Humor

A fairly impressive video of a power substation transformer blowing up, but what makes this "humor" is the comment of one of the viewers:

...but did the squirrel yell "Allah Akbar!", before zapping the transformer?

Bizarre Conspiracy Theory About Don Imus

Pravda is reporting that Imus's firing was part of the conspiracy by "US War Leaders." I can't call it bizarre; then I would need another word to replace bizarre.

Google Maps Has a Sense of Humor

A reader pointed me to this set of directions that you can get from Boston to Paris, France from Google:

Drive: 3,752 mi (about 29 days 5 hours)

1. Head southwest on Tremont St toward School St 115 ft
2. Turn left at School St 0.1 mi 1 min
3. Turn left at Washington St 115 ft
4. Turn right at Water St 0.2 mi 1 min
5. Turn right at Kilby St/Liberty Square 240 ft
6. Turn left at Milk St 0.2 mi 2 mins
7. Continue on Central St 0.1 mi
8. Turn right at Long Wharf 0.1 mi
9. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 mi 29 days 0 hours

Oddly enough, when I ask it to give me directions from Santa Monica, CA to Honolulu, HI, it claims that it can't do it. It appears to consider the Atlantic Ocean traversable, but not the Pacific Ocean.

My Own Private Idaho

Okay, I never saw the movie, but the title fits these pictures so well. Saturday morning I woke up to the sound of birds singing and beautiful sunshine, so I walked up to the back half of the property, what I used to call "Rhonda's Nature Preserve." I could see a bird sitting on one of the fenceposts, singing up a storm--but until it took flight, I couldn't tell what kind it was. It was moving pretty quickly, so the background blurred--but the bird itself I managed to freeze in mid-air! Yes, a redwing blackbird.


Click to enlarge

Here's looking up the hill to the parcel behind us on section 17.


Click to enlarge

Up close, you can see that the grasses are growing, but the thatch left over from last year is still there:


Click to enlarge

This picture I just took this evening as the sun set. It might look like a weird double exposure or a ghost picture, but the setting sun was illuminating the falling rain above one level, and not doing so below it.


Click to enlarge

Fun With Filters

We've been living here almost a year now, and my wife has noticed a bit of a decline in water pressure. The good assumption, since the pressure valve coming out of the pressurization pump is still showing 65 psi, is that the filters are getting clogged. Since we removed the big monstrous stainless steel housing with the one micron lead removal filters, all that was left was a 25 micron filter (5" x 10" cylinder), a 5 micron filter (a 5" x 20" cylinder), and a 1 micron filter (another 5" x 20" cylinder).

So, how hard can they be to change? I couldn't turn the filter housings by hand, so I bought a filter wrench--which still wasn't easy! Whoever put these in place probably has fur on his knuckles.

Here you can see what the new filter looks like, and the old filters.


Click to enlarge


Click to enlarge


Click to enlarge

The shade is sort of an iron mineral color. The 25 micron filter had more crud in it than the others, but the 5 micron and 1 micron filters were indistinguishable in shade and amount of junk contained in them.

When one of the housings came off, I couldn't figure out if the O-ring that seals it went in the little notch at the top, or around the top of the housing. By putting it in the wrong place, I stretched the O-ring to a point where it would not go back in position. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find 5 1/2" O-rings in Boise? Fortunately, it is the same size as the GE Whole House water filtration system. Lowe's did not have O-rings for sale--but the guy there took pity on me, and gave me the O-ring off their display unit.

Anyway, all is back together again, and we have full flow once more.

Made A Hartman Mask To Improve Astrophotography Focus

It looks like it should work. It is certainly the case that two holes in the mask at the front of the telescope produces two separate images out of focus--and one image when precisely at focus.

Okay, the sky is clear (or clear enough), the telescope is reasonably well polar aligned--and then I discover that I left the Pentax on while downloading pictures, and apparently it doesn't power itself off in that mode, so I was already to go, but with no ability to take pictures. Groan.

It Reminds of When Iraq Went to War With Iran Some Years Back

You felt sorry for the poor people in the middle, but watching two of your enemies go at each other reminds me of the famous saying by Clarence Darrow, "I have never killed anyone, but I have read many obituaries with pleasure." The Unequivocal Notion blog, being out on the left, unsurprisingly has a link to the website of Modern Drunkard magazine--which is not a satire. Just for amusement, I thought I would see what Modern Drunkard's editorial page had to say:

As an alcohol enthusiast, you’re probably aware that the PC nannies on the Left and the Bible thumpers on the Right are aligned against us. And fanatical Muslims, of course.

What you might not know is an even more virulently anti-alcohol group has sprung to life right in our midst. How virulent, you ask?

Their propaganda campaign would make the Anti-Saloon League blush. Their billboards announce that alcohol is the culprit behind incest and child molestation. They’ve put out wanted posters for brewer Pete Coors and Denver mayor (and bar owner) John Hinkenlooper, accusing them of “dealing a deadly drug.” They say anyone selling alcohol, bartenders included, is a murderous pusher.

Go to their website and the first thing you’ll notice is a graphic blaming alcohol for domestic violence, rape, and murder. They lay Mark Foley’s perversity, Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitism and even Dick Cheney’s shotgun incident squarely at alcohol’s feet. Their logic seems to be: Have you done anything wrong? Do you drink? Then it’s alcohol's fault!
So who is this diabolical organization? Who could have so much hate in their heart for the thing we love so much?

You’ll never guess.

It’s SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation.) A marijuana legalization group.

Et tu, Bongus?

Who would have guessed? We’ve always considered them allies, haven’t we? There’s a helluva lot of crossover between pot smokers and boozeheads, and I think it safe to say drinkers are many times more likely to support the legalization of marijuana than teetotalers.

So what would compel SAFER to so vehemently attack sweet Mother Booze?

Sheer crassness. The organization’s founder, Mason Tvert, is known as the Karl Rove of the stoner set, and no wonder. SAFER has embarked on a win-at-any-cost campaign, displaying the callousness of a swimmer willing to climb on top of anyone’s head, so long as he saves himself from drowning. He figures if SAFER can demonize alcohol enough, marijuana will seem angelic in comparison.

What makes this somewhat amusing is that indeed, alcohol is a very serious social problem. Most Americans drink alcohol responsibly--but the minority that doesn't is pretty darn large. And yes, as much as Modern Drunkard might like to think otherwise, intoxication does cause people to do stupid things that they probably would not do while sober. Unfortunately, it isn't just alcohol intoxication. Some schoolmates of my wife were beaten to death with hammers by a couple of burglars while on heroin.

There is an overpowering body of evidence of the causal connection between intoxication (usually, but not always, with alcohol) and rape, murder, child molestation, drunk driving, industrial accidents, and even economic crimes, such as robbery and burglary. For some people, alcohol and other intoxicants take away the top 40,000 years of civilized behavior--and that's the best reason why governments for centuries have made some attempt to control intoxicants.

Watching potheads and a group that would call itself Modern Drunkard get into a bar fight--ah, I can just applaud both sides.