Thursday, September 12, 2013

My Life In One Minute

Great ideas, lousy execution.


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The Internet Doesn't Have Everything







Friday, August 2, 2013

I Call This Move The 360


2)  Sparky!  Notice head protection is getting more elaborate.
4)  You know, that's kinda artistic.



Super Cooper

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The Fine Art Of Squeezing Blood From A Turnip




Be a fine car for putting around town in though.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

So I Saw The Preview For "Kick Ass 2" Today



Sunday, June 23, 2013

For Reals?

Although it's a retail giant, the company I work for operates on the smaller scale like the others of it's type which took the place of the old five and dime stores: the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, $-Mart, Walgreen's, etc.  Because they have so much in common, what affects one will happen to the others quickly. One can thus imagine my rapt attention when I read that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was suing Dollar General for..  wait for it...

Conducting criminal background checks.  Yeah, can't check to see if that guy or gal you leave alone with a safe full of money or easily transported merchandise has a criminal background because that might be...  wait for it...

Racist.  Now no one, not even the administration says that Dollar General is using the background checks as an excuse to exclude people because of race.  They maintain that such checks have a disproportionate impact on the African-American community, therefore shouldn't be done.  Just when you thought there could be no more madness.  Some random thoughts:

  • African-Americans aren't going to get that job anyway.  I imagine Dollar General would like the abolishment of any sort of border control or check of immigration status.  The cost of labor sticks in the craw of these companies and they would all dearly love to see a flood of cheap workers all willing to drive wages down.  That itself is nonsensical, because if your own workers can't buy your stuff (which is being manufactured as cheaply as possible) who can?  It's Dollar General.  It serves a certain socioeconomic level.  Come on.
  • On the other hand, if you want the government to do something for you, better be prepared to give his  ne'er-do-well constituency something in return.
  • Even if the lawsuit fails, and it very well could, it's still a huge waste of time and money for all involved.    Stop wasting money!
  • You know, I don't think this administration really understands what money is.  Even those who funded it made their billions on paper, so they think it can be conjured out of the digital aether. The Chicago machine is funded by shaking down companies and that cash never seems to run out.  It's just a lowly clerk.  A few hundred a night won't hurt anything.
  • God help us if the EEOC wins.  Imagine if it were illegal to check the record of a teacher, or a nurse, or the lady cleaning your house.  Whoever hired them would still be responsible for their actions though.  Just the price of doing business.  You've got unlimited funds to share.  The government says so.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

From Those Who Brought You Smart Diplomacy

We present Smart Spying.

Every secret we possess seems to waltz out the security equivalent of a wide open screen door with a hole in it.  The only saving grace is that the Russians and Chinese must think we are playing them for fools.  Or are we?  A high school dropout abandons his $200,000 job, life in Hawaii, and super hot stripper girlfriend to seek asylum in...  Hong Kong?  I have no idea what to think.  Authoritarian governments probably don't either.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Some Late Nite Shat




Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Ray Harryhausen





Monday, April 29, 2013

Who Wants To Be My Speedy?





Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Because Everything's Better With Pirates!

I never really watched much anime, or Japanimation as it was called back in the day.  I watched G-Force after school but wasn't impressed, and much later watched some Dragonball Z after inquiring what a young co-worker kept blathering on about.  I tried to follow it for a while, but determined that each episode consisted of about five minutes' worth of actual plot progression while the rest was take up by static views of the heroes powering up with much gritting of teeth, sweating and turning blonde.  I was able to mostly make it through Gundam Wing but swore never to do so again, because it took so much concentration; lose focus for a few minutes and the whole story was lost.

I've given anime a second look though, because I've needed something in 22 minute segments with standalone episodes yet an overreaching plot line that comes to a properly planned end.  Luckily, I stumbled into two excellent series, one of them being Samurai Champloo.

I've read that Japanese reserve makes acting difficult, therefore they put all their emotions into animation.  It seems true in this case; young Mugen here shows some complex but common human emotions.  If he's the offender, he has a "Suck it up, that's life" attitude, but if he's the one who has been wronged, only revenge will do.

Um, he's the only one who knew where the pirate treasure is.  I'd want to die too.

Friday, April 19, 2013

School Shootings Are So Last Week

White, Muslim, and immigrants.  Looks like everyone was right and wrong in rushing to conclusions in respect to the race-religion-ethnicity of the Boston bombers. Better luck next time, and there will be a next time, because every kook loner malcontent out there is eagerly studying this latest way to go out in a blaze of notoriety.  Why lock down a school or shopping mall when you can lock down a city?

P.S. Did everyone hear the uncle?  That guy is a true survivor who learned early on to get in front of the mob with the pointiest pitchfork and brightest torch.  Well done, sir!  

Friday, April 12, 2013

Chris' News In Reviews

Lot been happening in the world.  Been having a slight illness problem, but I still follow current events.

On gun control:  If there is nothing wrong with a background check to purchase a firearm, I don't see any problem with showing an I.D. to vote.  Come on Republicans, make a link and hold the other side to it.  Grow a spine already.

On the death of Baroness Thatcher and the subsequent jubilation:  I remember a time when the term "English disease" meant an economic state where everyone was constantly on strike and made shoddy products on the three days they bothered to show up.  (Much feared in the newly industrial parts of the world and studied intensively.)  Now, as much as I admire Sir Clive and his wonderful products, it tells how low you've sunk when Margaret Thatcher gives away Spectrums as the best example of what British industry is capable of four years after becoming PM.

She also won her war.  It's a lesson for those of us on the other side of the pond, especially modern Republicans who get possessed by the spectre of Woodrow Wilson and decide that they need to remake the enemy in thy own image rather than stomp the crap out of them and go home.

Her death brought out the worst of progressive misbehavior.  I can't help but feel they have a real problem with women.  Here you have a child of the middle class who was trained as a chemist, and they can't stand her. Weird.  Anyway, she showed them that they were wrong, and they will never forgive her for it.

On King Kim of Korea:  No one seems to know what he's doing.  He may not either.  Near as I can tell he's just trying to show everyone who's boss.  The trouble is that none of these junior dictators have the sense of timing their fathers had.

If I were advising Kim, I'd tell him to get into offshore banking. Imagine the Cayman Islands with an A-bomb.  I'd bet no one would bully them into giving up their account information.  May be tricky explaining that banking isn't the same thing as counterfeiting though. Still, one they got it I'd bet your money would be far safer than in any free world bank.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

It's Hard To Be Robin Hood...

...when you look like Friar Tuck and dress like Will Scarlet.

So Hugo Chavez has passed away.  I confess to knowing very little about Latin American government, but you couldn't help but hear about the Bolivarian Revolution on a pretty constant basis the last few years if you followed politics at all.

My opinion:  slight dislike.  I don't like the hypocrisy of those who lead coups but then complain when they get set aside (however briefly) by one.  I don't like the "Blame the U.S." approach to domestic and foreign policy and the shoe thumping theatrics that goes along with it, and I especially dislike the charity approach to helping the poor.

"What's that?" you say.  "How can you oppose a president using his country's fabulous oil wealth to help the poor and needy?"

A:  Because it's run like a charity.  You know, the ones that spend .016% of their budget actually helping the subject of the charity and the rest paying themselves handsomely and raising more funds.  Chavez knew how the scam worked, and played it to the max.  Of course, like most scams, the people you want to fool have done most of the work for you already.  Here it is: Chavez and his Bolivarian Revolution liked to make a big deal out of helping the poor around the world (but especially in places where there was a lot of press coverage) by helping them out with things like free heating oil.  So far so good, right?  The catch is that Venezuela was a founding member of OPEC; they are the ones making sure the heating oil is too expensive for the poor to buy in the first place!  Chavez could have helped billions of poor people around the world by breaking the OPEC cartel and allowing oil prices to drop, but didn't.  No matter though, he's a swell guy anyway.  Joe Kennedy says so.

The People's Hero Is Dead.  Sing along-If you know what's good for ya.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Sci-Fi Comes To Life

I think we all got lucky that something like this didn't happen during the Cold War.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013



That's about the right size.  



