Friday, July 15, 2011

Hither and thither 7/15/11

Another very busy week, training yet another new employee at work (thus leaving little blogging time). Plus, I expect to have been up until the wee hours of Friday morning.

But I do have a this and that for you.
  • In very tangential honor of Deathly Hallows, Part Two opening today:
  • If all goes as planned, I'll have seen the midnight showing by the time most of you read this. Or "am seeing it even now" if you're an earlyr-riser/late-to-bedder.
  • Update: all went as planned. Now, about five hours of sleep later, I'll start writing my review. Was it worth standing (sitting) in line for seven hours? Stay tuned.
  • Ah well. Sounds as if another perfectly horrid Bible version is exuded. Got to love this: the "readability editor," Lib Caldwell, said: “This is the first Bible to use contractions. If you read a Bible before this, you won’t find contractions.” Really? So what does that make the Christian Standard Bible, released about seven years previously? Chopped liver?
  • Trying to work your way to heaven is like this, but much worse:
  • Nothing about this story, which clearly is meant to present the TSA positively, is reassuring.
  • Assuming you've seen Kubrick's The Shining, this is a pretty cool sort of behind-the-scenes.
  • You know, I thought Newsweek was really obnoxious and worthless. But this collection of covers really raises my irritation-quotient.
  • Headline: Voters Are Barking, Drooling Idiots Who Clearly Neither Have Been Paying Attention Nor Are Able To Think for Themselves. OK, I may have slightly reworded it.
  • Reader Dwayne N. Warren shows us that there's more that can be done with a whip than you thought.
  • Building a set for Lothlorien (most boring sequence in FOTR) = not as easy as it looks:
  • I get funny email sometimes, funny offers of books from folks who clearly don't "get" this blog. This was a sales/spam email, but the subject-line is just so funny on so many levels: "THE ORIGINAL DIET OF THE DESERT - THE KOSHER ICE CUBE DIET FROM ISRAEL..." Where do you start?
  • Staying with the "interesting products" theme: reader Dolly Madison found a truckload of bacon products. Dude, I am so there for the bacon chocolate and peanut clusters! Please, when you schedule a book signing: fill the bowls.
  • Becky Schell found us Saruman, as you've never seen him before.
  • Remember how Arab countries hated the US under President Bush? And how the election of The One was going to change all that? Yeah, well, not so much.
  • Hmm, I think that's... interesting. And I'm not alone.
  • Comedians, at their best, take a slightly askew look at something common, something we seldom even really think about. Take Michael McIntyre's reconsideration of the way we walk. Very funny, not one bad word.
  • I leave you with this disturbing thought: we have been watching for robot invasions and zombie apocalypses. Maybe our doom will arise from another quarter...

  • Plus:










28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Coffee cup - amazing!
Algebra graph - yep!

And I assume you're seeing HP7 right now. Hoping to see it tonight or tomorrow, myself. Can we be looking forward to a review post for it?

word verification: glord - All glory to our Lord!!

Pierre Saikaley said...

Heh!-I think you should be a part-time consultant on HP to J.K Rowling.

Also...Arab malcontent towards the USA. Nah..you don't say!

Look, I'm ethnically Lebanese. Lemme tell ya what "my peeps" really think of y'all.

They like to enjoy all the benefits and freedoms of Amrika, but spit at your culture behind your backs-sometimes in your face.

I've seen it, heard it. It's real. Anybody who thinks the Arab world likes America under any administration can be sold a porch front cottage on Mount Vesuvius.

Just saying. :-)

Si Hollett said...

The Nobel Peace Prize committee must be rather embarrassed now, given that President Obama won the prize for not being President Bush and thus cooling down the Arab-US tensions...

I think Libya has a lot to do with it, and having a go at several Muslim Governments/Leaders of the right kind. The Arabs didn't care much for Saddam, and don't like the Iranian sphere of influence, so all Bush did to upset the Arabs was take out the Taliban for harbouring someone who attacked US soil - even the Arabs can see some legitamacy to that. Obama is intervening in 'domestic' matters (though the EU and Franko-British alliance are doing a lot more of the pushing for intervention/sanctions but not getting the blame).

Kirby said...

Apparently everyone else went to the 12:01 HPDH2 showing because it's 7:45 Eastern and I'm the first comment. Everyone is sleepin' in.

So I'm going to waste it by saying: FIRST

:)

Kirby said...

Love the giant seagull. You can't script something that funny. I would have loved to have been the camera man in the room with the newscaster and tried to not shake with uncontrollable laughter.


Word Verification: Gultchim: the word that describes a dare from one sea bird to another: as in "Hey dude, I dare you to gul-tchim that newscast by walking in front of the sky cam at noon"

(okay, my kids would laugh at that)

trogdor said...

That's not the crowd or type of routine I'm used to seeing "Live at the Apollo".

Barbara said...

As a clinical nurse I used Algebra on a daily basis, calculating medication dosages. It was helpful to understand things like ratio/proportion and various formulas.

Algebra saves lives!

Just sayin'. ;)

The Squirrel said...

I see the H&T pop up on Google reader, and I start singing that stupid "It's Friday" song while I click the link... That girl's gonna have a lot to answer for, I tell you!

Squirrel

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Oh my goodness, Saruman singing... you've just made the younger Grasshoppers absolutely hysterical, and now I have an ear-worm that's gonna last all day.

I think they're busy formulating a story-line for the newscaster with the GIANT SEAGULL behind him.

Must NOT show Wyatt (oldest Grasshopper boy) the Algebra graph, though.

And wow, I am shocked, SHOCKED, that we're not more popular in the Arab countries. Sheesh.

Thanks for the fun,

Julie

Susan said...

I'm at work...this, after having watched HP-7-1 and HP-7-2 back to back last night!! (That $20 AMC deal was worth it because I didn't watch part 1 the first time around. Moreover, they showed part 2 in 3d! And lastly, I have now in my possession a pair of 3d glasses so that I can look like Nerdy Harry the next time I watch a 3d flick!

DJP said...

Barbara, throwin' down for The Algebra!

Math teachers and HSing moms across the globe cheer you.

We advanced-math dunces, not so much.

(c:

Rachael Starke said...

Not liked by fascist thugs who, as a matter of law, dishonor and disfigure women, fund the mass slaughter of men, women, and children in the name of "God"?

I'm good with that.

GrammaMack said...

I'm now an HP convert, thanks to you, Dan, and my sons still haven't stopped teasing me about it. I'm looking forward to your review and to seeing it myself (in a theatre!--the others I watched at home as soon as I finished each book) tomorrow with my youngest son.

Also, I heart algebra. :-)

Paula Bolyard said...

First, thank you for the behind-the-scenes view of The Shining. Finally, after all these years, I can sleep.

The Obama administration isn't helping his image with Muslims by holding a gay pride event in the Pakistani embassy in Islamabad. It's not enough to be foisting his radical social agenda on the American people. Now he's exporting it to our enemies. Is that some sort of secret weapon of mass destruction? Surely another Nobel Peace Prize is in order for that move.

Regarding those polls, I've been trying to be more conscientious about answering the phone and suffering through the questions. I figure that in some small way, doing so can make a difference. The "appeal to the people" or bandwagon mentality can sometimes take hold and create momentum, whether for a candidate or a policy. If only liberals take the time to answer the polls it can give the appearance that "everyone" agrees with them.

I think this has happened with the homosexual agenda. They've given the appearance that most people are OK with gay marriage, or at minimum, are indifferent about it. I don't believe for a minute that's true and in state after state, voters have voted down gay marriage initiatives. But for whatever reason, polls seem to indicate that people are not against it. Either people are embarrassed (or intimidated) to tell pollsters their true views (but will vote against the homosexual agenda in the privacy of the voting booth) or social conservatives are not voting in the polls. Either way, more conservatives participating in polls is generally better.

[side note - though I almost always vote Republican because they best reflect my views right now, I will tell pollsters that I am an Independent, because I have no sworn allegiance to the GOP. And for the purpose of these polls, the independent vote is HUGE and perhaps more influential than "D" or "R"]

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Yay, Barbara!

I can't say that I use much algebra right now, but I kinda like it. It's like breaking a code, and seeing the order that is hidden inside.

Hmmm, evidence of an ordered universe and a creator :D

Rachael - touche!

Kris N. said...

Dan, went to see HP7 and was disappointed. I look forward to your review,

Anonymous said...

Depends? Am I a RPB?

I don't think it's a guilty pleasure, but I also don't exactly know how far one has to go before you all will label a person a RPB.

DJP said...

For newbies to the term RPB as mentioned in my Tweet, it's explained here.

Well, CL, I've never thought of you as such. You comment here openly in front of God and everyone, so that's against it. But my blog's not in your blogroll... so maybe you're a little "closeted."

(c;

Merrilee Stevenson said...

After watching the brilliant Saruman video with my kids, we watched the original music video. My kids said, at numerous points, "I've heard enough, shoot him!"

:0)

That was fun.
Have a great weekend.

Robert Warren said...

Re: Common English Bible

Wow, their exegetical consultants consisted of youth groups! I want my copy now!

This is also Fuller Seminary's new version of choice, replacing the TNIV. Fuller was proud to observe that the CEB's target audience was readers with eighth grade level reading skills. If it's possible, Zondervan must be ashamed.

JG said...

I'm just going to take a moment to gloat: since we saw the midnight showing at our army post theater, we didn't have a line. We got there a cautious 30 minutes early and there were still empty rows when the movie began. Even still, it would have been worth a long wait. Looking forward to your review.

Away From The Brink said...

If the caption on the first animated GIF had been "Skaters Gonna Skate" it would have been a true masterpiece.

threegirldad said...

Algebra saves lives!

So does punctuation.

;-)

For newbies to the term RPB...

A candidate for the "Idiosyncratic Acronymns" list, perhaps?

DJP said...

3GD — A candidate for the "Idiosyncratic Acronymns" list, perhaps?

Good idea, thanks.

Done.

Susan said...

That Saruman video gave me the creeps! :P

Kay said...

Michael McIntyre is usually good value. Plus he bounces a lot, which is amusing in and of itself.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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