Archive for April, 2009
Jackson Tea Party
Posted by admin in Politics, Uncategorized on April 17th, 2009
I paid a visit to the tea party protest in downtown Jackson Wednesday afternoon. It was a great time. I estimate between 3000-4000 patriots showed up. There were about six or seven speakers, including Congressman Gregg Harper and Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant, as well as a few local radio personalities, state legislators, business leaders, and pastors.
Some Like It Hoth
Well, this was one of those episodes that asked more questions than it answered. But they were good questions. Spoilers after the break…
Dead is Dead… or is it?
Absolutely great episode last night. It sure seemed to me like the writers were trying to imply that the new Locke is the monster. That doesn’t mean he IS, of course, but that’s sure what they were trying to make us think. He just HAPPENS to disappear conveniently when Smokey’s about to show up, and HAPPENS to reappear conveniently with a rope right when Ben needs it.
Now, I happen to think they’re misleading us with that one — they want us to think Locke is Smokey, but it’s going to turn out to be something different. No question the island’s got some sort of special interest in Locke now, and no question it’s not happy with Ben for trying to keep Locke out of the picture. So will Ben manage to let go of his ambition and surrender leadership to Locke? I think not. He’s Ben, after all. But maybe he’ll at least be able to refrain from shooting the guy…
The Dharma Initiative Arcade Machine
Posted by admin in Humor, Lost, Technology on April 3rd, 2009
Yes, I actually built this. In my garage. Yes, I could probably outdo Hurley for the world’s biggest geek award. But … it’s totally worth it.
Note the custom Dharma logo it uses. I know, that’s really awful, but… I had to.
Also note that it’s running Galaga. That also happens to be the name of the submarine Locke blew up a couple seasons back. It was so named, I’ve heard, because the writers played a lot of Galaga while they were brainstorming ideas for the show.
Oh, and it wasn’t planned from the start to have a Dharma Initiative theme. I’ve wanted to build an arcade cabinet for years. Thinking up a theme for the decoration came later, when I decided I didn’t just want another plain-jane “MAME ARCADE” theme for it. Why build something crazy like that if you’re not going to be unique? I bet I’m the only person in the whole world with a Dharma Initiative arcade game!
The Nature of the Island
I have been pondering recently the central mystery of LOST: what exactly is the nature of that stinking island, anyway and what’s so important about it?
Talking Frog
There’s this guy, a software engineer, who loves to fish in his free time. He was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say, “Pick me up.”
He looked around and couldn’t see anyone. He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, “Pick me up.”
He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog.
The man said, “Are you talking to me?”
The frog said, “Yes, I’m talking to you. Pick me up then, kiss me and I’ll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen.
“I’ll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because I will be your bride!”
The man looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front breast pocket.
Then the frog said, “What, are you nuts? Didn’t you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.”
He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,
“Look, I’m an engineer. I don’t have time for a girlfriend right now. But a talking frog? Now that’s just cool.”
Whatever happened, happened
I gotta admit, I had this week’s episode of LOST pretty much pegged.
This is going to contain spoilers, so you’ll have to click through to see the rest of this…
German family seeks asylum in the U.S. for homeschooling
So this German family, who are devout Christians and object to some of the material taught in German schools, have been facing severe persecution by the government in their home country over their religious convictions. This family is very courageous to be willing to make the stand they’re making, and I for one welcome them to America with open arms. These are the sort of people we should be encouraging to come here.
I guess I’m not really surprised at what Germany is doing here. For very obvious historical reasons, the German state is very paranoid about what they consider “alternate societies”, which is to say anything that doesn’t march in lockstep with the government’s vision of what their society should be. Not that history justifies tyranny, of course, but it’s easy to see where the notion came from.
Once again Europe reminds us why our ancestors left…
Tesla Coils
Posted by admin in Humor, Music, Technology on April 1st, 2009
One must be a consummate nerd to actually build something like this:
The Imperial March on Tesla coils
Then again, I’m the guy who built a working Dharma Initiative themed arcade machine in his garage, so I probably don’t have much room to talk.
How to fix Hollywood
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on April 1st, 2009
Found a great article on Big Hollywood about the sort of things wrong in the entertainment industry. I think it’s pretty much spot on. And of course, it references a great scene from Lord of the Rings to make its point, which is always a plus.