Tag: fun

More miscellany

Liechtenstein is 200. The total population of the nation is a little over half of that of my town.

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In the market for a new mortgage? Be sure to check out the Mortgage Professor, who has a list of “Upfront Mortgage Brokers”. These brokers promise the transparency of disclosing “the loan’s wholesale price (the interest rate and points), plus the markup, in writing and in advance.”
[Via Newsweek, June 26, 2006.]

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A thought on why Honda rocks:
Last week, during swim lessons, I had a moron moment and forgot to take my Pilot’s key and fob out of my swimsuit pocket. An hour later, after drying off the tyke (the lessons were for him, in case you were wondering), I went to change in to some dry clothes and had one of those Seinfeldian “Oooohhhhhh” moments.
Just out of curiosity, I hit the lock button on the fob. Twice. I heard the Pilot’s horn blast a single note.
And I smiled.
It’s still working, with apparently no ill effects. So is the little keychain LED light my sister-in-law got as a stocking stuffer for me two Christmases ago.

Miscellany

The federal government is apparently looking at creating a national SMS alert system.
[Via MobileTracker.]

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Congratulations to Kyle MacDonald, who, one year and fourteen trades later, bartered a red paper clip for a house.

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Making sure you tipped the right amount after the fact doesn’t do your server much good, does it?

Happy Birthday, Lee!

I’m so glad that forever shall I be five months younger than mi amigo, who apparently is already feeling the effects of age, having to recycle his birthday blog post because he cannot muster the mental faculties to create something original. 😉

Va l’Italia!

In recognition of the nation with the better food, better skiing, and better people winning the World Cup, I thought I would share my favorite French joke. (Blame FranX, as this came up in an IM conversation with him this evening.)

Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees?
A: Because the Germans like to march in the shade.

Miscellany

John points to a 94x magnification of Velcro being pulled apart. Wicked cool.
You can also see Scotch tape being ripped, more Velcro, still more Velcro, and Equisetum strobilus, all worth a look.

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How much do I love Default Folder? Its functionality should be built in to OS X.
(I was just using it quite a bit today, lots of saving in different locales, etc., and I thought a shout-out was in order.)

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After months of waiting, I found it. Part of a pint was consumed this evening. It was yummy. Retrophisch™ Recommended!

Miscellany

Oh, if true, a tabbed Finder would rock.
(Yes, I am aware Path Finder has this functionality already.)

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You may have seen Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of LaGrande Jatte”, not realizing what a masterpiece of impressionist painting it is. My first exposure to it, and I’m betting for lots of children of the ’80s, was thanks to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Now, the famous painting has been recreated by those crazy cheeseheads.

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It kind of sucks that the 1.0b1 version of a piece of software has crashed more on me in two days of use than the alpha verisons have in the past year. Update: I guess I wasn’t clear in my above disappointment. For those keeping score, I’ve “downgraded” to Adium X 0.89.1.

Mostly baseball miscellany

Sometimes, it seems like the Starbucks growth pattern really is this bad, doesn’t it?

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Texas Rangers All-Star Michael Young became the 10th-fastest MLB player to reach the 1,000-hit milestone, cranking off a single in the fifth inning yesterday. Last year’s AL batting champ continues to impress, and remains one of our favorite Rangers.

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I should also note that while my little phisch will see a game on the tube and remark, “Baseball!”, he’s not to the point where he knows players’ names.

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LSU athletics director Skip Bertman was inducted in to the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Topping Bertman’s impressive accomplishments are the five NCAA championships he led the LSU Tigers to, making them the dominate team of the 1990s.

I can still remember where I was and what I was doing when the Tigers won the first championship in ’91. I was at my hometown church, in the gymnasium, buffing the floors, while my bride-to-be was cleaning the kitchen. Starting in high school, I took on the janitorial duties there as a part-time job, and the once-a-month gym floor buffing happened to take place the weekend of the College World Series finals.

Congratulations, Coach, and Geaux Tigers!

Miscellany

I would pay good money to see “The Running of the Congressmen.”

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You know the Oprahfication of America is out of control when Cookie Monster is reduced to introspection.
McSweeney’s:

Me love cookies. Me tend to get out of control when me see cookies. Me know it not natural to react so strongly to cookies, but me have weakness. Me know me do wrong. Me know it isn’t normal. Me see disapproving looks. Me see stares. Me hurt inside.

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You, too, can help Cory Doctorow remove his Apple tattoo. I join Gus in snickering.

Miscellany

Photojojo has a review of the Lensbaby 2.0, a $149 retro novelty lens for digital SLRs.

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From the “Things That Make You Go ‘Huh?'” Department, Tom gives us Mr. Martin Heidegger. After reading Heidegger’s quote, I have the mental equivalent of wanting to get a bad taste out of my mouth…

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In line with my smart-aleck nature, there are more good t-shirts I want, but I would need to perform a serious shirt purge first.

Doyle Redland

If you’re not listening to The Onion Radio News, you’re missing a good chuckle.