tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60797167514731112782024-03-14T01:20:42.211-07:00Ramble-n-OnAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-80621833400388154702020-11-05T07:37:00.002-08:002020-11-05T07:37:22.036-08:00Trump STILL On Path For Victory As CHAOS Erupts, Riots, Protests And Fra...<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sIaKOxTE9rQ" width="480"></iframe>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-37314025116167133742020-09-26T18:13:00.001-07:002020-09-26T18:13:48.864-07:00Cops ARREST Worshippers Singing Over COVID Lockdown, Police Will LOSE Su...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C2nemkdt1eY" width="480"></iframe>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-44997331966520814992020-09-26T17:54:00.001-07:002020-09-26T17:54:47.310-07:00Defunding Police BACKFIRED BAD, Minneapolis Residents Are FURIOUS Over C...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GTnjpp_D2UY" width="480"></iframe>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-56747567678533863832017-04-16T18:18:00.001-07:002017-08-10T23:14:56.357-07:00Buses<p dir="ltr">I wonder sometimes. Those people who say using mass transit is an economic alternative to driving. Have they ever actually used the transit system? I take the bus to work every night. And when as in my case you have to leave 2 and a half hours before you're scheduled to start to get there on time. How is that "economic sense"? Sigh. Milwaukee county transit system is horrible. Buses are never on time, drivers are rude and condescending to passengers. </p>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-29950555306946488682014-11-17T03:24:00.002-08:002014-11-17T03:24:35.565-08:00Pop<div class="MsoNormal">
I was having a conversation with a co-worker(I’ll call him
George), and the MUZAK system started playing a song by Kylie Minogue called “I
can’t get you out of my head” I mentioned that a former co-worker hated pop
music, he would go on for hours if I’d let him about how all pop music artists
were talentless hacks who owe their livelihood to auto-tune more than any real
talent, with the lone exception of Kylie Minogue and the song “I Can’t Get You
Out of My Head” was his favorite song and it showed that SHE had real talent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As part of the conversation “George” said that he likes
Miley Cyrus. Now I couldn't care less about what pop singer “George” likes, but
I mentioned that I never willingly listened to a Miley Cyrus song, and then I
had to correct myself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year when the big media generated “controversy” broke
about Miley Cyrus appearing nude in the video for her song “Wrecking Ball” I
like millions of other people around the world sought out the aforementioned
video online. Now I’m not going to give you my opinion on the song or Miley
Cyrus’ talent as a singer, but I am going to tell you what I did when I watched
the video.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The video opens with an extreme close-up on Cyrus’ face as
she starts singing. The video was in high def and it was playing on my computer’s
monitor and I’m sitting maybe 2 feet from it. Watching the video, as she’s
singing I notice that she has this “thread” of saliva connecting her top and
bottom teeth. It was hypnotic. My eyes stayed glued to this little strand of
spit as I waited for it to break, it didn’t, ever. All the way through the
video whenever they cut back to that close-up the saliva strand was still there
hanging on like a trooper. As I was watching, I remember thinking why couldn't
they stop and give this girl a drink of water?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, yes I have willingly watched a Miley Cyrus video, but
the whole naked swinging on a wrecking ball thing is but a blur in my memory,
and all I can recall about the damn thing is that she has saliva that might
possibly be used as a bungee cord.</div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-72811590776024459792014-03-10T05:30:00.001-07:002014-03-10T05:30:51.176-07:00Malaysia Airlines planeI've been following coverage of this disappearance of this airliner and it is a real tragedy, but I can't help thinking that in the 21st century, with in flight WiFi becoming more commonplace, I think it's ridiculous that commercial airliners don't send real time position and status/condition updates to their airline's central servers. It would aid with diagnosing problems in flight and would help pinpoint an actual search location should the airliner have to ditch in the ocean(as I'm assuming this one did). With RADAR the minute the airliner falls below a certain altitude it is no longer viewable on RADAR.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-2050779808834840492014-02-17T03:18:00.000-08:002014-02-17T03:18:10.456-08:00PlanningIt's funny how life interferes with your plans. When I started this I had planned to do a few updates a week, nothing earth shattering to be sure, I'm simply not that interesting. Ah well, I'm here now and I want to say something that's at once clever and insightful, deep and thoughtful, but instead ...<br />
<br />
Walt Longmire.<br />
<br />
Who? Walt Longmire!<br />
<br />
Who? Ok, I'll tell you. Walt Longmire is a character created by Craig Johnson in his series of mystery novels with the completely original subtitle "Walt Longmire Mysteries". The series of novels, which currently stands at nine in number with a few more short stories. The novels have been adapted into a TV series on A&E entitled "Longmire". When I say "adapted" I should say that the producers took the characters and situations of the novels and completely ignored them. Well, I'm not being fair when I say that, because most of the book series is comprised of internal dialogue from Walt's perspective and by and large the reader only sees and hears what Walt sees and hears, that works great in a novel(or short story) but doesn't really work when it has to be depicted on screen with 40 or so minutes to tell the story, so changes had to be made.<br />
<br />
As seems to happen a lot to me lately, I only "discovered" the novels after watching the TV show(the same happened with the "Dexter" series, and the "Sookie Stackhouse" series, which served as the basis for the now(pardon the pun)long in the tooth HBO series "True Blood").<br />
<br />
I first became aware of "Longmire" the TV series through following one of its stars Katee Sackhoff on Twitter (@kateesackhoff) who I liked in Battlestar Galactica when she played Starbuck.<br />
<br />
Longmire is the Sheriff of Absaroka County Wyoming, he and his small force of Deputies deal with all sorts of problems in the TV series, from running for re-election against one of his long time deputies, to a brash young woman Deputy from Philadelphia who has more than a few skeletons in her closet. It's a fun show to watch, strong characters and interesting plots, but like with the other two series I mentioned, the novels are so much better.<br />
<br />
One of the things that is missing in the TV series, is Walt's sense of humor, Walt(in the novels) is a great at observational humor and a lot of funny one liners, it helps to have the humor in the novels to break up the often dark storylines,(in the novel "As The Crow Flies" Walt and a new Cheyenne Reservation Chief of Police have to investigate the death of a young mother who plunged to her death off a high cliff while holding her 6 month old son).<br />
<br />
<br />
Remember what I said about planning? Yeah going to have to end this for now, I hope to get back to this some time soon. In the mean time if you would like a good read to get you through those cold winter nights you could do a lot worse than "The Cold Dish", the first Walt Longmire novel written by Craig Johnson.<br />
<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-53703735928164564542013-12-13T03:18:00.000-08:002013-12-13T03:18:31.942-08:00Kindle fire HD I recently purchased a new Kindle Fire HD from Amazon and while it is a nice little tablet that is very quick and responsive I do have an issue that frankly I didn't expect to be an issue when I first ordered this tablet. That issue? No google play store. When I first ordered this Kindle I didn't think being limited to just the Amazon app store would be a "thing" but I didn't realize just how limited it is until I tried to find the media player that I use on my 2 year old galaxy s phone MX Player and it's codec pack doesn't exist in Amazon's little world. Sigh. I wonder if I could root and install pure android on this thing? Going to have to look into it.<br />
<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-49196304628326231002013-09-17T09:03:00.001-07:002013-09-17T09:03:20.723-07:00Enough with searching for exoplanets, let's get back to the moon!!!I was born on the cusp of the greatest achievement in human history, landing a man on the Moon, I remember growing up in the early 1970s and playing Astronaut with my brother using an old cardboard box as our spaceship and much to my mother's chagrin using up a new roll of aluminum foil to make our "spacesuits". I devoured everything I could find about the Apollo program and space and astronomy. I remember watching the early morning launch of the first space shuttle Columbia, thinking that this was the first step of yet another great adventure.<br />
<br />
In the end, the Shuttle Program turned out to be nothing more than a teenager taking the family car out for a joy ride and then doing nothing but driving around the block and never getting out of first gear.<br />
<br />
I think it'll be only a matter of weeks before the news is again filled with stories of finding yet another exo-planet(a planet that orbits a star that is not our own). And as the child in me rejoices at finding another planet that may support some form of life, I can't help but thinking that all of these "achievements" are in a sense one of the greatest scientific misdirections in the history of mankind.<br />
<br />
I am not flat Earther, I love science, but we're investing billions of dollars into this research and "explorations" that ultimately are pointless.<br />
<br />
Let's go back to the Moon! Let's go to Mars! Let's send a probe to Europa to find out what(if anything)is beneath that icy surface!<br />
<br />
In the 1960s and 1970s humanity waded ankle deep in the ocean of space by going to the Moon and now what are we doing? We're standing on the beach, getting our toes wet in the surf while we toss an occasional fishing line into the water to see what's there!<br />
<br />
We don't need to plunge heedlessly into the deep, we can again wade in, carefully and go back to the Moon and from there we can as a race go out to explore the solar system. We have the technology, we have the knowledge, all we are lacking is the will.<br />
<br />
Yes, times are hard financially, there are sick and starving people in the world, but even the ancient Romans understood that when times were hard the people not only desired, but needed more than when times were good, a distraction from their hard daily lives.<br />
<br />
We need to go back to the Moon not in spite of the problems we face here on Earth but because of them. We need to show Humanity that there is a future, a future that could be better.<br />
<br />
<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-46452924708300276142013-06-05T04:21:00.002-07:002014-02-17T03:28:44.515-08:00NeverI've come to the conclusion that one should never revisit a favorite TV show from childhood. All the bad acting, writing and special effects that you could ignore when you're 12 become magnified in adulthood.<br />
When I was a kid I loved a show that was only on for a couple of years. That show was called "Project UFO" supposedly based upon the US Air Force's Project Blue Book investigations of the 60s and early 70s. I loved it, it was edgy and the stories were true to life.<br />
As an adult...good god what in the heck was I thinking?? It was produced by Jack Webb, of "Dragnet" and "Adam-12" fame and like those shows the dialogue in "Project UFO" was stilted and so badly acted.<br />
<br />
The problem I seem to be having with pretty much all of Jack Webb's work, "Dragnet(1960s)", "Emergency", "Adam-12" and "Project UFO" is they are a product of a time where most of the TV producers grew up and were trained in the time of radio dramas, Dragnet being an adaptation of an old 1940s era radio show, and a 1950sera TV show and it shows in their work. The actors walk on screen say their lines and walk off. The sets look worse than the displays at Ikea.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-31499458717490135442013-05-28T13:38:00.001-07:002013-05-28T13:38:41.589-07:00Star Trek TOS HDI've been watching the HD update of the original Star Trek series and I like the new updated special effects, the visuals of the Enterprise are outstanding, they really don't hurt the episodes at all, but one thing did stick out for me about the show. The characters of Sulu, Chekov and Uhura add nothing to the show, they exist simply to have someone Kirk can rescue at the last minute. I honestly don't see the reason for the universal love Trekkies have for these characters or their inclusion in the 80s Trek movies.<div>
I have come to the conclusion that the only reason they became regulars was because they were members of a minority group. What Sulu and Uhura do could have been done by any number of a million actors in Hollywood. Black, White, Asian or Native American and there was no reason these particular actors should have been elevated to the status of regular characters</div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-84403862675754687682013-03-31T16:28:00.003-07:002013-03-31T16:28:48.653-07:00Easter and other religious holidaysIn recent years it seems that any and all religious holidays that are based on Christian faith have undergone an transformation in the popular press and the "Politically Correct" crowd. The latest of these being Easter. While the core religious celebrations remain intact the popular celebrations like Easter Baskets and even wishing someone a "Happy Easter" have suddenly become offensive in some quarters.<br />
The Easter basket is now the Spring Basket, wishing someone a Happy Easter has now morphed into wishing them a "Happy Spring" and of course the old idea of an Easter Break has long been converted into the party hardy time known as "Spring Break".<br />
Everyone is obsessed with respecting others religious beliefs, something I wholeheartedly agree with, all religious beliefs should be respected, this includes respecting the religious beliefs of those who consider Jesus of Nazareth to be the Son of God.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-78733196415674386722013-03-07T02:37:00.002-08:002014-02-17T03:30:53.295-08:00"Ancient Aliens"The "History" Channel has, for the past few years, been airing a show called "Ancient Aliens" the premise being that just about every technological and architectural advance the Human race has achieved is not an example of basic logic and Human ingenuity, but rather the result of "Estraterrestrial"(if you've seen the show, you'll get the reference) construction.<br />
<br />
The Great Pyramid? Aliens. Stonehenge? Aliens. Machu Pichu? Aliens. The Moon Landings? Aliens!<br />
<br />
If this was presented in as an hour TV show like Stargate SG1(great show btw) it would be an entertaining way to explore this absurd idea, but it's not. It's presented in a documentary format on a channel whose name suggests that it takes Earth history seriously.<br />
<br />
Before someone might get the idea that I'm some sort of elitist who thinks this kind of programming is somehow "beneath" me I should mention that I'm a long time fan of shows like the original "In Search of..." starring Leonard Nimoy from the 1970s and I enjoy hearing tales of "real" ghost stories. I am open to the idea of "paranormal phenomena", it's just that every time I watch or read these show I do so with a very skeptical eye.<br />
<br />
My guess about the popularity of shows like "Ancient Aliens" has it's roots in the fantastic technological advances Humans have made since the beginning of the 20th Century. Airplanes, Radios, Televisions, Computers, Space Flight.<br />
<br />
In the past if a Human happened upon something like the wonder of the Great Pyramid of Giza they'd see one thing straight away, and that is, that it's definitely not a natural object, just looking at it you can see a lot of thought and care took place in designing and building it. So ancient humans would assume that it was created by "the gods". Flash forward to the late 20th and Early 21st Century and the very idea of "gods" or a singular "God" is very out of fashion, so how do we explain these wonders our ancestors designed and built? It's not the gods, but Aliens!<br />
<br />
Aliens have become the 21st century version of the ancient "gods" because, I think that they can dress the idea of extraterrestrial life in a cloak of "science". after all real scientists are right this minute spending millions of dollars searching for life beyond Earth.<br />
<br />
(more later, tired right now).<br />
<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-62676124484230399192013-02-27T09:24:00.001-08:002013-03-07T02:39:29.857-08:00Reading...I was reading CNN earlier and they asked a question about gay marriage and the responses simply floored me. So many people want to impose their religious beliefs on others, their only argument against gay marriage is religious. I don't really have an opinion either way, mainly because I don't really care who marries who, but if the best the anti-gay marriage crowd has is based on their own religious beliefs then they really have no real argument.<br />
If two gay people get married, then how have my own religious principles been violated? What others do is of no concern to me(as long as it's legal). The sun will rise in the morning, the birds will still sing and the bees will still buzz.<br />
People really need to butt the fuck out of other people's lives.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-67071825778321909372013-02-24T11:09:00.004-08:002013-02-24T11:09:46.708-08:00Legalizing MarijuanaI've been thinking about this for awhile now.<br />
I am completely in favor of legalizing marijuana for adults and to tax and regulate the drug as if it were tobacco or alcohol, but legalizing marijuana will not solve the budget crisis not by a long shot. Any additional funds raised by the taxes and fees paid to the government by legal growers and sellers will be "eaten up" by the enforcement of the new regulations. Legal doesn't mean unregulated and regulation costs money.<br />
<br />
<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-28290671980040903232013-02-18T12:35:00.002-08:002013-05-28T13:44:04.049-07:00True BloodBased on a close friend's recommendation I started watching the HBO series "True Blood" a few weeks ago. All in all I've enjoyed watching the series, although I will admit to feeling a little uncomfortable at first during Anna Paquin's nude scenes as the only times I've seen her in anything she was just a child and it took a little time to wrap my mind around the fact that enough time had passed since "the old days" of the mid-1990s that this little girl was now a full grown adult woman.<br />
Upon learning that the TV series was based upon a series of novels by Charlaine Harris I made a point to check out the source material and read the novels. I was surprised by them, while promoted as "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" they don't seem to work as a classic mystery, the mystery of the stories is secondary to inter-personal relationships of the characters and the behind the scenes political dealings of the Vampires and the other various supernatural beings aka "supes".<br />
While I read the first couple novels I soon switched to the audiobook editions of the series, mainly because my work schedule limits the amount of time I can spend actually reading a book, and the audiobook versions allow me to "read" the novels while doing other things. The narrator of the series, Johanna Parker really brings the characters to life in a way that my own imagination couldn't.<br />
As a TV series, "True Blood" is quite good, but I have to admit that I'd rather spend time immersed in the world of the novels than the TV series. The changes the creators of the TV series made to the novels in bringing them to the small screen are in my opinion questionable, eliminating characters entirely due to possible legal issues(in the novels one of the supporting characters "Bubba" is a Vampire Elvis, revived by a vampire fan in the morgue in Memphis after his drug induced death) and relying on racial stereotypes to flesh out others(Lafayette Reynolds, in the only novel he appeared in he was a background character described only as a flamboyantly gay African American. He was the cook at Merlott's, the bar where Sookie Stackhouse works, but in the series, he's morphed into a drug dealing, male prostitute. Of all the options open to this character the creators of the series chose the easiest route, turn the only male black character into a criminal when there were so many other options open to them, why not make him a college student or anything else that wasn't a criminal?) I'm not a TV producer, or even that socially conscious but this irritates me. Though in fairness they have, as the series progressed, allowed Lafayette to grow.<br />
As I said, I like the TV series, and if someone were to ask me, I'd recommend it to them, with the warning that it contains a lot of nudity and bloody violence, but in the end as is often the case I like the books better.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-30244109216420180982012-08-24T04:58:00.001-07:002012-08-24T04:58:59.293-07:00Weight loss<div><p>I started walking to work in June. About 3.5 miles from the closest bus stop to my job. In that time I went from 274lbs to 248lbs so 26lbs lost in 2 and a half months. I also started a new "diet" though not a very strict one. I basically eat whatever the hell I want until I'm full. Then don't eat a full meal the rest of the day. I snack on fruit or something light if I feel hungry. It seems to be working.<br>
BTW Subway's meatball marinara subs are fantastic. </p>
</div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-89125288030450103832012-07-23T00:29:00.001-07:002012-07-23T00:29:36.986-07:00What?<div><p>I was waiting a few days to comment on the Aurora Colorado shooting.<br>
Some of the reactions from the political minded in the US are as predictable as saying you're going to get wet if you jump in a lake.<br>
Gun control weapons bans etc.<br>
Really? The first reaction of these people is to score political points? Humanity at it's worst.<br>
</p>
</div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079716751473111278.post-11934944702096382712012-04-20T10:26:00.004-07:002012-04-20T10:26:58.685-07:00BlockI work nights, and as might be expected in my line of work most of the work is physical with little mental exercise and as a result while I'm on autopilot doing the work my mind races through any number of topics, topic that I think would be interesting to write about, from political, to sports to movies and TV to books...well you get the picture. My problem is that once I finish work and make my way home I find that I can't remember a darned thing about what I was thinking about just a few hours before.<br />
It's aggravating.<br />Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16343204100721490451noreply@blogger.com0