Priorities

Nothing being discussed at the Democratic national convention was more important than the return of Crystal Pepsi.

Darwin Award Candidate

That takes a very special kind of stupid.

Future Sports Cars

With the price of gas moving closer to the price of gold on a daily basis, there is a company making the sports car of the future today. The best part is it requires no fuel or electricity.

Compliance is Simple

This will be strictly enforced.

The Lightning

Yesterday's "green" sportscar was a 200 MPH beast that runs on Bio-diesel, today's is an electric speedster capable of 130 MPH built by the Lightning Car Company, a British manufacturer.

The Trident Iceni

This is the Trident Iceni, Trident is a British auto designer and builder. This could be called the "green" sportscar, it is designed to run on bio-diesel and is capable of cruising at 200 MPH and get approximately 2000 miles on one tank of fuel. You can read more about it here.

Sign of the Times

Kind of sad when society finds it necessary to put signs like this up.

Beware your PC

Getting your ass kicked by a computer would suck.

Rocket Man to fly over Channel

Yves Rossy completed a 10-minute test flight with an 8ft jet-powered wing strapped to his back, flying more than 22 miles - the equivalent of travelling from Dover to Calais.

Mr Rossy, 48, first tested his wings in May after working on the contraption for four years. The self-styled "Rocket Man" flew at 8,200ft for more than five minutes after jumping out from a plane. The wings have four small engines attached to a carbon wing and can manipulated using a lever that controls the fuel.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Thanks W

I don't claim membership to any political party, I consider myself as a strict independent that has voted both Libertarian as well as Green Party in the past, but this image speaks volumes about what George W. Bush has managed to achieve with his time in the Oval Office. I won't even bother to mention the complete collapse of the residential construction market.

The House of Garbage

Nitt Witt Ridge is a house on two-and-a-half-acres in Cambria, California, located at 881 Hillcrest Dr, Cambria Pines. Artist/recluse Arthur "Art" Harold Beal (d. 1992) bought his hillside lot in 1928, and spent most of the next 50 years carving out the terraces with only a pick and shovel, and creating his own "castle on a hill."

Arthur Harold Beal is known as Der Tinkerpaw or Captain Nitt Witt. Beal was garbage collector for the town of Cambria in the 1940s and '50s, and made good use of what Cambrians were throwing away, as well as the natural materials on the property, in the nearby pine forests, and on the area's beaches. Some parts are also reportedly remnants from Hearst Castle where he reportedly worked for a time. Other common building materials are beer cans, abalone shells, and concrete. There are also washer drums, car rims, tile, car parts, and old stoves.

After Art died in 1992 at the age of 96, his ashes were spread around his favorite redwood on Nitt Witt Ridge. The house still is full of knicknacks and architectural uniqueness, despite the deterioration and ransacking it suffered after Art's death.

In 1999 Michael and Stacey O'Malley became the owners of Nitt Witt Ridge. They have repaired some of the house and cleaned up the gardens. Their enthusiasm for Nitt Witt Ridge is apparent in Michael's guided tours of the property. Tours are available by reservation only and include a four-minute video.

Twister

A very cool short video of a funnel cloud.

Life Explained

On the first day, God created the dog and said:

“Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.”

The dog said: “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?”

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

“Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.”

The monkey said: “Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?”

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

“You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.”

The cow said: “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?”

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:

“Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.”

But man said: “Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?”

“Okay”, said God, “You asked for it.”

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

Browsers

Another recent conversation was on the subject of internet browsers and the pitfall that is Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the browser that most scripts are designed to invade. I was absolutely astounded by the number of people that are unaware that there are alternatives out there that work well and cost nothing but a small amount of time to download. Firefox is probably the most popular alternative, an open source product from Mozilla, it is based on the old Netscape concept, without all the Nutscrape problems. It is powerful, stable, and and completely customizable, with several hundred custom add ons. Another alternative is Opera, which is the browser I use normally, though not as flexible as Firefox with the custom options, it does have a decent amount of add on widgets if you feel the need, and it is a bit faster than Firefox. There are other open source alternatives out there, I have tried a few, the only two that I would reccomend to someone else are the two I have linked in this post. Their free, they work, and you should be using one.

Memories

There was some conversation on cartoons and comic strips today and it reminded me of how much I miss Bloom County, the comic strip by Berkley Breathed, that featured some characters that were larger than life, including Bill the Cat, Opus, and of course the Basselope. His combination of talking animals and subtle political contempt made for enjoyable daily reading.

Click image for larger view.

The Baseball Project

Rock n' roll vets Scott McCaughey and Steve Wynn have an unhealthy love for music undermined only by an even more unhealthy love of baseball. The compatriots blend their two passions with The Baseball Project -- Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, an album of buzzing guitars and baseball back stories. Drummer Linda Pitmon and Peter Buck round out the squad, as they spin tales of ill-fated drinking binges ('The Yankee Flipper', 'The Death of Big Ed Delahanty'), folk heroes ('Fernando', 'Satchel Paige Said') and, on 'Gratitude (For Curt Flood)', the overlooked man who changed the game.


You can purchase a copy of this here

Cartoon Skeletons

In his presentation Animatus, at the natural history museum in Basel, Switzerland, South Korean artist Hyungkoo Lee has incorporated techniques of paleontologists to create accurate bone structures of Warner Brothers and Hanna Barbera characters including Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck.

Click image for larger view.

Architecture as Art

Architect Robert Harvey Oshatz came up with this design keeping in view the requirements of the client: the client wanted a house that not only became a part of the natural landscape but also addressed the flow of music. The Wilkinson Residence is located in Portland, Oregon. Douglas fir beams are used as expressed structural elements within the home. The design uses a natural wood ceiling that floats on curving laminated wood beams and pass through glass walls which wraps around the main living room. Private spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms are located downstairs while the upper floor of the home accommodates the more public functions of the home.

'The steep slope of the site provided an opportunity to bring the building out into the forest canopy. Entry to the house is made through a small courtyard after walking down a steep driveway. The floor then continues out over the slope as the ground rapidly drops away. By the time the cantilevered deck reaches out amongst the trees, the floor level is some 25 feet above the ground.'

Solving Problems

Maho Beach is known worldwide because of Princess Juliana International Airport that is situated adjacent to the beach. The Princess Juliana airport (the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean) has a short runway - at only 2,180 meters which barely long enough for heavy jets to land. And hence the incoming airplanes approach the island on short final for Runway 09 and have to fly extremely low, resulting in very low altitudes on their final approach over the beach and passing only 10-20 meters (30-60 ft.) over relaxing tourists on the Maho Beach.

Click image for a larger view.

Texas town OK's Armed Teachers

The tiny community of Harrold, in the far north of the state, has recently approved a local decision that allows its teachers to bring firearms to school to protect against possible shootings.
Full story here.

Animals That Aren't Bright

Watch him jump when I do this.

You Might be a Redneck If

Your dog can smoke a cigarette.

A man asks you to dance and you take off your clothes and get up on the table.

Giving directions to your house includes the phrase "when the paved road ends".

You have ever inherited a stolen road sign.

Your mother fails to remove the Marlboro from her mouth while she tells the state trooper to kiss her ass.

You have ever said "you kids stop painting the dog".

All of your stories start out with "ya'll ain't gonna believe this".

You run a business from a pay phone.

Strive to be an executive

The executive restroom is on the second floor.

Bizarre Body Art the Sequel

I have no idea what they are trying to achieve with this, but I think it looks pretty damn cool.

Click image for a larger view.

Cool House

This house is in Wellfleet on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Those Crazy Norse

Colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian army Nils Olav stood to attention as he received a knighthood this morning in front of 30 members of the Norwegian guard at Edinburgh zoo. Full story available here.

File This Under

Who in the hell would voluntarily wear this?

That's a Lot of John Deere Green

Record setting harvest in Norton Kansas, where 100 combines harvest 160 acres of wheat in 10 minutes and 15 seconds. The profit from the harvest will be donated to a local youth camp.

Puppy the Topiary Dog Sculpture by Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons' Puppy is a staggering achievement of sculptural imagination, horticultural dexterity and engineering skill. First created in 1992 for a temporary exhibition in the German city of Arolson, Puppy was an immediate sensation drawing huge crowds and critical acclaim. A symbol, according to Koons, of "love, warmth and happiness," this contemporary masterpiece is a triumph of scale, color and materials.

Once described as "the seventh wonder of the world," Puppy was installed in Sydney, Australia in 1996 and one year later traveled to Bilbao in Spain where it became a permanent part of the Guggenheim Museum's collection and an internationally-recognized icon for the Basque city.

Born in 1955, Jeff Koons is one of the world's most widely recognized artists. In the 1980's his sculptures and photographs explored contemporary American iconography and the relationship between popular kitsch and high art. Koons' signature work is sculpture that is most often inspired by strikingly simple culturally-laden imagery.
Rising 43 feet tall from the Puppy 's paws to its ears, the sculpture is formed from a series of stainless steel armatures constructed to hold over 25 tons of soil watered by an internal irrigation system. Over seventy thousand multi-hued flowering plants will grow from this steel-and-soil armature, including Marigolds, Begonias, Impatiens, Petunias, and Lobelias.