ink from the squid

almost feel sorry for the GOP.....

2008-07-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

from policy...

to positioning....

Pat Oliphant and our local boy Ben Sargent.

dee-lightful...

2008-07-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hell Boy on Inside the Actor's Studio...

add a smoker and I'll think about it..

2008-06-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

the next step for tailgating...

You’re a drinker with places to go. You need to bring a lot of beer to the next tailgate but transporting 160 cans takes up too much room in your car. What if there was a fully self-contained kegerator with a sound system that rides outside your vehicle? That assuredly will make you the biggest bad ass at the tailgate party. It’s called the Party-A-Cargo and if you were wondering what to do with that pesky economic stimulus check, you can now pony up about three grand and spring for the standard model.

get it here

All the news..

2008-06-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes even the venerable New York Times gets it wrong.

In a n article today about Democratic Party drives to register people in Louisiana to vote the Times may have pandered just a bit...

I quote my letter to the editorial board..

In your article about Democratic efforts to registrar voters in Louisiana you back handedly refer to Acorn as a "left -wing national organizing group".

Regardless of political affiliation, any group, organization or, for that matter bridge club, that contributes to the number of eligible people to vote can only have a positive and realistic outcome any popular vote.

Actually , having only having a passing acquaintance with Acorn, I looked in at their site and found all this 'left-wing" propaganda..

Affordable Housing
Better Schools
Fair Housing
Gulf Coast Recovery
Health Care

and of particular importance to those of us with out monetary resources..

Living Wage
Paid Sick Days
Predatory Lending

Yes, obliviously there is much here to be concerned about.

Check out Acorn yourself.

I just joined.

Is that some sort of alien sex?

2008-06-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

what do you think it is?

Velcro.

Velcro Scanning Electron Microscopy images by Jim Ekstrom,

and the history..

You surely know the famous story about George de Mestral’s 1941 hunting trip in Switzerland - while walking his dog in the mountains, he accidentally brushed up against some cocklebur plants, and by the time he got back home, dozens of the round, spiky seeds were clinging to his wool trousers (and his poor dog’s fur).

What you don’t know is how hard it was for de Mestral to translate that natural stroke of genius into man-made one. He quickly figured out why the seed were so sticky by examining them under a microscope - the spikes each ended in tiny hooks that grabbed onto fabric and fur and wouldn’t let go.
But it wasn’t until 1952 that de Mestral made a serious effort to mimic the cockleburs’ hooks using different types of fabric. He quit his day job and raised $150,000 in venture capital, an enormous sum at the time. He also joined up with a textile weaver from Lyon, France - the only weaver who thought the idea would actually work. The pair’s first attempt, using cotton, was a failure. But nylon, sewn into tiny hooks under bright infrared light, worked much better. He dubbed it "Velcro" after velvet and "crochet," the French word for "hook."

JUST PLAIN STUCK

De Mestral seemed to be on his way to a huge success, and large-scale production finally began in the mid ’50s. But the fabric didn’t actually make it to market until a decade later, and when it did, it flopped. It was extremely useful but also extremely ugly - a hard sell given that de Mestral mostly envisioned it being used on clothes. High-end designers wouldn’t touch the stuff.

The only group that found it appealing was the burgeoning aerospace industry - astronauts didn’t want to fiddle with zippers and laces while trying to get in and out of their spacesuits, and they also needed a way to keep their various personal items and food from floating away in zero gravity. (The association with NASA later popped up in the 1997 movie Men in Black, which short-shrifts de Mestral by claiming Velcro was actually invented by aliens and adapted for Earth use.)

By the time people figured out that Velcro could also be hugely useful on everything from kids’ shoes to watchbands, de Mestral’s patent was close to expiring, and factories in Taiwan and Korea were churning out similar stuff. Today, if you use Velcro as a generic term, you’ll make some Velcro executives very unhappy. The word has been Xeroxed, or if you prefer, Kleenexed - the company would much prefer that you use the generic "hook-and-loop" unless you’re referring specifically to their brand.

De Mestral, by the way, wasn’t just the inventor of Velcro. He also received a patent for a toy plane at age 12 and went on to design a hygrometer (which measures air humidity) and an asparagus peeler not unlike the kind that’s "As Seen on TV."

In the Beginning by way of Neatorama

hey, is there a restroom around here...

2008-06-06T21:51:00.001-07:00

I've been out on a golf course after a few or a dozen beers...
and on rare occasions have been known to, ahem, water the foliage.
Never again.
The UroClub.
The extra club all serious golfers need.

Every aspect of this piece of equipment has been meticulously worked out to make it simple and trouble free to use. To start with, the UroClub™ is designed from a light weight resin with a molded grip. The cap opens and closes easily and is designed with a triple sealing system to ensure that it is leak proof.

The privacy shield hooks to the sides of the pants or belt and adds stability. This allows freedom of the hands to manipulate the club and zipper.

The entire club is made of a non-porous material. Therefore, caring and cleaning is effortless!

The UroClub™ is intended to eliminate anxiety and any feeling of uneasiness on the course. It can be emptied at the nearest restroom or later on, when the golfer returns home.

Capacity: Over half a liter, twice the volume commonly urinated.

Length: Like a standard 7 Iron

just don't mistake it for this club...

The Electronic Drink Caddy

The perfectly discreet way to enjoy hot or cold drinks right from your golf bag. It looks like a regulation driver, but its secret is the one-button dispensing pump. Designed to sit unobtrusively in a side pocket so it doesn’t take up space inside. Fill with hot or cold beverages, and they’ll stay at the right temperature for hours. Holds 54 oz. Detach for easy cleaning. Includes four AA batteries.

that would be hilarious!!!

just a bit outside the strike zone...

2008-06-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

here's the story..

Video of the incident during the game last weekend shows Stephens County catcher Matt Hill ducking at the last second and the pitch striking umpire Jeff Scott in the face mask. Scott was uninjured.The pitch from Cody Martin came during the third and deciding game in the state championship between Stephens County and Cartersville, won 13-1 by Cartersville.

One witness said Stephens players were upset several of their teammates had been called out on strikes by Scott.State athletic officials are investigating and said Tuesday they will have a ruling within a few days.The Stephens County principal has apologized for the incident.

WSB-TV Atlanta by way of ChadHastings.com

watch that first step...

2008-06-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

a new water ride in Germany that makes you loop the loop.

how do the get enough speed to make a human body go fast enough to loop the loop...

they drop the floor on you.

thanx Gizmodo

it's offical....

2008-06-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

Bring on McCain!!!

33 bottles of beer on the wall, 32 bottles of beer..

2008-05-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

folks, I am in the alcohol business , in other words I sell liquor , wine and beer for a living...

but , until I started working where I work now, where the emphasis is to be the best in town on all three, did I realize that Beer Nurds are as crazy as Cork Dorks, if not more so.

So, if you have someone close to you, that is driving you nutso about which beer has the most hops, or when is the next seasonal due from (insert the brewery), or a myriad other questions that drive most of us to the brink of insanity!!!!!!!...

direct them here...

RateBeer.

and look for the beer buyer I work with.....

no, no I can't do it.

James, you owe me.

he made me laugh, damn it...

2008-05-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

"now go do that voodoo that you do so well....!!!!

Harvey Korman passed today .

Back in the 1960s and '70s, he was a regular on The Carol Burnett Show, where he parodied soap opera As the World Turns in As the Stomach Turns. And he turned Gone with the Wind into Went with the Wind.
Mel Brooks loved that kind of burlesque and put Korman in his movies, including High Anxiety and History of the World. Brooks said he gave Korman tongue-twister lines because he was the only one who could get his mouth around them.
Korman also created classic comedy in Blazing Saddles. He played the conniving — but unfortunately named — villain Hedley Lamarr.

NPR

here's a scene from High Anxiety

and couple from Blazing Saddles, including the aforementioned quote.

I was traded for what ?!?

2008-05-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

John Odom of the Golden Baseball League Calgary Vipers was traded to the United League Laredo Broncos earlier this week.

not for another player or a player to be named later..

not for money...

but for baseball bats, ten to be precise.

10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black, 34-inch, C243 style.
"They just wanted some bats, good bats -- maple bats," Broncos general manager Jose Melendez said.

According to the Prairie Sticks website, their maple bats retail for $69 each, discounted to $65.50 for purchases of six to 11 bats.

"It will be interesting to see what 10 bats gets us," Melendez said.

The Canadian team signed Odom about a month ago, but couldn't get the 26-year-old righty into the country. It seems Odom had a "minor" but unspecified criminal record that wasn't revealed to immigration officials before they scanned his passport, Vipers president Peter Young said.

Odom said the charge stemmed from a fight he was in at age 17. Although he thought it had been expunged from his record, it popped up during immigration.

Odom spent hundreds of dollars driving to the Canadian border and staying at a Montana hotel while the matter was sorted out. He then drove to Laredo after the trade.

Originally from Atlanta, Odom was drafted late by the San Francisco Giants in 2003. He pitched 38 games, all in Class A, from 2004-06, and was released by the organization this spring.

Laredo intends to activate Odom on Monday and have him make his first start Wednesday.

Odom said he was supposed to be traded for Laredo's best hitter. But when that player balked at moving to Calgary, the bats entered the deal.

Laredo offered cash for Odom, but Young said that was "an insult."

The bat trade wasn't the first time Calgary came up with some creative dealmaking. The Vipers once tried to acquire a pitcher for 1,500 blue seats when they were renovating their stadium, Young said.

I don't know, maybe the Flint Tropics got a better deal for Monix with the washing machine.

Sportsline

best Simpson's episode ever...

2008-05-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

take the Simpson's Softball Quiz.

below is my score...

The Simpsons Softball Quiz

Score: 100% (9 out of 9)

my mother would of been so proud.

Do you remember the song?

and don't forget WonderBat.

excellent

juice, gotta get the juice...

2008-05-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

This image shows a breakdown by county in the Continental USA of gas prices,
it must be free in Alaska and more expensive than Dom Perignon in Hawaii.

I live in Texas, where we produce a lot of oil both inland and offshore...

so our prices stand to reason, we own y'all.

and there are only 12 or so people in Mississippi and South Carolina all told with 'lectricity...

and ya know Cheney is gonna make sure Wyoming gets their fix..

But...

where the hell is Missouri and Arizona getting it.

I understand California has to pay more, but why more in NoCal than L.A?

it's a mystery..

see more detailed, zoom able and up to date map at GasBuddy.

shown the way by Neatorama

helter, skelter...

2008-05-20T17:29:00.001-07:00

The Manson Family Murders are still keeping people up at night.

Sheriffs' detectives in Inyo County, Calif., believe a one-time hideout of the notorious Charles Manson clan may be concealing the bodies of murder victims from nearly 40 years ago. The detectives are converging Tuesday on the Barker Ranch with shovels and high-tech ground-penetrating radar to search for graves.
The Manson family killed actress Sharon Tate and six other people in Los Angeles in 1969. Later, a member of the gang suggested that more victims had been buried at the ranch near Death Valley.

A police detective last year took Buster, a dog trained to find cadavers, to the site where Manson hid after a killing spree that left seven dead in the summer of 1969. Buster's agitated behavior indicated the presence of decaying human remains, Los Angeles Times reporter Louis Sahagun told Alex Chadwick.
Subsequent searches were inconclusive, as were soil tests, but Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze said he would allow a limited four-day excavation at Barker Ranch beginning Tuesday. The main targets of the dig were to be hot spots that Buster had flagged.
"There was no consistent response from the dogs that searched and no conclusive findings from the soil samplings tested by top experts in the field," Lutze said in a statement. "The only way to determine once and for all whether there are bodies buried at Barker Ranch from the time of the Manson family is to proceed with limited excavation."

NPR

yes, yes we can and we will...

2008-05-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Jason Baskin from Obama 08

a look ahead

2008-05-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

an amusing look at the future of Martian exploration...

Wohba

and a reminder, The Phoenix Mars Mission will land on May. 25th.

new domain.. same TexSquid..

2008-05-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

I have moved, but nothing else will change.