go and find some Riders In the Sky:



"Well the saddle went up and the cowboy came down, they met at the ol' saddle horn. It made a deep impression, you could say it changed his life, and that's how the yodel was born!"

Ahh, that some good clean fun, right there!

9/15/2010

Oberon Design Kindle cases--don' no whut tuh say abot that...

Whilst perusing the interwebz to see possible cases for my kindle 3, I came upon what I can only say is the most overkill solution for carrying a kindle around: the Oberon Design kindle case. It is overkill in it's style. It is overkill in it's protection. It is overkill in it's price.



...and I kinda want one.

Added: Been looking around at my options for a case for the kindle. AAARRGHHH!!! Why is it that it seems that nearly every company that makes cases for these things are "environmentally conscious" and "donates to buy land that is environmentally threatened" and makes the case out of "hemp and spun gypsy monkey turds?" Is there some sort of a prerequisite that I missed somewhere, that to own an e-reader you have to be a concerned hippie, who's sole motivation for buying one is to prevent trees from being hurt? Is there no room in the demographic for an conservative-minded engineer who simply appreciates neat technology (and books that are out of copyright)?

...That's it. I'm quitting this whole school thing to make kindle cases, and on my company literature I will say that I go out and kill each animal that I use for the leather myself and I eat the meat, too. That I try to use as much cheap sweatshop labor as possible to keep the prices down. That I deliver the finished product to the shipping store in my specially modified F-650 that actually runs off the blood of baby elephants...


...a herd of which I keep behind the shop (along with the cattle and some crocodiles), and who supplies the leather for my "premium supple baby elephant leather" model of case.

In short, I want to be in charge of a company that makes Al Gore cry in his sleep.

If you need a laugh

You should really read this post by Larry Corriea.  In which Nickwolf, a crazy, crazy socialist attempts to "debate."  For the third time.  You'd think he would recognize a losing battle...

Best comment:

Can we put Nickwolf on a stage in DC and let him just ramble? I think it would kill Obama’s administration in under thirty seconds.  -C Kelsey

Something's fishy...

I know I've been complaining about this a bit lately, what with this and this, but I have another tidbit of information to share on the subject of school administrators. It really shouldn't surprise anyone, but it does reaffirm my belief that they don't care a whit about education--that they are only here to take as much money as they can from students.

I have a friend going to school here who is from Africa, in the Petroleum Engineering Department. He is a real good guy, a good student, an R.A. in the dorms, and a legal Montana Resident. Yet the school administration denies him in-state tuition.

Am I missing something?

Back to school

It's funny, but when you don't have something you realize just... [feeling]how much you miss it[/feeling].

Okay, I was lying. I am already tired of school and I haven't even left for the day yet. In other words, no rum for lunch today! Back on your heads!

Hippos and Crocs



What big teeth. And I'm not talking about the crocodile...

9/14/2010

New title picture

It was about time for the Wanderer to go down, and for some big guns to go up. I hope you like them--comments welcome and will be considered etc etc--but if not, it's not your blog so I don't care. Heh heh.

Auto-Tune Rangel



The second half is even better!

Can't break my stride!



His mustache does not match his voice. Just sayin'.

Then there are all of those sequins. They're everywhere!

And a dancing MC? Wow.

But my judgments aren't gonna breaka his stride!

And then this version is da bomb:

Don't feed his ego! Shhhh!

I know this is a little bit out of date, but I was reading the article and just couldn't help it. After Obama called on Pastor Jones to stop his whole Koran Burning Thing, Jones called it off and said "We feel that God is telling us to stop."

NO! Obama isn't God, and he already has a large ego! Don't feed it!

Best Headline of the Day

"The public hates almost everything Congress has done"

Yep, pretty much.

8 O'Clock Class? Oh Crap, I'm late!

Wait, nope.  That's right!  Four day weekend!  Hahahaha!  I just wanted to rub it in a little bit. 

9/13/2010

Hello!

In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to organize my blogroll/bookmarks.  Trying. 

After taking off those two defunct ones, I am adding a bunch:

The Breda Fallacy
"Blah Blah Blah" Seagull
Lookingforlissa
New Jovian Thunderbolt
View From the Porch
SayUncle
Another Gun Blog

Next is trying to figure out which one should go where...

Added: Yeah, some settling of contents may occur during shipping. I'll find something I like eventually...

Added II: Hey, if you can see though the dust, I think I found an order that I like. If you want to call it an order.

Goodbye...

Free in Idaho has been defunct for a few months now, just lingering at the bottom of my blogroll... too bad, I really liked BillH and what he had to say.

Stephen at INTO THE LIGHT was another one that I liked, always with good pictures, but I haven't seen him around for quite awhile either.

I don't know what happened to those fellows, but time moves on, I guess. 

Chile, Rum and Apple Pie for lunch

Why not huh?

This one goes out to Weer'd Beard!

Shooting elk with a 9mm, and Milk Jug Carnage

Okay, it was a sharpie elk.  My friend requested it, rather than a bunch of circles.


It was a beautiful day, so I brought out the XD and the 10/22, and burnt through a bunch of ammo. My friend just bought a used Ruger P-somethingoranother, so we shot that too.

I just happened to have a pile of old milk jugs, and some hollow-point ammo, which resulted in this:


...and this:


Well, it's pretty anyway.  And it's rapidly turning cold outside, so I don't know how long before it starts snowing, so good to get some shooting in while it's nice.

Do you know what I have and you don't?

I have a 4 day weekend.  Max Baucus, the sot, closed down my school for the next two days for an "economic summit."  Finally got some good out him.

Quite a list of bigwigs here:


  • Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft
  • Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE
  • Bob Iger, CEO of Disney
  • Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate and Secretary of Energy
  • Karen Gordon Mills, Administrator of Small Business Administration
  • Barry Diller, Chairman and CEO - IAC
  • Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO - Berkshire hathaway (Live via Video)
  • Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan
  • Ambassador Arturo Fermandois, Chile
  • Ambassador Mike Moore, New Zealand
  • Ambassador Michael Collins, Ireland
  • Ambassador Zhang Yesui, China

9/12/2010

Sunday Music



Blind Boys of Alabama.
First up, great God, let me tell you the news 

My head got wet with the midnight dew 

I've been down on bended knee,
Talkin' to the man from Galilee 

Then my God spoke and he sounded so sweet 

I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
Then he put one hand upon my head

Great God almighty let me tell you what he said:



Go tell that long tongue liar 

Go tell that midnight rider 

Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down

You may run on for the long time 

Run along for the long time
Run along for the long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for the long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down 



Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand 

Work in the dark against your fellow man 

But as sure as God made rich and poor

You gonna reap just what you sow 


Some people go to church just to signify
Tryin' to get a date with the neighbor's wife
But listen to me brother, sure as you're born,
You better leave that woman alone
Cause one of these days, you mark my word,
You think that brother is goin' to work
You're gonna come up and knock on the door
That's all brother, you'll knock no more

You may run on for the long time
Run along for the long time
Run along for the long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

First up, great God, let me tell you the news 

My head got wet with the midnight dew
I've been down on bended knee,
Talkin' to the man from Galilee
God he spoke, he spoke so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
Then he put one hand upon my head

Great God almighty let me tell you what he said:



Go tell that long tongue liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down
 Not sure I like it as much as Johnny Cash's version, but still good.  Speaking of which, Johnny died this day 7 years ago.

9/11/2010

Cool Website: Globe Genie

So a freind of a freind of a friend, who goes to MIT, apparently, made this website that jumps trhough Google Street View to random locations.  Kind of fun. 

Check it out here:

http://web.mit.edu/~jmcmicha/www/globegenie/

Be intolerant, because some things want to kill you



Stolen directly from Alan.

September 11...

I was in 8th grade.  On the way to school, the kid we picked up to carpool with said that a plane had crashed into a building in New York.  We thought, how horrible, and kept on going to school.  Second plane hit during first period.  Remember thinking, "Not an accident." Spent the day watching the TV--past generations remember seeing the moon landings on the TV in grade school, but I never had anything like that.  This hyper-terrorism has been part of my life as long as I've been old enough to pay attention to the news.  I wonder if it is a reason for who I am.  I wonder future generations will have to see...

9/10/2010

Off to get me some Culture

Montana Shakespeare in the Park is tonight.  It's "A Midsummer's Night Dream."

Though since it's been raining it's probably going to be "Shakespeare in the Indoor Theater" tonight.

"Progressive" Quiz

I scored a 109.  It warms the cold, conservative cockles of my heart that I beat both JayG and SayUncle.

Man, and looking at myself compared to the other "groups," I'm breaking so many stereotypes...

Books of 2010: The Books of Summer

I've been meaning to do this for quite a while.  Like, three months or so.  So here is a list with everything that I have read to completion since then.

"Watch on the Rhine," by John Ringo and Tom Kratman.  Pretty good, does the Posleen War from the perspective of the Germans.  8/10

This one again.

The "Big Green Book."  Third time I read it.  Good, 10/10.

Over the summer I finally read through the Book of Psalms.  It's long enough by itself that I am going to count it, and since this is my list, I can put it on here.  Took me about half a year, reading them every night.  Good poetry, if you like that kind of stuff, and good religious material.  How do you rate a book of the Bible?

One like that one.

"Saltation," by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  If you have never read any of the Liaden Universe novels, I highly recommend them.  Very good character building, very entertaining happenings.  "Saltation" involves the leading up to the "Well, it's kind of complicated" that ended the previous book.  Hopefully that means we will finally get to see what happens next sometime soon. 9/10

"Mouse and Dragon," also by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  This one details what causes one of the main characters to leave, and is somewhat a prequel to the whole series.  9/10

Next, I went on a Micheal Z. Williamson kick.  I kind of read them out of order, starting with "Better to Beg Forgiveness."  Not knowing much about his universe, it was kind of confusing (as it is one of his newest books) but the events in it happened much prior to anything that has happened in his other books, so it wasn't too bad.  Still, it was kind of like "The Expendables" movie that is out right now.  Lots and lots of explosions and killing, but not a whole lot else to occupy your mind.  I'll give it a 6.5/10

Then I read "Contact with Chaos," also by Williamson.  In it the Freehold and the UN jostle with each other over the discovery of alien life.  I'm not really much of a fan of SciFi that has aliens in it, but what you gonna do? Once again, I didn't really know much about his universe when I read it, so it was kind of confusing at times, but still pretty good.  7.5/10

Next I read "The Weapon," by Williamson again.  This one finally explains a lot of what happened between the Freehold and the UN.  I thought it was a good "train up the soldiers and send them out to kill, maim, and destroy" type story, with Kenneth Chinran being an interesting character.  8/10

My boss gave me a book to read at work, "Quest for Cosmic Justice" by Thomas Sowell. In it basically he talks about how progressives believe "the ends justify all means," to the detriment to reality and our country.  If you've never read any Sowell, he is very concise and powerful in his language.  Good stuff.  9/10

I also read "Von Neuman's War," by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor.  Pretty standard "alien robots attack earth and at the last minute we discover how to stop them" type SciFi.  Has some entertaining scenes with rocket scientists.  8/10

Here is the first book I've read on my Kindle, from the Baen Free Library, and the first book in Micheal Z. Williamson's universe: "Freehold."  I think I liked this one the best out of all of the books I read by him.  It covers quite a bit about the Freehold's politics and culture, and how the war between the UN and the Freehold, talked about in "The Weapon," went on Grainne.  Some good Libertarian SciFi right there.  10/10

I also ought to add C.H. Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" devotional.  It has a very good little sermon for you every morning and evening, as the title implies.  Spurgeon was an amazing speaker and writer, with a very interesting history.  Most excellent, I give it a 10/10.

There you go.  14 more books to add to the count.  Hmmm... what should I read next?

Because I'm mean like that

I am wearing a bright red Hawaiian shirt and my Chuck Taylors today, just to counteract all of the people who will be dressed nicely for interviews.  Maybe I should stumble into one of the interview rooms to see what the recruiter says...

9/09/2010

Back from the Career fair

And the only two jobs that I am entertaining seriously are about as random as possible.  The first is (seriously) the Navy.  I have never really thought about joining the military before, but the Civil Engineer Corp has a lot of good stuff going for it (there is also the nuclear engineering route, but I am ~6'5" and don't like hitting my head on stuff).  Basically, if you don't come out of there with a Professional Engineering license, well, you'd be a pathetic excuse for a human being.  You work on many different projects and pick up quite a varied experience.  Once you get out, you would have a PE and be ready to rock wherever you wanted to live.  Downsides:  I don't like push-ups.  You would have to live on the coast, i.e., San Diego, which would violate my #5 Rule Of Life: "NEVER SET FOOT IN CALIFORNIA."

The second was a job as a maintenance engineer with Peabody Energy, probably in and around Gillette, WY at a coal mine.  I am not terribly interested in what I would be doing, but WY would be a great place to live. 

Coal mining or the Navy?  Not everyday you get presented with that choice.

I still have hopes of finding more possibilities through some professors, and I really ought to take the GRE just in case I decide on grad school.  All in all it was a long, not terribly hopeful day, but at least I got a free taco dinner out of it from one of the meetings.  That's my #4 Rule Of Life: "NEVER PASS UP A FREE MEAL."

Career Fair today...

And, if it is anything at all like last year, I will probably be going to grad school...

Curse you, current government administration, you and your policies that seem to just confuse and intimidate employers!

Boy, it sure would be nice if I could start using my education to work for me instead of school administrators.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.  Last night I printed off some resumes and trimmed ma' sideburns up.  Today I am wearing "nice things."

9/08/2010

Kindle 3: The Day After

The Kindle came yesterday--after spending the afternoon doing homework and lab reports, I had an opportunity to really take a look at it.  I've already got 20 or so books on there, mostly classics, and a couple from the Baen Free Library

It came with very little in the way of packaging, nothing extraneous.  It had the Kindle, a quick start guide, and a weird little power adapter/USB cable.


When it turns off, it goes to "screensaver."  Kinda cool to see all of the weird things it cycles through.


I'm already 33% through "Freehold" by Mike Z. Williamson.  It's a good one to start it off with.  I need to get 15 versions of the Bible.  What can I say?  I'm in MT, and I cling to my Bible and my guns.  And my libertarian science fiction.

Where is my Concealed Handgun Permit?

It has now been "12 or more" weeks since I applied for my concealed handgun permit.  Any day now, any day, I will finally have the "right" to "legally" carry a handgun to many places (that don't include my "school").  What a joke.  But here we are.

9/07/2010

Super Mega Ultra Photo Post: Glacier Weekend


I'm back! And I have the blisters to prove that I hiked 13 miles over the weekend...

But really, it was a great time. Beautiful scenery, great people, and, what with the car camping, delicious food.


We were at Many Glacier Campground, at the end of a windy 12-mile road.  The picture is of the camp store/motor inn/restaurant.

This was looking east-ish pretty much directly out of my tent.  Pretty nice view.

This one is looking south-ish at the same time.


Saturday we hiked up to Ptarmigan Tunnel.  The trail starts right at the campground, and goes up and up and up...
The tunnel is in the notch in the middle of the saddle there.  Here's a dumb joke for you:  What sound does a ptarmigan make when it goes to the bathroom?  Nothing, the "P" is silent!

Along side the lake and in the bowl there were about twenty mountain sheep.  Also seen were a couple mountain goats.

From the tunnel, looking back

The tunnel was built so the people on horseback wouldn't have to be lowered down on ropes on the other side, which drops straight down for 1000 ft.

This is the view from the other side of the tunnel.

And this is the picture that I took to freak out my mom.

Sunday, there was a break in the rain long enough to make a quick hike up to a waterfall.


And it started raining again when we got to the bottom. Perfect! Timing!

On the way home we drove through Augusta to go to Mel's Diner.  Their milkshakes came highly recommended, and were a good ending to the trip.

Now I'm home and catching up on my school work--taking the weekend off will put you behind like that.

Oh! And my Kindle came, so maybe I'll post something about that sometime.

Added:  I suppose that I ought to mention that bigger versions of my pictures (of Glacier and other things!) can be found here.

9/06/2010

Music For Monday

This one goes right along with that video I put up on Friday.



Now this guy just needs to get a MIDI of the Death Waltz song...

But wait, here is a dude doing the song for real!



Anyway...

Should be back tonight, hopefully with the same number of holes I had when I left...

9/05/2010

Sunday Music: David Crowder Band



Watch as David Crowder's shirt magically changes! How does he do it? By his sheer awesomeness!

By the way, I should be back Monday Evening--mayhaps I'll post some pictures...

9/04/2010

Enjoy some music while I'm gone

This is about the best cover I've ever heard. It's a classical piano rendition of a Daft Punk (french techno) song.



Here's the original version:

9/03/2010

GONE HIKIN'

Leaving to Glacier. I've got a couple pointless music videos and such that you may enjoy in the meantime scheduled to pop up.

Like this one:



Best comment for this video: "Chuck Norris can sight read this."

Is this considered animal cruelty?



This reminds me of that Cat Massage lady--I must have seen it at Breda's blog, but I can't remember exactly.

9/02/2010

More school observations

A continuation of this post. My friend (a senior) is taking a class called INC--Instrumentation and Control--a few semesters later than he should have according to the official curriculum sheet. As it it the beginning of the semester, the professor was attempting to review a few basic circuit calculations. All of the other students in the class DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PARALLEL AND SERIES WAS! This is very very extremely basic circuit stuff--the things you learn in High School and are supposed to know BEFORE COMING TO COLLEGE!

INC is a Junior-level engineering class, and Intro to Circuits is a prerequisite. They spent a half hour reviewing series and parallel circuits.

...

Kevin
, if you read this, I am sorry I seemed defensive about my education once upon a time. I'm changing my profile from "Currently seeking degree in esoteric inapplicable book knowledge," to "Ima in a school gettin edumacatid, hyuk."

And I'm finishing this with a "God, please save us all."

Yep, that's about how it works

I just sharpened my knife.

Then I cut myself.

Added: It's been that kind of week.

DO WANT

Mmmmmmmm... fried beer.

From the comments over at Lone Star Parson.

'Twas a year ago; Yes, I remember it well--Not for the faint of heart

Before I go any further, I want you to look at this picture:


Pretty sweet, huh?  That's my knee, as it looks now.  A year ago, to the day, this is what my knee looked like (squeamish, look away):


Curse you, plastic pedals!  If you had been metal and spiky, my foot wouldn't have slipped while going 20 mph on a dirt road!  And you ruined my Glacier Trip last year!  Curse your eyes!

Anyway, I wasn't going anywhere with this--I just wanted to make people wince.  And just so you know, I've made it a point to avoid the bicycle this year.

9/01/2010

Them uh, Union folks really know what they doin.


The SEIU Mispells "America" on a banner at one to their rallies. 

"Dat's rite.  I bleeve in the 'mercan dream!"

From that bastion of Right-wing hate-mongering, Big Government.

What Kind of Scientist are you?


Mad Scientist

Though your chief goals are the somewhat contradictory aims to rule, and then destroy, the planet Earth, you have a strong grasp of the scientific principles of blowing up things (Explodology). Good luck and please have mercy.



I'm so proud. What kind are you?