Bambi V Godzilla

This is a very famous underground cartoon from 1969.

2007 NIT Pool

Woo Hoo! I won the Irish Trojan NIT Pool!

I am the champion!

I finished in second place last year. Now if I could just transfer some of my NIT success over to the NCAAs.....

BSG 3/25/07 Pt. 2 {spoiler alert}

OK..Having slept on it..more thoughts.

First of all, three of the new Cylons were leaders of the resistance on New Caprica, and one, Anders, was a leader of the resistance on Caprica. How do they feel about this....

Something that fits in with the current storyline..they can be seen as traitors...both to the human fleet because they are Cylons, and to the Cylons, because they were resistance leaders.

How will this change Col. Tigh's feeling about Six and Sharon..or Balthar for that matter?

This brings a whole new perspective on the relationship between Tyrol and Boomer in the early days of the series.....two Cylons in love with each other....

What happened to Starbuck...did she really go to Earth? Did she die? If she did die, does that mean she is a cylon...or that she is a Jesus Christ analog? They certainly seem to be setting her up as a Jesus Christ analog.

What is so special about the final five Cylons? Especially since we now see that at least four of them infilitrated the humans like some of the other seven.

How is Starbuck going to react when she finds out that Anders is a Cylon.....will she see their relationship in the same light as her relationship with Leoben? What if Lee Adama turns out to be the fifth? (although I don't see how this is possible)

How the hell is the fleet going to get out of the mess they are in?

BSG 3/25/07 {spoiler alert}

Well I just watched the season finale tonight. So we learned who four of the five last Cylon skin jobs are. I have to say, I pretty much saw Chief Tyrol coming...especially after the temple episodes. I wasn't all that surprised with Col. Tigh either. It always seemed there was something more there. The other two weren't involved enough in the story to tell either way.But we are left with some questions.

1) Who is the 5th Cylon?

Well they want us to believe it's Roslin. After all, she was sharing visions with Sharon and Six who are both Cylons. But I don't believe they ever showed her hearing the music, and they can blame the visions on that drug she was taking.

They also want us to think it's Starbuck.

They have been laying groundwork for it to be one of those two for a while now.

I don't remember a fifth person hearing the music. If there was, they are the fifth Cylon..but why didn't it meet the other four?

2) Why is the storyline making Hera out to be so special still? After all, unless Cally is the fifth Cylon...Tyrol has a half Human/half Cylon child also. Depending on who the fifth Cylon is, there might be more. (unless the plot twist is going to be that the Cylons brainwashed those four into thinking they were Cylons, but they're not)

3) Does this mean that Bob Dylan is the Cylon God? Why the hell use All Along the Watchtower?

4) Why the hell do we have to wait until 2008 for another episode? Waiting until Septemeber I could see..but January or later?

Information Revolution

We are studying the Transportation and Industrial Revolutions in my Social Studies class right now. Today I tried to tie them into the kids lives, by discussing the Information Revolution that is going on now, and that their children and grandchildren will be studying as history when they are in school.

I brought up Wozniak, Jobs and Gates and compared them to Morse, Bell and Edison. I discussed the evolution from boomboxes (can you believe we actually used to carry those things around on our shoulders?) to the first Walkmen, to today's MP3 players that hold thousands of songs (and some of them video).

I discussed the evolution of telephones from rotary copper wire technology, to cellphones.

Very few of the kids were able to grasp the magnitude of the Informational Revolution, but I was myself struck by it.

I teach in a lower class neighborhood, (most of my kids are Title 1 and get free lunch and breakfast)and I teach 8th graders....13 year olds. Yet in each of my five classes, I had a dozen kids who each had a cellphone, and many of them had camera phones. These "poor" kids had the ability to not only instantanously call almost anywhere in the world, anywhere they happened to be, but most of them could take and send pictures.

Think about that. These kids who are considered poverty stricken had a communications ability that twenty years ago, even the President would have envied. But to these kids, it's just life as normal. They have no appreciation for the wonder of it.

Still, it does make you think doesn't it. What's next?

"Mindless Indiscriminateness"

Like a lot of former liberals who woke up after 9/11, Evan Sayet has some useful insights into the liberal mindset. I already understood much of what he has to say in this speech, but I have always had difficulty expressing these things. His phrase "Mindless Indiscriminateness" is so valuable, because it succinctly sums up the root of the problem, in a manner that everyone can easily understand.

This is a rather long speech, but it is very good. If you don't have the time to listen to the whole thing, at least listen to the first five minutes.






(H/T: Ace of Spades, via Riehl World View )

We Interrupt This Blog......

For a public service announcement:




We now return you to your normal blog reading......

Hide The Women And Children...

The Moonbats are on the warpath again!

The Earth Has A Fever?

Fred Thompson responds To Al Gore's testimony from yesterday. If you have speakers hooked up to your computer, click the audio link.......

Thompson in 08!

Leeroy Jenkins Goes Bungee Jumping

Leeroy Jenkins Goes Bungee Jumping

Irish Trojan's NIT Tournament Pool

I'm currently leading the NIT Tournament over at The Irish Trojan. I've got a pretty good chance of winning. It starts with DePaul and Clemson winning tomorrow.

Thompson For President 3/20/07

Here Thompson talks about illegal immigration, and has some words for the government of Mexico.

Car Woes With Pep Boys

I took my car in on Tuesday morning to get a leaky radiator fixed.

4 days and:

a water pump,
4 new tires,
a front end alignment,
front brakes
leaky seals
A rusty timing chain
and $2,500 later....I still don't have my car back.

And I still have to stress over oil sludge because it turns out that Dodge put one of it's crappy 2002 2.7L engines in my 2003 Intrepid.

Update 11:30 A.M. 3/17/07: Still waiting on a part. From a dealership that is less than a mile away. No work yesterday, or any so far today. Now I'm starting to get pissed.

Update 7:15 P.M. 3/17/07: "The parts got here kinda late...it'll be done tomorrow". I went to this place because I got excellent service the last time I went. This time the service has sucked. I know my car has sat there with no work being done on it for at least two days, and probably three.

Update 6:00 P.M. 3/18/07: "Wrong part. The right part will be here in the morning, and we'll get on it first thing..." Un-Frackin'-believable.............

Update 5:30 P.M. 3/19/07: Surprise, surprise..no news yet. They are open until 9:00 PM, so I'll give them until 8:00 P.M. before I call and ask to talk to the manager.....

Update 8:00 P.M. 3/19/07: "When the guys from NAPA dropped off the thermostat the gasket wasn't in the box...it'll be first thing in the morning." 1) Why no phone call from them telling me they fracked up again? 2) Why the frack up? This is at least the third time they blamed the delay on either a wrong part or a misdelivered part. 3) NAPA Auto Parts (and who has heard of a parts supply store having to order parts from a different parts supply store?) is right down the damn street. Someone could have walked to get the right part. Given the crap I have had to put up with, the manager should have had someone get the right part, not wait for a delivery the next day. 4) Thermostat? This is the first time they've even mentioned the thermostat. How much more is this going to cost me?

I've changed the subject line on this post to reflect the company I've been dealing with. I've purposely not mentioned Pep Boys before, because up until now, I've never had a problem with them before. But thi is simply ridiculous. Not just the constant screw ups and delays, but the fact that they haven't even bothered to call me and tell me about any of this.

So, tomorrow is day #8, and at this rate I am definitely not holding my breath.

11:20 A.M. 3/20/07: No news yet...does this qualify as first thing in the morning? They (and NAPA) opened at 8:00 A.M.. It has officially been over a week at this point.

4:00 P.M. 3/20/07: I called them. Supposedly they are bleeding the system, and will test it to make sure it doesn't overheat. It will be ready tonight. Hopefully.

6:45 P.M. 3/20/07: Guess what? Another day, and another $400-$500. Now they have to replace the radiator. But they couldn't figure this out a week ago, even though I told them I had a problem with a leak, and overheating. This one trip to the repair shop is going to end up costing me as much, or more, than what I paid to buy each car I've owned until now. Unfracking believable. I can't believe how pissed I am right now.

12:30 P.M. 3/21/07: No word yet. I guess "first thing in the morning" didn't work out again.

1:15 P.M. 3/21/07: Well they just called to tell me the car is ready...here's hoping it's actually fixed.

4:30 P.M. 3/21/07: I have the car. They gave me a break on the bill..$2,500. I went and got my oil changed and my fuel injectors cleaned..another $100. Here's hoping they did everything right....

A Little Taste of Primal Angst.........

The Nutty Professor

I'm watching the original Nutty Professor (the Jerry Lewis version..truly a classic and much funnier and wittier than the Eddie Murphy version) and when he walks into the nightclub, the lead instrument of the band was a flute! A freakin' flute!

October Road 3/16/07

"He's sort of a Lenny to my George"

"His name was Squiggy..."

So when did Dennis Miller start writing TV melodrama?

Movie Previews

I just saw two movie previews on one of my HD TV channels.

The first was called Hot Fuzz. It's made by, and stars the guys from Shaun of the Dead. It appears to be a send up of action movies. It has been released in the UK already, but it won't be released in the US until April.

The second is apparently a sequel of sorts to Bruce Almighty. Morgan Freeman plays God again. It's called Evan Almighty, and stars Steve Carell as a modern day Moses.

Dred Scott

Today is the 150th anniversary of one of the US Supreme Court's worst decisions, Scott V Sanford.

Tell me again how important stare decisis is.

Old Negro Space Program

I first saw this over a year ago, but I was just reminded of it recently. Truly one of the classics of the internet.....

Katrina Victims Evacuate Trailer Park

Jesus Christ! Katrina hit New Orleans in August of 2005! It was over 18 months ago! How much longer are these "victims" going to live off the government teat? Are you going to tell me that you couldn't get a job and a place to live for your family after 18 months?

I'm going to make some predictions, and many of you are going to call me a racist for it.

At least 90% of those still in the FEMA trailers are on welfare.

At least 90% of them are second generation welfare recipients.....and I bet a sizeable majority have never had a steady job.

10 years from now, there will still be Katrina "victims" living in FEMA trailers, and bitching about how bad the government is treating them.

Ann Coulter Redux

OK, We are well into day 2 of the self-righteous savaging of Ann Coulter.

Has it done any good?

Has even one Leftwing blogger or pundit come out and said:

"You've got to hand it to the Rightwing bloggers. They came out and did the right thing by attacking Coulter. I want to join in with them in denouncing all of the hate speech on the Left as well as the Right. "

No?

Didn't think so.

The blogosphere is full of Lefties insisting that the Rightwing bloggers don't really mean it when they attack Coulter, Coulter represents the conservatives and the Republican party, and no one on the Left has ever said anything mean or outrageous. (and you guys are poopyheads for trying to say so)

Hope you guys feel better, because you've accomplished nothing but to spread chum into the water.....


Update 3/6/07: Think Coulter will be winning any NAACP Image awards soon? I don't see why not....fellow apparent homophobe Washington just did.

Ann Coulter at CPAC

So Coulter made a joke about popular culture (say a naughty word and be sent to rehab) in which she basically called Edwards a faggot. Oh the humanity!

The Rightwing bloggers have been in a tizzy ever since. Coulter has been savaged, and most of the people doing it didn't get the joke. I haven't actually read anyone yet who has suggested she go into rehab, but surely that can't be far behind.

Meanwhile what has been the Left's reaction? Are they praising the reaction of the Rightwing bloggers? Have the Republican presidential candidates gotten any credit for repudiating Ann? Of course not. The Left senses weakness and are attacking with more fevor than ever.

Marcotte made many more much more offensive remarks about conservatives, men and Christians. She was then hired by the Edwards campaign. (Coulter was merely a speaker at a conservative event, and has never had any ties to any Republican organization or campaign) How did Edwards react when confronted with Marcotte's words? Why he defended her. And when Marcotte resigned did she moderate her comments? Has Edwards ever repudiated her? Of course not.

Look, I abhor the Left, their tactics and ideology. But give them credit, they stand by, and up for, their own. No action too vile, no comment too outlandish.

For a start, compare the following:

Nixon V Clinton
Packwood V Clinton
Foley V Studds
Cunningham V Jefferson
Coulter V Marcotte
Lott V Byrd

Look, no one is saying that the Right should defend Coulter. I doubt Coulter expects or wants it. But her excoriation has no upside and is counterproductive. The Left and the Media don't care, the blood in the water just excites them.

The response from those on the Right should have been simply this:

"Coulter has no position within the Republican party, any conservative organization or any Republican campaign. She speaks only for herself. Your attention should instead be turned to John Edwards, who has defended much worse statements from Amanda Marcotte, whom he hired for his campaign."


Update: This is what the Right's attacks on Coulter earned it.

And Now for Something Completely Different.....

My Favorite Dodger.......

Left-handed pitcher Matt White has almost no chance of making the opening-day roster. He is 0-2 with a 16.76 earned-run average in seven major league appearances.

White, however, could become the wealthiest player in the clubhouse, quite a distinction considering Kent has made $67 million, Gonzalez has made $63 million and Nomar Garciaparra has made $61 million.

White owns a rock quarry in Massachusetts that could eventually produce more than $2 billion worth of mica schist flatstone, which is used for walks, patios, steps, walls, hearths and ponds.

The stone was formed 400 million years ago from sandy mud sediments deposited on an ancient sea bottom. White's father is operating the quarry, which is off to a modest start, producing $60,000 worth of stone last year.

A geologist, however, told White that as much as 24 million tons of the stone is on the mountainous 50-acre property, which White purchased from his aging aunt so she would have enough money to live in a nursing home.

"We had no idea the rock was there until I started clearing out a couple acres to build a house," White said.