Chinese Fortune Cookie - Dinner with Mom

"You have an iron will, which helps you succeed in everything."

thanks for dinner, Mom.

Donuts and sewers - Thanks, Slate!

Two quick little stories, one for my life as an engineer, and the other for my life as a commercial watcher.

A visit to the sewers of London - (please dispose of your oil in the trash, not down the drain!)

Everbabe - TMBG do the mu-sak for the commercial. Read the review here.

EDIT - apparently blogger double posted... sorry.)

YouTube - Titanic: The Sequel

It's a couple of minutes, but done very well. Very, VERY well.

You'll thank me?

Mom & Emmadelle at MNO's for Easter.

EHarmony - Trick Question?

So: doing EHarmony - here's a sample question.

When you think about what you want in a relationship, how important are the following items? Please use the scale of 1 = strongly agree, 7 = strongly disagree, to select your answers:

Question: Knowing that my spouse is usually to blame when things go wrong.

(I wonder what I am supposed to write here....)

Sean's CRAAAAAAA-ZY neighbors

Dear Diary -

I'm sorry that I've been away so long. It's not you, it's me. Or rather, it's a combination of waaaay too much work and ummm... other things?

Anyhoo - things going well for me, for the most part. Wanted to give you a seasonal update of my life. You may remember me moving last spring? Well - it was Easter two weeks or so after I moved in, and my family came to visit. Imagine my Mom's reaction when she saw the dinosaur down the street.

"What dinosaur," you rightfully ask. "This one," I respond.


"Oooooooh... and all dolled up for Easter, too!" (for whatever reason his ears are on crooked. But I do love the basket. Last year it was filled with eggs.) I have wanted to stop by and tell them that I love their chutzpah - but haven't done it yet. maybe next year? Closer look below.

Kids say the darnedest things - part deux

Please allow me to point you at an article written by SuperMark - (apparently SeanJr needs glasses...)

2-Ton Cannon Is Fodder for Ongoing Rivalry Between Caltech and MIT - Los Angeles Times

Talk to their lawyers, Dewie, Cheatem, and Howe … The LAT notices that some fine students at MIT visited rival Caltech and quietly pilfered Caltech's famed 130-year-old Fleming Cannon, fired annually during commencement day and now sitting peacefully in Cambridge. The MIT students simply presented Caltech guards with work orders from their new business: "Howe & Ser Moving Company."

Thanks to Slate for the above link.

Alternate Lost Credits

Over a year ago, when Lost first came on the scene, Everbabe said: "Sean, you *have* to see this show. It is really cool, and has the weirdest credits that I think I have ever seen." Well, I went over, plopped down in front of Tivo, and, rubbing my hands together in anticipation, started to watch.

And sat back, bemused. As the only credits I saw was the word "Lost" in white zooming in from a black background.

Apparently, EverBabe isn't a watcher of credits, or she has a *really* low bar. {grin}

Anyhoo - The link above is, I think, what she was talking about. (Salon might make you watch an ad, but it's worth it.)

The Order of the Stick - by Rich Burlew

A sad, but touching, reminder of the mortality of all of us.

Let's hear it for The Dilbert Blog

*Three* Scott Adams (Dilbert author) blog entries, each for different people. The first is for A. (more specifically, A.'s Dad, a big tennis fan.) It's an interesting (to me) story about a tennis player. Link to tennis story

Second entry - Yesterday, he asked people to submit questions about his opinions on a range of stuff. I wrote a question, and this morning he answered it. My question:

Q. What about using public funds in the rebuilding of New Orleans, specifically the areas we *know* will flood again.
A. I think the country should help disaster victims. The specific method should be an economic question where you apply a concept called “expected value.” Compare the cost of rebuilding and (especially) fortifying the levees to the cost of relocating people. Real estate in the flood zone is relatively cheap. If you can get the risk of levee failure down to say 1%, rebuilding is the best solution. I’ll spare you the math, but rebuilding in a flood zone could, under some assumptions, be the best course.

Hmmm... not exactly what I thought he'd say - but still a thoughtful answer that I can agree with. The sad thing is that no one WILL perform the "expected value" calculation in this case. (attached is a Slate article that looks at the economic aspect as well.)
Last Dilbert blog entry - Amusing look at the poor choices made by the brother of a professional athlete:

Did you hear about the guy who decided to watch his brother play in the Super Bowl instead of reporting to prison as scheduled? His sentence was increased from 6 months to 5 years for reporting late.
That’s not the funny part. The funny part is that he says it was worth it to see his brother play in the Super Bowl. Plus he got to party with Snoop Dog. I’ve heard good things about Snoop’s parties. That alone was probably worth a few months of sodomy.

YouTube - Crazy Dog

Last one today -

but DAMN - that dog is WACK.

YouTube - Real Life Simpsons Intro

"Someone went through a lot of trouble to very accurately depict the Simpsons intro with real life actors. " - Comment on YouTube

A LOT of trouble.

Wow.

write it like disaster: how to win trials and influence people

You may have been following the Moussaui case in the news, and noticed the thing about the government lawyer getting kicked off the case for going against the judges orders and giving the witnesses printed talking points. This guy got a copy of the talking points... let's peek in, shall we?

TIP SHEET FOR PROSECUTION WITNESSES
(PLEASE KEEP CONFIDENTIAL)

Use specifics whenever possible. Details help paint a story and create (or, we should hope, uphold) the image of truth. For instance, which of the two sounds more convincing to you? 1) "I seem to recall that he may have been up to something with those guys." 2) "I remember him saying, 'I plan to hijack an airplane and fly it into a building along with my co-conspirators.'" If you said the second, you're right -- note that it is filled with details, such as an actual quote, or the helpful phrase "co-conspirators" which is more specific than "those guys."

mightybear: Food for Thought

Fun little vignette about SeanJr:

If an adult ate the same meal Connor typically does (but scaled up), they'd have: 8 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 4 bananas, 4 nutrigrain fruit bars and sometimes 4 adult sized cups of yogurt with fruit for dessert.

And he's not really that big - just really big for 2.25 years old.

Drinking While Intoxicated By William?Saletan

Wha whaaaa?

Texas is busting people for "public intoxication" in bars. Undercover agents have "infiltrated" 36 bars and arrested 30 drinkers. Explanations from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission:

1) We're doing it to stop drinkers before they get in a car.

2) Even if they're not going to get in a car, maybe they'll "walk out into traffic and get run over."

3) Or maybe they'll "jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."

4) Anyway, bars aren't exempt from laws against public intoxication.

Thanks to slate for the link.

Kids Say The Darndest Things, Episode I

So, over at EverBabe's house tonight. SeanJr is being TERRIBLY cute, with his premiere two-year-old vocabulary. I suggest you check out his blog, to read his Mom's story of his word recognition (good for 27 months, really)

But towards the end of the evening, as he was giving his good night kisses (Daddy was in the other room):

1-> He kissed mommy (on the cheek)
2-> He kissed me on the cheek
3-> He looked away, and sloooowly said "hyoooomoooooooooe"

We're both pretty sure it was just an accidential confluence of consonants and vowels, but seriously; sometimes it's harder than it should be not to laugh when you are around toddler homophobia.

PartiallyClips - Motorcyclists

Two Words:

Ouch.

Curleygirl Days: Viva Las Vegas!

EverBabe -

You might like this blog, as it contains two things important to you: traveling with toddlers, and Vegas, baby, Vegas!

Couple of amusing mispelings.

1-> Resume crossed my desk today. It said:

Adittionally, my technical writing skills are a major asset...

(oh no she di'int....)

2-> From an Ebay listing for a device that usually runs in the multiple thousands of dollars.