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November 19, 2003
Holy crap! Family Guy is making a freakin' return!
File under: "Shit, yeah, I told you so!"
According to this article at USA Today, Fox may be bringing Family Guy back from the dead... again... with as many as 35 new episodes. Being someone who bought a TiVo pretty much just to record Family Guy reruns, I'm pretty excited.
The show did very well and garnered a ferociously loyal following, but apparently wasn't pulling big enough numbers to keep Fox comfortable with it's sometimes controversial content. After being pulled several times, Fox finally pulled the plug and sold the rerun rights to Cartoon Network (once again, thank god for cartoon network). Well, the DVD's of the shows three seasons were released this past year and they OUTSOLD EVERY OTHER TV SERIES DVD COLLECTION AVAILABLE, making it the FOURTH HIGHEST SELLING COLLECTION OF IT'S KIND... EVER.
Things your girlfriend doesn't think are funny
Fensler Films has recut and redubbed some of the PSA-type lessons from the end of old GI JOE cartoons and posted them online for our amusement. These guys are on drugs I've never even heard of. My favorite is called "Pork Sandwiches."
November 18, 2003
A toast to absent members
I mentioned in an entry a couple of weeks ago that MSNBC has an active roster of all of the US casualties in Iraq since the "end of operations" on May 1st, 2003. I also mentioned that the link was sent to me by my best friend, US Army Sergeant John Glynn (aka Juice). Thirdly, I mentioned that Juice would like us look closely at the list, and understand exactly why these people are dead before we cast our votes in the next presidential election.
Since then, Juice has been called back into active duty, nearly 8 years after enlisting and 6 years since serving. In less than two months, he will be sent to Baghdad or Afghanistan and put in harm's way once again.
Backstory
Juice enlisted himself in 1996 at the age of 18. After boot camp and specialist training, he spent a full initial tour of two years patrolling borders and keeping peace in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Upon returning to the states in 1999, he sought to return to a life of relative normalcy and begin the college career his GI Bill would be helping him to fund. Unfortunately, there was a serious breach in GI Bill obligations on the part of the US Army. It took several months and a Class Action lawsuit before promises were kept.
Studies went well. School became a priority. Several days a week, Juice supplements his finances by working for the Army either training recruits or filing paperwork. Two or three nights a week he and I studied karate together. Eventually, Juice's studies brought him to Arizona where he currently lives.
On Wednesday, November 5th, Juice received word that he had been officially accepted to a study abroad program for the following semester in Florence. The next day, November 6th, he received a voicemail from his former Commanding Officer telling him that he would report to base in Massachusetts and prepare for a full 12 month combat tour in the Middle East instead of a semester in Florence.
End Term-Of-Service
A soldier is normally in active duty for a two year tour after enlisting. During this time, he will normally train on base, perhaps learn a specialty, and often take college courses. Some, such as Juice, are sent into active duty on foreign soil if there is a hostile situation. Maybe Juice got a bit of a raw deal there. After the initial tour of duty, the soldier is then relegated to the Army Reserves. A Reservist may be called into duty at any time, and must dedicate some weekend time to training, but is otherwise free. I've learned recently that each soldier is issued an ETS or End Term-Of-Service date to occur eight years from the day he becomes active. After this date, he can no longer be called back into active duty unless he re-enlists. Juice is several months from his ETS.
Right now the US Army has enacted something called a Stop ETS. This essentially prohibits any active soldier from becoming inactive for any reason short of death or dismemberment. Any soldier who reaches his ETS is not currently eligible for release. Any officer of retirement stature is not currently eligible for retirement. Any person who willfully leaves active duty will be considered AWOL and court marshaled. In addition to this, Juice has told me that the platoon that he is being sent to relieve has been there for 15 months of a 12 month tour. Not long before they were to be sent home, they were issued a 3 month extention. Juice expects something similar to happen to him.
Essentially, the US Government doesn't seem to see fit to honor any agreement set forth in peace-time with with soldiers and citizens. Apparently, all bets are off while we are at war. Unfortunately, most of the American public seems to have forgotten there is a war at all. An overall apathy has washed over this country with the same entirety with which civil unrest and protest did in 1967. Our soldiers have it bad, and no one knows or cares.
Be the second party another country, the UN, or the soldiers enlisted in it's own army, the United States has shown no interest in reason and no intention of honor.
November 17, 2003
Classifieds for the vengeful masses
November 16, 2003
Paris Hilton is stupider than Jessica Simpson
No follow-up. No link.
Just wanted to put that out there.
November 12, 2003
Perfect companion piece for your Terra Wind
Unlike the Terra Wind, which is probably really cool, but mostly just invokes laughter and crude jokes, the Gibbs Aquada sports car / speed boat seems to elicit a sort of thinly veiled envy from most of my coworkers. The boat is shown, a weak sarcastic remark is made, but their eyes tear up a bit and fill with an unmistakable longing. They want this carboat.
100 mph on land an over 30 pmh in the water. Switches modes with the push of a button. In the water, it still steers with the wheel and throttles with the accelerator. If you're with a girl and decide to pretend you've run out of gas, she no longer has the option of walking home... it's you or the ocean.
Behold, the Gibbs Aquada.
November 10, 2003
The Shins become eclectic
Some bands have off days. Sometimes really great bands write really ok songs. The Shins are the most consistantly amazing band in the world. Every performance is amazing, every song is a winner. All hits, kids. All hits.
They performed live this morning on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic and it was among the most impressive studio performances I've ever heard. I was so psyched, I went to the site to hear it again, and what did I find? Video! Unflappable proof that they really were playing all those songs live! My heroes!
I'm not sure whether KCRW keeps the video performances up for very long or just the audio archives, so here're links to both:
The Shins live video
The Shins live audio
KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic
I'm 'bout to throw my Del Taco out da window!
Lunch on Friday. A group of us rather snarky programmers headed over to Uncle Darrows on Lincoln for some tasty Cajun. On the way, we happened to pass a big ol' dirty white K car wagon parked on the side of the road with two very dirty looking people in it. Mark decided that they looked like the were covered in soot. I figured they must have wandered off the set of a less-than-subtle chimney sweep film.
No sooner did they catch our collective eye, than a package of Del Taco came hurling from the car window... The stationary car window.
A simple thing, yes... But we found it pretty hilarious. For the rest of the day, the phrase "Throw my Del Taco out da window!" was used over to mean just about anything context would allow. Perhaps inspired by the Peanutbutter Jelly Time meme, one of our programmers went home and recorded The Del Taco Song.
Here it is, for your enjoyment: The Del Taco Song
November 07, 2003
Move your body
This doesn't party as hard as the last entry, but it does make me want to push my pixels.
courtesy: veer
Let's get a party started
I don't actually remember where I found this one. May have also been at Milk and Cookies. Either way, prepare to party hard.
And the Celestial Ballet Continues
This is just one is a series of celestial phenomina to capture the public eye this year, and it won't be the last. Recently, curious eyes were turned skyward to witness Mars as it passed closer to the Earth than it has in over 60,000 years. Soon after, solar storms leapt from the surface of our Sun with a ferocity previously unseen. Solar radiation struck the earth and caused slight interruptions in cellular and satelite transmissions.
On November 19th, viewers of the "Leonid Meteor Shower will be able to see 100 or so meteors per hour, some of them [forming] fireballs."
Amphibious Luxury Motor Coach
I don't know how the hell they do it, but Milk And Cookies are CONSTANTLY providing us with links to the most amazing things in the world. Every day, they open my eyes and fart on my brain.
Most recently, they've shown to me the world of Amphibious Luxury Motor Coaches. For around $1 million, you can have a huge, expandable, plasma screen-filled, amphibious motor coach of your own. Be sure to check out the video.
Amphibious Luxury Motor Coaches
Hairstyle Runner
Hours of fun.
GRAVITY PROBE B
Testing Einstein's Universe
Micki made me aware of this little bit of Sci-No-Fi via email this morning.
NASA has developed a new gyroscopic satelite called Gravity Probe B to test some long-held but yet unproven theories of the universe; Including the way "space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it," and the entirety of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. GP-B will be launched in a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vanderburg Air Force Base in Southern California on December 6th
"The experiment will check, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth satellite orbiting at 400-mile altitude directly over the poles. So free are the gyroscopes from disturbance that they will provide an almost perfect space-time reference system. They will measure how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and, more profoundly, how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. These effects, though small for the Earth, have far-reaching implications for the nature of matter and the structure of the Universe."
"Gravity Probe B is among the most thoroughly researched programs ever undertaken by NASA. This is the story of a scientific quest in which physicists and engineers have collaborated closely over many years. Inspired by their quest, they have invented a whole range of new technologies -- technologies that are already enlivening other branches of science and engineering."
November 05, 2003
ENTER THE MEATRIX
This is really well done. It also does a good job of presenting several of the more accurate and rational arguments on the subject in a short, enjoyable, and easy to understand format. I'm a meat eater, and I've never gone out of my way to buy organic or free range products, but it's efforts like these that lend credence to the cause.
November 04, 2003
Stuff is neat
Yeah, you've seen the pictures before. Shut up.
Holy Crap!
What the fuck is going on here?!
Thanks to Meghan for... well, for ruining my day.
Apparently several students on the Mepham High School football team in Long Island, NY, are accused of sodomizing younger students in an otherwise innocent afternoon of good clean fun, old-fashioned hazing, and violent anal play. One can imagine that these boys were just trading cards, maybe playing some touch football when something got out of hand. Perhaps they were adding to their already impressive repetoire of plays. Such classic old time plays as "The Statue Of Liberty", "Shove a Pinecone up the Freshman's Ass" and the "Double Down" were known to be in the team's playbook, but no one expected them to develop such stunning new maneuvers as "Blood on the Broomstick" and "Find the Golfballs."
But while brilliant tactical maneuvers such as these have shown us a new side of high school football they've also shown us a new side of high school football fans. Yes, we now know that Long Island High School football fans do indeed hate fags! Yay! They also hate America! Woohoo! Guess what? I bet you didn't see this coming... they all love God!
Hooray!
So read the story here, or better yet, visit the Mepham High School web site itself for an amazing photo gallery filled with God-loving, fag-killing, Long Islanders and their children.
Tenacious Hunger Strike
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Tenacious D Going Hungry for Its Art
November 03, 2003
FCC Proposes "Do Not Call" Fine
Fuckers. I knew this would happen. And AT&T of all places is the first. We all knew that certain telemarketers would try to slide under the radar and continue to place solicitous phone calls even after the October 1st enactment of the Do Not Call list. I'm not sure any of us were expecting it to come from AT&T. Let's hope they're hit hard and made an example of.
The way the FCC handles violation such as this will certainly set the tone for future infractions of personal rights by solicitors emailing, text messaging, pinging, and contacting us through cell phones, RIM pagers, Handheld computers and wireless networks.
The Federal Communications Commission accused AT&T of making 78 phone calls to 29 consumers who asked telemarketers to leave them alone. The proposed fine would cost the company $10,000 for each call."
Here's the story at Guardian UK
November 02, 2003
US Deaths in Iraq
The following was sent to me by one of my closest friends, Sergeant John "Juice" Glynn. He asks that we keep this information in mind when considering the current political situation.