Sunday, September 30, 2007

Arsenal Wins

Arsenal remains on top as they beat Westham 1-0.

See:

Arsenal Combines Graft With Craft

Raiders

The Raiders won easily over pitiful Miami. That puts them at 2-2,tied for first place in the division. Now they have as many wins as last year, and KC doesn't look so good.

Back Home

Went camping with A and the Boy Scouts. It was the shooting weekend so we used 22's, 20 gauge shotguns and archery. A tried all three, but likes the 22's best. My digital camera ate about 2/3rds of my photos. Good thing I have a new one coming on Tuesday.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Arsenal

Arsenal plays Westham United this weekend in a London Derby. Hopefully they will keep up the momentum.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Parallel Universes

If this is true, it is the coolest thing going. I cannot wait to visit the other universes. I love that kind of science fiction.

See:

Parallel universes exist - study

Hat Tip: Don Surber

Middle School Football

My son plays in the band at middle school so we went to the 8th Grade game tonight. His school won 14-0. Lots and lots of running, maybe 5 passes thrown in the whole game. His school had a goal line stand and then drove ~99 yards to score as time expired in the first half. They are much improved over last year.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Competitive Yoga

I received an email at work about a yoga class to be held in conjunction with my work's picnic. It said: "Students will practice yoga in a totally non-competitive environment." I am trying to visualize competitive yoga, but really cannot. I do know though that if it existed, ESPN 8, "The Ocho" would show it.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Arsenal 2, Newcastle 0

Arsenal won easily in the Carling Cup over Newcastle. As if he wanted to send a message to the rest of the Premiership, Wenger used his backups and young players to easily beat the opponent. Despite Sam Allardyce's complaints of match timing, they should have been ready.

See:

Nicklas Bendtner breaks Newcastle

Also see:

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Now playing: Ofra Haza - I Want To Fly
via FoxyTunes

Huntsville Fencing Club

 



If you are in town on Tuesday, Friday or Saturday we meet at the Huntsville Atheletic Club. See our website at:

Huntsville Fencing Club
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Our Rose Bush Is Loving the Drought

 
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Monday, September 24, 2007

Embedding video

I am going to try again:

Sunday, September 23, 2007

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Now playing: Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know
via FoxyTunes

Arsenal

Yeah, Arsenal beat up on Derby County 5-0 as it should be. You feel sorry for these First Division teams, or whatever they are calling themselves now, who work hard to get promoted only to be destroyed by the Premiership and then demoted. Derby County is working hard to upgrade signing a Scottish international, but it can't happen quick enough. Oh year, Arsenal still in first place.

See:

Arsenal Match Report

Raiders

The Raiders finally win, actually blocking a field goal to seal the win. If they had got the win last week they would be 2-1, and in good shape.

Alabama and Auburn

Auburn won over New Mexico State easily. They had better have won that one.

Alabama on the other hand lost in overtime. Like last week they struggled and came back to tie it. Unfortunately they lost in overtime. Their defense has played too much as there is no consistency on their offense. I guess they are getting too tired.

Tasering and Police

There is an article on AOL.COM about police over reacting and tasering people. I think the problem is what can the police do. They can't shoot them, and in the old days they would whack them with a night stick or choke hold them. Unfortunately in this days society they cannot do those kind of things, even if they are appropriate or safe. They are limited to tasering or swarming.

See this article:

Do Police Use Tasers Too Often?"

Ustream VLOG

I am trying to embed my ustream videos. So here is another attempt.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Fencing, Again

I went fencing again last night. I am not any good and have many scratches and bruises to show for it. Despite the canvas it can still really leave a mark. Anyway, here is another video from Youtube.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Fencing Teacher

My fencing instructor has written a couple of books on pirates, and helped the History Channel with some shows. Here is an article about him in The Huntsville Times

Pirate expert handles swords - and airport security - with ease

Pear Tree in Spring in Alabama

 
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Twittermap

Twittermap is a cool application as it represents on a map where the Tweets are coming from. I have found blogs and so on by these tweets. For some reason, though, it shows Tweets from Yorkshire, England in Athens, Alabama. I guess there is a bug somewhere.

Anyway it is:

Twittermap

Fun with Mergers and Acquisition

My employer has one benefit that is uncommon, and now that we are being bought by another, larger one, that is all people can worry about. HR set up a forum to ask questions, and only one has been asked so far and it deals with that one benefit. We could keep it, we could not. We will see. People, though, are very predictable.

Current ITunes Song

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Now playing: Judas Priest - Devil's Child
via FoxyTunes

Arsenal Wins Big in Champions Leage

Arsenal beats Sevilla 3-0 at home. Fabregas had a goal and an assist.

See:

Cesc Fabregas teaches Spanish lesson in the Daily Telegraph.

Red Sox Slide Continues

Red Sox lead is now down to 1.5 games. Even though they now have a series with Tampa Bay, all is not well, as they have significant injury problems with their offense. If they do lose the division it will be one of the greatest chokes in history. They had a 14 game lead at one point, and the last time the Yankees were this close was in April.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Vlog Attempt

Test Video

Intersting Article About Auschwitz

Somebody anonymously mailed The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC a collection of photos taken by Karl Hocker, Adjudent to the Commander of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. They are of the German staff there relaxing. It is unique, according to the New York Times, as "The album also contains eight photos of Josef Mengele, the camp doctor notorious for participating in the selections of arriving prisoners and bizarre and cruel medical experiments. These are the first authenticated pictures of Mengele at Auschwitz, officials at the Holocaust museum said." See Mr. Lewis' article in today's Times.

In the Shadow of Horror, SS Guardians Frolic

Cool Abandoned Russian SAM Site

When I was in the Navy I loved looking at photos of installations like this. My PI skills are a little rusty, but I can figure out what a lot of these buildings and facilities are for.

See SA-5 Site No. 6

Sorry, my Russian is rusty and I don't know what a lot of the text says.

Red Sox Again

Now there is a chance the Red Sox may lose the Division, according to the Boston Herald they don't care if they do or not. It is suddenly not important, and it is better to rest their players for the playoffs. Yeah, right.

See: Don't Sweat the Division

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Red Sox

It is now possible that the Yankees will pass the Red Sox and win the division. Not necessarily probable, but the way the two teams have been playing possible. That will not be good.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Fun at Work

Found out that my employer, who had bought my former employer just a year or so ago, is being acquired by yet another company. Turns out to be one that I worked for before. Things go full circle.

Arsenal

Had a great victory over Tottanham 3-1 this weekend. They lead the Premiership now. It looks like it will be a good year.

Fantasy Football

Another solid victory thanks to Steve Smith and Randy Moss. I do need a better running back though. 105-92.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Raiders

Raiders lost 23-20 in OT. At least they must have played a little better, but that is two weeks in a row they have come back and been unable to hold on and win. It looks like a long season.

Turns out the Raiders kicked the winning field goal in overtime and then the officials decided the Broncos called a timeout. Raiders missed the re-kick on a bad snap, and then the Broncos kicked a field goal. Typical.

Bad, Tedentious Journalism

Every-now-and-then you read something that is just so bad, so over wrought and hyperbolic you are reduced to tears. This column about the mighty, cheating Patriots is probably the worst thing I have ever read published in a newspaper by a paid employee. The best line is "Let the rest of the country listen to the roar of Patriots fans who are on the same team as Robert Kraft. They believe in the power of teamwork, integrity, determination and winning. Unlike many in the country tonight, they believe in the New England Patriots."

You can read the rest of this column in the Boston Herald by Greg Gatlin here:

Cheaters Make Poor Sports

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Auburn and Alabama

The knives will be out in Auburn tonight as they lay an egg and lose to Mississippi State.

Alabama came back to win after giving up four strait touchdowns to fall behind by 7. They then scored ten in the last five minutes to win. Auburn fans are really going to be hating today.

This is the kind of thing that gives the South a bad name...

Vigilantes Torch Home, Kill Innocent Women

Friday, September 14, 2007

Fencing

I fool around with fencing a little. I am trying to get one of my sons interested. Here is a YouTube clip of fencing:

55 Friday

“What is it, Holmes?” asked Watson. The Great Detective answered. “There are exactly fifty-five words in this story. It must be a clue!”

The Case of the Dead Author had puzzled them for weeks. He thought and read.

“Aha, I know. Reading every fifth letter from the back of the story says “Eve killed me.”

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Patriots Punished

The Commissioner wimped out and didn't suspend Belicheck, but fined him 500K and the team another 250K. They also will lose there first round pick next year if they make the playoffs. I guess this will prevent Belicheck from spending money on married women.

See:

NFL Fines Patriots Coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and Team $250,000 for Spying on Opponent

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick is the first Democratic governor of Massachusetts since the Duke. He is pretty much a standard limousine liberal. He was a big-wig in the Clinton Justice department and then when they left office joined a few boards of corporations. He was caught soon after being elected lobbying for a sub-prime mortgage lender with the Fed. They just happened to be paying him 400K a year or so.

Now in commemoration of 9/11 in a state that lost a lot of residents, he says: “Among many other things, 9/11 was a failure of human understanding,” Patrick said. “It was a mean and nasty and bitter attack on the United States. But it was also a failure of human beings to understand each other, to learn to love each other.” (Boston Herald, 9/12).

He obviously doesn't get it. Random people can be mean and nasty at times. I also don't really want to understand an Islamofascist, to be honest.

Football

Based on my listening to the radio and cursory internet viewing pretty much everyone wants the NFL to throw the book at the Patriots. Even their fans, if you believe the Boston Herald message boards think their legacy is tainted. Bill Belicheck is known as a nasty person, just look at his personal life, but this confirms it more than ever.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Newt Gingrich - What If

On his website, Newt Gingrich, has a plan that should have been followed after 9/11 to win the war. You can read the whole thing here:

What If? An Alternative History of the War since 9/11

One of the things he wants is the President to have power to waive "existing Federal regulations" and changes in law to fix "something failed to work for systemic legal reasons". When I worked in the USAF budget shop, believe me we had little or no flexibility in the use of funds due to the two above reasons. SecDef Rumsfield had asked these kind of issues to be brought to his attention so that fixes could be made. I cannot remember any being done. Federal procurement and funding is a very complicated, inflexible system that allowed little or no initiative by the Services.

Problems with the Services practices, policies and regulations is for another post.

Fantasy Football

I did pretty well this week, 108-44, thanks to Tony Romo and Randy Moss. We will see next week as I have to play the Peyton Manning team.

Patriots Caught Cheating Again, Imagine?

The Jets have accused the Patriots of illegally taping their defensive signals in violation of the league rules.

See:

Sources: Camera confiscated after claims of Pats spying on Jets

Update - NFL has determined the Patriots were cheating.

Sources: Goodell determines Pats broke rules by taping Jets' signals

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Raiders Lose Again

The season got off to another ho-hum start with at 36-21 loss to the Lions. At least they did score 21 points, and they obviously need a new field goal kicker as Sebass missed three, which if I can do my math right is nine points, or enough to win it. I don't know if Culpepper would have made a difference, since it seems that McCown played ok. We will see as the season progresses.

Bad Day for Auburn

Auburn lost to the up-and-coming South Florida Bulls, 26-23 in OT. Alabama easily beat Vanderbilt, 24-10, but it is not a win to impress too many people.

Auburn season's hopes are over, although based on yesterdays results in the SEC, the Conference is a little topsy-turvy. Of course Florida and LSU look fine.

Friday, September 7, 2007

55 Friday

I met a friend of TV who hosts 55 Friday on her blog, The Wordy Bitch, so I gave it a whirl. I am not creative enough in that short a span, but here it is:

The Ship

The night was dark and stormy. The Tempest was being tossed and turned by its namesake; the Captain felt ill in his cabin. He strode onto the quarter deck from the dark recesses of his cabin. “Pull in that halyard, Mr. Christian. “ With that the ship turned and sailed calmly, he felt better.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Busy Few Days

I didn't update lately because we had big meetings at work, and then last night the social.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Blowing Up the Bay Bridge

According to some moonbat on the left Vice President Cheney is planning to blow up the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, like he did the bridge in Minneapolis and the Bay Bridge interchange. This is so the current administration can establish a dictatorship. Evidence for this is that part of the bridge has been closed for maintenance.

You can't make this stuff up.

Is Cheney about to blow up the Bay Bridge?

Monday, September 3, 2007

John Edwards

I thought I would write about the hypocrisy of John Edwards, but then thought what is the point? He is now running on a program of a socialism command government and somehow justifies his SUV's and 28 thousand square foot house for him, but not for you.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Arsenal 3 - Portsmouth 1

My father won't be happy. But it is a good win and a good start to the Premiership.

Ride Like the Wind

Sometimes songs just stick in your head for weird reasons. I have Ride Like the Wind stuck in mine as it reminds me of a SCTV skit. In this Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers is rushing somewhere like Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate in a little MG. Unlike Dustin he is not going to break up a wedding, but he needs to make the recording studio just in time to do the chorus of the song.

This was typical of all the thought that SCTV put into their skits, and also how sometimes they mixed music in well. For an example of how good they were see Episodes 4/2-1 aired on NBC 16 Oct 1982, about the Soviet Union's hijacking of their satellite.

The DVD it is on is: SCTV Volume 2

Butterfield Effect in Iraq

The Butterfield Effect is what the Wall Street Journal refers to whenever someone says crime is down, but the prison population is up named after a guy at the New York Times who never could seem to make the connection. Now there is an article in the Times today: Civilian Death Toll Falls in Baghdad but Rises Across Iraq that exhibits the same effect.

My understanding of the surge was to start in Baghdad and force Al Quaeda Iraq out of the city into areas around it so that they could be squeezed. So one would think that if Baghdad is more secure and AQI is out of the city they might attack elseswhere. Anyway the statistics are skewed because of the attacks on the sect in Northern Iraq.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Dog Days in Ardmore

 

We went to the Dog Days Flea Market in Ardmore. If you are looking for a used edged weapon this is the flea market for you. Also Swiss Army Knives with your logo here.
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Alabama Football

The college season starts today for Alabama and Auburn. Alabama vs Western Carolina and Auburn vs Kansas State. You can see they start with warm-up games first.

Alabama won big (expected) and Auburn struggled but pulled it out at the end (not expected). Hey at least we aren't Michigan.

Rodney Harrison is a dirty player

Hey, it turns out that Rodney Harrison, long considered the dirtiest playing player in the NFL is a dirty player. He is being suspended 4 games by the NFL for using Human Growth Hormone (HGH). He was found to be part of the big Federal investigation into the HGH illegal pharmacy in NY.

See:

Patriots' Rodney Harrison to Be Suspended 4 Games, Reportedly for HGH Use