Friday, August 31, 2012

Blue Moon

Blue Moon

I just smooched my love under this blue moon.

Thanks

President Obama was a big help with that EMR issue today.

Seven Days Away

2010-09-14 - Rush at TD Garden 1240

So Far So Not So Bad

I still have 59 minutes left until the Labor Day weekend begins, and I am probably jinxing myself right now, but at least up until now this has not been the horribly bad work day that I irrationally feared it would be.

Still, this has been one of those weeks.  You know the kind.  One of those weeks where nothing comes out the way it should, and even the things that work out require 10 times more work than normal.  Metaphorically speaking, every programming inch gained has been a fight.  Nothing has come easy, or even routinely difficult.

I'm going to really be happy when this work week is over.

Weeks like these make me think longingly about picking up the wife and the step kids and doing something like this...

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I wouldn't even care where it ended up, just as long as it goes somewhere different for a few days at least.

56 minutes to go...

Long Weekend Approaches

The long Labor Day weekend approaches.  Officially, for me, there are seven hours and 21 minutes to go.  (I've been picking at this post for two hours now.  Every time I come back to it I update that time remaining)  The traffic will be horrible getting home, so I'll stick to the back roads.  It's a pain, but only a small price to pay for an extra day off.

I would like to ask everyone who reads this to send some happy thoughts to my nephew.  My brother's not-quite-two year old son spent last night in the hospital.  The word this morning is that he's better than yesterday, but any positivity would be welcome.

Today is a day that traditionally depresses me.  It's the last day of August.  It's not the last day of summer, but it's the last day of the last full summer month.  Fall is bearing down on us.  There are some leaves on the lawn at home.  I find it sad.  I love summer.  I love spring.  Fall is such a downer.  Everything runs to a halt in fall.  Nature dies.  Sure it's going to come back in a half a year, but that doesn't change the fact that everything is dying or going into hiding, and the winter is fast approaching.  Spring and summer seem to go by so fast for me while winter seems to drag on forever.  It's depressing to me.  Do people who live in San Diego have these same feelings, or is it just us poor New Englanders with our drastically different seasons?

On the upside, today is pay day... so that helps a little.

Anyway, on a much happier personal note, the Clockwork Angels tour starts in seven days.  The wife and kids and I are going to see Rush!  Expect lots of fanboy stuff on this page over the next week.

We don't have any plans for the long weekend.  Jen is in the middle of a huge project at work and she expects to be working quite a bit.  Maybe we can sneak into the back yard for a mini cook out or something.  Just something to acknowledge the symbolic end of summer.  I want to be there for her all weekend.  I want to do things that will make her happy.  That means cleaning the house and mowing the lawn.  I think I can get that done for you, my love.  If I get a few free minutes I'd also like to try working on some recording, or maybe find something to take pictures of.

I just heard from my brother.  My nephew is better today and will probably be going home.  Just because the good news came before I posted the request for happy thoughts does not mean that you can now save your happy vibes for another occasion.  You can still send them to the little guy.  Every little bit helps.

The long weekend is almost here.  Hang in there, you folks in the US! 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

It May Finally Have Happened

It's sort of like a musical destiny that just hadn't come together. I mean, it's always just been a matter of time until my musical tastes and his music sort of met in the middle, right?

The last couple of weeks I've been spinning the hell out of the Action Packed compilation, and I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Unhalfbricking.

I think it might be happening.

I think I might be turning into a Richard Thompson fan.

Low Moon Over Karate Class

Nothing Much

Nothing much going on today.  I took the afternoon off, so that's good.  Still, nothing much going on.

Last night I posted a picture of Rush playing at the Verizon in Manchester, NH back in 2008.  We are all going to see them play there in just over a week.  Today let's throw up a shot of them playing at the TD Garden in Boston, MA.  We're going to see them play there next month.

Bring on the Clockwork Angels Tour!

2010-09-14 - Rush at TD Garden 363

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

It's Almost Here

Less than two weeks to go until these three clowns come back to that arena.

Rush @ Manchester 7-11-08 184

Strawbery Banke Pics

Here is the final Portsmouth post.  These are pictures taken inside of the Strawbery Banke museum.  It's not a single museum, it's more like a neighborhood with each building representing a different period in the town's history, from the late 1600's through the each 1950's.  It's an interesting concept.  The buildings are all original, but most have been renovated back to whatever time period they are showcasing.  Oh, and to answer the biggest question I had when I first heard of this place, Strawbery Banke is the original name for the town of Portsmouth, and while the spelling of the words "strawberry" and "bank" is technically incorrect, that is the correct spelling for the site.

Sunflowers.  Sometimes it seems like everyone on Flickr has a set full of sunflowers.  Now I do too.  Way to fit in, Robbie!
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He took a picture of a bench once and now he considers himself a Photographer.  (No I don't)
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Portsmouth used to be the state capital.  One of the houses was the former governor's mansion circa 1870 or so.  There was a garden outside, and there were butterflies all over the place.
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Houses that visitors are allowed to enter are denoted by a flag hanging near the door.  Not all of the flags were period specific though, but some of them were close.  Count the number of stars on this flag.
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I want a one hundred year old grandfather clock for our living room.
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I want a one hundred year old piano for our living room too.
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If you want to throw in a one hundred year old chandelier too, then I guess I'll take it.
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Funhouse mirror-esque lame self portrait!
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I am guessing that if you blow this up to full size you'll be able to find a butterfly or two.
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I said that each house you could enter had a flag and that some of them were specific to the period on display.  The oldest house was built in 1670 or so.  Is this period specific for a British colony?
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A window on the oldest house in the park.
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A Philco from the 1940's.  Say hello to my favorite piece in the whole place!
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Let's hope they all came home safe.  Let's also hope we don't have to see any of these things again in the future.
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They had one house that was an example of a what some of the buildings were like before they were restored.  In other words, they had an old abandoned house on display to show us what old abandoned houses look like.
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Finally, outside of a WWII era grocery store.  Count the stars.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

This Will Never Stop Being Awesome

This will never, ever stop being completely awesome. 

Curiosity took this picture.  The furthest peak at the top of the image is 10 miles away.  This is awesome.  Hi-res, color pictures from the surface of another freakin' planet.  If you don't think this is the most awesomest thing imaginable then you are probably dead.

Focusing the 100-millimeter Mastcam

More Summer Sunday in Portsmouth Pictures

I am going to post some more pictures from our summer Sunday walk around Portsmouth.  I'll skip the Strawbery Banke pics for now.

According to a plaque out front, this church used to be the New Hampshire state house.
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There are some interesting stores downtown.
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This place used to be The Elvis Room.  I saw Chelsea on Fire there once with Larry, and it turns out my beautiful wife used to go there all the time.  I wonder if we were both there that night.
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As a former Bank of America customer who left over the whole charging for debit transactions bullshit, I found this little political statement amusing.
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You can't go to Portsmouth without at least catching a glimpse of the water.
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You can't go to Portsmouth without at least catching a glimpse of the bridge.
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Always support your neighborhood street musicians.  Especially when they wail the way this guy was wailing.  I gave the kids a buck each to drop in his tip bag.  He totally bagged me when I took a picture.  I'll put that one up on the private page.
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There ya go.  A few Portsmouth pictures.  Eventually I'll add the Strawbery Banke pics too.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Vacation Idea for Next Year

I just had a cool idea for a possible thing to do on vacation next year.

On our honeymoon in 2009, Jen and I went to a Padres game in San Diego and just happened to see Adrian Gonzalez play 1st base.  This year Jen and the kids and I went to a Red Sox game and saw Adrian Gonzalez play 1st base.

If we go back to Southern California next year, we should time it so that we can see the Dodgers play a home game and see Adrian Gonzalez play 1st base again.

Three teams, three cities, one 1st baseman.

That would be pretty neat-o, right?  Sounds almost like a good enough excuse to go back to California next year!

The Point of View of the Red Sox Fans

Sunday evening, after we got home from our visit to Portsmouth, I had to go out and run a quick errand.  While in the car I had the radio on and I was listening to 98.5 the Sports Hub.  They were simulcasting a national Fox sports radio show.  I didn't recognize the hosts' names.  The time was probably between 7:00 and 7:30 Eastern.

One of the hosts was talking about "The Trade" and how it would affect Red Sox fans.  He seemed to feel that Sox fans would be very upset about the move as it would signify the organization admitting defeat and giving up on 2012.  I would like to take this opportunity to correct this radio talk show host who is so important and famous that I have no idea who he is' opinion.

Red Sox fans are dancing in the freakin' streets.  Maybe not literally, although there might be some, but definitely figuratively.

This is the best thing the Red Sox have done since 2004.  This is wonderful.  This is like baseball heaven on Earth.  The talking head actually said the Boston fans who still have tickets to games over the remainder of the season were not going to go.  Is he nuts?  The overwhelming majority of us were thinking the exact, 100% opposite.  People who had tickets before the trade were going to boycott.  Now there is excitement again.  Now there is optimism again.  Now there is no longer a bleak, horrid, empty black hole where the future used to be.  People calling into sports radio shows are saying that his is the best thing the team could possibly have done, and that they are going to show support for the team like they have not done since the collapse last year.  One person I heard on the radio even suggested going all in on pink hat activities like the wave and sweet caroline, just to say thank you to the management for actually doing something significant.

The Sox had the worst September collapse in history last year and all they really did to fix things was fire the manager and hire Schmucko the Clown.  They had to hire a new General Manager as well because last year's GM got the hell out of town as fast as he could.  There were no real changes on the field.  Papelbon walked and Baily came in and immediately went on the DL.  Effectively, that's it.

Now, finally, after a completely futile April through August that left us near last place, the management has done something substantial to show us fans that things will be different in the future.  Let's be honest though, just because three of the four worst contracts are gone and the team now has zillions of dollars to work with in the future, does not mean that the future is set and another World Series is imminent.  Not even close.  What it means is, there is finally reason for optimism.  This season was written off by the fans as a loss almost since day one.  Hell, for many of us it was a loss as early as Spring training.

Now there is hope in Red Sox nation.  Now there is something to look forward to.

Red Sox fans could not be happier.  Maybe if the Fox sports radio Sunday evening show host didn't have his head up his ass he would have seen that without me pointing it out to him.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Strawbery Banke

Our last weekend of summer vacation adventure took us to Portsmouth, NH, and the Strawbery Banke museum. Many pictures were taken, from all different periods of US history.

These are from the garden at the Governor's mansion circa 1870.

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Coolest Fire Escape Ever

We saw this cool fire escape while exploring Portsmouth, NH.

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Adventure Bound

Today is the last weekend day of summer vacation.

Let's go find some adventure!

"The Trade" Post Script

So how did things go on day one of the post Beckett/Gonzalez/Crawford/Punto era?

The Sox blew a six run lead against the awful Kansas City Royals and ended up losing in 12 innings.  Wait, which team is awful?  Oh yeah, the Red Sox are the awful team.

And for the other side of the trade coin?

Adrian Gonzalez hit a three run home run.  Welcome back to Cali, AGon.

It's okay.  This trade isn't about this season.  It's about the future.

Right?

Right?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Trade in Pictures

Take this hitter...
CIMG5656

And this picture...
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Along with an injured outfielder and a part time infielder, and...

Ship them off to this place.
100B9501

"The Trade"

I think back to the day that Nomar Garciapara was traded.  That was a huge risk.  Theo Epstein rolled the dice by shipping out an all star caliber player while the team was in a pennant race.  It worked out gloriously, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a major gamble.

Today we see a trade that will possibly go down in Red Sox history as an even bigger deal.  Three all star caliber players, all traded at once in the same deal for essentially a handful of prospects.  I really am sad to see Adrian Gonzalez go.  He's a hell of a player, and he should have been a bigger factor with the Red Sox than he was.  Who knows, maybe if the team's culture had been a little better last year he might have lead us to great things.  Still, he was never going to live up to the expectations, and more importantly he was never going to live up to the tons upon tons of money he was being paid.  Carl Crawford had no business coming to Boston.  He was a great player in Tampa Bay and I am positive, without any doubts, that he will be a great player again.  We just didn't need him.  We already had Jacoby Ellsbury to fill every role that Crawford could have filled.  Also, like Gonzalez, Carl was never ever going to be able to live up to the tons and tons upon tons and tons of money he was being paid.  He came to Boston with huge expectations and he crumbled under the pressure.  Again, I am sure that eventually he would have come around.  In fact, the 31 games he played this year were pretty positive.  It doesn't matter though, for the money he was making he had to be a hall of fame quality player and he just isn't.

Beckett... Oh Josh Beckett...

I've been bitching a lot about Josh Beckett for the last year.  He's been awful since the September collapse began last year.  He's come off like a total asshole too.  Every time he opens his mouth you just want to yell at him and call him a douche.  Despite all of that though, I will go to my grave as a Josh Beckett fan.  The way he destroyed the Yankees in the World Series when he was playing for Florida.  The way he dominated the universe in 2007 and was utterly unbeatable in that post season.  When he's on he is the man.  The problem is, he hasn't been the man in 12 months.  He's been an ass.  I hope this trade shakes him out of whatever was holding him back this year.  I hope he becomes the great pitcher he was even last season.  Let's not forget that he was having a great season right up until the September collapse last year.  He's still got it in him, he just didn't seem to care this year.  For Boston fans, not caring is an unforgivable sin.  All we Boston fans ask is for you to play like your life depends on it, and if you don't do that then we will voice our displeasure.  Josh Beckett has been hearing a lot of that this year.  Hopefully this trade will re-light the fire for him.  I hope he is great for the Dodgers.

Oh yeah, and Nick Punto too.  Ummm... yeah.

As for the players the Red Sox get in return?

I really don't care.  Maybe I'll care another day, but for now I am just so happy that management actually did something that I just want to enjoy it while it lasts.

RIP Neil Armstrong 1930-2012

I'm getting tired of writing these posts this year.  We've lost a musician that I admired.  We've lost a baseball player that I admired.  Now we've lost an astronaut that I admired.

Neil Armstrong has passed away at the age of 82.  The first man to walk on the moon has left us.

Rest in Peace Neil Armstrong.

I Will Get Into This Someday

Woooohooooo!!!!!

Ding dong the Beckett's gone!
Ding dong the Beckett's gone!
Ding dong the Beckett's gone!

I'll write about it again later after it sinks in (and after the official announcement), but I just heard that WBZ TV has reported that it's a done deal.

Ding dong the Beckett's gone!
Ding dong the Beckett's gone!
Ding dong the Beckett's gone!

Meow Once More, With Feeling

I'm trying to teach the cat to sing. She's kind of a crappy student.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Trade Rumors

If this deal happens tomorrow it will change the opinion most of us have about Red Sox management that has developed over the last 12 months.

Underachieving problem child #1 (only because Lackey has been on the DL all year) Josh Beckett...

Grotesquely over paid, perpetually injured, monumental underachiever Carl Crawford...

Superstar in the making who also happens to be grossly overpaid while only underachieving a little now and then who also is developing a reputation as a locker room cry baby who also blamed last year's collapse on god as if god lost 20 games in September, Adrian Gonzalez...

And Nick Punto... Nick Punto? Yes, three superstars and one sub-Mendoza line hitting Punto.

If the rumors are true they could all be members of the Los Angeles Dodgers by the end of the weekend.

Punto is irrelevant, baseballily speaking. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy, but he doesn't match the talent of the other guys.

Losing Gonzalez doesn't make me happy although one more piece of text message related bullshit and I'll hold the door for him on his way out.

Crawford over the first almost two years has looked like one of the worst free agent signings ever. We are talking Jack Clark bad. He played well in the short time he played this year, but yet another surgery threatens to keep him on the shelf beyond the start of next season. 20 million a year for this? Dump him.

Josh "chicken and beer" and "we only get 18 days off a year" and "pissed off at the press for asking if he's hurt despite the fact that he'd gone to more than one doctor over a two day span" and "completely unable to win a freakin' game anymore" Beckett. I think that when he's on his game he's still a great, great pitcher. Unfortunately he hasn't been on his game for 12 months and it's clear that he just doesn't give a shit anymore. I can't wait for him to go. I'll help him pack. I'll call the cab to take him out to Logan Airport.

Honestly, I don't even care who L.A. Is offering to send us in return. I hope they are all high level prospects that we can build around, as well as using the something like 200 million dollars we would have paid to Beckett, Crawford, and Gonzalez to retool the roster with players who care about their jobs and want to win.

Like I said, I'd hesitate to dump Gonzalez, but otherwise I am hoping, hoping, hoping that this deal happens, even if it costs us AGon.

Come on Ben Cherington. Show us what you are made of. Get it done!

Weekend Ideas?

DSC_0082 by robj_1971
DSC_0082, a photo by robj_1971 on Flickr.

Should we do something picnicish this weekend? The kids go back to school next week. We should do something. I don't know if we'll have time though. We'll see.

Did He or Didn't He

Lance Armstrong...

Wow.

He's going to be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles today because he has stopped contesting performance enhancing drug allegations.  He claims that he's just tired of fighting the false charge.  The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency both regard the refusal to continue the fight as an admission of guilt. 

So did he do it or not?

I honestly could not care less about cycling as a sport.  I prefer to call it bicycling because I don't want people to confuse it with the more obscure, but far more exciting, sports of unicycling and tricycling.  Lance Armstrong though extends beyond just the bicycling world.  Beating cancer while competing at your sport's highest level will do that.  Instant National Hero and what not.  But... if you cheat, what then?  Does cancer give you the right to cheat in order to actually level the playing field?

No, of course not.  While he has not come out and admitted guilt, it's hard to not think of this the way the USADA and WADA do.  It's hard not to see this as an admission of guilt.  These allegations have been following him around for at least as long as I've known who he was.  In the court of public opinion it's hard to not side with the where-there's-smoke-there's-fire argument.  At the same time, he's innocent until proven guilty, and if he doesn't challenge the charges, is he really proven guilty?

When I was a kid I was told that cheaters never win.  I guess this is just a case of that axiom needing a little bit of time to catch up to someone formerly regarded as one of life's winners.

Subconscious Messages

Have you ever noticed how sometimes your subconscious mind can send little messages to your conscious mind?  Sure you have.  Let me give you an example.

Early this morning I was asleep.  My subconscious mind was in the middle of its normal core dump function and I was dreaming.  In the dream, the woman of my dreams (quite litteraly), my beautiful wife Jen, had just come home and surprised the kids and me by saying she had just purchased a swanky new car.  I don't know what type of car it was.  Also, she came home to us, but it most certainly was not our house.

Jen said that the dealer was going to call us shortly to tell us to come and pick up our sweet new ride, so we did what all families do when they are about to leave the house.  We lined up for the bathroom.  One way that this dream house differed from our reality house was that the dream house had three bathrooms.  For some reason, my dream self felt the need to do his business in all three bathrooms.  Peculiar, one would say.

After the bathroom business was taken care of, Jen received an email from the dealer warning us that the parking lot was flooded and we would have to take a canoe from the office to the car.  Following a brief WTF conversation, I went and used all three bathrooms again.  At this point, I believe my conscious mind was starting to have a bit of a WTF moment of its own.

Finally the dealer called and said we could come and get the new wheels.  When Jen hung up the phone, I went back to the bathroom.

All right, CUT!  At that point my conscious mind finally got the hint.  I woke up and went to the bathroom.

Message received!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Pesky's Funeral

So only four Red Sox players went to Johnny Pesky's funeral.  I can't be too mad, I mean, I didn't go either, right?

Four.

Turns out most of the team went to a Josh Beckett fundraiser later that night.

Is it any wonder why we all hate them so much?

100+

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Another picture added to the 100+ views set. Thanks to a little cheating at Flickr.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeee

Randomly Posted Favorite Picture Ever

IMGP7196 by robj_1971
IMGP7196, a photo by robj_1971 on Flickr.

This is just a random post of what may be my favorite picture ever.

Random Thoughts

This one is going to be random.  I'm feeling a little scatterbrained this morning.

I was listening to 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston on the way to work this morning.  They aired an interview that was taped last night at Lelacher Park in Lowell.  It brought back some painful memories for me.

They interviewed The Dog Man.

My father and I had a split season ticket package for the Lowell Spinners.  The first game I went to I saw this idiot selling hot dogs.  He was The Dog Man... you know what?  I'm not capitalizing the name anymore, he was the dog man.  He was an old guy with a hat that was similar to the Disney Goofy hats with the dog ears hanging off the side.  He was selling hot dogs and yelling so loud he could drown out the park's PA system.  My first thought was, wow, they sure do like the bush league crap here in the minor leagues.  By the start of the second game I was hoping that lightning would hit him or something.  Anything to shut him up.

Then in 1998 the Lock Monsters started playing AHL hockey in Lowell.  I went to a couple of games the first year, a whole bunch the second year, and from the third year on I was a season ticket holder.  For the first few years the dog man was selling hot dogs at the Tsongas Arena.  As bad as his yelling like a moron was at Spinners games, it was 10 times worse in an indoor arena.  Our seats were in the last row of our section and every time he walked by I would fantasize about someone giving him a shove and sending him hurtling down the stairs.

Ah memories.

Change of Subject

So the Republican National Convention is this weekend in Tampa.  There is a chance that a hurricane might hit the area.  If that happens, would it be entirely hypocritical of me to publically state that it was God's will?  That it was a sign that God wants us all to vote Democrat?  Yes, it would be totally and completely hypocritical of me to say such things, but knowing that is not going to stop me if it actually happens.  I've never rooted for a hurricane before.  Let's go Isaac!  I don't want anyone hurt, or any damage or any thing, I just want the Republicans to have a little message from their lord and savior to mull over while they plan their platform.

While I'm on the subject of the Republican platform, I want to clear up a little confusion for folks like Todd Akin and Paul Ryan.  There have been questions lately about what is the true definition of rape.  I'd like to provide those who are confused with a clear and concise definition.  Consider this a public service.

If a man is having sex with a woman, and the woman does not want to have sex, then it is rape.  It doesn't matter what she was wearing before hand.  It doesn't matter if she was dressed like a slut.  It doesn't matter if she is a slut.  It doesn't matter if she's put out for all of your friends already.  It doesn't matter if she's a prostitute and you just handed over your pay check.  It doesn't matter if she's someone you will never see again.  It doesn't matter if she's a friend of a friend.  It doesn't matter if you are dating her.  It doesn't matter if you are in a committed relationship with her.  It doesn't matter if you are married to her.  It doesn't matter if she acted like she was willing before the ball got rolling.  It doesn't matter if she was in fact willing before the deed began.  It doesn't matter if you are one twitch away from the finish line.  It doesn't matter if she doesn't yell.  It doesn't matter if she doesn't fight.

If she doesn't want you to do it, and you still do it, then you are a rapist.  Congratulations.  It's perfectly black and white.  If it happens against her wishes, then it's rape.  There can be a million different circumstances leading up to the actual act.  It doesn't matter.  If she has a line and you cross it, then it's rape.  Plain and simple.  I don't see what all the confusion is about.  If you are a man and she says no then act like a man and stop.  If you don't, then you are not a man.  You are a dog.  You are slime.  You are a rapist.  It's such a simple concept.  I hope that clears things up for Todd and Paul.

Change of Subject Again

Kinda hard to change subject to something frivolous after that, but I think I can do it.  How about we go to sports.  That should lighten the mood a little.

Bartolo Colon was busted for performance enhancers yesterday.  Let us look at his recent past, shall we? Colon pitched for the Indians and was awesome.  Colon pitched for the Angels and was awesomer.  Colon got lazy.  Colon got fat.  Colon stopped being awesome.  Colon bounced around the majors and minors for a couple of years, including a stop in Boston that was spent being fat and out of shape and in the minors and on the DL for the majority of the season.

I should point out that "fat" is a relative term.  When I say Colon was fat, I mean he was fat for a major league baseball player.  He wasn't fat the way that I am fat.  If he were he would never have been able to play at all.  Compared to me he was a skinny little guy.  Compared to the rest of the big leagues, he was a complete tubalard.

Anyway, this year Colon signs with the Oakland A's and pitches well.  I believe he has 10 wins this year.  Better than Beckett or Lester.  Now, surprise surprise surprise, he is busted by the league for using synthetic testosterone.

My question to MLB is:  What the hell took you so long?  If there is anyone in the majors who is without a doubt taking a performance enhancing drug, it's Bartolo Colon!  I would have been testing him daily.  Happy 50 game suspension, Bartolo.  Maybe you and Melke Cabrera can start a website together.

In hockey news, prior to hearing the interview with the horrible, awful dog man, it was mentioned that one Bruins player was hopeful that the NHL season would only be locked out until November.  Most people are saying January.  I have already given up.  I'm done.  The league does not deserve my loyalty.  Good bye.

Okay... there were a couple of other random things, but I forget what I wanted to say.  Maybe later.


Until then...

Wish my brother a happy birthday.

Happy Birthday, John!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Ocean Beach

Messing around with Reddit, cheating at Flickr, looking for things to post.  That's how I spent my lunch break today.  I started thinking about this:

June 12, 2009.  At the far end of the Ocean Beach pier, looking back:
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August 12, 2011.  On the the sand at Ocean Beach, along side of the pier:
2011-08-12 - The Last Morning 308

April 27, 2012.  Again, on the sand at Ocean Beach, along side of the pier.  This time zoomed in a little:
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What's the point of all of this?  I don't know.  I was hoping you all could tell me.

Note that we have traveled to San Diego three times over the past four years.  Each time I go it gets harder to come home when the trip is over.  Each time I come home I start to look forward to the next time we go out for a visit.

So... when can we go back for another visit?

Curiosity Continues to Dazzle

So let's review...

Curiosity started off on Earth, blasted out of our atmosphere on a big phallic shaped bomb, flew all the way to Mars, entered the Marian atmosphere and somehow successfully landed on the surface using a landing technique that comes straight out of a crazy Arthur Clarke sci-fi novel, sent a signal back to Earth, received signals from Earth and carried out instructions carried in those signals, successfully tested a whole bunch of different cameras, successfully blasted a hole into a rock using a laser, figured out what the rock was made out of by looking at the light coming off of the rock as it was being lasered, successfully tested its ability to move it's wheels from side to side, and now...

It's gone for a test drive.





I know that Curiosity was not designed to find life on Mars, but why do I have the sneaking suspicion that should it stumble across some little green men it will figure out a way to drive them to Washington and drop them off at the White House?

To the Curiosity team, keep up the great work!

Go NASA!