Friday, August 31, 2007
Rest In Peace
The Clemson community suffered a tragic loss on Tuesday when freshman Amy Marie Moxie, 18 of Simpsonville, SC, collapsed while jogging on campus. She tore her aorta, very rare and commonly found in males in their 60s, and was pronounced dead at the hospital. She was a member of Clemson's swim team and is survived by her parents, Jim and Ann Moxie, and two sisters, Megan and Lindsay.
The family requests that memorials be made to Kroc Center Aquatics Program, PO Box 1237, Greenville, SC 29609.
You were taken too soon Amy and you will be missed.
The Clemson men's soccer team plays their first home game tonight against in-state rivals the University of South Carolina Gamecocks at 7:30 pm.
Update: Just saw this on Tricia's blog.
On the same Tuesday that took Amy away, Tricia's daughter Cheyenne lost one of her closest friends. She was 16 and died of heart failure.
Please stop by and leave Cheyenne and Tricia some words of encouragement in this time of need and bewilderment. I'm so incredibly sorry for all the families affected by these tragedies.
WTF, mate.
The family requests that memorials be made to Kroc Center Aquatics Program, PO Box 1237, Greenville, SC 29609.
You were taken too soon Amy and you will be missed.
The Clemson men's soccer team plays their first home game tonight against in-state rivals the University of South Carolina Gamecocks at 7:30 pm.
Update: Just saw this on Tricia's blog.
On the same Tuesday that took Amy away, Tricia's daughter Cheyenne lost one of her closest friends. She was 16 and died of heart failure.
Please stop by and leave Cheyenne and Tricia some words of encouragement in this time of need and bewilderment. I'm so incredibly sorry for all the families affected by these tragedies.
WTF, mate.
Labels: obituary
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
State of South Carolina address
I'm sure by now you have seen the video of poor Miss Teen South Carolina, Caitlin Upton, answering the question about why she feels 20% of Americans can't find the US on a map. If you would like to book her for an appearance:
Please contact us(them) at 803.648.6220 or send an email to: info(at)rpmproductions.com
Not the best answer to be sure but here's a story with what we're really dealing with. A co-worker's wife works at an area high school teaching freshman. She showed them the clip and her students had no idea what was wrong with her answer. Seriously. This is the state of the SC education system. Caitlin is just the tip of the iceberg.
Caitlin, sorry I'm adding to your new internet notoriety a bit.
Now for a link to some other videos (stolen from Cynical Chris who stole it from Cracked.com)
These are the top 10 videos of famous people before they were famous. A couple of these I remember but had no idea that I would be watching these people on TV in the future. I distinctly remember #9 and #5. Remember the Heinz Ketchup commercial where the guy places the ketchup bottle on the edge of the building, then orders a hot dog from a vendor beside the building and catches the falling ketchup on his hot dog? Yeah, that was Matt LeBlanc aka Joey Tribbiani. Check it out.
#5 was a Super Nintendo commercial when the system first came out and featured lots of games. There was wind and lightning and a chain link fence keeping the crazed hordes away from the mythical Super Nintendo. The guy fortunate enough to be playing the games was none other than Paul Rudd of Clueless, 40 Yr. Old Virgin, and Anchorman fame.
Please, please check out the #1 video. It's Bruce Willis in a Seagram's Wine Cooler ad. Unbelievable.
Enjoy your Wednesday.
Please contact us(them) at 803.648.6220 or send an email to: info(at)rpmproductions.com
Not the best answer to be sure but here's a story with what we're really dealing with. A co-worker's wife works at an area high school teaching freshman. She showed them the clip and her students had no idea what was wrong with her answer. Seriously. This is the state of the SC education system. Caitlin is just the tip of the iceberg.
Caitlin, sorry I'm adding to your new internet notoriety a bit.
Now for a link to some other videos (stolen from Cynical Chris who stole it from Cracked.com)
These are the top 10 videos of famous people before they were famous. A couple of these I remember but had no idea that I would be watching these people on TV in the future. I distinctly remember #9 and #5. Remember the Heinz Ketchup commercial where the guy places the ketchup bottle on the edge of the building, then orders a hot dog from a vendor beside the building and catches the falling ketchup on his hot dog? Yeah, that was Matt LeBlanc aka Joey Tribbiani. Check it out.
#5 was a Super Nintendo commercial when the system first came out and featured lots of games. There was wind and lightning and a chain link fence keeping the crazed hordes away from the mythical Super Nintendo. The guy fortunate enough to be playing the games was none other than Paul Rudd of Clueless, 40 Yr. Old Virgin, and Anchorman fame.
Please, please check out the #1 video. It's Bruce Willis in a Seagram's Wine Cooler ad. Unbelievable.
Enjoy your Wednesday.
Labels: South Carolina, Youtube
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Thank you Technology!
Due to advances in technology, the smoke detector near the elevator was able to contact the fire department and tell them that there was a fire on the 4th floor of Hunter Laboratories (the Chemistry Dept.). From the time the call was received it took them 20 minutes to get here and get the fire under control. Nice work Clemson University Fire Department!
The cause was a solvent still (used to "dry", or remove water, a solvent). In this case it was an isopropanol still that went dry and the drying agent, CS2 carbon disulfide, went up in flames. The fire was contained to that lab and there was some standing water in other labs, but that's no big deal at all. Our lab floods a bit at least once a month. Yes we've called maintenance and they've been up here at least 7 times and still can't figure out what's going on.
Our lab was completely safe and unharmed but if we hadn't had the fancy fire alarm system, this fire which started at 9 pm on Friday, would've been decidedly worse. So huge accolades to Technology.
Today is the department picnic. What it means for us is we get some free booze and dinner and it's also our first real opportunity to meet the new grad students (first years) and get to know them and recruit them to join our group. We're at a healthy 4 students, 3 of which are grad students and the other guy just graduated and is post doc-ing. So we need some new blood in the group. So far my plan is to take a few of our crystals and actually show the newbies what we do, which is more than other groups can really do. You just can't be obnoxious about it because that's what a few of the faculty do and they don't wear it well. We have projects, we have money, we just need another set of hands or two and some sharp minds and we'll be set for a few more years.
I just set up an awesome weekend for J and I. It's my birthday present to myself and J a little too. We're going up to Charlotte Sat. morning, going shopping (J needs a dress for a wedding and some bachelorette party in Miami clothes, oh sorry "needs" these clothes), then checking into the hotel, doing dinner somewhere, resting a bit and then at midnight I will be going to the 2nd 12 hours of the Central Carolina Region's 24 Hour autocross. It's from noon Sat. to noon Sun. I did all 24 last year and from midnight to noon, there aren't too many people up and about so you can drive and drive and drive until you can't keep your eyes open anymore. So I imagine I'll be content about 6 or 7 am, go back to J, sleep, eat lunch and then go to Body Worlds! I've wanted to see this exhibit for a few years now and finally get the chance. I don't think they allow cameras but I'll be sure and recap the entire crazy weekend.
Have a good Tuesday!
The cause was a solvent still (used to "dry", or remove water, a solvent). In this case it was an isopropanol still that went dry and the drying agent, CS2 carbon disulfide, went up in flames. The fire was contained to that lab and there was some standing water in other labs, but that's no big deal at all. Our lab floods a bit at least once a month. Yes we've called maintenance and they've been up here at least 7 times and still can't figure out what's going on.
Our lab was completely safe and unharmed but if we hadn't had the fancy fire alarm system, this fire which started at 9 pm on Friday, would've been decidedly worse. So huge accolades to Technology.
Today is the department picnic. What it means for us is we get some free booze and dinner and it's also our first real opportunity to meet the new grad students (first years) and get to know them and recruit them to join our group. We're at a healthy 4 students, 3 of which are grad students and the other guy just graduated and is post doc-ing. So we need some new blood in the group. So far my plan is to take a few of our crystals and actually show the newbies what we do, which is more than other groups can really do. You just can't be obnoxious about it because that's what a few of the faculty do and they don't wear it well. We have projects, we have money, we just need another set of hands or two and some sharp minds and we'll be set for a few more years.
I just set up an awesome weekend for J and I. It's my birthday present to myself and J a little too. We're going up to Charlotte Sat. morning, going shopping (J needs a dress for a wedding and some bachelorette party in Miami clothes, oh sorry "needs" these clothes), then checking into the hotel, doing dinner somewhere, resting a bit and then at midnight I will be going to the 2nd 12 hours of the Central Carolina Region's 24 Hour autocross. It's from noon Sat. to noon Sun. I did all 24 last year and from midnight to noon, there aren't too many people up and about so you can drive and drive and drive until you can't keep your eyes open anymore. So I imagine I'll be content about 6 or 7 am, go back to J, sleep, eat lunch and then go to Body Worlds! I've wanted to see this exhibit for a few years now and finally get the chance. I don't think they allow cameras but I'll be sure and recap the entire crazy weekend.
Have a good Tuesday!
Labels: autocross, Charlotte, chemistry, fire, weekend
Monday, August 27, 2007
DANGER!
We, the Clemson Chemistry Department, had a small fire over the weekend. Luckily the smoke detector near the elevator smelled smoke and called the fire department so the adjacent labs were saved.
More details later. No one was harmed. Lots of lab equipment was harmed by smoke, water or fire.
More details later. No one was harmed. Lots of lab equipment was harmed by smoke, water or fire.
Friday, August 24, 2007
3 lbs. of modeling clay
Growing into adolescence in the Dominican Republic was a great experience. I've discussed it before but was just remembering the differences in living conditions from the States to the DR.
We never had air conditioning. Nice restaurants and our cars were about it. We slept with overhead fans and standing fans. The overhead was for general air movement and the other fan made it cool enough so that I could actually sleep and as an added bonus mosquitoes were unable to bite under gale wind conditions. Then the power goes out and you're fucked. Most people didn't have generators or inverters to artificially return the power to your house, so you would just sit and sweat, willing the power to come back on and relieve you from the sweat and humidity. At the beginning we had a very loud generator that we ran extension cords to and from our fans or TVs if it wasn't sleepy time. We also had a small inverter, basically a car battery or two hooked up to a power converter box that could run a fan or a TV for a short time. We recharged it by plugging it in while the power was on. I remember once playing Super Nintendo using that method and the screen kept getting smaller and smaller until it finally vanished. Probably not the best thing for the TV but I was 11, what did I care?
Then came the new fancy generator that was hooked up to the whole house. It could run the fridge and lights and fans. It really didn't like running the microwave so we would hold off from using that if we could. Very nice, but you still had to go outside, crank it up and fill it with gas every once in a while. My friend Icedtrip and his family had a very nice feature for their generator. They had a remote start, so if you knew the generator had gas, you push a few buttons, turn the knob, flip the switch and TADA! Power!
In case you're wondering "Se fue la luz" was the most used term for when the power went out. Literally translated as "the lights left".
Then bigger inverters became the rage. Lots of bigger batteries, automatic power switching, automatic charging when the lights came back on, and all you needed was to add some distilled water to the batteries. Very very nice and I would highly recommend that system. Better yet, hook up a couple photovoltaics (solar panels) and maybe a wind generator and recharge it for free and leave the electric company out of it.
Now for a few links.
First, Jay Rosen, associate professor of journalism at NYU, had a rebuttal to Michael Skube's op-ed piece on the journalistic values of blogs. Michael wasn't too impressed. From the LA Times.
Second, from that article came a wonderful piece of investigative journalism from the Dallas Food blog. They questioned the exorbitant prices for chocolate being charged by Noka Chocolates. Very in depth and ultimately realized that Noka doesn't make their own chocolate. They buy good chocolate, remelt it, reform it and mark it up 1300%. Just awful. A very well written and researched blog post - What is Noka chocolate worth?
We never had air conditioning. Nice restaurants and our cars were about it. We slept with overhead fans and standing fans. The overhead was for general air movement and the other fan made it cool enough so that I could actually sleep and as an added bonus mosquitoes were unable to bite under gale wind conditions. Then the power goes out and you're fucked. Most people didn't have generators or inverters to artificially return the power to your house, so you would just sit and sweat, willing the power to come back on and relieve you from the sweat and humidity. At the beginning we had a very loud generator that we ran extension cords to and from our fans or TVs if it wasn't sleepy time. We also had a small inverter, basically a car battery or two hooked up to a power converter box that could run a fan or a TV for a short time. We recharged it by plugging it in while the power was on. I remember once playing Super Nintendo using that method and the screen kept getting smaller and smaller until it finally vanished. Probably not the best thing for the TV but I was 11, what did I care?
Then came the new fancy generator that was hooked up to the whole house. It could run the fridge and lights and fans. It really didn't like running the microwave so we would hold off from using that if we could. Very nice, but you still had to go outside, crank it up and fill it with gas every once in a while. My friend Icedtrip and his family had a very nice feature for their generator. They had a remote start, so if you knew the generator had gas, you push a few buttons, turn the knob, flip the switch and TADA! Power!
In case you're wondering "Se fue la luz" was the most used term for when the power went out. Literally translated as "the lights left".
Then bigger inverters became the rage. Lots of bigger batteries, automatic power switching, automatic charging when the lights came back on, and all you needed was to add some distilled water to the batteries. Very very nice and I would highly recommend that system. Better yet, hook up a couple photovoltaics (solar panels) and maybe a wind generator and recharge it for free and leave the electric company out of it.
Now for a few links.
First, Jay Rosen, associate professor of journalism at NYU, had a rebuttal to Michael Skube's op-ed piece on the journalistic values of blogs. Michael wasn't too impressed. From the LA Times.
Second, from that article came a wonderful piece of investigative journalism from the Dallas Food blog. They questioned the exorbitant prices for chocolate being charged by Noka Chocolates. Very in depth and ultimately realized that Noka doesn't make their own chocolate. They buy good chocolate, remelt it, reform it and mark it up 1300%. Just awful. A very well written and researched blog post - What is Noka chocolate worth?
Labels: blogs, Dominican Republic, fans
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Real quicks like
Does anyone still flash their headlights to warn oncoming motorists of a cop? One truck in Georgia saved my ass by following this simple rule of "Us vs. Them". I was cruising at about 70 in a 55, the speed limit dropped to 45, and then I see the truck flash his lights. I let off the gas and slow down to about 53 or so and then I see the Man sitting off to the side of the road running radar like a champ. Thanks for that one truck.
I am still worried that They might come after me if They were to see me warning other motorists. In my head it's obstruction of justice but reality isn't so sure. During the day, it's pretty easy. Just pull back on the turn lever and it flashes your high beams momentarily and your brake lights don't come on. It lets people know "Slow down! There's something you need to watch out for up ahead!" I've seen it used mostly for cops but also when there is an accident up ahead that we cannot see but need to slow down so we don't make it worse.
Please, I implore you. Don't let this public service die! It's just common courtesy between people who think speed limits are a bit low.
I am still worried that They might come after me if They were to see me warning other motorists. In my head it's obstruction of justice but reality isn't so sure. During the day, it's pretty easy. Just pull back on the turn lever and it flashes your high beams momentarily and your brake lights don't come on. It lets people know "Slow down! There's something you need to watch out for up ahead!" I've seen it used mostly for cops but also when there is an accident up ahead that we cannot see but need to slow down so we don't make it worse.
Please, I implore you. Don't let this public service die! It's just common courtesy between people who think speed limits are a bit low.
Labels: speeding
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Swiss Miss to the rescue!
Found these as I was killing time until I had to go meet J at Fike so we could work out. We did some cardio and then we did some Namaste Yoga which they show on Fit TV, a channel that is on our DirecTV that we never watch but they have good shows. It's alot of fun and I can feel my body becoming more flexible. I'm hooked on yoga.
Swissmiss is Tina Roth Eisenberg and she is a designer in NYC imported from Switzerland. I personally love Switzerland. Gorgeous mountains, wonderful people, world class skiing and you know they probably won't be starting or partaking in any wars any time soon. She shared this graphic:
which is sad and depressing and all the more reason why I wouldn't mind living overseas.
Tina also shared this story about how Britney Spears and Elizabeth Arden's new fragrance is blatantly stealing from Mondonation. You be the judge.
I would say that's a tough one but it isn't. It's crystal clear actually. Thievery!
She also shared this from Seth Godin's blog about Mail 2.0 aka the Galapagos Post Office. Which also reminds me that I need to add a "Blogs by Seth" or "Seth Blogs" section to my sidebar. There are lots of Seths blogging out there and we need to stick together! Seths of the world, unite!
I also found some useful blogging tips that Tina shared and will be perusing them at a later date and plan to implement some into this blog.
113 Must Read Blogging Tips via Problogger.net
46 resources and tools to improve your web typography via lifeclever.com
Swissmiss is Tina Roth Eisenberg and she is a designer in NYC imported from Switzerland. I personally love Switzerland. Gorgeous mountains, wonderful people, world class skiing and you know they probably won't be starting or partaking in any wars any time soon. She shared this graphic:
which is sad and depressing and all the more reason why I wouldn't mind living overseas.
Tina also shared this story about how Britney Spears and Elizabeth Arden's new fragrance is blatantly stealing from Mondonation. You be the judge.
I would say that's a tough one but it isn't. It's crystal clear actually. Thievery!
She also shared this from Seth Godin's blog about Mail 2.0 aka the Galapagos Post Office. Which also reminds me that I need to add a "Blogs by Seth" or "Seth Blogs" section to my sidebar. There are lots of Seths blogging out there and we need to stick together! Seths of the world, unite!
I also found some useful blogging tips that Tina shared and will be perusing them at a later date and plan to implement some into this blog.
113 Must Read Blogging Tips via Problogger.net
46 resources and tools to improve your web typography via lifeclever.com
Labels: blogging tips, blogs, Seth blogs, Swissmiss
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Bleh.
I'm not really burnt out on blogging, but writing my dissertation has somehow sapped me of my creative writing desires. You figure it would be a great outlet after writing all technical-like to come over here and just spout off about whatever I want, instead of what my results dictate.
Money has been popping into my head recently. Nothing major just that J and I don't have tons of it, but we don't live in a box either.
The autocross on Saturday went well enough but I got beat by someone by 1.5 seconds. I had previously beaten this guy at the Doublecross and I'm fairly certain I have no idea where to make up almost 2 full seconds on that course. I'm at an impasse. I don't think the car can go faster as is and I don't think I can go faster as is, so the next step is to invest in a driving school or buy some more go fast parts. At the same time autocross really is just a hobby and I don't want all my spare money to go towards it. I spend enough as it is. My true passion is rally and I know that is going to be wicked expensive. I have decided that my current plan is to save money and every upgrade will be legal for rallying first and useful for autocross second.
I also got to ride in a 2005 Lotus Elise! Damn. I really do love that tiny little car. I was almost sitting on top of the driver as she was flying around the course. Would I give up rallying for that car? Maybe. Depends on a few factors but it's definitely a possibility. But if I did that then I would still have expenses by taking it to the track and I would still need the tow vehicle and trailer.
Maybe I should become a Buddhist so I don't have to worry about these material possessions anymore.
I was building my tow vehicle today on Chevy and Ford's websites. Shouldn't air conditioning be standard? Does anyone really not want that as an option? I would love a diesel. So much torque and a turbo and if I came across a vat of used filtered vegetable oil, I could convert it into fuel.
I read Roland S. Martin's column in CNN.com. It deals with lust and greed and how the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) all preach how lust and greed are bad. But that doesn't mean that sex and money should be taboo subjects. As a Southern Baptist I was raised that sex before marriage was bad, mmmkay but thankfully my parents also mentioned that sex in a marriage is a wonderful beautiful thing that should be enjoyed, so I'm not as screwed up as some of the poor souls out there.
But a business venture popped into my head. It would be kind of like Real Sex but for poor sexually repressed Christians who were only taught that sex was bad and dirty. Maybe a book or a video or a traveling workshop where Christians who want to spice up their marriage come to J and I, give us some money, and then we give them some ideas and pointers. Not a bad idea. Maybe after this degree is out of the way I can come up with something more concrete.
Money has been popping into my head recently. Nothing major just that J and I don't have tons of it, but we don't live in a box either.
The autocross on Saturday went well enough but I got beat by someone by 1.5 seconds. I had previously beaten this guy at the Doublecross and I'm fairly certain I have no idea where to make up almost 2 full seconds on that course. I'm at an impasse. I don't think the car can go faster as is and I don't think I can go faster as is, so the next step is to invest in a driving school or buy some more go fast parts. At the same time autocross really is just a hobby and I don't want all my spare money to go towards it. I spend enough as it is. My true passion is rally and I know that is going to be wicked expensive. I have decided that my current plan is to save money and every upgrade will be legal for rallying first and useful for autocross second.
I also got to ride in a 2005 Lotus Elise! Damn. I really do love that tiny little car. I was almost sitting on top of the driver as she was flying around the course. Would I give up rallying for that car? Maybe. Depends on a few factors but it's definitely a possibility. But if I did that then I would still have expenses by taking it to the track and I would still need the tow vehicle and trailer.
Maybe I should become a Buddhist so I don't have to worry about these material possessions anymore.
I was building my tow vehicle today on Chevy and Ford's websites. Shouldn't air conditioning be standard? Does anyone really not want that as an option? I would love a diesel. So much torque and a turbo and if I came across a vat of used filtered vegetable oil, I could convert it into fuel.
I read Roland S. Martin's column in CNN.com. It deals with lust and greed and how the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) all preach how lust and greed are bad. But that doesn't mean that sex and money should be taboo subjects. As a Southern Baptist I was raised that sex before marriage was bad, mmmkay but thankfully my parents also mentioned that sex in a marriage is a wonderful beautiful thing that should be enjoyed, so I'm not as screwed up as some of the poor souls out there.
But a business venture popped into my head. It would be kind of like Real Sex but for poor sexually repressed Christians who were only taught that sex was bad and dirty. Maybe a book or a video or a traveling workshop where Christians who want to spice up their marriage come to J and I, give us some money, and then we give them some ideas and pointers. Not a bad idea. Maybe after this degree is out of the way I can come up with something more concrete.
Labels: autocross, business idea, sex and religion
Friday, August 17, 2007
Not just yet
Still not ready for a real post this week.
I'll be in ATL again on Saturday this time in the parking lot for the Atlanta Motor Speedway where we'll be having a night autocross. First car off at 7 pm and we have to be off-site by 1 am, so it should be fun racing under the lights.
This was taken from Scott over at Ultimate Insult:
Toxic is a very fun sidescrolling platformer made by Nitrome. Arrow keys to move, up to jump, down to duck and space to lay a bomb.
Cynical-C isn't working right now but Chris had some good ones too.
Enjoy your Friday and weekends.
I'll be in ATL again on Saturday this time in the parking lot for the Atlanta Motor Speedway where we'll be having a night autocross. First car off at 7 pm and we have to be off-site by 1 am, so it should be fun racing under the lights.
This was taken from Scott over at Ultimate Insult:
Toxic is a very fun sidescrolling platformer made by Nitrome. Arrow keys to move, up to jump, down to duck and space to lay a bomb.
Cynical-C isn't working right now but Chris had some good ones too.
Enjoy your Friday and weekends.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Newsflash!
Seattle Hempfest is this weekend. Come out and support the cause! The cause is ending a pointless war on a mostly harmless plant.
Click the poster for details.
Apparently Clemson has an intruder!
Steven Weldon, a 50 yr old homeless guy, has been caught trespassing on campus repeatedly and asked to stay away. He hasn't and we just got an email saying to call the cops if we see him on campus. What's the difference between a visitor and a trespasser? Not real sure but it does say that he has been arrested a few times for public disorderly conduct which brings up another question, what's the difference between this guy and a drunken frat boy? That's right. Tuition.
Enjoy your Thursday and if you haven't already, please stop in at Varla's place and leave some condolences for her shar-pei who passed on.
We miss you Kyu-Jin!
Click the poster for details.
Apparently Clemson has an intruder!
Steven Weldon, a 50 yr old homeless guy, has been caught trespassing on campus repeatedly and asked to stay away. He hasn't and we just got an email saying to call the cops if we see him on campus. What's the difference between a visitor and a trespasser? Not real sure but it does say that he has been arrested a few times for public disorderly conduct which brings up another question, what's the difference between this guy and a drunken frat boy? That's right. Tuition.
Enjoy your Thursday and if you haven't already, please stop in at Varla's place and leave some condolences for her shar-pei who passed on.
We miss you Kyu-Jin!
Labels: Clemson, intruder, medicinal marijuana
Monday, August 13, 2007
Orlando, one hell of a town
It's a great example of urban sprawl too. Orlando just keeps growing, but don't worry; you'll never be more than 10 minutes from McDonalds, Target or a check cashing place. I really don't mind Orlando but they're almost at a breaking point as far as traffic congestion goes.
Ugh, I didn't find the Kwik-E-Mart. Well I found it but it had reverted into a stupid 7-11. All that was left was a few pink donuts, a sign above the donuts and a few Squishee cups. Uh-oh, it appears that some Indiana chain of stores stole the Squishee name for their frozen drinks. Good luck with that Family Express.
So I picked up a couple Squishee cups. I chose their Blue Vanilla and Coke, which melted into a delicious treat and just what I needed since MIL's car (actually my mother-in-law's father's old car), a 1989 Mercury Sable didn't have air and only the passenger side windows rolled down. See? Sure power windows are great and all but in 18 years, they won't work anymore! I've never tried to fix power windows before and if it hadn't been 100 degrees (37 C) in the shade and even hotter in the garage (if it wasn't chockful of crap), I might've taken a stab at fixing it, but the FL heat won and I did nothing. Maybe next time.
We arrived Thurs. and hung out with the fam and had Moe's for dinner because it's delicious and 3 minutes away. Friday morning after Broinlaw went to work as did Fatherinlaw, I got up and went climbing. There were a couple groups of kids but there was still enough space to climb and boulder. Lots of fun and a great work-out. The place is called the Aiguille Rock Climbing Center and since the highest point in FL is 345 feet and in the panhandle, you pretty much are restricted to indoor climbing which is fine by me cuz who wants to climb outdoors in the sun in 100 degree weather? Right, crazy people.
FIL smoked a couple pork butts for lunch Sat. He began the process at 8 pm on Friday night or even earlier counting the prep work and seasoning the meat. I snuck a peak at the spices and he used some Butt Rub. I was slightly disappointed that he had store-bought BBQ sauce to put on your pulled pork sandwich, but I think that is the next step after you've mastered smoking the meat.
After the Kwik-E-Mart fiasco, we went to the MALL OF THE MILLENIA! Nice mall and they have any store your little heart can desire. They definitely live by the "Our prices discriminate because we can't" philosophy. Louis V, Gucci, Cartier, Tiffany.... My personal favorites were the Sony store, the Apple store (love the iphone except for the text interface, I wanted a stylus or bigger buttons). For women's clothing my absolute favorite was Betsey Johnson. I had forgotten how much I LOVE HER! Her clothes are so fun and colorful. I truly believe you cannot get depressed wearing her clothes. They're not even outrageously priced either. Expensive but not crazy. My favorite store for men's clothing was Salvatore Ferragamo. Ever since I laid eyes on his shoes, I knew they were my favorite. Such classic styling and fine Italian craftsmanship. At $480 for a pair, you don't buy those lightly and you most certainly don't wear them all the time. But if want to look dashing and debonair, these are your shoes. Aren't they pretty?
The employees in the store were so nice and personable too. I'm pretty sure they knew we were just looking but still struck up a conversation and treated us well. I wasn't expecting to be ignored but was pleasantly surprised. We spoke with the man in charge of the Orlando store and the Miami store. Wonderful gentleman.
It was such a relaxing trip and the flight time of 58 minutes beats the hell out of an 8 hour drive any day of the week. So a big thanks to Allegiant Air and their vacation destination flight service. We'll be flying with you again.
Ugh, I didn't find the Kwik-E-Mart. Well I found it but it had reverted into a stupid 7-11. All that was left was a few pink donuts, a sign above the donuts and a few Squishee cups. Uh-oh, it appears that some Indiana chain of stores stole the Squishee name for their frozen drinks. Good luck with that Family Express.
So I picked up a couple Squishee cups. I chose their Blue Vanilla and Coke, which melted into a delicious treat and just what I needed since MIL's car (actually my mother-in-law's father's old car), a 1989 Mercury Sable didn't have air and only the passenger side windows rolled down. See? Sure power windows are great and all but in 18 years, they won't work anymore! I've never tried to fix power windows before and if it hadn't been 100 degrees (37 C) in the shade and even hotter in the garage (if it wasn't chockful of crap), I might've taken a stab at fixing it, but the FL heat won and I did nothing. Maybe next time.
We arrived Thurs. and hung out with the fam and had Moe's for dinner because it's delicious and 3 minutes away. Friday morning after Broinlaw went to work as did Fatherinlaw, I got up and went climbing. There were a couple groups of kids but there was still enough space to climb and boulder. Lots of fun and a great work-out. The place is called the Aiguille Rock Climbing Center and since the highest point in FL is 345 feet and in the panhandle, you pretty much are restricted to indoor climbing which is fine by me cuz who wants to climb outdoors in the sun in 100 degree weather? Right, crazy people.
FIL smoked a couple pork butts for lunch Sat. He began the process at 8 pm on Friday night or even earlier counting the prep work and seasoning the meat. I snuck a peak at the spices and he used some Butt Rub. I was slightly disappointed that he had store-bought BBQ sauce to put on your pulled pork sandwich, but I think that is the next step after you've mastered smoking the meat.
After the Kwik-E-Mart fiasco, we went to the MALL OF THE MILLENIA! Nice mall and they have any store your little heart can desire. They definitely live by the "Our prices discriminate because we can't" philosophy. Louis V, Gucci, Cartier, Tiffany.... My personal favorites were the Sony store, the Apple store (love the iphone except for the text interface, I wanted a stylus or bigger buttons). For women's clothing my absolute favorite was Betsey Johnson. I had forgotten how much I LOVE HER! Her clothes are so fun and colorful. I truly believe you cannot get depressed wearing her clothes. They're not even outrageously priced either. Expensive but not crazy. My favorite store for men's clothing was Salvatore Ferragamo. Ever since I laid eyes on his shoes, I knew they were my favorite. Such classic styling and fine Italian craftsmanship. At $480 for a pair, you don't buy those lightly and you most certainly don't wear them all the time. But if want to look dashing and debonair, these are your shoes. Aren't they pretty?
The employees in the store were so nice and personable too. I'm pretty sure they knew we were just looking but still struck up a conversation and treated us well. I wasn't expecting to be ignored but was pleasantly surprised. We spoke with the man in charge of the Orlando store and the Miami store. Wonderful gentleman.
It was such a relaxing trip and the flight time of 58 minutes beats the hell out of an 8 hour drive any day of the week. So a big thanks to Allegiant Air and their vacation destination flight service. We'll be flying with you again.
Labels: BBQ, climbing, family vacation, mall, The Simpsons
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Cold hard bitch
Gotta run to the store real quick. Father in Law has been smoking some pork butt since 8 pm last night for our mid-afternoon BBQ lunch. I'm definitely looking forward to that. He also threw on some Jimmy Dean sausage and smoked that for 4 hours or so for breakfast. Delicious.
Back later.
Back later.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Made it!
J and I are officially in Orlando. This post is comin' straight atcha from her parent's computer. It took roughly 4 hours to get from J's workplace to her parent's house. Half the time of driving (assuming no traffic and almost constant speeding) and I got to sleep on the way down. Amazing. I officially love Allegiant Air. And from GSP they basically only fly to Orlando, Tampa and I think they just added Vegas, so hopefully we can make it back out there on the cheap.
The flight was uneventful. I accidently forgot an allen wrench in my bag that was longer than 7 inches, so I had to do some quick thinking to avoid the TSA throwing it away. It belongs to work so hopefully it'll be in my secret hiding spot when we fly back on Sunday. But if you hear on the news that GSP was shut down because of an allen wrench in a planter, my bad. I thought that was a good hiding spot.
I'll be back tomorrow or maybe even tonight. Tomorrow J and I are planning on going climbing for a bit at an indoor climbing gym not too far from here and hopefully finding one of the 12 7-11s that have been transformed (or transmogrified, if you will) into a Kwik-E-Mart. I'll keep you posted, but let me know if you want any Buzz Cola, Squishees or Krusty-Os.
The flight was uneventful. I accidently forgot an allen wrench in my bag that was longer than 7 inches, so I had to do some quick thinking to avoid the TSA throwing it away. It belongs to work so hopefully it'll be in my secret hiding spot when we fly back on Sunday. But if you hear on the news that GSP was shut down because of an allen wrench in a planter, my bad. I thought that was a good hiding spot.
I'll be back tomorrow or maybe even tonight. Tomorrow J and I are planning on going climbing for a bit at an indoor climbing gym not too far from here and hopefully finding one of the 12 7-11s that have been transformed (or transmogrified, if you will) into a Kwik-E-Mart. I'll keep you posted, but let me know if you want any Buzz Cola, Squishees or Krusty-Os.
Labels: Allegiant Air, Orlando, The Simpsons
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Gah! I can't remeber any Simpsons quotes from yesterday!
I watched 2 episodes and I think the quotes canceled each other out.
Cooter asked why we blog yesterday. I think I still blog for the same reason I started but added a few other reasons. I enjoy it as a time to write and express myself. Sure I would like some constructive criticism so that I might become a better writer but that will come later, maybe in a classroom setting of some sort. An online diary that is updateable anywhere there is a computer and internet access would be another reason why I blog. I haven't yet started reading through my archives but when I do, it'll be a nice stroll down memory lane. So far it represents a little less than 50% of my time at Clemson and plan to continue this as long as I can. I might switch to Wordpress and buy my own domain name, and when that happens you will be the first to know. Promise.
I also strive to share some knowledge with you and in turn receive some from you via comments and your blogs. We're all trying to make the world a better place (I hope).
So ESC's labmate has full blown cancer. It always strikes at your heart but even more if you're a scientist who is in lab everyday. Was she exposed to something? Do we have it in our lab? Was it a combination of things that slowly, day by day, took their toll on her immune system? How safe am I? Could I be safer? Maybe it had nothing to do with her job and work environment and it was just some extremely bad luck? No amount of questions and even some answers wouldn't help working through this terrible affliction. It's a day by day thing now and in the hands of well trained doctors and maybe even a higher power or two. I can't even imagine what her family is going through. She also has a son who must be a wreck.
Also ran across this yesterday. Dr. Sean of Doc in the Box is currently separated from his wife. It wasn't one big thing but lots of the little things that pile up and if you aren't careful, come crashing out all at the same time and can tear things apart. Heather, aka Tragic Saturn, took her clothes and some other items and went to her parents house, hopefully to think and sort some things out. My hope is they get some professional help and give it another solid effort before throwing it all away.
No happy thought to leave you with today. The world sucks today.
I have a fairly long list of things to do around the house to get ready to fly to Orlando tomorrow. (Yes, my attention to minutiae in the face of sadness and decay is a coping mechanism)
Cooter asked why we blog yesterday. I think I still blog for the same reason I started but added a few other reasons. I enjoy it as a time to write and express myself. Sure I would like some constructive criticism so that I might become a better writer but that will come later, maybe in a classroom setting of some sort. An online diary that is updateable anywhere there is a computer and internet access would be another reason why I blog. I haven't yet started reading through my archives but when I do, it'll be a nice stroll down memory lane. So far it represents a little less than 50% of my time at Clemson and plan to continue this as long as I can. I might switch to Wordpress and buy my own domain name, and when that happens you will be the first to know. Promise.
I also strive to share some knowledge with you and in turn receive some from you via comments and your blogs. We're all trying to make the world a better place (I hope).
So ESC's labmate has full blown cancer. It always strikes at your heart but even more if you're a scientist who is in lab everyday. Was she exposed to something? Do we have it in our lab? Was it a combination of things that slowly, day by day, took their toll on her immune system? How safe am I? Could I be safer? Maybe it had nothing to do with her job and work environment and it was just some extremely bad luck? No amount of questions and even some answers wouldn't help working through this terrible affliction. It's a day by day thing now and in the hands of well trained doctors and maybe even a higher power or two. I can't even imagine what her family is going through. She also has a son who must be a wreck.
Also ran across this yesterday. Dr. Sean of Doc in the Box is currently separated from his wife. It wasn't one big thing but lots of the little things that pile up and if you aren't careful, come crashing out all at the same time and can tear things apart. Heather, aka Tragic Saturn, took her clothes and some other items and went to her parents house, hopefully to think and sort some things out. My hope is they get some professional help and give it another solid effort before throwing it all away.
No happy thought to leave you with today. The world sucks today.
I have a fairly long list of things to do around the house to get ready to fly to Orlando tomorrow. (Yes, my attention to minutiae in the face of sadness and decay is a coping mechanism)
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Too much drama in the LBC
I'm fairly certain I've used that title before but it seems fitting. I'm not sure if what to really do about ESC's friend but I'm sure if you want to donate some money to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help support breast cancer research and awareness, it would be appreciated.
I drove a BMW Z4 last night. Brand spankin' new. Black 3.0 liter inline six of BMW torque and power. It was very nice. The tires weren't the best though, just some heavy run flats, which would be my first move to ditch. It's a leased vehicle so I felt less bad about thrashing it a bit. All maintenance is covered for a leased car right? Or at least big maintenance? But I scared the owner (one of J's friends) who was riding along 3 times in the trip around the block. I was just seeing how it handled, honest. I knew I wasn't going to hit anything or anyone and that the car would be fine. I even helped out her husband who drove it "too fast" by driving it really fast and making him look slower by comparison. They got a 10,000 mile per year lease and will be using it for weekend jaunts to the mountains and things of that nature. It definitely needs a louder exhaust and some stickier tires and some fancy wheels probably, but since it's a BMW that is a much more expensive proposition.
On one turn I actually got the electronic nannies to come out and rain on my parade. I think I was about to have a nice controlled (albeit illegal) powerslide but the stability control or traction control came on and put a stop to that. I was not being smooth, which is what the computer likes.
So silky smooth, it rides like butter but still corners well. Thankfully she got the 6 speed over their manual auto transmission and it was a joy. I had some trouble getting it into 1st since on German cars reverse and 1st are right next to each other. Lots of fun but definitely not for me. Although if you already have a couple cars and just want something fun for the weekends, a lease is a bit cheaper than renting the car longterm. I just saw that BMW USA has a special lease offer, which I'm sure was what hooked them. You pay $9870 over 30 months (not including your full coverage and pricey insurance) for a $40,000 car. Not too bad if you want to get rid of it after 2.5 years.
I'm saving up for my Lotus Elise though. Why use a bigger engine when you can use a 4 cylinder, make 190 hp, and make the car weigh less?
I drove a BMW Z4 last night. Brand spankin' new. Black 3.0 liter inline six of BMW torque and power. It was very nice. The tires weren't the best though, just some heavy run flats, which would be my first move to ditch. It's a leased vehicle so I felt less bad about thrashing it a bit. All maintenance is covered for a leased car right? Or at least big maintenance? But I scared the owner (one of J's friends) who was riding along 3 times in the trip around the block. I was just seeing how it handled, honest. I knew I wasn't going to hit anything or anyone and that the car would be fine. I even helped out her husband who drove it "too fast" by driving it really fast and making him look slower by comparison. They got a 10,000 mile per year lease and will be using it for weekend jaunts to the mountains and things of that nature. It definitely needs a louder exhaust and some stickier tires and some fancy wheels probably, but since it's a BMW that is a much more expensive proposition.
On one turn I actually got the electronic nannies to come out and rain on my parade. I think I was about to have a nice controlled (albeit illegal) powerslide but the stability control or traction control came on and put a stop to that. I was not being smooth, which is what the computer likes.
So silky smooth, it rides like butter but still corners well. Thankfully she got the 6 speed over their manual auto transmission and it was a joy. I had some trouble getting it into 1st since on German cars reverse and 1st are right next to each other. Lots of fun but definitely not for me. Although if you already have a couple cars and just want something fun for the weekends, a lease is a bit cheaper than renting the car longterm. I just saw that BMW USA has a special lease offer, which I'm sure was what hooked them. You pay $9870 over 30 months (not including your full coverage and pricey insurance) for a $40,000 car. Not too bad if you want to get rid of it after 2.5 years.
I'm saving up for my Lotus Elise though. Why use a bigger engine when you can use a 4 cylinder, make 190 hp, and make the car weigh less?
Labels: cars
Tragedy
Please keep the family of ESC's labmates in your thoughts. She was just diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and has spread to her lungs and bones. She is in her 40's.
I'll keep this post up top for a bit.
I'll keep this post up top for a bit.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Ruby Minis
I had never had the mini-hamburgers that Ruby Tuesday sells. They were really good! And a great idea if you want 2 or 3 types of burgers but don't want to eat 1.5 lbs of meat.
Visited with my grandparents and brother this weekend. I even got to see a couple friends and hang out a bit. Brother had never heard of the Wii before but that didn't stop him from winning a couple tennis matches and getting a few strikes Wii bowling. My brother shares a name with ESC's brother, Moses' brother and the guy I met at the Atlanta autocross at Turner Field a few weeks ago. All great guys. He met me at Grandma's house and we proceeded to bombard him with questions. I'm sure all he's done since he's been back has been answer questions.
What do they eat? Are there grocery stores? Any fast food places? Are they hardcore Saudi type Muslims or more progressive?
Most Senegalese people are poor and shop in the open air markets and you can find lots of vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes (although he said the sweet potatoes are white on the outside and he couldn't remember their color inside), and the meats are mostly fish with some chicken and lamb. There are more Western grocery stores with refrigerated sections and air conditioning that is more expensive, so it's mostly middle and upper class people that shop there. These are mainly French owned so you can find pork products and other things that most Muslims don't eat. No American fast food joints (Wikipedia says there are only McD's in 3 countries in Africa, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco) but there are some French fast food places. He said ground beef is the least inexpensive meat besides fish so he eats those alot. He mostly cooks at home. He is one of 3 single male teachers at his school. Lots of single female teachers though and he's dating a nice girl from near St. Louis who he met over there. Oh, at the French grocery store you can also find beer and liquor which they don't sell at any Muslim establishments.
Smoking and drinking aren't allowed on-campus and the teacher's apt. complex is on campus which means I would have to sneak in my libations if I ever taught there. The French influence has fortunately saved the country from oppresive Islamic rule like in Saudi Arabia. Women can go in public by themselves and can drive if they want.
On the weekends he will either sleep alot or go to the beach or visit friends. He said the Senegalese culture is more focused on human interactions than "things" to do, which in my mind means no go-kart tracks or amusement parks. A few of the kids families have PS2s and Xboxes. He wasn't sure if anyone had a PS3 or 360 but I'm sure someone does. There are some embassy kids that attend his school that probably have one. Assuming he can find AA batteries, I think a Wii with 4 Wiimotes and nunchuk and a few games would make him the cool teacher on campus. Power outages are worse in the summer when it's hot, but we're used to those from living in other 3rd world locales.
He leaves to go back a week from today so if anyone has any messages that need to be delivered to Western Africa, I know a guy.
Visited with my grandparents and brother this weekend. I even got to see a couple friends and hang out a bit. Brother had never heard of the Wii before but that didn't stop him from winning a couple tennis matches and getting a few strikes Wii bowling. My brother shares a name with ESC's brother, Moses' brother and the guy I met at the Atlanta autocross at Turner Field a few weeks ago. All great guys. He met me at Grandma's house and we proceeded to bombard him with questions. I'm sure all he's done since he's been back has been answer questions.
What do they eat? Are there grocery stores? Any fast food places? Are they hardcore Saudi type Muslims or more progressive?
Most Senegalese people are poor and shop in the open air markets and you can find lots of vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes (although he said the sweet potatoes are white on the outside and he couldn't remember their color inside), and the meats are mostly fish with some chicken and lamb. There are more Western grocery stores with refrigerated sections and air conditioning that is more expensive, so it's mostly middle and upper class people that shop there. These are mainly French owned so you can find pork products and other things that most Muslims don't eat. No American fast food joints (Wikipedia says there are only McD's in 3 countries in Africa, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco) but there are some French fast food places. He said ground beef is the least inexpensive meat besides fish so he eats those alot. He mostly cooks at home. He is one of 3 single male teachers at his school. Lots of single female teachers though and he's dating a nice girl from near St. Louis who he met over there. Oh, at the French grocery store you can also find beer and liquor which they don't sell at any Muslim establishments.
Smoking and drinking aren't allowed on-campus and the teacher's apt. complex is on campus which means I would have to sneak in my libations if I ever taught there. The French influence has fortunately saved the country from oppresive Islamic rule like in Saudi Arabia. Women can go in public by themselves and can drive if they want.
On the weekends he will either sleep alot or go to the beach or visit friends. He said the Senegalese culture is more focused on human interactions than "things" to do, which in my mind means no go-kart tracks or amusement parks. A few of the kids families have PS2s and Xboxes. He wasn't sure if anyone had a PS3 or 360 but I'm sure someone does. There are some embassy kids that attend his school that probably have one. Assuming he can find AA batteries, I think a Wii with 4 Wiimotes and nunchuk and a few games would make him the cool teacher on campus. Power outages are worse in the summer when it's hot, but we're used to those from living in other 3rd world locales.
He leaves to go back a week from today so if anyone has any messages that need to be delivered to Western Africa, I know a guy.
Friday, August 03, 2007
I never knew tasting things tasted so good!
From one of the Tales of Interest Futurama episode, Bender says it after he becomes human and has some nachos.
Does anyone ever watch The Girls Next Door on E!? It's a reality show that is wholly unique as it follows around Hugh Hefner (Hef) and his 3 girlfriends, Holly, Bridget and Kendra. It's one of J's favorite shows and is one of mine as well because who is cooler than Hef? Damn right. Nobody. I think the reason it works so well as a show is because people are so fascinated with Hef and all things Playboy. It's a global empire and keeps getting stronger. It briefly lost some ground in the 80's but it's been coming back into popular culture (at least in America) for the past decade. His girlfriends are very funny too. They all have unique personalities and all get along so well with each other. Their interactions with each other and Hef are really the meat of the show. Sure it's cool seeing them get to travel to Europe and Vegas and get the super red carpet treatment everywhere but even if it was them sitting in the Playboy Mansion, it would still be solid gold.
Here's a picture for you visual learners (like me):
Moving from left to right it's Kendra, Hef, Holly and Bridget.
I would really recommend watching it on DVD however because with the DVD you get all the good stuff that E! won't show on TV, most specifically boobs and curse words and naughty jokes. Needless to say they have to blur and beep a decent amount before airing the episodes. But on the DVD you get to see the show in its full glory how it is meant to be seen. Kendra dropping f-bombs, lots of boobs, and a handful of off-color jokes that weren't appropriate for the E! audience. I would highly recommend all seasons of The Girls Next Door on DVD. Much love to Hef, Holly, Bridget and Kendra and their myriad animals (each of the girls has pets of their own and the Mansion has a zoo that would rival any small town zoo). I would say my favorite is Coco the Monkey (I think she's a spider monkey but feel free to correct me) but that is because she's cute and overweight and gets the most airtime. I'm sure if J and I ever received an invite to the Mansion, we might find another favorite.
Yes I do have a subscription to Playboy and J even knows about it.
I need to get this blog a RSS feed.
I was going back through some recent posts and checking the comments and found these where we were discussing why icedtrip got rid of his WRX. New cars are expensive with the insurance payments, the premium gas and the car payments. So Iced bailed on the Suby and picked up a '85 SL500 (that's a Mercedes Benz, pimpadelic) and a Yamaha Royalstar, which is a big metric cruiser, like a Harley for people who either don't want a Harley or can't afford one. He didn't tell me a year so here's a '96 just for comparison.
And here's a smaller pic of a similar Benz:
Big pimpin' indeed. Excellent garage selection Icedtrip. I don't want to know what kind of repair bills you have for the Benz. Okay I sort of do cuz they're cool cars and they keep their resale value and coolness factor very well. A used M5 or AMG would make great roadtrip cars.
Also I know you talked about driving to B'ham to visit me while I'm there. We probably would only be able to hang out Sat. night after the grandparents go to sleep. Here's my whirlwind schedule. Drive to Grandma's house, 1.5 hrs. north of the Ham, eat dinner, hang out and catch up with Brother and G'ma, sleep, eat brunch, drive to B'ham, maybe work out, hang out with grandparents and Brother, probably sleep at grandparents house even though I told Tom I would stay with him, I'll call him later today unless he reads this and calls me first, I do still want to go see your (his) new house though, wake up, breakfast, go to early church and then drive home. Maybe stop in ATL to have lunch with a friend who I'll call today too. So I'll be in Alabama for roughly 36 hours.
We'll plan a trip to come visit you Iced or plan a trip where we can meet in the middle or you can come with J and I for our honeymoon/ski trip vacation to somewhere with snow. But we'll get together soon enough.
Does anyone ever watch The Girls Next Door on E!? It's a reality show that is wholly unique as it follows around Hugh Hefner (Hef) and his 3 girlfriends, Holly, Bridget and Kendra. It's one of J's favorite shows and is one of mine as well because who is cooler than Hef? Damn right. Nobody. I think the reason it works so well as a show is because people are so fascinated with Hef and all things Playboy. It's a global empire and keeps getting stronger. It briefly lost some ground in the 80's but it's been coming back into popular culture (at least in America) for the past decade. His girlfriends are very funny too. They all have unique personalities and all get along so well with each other. Their interactions with each other and Hef are really the meat of the show. Sure it's cool seeing them get to travel to Europe and Vegas and get the super red carpet treatment everywhere but even if it was them sitting in the Playboy Mansion, it would still be solid gold.
Here's a picture for you visual learners (like me):
Moving from left to right it's Kendra, Hef, Holly and Bridget.
I would really recommend watching it on DVD however because with the DVD you get all the good stuff that E! won't show on TV, most specifically boobs and curse words and naughty jokes. Needless to say they have to blur and beep a decent amount before airing the episodes. But on the DVD you get to see the show in its full glory how it is meant to be seen. Kendra dropping f-bombs, lots of boobs, and a handful of off-color jokes that weren't appropriate for the E! audience. I would highly recommend all seasons of The Girls Next Door on DVD. Much love to Hef, Holly, Bridget and Kendra and their myriad animals (each of the girls has pets of their own and the Mansion has a zoo that would rival any small town zoo). I would say my favorite is Coco the Monkey (I think she's a spider monkey but feel free to correct me) but that is because she's cute and overweight and gets the most airtime. I'm sure if J and I ever received an invite to the Mansion, we might find another favorite.
Yes I do have a subscription to Playboy and J even knows about it.
I need to get this blog a RSS feed.
I was going back through some recent posts and checking the comments and found these where we were discussing why icedtrip got rid of his WRX. New cars are expensive with the insurance payments, the premium gas and the car payments. So Iced bailed on the Suby and picked up a '85 SL500 (that's a Mercedes Benz, pimpadelic) and a Yamaha Royalstar, which is a big metric cruiser, like a Harley for people who either don't want a Harley or can't afford one. He didn't tell me a year so here's a '96 just for comparison.
And here's a smaller pic of a similar Benz:
Big pimpin' indeed. Excellent garage selection Icedtrip. I don't want to know what kind of repair bills you have for the Benz. Okay I sort of do cuz they're cool cars and they keep their resale value and coolness factor very well. A used M5 or AMG would make great roadtrip cars.
Also I know you talked about driving to B'ham to visit me while I'm there. We probably would only be able to hang out Sat. night after the grandparents go to sleep. Here's my whirlwind schedule. Drive to Grandma's house, 1.5 hrs. north of the Ham, eat dinner, hang out and catch up with Brother and G'ma, sleep, eat brunch, drive to B'ham, maybe work out, hang out with grandparents and Brother, probably sleep at grandparents house even though I told Tom I would stay with him, I'll call him later today unless he reads this and calls me first, I do still want to go see your (his) new house though, wake up, breakfast, go to early church and then drive home. Maybe stop in ATL to have lunch with a friend who I'll call today too. So I'll be in Alabama for roughly 36 hours.
We'll plan a trip to come visit you Iced or plan a trip where we can meet in the middle or you can come with J and I for our honeymoon/ski trip vacation to somewhere with snow. But we'll get together soon enough.
Labels: Birmingham, cars, Hugh Hefner, The Girls Next Door
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Yesterday was Post #777!
Please keep the families of those affected by the Minnesota Bridge Collapse in your thoughts today. You might want to keep the contractors, architects and engineers in your thoughts once people have recovered enough to start pointing fingers.
As I was driving to work this morning there was a Clemson police officer in front of me. I got caught at the light and he went on ahead. I knew we were getting into prime speed trap territory for the clemson police department. For those interested, here's a google map of that specific location. Send me an email if you want some other Clemson speed trap locations. I know of 2-3 in addition to this one. See the tennis courts? They love to sit across the road (the house directly across is Mellow Mushroom) to the right of the tennis courts and get people coming up that road toward downtown. It's a 25 but cars can easily get up to 40 or so. Traveling from right to left, see the first grassy area with the big nasty brown spots? They love to sit there and get people coming from downtown. The speed limit goes to 35 right there but until there it's a 25 and it's downhill so ca-ching! ca-ching! Big cash cow speed ticket spot.
So we're heading into the danger zone. I'm in the left lane cuz the right lane is blocked by some beer trucks being unloaded. A small Ranger/S-10 truck is behind me and zooms past once we get clear of the traffic. I want to warn him that there was a cop up there and I'm not sure where he went, but there was no time and he's an adult who can make his own (stupid) decisions. I was doing maybe 32 and he goes whizzing by in the right lane. As I slow down for my left turn onto campus, I see my officer buddy sitting in the parking lot I just told you about shooting radar. I come to a stop and for traffic to clear so I can turn and I see the officer pull out, flip on his lights and take off. Got one! There's another (at least) $76 and 2 points for the City of Clemson. Good job! And as the saying goes "Better you than me" (or my wife, as the case may be)
I'll be passing through ATL this weekend on my way to B'ham and my other grandmother's house which is about 1.5 hours north of the Ham. Just a note to any aspiring rappers from Birmingham, do NOT refer to our city as the Ham or B'Ham. It isn't cool. It doesn't sound cool. It may rhyme well but that doesn't matter. Lets just use the airport code like they did in Atlanta (ATL) and go with BHM. It sounds cooler and more industrial and therefore, hardcore. Just my 2 cents.
But I'm visiting with my brother before he goes back to the Dark Continent (hmmm, just googled that and it might refer to skin color which is awful but this blogger thinks it now refers to actual light and how technology advanced that continent is (not). My brother taught at a school somewhere in here last year and is going back for another year. After that, who knows? My grandmother wants him to go back and finish seminary, which isn't a terrible idea, he only has a year left and it would be nice to have something to show for all that work and learning ancient languages (Greek and Hebrew).
Fuck. My blog is only G-rated. Eh, I guess it isn't that bad.
Cool, that's better. Well, maybe this blog could be informative for someone under 17.
There we go, I like my blog being PG-13. You can use one curse word but only as an expletive, some non-sexual nudity (boobs for boobs sake) and some non-realistic violence. Nice.
As I was driving to work this morning there was a Clemson police officer in front of me. I got caught at the light and he went on ahead. I knew we were getting into prime speed trap territory for the clemson police department. For those interested, here's a google map of that specific location. Send me an email if you want some other Clemson speed trap locations. I know of 2-3 in addition to this one. See the tennis courts? They love to sit across the road (the house directly across is Mellow Mushroom) to the right of the tennis courts and get people coming up that road toward downtown. It's a 25 but cars can easily get up to 40 or so. Traveling from right to left, see the first grassy area with the big nasty brown spots? They love to sit there and get people coming from downtown. The speed limit goes to 35 right there but until there it's a 25 and it's downhill so ca-ching! ca-ching! Big cash cow speed ticket spot.
So we're heading into the danger zone. I'm in the left lane cuz the right lane is blocked by some beer trucks being unloaded. A small Ranger/S-10 truck is behind me and zooms past once we get clear of the traffic. I want to warn him that there was a cop up there and I'm not sure where he went, but there was no time and he's an adult who can make his own (stupid) decisions. I was doing maybe 32 and he goes whizzing by in the right lane. As I slow down for my left turn onto campus, I see my officer buddy sitting in the parking lot I just told you about shooting radar. I come to a stop and for traffic to clear so I can turn and I see the officer pull out, flip on his lights and take off. Got one! There's another (at least) $76 and 2 points for the City of Clemson. Good job! And as the saying goes "Better you than me" (or my wife, as the case may be)
I'll be passing through ATL this weekend on my way to B'ham and my other grandmother's house which is about 1.5 hours north of the Ham. Just a note to any aspiring rappers from Birmingham, do NOT refer to our city as the Ham or B'Ham. It isn't cool. It doesn't sound cool. It may rhyme well but that doesn't matter. Lets just use the airport code like they did in Atlanta (ATL) and go with BHM. It sounds cooler and more industrial and therefore, hardcore. Just my 2 cents.
But I'm visiting with my brother before he goes back to the Dark Continent (hmmm, just googled that and it might refer to skin color which is awful but this blogger thinks it now refers to actual light and how technology advanced that continent is (not). My brother taught at a school somewhere in here last year and is going back for another year. After that, who knows? My grandmother wants him to go back and finish seminary, which isn't a terrible idea, he only has a year left and it would be nice to have something to show for all that work and learning ancient languages (Greek and Hebrew).
Fuck. My blog is only G-rated. Eh, I guess it isn't that bad.
Cool, that's better. Well, maybe this blog could be informative for someone under 17.
There we go, I like my blog being PG-13. You can use one curse word but only as an expletive, some non-sexual nudity (boobs for boobs sake) and some non-realistic violence. Nice.
Labels: MPAA ratings, police, speed trap, ticket
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Flapper
When you're rock climbing and your hand slips but catches on the rock and tears open a big flap of skin is apparently called getting a flapper. It doesn't hurt but once I washed my hands it stung. Rock climbing is fun and great exercise but it does have its darkside.
We were at one of J's co-workers house carpooling to a work party they had. I went because one aspect of work functions is to show off your spouse and force them to sit through a mildly uncomfortable evening too. It's also so you'll have at least one person with whom the conversation won't be awkward and forced.
But on her wall she had a business card for the Hostel in the Forest. It is a commune of treehouses that are available to weary travelers from all over. The cost is $20/night per person and that includes a vegetarian dinner prepared with many fresh vegetables from their gardens. They also expect you to pitch in a little bit with chores and it shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes. It's down in Brunswick, GA. Here is a picture of one of their treehouses, this one is called the Bamboo Hut:
It looks like a very cool place and is all about living symbiotically with nature. They don't heat or cool the treehouses so it's more of a fall/winter place if I'm visiting with J. She hates being hot and can't sleep which means I can't sleep. Here is a link to their Flickr page if you want to check out any more pics.
I would love to live off the grid. Wind generators, solar panels, anything to save some money, help Mother Earth and give the ole one finger salute to the power company. If only I could figure out how to have phone and internet service without paying AT&T for it. In fact I heard that if you make too much energy that your house can use, you can actually give that extra electricity to the power company and they pay you for it. I wanna be that kind of "off the gridder".
We were at one of J's co-workers house carpooling to a work party they had. I went because one aspect of work functions is to show off your spouse and force them to sit through a mildly uncomfortable evening too. It's also so you'll have at least one person with whom the conversation won't be awkward and forced.
But on her wall she had a business card for the Hostel in the Forest. It is a commune of treehouses that are available to weary travelers from all over. The cost is $20/night per person and that includes a vegetarian dinner prepared with many fresh vegetables from their gardens. They also expect you to pitch in a little bit with chores and it shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes. It's down in Brunswick, GA. Here is a picture of one of their treehouses, this one is called the Bamboo Hut:
It looks like a very cool place and is all about living symbiotically with nature. They don't heat or cool the treehouses so it's more of a fall/winter place if I'm visiting with J. She hates being hot and can't sleep which means I can't sleep. Here is a link to their Flickr page if you want to check out any more pics.
I would love to live off the grid. Wind generators, solar panels, anything to save some money, help Mother Earth and give the ole one finger salute to the power company. If only I could figure out how to have phone and internet service without paying AT&T for it. In fact I heard that if you make too much energy that your house can use, you can actually give that extra electricity to the power company and they pay you for it. I wanna be that kind of "off the gridder".
Labels: Hostel in the Forest, J, off the grid
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