Driving to Buffalo

Posted on December 9 2005 by Mickey
    Maybe this was the wrong weekend for a U2 road trip…

As seen on my TWC widget
    (Or check out this other satellite image.)
Posted in Personal, Space, U2 | Leave a comment

Upgradeable to 64 MB

Posted on December 9 2005 by Mickey
    Obviously others have greater tall tales to tell about their first computers; but, still, I got a kick out of seeing all these specs, ca 1994, from my old Packard Bell box, uncovered while doing the Christmas decorations.
Posted in Gadgets, Photos, Tech | 1 Comment

Grease on the Go

Posted on November 30 2005 by Mickey
    Sometimes I just forget I have a blog. Sorry about that.
    Actually, that’s not true. I’ve been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work on the blog (and even more so with my podcast), but haven’t found much reason to post anything. I found however something by way of Digg.com whch I had to share. Ian Spiro, over at Hard to Remember.org, combined a list of 27,000 fast food locations into Google Maps and came up with this very handy resource for anyone needing a fast food fix on the road. Check it out here.
Posted in Food, Links | 1 Comment

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Posted on November 11 2005 by Mickey
    Today marks the anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Great Lakes freighter immortalized in Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad. The Fitz went down in Lake Superior, off the eastern coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, thirty years ago tonight. And the news stories I’ve read and seen today are as much about that song as they are about the loss of her 29 crew members.
    It just so happened I was up there that same year. My family went to the UP for our Summer vacation. We toured the Soo Locks (at Sault Ste Marie), saw Tahquamenon Falls, visited the agate beaches at Marquette’s Presque Ile park, and got grievously ill making the crossing between Copper Harbor and Isle Royale. Many months later, we were shocked to discover something remarkable amid our vacation slides. One of the ships following our little Soo Locks tour boat was none other than the Edmund Fitzgerald. We’ve since taken my slide and blown it up to film. It was one of the first things I posted, when I first created my Photos page; but for the sake of the day I’ll share it on my blog. Who could’ve imagined what would befall those men just a few months later?

Photo taken Summer 1975.   (Click image for larger size.)
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Sing, Dang You, Sing!

Posted on November 9 2005 by Mickey
    It’s birthday time again. Happy Birthday to me!
    …I said, Happy Birthday to me.
    I can’t heearr yooouu…
    As per tradition, let’s take a look at what the online horoscopes forecast for me this year.
From Eugenia Last in today’s Free Press
“Make the most of the wonderful ideas you have. Your impulsiveness could cause you to jump from one thing to another, so stick to what will bring the best returns. Anger will only set you back.” [And lead to the dark side.] “Do what you can by yourself, and don’t worry about what anyone else is doing.”
From Sally Brompton at TV Guide.com
“Take time out on your birthday to listen to that small, still voice within that always seems to know what it is you really need. You will get advice from all directions this year, some of it good and some of it bad, but if you follow your heart you will never go wrong, you will never get lost and you will never regret the”
    [“the” what? The what? The Rockette tryouts? My Tommy Lasorda fan fiction site? Tell me!!!]
From the aptly named Holiday Mathis at Chicago Sun-TImes
“IF NOV. 9 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: You’re in tune with the song of your soul this year, which helps you make a positive impression on the world. If that’s too ethereal, just know that you’re putting out good vibes, and good comes back to you. Stash away money for spring travel. You’ll connect with romance on the journey. You’re remarkably compatible with Cancer and Virgo. Your lucky numbers are 5, 50, 14, 48 and 46.
    “THE VOID MOON presents a holding pattern through which every decision can cycle the old noggin 20 times before a single action is taken. There’s such a thing as overthinking. We are made more aware of what we’re really focused on, though, which for many of us is different from what we want to be paying attention to!” [Overthinking? What does she mean by that? …And by the way, take it from me, a void moon is not a pretty sight. But it is a curable condition.]
From Linda Black at AZCentral.com
“You’re lucky, confident and very imaginative this year. With all that going for you, might as well also become rich.” [ Yep, might as well. I can confidently imagine being rich.]
From NZ Herald
“Given a choice, you may prefer to maintain the status quo. However, circumstances are pushing you in a certain direction and in 2006 you will have to make changes in at least one area of life. Rest assured results will work in your favour and there will be no regrets.” [Yeah, right, no regrets.]
From iAfrica.com
“You can get through a fairly testing personal twelvemonth quite satisfactorily providing you apply powerful self-discipline and abundant common sense. Do not waver in the face of difficulty. Resolve to turn your aims into actualities.” [“…And canceling our debt would be nice too.”]
From Style.com
“You\’re slated to have several chances to alter personal, family, or household situations so that they more closely reflect your ideal this year. As you proceed, try to keep a weather eye on your bank account to make sure that you find the balance between splashing out and being so constrained (or tight) that it prevents you from moving on to the next level, whatever it may be. Happy Birthday!!!” [I also find out I share a birthday with Nick Lachey. First Sargent Shriver and Spiro Agnew, and now Nick Lachey? Will the bounty ever cease?]
From Find Horoscopes.com
“You’ve got something up your sleeve and it’s going to be quite interesting — scathingly brilliant, you might even say. It has to do with your sweetheart, or the person you dearly want to occupy that position.” [Nicole Kidman, behold my elbows. Some guy said you’d be impressed.]
Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

The Fish is Ailing

Posted on November 7 2005 by Mickey
    Fish VI seemed fine when I left him on the morning of Friday, October 21. But he was behaving differently that night and the next morning. He was listless and instead of just sleeping on the bottom of his vase he looked like he was flattened. Over the next days I would check on him and find he had barely moved; in fact, I would think he had died, until he finally stirred when I tapped the glass.
    His water was needing cleaning but I hated to bother him. I was afraid moving him might be too much and would finally kill him off. I hated to think leaving him in dirty water would finish him off too. I finally put him in fresh water on Thursday, October 27 (when the following picture was taken). I moved him into the old cube, the original house of my first bettas. I ended up leaving him there.
He spends so much lying on the bottom that he wouldn’t need too much room; and besides, less water meant it would be easier for him to get to food. Another concern of mine was that it was tough to feed him. His food would float at the surface, out of reach, until it would rot. I managed to get some food to him most recently by gently stirring the water. He panicked and tried to struggle against the sudden current, but at least it caused him to rise up as well as causing the food to swirl past him where he could snap it up.
    And that’s how it continues to be. I keep expecting to find him dead, but he’s still showing signs of life. He’s looking worse each time though. His dorsal fin droops, his tail is curled up. In fact, it almost looks like he has back problems since his tail fin hardly moves. He lunges about more than swims. I’m also noticing him listing to the side, which is a sure sign the end is nigh. And, he’s exhibiting a mild form of the fishy dementia I’ve seen before — where, out of nowhere, they’ll suddenly burst into activity and zoom about madly — although Fish VI’s movement is obviously more limited than Fish III’s or Fish IV’s at the end.
    He’s still hanging on though. It’s hard to believe Fish VI has lasted this long. It would be impressive if it weren’t so sad to watch.
Posted in Fish, Photos | Leave a comment

Watch This Show!

Posted on November 7 2005 by Mickey
    Did you know Arrested Development is back? Did you know Fox will show two episodes back to back on Monday (November 7)? Did you know it’s the funniest show on TV, recipient of stellar reviews and numerous awards — yet somehow still languishes in the ratings basement?
    If all this is new to you, TV’s David Cross might have the reasons why. [Language warning.]
    WATCH THIS SHOW! KEEP IT ON THE AIR!
    (Video taken from the Arrested Development Season 2 DVD Box Set.
Posted in TV, Video | 2 Comments

Pick of the Chix

Posted on October 21 2005 by Mickey
    Another new poll, while I wait for the return of Arrested Development…

Which is YOUR chicken dance?
Vote
    Image stolen from TV.com.
    And here’s a link to a larger, dual chicken dance.’
Posted in Polls, TV | Leave a comment

Psoriacast (2005-10-20)

Posted on October 20 2005 by Mickey
    That is one ugggly bird…
More >>
Posted in Personal, Photos, Psoriacast | Leave a comment

iPod nano, iTunes, and the Return of Jury Duty

Posted on October 19 2005 by Mickey
    It appears the new video iPod can only handle 320×240 video or smaller, which means the files in my iTunes video podcast will be unplayable on it. Because of this I’m in the process of reconverting my podcasts to a more appropriate size. I hate to lose the larger-sized files though, so I’ve decided to include them here starting with my most recent one.
    This video podcast was a month in the making! I started it September 13 (when I got my Nano), did the bulk of it on October 8, and finished it on the 17th.
    Unfortunately, most of what I talk about is out of date now: the iPod nano has been bettered by the video iPod and iTunes 5.0 has been superseded by iTunes 6.
    Music by David Schwartz (Arrested Development), Artie Shaw, and GarageBand (with apologies to Howard Shore).

Posted in Podcast, Video | Leave a comment