General Sherman and General Grant Are Also Names of Large Trees

Posted on: 12 April 2009 /
Categories: Travel

To wit:   General Sherman, the “largest living thing on earth”. There are people at the foot of the tree, for comparison, some of whom were relatively large — I assumed they were from the midwest.   As clearly demonstrated above, General Grant is barely three inches wide. Beyond just the generals, a lot of

Read More →

TSA: Where Nanny State and Police State Meet

Posted on: 4 April 2009 /
Categories: Fascism

Or maybe those are synonyms — whatever. Just saw this on Cato-at-Liberty: (The recording and interview with the guy are the good part, the rest of the clip is usual FoxNews grandstanding and chest-thumping.) Seriously, though, how can anyone *not* have a problem with a quasi-police force at the airport that’s not responsible enough to

Read More →

Iraq Cost-Benefit Analysis and Net Present Value: The Only Reason to Be For or Against Continuing the War

Posted on: 31 March 2009 /
Categories: Global Politics, War

I’ve been watching the PBS series Carrier, which follows the USS Nimitz through a Persian Gulf deployment in 2005 (note: this post was written a while back). One of the things that’s most striking is how the crew splits up in terms of their views on the war. Also striking is how neither side’s opinion

Read More →

Titles of Blog Posts I’ve Started But Haven’t Published (Yet?)

Posted on: 30 March 2009 /
Categories: Self Promotion

And what a richer world we’d live in if I ever did…: “Spam Trap Wisdom” — It’s sort of interesting what blog spammers are using now to try and break through. “Keys to a Successful Life” — This post is finished already. I’m going to publish it one day, but I’m not sure whether it’s

Read More →

Movie Review: Prince Caspian

Posted on: 29 March 2009 /
Categories: Movies

Best Part: When the Lion-Christ jumped forty feet across a ravine in order to break the dude’s neck, then awakened His tree army to go out and kill millions of soldiers who, like all soldiers, weren’t fighting for “the cause”, but rather for the guy next to them. Biggest Question: When the pink minotaur was

Read More →

#15, Build-Your-Own Burger, The Counter, Santa Monica

Posted on: 26 March 2009 /
Categories: Travel

So I finally knocked off the other SoCal location on the 20 must-eat hamburgers list.   To The Counter’s infinite credit: a little on the rare side. It’s a tough one to evaluate. The meat quality was spectacular. I opted for the two-thirds-pound patty and asked for medium-rare — that worked out great. The hard

Read More →

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

Posted on: 24 March 2009 /
Categories: Movies

I sort of feel bad because the main reason I watched it was because Telkontar expressed a profound fondness for the movie. OTOH, this isn’t the first movie we’ve had different opinions on. Best Part: The first 45 minutes. Some pleasant, well-orchestrated tension and violence. Biggest Question: How did anyone accomplish any of the things

Read More →

Movie Review: Sophie Scholl, the Final Days

Posted on: 23 March 2009 /
Categories: Movies

Best Part: We don’t get to hear a whole lot about the German youth-resistance over here in the states, so it was kind of fun to hear a little about it. (Although I hear there’s a Helmuth Hübener movie currently in production starring Haley Joel Osment — odd.) Plus it had some good in medias

Read More →

Cross-Country Road Trip v3.0: 48 States, 90 Days

Posted on: 22 March 2009 /
Categories: Travel

Someday. I’m thinking spring departure and going counter-clockwise might be better than summer and clockwise (if nothing else, it should help avoid the problems of hurricane season). Anyway, here’s a map of the latest idea:  The push-pins are only sort-of significant. – [ ] Day 1 – [ ] Mission Viejo to Grand Staircase-Escalante NM

Read More →

The Reagan Library in Simi Valley

Posted on: 17 March 2009 /
Categories: Museums, Travel

Went there in early February with HC12 and allotted kids, thereby concluding my series of visits to local presidential libraries. Never again to slip the surly bonds of earth (probably). Pros: Air Force One on permanent display (the *old* Air Force One). It’s like a museum of my life from 1981-88. And I kind of

Read More →

1 … 30 31 32 33 34 … 49