Pluto Can't Get No Respect and other amusing bits.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Marinate some ribs, slap them on the grill, sit back with a gin and tonic...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:08 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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...ever happened to Tom Clancy? I mean, there are books "co-written" by him. Which I suspect means they slap his name on the cover, he gets some money for the act, but the writing is done by others.

Long spell of writer's block? I mean its summer...and there ain't no Clancy to read. Hasn't been for years!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:44 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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XKCD nails it. Again.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The place I live ranked number five in the top ten best places to live (in America's small cities) according to Money????

Are we talking the same town here? Maybe they just go by tax burden...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:45 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Plush microbes (or disease carriers) and plush sub-atomic particles. Can you imagine the conversation between a mother and father?

"Dear, I've given our daughter the clap."

"WHAT????"

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've read Homer's The Odyssey several times, including once in Latin (high school). One thing that has fascinated me about The Odyssey...as well as The Iliad...is how much "truth" there is to the epic. Amazing to find an occasional bit that has survived the passage of time, countless re-translations and re-interpretations and the like.

And then there's the fanciful side. For example, here's a depiction of the "cosmos" of The Odyssey...as a snowglobe.

Addendum: The scholarly paper (Adobe Acrobat).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:18 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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There's a secret vault in Lego-land where every set ever produced resides!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Important Notice to Purchasers: The Entire Physical Universe, Including This Product, May One Day Collapse Back into an Infinitesimally Small Space. Should Another Universe Subsequently Reemerge, the Existence of This Product in That Universe Cannot be Guaranteed.

More madness here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:08 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Signs for the modern age.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman: A Walking Tour of the Shambles (Little Walks for Sightseers #16) (American Fantasy, 2002, ISBN 0-9610352-6-9; cover art by Gahan Wilson, interior art by Randy Broecker and Earl Geier).

This is a very small book...not sure I'd rate it a book, other than the fact that it is between too covers.

It is also an utterly hilarious book. From the listing of "other books" (all fictional titles) to the amazing sites you'll see in an obscure part of Chicago, to suggestions of what to eat at a restaurant you'll come across on your walking tour...funny stuff. Did you know about the buried Chinese cemetery? How about the tunnels under Lake Michigan? And what about that odd statue with the ruby eye that gets stolen and returns on a regular basis.

Try to find a copy and save your pennies to buy it. Bonus for me, my copy is signed by Wolfe, Gaiman and Wilson (and I'll let you guess which signature I value the most).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yes, folks, even the end of the world can be funny. But you have to have been in a unit with a new butterbar to really appreciate something like this.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So many books, so little time, so many ex-lovers to bury!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some nice pictures of early...valves...I mean, tubes! Great stuff, reminds me of my grandfather's amateur radio setup. More nifty stuff here, as well. You can find an occasional supplier, but it is becoming more difficult. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A while back I came across a list of movies, books and other entertainment items on the International Space Station. I forwarded that list to Baen Books, as I noticed that a good chunk of the titles involved were from that publisher.

Somewhat jokingly I suggested that, in the spirit of their programs to give free books to members of the military and free books to disabled readers, they ought to give free books to the crew of the ISS.

Gee...maybe I should have suggested they give me a book contract. Because it appears they listened to me!

(I can't complain. They get free books, and I got a free Baen Books apron and a bunch of bookmarks and a sheet of autographed bookplates!)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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One year and a few weeks after we lost a good four-legged friend, we appear to have found another. We are in the process of adopting a young female Doberman mix. Our current dog, Saffron (a 14-year old Rhodesian Ridgeback), seems to be mostly O.K., with it (if the puppy gets too rough, she lets it be known).

The strange thing is that the first dog we had as a married couple was a female Doberman mix. Her name was Java. This dog goes by Mocha.

(Cue Twilight Zone theme music...)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well...another night. Madness is starting to take its toll.

Not so much music listened too tonight due to...well...a very, very, very busy night. Good weather, warm weather, a discount on rides equals lots of work in the kitchen!

So, to be brief, as I am fried...

The Beatles: "Glass Onion" (The Beatles, a.k.a., The White Album).

The Clash: "The Guns of Brixton" (London Calling).

Collection: "The End of Words" (Material) (Ambient: A Brief History of Ambient). "Rebel Rouser" (Duane Eddy) (Forrest Gump).

Dead Can Dance: "Tell Me About the Forest (You Once Called Home)" (Into the Labyrinth).

Peter Gabriel: "Down the Dolce Vita" (Peter Gabriel 01). "A Wonderful Day in a One-Way World" (Peter Gabriel 02). "Mahmoud Tabrizi—Prelude in Tchahargah" (Passion Sources).

Genesis: "Domino" (Invisible Touch).

Jean Michel Jarre: "Chronologie (Part 6)" (Chronologie).

Elton John: "I Feel Like the Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)" (Greatest Hits, Volume II).

King Crimson: "Matte Kudasai" (Discipline).

Natalie Merchant: "Dust Bowl" (Live in Concert).

Tom Petty & the Hearbreakers: "Casa Dega"; "Psychotic Reaction (Live)" (Playback).

The Police: "Deathwish" (Regatta De Blanc).

Talking Heads: "Don't Worry About the Government" (Sand in the Vaseline).

U2: "So Cruel" (Acthung Baby).

XTC: "That Wave" (Nonsuch).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So, I was not even scheduled to work on Wednesday. Naturally, that meant I went in to help set up the kitchen, get the initial batch of food cooked and staying until the scheduled help showed up. A bit of stress, due to one of the other volunteers (nobody can apparently stand her working in the outside food area, so they send her to the kitchen. It is great to have a volunteer, unless they are of the attitude of "I'm a volunteer, that means nobody can order me around"!)

Last night's playlist was kind of interesting in the sequencing. For example, "Taxman" by The Beatles was followed by "The Ugly Underneath" by XTC (on the album Nonsuch, which was purposefully-Beatles sounding throughout). For some reason shuffle mode keeps concentrating on a few artists. Why so many Sara McLachlan sounds (not that I mind) when I only have two albums by her? Why so much by R.E.M. when other artists (Steve Roach, David Bowie, for example) have many more albums on the iPod? Why go from one track to another on the same album (Forgotten Gods by Suspended Memories) when the iPod holds several days worth of music to randomly select from?

It's a mystery! Last night I heard... more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Le growl! Le snarl! Le chomp! ...and other madness... Just when you thought you had gotten over those dang cats.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Phew! 3:30 PM to 11:30 PM. I had to stop the iPod at one point because things were moving too fast (not enough help...or rather, not enough help willing to pitch in on the dirty stuff and coordinate things, so I stepped into both roles). So, not as much music listened too as I had expected. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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