France Guts EU
That would make them "The Camp of the Aints."
What are they drinking, "Eau Contraire?"
If no one understands the first one, leave a comment and I'll explain.
Monday, May 30, 2005
A Touch of Snark
This is inappropriate for a Memorial Day weekend but the thought did strike me: Doesn't it seem blindness would be more likely to lead to the overuse of Viagra than overuse of Viagra would lead to blindness?
And in the same jocular vein, my favorite Viagra joke (as told by Harvey Korman): When asked if he used Viagra, he says, "Not much point to it. It'd be like putting up a new flagpole in front of a condemned buiilding."
This is inappropriate for a Memorial Day weekend but the thought did strike me: Doesn't it seem blindness would be more likely to lead to the overuse of Viagra than overuse of Viagra would lead to blindness?
And in the same jocular vein, my favorite Viagra joke (as told by Harvey Korman): When asked if he used Viagra, he says, "Not much point to it. It'd be like putting up a new flagpole in front of a condemned buiilding."
Friday, May 27, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Favorite Sites o' Snark
No finesse to this post. Just pointers to a couple of places I check regularly. First Go Fug Yourself ("Fugly is the new pretty.") for a heapin' helpin of celebrity snarkin.' And Television Without Pity for tube-y snark. You might not find a particular show but the in-depth recaps are worth the price of admission. Which is nothing of course. Would I send you to a website that charged? Not bloody likely.
No finesse to this post. Just pointers to a couple of places I check regularly. First Go Fug Yourself ("Fugly is the new pretty.") for a heapin' helpin of celebrity snarkin.' And Television Without Pity for tube-y snark. You might not find a particular show but the in-depth recaps are worth the price of admission. Which is nothing of course. Would I send you to a website that charged? Not bloody likely.
Celebrating Initiative
PoW exists in awe of the inventive nature of Americans. Necessity is, in the old saying, the mother of invention. Through a bit of ingenious American laziness in to the mix and the results can be truly inspired. These facts notwithstanding, PoW does not endorse this pet carrier.
PoW exists in awe of the inventive nature of Americans. Necessity is, in the old saying, the mother of invention. Through a bit of ingenious American laziness in to the mix and the results can be truly inspired. These facts notwithstanding, PoW does not endorse this pet carrier.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Office Coffee
With a hat tip toward Sugarmama, I thought I might post about coffee in the office at a place of previous emplyment. Let's get one thing out in the open right at the git-go: coffee that's provided for employees is basically crap. It can be drinkable but you'll never get more than that out of the insitutionally provided caffeine vector. Still, we drink it because it's free. Be honest. You know I'm right.
That being as it may, my office started with those hideous glass carafe drip machines. Not that the carafes start out hideous of course. And if the person who makes the coffee takes a bit of care, the coffee can be ... acceptable. But it's bloody unlikely that the person ripping open the little foil bag of alleged coffee will put in the right amount of water and, much more importantly, it's a dead crab certainty that the carafe will not be cleaned. And therein lies the genesis of the hideousness.
That carafe is guaranteed to have, at some point, the last cup and a half of coffee burnt onto its bottom by neglect of the warming plate. And that blackened crust is also certain to be never entirely removed. It takes a bit of effort to get all the carbon off (such as putting in crushed ice and cleanser and swishing the pot around) and that effort will never be made for the office pot. The tragedy of the commons all over again. Except in little bitty scale. That persistent carbonized coffee will, if not properly dealt with, forever influence the coffee made in that pot. And by influence I mean like Tony Soprano influences law enforcement. Subtle but evil.
For the company, however, the problem is not the wretched coffee but the fact that the glass carafes break like a dog chew-toy made of cellophane. It isn't cheap to keep replacing those things. So other coffee service methods have been developed. My office got one of those machines that makes the coffee one cup at a time.
You select the strength, the measure of caffeine and the size, put your cup (aha! no carafe to break) in the little porch, a measure of coffee would be deposited on a filter belt and a wallop of hot water would womp down on the coffee and "brew" for a moment. Then with a great popping and sighing, the machine would pour a freshly (!) made cuppa into one's mug of choice. And it wasn't bad coffee really, as institutional swill goes. What I liked was the little scrolling LCD instruction window which, as the coffe was "brewing," said "Product being prepared - Watch!" Mmmm! Fresh, hot product!
What's so fun about the instruction window? I'm glad you asked. The main work with which I was involved was done in a large, fairly open room that was separated from the room next to it by a half wall with windows to the ceiling. So what's a wise guy to do? I made a sign that I put up on the glass door that said (you're way ahead of here aren't you) "Product being prepared - Watch!"
I have it on good authority that at least one other person was amused.
With a hat tip toward Sugarmama, I thought I might post about coffee in the office at a place of previous emplyment. Let's get one thing out in the open right at the git-go: coffee that's provided for employees is basically crap. It can be drinkable but you'll never get more than that out of the insitutionally provided caffeine vector. Still, we drink it because it's free. Be honest. You know I'm right.
That being as it may, my office started with those hideous glass carafe drip machines. Not that the carafes start out hideous of course. And if the person who makes the coffee takes a bit of care, the coffee can be ... acceptable. But it's bloody unlikely that the person ripping open the little foil bag of alleged coffee will put in the right amount of water and, much more importantly, it's a dead crab certainty that the carafe will not be cleaned. And therein lies the genesis of the hideousness.
That carafe is guaranteed to have, at some point, the last cup and a half of coffee burnt onto its bottom by neglect of the warming plate. And that blackened crust is also certain to be never entirely removed. It takes a bit of effort to get all the carbon off (such as putting in crushed ice and cleanser and swishing the pot around) and that effort will never be made for the office pot. The tragedy of the commons all over again. Except in little bitty scale. That persistent carbonized coffee will, if not properly dealt with, forever influence the coffee made in that pot. And by influence I mean like Tony Soprano influences law enforcement. Subtle but evil.
For the company, however, the problem is not the wretched coffee but the fact that the glass carafes break like a dog chew-toy made of cellophane. It isn't cheap to keep replacing those things. So other coffee service methods have been developed. My office got one of those machines that makes the coffee one cup at a time.
You select the strength, the measure of caffeine and the size, put your cup (aha! no carafe to break) in the little porch, a measure of coffee would be deposited on a filter belt and a wallop of hot water would womp down on the coffee and "brew" for a moment. Then with a great popping and sighing, the machine would pour a freshly (!) made cuppa into one's mug of choice. And it wasn't bad coffee really, as institutional swill goes. What I liked was the little scrolling LCD instruction window which, as the coffe was "brewing," said "Product being prepared - Watch!" Mmmm! Fresh, hot product!
What's so fun about the instruction window? I'm glad you asked. The main work with which I was involved was done in a large, fairly open room that was separated from the room next to it by a half wall with windows to the ceiling. So what's a wise guy to do? I made a sign that I put up on the glass door that said (you're way ahead of here aren't you) "Product being prepared - Watch!"
I have it on good authority that at least one other person was amused.
Monday, May 23, 2005
It's The Little Things Sometimes
Last Monday and Tuesday I spent a fair amount of each day at the cardiologist's office taking a dual-isotope test. I'm not going into details but it involved faux exercise, radioactive dyes injected into me and a big-ass imaging machine showing how my heart was working. The upshot is the tests showed that my heart was "normal." So my chest pain and sucking for air at the start of the month was due to something else. At least that's mostly gone.
The little thing is that I was injected each day and had a cloth bandage put in the crook of my arm. There must be latex in them because I still have a nasty, band-aid-sized red rash on each arm a week later. I use hydrocortisone cream on them so I'm not scratching at them and I think they are starting to clear up but Oy! What a lingering pain.
Unlike the short, shart jab in the wallet when I wrote them a check for the tests.
Last Monday and Tuesday I spent a fair amount of each day at the cardiologist's office taking a dual-isotope test. I'm not going into details but it involved faux exercise, radioactive dyes injected into me and a big-ass imaging machine showing how my heart was working. The upshot is the tests showed that my heart was "normal." So my chest pain and sucking for air at the start of the month was due to something else. At least that's mostly gone.
The little thing is that I was injected each day and had a cloth bandage put in the crook of my arm. There must be latex in them because I still have a nasty, band-aid-sized red rash on each arm a week later. I use hydrocortisone cream on them so I'm not scratching at them and I think they are starting to clear up but Oy! What a lingering pain.
Unlike the short, shart jab in the wallet when I wrote them a check for the tests.
Friday, May 20, 2005
Kylie Minogue
I was unkind to the Aussie beauty in an earlier post, linking to a picture of her on the "Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong" site and I'd like to retract my earlier linkage in light of the recent news of her having breast cancer. PoW wishes her a fast and full recovery, a long and fruitful life. We may have snarked but we love her nonetheless.
I was unkind to the Aussie beauty in an earlier post, linking to a picture of her on the "Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong" site and I'd like to retract my earlier linkage in light of the recent news of her having breast cancer. PoW wishes her a fast and full recovery, a long and fruitful life. We may have snarked but we love her nonetheless.
I Have One Question
I haven't seen it yet and don't know when I will. But why is the title "Revenge of the Sith?" What exactly is it that was done to them that they are taking "revenge?"
I was going to go off on Lucas's naming of a previous episode but let me swipe a wad of text from the IMDB:
This might lead to a "Why I Hate George Lucas" post. Or not.
I haven't seen it yet and don't know when I will. But why is the title "Revenge of the Sith?" What exactly is it that was done to them that they are taking "revenge?"
I was going to go off on Lucas's naming of a previous episode but let me swipe a wad of text from the IMDB:
The title to this film is based on a false name given to _Return Of The Jedi (1983)_ , which was "Revenge Of The Jedi". In the Special Edition of ROTJ, George Lucas himself stated that they purposely leaked out the name as "Revenge Of The Jedi" in order to catch people making bootleg merchandise. He also stated that a true Star Wars fan would have known it was a false title because a Jedi would never seek revenge. The false title also caused another movie to change its title; Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) was originally titled "Khan's Revenge", but changed when word of the third Star Wars film's working title was leaked."A Jedi would never seek revenge." Yeah, right. So Yoda's line about destroying the Sith isn't revenge, so it's OK. "Hi. I want to wipe you from the face of the glaxy but my motives are not so base as to be (shudder) revenge, so you should be OK with what I plan to do." Oh my aching back.
This might lead to a "Why I Hate George Lucas" post. Or not.
Happy Birthday To Me
It seems as good a day as any to return to my bloggish ways. The sky is crying with that peculiar gelid rain that hangs on window screens, too cold to flow, not cold enough to freeze. The wind hustles along, thumping against the house occasionally like hands clapped to the ears. Yet it is not as bad as I make it out. This is a rain in late May which makes wearing a sweatshirt not only possible but comfortable. I like it cool. And the new roof is holding proof against the rain and wind. The shingles on the old roof would flap and wallop against the roof in a high wind making sleep nigh unto impossible.
And what goodies are under the birthday tree? A new iPod Shuffle (yay!), a Griffin RadioSHARK (yay!), Neal Stephenson's latest (see the "literature"section on the right) (yay!) and Tom Friedman's "The World Is Flat" (interesting - I'm not sure it's yay! material but I'm intrigued in reading it - Thanks to the XMBD). Mongolian Barbeque for dinner - an all-time fave I must say.
And tomorrow I wake to get on with my life. That's the part I'm not looking forward to.
UPDATE: The iPod Shuffle is fantastic. It holds 175 songs (I always rip at maximum quality), loads quickly, and I like the shuffle play. It automatically fills from my entire iTunes library (3009 songs as it stands) and I can count on getting something I like because my library is composed of music I like (That'd be a "duh!" moment. -Ed.) and the size is ... almost unbelieveable. If it weren't hanging around my neck (on the included lanyard), I'd think it wasn't on my person at all. My thanks to Lycurgus (never again to be called Festus) for the gift.
It seems as good a day as any to return to my bloggish ways. The sky is crying with that peculiar gelid rain that hangs on window screens, too cold to flow, not cold enough to freeze. The wind hustles along, thumping against the house occasionally like hands clapped to the ears. Yet it is not as bad as I make it out. This is a rain in late May which makes wearing a sweatshirt not only possible but comfortable. I like it cool. And the new roof is holding proof against the rain and wind. The shingles on the old roof would flap and wallop against the roof in a high wind making sleep nigh unto impossible.
And what goodies are under the birthday tree? A new iPod Shuffle (yay!), a Griffin RadioSHARK (yay!), Neal Stephenson's latest (see the "literature"section on the right) (yay!) and Tom Friedman's "The World Is Flat" (interesting - I'm not sure it's yay! material but I'm intrigued in reading it - Thanks to the XMBD). Mongolian Barbeque for dinner - an all-time fave I must say.
And tomorrow I wake to get on with my life. That's the part I'm not looking forward to.
UPDATE: The iPod Shuffle is fantastic. It holds 175 songs (I always rip at maximum quality), loads quickly, and I like the shuffle play. It automatically fills from my entire iTunes library (3009 songs as it stands) and I can count on getting something I like because my library is composed of music I like (That'd be a "duh!" moment. -Ed.) and the size is ... almost unbelieveable. If it weren't hanging around my neck (on the included lanyard), I'd think it wasn't on my person at all. My thanks to Lycurgus (never again to be called Festus) for the gift.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Monday, May 02, 2005
Hiatus
I will have be away from posting for, most likely, the next few weeks at least. I have been made aware of a serious health issue that may result in, how does one say this without being excessively dramatic, away from the computer for a period of days.
I believe I have some cardiac problems which, if I do not get some treatment, could lead to a permanent end to my posting. 'Tis a consumation devoutly not to be wished.
I hope Paul will find sufficient reason to keep the commentary flowing. So, until we read again, I am off.
UPDATE: Not as serious as I feared. But I'll be on some meds and going in for some tests in the short-term future. Posting may continue but don't count on it.
I will have be away from posting for, most likely, the next few weeks at least. I have been made aware of a serious health issue that may result in, how does one say this without being excessively dramatic, away from the computer for a period of days.
I believe I have some cardiac problems which, if I do not get some treatment, could lead to a permanent end to my posting. 'Tis a consumation devoutly not to be wished.
I hope Paul will find sufficient reason to keep the commentary flowing. So, until we read again, I am off.
UPDATE: Not as serious as I feared. But I'll be on some meds and going in for some tests in the short-term future. Posting may continue but don't count on it.
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