brykmantra.com

I have returned after what seemed like an eternity and yet was only 2 days. I’ll have more to report later, but for now, check out my new pictures of the Plainview Cattle Drive.

I’m on the move this morning, so there’s no time to post, except to say that it was 12 years ago today that I met my wife (after pre-arrangements being made by her dad at a garage sale — no joke! Go read about it.), and the rest is history.

Other than that: Keep yourself occupied with Free Music Friday at Look at This, and check back here on Sunday.

Quick post tonight, since I’m busy getting ready for my trip, and thus none of the usual cool graphical bullet points:

Why women live longer than men. (Via Look at This.) I had seen these pictures before, but it’s always a wonder to behold.

Here’s something for absolutely no reason: The official Tennessee Ernie Ford Website.

One of the unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes of Hollywood, Joe Ranft — co-screenwriter of “The Lion King” and “Toy Story”, among other things — has died in a car crash. Sad. (Via Linkfilter.)

As I mentioned in my other blog, I got to visit with my dentists Dr. Mary today, which is always a pleasure, even if it is over a loose crown. We chatted, as best we could, about gray hair, the slippery slope of hosptical room visits, and Viking quartermasters, among other things. Our visits are never long enough.

The 100 Bloggers book project has undergone some major revamping, in format, scope, and project director, but it looks to be back on track. The only problem is that, in Internet Time, the six-month delay has meant that several Ages of Change have transpired since the time when we first submitted our manuscripts. Each author has the option of staying with the original script, and I have a feeling that a lot of the participants will decline to write yet another 1000-word manuscript.

For my part though, I’m starting from scratch. I’ve proven to myself over the past almost-three-years of blogging that I’m capable of sitting down and keyboard-yammering 500 words without breaking a sweat. Doing twice that in just under two weeks will be a stroll.

Besides, I’ve got different things to say now than I did then. And if this gives me a better shot at non-banishment from the project (as I’m sure some will be), then so much the better.

I got called back to the office of the manufacturing manger today, to figure out why the printer wasn’t printing.

I used my A+ Certified computer technician knowledge to determine that the USB cord had come unplugged from the printer.

They were right to call me; such diagnoses should not be left to amateurs.

Our Inventory Supervisor called me and asked, “What’s that song that goes, “If you want it, baby, better come and get it’?”

I told her that it sounded like the 1969 song by Badfinger, with slightly different lyrics.

“Badfinger??”, she asked, probably entertaining the idea that I was toying with her.

“Badfinger,” I repeated. Proteges of The Beatles. Creators of some very excellent rock hits including “Baby Blue” and “Day After Day”.

“Oh,” she replied, not quite convinced.

These next two links are more for me than for you (but you’re welcome to browse): Windows Keyboard Shortcuts (I keep forgetting about half of these cool little mouse-avoidance tricks) and CSS Tips and Tricks.

This way I don’t have to remember where I bookmarked this information … ha!

What better category under which to group today’s miscellaneous stuff than … TV!

Dag-nab it: Yesterday my knee was acting up a bit for no reason, as it has tended to lately, forcing me to walk around with a limp all day. The reason I bring that up is that the limp inspired several of my over-50 co-workers to invoke the name of Walter Brennan, and I observed that the number of people who understand that reference are dwindling every minute.

So who was Walter Brennan, you ask, ya young punk? He was best known to Baby Boomers as Grandpa McCoy on 50’s-60’s sitcom The Real McCoys with Richard Crenna, hobbling around the farm and saying things like “Dag-nab it, Luke!” and “Dad-burn it, woman!”

But his true legacy is that when the first Best Supporting Actor Oscar was handed out in 1937, it was Brennan that snagged it.

Not only that: He won three of those awards in the first five years it was handed out, and was nominated once more. He was MISTER Best Supporting Actor for six years in a row, dominating a category for a period of time like no other actor has ever done.

But now nobody but us nostalgic Boomers remember who he was, and only as a goofy sitcom character. That’s kind of sad.

But at least my knee feels better tonight.

Two cool Simpsons lists from Look at This: Particularly clever quotes, and a comparison of Simpson characters to Major League baseball teams.

I think it’s funny, and I don’t even like baseball.

The Weather Channel is shaking things up with alternative programming.

The Wife rented The Wedding Date tonight. She thought it was “cute” and “great”; I thought the script was dumb and contrived, and the Debra Messing character was stupid and selfish and unlikeable.

But hey, it took place in London, so the backdrop of British scenery and people was a nice diversion.

And finally, check this out: The Tucker Carlson Drinking Game.

Two of my current favorite tech-related things — Wikipedia and Attack of the Show — are joining forces for a day.

Jimmy Wales, creator of the user-built-and-maintained online encyclopedia, will be the special guest on Tuesday’s episode, and to celebrate, AOTS has set up a special user-created Wikipedia page to determine the contents of tomorrow’s show.

Great idea, right? Unfortunately, like democracy and public education and everything else having to do with human beings, it got totally sloppy and out of control, and almost instantly turned into a complete, unworkable mess. The administrators of the AOTS project had to “protect” the page — sort of like sending in the National Guard to enforce martial law — and thus all subsequent additions to this particular wiki will be added only after a thorough review.

It just goes to show: People — can’t trust ‘em.

But anyway, check out the page to see how it’s developing — or not developing — and tune in tomorrow, assuming you get the G4 channel, to see exactly how big a train wreck ensued for this whole innovative process.

We got a nice half-inch of rain today, forestalling the necessity of having to water our parched lawn and plans, so let’s celebrate with some miscellaneous stuff:

Tornado hits Long Island. Residents are facing shortages of power and water.

And, I would imagine, clean underwear.

So what’s up with that? New York’s isn’t supposed to be getting our tornados.

Note to self: Don’t play Quarters with this guy.

(Via Look at This.)

Also from the same source, this one’s for my wife: The 50 Worst Hairstyles ever.

Wanna see some pictures of sauerkraut? Click here.

Okay, one more: Check out this collection of online pinball games.

(Via zFilter.)

Three years ago I did a mix CD (”Miscellaneous #8″ — catchy title, huh?) that has become one of my favorites. I loaded it up with a few songs I’ve like for years (like Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva” and Elvis Costello’s “Temptation”), but I also stuck in some songs I had downloaded over the years but only listened to snippets of, from bands like Icebreaker International and I Am the World Trade Center.

But there was one song that I just couldn’t place, and I didn’t have the track listing any more, so I just couldn’t figure out who it was. It sounded like something from the very early 70’s, like a more polished version of the James Gang, but it could have also been a pre-Grunge alternative band, one that had lots of respect for classic album rock.

I tried on several occasions doing searches for the lyrics — lines like “It’s snowing outside and the snow is getting in” — but with no luck.

Then, this past week, I was going through the folders containing my thousands on MP3’s, and I found what I thought wasn’t there: It’s “JBN”, by the Three 4 Tens.

Ha! The search has ended!

Apparently they’re a recent group out of Philadelphia, and they do indeed have a healthy esteem for the classics.

I haven’t been able to find out much besides the above article, but I’m going to keep trying because I really want to get more of their material.

I’ve had my Monkees CD’s going nonstop in my CD player this week, because the stifling hot weather has left me in the mood for some high-quality pop rock. That led me to do a search, which in turn led me to Eternal Stardust’s Monkees Links, including
Dial M for Monkees, and Monkees Brasil (which includes a project to create a teen Monkees tribute band).

Check it out.

Finally, but not leastly, Look at This, (one of my favorite sites these days) has Free Music Friday each week, and yesterday he had two installments, here and here.

So go there now, because it’ll take you a while to get through everything …

It’s fin de semana! Time for some interesting miscellaneous stuff:

This is cool: Meet the World, an art project that takes country’s flags and, by adding a “legend” to each one, turns them into graphical charts.

Also cool: Flickr user _rebekka has a series of pictures of herself beside or behind a piece of fruit she has tossed into the air. The result, with the apple or banana suspended in mid-air and juxtaposed with her distracted expression, is surreal and dreamlike.

Star Wars and Star Trek business cards — there’s even one for Harcourt Fenton Mudd!

This gives me an idea for more fun stuff to do with I.D. badges …

From this week’s The Onion: “Why Somebody Always Around Every Time I Drop My Baby?”.

The Tolkien Society is holding Tolkien 2005 this weekend, starting today.

2005 is the fiftieth anniversary of the complete publication of The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. The first two volumes (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers) were published in 1954, while the third, The Return of the King, was published on October 20th 1955. To celebrate this anniversary the Tolkien Society is holding a conference and convention in August 2005. It is taking place at Aston University, Birmingham, England from 11 to 15 August 2005. [...] We are creating a programme with as broad an interest range as possible. From serious academic streams to ones relating to the recent films, from ecological to mythological, from the serious to the light-hearted – and that’s just during the day… In the evening there will be entertainments. Take a look at the Programme page for further information and for details of how you can present a paper or otherwise get involved.

We are arranging for a wide variety of guests to be in attendance. Tolkien 2005 isn’t just a film-fan event, so our guests include notable Tolkien scholars and experts. For up to date information please visit our Guests page.

That’s right, the event focuses on scholars — highly educated men and women who have dedicated their lives to the study of imaginary humanoid races.

Also, note that they scheduled this erudite shindig to avoid conflicting with the huge comic book convention in Glasgow last weekend.

I bet they still make fun of the guys who translated the Bible into Klingon.

Seriously, though: I don’t want to sound like I’m making fun of this whole process — well, not much, anyway — because I’ve read the Lord of the Rings trilogy several times over the past 25 years, and when the movies came out it was the first time in my life that I’ve ever been ahead of any given curve.

But five days of seminars and dissertations just seems to me to be sucking the life out of what was a very beautiful work.

But if they threw in activities like mead drinking and pub dancing and bawdy folk-singing, as well as a well-placed swordfight or two — that sounds like a conference that old man Tolkien could get behind.

In summary: Fewer English professors, more English soccer hooligans.