Archive for the ‘Fun!’ Category

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Barack: Becoming A Caracature Of Himself

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Just yesterday I wrote the bit about Obama and his teleprompter, then today I hear a story that only reinforces the joke;

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was just a few paragraphs into an address at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House when he realized something sounded way too familiar. Turns out, he was repeating the speech President Barack Obama had just given.

Cowen was set to speak twice at the White House on Tuesday night because there were two different parties going on at the executive mansion. No matter — he would give the same speech to the two different audiences.

But Cowen was 20 seconds into his second address when it dawned on him that he was giving word for word the speech that Obama had just read from the same teleprompter.

Cowen stopped and looked back at the president to say, “That’s your speech.”

Obama laughed and returned to the podium to offer what might have been Cowen’s remarks. In doing so, President Obama thanked President Obama for inviting everyone over.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that when I heard it. Oh how I would love to see the video of that, but so far nothing has shown up on YouTube. I’m guessing that his staff was quite busy yesterday and today scaring up any stray copies of that tape. Given the effectiveness of the Obama Administration thus far, I’d say that video ought to hit the ‘net aaaaannnnny minute now.

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Light Pillars Over Sioux Falls

Friday, February 27th, 2009

I had some after-hours stuff to do at work last night, so was there until about 1am, and got quite a show of light pillars on the way home.

I don’t know the exact weather ingredients necessary for light pillars to show up, but it had rained/sleeted/snowed a bit earlier in the day, then the temperature had dropped from the mid-20’s to around 0°F, and there wasn’t a breath of wind at that time of night. These pillars of light were all around and in all different colors; it was just breathtaking.

Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me, but drove home, grabbed it, and went back out to try my hand at capturing the effect. I’m afraid didn’t do a very good job, but with a little time in Photoshop I was able to tweak the image a bit and ended up with a reasonable facsimile. Of course it doesn’t do justice to what I saw last night, but for that you’ll have to be on the lookout yourself!

Posted in Favorite Things, Fun!, The World | Comments Closed

Chingon Rocks Mariachi!

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

One of my favorite movies is The Bride by Quentin Tarantino. You might know the film better by the name Kill Bill 1 & 2. Yes, I know it was released as two movies separated by a couple of years, but I think it’s better to think of it as one story with a really long intermission in the middle.

I found the set of two dvd’s at a store just recently, and just finished watching the second installment… What a cool movie! It’s a little on the bloody side, and the F-bomb gets dropped an inordinate number of times, but it’s a great story of a mother’s love, and revenge. If you haven’t seen it, and can stand a bit of blood and swearing, I’d highly recommend it.

In the Special Features of the second disk is a music video from the group Chingon that was taped at the premiere of Kill Bill 2, and I absolutely love that music. I have no idea what the lyrics mean — they’re all in Spanish — but just listening to the guitars is really amazing. I do know that the second song, Fideo del Oeste translates roughly to “Mexican Spaghetti Western”.

Anyway, just thought I’d share the music. I ripped the tunes from the dvd and have them in my iTunes faves, so I listen to them pretty regularly; hit play on the YouTube videos below to have a listen for yourself. And in case you’re a little on the squeamish side, I promise, no blood is spilled. Enjoy!


YouTube link


YouTube link

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A Short Road Trip… A Few Observations

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

I made a quick run to the inlaws’ house tonight, about a 60 mile drive, each way. Along the way I made a few observations…

  1. Since the BMW doesn’t have a working odometer, I thought this might be a good opportunity to check the gas mileage, so I filled up before leaving Sioux Falls and again at the same station when I got back. On the 117.6 mile trip I used 5.074 gallons of fuel, which translates to 23.18 miles per gallon. Not bad, especially considering the, um, spirited driving enjoyed along the way.
  2. The driving was particularly spirited along one of my favorite drives, a lonely 8 mile stretch of highway that runs along the river between Beloit, IA, and Fairview, SD. I hit three digits each way through there tonight; what a blast! On the way out there was a Ford F350 pickup traveling the same direction. I thought I’d overtake him quickly, but he was cooking along at a little over 90. I think he was a little surprised when I blew by him at about 120 or so. The white stripes on the highway zip by pretty quickly at that speed.

    My observation? Moving along at 55-60mph feels like a crawl when you were doing twice that only moments before. Also, it’s amazing how smooth and stable that ratty looking e28 is at high speeds.

  3. The stars! I stopped along the way on the return trip just to take in the view. It’s amazing how much more you can see in the sky without the light interference you find in the city. I’m becoming more convinced that people who spend most of their time in urban environments tend to become more detached from their Creator. It’s easy to think that man is the epitome of evolution when all you see is man-made. Here’s a tip; first chance you get, get far enough out of Dodge to escape the glow dome surrounding the city — about 30 miles or so — so you can really see the sky. It is truly amazing, and humbling. It makes a guy feel really small and insignificant, and makes one wonder how the God of the universe could take an interest in something so small.

That’s all I can think of right now. Other than a few niggling issues with the car that popped up along the way. The cruise control was working fine most of the way, but near my destination on the way out the brake light warning came on, and the cruise control wouldn’t work. It came back on for the return trip, but later the brake light warning came on again, and again the cruise wouldn’t work. The power windows quit working a couple of days ago, but along the way I fiddled with the breaker switch under the dash and they started working again, for a short time. That narrows down the possible problem areas anyway. Also, the brake pedal seems to be getting a little on the soft side; might have to bring it over to Abe & have him check things over.

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Posted in BMW Of The Day, Favorite Things, Fun!, Just Stuff, The Deep | Comments Closed

Don’t Wanna Be… Obama’s Elf…

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

This is a hoot!

YouTube Link.

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Jokes That Made Me Laugh Out Loud

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

What has four legs and one arm?
A very happy rottweiler.

What is brown & black and looks good on a lawyer?
A doberman.

What do you call a dairy cow with epilepsy?
A milkshake.

What do you call a bull with epilepsy?
Beef jerky.

And one for the 7th grade boy in me:
Why do girls wear makeup and perfume?
Cuz they’re ugly and they smell bad.

(more…)

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A Tractor For A Rhythm Section?

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Not sure what country this is from, but it’s incredibly clever; using an old two-cylinder tractor in place of a drummer! Not much flexibility in tempo, but it makes for a unique sound.

I think the Groove needs to find an old Johnny Popper to use in one of their floor shows; now that would be cool.

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Twenty-Three Below Zero

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Yes, that’s right; twenty-stinkin’-three degrees below zero, as evidenced by my trusty outside thermometer…

.

That’s the same as -30.55° Celsius. Brrr. But that seems balmy to Aberdeen’s low of -42° this morning.

According to the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls, that’s the coldest it’s been since sometime in the mid 1990’s (didn’t catch the exact date) but it’s still not a record low. The record on this date in 1972 was -32°.

Even now, at almost noon, the temp has risen to only -13°, shooting for a ‘high’ of -1°. Can’t wait. But it’s supposed to be in the 20’s or 30’s by the weekend. We’ll be running around in shirtsleeves by then I’m sure.

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Tagged

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

I guess I’ve been tagged — but thankfully not like the poor old bovine above. According to Rick’s post, what I have to do is…

… list seven random or weird facts about myself and then tag seven other people.


So, here goes, whether it’s right or not. But if it’s not, well I guess it’s not. And here goes in spite of the 49 posts stacked up in Draft status waiting to be finished. Guess a backlog like that is what happens when someone with SODS (Shiny Object Distraction Syndrome) tries to run a blog (does that count as a weird or random fact about me? Or two?)

  1. My first name is not David (not telling what it really is!)
  2. I got my driver’s license two weeks before my 16th birthday, but got picked up for speeding the same day and subsequently lost said license. Yeah; not one of my better moments.
  3. I met, fell in love with, proposed to, and married my charming & gracious Yvonne in a span of about 8 months. Yup; that was one of my better moments!
  4. My first job out of high school was with a casket manufacturer.
  5. I have no idea how many computers I have in my house right now, but I do know that none of them are PC’s. run Window$ as a native OS. (better?)
  6. I was a registered Democrat until 1994.
  7. My longest term of employment was with CCL Label — 1991 to 2005. The shortest? John Morrell & Co. — 7.5 hours. Yup; didn’t even finish my first shift. When I’d had my fill of the place, I tracked down my foreman & told him off, threw my checked out equipment at him, stormed off in a rage, then got hopelessly lost trying to find my way out of the building. (The decision to take the job there was definitely not a shining moment in the history of me.)

Well, there’s my seven. I don’t know how random or weird any of them are, but that’s what I could come up with on a Sunday afternoon. I think I’ll just leave it at that.

But now, who to tag…

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My No-Year’s Resolutions

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Since my track record for keeping past New Year’s Resolutions has been pretty poor — I usually end up headed in the opposite direction of what I resolve to do — I thought this year I’d maybe try a little reverse psychology. Maybe I’ll actually get where I want to go.

So, I hereby resolve to…

  1. Gain weight. I’m thinking at least 40 pounds. Just more of me to love, right?
  2. Not even think about exercising. I’d resolve to quit exercising, but I can’t very well stop if I’m not doing it in the first place. Total waste of time.
  3. Read less, and I’ll hide my Bible. Quiet time? Devotions? Spiritual disciplines? Who needs them?
  4. Watch more TV. I might even break down and get cable. From what people at work talk about, I’ve been missing some good stuff.
  5. Procrastinate more. Then again, maybe I’ll wait & do that next year.
  6. Take up a new habit: Maybe drinking. And smoking would be good too. And as long as I’m at it, I’ll start hitting the casinos.
  7. Spend more time at work.
  8. Spend less time with the wife & kids. That only deepen any emotional attachment to them, which interferes with #7.
  9. Take a vacation to someplace important: like to see the largest ball of twine.
  10. Stop going home for lunch or bringing a sack lunch to work: We all need to do our part for stimulating the economy, and fast food restaurants play an important role in that, right?
  11. Quit giving money & time to charity. It’s time to let someone else develop character in that way.
  12. Sell my car and buy a mid-’70’s Camaro or Monte Carlo with a really loud stereo system, mag wheels, air shocks and wide tires in back. I’ll also need to grow a mullet to complete the image.
  13. Shower and change clothes once a week, whether I need it or not. A guy has to do his part to to reduce water usage.
  14. Cash out my 401k accounts. The markets are going nowhere fast, and just think of the fun I could have with all that money.
  15. Stay up later still every night. Think of all the late-night TV and web browsing I can get done instead of sleeping. Most days at work I feel like I’m spinning wheels anyway, so showing up half asleep shouldn’t affect a thing productivity-wise.

Well, that should pretty much do it. Here’s hoping I keep a perfect track record. Of failing to achieve what I resolve to do.

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Posted in Fun!, Just Stuff, Personal Growth | Comments Closed

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