a little late but...

So I took this picture back in August, and put it on Evernote, but I just got around to actually doing anything with it. I just thought it was a little eerie up on the roof of a local mega-mall. I think I'll call it "rooftop unit wasteland"

Make a Stand

So its been over a year since I took that blacksmithing class, but I bought a cheap 55 lb anvil last week, and I though I would work on getting my back yard foundry together.

So today, rather than watch the Redskins lose- I decided I'd work on my backyard foundry. I thought about going up to HD and buying a pressure treated 8x8, but I remembered I had a bunch of lumber left over from my trash bin project.

I measured to where my arm would feel comfortable (at the bottom of my swing) and cut a bunch of scrap 25 1/2 long, and just started nailing it together. Maybe I'll wrap it with some steel straps later to add a little strength- but i has a little heft to it, and seems to be doing a good job.



It stands pretty firm, but I think I might get some sand to put under it anyway. Now I can begin working on my foundry.

new glossary search engine

I stumbled upon a new search engine, called MetaGlossary, and I think its going to be a good one. Although it is in beta, it has a plugin for the Firefox search bar, and actually returns some pretty good definitions.

I tried searching "firefox" and returned the following. http://www.metaglossary.com/results/?query=firefox Searching "soccer mom returned http://www.metaglossary.com/results/?query=soccer+mom

There isn't much info about the site on the site, but an Alexa search reveals that it is owned by a company in New York.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Amazon MP3 Downloader for Linux

Amazon has packaged their download software for Linux. I think this is pretty cool, because it is DRM Free mp3 format music, so you can play it on anything. Linux users can now use the download tool legitimately!

Download the tool, download the player. Support DRM Free Music.

Free Software Day

I'm a member of the Ubuntu Maryland Local Community Team. I'm relatively new to Ubuntu, but I recently bought a laptop from Dell that came preloaded with Ubuntu, and I'm actually learning to get around quite well- downloading packages, configuring software,and yes- even occasionally getting into a little command line.
Anyway, Software Freedom Day is on September 20, and we've got the meeting room booked at Howard County Library- Miller Road.
Come on out and find out more about Ubuntu Linux!

Learn Something online

Several schools and institutions are putting their classes and lectures online for free, and you can podcast, stream, and download the course informmation. Although I haven't spent as much time as I would like podcasting, I have taken a few opportunities to learn something new. You don't get credit for the classes, but its free and its knowledge- and I happen to think that the knowledge is the most important part anyway.
UC Berkeley Biology, Chemistry, Business courses and many others are available on the site to download, and if you feel so inclined- donate money.
MIT Opencourseware MIT has an extensive amount of their courses online, and is one of the institutions that has been doing it the longest. I'm a little partial to their Mechanical Engineering section, myself.
Stanford University is on itunes, I downloaded a business management class and listened to in on the way back and forth to work.
Carnegie Mellon has some free online coursework, I haven't used it yet but I've been wanting to check it out.
TED gets an honorable mention here, because although it isn't a college, it is a great place to listen to some of our brightest minds talk about things that are relevant and important today.

This is web 2.0 getting it right

Does anyone else think its funny that youtube has been in the news so much lately with copyright issues, but somehow I can still do this:


I just think its time that we figured out how to update our thinking a little bit.

a visual guide to social media

I couldn't have said it better myself!

the internets helped me fix my lawnmower

My lawnmower took a crap a few weeks ago and I couldn't get it to start. I'm no engine mechanic, but I know a few things about combustion, and I used to fix my lawnmower when I was a kid- how much could have changed?

Well, the first thing was that the model number has rubbed off of the mower over the years, and I have no idea where the manuals are. So I went on the internets and used that google thingie to find the Murray website. Here's where it gets fun. Briggs& Stratton (who makes the engine) bought the brand, and you can't look up parts breakdowns or manuals without having the MODEL NUMBER!

So I had to get creative with the searches, and fiddle with the mower a bit.
A secret about internal combustion engines (or a log campfire for that matter) need three things to work right. They need air, fuel, and a source of ignition. There are other things that can go wrong, but chances are if your lawnmower isn't working, starting here is a big thing.
I changed the spark plug because the one in there looked pretty foul, I checked the air filter and replaced it, and tried to fire it up. Nothing. So I did a trick I learned somewhere and I soaked the air filter in gas, pulled the rope and WHA! I got it to start, so i had a diagnosis. No fuel. (I also managed to half-ass cutting the grass this way as well)

It turns out that a 4.5 hp Briggs and Stratton from 2004 is a pretty common motor and it also turns out that a clogged carb is a common problem as well for this motor. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_a_Briggs_and_Stratton_4.5_HP_lawn_mower_engine_stop_one_minute_after_it_starts

So I went to the Ebay, and bought a new carb.

I got the carb in the mail yesterday, put it in, and after a little priming, the mower fired right up! So i just want to say, thank you Wiki Answers, Thank you to the Google, and to the Ebay, and to the internets for helping me fix my lawnmower!

Townhouse for sale in Columbia, Maryland!

We have a lovely townhouse for sale in Columbia, Maryland. This is a great starter home in a convenient location.

Here's the listing information:

Adorable end unit set in established neighborhood located in a quiet, no-outlet street that backs up to woods.Three finished levels. Freshly painted and some new carpet. New stainless steel appliances and tile Kitchen floor.Lower Level with large Family Rm.leading to Privacy fencd back yard including storage shed.Fiber Optic Verizon Fios. No CPRA $5,000 closing help to buyer WFPO!

If you have any questions, or are interested in seeing the house, contact me and I'll be happy to accomodate you!

twits, blogs, plurks, and 2.0

I have been playing in the web 2.0 world- plurking, twitting, posting, etc. Joining various social networks, trying to stay up with the times. The funny thing I realized after spending a bunch of time on plurk last night- that web 2.0 reminded me of something, and it took me a while to come to it.

Web 2.0 reminds me of AOL 2.0. Sitting there waiting for the chats to update. talking to people, joining the new exciting online community! Yes, there were corporate sites, and yes web pages were static- but if you wanted to be where the action was, you stayed up on all the latest "keywords."

I was a johntindale come lately to AOL. My friends all got part-time jobs as telemarketers for AOL when it first started, and they all got free lifetime AOL accounts with 800# dial-up access. I got a regular package, upgraded it to unlimited for $19.95/ mo, http://web.archive.org/web/19961220154856/http://www.aol.com/and signed up for DSL years later when it became available.

I don't want to be a pundit or a curmudgeon, but it seems that we are getting pretty excited about intefaces and communities that have already been done? Oh well, what goes around comes around. Pardon me, I can feel my karma dropping even as I finish typing this sentence.

Wanna join my buddy list? Now If we could only get our computers to say "you've got plurks/twits" when we sign in.

nah nah nah nah hey hey goodbye

I bet she finds a way to keep her joker face on TV for another few months. I remember the days years ago when I was working on a major remodel of a residence on capital hill. In 1991-92, many republicans were moving out of town after llving there over 10 years. They were moving out with their blue blazers and red ties, and the brown blazers and jeans were moving in. The striking thing I remember was that they were moving out gracefully. They were admitting defeat, packing up their personal belongings, and going home to their home states.
The thing that really bothers me is that these people just won't go away. They won't move on. They are still wearing their hippy beads, their clogs, and the flowers in their hair, and they WON'T go away! Despite the fact that Hillary looks like she's been an unfortunate victim of this guy...






















just go away. admit defeat. buy a nioe home in Arkansas and leave us all alone. buh-bye, hasta la vista, adios, have a nice life. We don't care what you want. Just GO AWAY! We broke up with you. Its over. We've moved on...

futurist

When I close my eyes and picture the future, this is what I see.

JPL/ Nasa Mars Lander

NASA with the assistance of JPL has landed another lander on Mars. The main mission is to look for frozen water over the next three months.

here's the main page: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

Townhome for sale in Columbia, Maryland!

John and Melanie are growing out of their house! Check out this great townhome in an established neighborhood in Columbia, Maryland. Townhome for Sale in Columbia, Maryland. MLS#: HW6770203 Or stop by and check it out for yourself at 9529 Quarry Bridge Court, Columbia, MD 21046.

Maintenance Mastery

I'm creating a new site called Maintenance Mastery, http://maintenancemastery.wordpress.com Where I'll be sharing tips, tricks, and tools for maintenance technicians.

I'm hoping that I've done it right this time, and I've put down a bunch of stuff down in a moleskine so that I have material in advance. I'll get a few posts up, and then I'll start promoting the heck out of it.

I've started out in wordpress- and if it takes off, I'll dot-com it.

technorati

I have joined the ranks of the technorati. Now I can check to see just how irrelevant my rants are, and how many people aren't reading me!!

release the spiders...
Technorati Profile

Seeing the future

I want to be an engineerpoetphilosopherfuturist. I know how to do the first three things, but what does it take to become a futurist? Can you be optimistic about the advance of tech, but pessimistic about what we'll do with it?

futurist dot com has a list of core beliefs that I find fascinating. I agree with most of it, so does that make me a futurist? Maybe I have to join first.

I saw Iron man this past weekend, and it got me thinking (again). Why we don't have hovercars and jet packs yet? We have all this amazing communications crapola- but what I consider the REAL future- the cool applicable stuff hasn't really arrived yet.

We still get in our "cars" powered by 100 year old technology, and drive them on our "roads" paved with a sumbstance we started using over 10k years ago to our post WW2 era inspired "jobs" where we all pretty much do normal run-of-the-mill outmoded outdated kinds of stuff.

I realize that progress is measured in micro-improvements most of the time, but sometimes I'd really like to just jump on my skybike and go take a ride an orbit tether to a space station and go for a two week vacation on the moon like they promised me I would be doing by the year 2000 when I was in elementary school.

If thinking that modern engineering and tech isn't moving fast enough makes me a futurist, then count me in.

Technology

I still wonder sometimes if technology is really making our lives better, or if it is just more clutter to keep us from doing REAL things? I mean as long as we are answering emails, checking messages, reading web articles, etc. we're FEELING productive...
I just want to know when the tech is going to catch up. I mean when is it going to become an enhancement of the quality of life, and not a supplement?
For instance I have discovered that I really like listening to podcasts in the car on the way to work- because I get to tune in during a time when I am normally tuned out. This is one rare instance of the tech being an enhancement.
However, this morning i am going to open outlook, see a bunch of emails to which I need to respond, and I'll look up and discover that my morning is shot. Even after reading GTD and reorganizing my office- I just get the feeling that there's got to be a better way.
Anyone? Any one? Bueller?

I'm sorry, but its hot sauce

Can we all stop saying (or stop trying to say) chipotle? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but we have been eating chipotle chilis for years. We as Americans are being duped into believing that we are consuming an ancient Aztec recipe.

Its nothing new. Its chile peppers. I have some in my kitchen. If you want to get technical, a chipotle is a smoked chile pepper. I have some of these in my kitchen as well- and I have news for you. They are not chipotle. They are friggin smoked chile peppers. We already have a mediocre restaurant named after chile peppers, its called friggin "Chilis."

Do not be duped. Do not be drawn in by the hard to pronounce name, whether you say "chee-PO- tull, or chuh-pot-LAY, or chee-PO-tuh-lay, or even chu-PO-tull, cha-pole-TEE, all of these are inaccurate. They are smoked chile peppers. If it is "chipotle sauce" it is smoked chili pepper sauce. This is just another advertising gimmick to get you to buy crummy food made to taste better with HOT SAUCE.

try it- google "dried chile" http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=com.ubuntu%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=dried+chile&btnG=Search+Images

and then google "chipotle"
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=com.ubuntu%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=chipotle&btnG=Search+Images

after you scroll down past the corporate logos of the evil restaurateur, you will see the same thing from the first search. That's right...wait for it...DRIED CHILES.

So here's what I propose. We form the ANTI-CHIPOTLE league,that commits to one of the following.

1. Boycott any restaurant that uses the name, sells any sauce called "chipotle" or makes any representation whatsoever that "chipotle" is sold anywhere in the establishment.
2. Go to the restaurants, but do not purchase any of the products that supposedly use any form of chipotle or any form of chipotle sauce.
3. Go on buying your crummy "mild mayo infused semi-hot sauce" but refuse to call it "chipotle" you may call it hot sauce, or smoked pepper sauce- but REFUSE TO SAY "CHIPOTLE."

Join me people. Join the anti-chipotle league.

My network at home

I should probably explain a few things about the systems that we run at our house before I start keeping score between ubuntu and windows.

We have:

Verizon Fios
1 Dell Dimension E510 running Vista Ultimate SP1- recently set up to be print/ backup/ media server.
2. A HP Pavilion 514n running xp sp2, that I think I'm going to erase and laod Ubuntu when gutsy gibbon releases.
3. A Dell laptop running Vista Home upstairs that my wife uses-
4. My favorite~ An old beater Dell laptop running Xubuntu which I use for email, browsing, etc
5. My work Dell laptop that I need to be able to print from, etc. when I bring it home~ I should also mention that I don't have admin rights on this one.

So, anyway- just keep all that in mind when you hear me keeping score between Ubuntu and Vista. One of the big factors for me is cost, and since I got all this eval software from Heroes Happen Here, I was able to briefly eliminate cost as a factor for my most recent problems.

Score one for Microsoft

Just to update, in my last blog I complained about windows home server, and I mentioned that I loaded xubuntu in an effort to create a file/backup/print server on my network at home.

Well, it turns out that Samba wasn't happy with my peer network either, and when we tried to print an xl spreadsheet from my wife's Vista machine through the linux hp drivers, it printed it ok- except it was printing a 3x5" copy when it was supposed to be printing on 8 1/2" by 11 paper.

I like playing with new tech, and I have spent my share of nights and weekends "effing" with something trying to make it work, when I could have just done something easier- so I took the copy of Vista SP1 i got at Heroes Happen Here, and loaded it on the machine.

I hate to admit it, but it was all pretty seamless. It found my wife's vista machine, it found the xbox, and right now it is happily sharing all my media files across the network. I can even browse the whole peer network thru Samba from my xubuntu laptop.

in addition, I signed up for a year of Windows Live Services for $50, and its good for 3 machines, which is perfect because that just happens to be the number of Windows machines I have in the house.

As i said before, I like to play with tech, and try very hard sometimes to make things work. Although its not "technically" a server at this point- its doing the three things I set out to have it do, and as a bonus i get virus and firewall protection at a very reasonable price.

I like to stay up on the latest and greatest, but sometimes my wife just needs to be able to print out a legible spreadsheet. Thanks, Microsoft- you really did make me a hero.

(I did have the forethought to partition the drive, Hardy heron IS in beta...)

Xubuntu Linux 2- Microsoft 0

Ok, so my relationship with Xubuntu started when I took an old beater laptop (that wouldn't run Win2k any more) and loaded xubuntu on it. Needless to say, that even though it was a little slow, it ran beautifully. Email, web, blogging and twittering (you know the important stuff)

So fast forward to this past weekend when I tried to load up my "free evaluation" of windows home server on my 2 yr old Dell E510. I loaded up the software, and the first problem was that it didn't have the drivers for my internal network card, so I had to burn the drivers on a disk on another computer and load them on the machine (no big deal- it happens)

So then I was dissapointed with the user interface that pops up when you run home server. You would think that since its for home use, all of the good stuff would be simplified. sharing, backup, etc. you know- the good stuff.

Not so, the biggest feature that it offered was a backup utility, which would have been cool- but here's the kicker. WHS has a little interface that you use to set up your network. You plug in a little info, sign in (or sign up) to a .net passport account, and its supposed to set up a domain server for you automatically.

The problem I had was that Verizon Fios blocks port 80- which I openly admit isn't Microsoft's fault. However, the part that sucked, rather than skip that step, and move on and set up everything else, WHS quits and tells you that it can't configure your router, and that you need to do everything manually, and it turns out that the manual setup console is basically the server console that started with NT.

So, I'm going through all the iterations of setting up the DNS, the IP address, and all the other crap thinking "What about all the poor saps that are going to buy WHS thiking its going to be a beefed up version of Vista?"

So anyway, I finally get the thing to connect to my network, and start setting up files, backups, etc. and find out that its conflicting with my peer network, and its messing up- get this, because this is the best part, its messing up the open ports on my XBOX. It sees the open connection that the XBOX has and sees it as a threat, even though the router is handling the firewall, and starts hosing the connection.

It was at this point, I turned the machine off, and installed Xubuntu. It found and loaded the drivers for the network card automatically without any help from me. I next loaded SMBK and proceeded to share the printers, the backup drive, and the video and music folders on my external hard drive.

The only two things I had to load were the drivers for my video card (it worked without them) and flash for the browser. It is "serving" two printers (which it found and loaded without my help by the way) music, and videos, and runs the backup for the 5 machines I have on the network.

So, I screwed with WHS all weekend, and couldnt get it to work, and got everything set with Xubuntu last night in about 2 hours.

Religion

I have a weakness for religious topics. I can't help it. I grew up in church, I spent 7 years in a private Christian School, and I spent the 90's volunteering for a national youth ministry while working for a church. I like to talk about church. How to do church; contemporary, orthodox, post-denominational, post-Christian.
I like to talk about theology, and find commonality with the bizarre, and find differences with the familiar. I have been around Muslims with whom I agree, and Baptists who make me want to go run and hide.
I have arrived at a brand of theology that leaves me with a feeling that I can fit in anywhere, while at the same time belonging nowhere. I believe in the idea of speaking in tongues, laying hands on the sick, and casting out demons, but I have a hard time finding anyone who has a legitimate need to do such things.
My problem lately since my foray back into church membership, is finding anyone with whom I can have these types of theological discussions. I had friends at my local pub who had no problem discussing these things- but somehow within the walls of the church, I find myself in the difficult position of having to restrain the things I say.
I wonder why that is?

Get a real human

Have you ever been frustrated with the automated phone systems at large companies? This person has posted a list of the numbers to call and extensions to call when you are trying to get a real human.

http://gethuman.com/

Let me know how it works out for ya.

Transparent and Available

I am conducting an experiment to see if I can become accessible without going crazy or getting abused. I have added Twitter to my list of websites where I can communicate with my adoring public. So here's the list.

http://www.johntindale.com/
from this site, you can email me, see what I'm up to- overall its pretty generic and I have all these grandiose schemes to one day actually make it functional.

www.myspace.com/johntindale
I'm pretty sure you know about this one

http://johntindale.spaces.live.com/
On this site its convenient for me to uplad photos because it works directly with my winmo phone. I'm having trouble getting the calendar to sync with any of my other calendars

www.facebook.com/johntindale
yet another social network

www.getamtek.com/jt
This is my profile on my company's website

www.twitter.com/johntindale
I added text messaging to the updates on twitter, and I'm going to see how often I can keep it updated

http://live.xbox.com/member/johntindale
This is my xbox gamer site. I'm not a huge gamer, but I haven't added any friends on there either yet.

My goal is to get my "web presence" as integrated as possible, so I'm going to see what gadgets and feeds that I can use as plug-ins on different sites, to make it as seamless as possible.

New Year's Declarations

Everyone hates making new year's resolutions, and it's a quick way to set yourself up for failure. So I have decided I am going to make a few non-specific, non-committal declarations about how I feel at this particular moment- so that way if I feel different tomorrow, you won't have anything to hold against me.

1. I need to sharpen my image. Although I'd much rather roll out in the morning in a pair of jeans, a flannel and a comfortable pair of boots, the truth is I am in management, and I need to start looking the way I act.

2. I need to get those last couple licenses straight. Dealing with the District of Columbia is a bit like listening to Vogon poetry, and getting something through the DC Bureaucracy is every bit as excruciating as Vogon infrastructure, I need to go ahead and bite the bullet and get that master HVAC in the district.

3. I need to "network" better. We live and die through word-of-mouth advertising, so I need to be able to get out there where the customers are. I have spent a lifetime building up a database of people I know, and it turns out that most of those people are either competitors or suppliers. Which is great if i am either
a. looking for a job or
b. buying something.
Since I am doing very liitle of either one right now, its high time I get out in the world and start being "nice" to people.

I guess that's enough stuff for now...

9-11

I know there will probably be alot of bulletins, emails, and other stuff about 9-11, but there's two things I wanted to communicate.

First, we could all use a good helping of "pissed off" about what happened six years ago. Osama Video Where among other things he says- "And before concluding, I tell you: there has been an increase in the thinkers who study events and happenings, and on the basis of their study, they have declared the approach of the collapse of the American Empire."

The other thing is, whatever your political views there are things you can do to help the soldiers who are in harms way and their families.America Supports you

No animated flags, no burning building pics, no Lee Greenwood- just watch Osama, or read the transcript- and then donate before you forget, and if you feel so moved- go ahead and forward.

Nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey hey...

GOODBYE!
I remember doing that song at sporting events when someone would get ejected from the game. It looks like it might be a fitting song to be revived now that the Dog abuser Michael Vick has decided to switch his plea to "guilty."
I can't feel sorry for this guy in the least. He's got all that money, and the only thing he can think of to do on a daily basis is torture animals? I'm not a big animal rights activist- and I'm not going to harp on how cruel dog fighting is- I'm going to try to stick to the topic.


Vick signed a six- year $62 million dollar contract on May 9, 2001. That works out to over $10 million a year, and over $600 thousand a week. So what does a man do who has everything? Fight Dogs.
If I ever get to the point where I have done everything, and the only thing left is DOG FIGHTING just shoot me. I mean, the morning I wake up- and I realize that I have done everything BESIDES watching pit bulls repeatedly rape a female dog- I want you to come to my house and literally blow my head off.

• What's so wrong about naked midget chick wrestling? http://www.cafepress.com/prideinart/406415
• Or car chucking http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/02/car_tossing_robot.html.
• He didn't have any fascination with going to space?http://www.virgingalactic.com/flash.html
• Or buying real estate on the moon?http://www.moonshop.com/.
  You mean to tell me that he didn't want to buy a tattoo on this guy's back? http://www.stunning-stuff.com/read-weird-news-stories/134.html?ci=l
• So, he's already completed his fossilized mud collection?
  http://files.tellmewhereonearth.com/Photos%20Weirdest/w184a.JPG
• He never got the urge to go buy- er I mean "adopt" one of these kids?http://peanutbutterburrito.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/darfur_kids.jpg

I know I can't judge the man until I've walked a mile in his Nike Michael Vick Shoes, http://www.pickyourshoes.com/images/shoes/listing/zoom_vick_wht_blk.jpg but I just think, that with a little creativity, and a little time Michael Vick could have thought of something better to do with the $577/ hour he's been making for the last five years (counting spring training and practice)

Mr. Vick, backatcha

Blacksmithing

I took a class with my dad this past weekend in blacksmithing, and it turned out to be quite the experience. Working with my hands again and learning something new was a very rewarding, sometimes challenging, but mostly fun experience.

It all started a few months back, when I was looking online at the curruculum at Howard Community College. I try to learn new things when I can, and I always enjoy the opportunity to increase the old knowledge base. There was a myriad of options for classes I could take-

1. business management type classes to help me climb the corporate ladder

2. engineering-related classes to help me one day legitimize my position, and trade level

3. requirement (filler) classes to inch me toward that ever-elusive degree.

It all seemed pretty 'ho-hum' the more I looked at it.

So I started doing the usual google searches for odd terms "trade schools" and "course study" and somehow stumbled upon the Carroll County Farm museum. They offer summer classes in old-school trades, and I saw the blacksmithing class and I knew I had to do it.

To add to the fun, Wayne recently moved up here from Florida, so I asked him (sort 0f at the last minute) if he wanted to take the class with me. So sure enough, he said yes, and we signed up. (For those of you who don't know me, I use "Wayne" and "Dad" interchangeably. It goes back to the days when I was 17 yrs old, and out on a jobsite with Dad, and too dumb and too proud to admit that I was working with my old man. You know I wanted to be my own man)

I had no idea what to expect. Would it be a bunch of time spent sitting in a classroom studying the history of metal work? would we have to start at the bronze age, go over the iron, and then at the end of the second day watch the guy make a fireplace poker?

To my surprise, after a short safety talk, and a brief introduction, each member of the class took positions forge-side, and before i knew it I had a 2 lb hammer in my hand and I was pounding on hot molten steel! Wayne and I are no strangers to a torch, and Dad has spent alot more time welding than I have, but surprisingly enough, we found ourselves joking around, giving the instructor a hard time, and learning (and I quote the syllabus directly)

"...the basics of blacksmithing from forge and fire control to hammer control. You will learn to forge a fish tail scroll, pig tail scroll, tab hook, drive hook, forge poker, water can handle, and other student selected projects as time permits."

Our instructors, Ray Neubauer, and Bob Nagle were great instructors, and through demonstration, hands-on instruction, and the occasional "corrective procedure" really helped us all feel like blacksmithing was something we could spend more time doing.

You can bet that when November comes around and its time for the intermediate class, I'll be signed up for what I know will be another great weekend. I'm also thinking about joining the guild but now the big question- where can i get my hands on one of those anvils?

I also got to spend a little time with Wayne- although I called him "Dad" most of the weekend, because the old pride just ain't what it used to be, and one of the guys thought we were brothers when we walked up- and I just couldn't have that!

Bart's Junk

We went to see the new Simpson's movie this weekend, and I have to admit it was a little wierd sitting in a large dark room with 250 other people watching the Simpsons. There were the usual gags, a few funny surprising moments, and a few genuine laughs- but the biggest thing was a dare between Homer and Bart where Homer dared Bart to skateboard naked to the Krusty Burger and back.

Bart's crusing down the street nude and a more than a few conveniently placed items cover little Bart, and then Bam! Bart's junk! Little Bart flashed on the screen for everyone to see. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it was just a little surprising- given that the male member is usually taboo in even R rated movies.

Aside from the Bart "member shot" it felt like a long episode of the Simpsons. I mean these characters have been in our lives for over 17 years! This show lasted longer than my first marriage for cryin' out loud. Standing in line and paying to see the Simpsons is kinda like going to the zoo to see your own pets in cages.

Its not that I didn't like it. I'm a Simpsons devotee- I've been watching the Simpson family not grow up or get any older since they were a short at the end of the Tracy Ullman Show. Its just that the movie didn't feel like a movie.

There was a few slow moments where I thought a remote would be handy- you know, not really "change the channel" just see what else is on for a second. The Simpsons at this point are like ambient TV. Its whats on when there's nothing on. Its what you have on BEFORE Prime time. There's much to be said about the "staying power" of the Simpsons, about its permanent place in American culture, and its enduring charm- but if you wanna pay to see the Simpsons, come to my house around 7pm every evening. For $40 I'll give you all the popcorn you can eat, a big soda, and even let you hold the remote.

under my umbah- rella ella ella eh eh oh eh eh

Has anyone else noticed that Rihanna's song has massive issues in the rhyming category?

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

I'm sorry- but forever doesn't qualify as rhyming with ever, because you can't use a word to rhyme if its the same as the suffix- and then other and umbrella just do not work at all. It doesn't even work in ebonics.

I did, however realize that it works in hillbilly, because in certain parts of the south an umbrella is commonly referred to as an umbreller. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work very well for the genre-So I made new lyrics that actually rhyme with umbrella:

When the sun shines, it shines through windows made by pella
Told you that sammich was poisoned with salmonella
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'm going to stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining on my friend named Ella
Know that I'll feature you in my next novella
You can stand under my umbrella

I thought about adding
"I'm glad there's loud accompaniment because I can't sing a capella"
but I thought that might be too mean.

Hey Rihanna- it's called Rhymezone.com. Look into it.

Oh yeah- I almost forgot, Umbrella has three syllables. I hate this friggin song.

GOHOA Problems

My HoA has become a problem recently.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS

I have a company vehicle that hardly qualifies as a commercial vehicle. It is a Ford Explorer Sport Trac (have you seen this thing?) Basically its a tiny little truck in which Barbie wouldn't be caught dead. I mean this "truck" (and I use the term loosly) is about as far from "commercial" as you can get!

Anyway- I got a letter a couple months ago that the vehicle, being the GIANT COMMERCIAL vehicle that it is, was in violation of HoA rules, and that I could not park it in the community. So I quit parking it in front of my house, and began parking it up the street.

I also contacted the Community Mamangement Association, and asked them if I could simply get magnets to cover the company logos on the vehicle- the person I talked to at this time said that would be fine. So- I put in a requisition at work for some blank magnets, which had to be approved by my boss, etc. and are finally on order.

Well- to my surprise I got home today, and the truck was gone. So- you guessed it, the truck was towed. Isn't this a little extreme? Do we need a ban on commercial vehicles anyway?

So its not just the truck- its the constant letters telling me to pressure wash my friggin siding, and cut the grass in my FENCED-IN BACK yard. I even had a line-item to replace a missing piece of siding on the back of my house (there isn't any siding missing on the back of my house)

So I got to thinking- I work in HVAC, I know HoA's, Why don't we get a board that actually does useful things. Why don't we do things that we as a community actually want? Why not campaign to create a board that actually provides helpful and useful information to my neighbors? Why not find out what my neighbors really care about like-
1. SAFETY-
a. walkways and sidewalks are in various stages of disrepair and there is poor lighting at night.
b. the dry pond at the end of my street should have a cover over the water pipe inlet- some kid or pet could crawl in there and get hurt.
c. my truck (mentioned above) was broken into over the winter and a laptop and blackberry was stolen sometime in the middle of the night
2. ACCOUNTABILITY- The State of Maryland and Howard County require that financial and meeting records be available to Homeowners.
3. WASTE DISPOSAL
a. why can't we come up with a better way to manage waste disposal? Do you like having to wait until after dark on Thursday to take out the trash?
b. recycling (see point a)
We have rights as homeowners, and I'm really not looking for a fight- I just want to see some "reasonableness" come to our community and for once see some common sense reign in our community.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS

Iraq and a Hard Place

Didn't it used to mean that when you defeated a nations army, took its capital city, and killed its ruler that you won the war? What ever happened to the days when you defeated a nation's army you defeated the nation?

Now these piece of crap little countries have a few cowardly hold-outs attacking under the cover of subterfuge and terrorism and they act like they won. It reminds me of the Black Knight in Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. Insisting that the fact that he has no legs is merely a flesh wound...


So I have a three point plan for winning the War in Iraq.

1. We wake up tomorrow and just say we won. We won. Let's decorate Washington, hang the banners, and shoot off the fireworks and bring the boys home as heroes. The only thing is- in order to get what they want- The Democrats in Congress have to say with the rest of us that we won. We won. No detractors, no pundits, no opposing viewpoint- we want out, so we with one united voice we say "WE WON"

2. We forget about the Iraqi people's human rights for the next ten-twenty years. Who cares if their economy doesn't recover. Who cares if their people don't have roads and infrastrure. Who cares if rogue armies run around blowing up their own crap. Whenever some self-appointed Shia rises up, we fly over and bomb the crap out of him. The only trick is that all the liberals who are crying now about bringing the troops home, don't get to go over there in those stupid khaki vests talking about how crummy it is over there, and what a mess we left the place in.

3. We refuse to broadcast whatever towel-head shows up claiming we didn't win all over our media outlets, and for once the media machine in the US works AGAINST our enemies, and we say WE WON. I mean who's gonna argue with us? The French? We're the friggin world power. If we want to go defeat a foriegn army, kill it's totalitarian dictator, and run Old Glory up the flagpole and declare victory, its our perogative. We're THE friggin world power. Lets start acting like it. If America wants to say that we won the war in Iraq- then we won the war in Iraq. End of story.

I personally think that the boys over there did a damn good job. I don't happen to think that policing crappy urban environments is what they signed up for- and none of us wanted a long, protracted crappy occupation with a bunch of idiots with roadside bombs getting a kick out of blowing up hummers full of GIs.

So lets just say we won. Declare victory, bring the boy's home to a heroes' welcome- and that's it.

The only strategy that the enemy has is victory by attrition. If we pull our boy's out of there, and drop a nuclear bomb that turns that place into a (well...desert) some AK-47 toting mutant arab is going to climb out of a cave and declare victory over the infidels- and you can bet your ass that CNN will be right there to film the big American defeat.

The other option is to do as George Sr. said one time and "stay the course" We can tighten security in Iraq, send more troops give more funding, and crack down on those towel headed ingrates, forcing democracy and freedom on them whether they want it or not.







Any questions?

Paris Hilton Autopsy Sculpture

And now for the OMG WTF category...

Apparently the sculptor that made the thing last year of Brittney Spears giving birth on a bear-skin rug is at it again with another whacko sculpture.

Paris Hilton has allowed her visage to be used for a sculpture depicting her dead, splayed body ready to be autopsied. Apparently its a hands-on exhibit where students are allowed to open her up and remove parts. Its meant to scare teens away from drinking and driving during prom season.

I think the thing that makes it so wierd is that I've never seen an autopsy (on TV or otherwise) that features the DD with her legs spread like that! I mean the tiara and the puppy are one thing, but why not have her laying the way a body would prior to an actual autopsy.

Oh well, I took art classes for a short time in college- sometimes art is just wierd, and bizarre for the shock value and publicity factor. I have one question. Doesn the artist get to sculpt the figures from live poses? If that were the case that's probably how I'd pose her too- but I seriously doubt it.

Oh well- Paris is one of my close, personal friend on Myspace (I really do believe it), and I fully expect to hear from her about this in the next couple days. You can check it out for yourself at parishiltonautopsy dot com

ONEbyONE

Join the One Campiagn- or at least donate some cash

Clerks 2- and a guide to thirtysomething 2.0 humor

Sunday before going to see Clerks 2, I read about how Joel Siegel walked out of the movie after about 40 minutes. I wondered what could have been so terrible about the movie that a reviewer (the guy gets paid to watch movies and write about them for a living.) would feel the need to walk out?

Then, while Mel and I were sitting there in stitches, laughing 'til Mel was crying and I was having trouble breathing- we noticed two sets of people get up and leave the movie! Was it the racism jokes? Was it the donkey? Maybe the cracks on organized religion?

Are we just so terribly jaded that nothing shocks or disgusts us any more? Have I become so de-sensitized that maybe there's something wrong with me? I don't think so. I think that I just have a sense of humor.

I think its because of the same old thing. The group of people who are my age are constantly misunderstood. Thats right, good ol' gen-x is at it again. Its OK for Tom Hanks to have a donkey sex scene in one of his movies, and everyone loves him- but Kevin Smith does it, and somehow its too much?

I'm not sure- but I have a theory.

I think its because "we" weren't meant to fit in. We're too young to have gone to Vietnam- but we watched a bunch of movies about it in the 80's. Some of us went to Gulf War 1.0, or Somalia.(not "real" wars in the popular media) We were in the spotlight for a few moments in the 90's, and then Columbine happened. Then, suddenly teenagers became the focus. Wedged in between Baby boomers and the next younger generation, "we" became a side-note once again.

"Our" music was alternative, which had its 5 minutes of fame and then blended into obscurity. At one time we owned Lilith Fair and HFs and Lollapalooza, and Starbucks...all of which have either been co-opted by the older and younger crowds or have gone the way of the dodo.

If you're my age, you can probably relate to being in a crowd of people older (or younger) making jokes, everyone's popping them off- and then your turn comes and you say "in my butt" for your little add-on to the joke-fest, and everyone stops laughing and says "eww, thats just kinda gross." Thats kinda what its like- they don't get us, and they never will.

The inside joke. That's the beauty and the subtlety of the whole thing. that's why Dante and Randal can be such losers, and still manage to have the ability to make fun of everyone else- because no one else gets the joke. The opposite of being around a bunch of people who don't get you, is to be in a small click of people who do get you, and to have one person that doesn't. Oh what heavenly bliss!

Ever been in a situation where everyone has seen a movie but you? Or everyone in your group listened to a radio show that you missed? The really cool thing that happens is when a click gets a hold of a particular movie and then really runs with the lines from the movie. The most common (and obvious) example, would be a group of 30 something 2.0s in a car looking for a parking place, and then one of them says "use the force, luke" Everyone in the group knows that

1. this is a reference to the 1977 film Star Wars
2. the driver is having difficulty finding a parking spot
3. the general consensus of everyone in the car is that the driver has not tried hard enough to find an available parking spot.

Its the art of the inside joke.
1. take a popular (or obscure) movie, television, or song reference
2. use the quote in a situation that loosly applies to said reference
3. share the common understanding that the quote or reference applies to this situation
4. laugh
5. don't get offended or pissed off if you a. didn't see the movie, tv show, or hear the song, or b. saw the movie, show, or heard the song and still don't get the joke or the reason why the reference is funny.

Anyway- Clerks 2 is funny, and I don't care what anyone older (or younger) says about it. I'll just be home in front of the mirror- smearing on lipstick, listening to q. lazarus doing the tuck.

New Job and Master License

After the debacle at Unitemp/ Chesapeake HVAC- I managed to rise from the ashes once again and will start working for Amtek in Lanham, Maryland on August 1. Its funny, getting a job with a company owned by a local utility would seem like a lifetime commitment. Benefits, Retirement, security, stability...blah friggin blah!

I recently had a discussion with a slightly older gentleman who has basically had three jobs in his entire 30+ year career, where I have had three jobs in the last four years. How do you tell a guy like that- Its not my fault! Is it my fault when the owner has a heart attack and decides to get outta the business? Is it my fault when the parent company decides to close down my division?

Some of these old-school guys have a stay with the job mentality, but I'm starting to wonder if those old-school JOBS are a thing of the past...Maybe this next job will be THE ONE...

On another note, I got my MASTER LICENSE in the mail the other day! Woo-hoo, baby! (me doing a touchdown style end zone celebration)

that baby was 6 yrs in the making. I blogged about taking the test a while back, but I passed it and now Ive got that baby in my hot little hands...I can pull permits to replace/ install HVAC systems in the state of Maryland. Woo-hoo!!! Now all I gotta do is take a test in DC and fill out the forms in Virginia, contact a dozen or so counties and cities...

Three New Things for "Generation X." Remember how in 1993 it was all the rage to talk about the coffee swilling Mcjobs generation? Im not really sure how you slice and dice it, or where you draw the lines but if you're anywhere close to my age, here's three new media pieces for you:

1. http://www.jpod.info/ This is the new book by Douglas Coupland centered around a pessimistic dissilusioned group of people who work for a video game development company. Through a glitch in the personnel computers, they all have the same first letter of their last name and wind up in the same workgroup- thus the title "Jpod"

2. http://www.clerks2.com/ Even though after Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back Kevin Smith said he was done with the Jay and Silent Bob movies, the boys are back with a sequel to the movie that started it all. I guess Jersey Girl changed his mind!

3. http://wip.warnerbros.com/ascannerdarkly/ This movie, based on a Philip K. Dick Novel is about a futuristic society in which drugs, paranoia, and government testing blur the lines between reality and multiple personality. An interesting piece of this film is that it uses interpolated rotoscoping, to make Robert Downey Jr, Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson, and Winona Ryder blur the lines between reality and cartoon.

Blogging on the go

Blogger has set it up so that I can email blogs to my blog. So now I can bloggity blog blog all bloggin day long! Isn't that bloggin' cool!

Ok, Two movies that I haven't seen but still wanna blog about.

1. The Davinci Code
2. The x-men

Three things I gotta say about the Davinci code are; first If there is anything the Catholic church should know better than anyone by now- the best way to raise interest and awareness about something is to officially ban it. Every book the church blacklisted during the reformation became bestsellers in their day Does anyone remember The Last Temptation of Christ? That sleeper sold 10 times the number of tickets is should have because the Catholic Church banned the stupid thing. The best way to battle the Davinci Code, just friggin ignore it. Trust me, it will go away. Second, It doesn't matter whether Jesus got married or not. The truth is that he had a key mission, he fulfilled it, end of story. I mean none of us protestants with any common sense believe that Mary stayed a virgin her whole life... Third and finally- They toned down the fact that the assasin was an albino because they didn't want to offend the albino community. Apparently you're allowed to say that Jesus isn't the Son of God, and claim the Catholic Church is a big fat liar, thats been covering up a 2,000 year old Lie about their God and Savior- but you can't portay albinos in a negative way?..Hollywood blows my mind...

Now on to the important thing- The X-men. So Halley Berry wasn't gonna be in it unitl she heard that the director was gonna change and that there would be more character development for the Storm Character. Woohoo, cuz thats what we wanna see is the chick that makes it windy and can hurl the occasional lightening bolt. Screw that!!! We wanna see claws and laser eyes, and car crushing...and more of half-nekkid Rebecca Romijn in blue paint...We don't care about Storm's character development! Besides there already was a good Halley Berry/ Hugh Jackman moment. It was in Sordfish, and Halley Berry was topless!

I am an old-school x-men fan... Would it have been to much to ask for a cameo of Bishop? How about just one friggin Sentinal for cryin' out loud...but a mutant war- still gotta go see it.

Hip Hop Week

Allright everyone, its national hip-hop awareness week. Colleges and Universities all over the US have events, concerts, and rallies scheduled . Head out to your local scene and support hip hop.
My myspace page this week is a tribute to old-school hip hop from back in the day!

oh johntindale

My Myspace page is my second tribute to the Cohen Brothers movies. My first was for the Big Lebowski, with John Turturro in his "Jesus" character. accompanied by the Gypsy Kings singing Hotel California in Spanish.

This one features the video Man of Constant Sorrow from the movie soundtrack attributed to the Soggy Bottom Boys. The song was actually recorded by Dan Tyminski, a menber of Allison Kraus and Union Station

My dad was from West Virginia, and we woke many Sunday mornings listening to Stained-Glass Bluegrass on 88.5 WAMU. This movie features a rich soundtrack full of blues, bluegrass, early country and gospel music from the depression era South.

If you haven't seen this movie, or any other of the Coen Brothers movies, go straight out and buy them, don't even bother renting- because you'll want to watch them again later.

Rumor has it that Clooney and the Coen Brothers are working on a new project called "Burn After Reading" Im sure it will be another gut-busting trip.

post-modern, post-congregationalist

I gave up my membership and leadership postion as an elder in a church in October of 1999. It all started because I had what I believed to be a legitimate gripe against my pastor, and according to our own bylaws, my co-elder. It wasn't an easy choice, and it was one of the most difficult times in my life.
I attempted to follow the Biblical model for confronting him- I talked to him in private. I shared my concerns:
1. I felt we weren't stewarding our resources when we overextended ourselves financially, bouncing checks, etc.
2. I felt we were manipulating and controlling our congregation under the guise of "discipleship"
3. I felt that while we were giving everyone else the keys to "managing life effectively" I had a hole in my soul that was getting emptier and deeper by the minute
This didn't go over too well, and he ignored and dismissed everything I said.
I went to the next step. I voiced my concerns in a private elders meeting. Again I was dismissed and basically "blown-off"
I took the final step and flew to a conference put on by our denomination. I paid for the trip myself, and met with the leaders myself. They flew my pastor into the meeting, and ignoring our church's by-laws, assumed that our church was subject to the traditional model of leadership and cited "spiritual authority, and denied my right to confront my pastor.
So, in a classic Ron White moment, WE decided that it would be best if I resigned. I was lost, I didn't know where to go. What do you do when you were a leader in a church, involved in national and international ministry, and now your'e out of a job, out of a church, and out of your social network of friends.
My wife was unable to cope with the whole situation, and found that it was easier to confide in some guy at her job than it was to confide in me, so I soon lost her as well.
I tried, but couldn't find a church that fit. After all I just spent 10 years customizing a church that fit me, how was I going to be able to fit into someone else's? I didn't handle the whole thing too well. I freaked out. I went a little crazy. After all, my whole identity was wrapped up in this thing- I was CHURCHBOY for crying out loud.
I didn't realize that in all of this pain and agony, failure and misery I was on the forefront of a new revolution in the church. I wasn't a backslider, a drop-out, a loser- I was simply a post-congregationalist. I wasn't an anomaly, I was a revolutionary, I was at the forefront of a new trend in the church.
I gotta tell you, it ain't easy. At first I felf guilty being seperated from the church. I wished some days that I could just take it all back, and put things back the way they were. All the control and manipulation wasn't that bad was it? I mean it wasn't so bad when my pastor asked me to sign bad checks and knowingly lie to creditors was it? It wasn't so terrible to promise a bunch of stuff to a fellow ministry and then lie, cheat, and steal to deliver substandard material. It wasn't so bad that we were killing ourselves for my pastor's view of "success?"
I didn't do everything right. As a matter of fact I did alot of things wrong. I figured that since I had basically been excommunicated, I was basically a spiritual "dead man walking" and that I could do whatever I wanted. I was confused. All I did was stand up for what I believed was right.
I don't know where things are going to go from here. I don't know where I fit into this concept of a wall-less church. Over the last few months I have been waking up, and formulating a plan.
I still believe in God, and in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship has become more real to me lately, since I have been pursuing it without someone pressuring me into it. I believe in the Bible, but I'm not a fundamentalist, nor am I a infallibilitist.
You gotta understand that before my excommunication I made myself an expert on church growth, small-groups, preaching styles, church administration, generational studies, contemporary worship and trends facing the church.
I withdrew for a while. I went into hiding. I shut down emotionally, spirittually, but I have begun to wake up. Traditionally, a person like me would walk into a church, fall down at the altar in tears, spend some time in counseling, and then be back in the network again "doing church."
I don't want to go back to the way we did it before. I'm not a baby-boomer, and I refuse to participate in Ward and June Cleaver's fake idealistic church. Americans are stressed out. We don't need to stress them out further by putting forth an idealized unrealistic relationship with God.
I want to get real. I want to face reality. I want to be a Christian, and I want to do whats right. I have things that I have learned over the years, that once I get my head straight, I plan to share these things with others. We are on the verge of something new, and exciting- a little scarey, but I think that as always, with every reformation, there comes a renaissance, and I love art.

comments and commentary welcome-
http://www.barna.org/
http://www.theooze.com/main.cfm http://www.faithworks.com/archives/a_churchless_faith.htm
http://emergent-us.typepad.com/

Its finally over

Was it just me, or did it seem like the US Olympic team was a bunch of whiny b#$%es this time around? To steal a phrase from the junkies, the whole thing was more than a "little hurting."
The key to saying hurting is in the pronunciation. its "herrr-Ting" you overpronounce the "herr" and the "t" so it comes off as I said before, "herr-Ting"
Lets start with Michelle Kwan- So you pulled a groin muscle, and you gotta go on live TV to skate around for a minute, fall, and then skate over to your manager/ trainer in tears...You know what? Just don't show up! Bow out gracefully, let some other kid get the spotlight, take some time off, and then go talk to the Disney on Ice people. You can always be a judge on the next installment of Skating with the Stars.

Then there was Bode Miller. How much did Nike pay him in endorsements? Two DNFs, a disqualification and the 5th and 6th place is the best you can do. Nice move, pansy. Then I love the way the commentators "spin" it, "Well, there's the mark of a very intense athlete, its all or nothing for Miller." You don't even have the decency to finish skiing down the damn hill when you realize you're not gonna win? Grow up. Can you imagine this guy on the playground in dodgeball. "You're out, little Bode- don't cry, when everyone gets out we'll start another game." Who names their kid Bode anyway?
Then there was that Wier kid. I'm sorry you don't hold a press conference to tell the world that the other pansy is going to beat you before the competition even starts. Thats why we call it a competition. You are COMPETE-ING. You have been training your whole life for this, so you can BEAT the other GUY. Don't get me started. Say it with me, Herrrrrr- Tinggg.
Finally, we come to the girl who tried to showboat on the last jump in the women's downhill snowboard race, caught a bad edge, and came in second when she clearly had the gold. What was her name? Jacobellis-whatever.
I think there needs to be two more parts added to the pre-olympic qualifying. A really hard puch in the arm, and a wedgie. I'm sorry Weir, you scored a .05 in the arm puch for the audible whelp you let out, and the tears and the little girl scream during the wedgie segment cost you 2.7 points.
Gimmie a break. These candy-asses are America's best? These whimps are supposed to inspire me to stand in the street yelling "YOU ESSS Ay, YOU ESSS Ay, I don't think so, sparky. I guess this is what happens when a generation grows up on Barney, and non-competitive or judgemental primary school sports and grading systems. Jimmy can't read or write, or throw a ball, but he is very helpful and kind during sensitivity time.














Say it with me, "Herrr- Ting." Now you're getting it.

Dayona 500, Baby!

Well, its the start of another NASCAR season, and the Daytona 500 fired it up yesterday. Bon Jovi entertained the crowd, and that girl from The Black Eyed Peas sang the National Anthem.
Nevermind all that, though. My driver, Rusty Wallace retired last year, and it was wierd, because my gut-reaction is to get excited when I see the no. 2 car moving up in the standings. "Cool- oh wait, thats Kurt Bush..."
Anyway- it was a little tough to keep up, aside from the fact that I don't have a favorite just yet. I think some of the rookies have a good shot, there's JJ Yeley and Denny Hamlin, both driving for Joe Gibbs, and David Stremme, and Reed Sorenson from Chip Ganassi racing. There's also Brett Sherman with BAM Racing, and Clint Bowyer is driving for Richard Childress.
While Tony Stewart, Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth stayed with their cars and sponsors, 43% of the drivers have switched cars/ owners/ sponsors, making it a little tricky to watch the race and understand what was going on.
Finally, the commercials yesterday were pretty good, though- Will Ferrel wondering why NASCAR Day isn't a Federal holiday, The Chevy Drivers toasting themselves by dumping beers on their heads, UPS trucks doing laps around the track, and Denny Hamlin driving a personnel car through the airport at high speeds topped my list. I won't say that they topped the Super Bowl commercials, but they were up there for contention.
The announcers did a pretty good job describing rules, exlpaining restrictor plate racing, and sorting out the drivers/owners/ sponsors thing. They did a reasonable job keeping us informed as to what was going on.
and Jimmie Johnson's pit chief was suspended earlier in the week for cheating. Apparently NASCAR officials spent 3 hours yesterday inspecting the car after the race.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that Jimmie Johnson won?

Rollin' Thunder, Baby!

meet the bowling team!

yours truly

Felicia

Abby

Mel

Kevin

fun with rabbit ears!

The System of the World

Allright, so now I'm finished with The System of the World by Neil Stephenson, and this time its a lesson in economics with England setting up the modern system of banking and finance as we know it, and with good 'ol half-cocked Jack playing the role of the villain.
We're introduced to the trial of the pyx, and re-introduced to alchemy and finance, while Daniel Waterhouse comes into his own as an older, wiser natural philosopher who's had some time to think. All this and Stephenson's clever use of logic, and mathematics-as-a-study-within-its-context makes for a fitting conclusion to this epic three- part novel.
Sir Isaac Newton plays an interesting role in the forefront in this book (as opposed to playing supporting roles in the two previous novels). Newton is the Master of the mint, in charge of assuring the quality of British coinage, and Jack Shaftoe- the French backed counterfitter- the nemesis of Newton.
Newton and Liebnitz finally get to have their discussion, and wind up talking about predestination- which was a bigger deal in their time than the secular reader might catch today. Their discussion ends in the same way that two protestants would end today when they have two opposing views, they agree to disagree.
Rather than run ships all over the world, as in the first two stories, Stephensons keeps the story confined to England, and London proper- and as an hvac mechanic, I have a soft spot for his mention of the invention of "the device for raising water by fire" the first steam-driven well-pump, the precursor to modern boilers, and mechanical engineering.
Overall, I'm still massively impressed by The Baroque Cycle and I owe it to an advertisement glued to the wall of the London tubes.

Howard Stern

In my life I have always found myself on the "conservative" side of the political and religious debate.
I was at Washington for Jesus in 1980, 1988, and 1996- marching and (once i was sold enough) voting for whatever republican party we were supposed to believe in at the time.
For those of you who don't know, the religious right was founded and created at those rallies by people with whom I became really close- especially in the 90's.
you have to understand that satellite and cable TV was propelled and pushed forward in the early days by Pat Robertson and friends- because they realized that this new medium was a viable outlet for Christians to get the word out, because network TV cost so much money, and the bandwidth existed to create and program entire networks around Christian themes and beliefs.
In other words, it was the "secular" market that drove Christians into the newer cable TV markets. Pat Robertson literally walked door-to-door in the Virginia Beach/ Hampton Roads area selling cable boxes getting faithful churchgoers to sign up for cable TV and watch the new Christian channel he was programming. Christian TV was a safe haven for Christian families to turn the TV on and "feel safe."
Later, we got smart enough to realize that not only could we control our own little channels on various Cable networks, but we could also throw some weight around and some political clout to push our beliefs on the popular media as well. We cracked down on content, and got bogged down in subcommittees debating what was decent and what was not, while all along Howard was building his own media empire.
So now fast forward 20-30 years to now, and the Religious right (we) managed to talk congress into cracking down on indecency on free radio channels- especially on "shock" jocks like Howard Stern- and what is it that we have actually accomplished?
1. Howard has the freedom to say whatever he wants on Monday morning
2. He isn't just going away, he is creating a whole network on Sirius, where he is programming 24 hours of material
3. He has the chance to pioneer a whole new medium and push the boundaries even further.
I'm not mad- I have listened to Howard's show for the last month or two. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal if we had just ignored him and left him alone- but no- we're in power, so we gotta fine him and censor him, and give him exactly what he wanted- publicity, controversy.
Its just like the early Christians in Rome, but this time we're Rome, and Howard and his followers are the ones being persecuted.
When you listen to his show, its easy to be "shocked" by some of the things he does- but when you really listen to what's going on, you hear something being communicated underneath; Equality, gut-wrenching honesty, self-depreciating humor, and realism, and these are all things that Jesus preached, but are missing from the message of the right. Rooting for the underdog, reaching out to the sick, and the poor, and the forgotten members of society. The religious right is missing out on the basic message of what Howard Stern does and says.
So, now Howard will have the freedom to preach his gospel any way he sees fit, and now there's nothing the religious right can do about it.
If we want to reach out to this generation, we need to focus less on what "they" (the far left) are doing, and spend more time using the tools and the media outlets we have to show that we have to capacity to care, to understand, and to listen instead of constantly trying to legislate morality.

"just" johntindale

In my younger years, I would sometimes take on different persona, in an attempt to define myself.
When I was in high school, I called myself "Mr. LCS" LCS- short for Lanham Christian School, which was of course where I attended high school. This nickname started as a slur by one of my friends- In those days it wasn't cool to like LCS. We all felt much more self-assured and much cooler as 'haters', but I decided to go against the grain and make the best of it. So one day, when I said or did something to point out that LCS might not be so terrible, one of my friends said "whatever- Mr. LCS," and I took that as my monniker for the next two years.

The thing they don't tell you in high school, is that once you graduate- its pathetic to have an identity that comes from what you were in high school. This led me to ask myself the questions; "Who am I? and Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? Where shall I find a good sammich and a beer?" So I just kinda "blended in" once I moved on to community college, work, and everything else that comes along with getting a life.

My next phase was "churchboy" this nickname deserves a long- drawn out description and discussion, but its not gonna get either for the sake of brevity. I think it might have been Keith Goldman who said it first- I'm not sure. The point of the nickname was that in our church in Annapolis, I was among the few that had grown up "churched" and had an experience of what church was supposed to be like, as opposed to most of the congregation who had mostly grown up "unchurched." I'll never prove it, but I'm sure Kirk Franklin heard it at Washington for Jesus, and used it for the title of his autobiography. I used to like the way Jeff Fenholt felt the nickname "churchboy" was too long, and would simply call me "church."

When I left that church, and my first marriage burned in flames, and my life came to a screeching halt- I realized that the 'persona' of churchboy must also die in flames, which led me to the same question that all fallen and retired heroes must ask themselves, "Who am I? and Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? Where shall I find a good sammich and a beer?"

I went back to my old faithful trade, and got a job as an hvac tech with a local plumbing/hvac company. Here I became JT. closer to the "real me" but not quite. It was a good job at which to throw myself because everything else was crumbling around me. When that whole thing fell apart, it wasn't so much of a life-changing experience, but it led me back to the questions, "Who am I? and Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? Where shall I find a good sammich and a beer?"

This time it didn't come as an epiphany or as a joke- It slowly crept up on me like a feeling that had been repressed for years. first it was a little disappointing- "I'm just John Tindale." Me-with all my failings, shortcomings and bad habits. Me-who I am when I am alone. Me, when I'm not trying to win any popularity contests or impress anyone. Me, ME, ME, ME-it became defiance, like Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live declaring "I'm Gumby Dammit" I declared to everyone around me "I'm John Tindale, dammit."

Most recently, the defiance has died down, and I'm more settled and comfortable with the idea. It only recently came to me that my website is "johntindale.com" and that my blog is johntindale.blogspot.com, and that my "myspace" is "myspace.com/johntindale" In days gone by it never would have occurred to me to be "just" johntindale. I'm comfortable with that concept. I don't need a marketing team, or writers, or a PR firm. I'm John Tindale. I even answer the phone that way. "Hi, this is John Tindale!"

I'm funny, but not funny all the time. I'm smart-but not always. I'm creative when I have time. I'm organized when I have a secretary. I'm good with other people's money, but not so much with my own. I'm mechanically inclined. I like movies. I like good TV (hard to find these days) I like comedians-except for most women comedians-and all the women comedians I think are funny are all gay. I'm a Christian, but a very liberal Christian. I like sex. I like beer. I'm divorced and remarried to a wonderful girl who is now proud to call herself Melanie Tindale. I like to party, but I hate hangovers.

I like the internet- It was a really good idea. I spend a lot of time thinking about my son. I think I'm management material. I want to be rich and start a bunch of foundations to fund research, invent cool stuff, advance technology and science, and send brilliant poor kids to college. I want to build a garage and call it my "lab." I want to finish seeing the world. I want to learn to weld really well. I want to build stuff in general. buildings, houses, schools, libraries, time machines and cars that hover. Mankind has not accomplished jack-squat until cars hover. I think we should have another reformation- and hopefully a resultant renaissance. I want my gravestone to say something really deep and profound, and I want a whole bunch of people crying profusely at my funeral. I'm interested in a lot of things until I "figure it out" and then I tend to drop it like a hot potato.

I want my son to go to, and finish college. I want him to succeed in life. I want him to be happy. I want him to love and respect his mother and know that I'm ok with that. I want him to be whatever he wants to be, and know that I'm ok with that too. I want him to be proud of his dad, John Tindale, and to know that his dad is proud of him too.

I'm John Tindale. take it or leave it. Love me, hate me, react with ambivalence. I am John Tindale, I am here because God ordained it from the beginning of time, My purpose in life is to build and establish things, and good sammiches and beers are everywhere- London, Philadelphia, DC, NY, Sydney, Kiev you just sometimes have to drink a few crap beers, and a few lousy sammiches in the quest, but the quest is the fun part.

The Confusion

Im almost finished with The Confusion by Neal Stephenson, and I'm already looking forward to The System of the World.
The Confusion, volume 2 in The Baroque Cycle is another masterpiece of piracy, intrigue, and adventure picking up where Quicksilver left off in telling the tales of Eliza, Countess De La Zeur and "half-cocked" Jack Shaftoe.
Eliza sets out to mastermind a massive plot involving the French Navy, the Tower of London, and a fair bit of manipulation of foreign trade, while Jack regains his memory and manages to talk his way out of slavery, creating a cabal with his fellow oarsmen- getting into a whole new adventure along the way.
Many readers seem to find Stephenson difficult to read, but I love the plot twists, the scientific discussions, and the narative dialogue- and the use of "letter-writing" to flesh out the story. Reading Stephenson's books is like reading "classical" literature, with an updated sense of humor and a modern sexual frank-ness that "fits" in the story.
If you like to read, you'll love reading these books.

Quicksilver

I just finished reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. Quicksilver is the first of three books in Stephensons Boroque Cycle, followed by The Confusion and The System of the World. I gotta tell ya, that this is one of the most interesting, well-written, imaginative books I've read in quite a while.

Quicksilver is a period fiction that is completely amazing. It introduces us to a fictional character named Daniel Waterhouse, and takes us through many stages of his life, from his early college years at Cambridge to his latter years at a fledgling MIT- with a bunch of revolution, demise of kings, pirates, and open warfare in between. Just as St. Johns teaches within the context of the "great books" Stephenson breathes life into the Natural Philosophers, and helps us climb into the great minds of Hyugens, Newton, Leibniz.

Stephenson uses a three-part book to bring the late 1600s to life- touching on art, religion, science, mathematics with skill- explaining calculus, astronomy, anatomy-within the context of what the men who first ventured into these areas might have been thinking about. His dialog, and his characters' candid discussion of philosophy help us to imagine what it must have been like to peer into a telescope and predict the movement of planets, to perform scientific dissections, to write new geometric theory- all within shifting religious and political climates.

Stephenson manages to infuse this action-packed story with comedy, drama, scientific and mathematical thought, romance, and cryptography, while intertwining poetry, and references to John Donne and John Bunyon.

I'm going to Borders to buy The Confusion.

Daylight Saving Time

Apparently, in 1784 Ben Franklin worked out while finishing out his days in Paris as the American Ambassador to France, that in the evening hours shopkeepers and late-nighters were using alot of oil in their lamps the stay up later in the evening once the sun had gone down. He actually worked out how much;

"183 nights between 20 March and 20 September times 7 hours per night of candle usage equals 1,281 hours for a half year of candle usage. Multiplying by 100,000 families gives 128,100,000 hours by candlelight. Each candle requires half a pound of tallow and wax, thus a total of 64,050,000 pounds. At a price of thirty sols per pounds of tallow and wax (two hundred sols make one livre tournois), the total sum comes to 96,075,000 livre tournois."

So he wrote an opinion paper titled "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light." In short- he felt that by changing the clocks, people would make more use of natural sunlight, and would need to use artificial light less, thus saving energy and increasing productivity during daylight hours.

Under legislation enacted in 1986, Daylight Saving Time in the United States begins at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April and ends at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October, so after this morning, Daylight saving time is over- and will resume next spring. In other words- we are on standard time in the winter months.

In 2007, DST will be extended for four weeks in the States, once again citing energy savings as the reason.

Sudoku

I just got back from London the other day, and while I was there I noticed bunches of people on the tubes playing a game called Sudoku. Melanie had seen it somewhere before, so she filled me in. The game board looks like this:


















The object of the game, according to sudoku.com is;
"Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3 x 3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.


















You can download a desktop version for a 28-day trial or purchase it for $14.95, but I bought a Sudoku book in Iceland, and kinda enjoy using the old pencil (with eraser) method.

Be prepared to be caught-up, because its highly addictive.

the age of reality?

I'm reading one of my literature textbooks again from college- and right around the turn of the century- writers, poets, authors, whatever were concerned with "realism." they felt that the romantic age was coming to a close and that a new era of realism was at hand.
They wanted their characters to be more fleshed out, and have less dramatic things happen to them. They wanted their readers to get inside the heads of their characters- to make their writing seem more "real." No more kings, princes, or melodrama- they felt that authors had the responsibility to depict life as realistically as possible.
This movement led to some really cool writers in the first half of the 20th century. Steinbeck, London, Frost, and my favorite- Hemmingway. their characters drank too much, smoked, cussed, and seemed more "real." You could almost feel the cold, smell the smells, see the sites, it seemed like you were reading about real people doing real things.
Forgive me, but I can't help but draw a parallel between then and now. The sitcom has given way to reality TV. We could see it coming- The Bradys tied up every problem in 30 minutes every week, and then Roseanne showed us what "real" white people were like- and now Reality TV puts us right in people's bedrooms in the middle of the night with the romantic green glow of night vision TV.
What ever happened to the idea that reading, going to the movies, watching TV was about escape? I want to get away from reality when I'm being entertained. I want to be distracted from what's real- I want a hope for the future, or and alternate universe. Distract me- make me think. Give me some good old fashioned sci-fi. Don't get me wrong- i like to pull the curtain back on the wizard from time-to-time too, but I still appreciate the attempt at production.
i know Jar-Jar was corny. I know that alot of those digital effects in movies don't look as good as stop-motion animation, but give me the fake anyway!
I just can't help but think that sometimes its cool to read The Count of Monte Cristo or some good old fashioned poetry by John Donne. i want more Star Trek on TV and less Road Rules. I don't care where the next Survivor is.

I'm sick of reality- I'm gonna go watch my x-files DVDs.