Monday, January 31, 2011

Eagle Scouts to lend a helding hand

Tonight's humor, courtesy The Onion:

Sunday, January 30, 2011

The way back home

Tonight's bike trip - Scottish pro rider Danny MacAskill takes a trip from Edinburgh to his hometown of Dunvegan, on the Isle of Skye:

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Bottoms up!

Tonight's fast fill up -- filling beer glasses from the bottom up:

Friday, January 28, 2011

Lucky

Tonight's close calls compilation:

Newsweek: Obama to push for more gun control

From Newsweek [emphasis added below]:
At the beginning of his State of the Union address, President Obama tipped his hat to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who’s now recuperating in a Houston medical facility. But throughout the hourlong speech, he never addressed the issue at the core of the Giffords tragedy—gun control—and what lawmakers would, or should, do to reform American firearm-access laws.

...

But in the next two weeks, the White House will unveil a new gun-control effort in which it will urge Congress to strengthen current laws, which now allow some mentally unstable people, such as alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, to obtain certain assault weapons, in some cases without even a background check.

Tuesday night after the speech, Obama adviser David Plouffe said to NBC News that the president would not let the moment after the Arizona shootings pass without pushing for some change in the law, to prevent another similar incident. “It’s a very important issue, and one I know there’s going to be debate about on the Hill.”

The White House said that to avoid being accused of capitalizing on the Arizona shootings for political gain, Obama will address the gun issue in a separate speech, likely early next month. He’s also expected to use Arizona as a starting point, but make the case that America’s gun laws have been too loose for much longer than just the past few weeks.
Article here. I guess we'll find out if the Republican spine transplant operation from last November's election was successful. I think the prognosis, at best, can be described as "guarded optimism". We'll see if the R's can stand up to what will no doubt be described by the anti-gun media (but I repeat myself) as Obambam's "reasonable restrictions".

Thursday, January 27, 2011

My Blackberry isn't working

Tonight's fruit tech problems:

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Super hero

Tonight's costumed crime fighter, patrolling the mean streets of Lynnwood, Washington:

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Milky way

Tonight's colorful fun with milk:

Monday, January 24, 2011

Fried Chicken

Tonight's comfort food recipe - buttermilk fried chicken, courtesy Chef John Mitzewich:




Yum. You can get the ingredients list and quantities here.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A picture a day

Tonight's obsessive photo taker - a British girl takes a photo of herself every day for 300 days:




See the individual photos here.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Dent repair

Tonight's do-it-yourself autobody repair, using a blow dryer and a can of compressed air (it's not really air, but that's how most people refer to it):

Friday, January 21, 2011

Can you translate that for me, please?

Tonight's multilingual iPhone app - Word Lens. Point your iPhone camera at a sign, and Word Lens translates it into the language of your choice:

Thursday, January 20, 2011

2010 movie recap

Tonight's 2010 filmography:

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Probably not part of the routine

Tonight's short ice skating practice:

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lego eclipse predictor

Tonight's Lego recreation of an ancient Greek astronomical device, the Antikythera Mechanism:

From the video's description:
The Antikythera Mechanism: ... is the oldest known scientific computer, built in Greece at around 100 BCE. Lost for 2000 years, it was recovered from a shipwreck in 1901. But not until a century later was its purpose understood: an astronomical clock that determines the positions of celestial bodies with extraordinary precision. 

In 2010, we built a fully-functional replica out of Lego. ...


More on the Antikythera Mechanism:
The Antikythera mechanism (pronounced /ˌæntɨkɨˈθɪərə/ ANT-i-ki-THEER-ə or pronounced /ˌæntɨˈkɪθərə/ ANT-i-KITH-ə-rə), is an ancient mechanical computer[1][2] designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–01 from the Antikythera wreck,[3] but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150–100 BCE.[citation needed] The degree of mechanical sophistication is comparable to a 19th century Swiss clock.[4] Technological artifacts of similar complexity and workmanship did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe.[5]

Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited the wreck for the last time in 1978,[6] but found no more remains of the Antikythera Mechanism. Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the most recent study of the mechanism said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully...in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa."[7][8]

The device is displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and donated to the museum by Derek de Solla Price. Other reconstructions are on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana, the Children's Museum of Manhattan in New York, and in Kassel, Germany.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Not your average touchdown

Tonight's game-winning touchdown - Division III schools Trinity v. Millsap, with Trinity down 2 points, with 2 seconds and 60 yards to go:



[Via Eric Sammons' The Divine Life blog]

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Good doggie

Tonight's ode to dogs video:

Saturday, January 15, 2011

NYC by RCV FPV

Tonight's remote control vehicle (RCV) first person view (FPV) video of the Big Apple, including the Brooklyn and Verazzano Bridges, around Downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty:




And here's a video interview with the pilot of the RC plane:

Friday, January 14, 2011

America's smartest woman

Tonight's humor:
An airplane was about to crash; there were 5 passengers on board, but only 4 parachutes. The first passenger said, “I am President Obama, the chosen one. The world needs me, I can’t afford to die.” So he took the first parachute and left the plane.

The second passenger, Nancy Pelosi, said, “I am the Speaker of the House. And I am the smartest woman in American history, so America ’s people don’t want me to die.” She took the second parachute and jumped out of the plane.

The third passenger, John Kerry, said, “I’m a Senator, and a decorated war hero from the Navy of the United States of America .” So he grabbed the parachute next to him and jumped.

The fourth passenger, ex-President George W. Bush, said to the fifth passenger, a 10-year-old schoolgirl, “I have lived a full life, and served my country the best I could. I will sacrifice my life and let you have the last parachute.”

The little girl said, “That’s okay, Mr. President. There’s a parachute left for you. America's 'Smartest Woman' took my backpack.”
:)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

What you ought to know

Tonight's spelling matters video:

Halftime report: Big Fat Zero scores a big fat zero

Today's halftime scorecard, from Bill Whittle, on the Big Zero's record:




[Via Karl Denninger]

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Winter wonderland

Tonight's remote-controlled model plane video trip through the snowy countryside:

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

It’s a bird, it’s a plane ...

Actually, it's a guy with a wingsuit. Tonight's wingsuit video - Halvor Angvik does some wingsuit jumps in the Romsdalen and Eikesdalen area of Norway:

Malkin: The progressive "climate of hate:" An illustrated primer, 2000-2010

Via Karl Denninger, comes this recap of the Left's history of violence-tinged rhetoric:
The Tucson massacre ghouls who are now trying to criminalize conservatism have forced our hand.

They need to be reminded. You need to be reminded.

Confront them. Don’t be cowed into silence.

And don’t let the media whitewash the sins of the hypocritical Left in their naked attempt to suppress the law-abiding, constitutionally-protected, peaceful, vigorous political speech of the Right.

They want to play tu quo que in the middle of a national tragedy? They asked for it. They got it. ...
Read it all here. A good reminder as we hear the Left try to spin the Tucson mass shooting as the work of some "right-wing extremist".

Monday, January 10, 2011

Onion rings

Tonight's food recipe - Onion rings, courtesy Chef John Mitzewich:



Yum. Get the ingredient quantities here.

Dependence Day

From Mark Steyn, writing at The New Criterion, on the decline of America:
If I am pessimistic about the future of liberty, it is because I am pessimistic about the strength of the English-speaking nations, which have, in profound ways, surrendered to forces at odds with their inheritance. “Declinism” is in the air, but some of us apocalyptic types are way beyond that. The United States is facing nothing so amiable and genteel as Continental-style “decline,” but something more like sliding off a cliff.

In the days when I used to write for Fleet Street, a lot of readers and several of my editors accused me of being anti-British. I’m not. I’m extremely pro-British and, for that very reason, the present state of the United Kingdom is bound to cause distress. So, before I get to the bad stuff, let me just lay out the good. Insofar as the world functions at all, it’s due to the Britannic inheritance. Three-sevenths of the G7 economies are nations of British descent. Two-fifths of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are—and, by the way, it should be three-fifths: The rap against the Security Council is that it’s the Second World War victory parade preserved in aspic, but, if it were, Canada would have a greater claim to be there than either France or China. The reason Canada isn’t is because a third Anglosphere nation and a second realm of King George VI would have made too obvious a truth usually left unstated—that the Anglosphere was the all but lone defender of civilization and of liberty. In broader geopolitical terms, the key regional powers in almost every corner of the globe are British-derived—from Australia to South Africa to India—and, even among the lesser players, as a general rule you’re better off for having been exposed to British rule than not: Why is Haiti Haiti and Barbados Barbados? ...
Read the rest here.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Hot Wheels Superhighway

Tonight's Hot Wheels mega-track:

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Shopping

Tonight's shopping cart dexterity:

Friday, January 7, 2011

Go ahead, take a head start

Tonight's fast car video, from BBC's Top Gear -- a street car, rally race car, and a Formula 1 car do a lap of the Grand Prix racetrack at Silverstone, England:




And here's a matchup between a McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car vs. a Mercedes DTM racecar, and Mercedes CLK 63 AMG and C350 street cars:

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Places to visit

Tonight's world traveler destination - New Zealand:




[Via The Nomad Lawyer]

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Obama's busing plan

Tonight's transportation satire, from The Onion:

Urban decay: Detroit in ruins

Today's photo essay - photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre's document the dramatic decline of the Motor City:

The ruined Spanish-Gothic interior of the United Artists Theater in Detroit. The cinema was built in 1928 by C Howard Crane, and finally closed in 1974.  Photo: Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre

East Side Public Library.  Photo: Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre


See the rest here. The urban decay of a failed city. Interestingly, Detroit has been run -- right into the ground, apparently -- by Democrat mayors for the last 48 years or so -- almost a half century; you have to go all the way back to 1961 for the last time the city's residents elected a Republican mayor.


On a related note, read Karl Denninger's New Year's musings, Part 1, and Part 2.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The joy of stats - 200 countries, 200 years, in 4 minutes

Tonight's data visualization video, from the BBC - the income and life expectancy of 200 countries, over 200 years:

Monday, January 3, 2011

A look back at the Space Shuttle program

Tonight's space travel video - a compilation of Space Shuttle video, produced by Matt Melis of the Glenn Research Center, and narrated by Matt Melis with Kevin Burke.

According to the video's description:
... This compilation of film and video presents the best of the best ground-based Shuttle motion imagery from STS-114, STS-117, and STS-124 missions. Rendered in the highest definition possible, this production is a tribute to the dozens of men and women of the Shuttle imaging team and the 30yrs of achievement of the Space Shuttle Program. ...


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Speedflying

Tonight's winter adventure - speedflying in the Swiss Alps near Wengen, Switzerland:

10,000 resolutions

From Paul Tripp, writing at Desiring God blog:
I've told the story many times of talking impatiently with my wife one Sunday morning and having my nine year old son interject—

Daddy, is this the way a Christian man should be talking to his wife?

Rather sarcastically I said,

What do you think?

and he replied,

It doesn't make any difference what I think, what does God think?

I went to my bedroom and two thoughts immediately hit me. First, my pride reared up. I want to be a hero to my son and I was embarrassed that he had been troubled by my attitude and words. But that didn't last very long. I soon thought, "How could it be that God could love me so much that he would give a twit of care about this mundane little moment in the Tripp bathroom?"

That's love at a level of magnificence that I am unable to capture with words. This was but one moment in one room in one house of one family, on one block on one street in one neighhborhood, in one city in one state in one country on one continent, in one hemishpere on one globe in the universe. Yet God was in that moment, working to continue his moment-by-moment work of transforming the heart of this man.

...

Most of us won't be written up in history books. Most of us only make three or four momentous decisions in our lives, and several decades after we die, the people we leave behind will struggle to remember the event of our lives. You and I live in little moments, and if God doesn't rule our little moments and doesn't work to recreate us in the middle of them, then there is no hope for us, because that is where you and I live. ...
Read the rest here.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a blessed and prosperous 2011, filled with the Lord's Peace and Grace.

Today's display of joyful exuberance to start the New Year, with over 33 million views on YouTube -- Where the Hell is Matt?



The song used in the video is Praan, by Gary Schman.