After seeing Terry's post on celebrity look-alikes over at Wild Ramblings (see link under Other Blogs on the right), I did a little searching on my own and found another funny site. This one lets you upload your picture and morph it into a different age, race, etc.
Here is what I'll look like when I get older:
Here is what I'd look like if I were African American:
Check it out: St. Andrew's Face Morpher
Tonight my $6 investment in a butterfly bush paid off as a beautiful yellow butterfly spent several minutes on it getting a drink.
Yesterday, was our second annual "Team Building Exercise". It's really just a day where we take off work and go the the lake to horse around.
After several margaritas and a few beers, I was feeling really good. But as the day wore on, it became obvious that I'd reached my limit...and went way beyond it. Suddenly, the trip became not so fun.
I'm not exactly sure what happened after that. I do remember hanging my head over the rail of the boat for most of the trip back. Oh, yeah, and I remember vomiting over the rail in front of all of my co-workers. Sweet! I'm sure they'll never let me live that one down.
I passed out in the car on the way back (I wasn't driving). I'm really glad I didn't vomit in the car. That would have been bad.
When I finally got home, I slept for around 12 hours.
If anything good comes out of this, it will be that I don't plan on touching any liquor again for quite some time.
After having witnessed the video of the two guys dropping Mentos candy into 2-Liter Diet Cokes on eepybird.com, we couldn't resist trying the experiment at work on our smoke break.
For the first experiment, we didn't have a 2-Liter or a Diet Coke, so we used a 20oz Diet Pepsi. I devised a paper tube from an index card to fit over the neck of the bottom. Just above the opening, I cut a slit and put a piece of paper in there cross ways to hold the Mentos just over the fluid. Then, I yanked the paper out and took off running. The drink did indeed produce a lot of foam, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as the video. The foam came out and spilled over the sides without making any kind of geyser.
So we watched the video again to see what we did wrong. We realized in the video, the guys left the lid on. They drilled a hole through the lid and fed a string through it. This creates a nozzle of sorts. Then, they apparently threaded the Mentos onto a string. So on smoke break #2, we took the original bottle, filled it just above half-way with Diet Coke, and poked a small hole in the lid. We recreated the experiment pretty well. The hardest part was getting the needle through the Mentos without breaking them. I nearly made the mistake of putting the lid on before we went outside. That could have been a disasterous elevator ride, if I'd accidentally let go of the string.
Outside, I had Terry hold the thread and Mentos above the fluid while I put the lid on. Then we dropped the string and Mentos into the Coke. This time we created a geyser, but it still wasn't like the one on the video. Not even close. I think we had too much air in the bottle. By the time the foam bubbled up to the neck, most of the air pressure had already escaped. I think the bottle has to be filled up nearly to the top.
Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.
Starting today, Tulsa county has tougher animal control laws. Tulsa has been putting a positive spin on the law, saying it will help with keeping loose dogs from running around, attacking people. Apparently, the county is overrun with this sort of thing, didn't you know? The owner of a loose pet could be fined $500. Also, each pet is required to have a rabies vaccination. Sounds like a good law, right?
Wrong. There is more to the law, and it has an insidious side. Tulsa country now requires you to register all of your pets (I'm not sure if it's just cats and dogs or what...do I have to register my fish, too?) for the ridiculously steep amount of $100. Not only that, you are also required to re-register every year for an additional $50. This is just ridiculous. What family can afford that, especially if you have more than one pet?
I believe this law will make people think twice about adopting pets, which means more of them will be destroyed at the rescue shelter. And I think people will be afraid to take their animals to the vet, for fear of being turned in.
You'd think that with all the improvements in special effects technology and the fact that Superman Returns has around 20 minutes of 3-D in it (but only if you see it at an IMAX), the movie would easily surpass the previous incarnations of Superman. Well, you'd be wrong.
The movie lacks something the original Superman movie with Christopher Reeve had. It just doesn't feel fresh. Rather than re-invent the Man of Steel like they did with the Dark Knight in Batman Begins, they just update him a little. Even the plot is a little stale: it's very similar to the plot of Superman I.
The movie is also too long. By the time the climax is reached, there is easily another 20 minutes...and it seems to drag.
And lets talk about Kevin Spacey. He's a brilliant actor...but his Lex Luther doesn't come anywhere close to Gene Hackman's. Brandon Routh does a great job as Superman...and he so convincingly imitates Christopher Reeve that it is a little eerie at times.
That's not to say it is a bad movie. I didn't hate it. I didn't find at as good as Superman I, but I thought it was better than Superman II.
Finally, there is the 3-D stuff. The 3-D stuff didn't really add anything to the movie. In fact, I found it a little distracting. If the entire movie had been 3-D, it would have been cool...or even one 20 minute block of 3-D. But instead, the 3-D is interspersed throughout the film for about 5 minutes at a time. It comes across as a gimmick. And that's really sad, considering I love IMAX 3-D.
There is a news report on the KTUL website saying that 97 percent of Tulsa is off limits to sex offenders due to laws that say offenders cannot live near parks and schools, etc. I don't really cherish the idea of a sex offender living nearby, but it seems a little restrictive.
I think people should be less concerned about sex offenders and more concerned about violent criminals (the two are not mutually exclusive). Where's the website that shows where the violent criminals live? That's what I really want to see.
I don't understand this. For the past several weeks, I've been denying my self pop and trying to eat healthier. I didn't lose squat. So this week, I really fell off the wagon and drank copious amounts of pop, and I had a large chocolate shake from Burger King (the only thing I'll eat there). When I weighed this morning, I'd lost 3 pounds. Go figure.
Okay, this one goes into the WTF File. A friend of mine found these unusual fireworks at the local fireworks stand. They're called Condom Poppers. I think they're like those champagne poppers. However, I suspect there may be little condoms in it, instead of streaming paper. Get this! There are phrases on the side of each popper like: So Many Girls So "Little" Condoms, Can't Get Enough of a "Small" Thing, For "Small" Emergencies Only, and Tight is Good "Tightwad" Dangerous.
I just finished uploading BlockParty 1.0 to SourceForge.net. The champaigne cork is out (okay, it's really a can of beer).
If you have an iPod or MP3 player, you might want to check it out.
BlockParty
I have three cats. And they all suck. If they're not coughing up hairballs, it's something else.
Yesterday as I was leaving for work, I realized the litter box needed changing, but since I was running late, I thought it could wait.
Well, one of the cats--I'm pretty sure I know which one--decided the leave me a reminder to change the litter box. That's catspeak for "he pissed all over the bed". Vindictive little bastard!
I knew I was going to be up for a late-night work implementation at 1:00am, so I'd planned to come home a little early and take a nap. That did not happen. Instead, I spent the evening steam cleaning the bed and washing sheets.
I'm a little excited about this. I'm working on an open source Java application called BlockParty. I hope to have it available at SourceForge soon.
Basically, it will let you record a "block" of SHOUTcast-compatible internet streaming music. It will produce MP3 files, which can be uploaded to any iPod or MP3-compatible music player.
I got interested in writing the program when I found another project on SourceForge called Streamripper. All the other programs I've evaluated try to break the songs up into separate tracks with varying degrees of success. Streamripper has this capability too, but it's the only one I've found that will also record until a certain file size or time limit has been reached. BlockParty will use Streamripper in the background, but it will have some other features too.
So far the application is coming along nicely. I estimated I will be done with the first version sometime within the next 2 weeks.
I have a love/hate relationship with my 5G iPod, the one with video. I love that it's compact and goes anywhere, can hold several days worth of songs, can show videos when I'm on a plane or in the car, it's relativily easy to use, and the video looks great! But there are some glaring problems (some of which seem easy to fix) with it, too:
1) It's too hard to get movies onto the iPod. Granted, Apple doesn't advertise you can watch movies on it, but since it is a video player, it's sorta implied. Wrong. The Apple Music Store doesn't have movies. Sure, you can buy TV shows from the Apple Music Store, but at $2 a show, an entire season usually costs more than a DVD box set. Which means you must convert the movies yourself, and it's slow and requires you to find third-party software.
2) The Apple Music Store has the option of blending songs together at the breaks, rather than leave a second or two gap between songs. The makes a playlist seem more like a radio broadcast. Yet, the iPod doesn't have this feature. It's probably one of the most requested features on the forums I've seen.
3) When I create a playlist, sometimes I'd like to shuffle it, sometimes not. Unfortunately, the iPod seems to only have a global shuffle setting and it's a pain to navigate to it and turn it on/off.
4) The scroll wheel sensitivity needs to be adjustable. It's aggravating when you highlight something and raise your finger to hit the selector button only to have the selection move as your lift your finger.
I wish Apple and Sirius would team up and build an iPod that could receive Sirius satellite radio transmissions. Now that would be awesome.
Overall, I'd rate myself mostly satified with my iPod, but I don't think it comes close to living up to the hype.
I just got back from X-Men 3. Overall, I liked the movie as much as the others, but it feels rushed in parts. Especially, the ending. This is supposed to be the last movie in the trilogy, but the ending leaves you wondering if Twentieth Century Fox might have something else in mind.
This time around, the personal storylines are all but eliminated. This story is more about mutants struggling for their mere existence. Without giving too much away, at the beginning of the movie we learn a pharmaceutical company has created an injection that will "cure" the mutants by suppressing the mutant genes.
The government claims it doesn't intend to force mutants to take the injection, but Magneto and the other mutants see the writing on the wall, and Magneto decides to put a stop to it all. He starts bombing clinics where injections are given, and appears on TV like Osama Bin Laden saying the attacks will continue as long as mutants are treated like they are diseased. Once again the mutants from Xavier's school realize that Magneto will stop at nothing to get what he wants, so they step in to protect the humans from Magneto's assault. I found myself hoping Magneto would prevail.
There are quite a few new mutants in this one, but like the Batman movies, more mutants doesn't add up to a better movie. Kelsey Grammer plays Beast and I wish they had spent more time with him. Another new mutant with angel wings pops up at the beginning of the movie and makes appearances here and there but never really becomes an integral part of the story. (It is his "disease" that motivates his father's company to search for a cure.) I'm not even sure they mention his name. A new mutant named Juggernaut provides some comic relief.
Most surprisingly, a few of the main mutants are killed in this one, so be prepared! Others are injected.
Despite it's problems, the movie is a fast-paced summer thrill ride, and it fits in well with it's two predecessors.
UPDATE: It appears that if you stay through the closing credits, there is extra footage. Apparently, one of the X-Men who was thought dead is not. Unfortunately, I missed it.
I consider myself an environmentalist. I'm not necessarily a good environmentalist--I rarely recycle, I don't drive a green car, I probably contribute as much trash to the landfill as anyone else--but I was raised in a rural area and I developed an appreciation for nature at an early age. Blame the Boyscouts of America for all those camping trips I went on.
I just ran across a verified true story on Snopes that is really sickening. Basically, a multinational company is wanting to drill in an area of Chile where a glacier now sits for a large deposit of gold. It will devestate the environment there, line the pockets of the shareholders who couldn't care less about the people of Chile, and leave the local people with a bunch of contaminated lakes and streams. Here is a link to the Pascua-Lama story.
The history of mining is littered with stories of contamination. Here in the Tulsa area a few years ago, the Tar Creek Superfund site was born. It brought a lot of heavy minerals like lead and zinc to the surface. It is now causing health problems for the people that live in the area, especially the children who are more susceptible to the metals. The site has been shutdown for years, but it wasn't cleaned up. The people of the area have been petitioning the government for years to buy them out so they can relocate to safer environments. It's looking like they will finally get their wish.
The people of Pascua-Lama will not be so lucky if Barrick Gold has it's way. And it will be hard for them to put up a legal/political fight against a conglomerate with deep pockets.
Over at c|net, they list the current 10 highest radiation cell phones, and Motorola has the top 8 slots. Nice! Especially since I own a Motorola cell phone. Luckily, my phone (V180) was not one of the 8, but it makes me not want to buy Motorola again.
Radiation List
Last night CBS showed the 2-hour finale of The Amazing Race...and guess what? It overlapped with Lost on ABC, so my TiVo didn't record any of The Amazing Race.
I can't believe CBS would be stupid enough to pit their show against Lost, which obviously stomps it in the ratings.
Furthermore, I went to the CBS website to see if I could watch the last episode on their website, now that they let you do that...and the bastards put the winning team on the video download page, as well as the Amazing Race page.
So much for keeping it a mystery.
1. Sign on with ABC. They rarely give poorly-performing shows time to find an audience. If it doesn't get great ratings the first episode or two, it'll be pulled. Emilys Reasons Why Not is a perfect example. The show could have been the next Sex in the City, but it got pulled after the first episode.
2. Move the show to a different night. Here's my theory: Once a show has an audience on a given night, if you move the show, you will lose some of them. It's unlikely 100% of your viewers will tune in to the new night. And, it's unlikely you'll get new viewers, because once a show gets started, the new viewer will not be able to follow it (unless each episode is self-contained and doesn't spill over into other episodes).
3. Have long periods of reruns before showing new episodes. Commander in Chief (again on ABC) had this problem. So has Desparate Housewives and Lost. Guess what, Desparate Housewives has lost a lot of viewers this season. Lost better watch out.
Recently, I learned ABC had given Commander in Chief the axe. This was very upsetting to me, as it is easily the best drama on TV. But what is even more upsetting, is that it was doing great in the ratings on Tuesday nights before they moved it. When they moved it to Thursday against stiff competition from CBS and NBC, it just couldn't keep it's viewers. Oh, and it was in repeats for weeks before the move, so people lost interest, too.
This morning I read ABC is moving Grey's Anatomy from Sunday nights--where it gets great ratings following Desparate Housewives--to Thursday nights, pitting it against CSI. I'm sure it will tank, as well.
ABC did something similar with Alias. They moved it, and then decided not to renew it.
I'm wondering if in the history of television any show has ever been successfully relocated to a different day?
I wish network television would play their flagship shows two nights a week, similar to what HBO does. That way, you're more likely to catch it, and therefore the ratings should stay up if the show is any good. I think they tried that with Lost and Desparate Housewives, and guess what, those show have not been cancelled. Hmn...
Sorry for the lack of entertaining anecdotes for you to read.
I haven't been myself these last couple of weeks. During that time, I've been sick twice, and though I don't have fever or chills right now, I still feel like crap. I've had a headache all day, but I haven't had any caffeine, either. I'm hoping the lack of stimulants is the cause and not something more exotic like meningitus or bird flu.
I think I might have some kind of inner ear infection, because one of my ears feels like it has a cotton ball stuck in it and my equilibrium seems to be affected. Last night I went out for a couple of margaritas for Cinco de Mayo with some friends, and I left the restaurant early because I started to feel worse the longer I was there. The margaritas didn't help. :)
I had all these plans to work on my flowerbed this weekend, but it essentially rained all day. Even if the sun had been shining, I would not have felt up to it. Instead I spent most of the day on the couch watching forensic shows and a couple of movies (Red Eye and Crash--both are excellent).
Hopefully, I'll be better by tomorrow or Monday.
