Tuesday, September 25, 2007

I'm almost speechless.

So help me, this is real. I'm tempted to go.

In the hierarchy of Sci-Fi Geekdom, Furries and Klingon Speakers vie for the lowest slot on the totem pole, the one that all the other geeks point to and say, "Well, I may be a total geek over (insert your obsessive/compulsive favorite here), but at least I'm not a Furry/Klingon Speaker."

I suspect that this can only end in blood.

Kaplah!*







*Klingon for "Victory".

Friday, September 21, 2007

NRA, SchmeNRA.

Today Rudy Giulliani is going to speak before the NRA, the National Rifle Association, to try once more to capitalize on the fact that he was Mayor of NYC on Sept. 11.

For those of you who don't know the NRA, they are a lobbying association devoted to defending the Second Half of The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

What's that you say, they say they are defending the Second Amendment, and they don't specify the Second Half?

Let's Review:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Pretty simple, but let's look at part of it a little closer

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

But the way they read it:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

I'm not a lawyer, and I hope never to be one, but I can see when part of a law is being ignored, and part is emphasized.

I guess that the most fundemental of rights, not just the rights of Americans, but of Human Beings in general, is the inalienable right to be as much of a complete dumbass as you can possibly manage.

Right here and now, I'm going to start an organization:
The National Hand Grenade Association.
The way I interpret the second half of the second amendment, arms mean any kind of arms, so nothing should come between me and my god given right to own and carry as many hand grenades as I feel like. I just don't feel safe without them. And some are less damaging than some firearms out there today. I must stay prepared. There's this squirrel in my yard who's been looking at me kinda funny. I think he's a spy. I'll show him.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

All I can say is.. Huh?

Back in my day, Batman fought serious issues and serious villians (although humor was a major part of their act, I suppose) with names like the Joker or the Riddler. I can't imagine what the content of this issue centered around. Possibly a new villain, the Vicar!

And why does Robin have that grin on his face? Dosen't he know that he's NEXT?

Maybe it was about Batman (or is it Bat Man?) proving, once and for all, that the rumors surrounding his and Robin's "relationship" are nothing more than rumors. Hmmmm.

And maybe that's why they added Batgirl in the first place. Perhaps we should call her "Batbeard".
(I'm deeply ashamed of that last one.)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Grisly 1920's Public Service announcements


I took a ride on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway this weekend. It's a historic section of track running between Blue Ridge, Georgia and Etowah Tennessee, and it's great fun. The cars are well restored and there's plenty of information on the history of the train and the route available. One of the coolest parts is "The Loop" where the train winds it's way around a mountain, slowly rising and circling the mountaintop, until it passes over it's own track.

In the dining car, there are these absolutely grisly posters from the 1920's. The strangest thing is that when I was a kid I lived near train tracks, and we all used to play there, on a section of tracks that was not used, but it did sit right next to active rails. Nobody I knew got maimed. Perhaps if I had seen the first poster I wouldn't have been so carefree.


Please click on each poster embiggen them.

Update: This post got a mention on the best blog ever - BoingBoing, and in their comments, someone posted this link to the above posters and a bunch of other, in some cases even scarier ones!
For your nightmarish enjoyment.
http://www.oli.org/education_resources/vintage_posters.htm




















Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Trends!

Trends I have successfully avoided

Coffee
Starbucks Coffee
Designer Coffee
Paying exorbitant amounts for any of the above
Body piercing
Plastic surgery
Adjustable rate mortgage
Republicanism
Out of body experiences
NASCAR
Bottled water (for the most part)
Dog Fighting
Chiropractic
Feng Shuei
Astrology
Becoming a Zombie
Tooth Whitening
Ecstasy (the drug)
Pot
Heroin
Alcohol (except for college. I’m not made of stone.)
Hair Color for Men (except for that one time in college. see above)
Heavy Metal, Goth, Punk, Glam, Rap, Emo, New Country
Worshiping Bob Dylan (despite my total Dylanhead buddies)
Fundamentalist Christianity
Pro “Wrestling”
Reality TV (for the most part)
Mass Murder (not really a trend, but anyway)
Graduate School
MySpace FaceBook MyBook FaceSpace, whatever
Street Racing
Videogames
(God, I’m Boring)

Trends I have not successfully avoided

Blogging
Being an attention whore (see above)
Tattoos (I designed my own. If you can't summon up enough creativity to do at least that, don't get one, please.)
Male answer syndrome