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Saturday, September 27, 2003
You Might Have Nicer Things, But I Bet You Don't Have More Fun
The Menomonee Falls News: In 1951 a time capsule was buried at the then-new North Hills School. The capsule was to have stayed buried until 2051, providing a glimpse of what life was like a century earlier. As time passed, though, the time capsule was forgotten. The school was converted into a firehouse years ago, and when it was being reconstructed in 2001, a couple of former students alerted officials to the existence of the time capsule, which led to its retrieval.
Students wrote papers in 1951 for the time capsule. 12-year-old Elaine Rapp wrote in 1951: "We have television in black and white. They are working on color television," she wrote. In 100 years, Elaine speculated, "There will be color television with many channels; now there is only one channel."
Harold Block, 10, wanted future generations to know what life was like for him, while displaying an inquisitive mind. "Are there any flying saucers in our country? Did you ever go to the moon? You might have nicer things, but I bet you don't have more fun," he wrote.
Indeed, Harold, indeed. And here's wishing that you're still around, and still having fun.
Students wrote papers in 1951 for the time capsule. 12-year-old Elaine Rapp wrote in 1951: "We have television in black and white. They are working on color television," she wrote. In 100 years, Elaine speculated, "There will be color television with many channels; now there is only one channel."
Harold Block, 10, wanted future generations to know what life was like for him, while displaying an inquisitive mind. "Are there any flying saucers in our country? Did you ever go to the moon? You might have nicer things, but I bet you don't have more fun," he wrote.
Indeed, Harold, indeed. And here's wishing that you're still around, and still having fun.
Stanley Fafara, RIP
Stanley Fafara, the actor who played Beaver's buddy "Whitey" on "Leave It to Beaver" and later struggled with drugs and alcohol, died Saturday following complications from a surgery last month. He was 54.
In later years he turned himself around and became a web site designer. His favorite episode? "In the Soup", as he related in this interview.
In later years he turned himself around and became a web site designer. His favorite episode? "In the Soup", as he related in this interview.
587 Different Recipes for Orange Julius
At Cooks.com
The Cow and Cheese United States Quarter Dollar
Wisconsin, the thirtieth state, will be honored in 2004 through the minting of its State Quarter. This is a unique opportunity for all of Wisconsin to promote and grow in an understanding of our rich history, culture, geography and resources.Take this opportunity to cast your vote for the theme that you feel best represents the heritage of our state.
I voted for the one where the Pioneer is giving his canoe to the Indian to settle up an old casino debt.
I voted for the one where the Pioneer is giving his canoe to the Indian to settle up an old casino debt.
Moore Admits to Altering "Bowling for Columbine" DVD
In a new column on his website titled "How to Deal with the Lies and the Lying Liars When They Lie about 'Bowling for Columbine,'" filmmaker Michael Moore has admitted to altering a caption he inserted over a 1988 Bush-Quayle commercial in the film.
I hate to waste my time on this guy, but he has a strange, cult-like following in certain circles.
I hate to waste my time on this guy, but he has a strange, cult-like following in certain circles.
Friday, September 26, 2003
But I'm Not So Crazy About This . . .
The just-like-the-newsstand-versions of magazines offered by Zinio.com . Too cumbersome, and a real P.I.T.A.
The Wave of the Future
Now you can get your favorite fortnightly dose of conservative sanity in National Review/Digital: A convenient and quick PDF or HTML version of NR, available to subscribers (right after the magazine comes off the press!).
A terrific idea. You can bet that ALL the opinion magazines will be doing this soon.
A terrific idea. You can bet that ALL the opinion magazines will be doing this soon.
AutoRead for Microsoft Outlook
Automatically marks messages as read on arrival. $10
Robert Palmer, RIP
Maybe We're Just Undertall
We're fat: The makers of home scales have risen to the challenge by pushing the top digital and dial readings on their products higher. Much higher. Until recently, the industry standard was 270 to 300 pounds. Now Health-O-Meter, a heavyweight in the residential scale market, has launched over 45 new products, and the range capacity is 330 to 400 pounds.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Another Valuable Public Service Site
"MOOREWATCH is dedicated to unearthing the truth behind the doublespeak and falsehood that spews from the mouth (and keyboard) of Michael Moore on a regular basis. Moore is a disingenuous danger to this country, and his assumptions and assertions should not go unchallenged. The collective expertise and research abilities of the entire Internet are more than enough to debunk most of the nonsense Moore regularly puts forth as fact, and we at MOOREWATCH hope to be the clearinghouse for this information."
If It Weren't For Bad Luck, They Would Have Had No Luck At All
The St. Louis Browns: "The Browns drew only 80,922 fans for the entire 1936 season - the first year of Donald Barnes' ownership. The downward spiral reached its nadir in 1939; from 1937 to 1939, the Browns compiled a 144-316 record. The franchise was developing a hard-luck aura; in 1941 Barnes tried to move his team to Los Angeles. The league meeting for approval was held in Chicago one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Understandably, Barnes was denied."
Why Everything You Know About Murphy’s Law is Wrong
A detailed history of Murphy's Law and the man behind the legend, engineer Edward Murphy, Jr. (via Geekpress)
Plus, It Has All The Stuff They Forget to Mention in the Recruiting Brochure
Suggestions for the ex-submariner who misses "the good old days on the boat". Some excerpts:
- Sit in your car for six hours a day with your hands on the wheel and the motor running, but don't go anywhere. Install 200 extra oil temperature gauges. Take logs on all gages and indicators every 30 minutes.
- Put lube oil in your humidifier instead of water and set it to "High".
- Have the paperboy give you a haircut.
- Take hourly readings on your electric and water meters.
- Once a month take every major appliance completely apart and then put them back together. Ensure you have parts left over.
- Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for 5 or 6 hours before drinking. Never wash any coffee cups.
- Invite at least 85 people you don't really like to come and visit for a couple of months. Limit showers to weekly for all guests.
- Store your eggs in your garage for two months and then scramble a dozen each morning.
- Put on the headphones from your stereo (don't plug them in). Go and stand in front of your stove. Say (to nobody in particular) "Stove manned and ready". Stand there for 3 or 4 hours. Say (once again to nobody in particular) "Stove secured". Roll up the headphone cord and put them away.
- Vent your septic into the house and yell "venting sanitaries inboard".
- Shut off all the breakers in the house and yell "reactor scram', sit in the dark for at least an hour.
The Friendly Confines of Weeghman Park?
The History of Wrigley Field. Originally known as Weeghman Park, Wrigley Field was built on the grounds once occupied by a seminary. Weeghman Park was the home of Chicago's entry in the Federal League, home of a club known as the Federals. The first major league game at the ballpark took place April 23, 1914, with the Federals defeating Kansas City 9-1 . When the Federal League folded for financial reasons after the 1915 campaign, Weeghman purchased the Cubs from the Taft family of Cincinnati and moved the club to the two-year-old ballpark at the corner of Clark and Addison streets. The first National League game at the ballpark was played April 20, 1916, when the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings. The park became known as Cubs Park in 1920 after the Wrigley family purchased the team from Weeghman ... it was named Wrigley Field in 1926 in honor of William Wrigley Jr., the club's owner.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
In The Water, On The Land, They Are Coming to Get Us
A carnivorous alien fish known for its voracious appetite and ability to wriggle short distances on land has been found in southern Wisconsin's Rock River. The giant snakehead can grow to more than three feet in length, and fish managers say that with no natural predator, it could change the local fish population and introduce new diseases. A year ago, wildlife officials in Maryland killed six adult and more than 1,000 juvenile northern snakehead, a close relative to the giant snakehead, found in a pond. (via Tim McMahon)
Meanwhile, an unusual breed of rat is inflicting damage in Kyrgyzstan, The rats "are killing numerous farm birds, are damaging grape and corn crops, and have destroyed 14 hectares of grain in one of the districts. These rats can climb trees and are destroying apples, pears and other fruit. The rat invasion may also give rise to different epidemics," said parliament member Dooronbek Sadyrbayev. The rats frequently attack people and young children are especially vulnerable. Sanitary services are unable to deal with the situation. "The enormous amount of rats cannot be estimated," he said. The rats are not susceptible to typical poisons. An Uzbek specialist bred the species by crossing an ordinary rat with a muskrat, he said. (via Cup of Chicha)
Meanwhile, an unusual breed of rat is inflicting damage in Kyrgyzstan, The rats "are killing numerous farm birds, are damaging grape and corn crops, and have destroyed 14 hectares of grain in one of the districts. These rats can climb trees and are destroying apples, pears and other fruit. The rat invasion may also give rise to different epidemics," said parliament member Dooronbek Sadyrbayev. The rats frequently attack people and young children are especially vulnerable. Sanitary services are unable to deal with the situation. "The enormous amount of rats cannot be estimated," he said. The rats are not susceptible to typical poisons. An Uzbek specialist bred the species by crossing an ordinary rat with a muskrat, he said. (via Cup of Chicha)
And You Can Keep Your Regular Phone Number Too
One of the woefully underreported benefits to the FCC's decision to force the cellphone companies to let customers take their number with them when the switch carriers is that phone number portability doesn't just apply to cellphones, beginning November 24th you'll also be able to switch a number from a landline to a cellphone, and vice versa. (via the highly recommended Gizmodo)
For Fans of the MicroTremor of Lippold
"The Lantern Voice Stress Analysis (VSA) instrument, weighing less than six pounds, is the most technically advanced system which has yet been produced to detect, process, and display changes in the physiological 'MicroTremor of Lippold' in human speech.
The microtremor itself is manifested in oscillations of eight to twelve Hertz in the reflex mechanism that controls the length and tension of a stretched muscle. MicroTremor in the laryngeal muscles has been shown to reflect the level of stress being experienced by an individual., and to be observable in components of the individual's speech. The steady-state, or low-stress condition is seen as a randomly modulated, low-amplitude Waveform, while the stressed condition usually causes a more constant, less-chaotic Waveform, with typically higher amplitude. The graphical waveforms produced and displayed by the instrument can be interpreted by trained voice stress analysts to reveal the relative level of stress present in the subject"
More Proof You Can Get Just About Everything on Yahoo
The microtremor itself is manifested in oscillations of eight to twelve Hertz in the reflex mechanism that controls the length and tension of a stretched muscle. MicroTremor in the laryngeal muscles has been shown to reflect the level of stress being experienced by an individual., and to be observable in components of the individual's speech. The steady-state, or low-stress condition is seen as a randomly modulated, low-amplitude Waveform, while the stressed condition usually causes a more constant, less-chaotic Waveform, with typically higher amplitude. The graphical waveforms produced and displayed by the instrument can be interpreted by trained voice stress analysts to reveal the relative level of stress present in the subject"
More Proof You Can Get Just About Everything on Yahoo
Got to Investigate Silicones
A 1973 record album from GE's Silicone Products Division. "Silicones" starred Ron Young, Paul Eichel and Joy Garrett, a singer who did a lot of 70s television, making it all sound pretty darn groovy.
Who's Got the Real Mo
Dick Morris: "In the long run, Dean's momentum will prove real and Clark's will be seen as bogus. Dean has amassed a base of grassroots (or cyber-roots) support by tapping into two groups - gays and peaceniks. His message spread among them not as a result of top-down advertising but by the new Internet style of viral, horizontal marketing. Gays and their supporters and anti-war zealots spread the word among themselves that Dean was their man.
The Dean candidacy is the first creation of the Internet age. By contrast, Clark's is perhaps the last of the media-created candidacies. "
The Dean candidacy is the first creation of the Internet age. By contrast, Clark's is perhaps the last of the media-created candidacies. "
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Submarines From The Frozen Tundra of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Maritime Museum—USS COBIA Submarine: "Moored along the Manitowoc River, adjacent to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, is the World War II fleet submarine USS COBIA (SS-245). COBIA has local and national significance as an icon of Wisconsin's shipbuilding heritage. COBIA is a GATO-class fleet submarine similar to the twenty-eight subs built in Manitowoc during World War II. "
How Many Disk Jockey Names Can You Make From The Democratic Front Runners?
Some ideas to get you started:
(via deb at politicalpunk)
Dean Edwards
Graham Kerry (the Galloping Gourmet?)
Dean Clark
Clark Graham
Clark Kerry Edwards
(via deb at politicalpunk)
Also From the World of Espionage . . .
Stoptheft Home Microdot Kit: "The dots are suspended in an ultraviolet based adhesive and applied using a brush included in each kit. They are detected using an ultraviolet lamp and read with special viewing equipment supplied to Police and other authorised bodies. Whilst the Police only have to find one Stoptheft microdot, criminals have to be sure they have found them all....... an impossible task!"
"Whilst". I love that kind of talk.
"Whilst". I love that kind of talk.
The Classic Spy Camera
The Minox.
It's Hard to Come Up With Anything More Absurd Than Reality
Christopher Buckley on our Postsatirical World: "I write--or try to write--under the general heading of satire, ever mindful of playwright George S. Kaufman's admonition that satire is what opens on Saturday night and closes Sunday. It's a living, I suppose, poking fun at politicians and the French, and every so often Barbra Streisand makes one's day by issuing a 25-page manifesto lecturing Democrats on how to win back a majority in Congress. In my line of work, that's the equivalent of what people in the business world call 'low-hanging fruit.'
Lately, though, there has been so much low-hanging fruit that you can't take a step in any direction without bumping into an overripe mango."
Lately, though, there has been so much low-hanging fruit that you can't take a step in any direction without bumping into an overripe mango."
Monday, September 22, 2003
Not the Love Train, Not the Soul Train . . .
. . . it's the Napa Valley Wine Train!
A Short History of Stratego
From Ed's Stratego Site, the Number 1 Stratego site on the internet. So much stuff, Ed had to break it into two parts!.
Now You See Them, Now You Don't
The Who2 List of People Who Have Disappeared: "Disappearances have a creepy fascination all their own. The news that someone has 'vanished without a trace' leads to gossip, police searches and tabloid headlines, and often means enduring fame for the missing person."
HERSHEY'S Has The Sweetest Cocoa Mulch!
"Perfect mulch made from cocoa beans? Sound too sweet to be true? HERSHEY'S Cocoa Mulch, a by-product of the chocolate making process, is called the perfect mulch for your garden due to its exceptional landscaping qualities, flexible use and sweet aroma. It is 100% organic, prevents weed growth and deters insects and other pests."
A Secret Message for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Sunday, September 21, 2003
The Joe Bob Briggs Ultimate B Movie Guide
Hundreds of reviews of horror, sci-fi, camp and B-movies from drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs.
Also, his FAQ section shows he's a practical sort of guy:
Q: Is Joe Bob Briggs your real name?
A: I wasn't born with it, but when I try to use any other name, I don't make as much money.
Also, his FAQ section shows he's a practical sort of guy:
Q: Is Joe Bob Briggs your real name?
A: I wasn't born with it, but when I try to use any other name, I don't make as much money.
Can I Get A BOO YA ?
Who Knew That Turning Swords Into Plowshares Would Be This Expensive?
The Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. Disposal of submarines by the SRP costs US $25-50 million per submarine.
Albert Champion: The Man Behind Both Champion and AC Spark Plugs
More Electric Nostalgia
The Nixie Clock Gallery. In the 1970's when I was in the Navy and had weekend shipyard duty on the old diesel submarine USS Wahoo (SS-565) I would turn on our state-of-the-art nixie tube frequency counter on Friday evening to count one tick per second. Then on Sunday evening it would turn over 100,000 seconds. It gave me something to look forward to all weekend. (via the wonderful Things Magazine)
