Not Sure If It's Brilliant or Crazy

Interesting solution to the "clashing kitchen drawers" dilemma:

Shockingly, I'm Not on This List

Hot, Sexy And Bearded Celebrity Men

Also, I don't agree that just because a guy stops shaving for a couple of days, it means that they have a beard.

Bum-stubble is NOT a beard.

Yes, I'm an elitist.

This Is Why I Always Wear a Seatbelt (Even Before It Was Required by Law)

[YouTube direct link] (Viewer #1,776,042)

From the video's description:

"The safety equipment worked as designed, and he escaped with relatively minor injuries."

Star Trek: Phase II

Bless these nerds for keeping the dream alive.

They're making new episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.

It's basically smaller-budget, better effects, and similar-quality acting.

Worth a gander.

Because You Were Dying of Curiosity

Yes, my geranium is making the adjustment to the indoor life. I put it in front of only decent southern-exposure window I have.

It's in a spare room, where it's probably only about 60 degrees. I keep the door shut.

I water it once a week, and afterwards rotate it so that both sides get some sunlight and the leaves don't grow all lopsided.

There's a long, cold winter ahead, but I think this plant will make it through, even brightening my day with little splashes of color from time to time.

It's incorrigibly optimistic like that.



By the way, does my geranium need a name? If so, any suggestions?

I'm kinda thinking Blossom:


[YouTube direct link] (Viewer #135,285)

How It Works: Baking Cookies

[YouTube direct link] (Viewer #309,524)

This Works Better if You Know Up Front It's Narrated by Buzz Aldrin

[YouTube direct link] (Viewer #76,474)

Don't know how you're doing right now, but if you've spent all day staring at the ground, here's a couple minutes of gazing at the stars.

Watch it.

Guarantee you'll feel better after.

On Death Star Economics

(via Violins & Starships)

The whole article is an amusing - if ultimately pointless - exercise in trying to apply real-world economics to the fantasy world that oozed out of George Lucas's pointy head, but I think the final analysis is the most accurate to the Lucasverse:

This also dovetails with the idea of the Empire’s economy not being all that sophisticated – being heavily based on mercantilism and guilds, very protectionist, and not really making the most of its very advanced technology or huge diversity of member planets.

However, it begs the question: can a very advanced technology develop out of an economy based on mercantilism and guilds?

I'm inclined to say no, simply because those sorts of systems are too stifling of the innovation and competition that make advanced technology possible. If you're spending most of your resources guarding your market and locking in your labor forces, you'll lose out in the long run to organizational systems that are more nimble in both gathering and distributing resources.

That is, all things being equal, Wal-Mart beats the East India Company.

But really, the whole thing boils down to how low the barriers to entry for start-up concerns is. If the Empire is light-handed regarding taxes, licensing, and filing fees, you'll likely find more Coruscants in the galaxy and fewer backwards rat-holes like Tattooine.

How to Tell If Someone Is an Idiot

From the LA Times:

The U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization announced last week that the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere accelerated to a record high in 2012. Carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas, was responsible for 80% of the jump, pushing concentrations to levels not seen in at least 800,000 years.

So... 800,000 years ago, the atmosphere had exactly as much CO2 as it does now.

And it's all the fault of human industrial activity.

You know... like the human industrial activity we had 800,000 years ago.

Idiots.

Hmmm... I Think I Want a Second Roomba Now

At first, I thought, "what a cute picture, but you couldn't do it in real life, because they'd stab the walls."

Then I realized - this could totally work.

Each Roomba comes with 2 "virtual wall" devices - which shoot out an infrared beam that the Roomba will not cross.

Take 4 of these, and you can make a square.

Make a square in the middle of a room, away from the walls (and furniture), and you've got Killbot Thunderdome.

Happy Birthday

Veterans Day 2013

To those who served: Thank you.

To those currently serving: Thank you.

To the civilians circa 1985-1991: You’re welcome.

My suggestions for the best way to thank the troops?

1) Enjoy life in a free country. A gift ain’t a gift unless it’s enjoyed. Do something fun.

2) Be the kind of American who’s worth fighting for.

My Workout Routine

Anonymiss asked me to blog about my workout routine.

My niece, Sarah, sent me an instructional video that pretty much covers it:


[YouTube direct link]

Nobody Wants to Watch That Movie

Dateline Sweden:

Movie theaters in equality-minded Sweden are introducing a new rating to highlight gender bias, or rather the absence of it.

To get an "A" rating, a movie must pass the so-called Bechdel test, which means it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

They also point out that "The entire 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, all 'Star Wars' movies, 'The Social Network,' 'Pulp Fiction' and all but one of the 'Harry Potter' movies fail this test."

Of course they do. That's why they're good movies that made a fortune at the box office.

Let's be realistic. If women didn't talk about men, what WOULD they talk about? And - better question - who would want to watch THAT? Women talking about men is the whole reason people watch movies.

Well, and explosions, but that's mostly a guy thing.

Iron Man 3 Review

Could someone please hold the camera still for a couple seconds so I can see what's going on in the action scenes?

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go take a couple motion sickness pills & lay down for a little while.

Not Sure What I'd Put Them Under, But I'd Find Something

Via Technabob, Little Feet for Everything:

Baby, It's... Not That Cold Outside

It's November in Wisconsin, it's in the 50's, and I haven't had to shovel yet (I have memories of Halloween snows).

I'm grateful for the little things.

Totally Worth 1000 Words

Went out second-hand shopping yesterday, and for $5 picked up a Sharper Image Digital Photo Album Keychain - mostly because all I had for my spare truck keys for the last 7 or 8 years was a stupid day-glo yellow wrist coil clip keychain, which I've always hated.

Of course, that just left me with the connundrum of what pictures to put on it.

Turns out you can search Gmail by attachment, so I just picked a dozen or so of the pictures that have been sent to me as attachments recently.

You'd be surprised how many of those I get in my line of work, i.e. blogging guru to the stars.

Anyway, now I've got a bunch of pictures to show off everywhere I go, so be careful asking me what's new in my life. I may bore you to death with them.

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

[YouTube direct link] (Viewer #595,996)

Keep trying. There's always a way to get what you want. You just have to find it.

More Good Times...

"Together" by Bill Mack

Try to watch a movie, end up fast asleep & happy.

That happened a LOT.