My view of the world

This was posted last month in NYC
“We were happily cruising around the Internet yesterday when we stumbled upon a link on Andrew Sullivan’s blog that gave us one of those moments Dave Chappelle joked about in Killin’ Them Softly: “Have you ever had something happen that was so racist that you didn’t even get mad? You were just like, ‘Goddamn, that was racist.” That’s how we felt when we saw TheSockObama.com, a Website peddling an “Obama” monkey doll.”

“This kind of garbage has come up before (it was reported in May that a bar owner in Georgia was selling T-shirts that said “Obama ‘08” and showed Curious George eating a banana), but the Sock Obama Website seemed even more nefarious for some reason. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t even hint at any racist intentions; they could have easily been selling Vermont Teddy Bears.”

The Original Sock Obama and the newest incarnation –The NoSock Obama.

You can see the change, but the site said this:
“Fits best on 16 inch lavish and lanky, fit and fabulous, distinguished yet precocious politically plush toys.”

In a form letter (posted in the NYC article) to people who had emailed them about the original the company said that it was not intended as Racist.

Meanwhile back at the ranch:
The company has just released the John McSock doll.

I checked eBay just for the heck of it and didn’t find any SockObama dolls but I did find this sponsored link:
—————————————————–
Buy Your Own Obama Monkey
Buy an ObamaMonkey stuffed animal today! Free Shipping.
www.SockPoliticians.Com
—————————————————–

I don’t know what a sponsored link costs but it looks like there’s money in them thar socks.

Some comments on the photos I’ve posted.
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I just caught hell because I only took one shot of Elvis. My lady says I should have asked him to pose by the Caddy. —She’s not from around here.

I grew up in Las Vegas and I’ve seen so many incarnations of “The King” that the only reason I stuck the camera out the window as I drove by was to get a shot of the car and even that was an after-thought.
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The picture I titled “Gone Fishin’” is from parts unknown. Someone found it and sent it to me. The water looks cold and fast, but deep enough that there might be some good sized trout. —Wish I was there to find out.
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The “Give a Damn” sign I got from Old Dude and I have no idea where he got it.
—It’s the best, toughest advice I’ve seen lately, and worth repeating.
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The Hurricane Machine…. Hmmm, Load it on to a flatbed, haul it out by the base and annoy the jets.

Elvis driving a vintage pink Caddy.

Stolen fair and square from Old Dude.

This is the hurricane simulator built by the University of Florida. It has 4 marine diesels and can generate winds in excess of 100mph and simulate rain at as much as 35 inches per hour. —They also built a shingle thrower to go with it.

I know that it was built to test structures under hurricane conditions, but viewed from this angle I get a mental picture of the tuba player from the marching band seeing it and yelling dibs.

Ok boys and girls here’s a simple lesson in the realities beyond the hype.

Hydrogen is the most abundant atom in the universe. But it forms extremely strong bonds with other atoms like oxygen and it takes energy to break these bonds. The easiest way to do this is by using electricity to break the h20 bond. The other method is called cracking whereby hydrogen is extracted from other sources such as oil which is by definition reliant on fossil fuels.

Hmmm, lots of electricity is required to make lots of hydrogen. This in turn begs the question. How is this electricity being generated? Try mostly fossil fuels. —So much for green.

Since the hydrogen atom is extremely small it tends to escape from most normal containers. Over time hydrogen can even work it’s way through a steel container, creating in the process what is known as hydrogen embrittlement in the process. This leads to a whole collection of unsafe, potentially explosive effects, most notably fastener failure. While certain plating materials will prevent this, any imperfection, however small, will serve as an escape point for the gas and lead straight back to the original problem.

Anyone who thinks hydrogen is safe should watch the footage of the Hindenburg fire.

Just a thought. What happens if you are running on hydrogen and are in a major pileup? I think it gives new meaning to the phrase “up in smoke.”

The question then becomes. How do we store it? There are several methods including the use of metal hydrides under consideration. Unfortunately these methods have proven to be expensive, complicated, and not ready for prime time.

Even electric cars require some source of generated electricity to charge and the batteries need to be replaced periodically which raises environmental questions.

The only green alternative I can see at this point in time is a change in culture and more efficient mass transportation.

—–TANSTAAFL

I found this unusual fireworks photo on a friend’s site and copied it with his permission.

Click on the picture for a larger view. (1406×1260 533k)

After 30 or so frames I got one of the fireworks to look the way I wanted.
If they’re going to be made up of little balls of fire, I wanted them to look like little balls, or maybe an alien sky.

Hand held (JPG -Fine)
Nikon D300
Nikon 24-120mm VR=on
120mm
Mode M
ISO 1600
f5.6
Exposure unknown

I’m certain that his getting the shot he set out to get was mostly luck and I’m equally certain that a great many photographers could duplicate this effect with little difficulty. But luck or not, he got the shot he saw in his mind and I for one think it’s cool.

He told me that out of 30 odd shots this was the only usable frame.

Beats my record. — He grabbed his camera on a whim, walked out in his back yard in his bare feet and fired off 30 frames and got what I think is a great shot.

I took my D300 with several lenses, out away from the lights, set it on a tripod and fired in excess of 200 shots at various setting I found on the net, trying to get the cliche fireworks shot and got nothing I would be willing to post.

Actually it’s diamond film from tequila.
From New Scientist Print Edition:
A team of researchers led by Javier Morales of the University of Nuevo León near Monterrey in Mexico have shown that ordinary tequila does the job nicely. They injected the heated vapour from 80-proof “tequila blanco” into a low-pressure chamber. Measurements confirmed that the carbon deposited on test surfaces had a diamond structure (www.arxiv.org/abs/0806.1485). “Some kinds of tequila seem naturally to have the right mix of atoms,” says Morales. Other forms of alcohol have also worked, although it’s not clear if this is faster or more reliable than using common precursors such as acetone.

You can download their paper in pdf form here.

They say that different kinds make better diamonds. — I hope it’s only Cuervo Gold they use and not Patron.

For no particular reason:
The Naked Mole Rat - Just about as ugly as they come.