Monday, March 31, 2008

Gas in Alabama

 


A sign of the current times for gas in Alabama.
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Saturday, March 29, 2008

Arsenal Back In Race on Own Goal

Bolton was up 2-0 and Arsenal were down to 10 men, but they came back on 3 goals - one from a penalty and the winner on an own goal by Bolton. Never mind, they needed the win. See this for more.

Mission to Buy Old Christian School

According to today's Times the Downtown Rescue Mission will buy the old campus of Westminster Christian Academy. See the article here. The location is on Evangel Drive in Huntsville. This puts in north of University and near Sparkman, not to me the optimal location. We will see.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Finally Looks Like Wimax Might Be Real

See this article for more. No discussion of the pricing, or if internet will be one of the products, but one would assume it will be. If this comes true then the utility of my iPod Touch has just increased multi-fold.

Huntsville to buy Mission, Complains About the Price

The City of Huntsville in order to fix a road problem is forcing the Downtown Rescue Mission to move. They agreed to buy it, but complained about the assessed price. There is a simple solution - don't buy it and don't move it. The Mission doesn't want to move. See this for more.

Howard Dean is Really Smart

You think? Dean: Bickering Democrats May Hurt Party.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Photoshop Express

Adobe has created Photoshop Express as a way to increase awareness of Photoshop. It can be found here. It is a site like Flickr, but adds some of the editing functions from Photoshop. We will give it a whirl and see what we can do.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Movie Angers Star War Fans

The movie, Fanboys is about four friends on a quest to see Star Wars - Phantom Menace before one of them dies. At least originally it was, but the movie studio edited out the dying part as it was not considered happy enough for a movie. See this article here. Now the Star Wars fan community is upset and plans revenge on the movie studio. It will be an epic battle, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Arsenal Loses, Season Over

Arsenal plays Chelsea this afternoon. If they lose they fall to third place, with not much of a lead on Liverpool. This is it for the Premiership.

Arsenal lost 2-1, and Man U won 3-0. Arsenal now third, barely ahead of Liverpool who they play three times early next month. Arsenal now 4 D - 1 L over last 5 games. Too many injuries and not enough movement by Wenger. It is really all on the Champions League now.

Raiders Continue to Spend Freely

The Raiders executed the trade for Hall from Atlanta. Then handed him lots of money. They have been spending like crazy this year, but if Hall can perform it is a significant upgrade in the backfield. We will see.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

If This Exists I Am Going To Buy It Tomorrow

OK, the Macbook Air I really want, but when the Macbook Touch comes out I am not even waiting. I will buy it the first day it is out. It will revolutionize computing. See this.

Piling on TMZ

While it is piling on, read the comments, this article is so asinine I figured I would just do it. See this for why so many people are upset with TMZ.com. First, I don't know who the Bachelor is, but it looks like he is doing his job. Also, if the people at TMZ.com don't understand that the US government has been doing this for years they shouldn't write about it. Everyday they are trying to identify the Missing in Action (MIA) people all over th world. If you Defenselink.mil Press Releases they have recently identified people in Germany from WWII, and also in the US. They are looking hard in the South West Pacific as the terrain is terrible. The US and North Korea recently signed an agreement to work there of all places to find Korean War remains.

All I can say to TMZ.com is shut up. If you don't understand something, don't write about it.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Modern Country Music

I went to see Sugarland, Little Big Town and Joe Nichols perform. As one of their encores they all performed the Dream Academy's Life in a Northern Town; which is a classic New Wave song. To me, Country has become the new Top 40 music. It is also pretty much all of the hard rock left as well. Country today sounds like the music I listened to in the Seventies and Eighties.

Here is the Dream Academy on Saturday Night Live:

Thursday, March 20, 2008

New Banditos in Huntsville




I went by the new South Parkway location of Banditos. Same good food and cast of characters, but a bigger, newer location. Go by the food is good.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

David Baerwald

David Baerwald was half of David and David, a band from LA in the Seventies. They had one album.

In 1991 he released a solo album, Bedtime Stories, that was ahead of its time. It was a fin de siecle collection of songs that seem more appropriate now at the current time then they did then.

He then opened a club that led him to write an album for a women who had begun performing there - Cheryl Crow.

Since then he has contributed soundtracks to several movies.

Why am I writing this? Because his music was so good, and he made so little. Anyway it turns out one video exists on Youtube. Dance from Bedtime Stories.

Life Is Hard When You Are Alone

This, as they say in England, is brilliant!! Garfield without Garfield paints a bleak picture of a lonely life. See this.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

100000 Miles



70 months
16 tires
30 odd oil changes

My Protege5 turned the big 100K this morning.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Huntsville Times Columnist Career Ends

Lee Roop, the Huntsville Times Community Columnist, threw away a 32 year career at the paper on Friday. After being arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and possession he quickly resigned his position. Details are here. I had picked on Mr. Roop for his bad writing, but obviously take no pleasure in this. Of course he chose the path he took.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Arsenal Season Teetering

Arsenal drew with 'Boro today to fall into second place. Man U won and have a game in hand. Arsenal now will have to play well to stay in fourth. See this for more.

Raiders Bolster Roster

After throwing the big money to two players in FA, the Raiders signed two cheaper back-ups. They got a WR that played for Carolina last year, Drew Carter, and a DT from the Giants who was on IR last year, Joseph. Both of these are probably cheap signings and add some depth. They are also trying to work a deal with Quinn Gray as a backup at QB. Rumors also have them trying to sign Kevin Carter, the DE, which will be a big contract too.

As Adam Ant Once Said - Desperate, But Not Serious

Or in this case, Serious but not Desperate. I feel sorry for this woman, not, but this is a little much.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Bank Drive Thru At Night

 
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Arsenal Draws Liverpool

With four of the remaining teams in the Champions League English it should be expected that two will play each other. Unfortunately Arsenal drew Liverpool. See this for more. So they play three times in a week, and worse the advancer, which should be Arsenal, plays Man U.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Autocar.co.uk GT-R vs 911 GT3 vs M3

Video of Autocar.co.uk demonstrating massive performance of the GT-R. Even cooler they call it the R-35 Skyline.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

I Am Assuming That This Is A Hoax

This story just doesn't seem real. If true I forsee a made-for-TV movie at least being pitched.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Code Monkey

As I have to keep pimping this video.

MSM Meme of the Moment

This article from Excite News describes the Democratic race for the Presidential nomination as now "racially polarized". I guess for now it will be. Barack wins the black vote and in the South it is leading him to dominate Ms. Clinton. Further memes will develop over time.

Interesting Stuff on the Internet

I was doing the old random "Next Blog" on blogger and found this site. I had never heard of paddle surfing, and did not realize the conflict between this sport and traditional surfing. Any blog that stresses good manners and people getting along gets a vote and link from me.

Monday, March 10, 2008

No Snow in Alabama

 

 


Less then 48 hours later it is 65 degrees.
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Sunday, March 9, 2008

Arsenal Draws at Wigan

Arsenal missed a good chance to open up a lead on Man U. They drew at Wigan in horrible conditions to get a 2 point lead, but Man U still has a game in hand. The only satisfaction Arsenal can have is that both Man U and Chelsea were eliminated from the FA cup this weekend. No quadruple for Chelsea.

City Again Works to Hurt Downtown Rescue Mission

As I have written previously the city of Huntsville is trying to get the Downtown Rescue Mission to move so they can build a road. Basically there is nothing the Mission can do about not moving. I think they will be hard put to find as good a location as they already had as they near to be "downtown" near the city center, and the other options they have discussed are farther away. It is not like the homeless have transportation. Now, according to this article, the city is negotiating a price to buy the Mission and one of our fine city councilors is upset at how high the price is. So not only are they being forced to move, but the city is trying to pay a less then appraised price.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Snow in Alabama

 

 

 



The snow was not what was predicted, so civilization didn't end.
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Friday, March 7, 2008

Patriots Responsible for New Rules

The Washington Post leaked details of the NFL's new policies to prevent a team from doing what the Patriots did. See athis for details. The proposal mirrors Sarbanes-Oxley in that the owner and other principals have to sign off each year saying they did not cheat. It also lowers the standards of evidence. Obviously the Patriots did more than let on for this to occur.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Clinton Getting Desperate?

Either Hillary is getting desperate, or more desperate, or just feels that Obama will fade with a little more aggressive attacks. Anyway, comparing him to Ken Starr is a little too much. See this for more.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Raiders Free Agency

The Raiders have a lot of money this year. They are throwing it around. They let Jerry Porter go and signed Javon Walker to replace him. They gave Chris Cooper an insane contract, and also over payed a safety from the Giants. I guess they can always cut and adjust next year if things don't work out to well. They did need to shake things up on both sides of the ball, but if the current coaching fiasco continues it probably won't help whomever the players are.

Maryland Officially Crosses into Liberal Crazy State

Some of the fine legislators in Maryland are proposing a state ban on pate de foi gras. See this article for more. This is one of the pet causes of extreme lefties. I think Chicago is the only real place in America that has a ban, and they don't enforce it. A state ban is a little over the top, and is typical of the under-worked, liberal legislature that Maryland possesses.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

And Then There Was One

John McCain is left as the only serious candidate for Republican nomination. So now he gets to spend 8 months beating up on the Democrats. I am not sure what the campaign finance laws are, but he has plenty of time to get money.

D&D Co-Creator Dies

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created the original D&D. They had a falling out eventually, and Gary went on to found the empire that it became. As someone who rolled many a 20 sided die in high school and college, I will pause in remembrance. See this.

Arsenal Comes Through

Arsenal won 2-0 today to do what no English team has ever done - beat AC Milan at home. It came down to the last ten minutes but when necessary the team did it. Arsenal advances.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Arsenal Travel to Milan

Arsenal will play AC Milan tomorrow night. They really need a win due to the draw at home. They also need to get their house in order for the Premiership. This could be the end of a good season to date, or the push that gets them to the finish. Unfortunately with their injury situation it doesn't look good.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Specter Confirms Cheating Against Steelers

One of the teams that accused the Patriots of gaining a competitive advantage from the taping was the Steelers. When they played them in the 2004 regular season they beat the Patriots easily. When they played again in the post-season the Steelers lost. Steeler players said that they knew the Patriots knew their signals by their adjustments during plays. Specter confirmed that the Patriots did tape the Steelers during the regular season in this article.

Conspiricy Theories and the NFL

Arlen Specter, Senator from PA, is investigating how the NFL handled the Patriots cheating scandal. See this article here for more. He is accused of doing this at the behest of COMACAST, one of his campaign contributors, because of the argument between the cable companies and the NFL over the stupid NFL network. The NFL, obviously, wants it available to everyone, but he cable companies say it is so expensive that they have to put it in premium packages so hardly anyone gets it. The NFL wants to move more-and-more games to the NFL network, where the get all the money, so they need the argument that a lot of people get it. The conspiracy is that Specter undermines the Patriots owner. That undermines the NFL and they lower the price of the NFL Network.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Arsenal Draw to Keep 1 Point Lead

Arsenal drew Aston Villa 1-1 on a desperation goal from Bendtner. Man U won so they are now only 1 point back. This period of two weeks has been horrible for Arsenal. Hopefully they can get healthy and hold on. See this roundup at Skysports.