Memorial Day Movies

A flick starring Fred MacMurray and Errol Flynn, Dive Bomber ran yesterday and I watched it. I've seen it before and it's not great, but it's notable for some things. Mind you it was made in 1941, before Pearl Harbor.

• The color and photography are spectacular.
  
• It was filmed at North Island NAS and some of the buildings still exist.
  
• Fred & Errol go to a hotel called the Bristol, which was recently renovated and is still in downtown San Diego
  
• The planes they show are obsolete, even for 1941.
  
• Everyone smokes in the flick. Not that this is uncommon for the era, but it comes across as crazy product placement.
  

Read all of the user comments at the IMDB link above for more info. There's even some dicussion that Flynn was working as a spy for the Nazis and wanted this made at Pensacola....

Printing pics with Walmart

My mom just printed a bunch of pics using Walart's 1hr photo center. You upload the pics to Walmart using their software and go pick up the prints from your digital photos an hour later. Google's Picasa which I already use to upload pics to my blog with (along with Hello), will also print to Walmart.

Now comes this story about your pics looking too good. If Walmart thinks your pics look professional, expect them to ask for a release from the professional photographer that took your pics.

Steve firing the .500 Magnum. Note the recoil on that thing! 

Andy shooting his .45 at Jacumba 

Shooting in Jacumba

Went out to Jacumba, CA which is about 70 mi east of here to go shooting with some of the guys from the Yahoo group SDSHOOTING (San Diego shooting). There were 5 of us out there with a wide variety of guns (a couple of .22's all the way up to a .500 magnum (what a cannon), and lots of rifles. We shot at everything - oranges, phone books, steel plates, paper targets, whatever. Got out there around 7:30 and we finally left around 10:30. Had a great time and it wasn't ridiculously hot (it was around 85F when we left). My little Benz wouldn't make it on the road back to the "range" so, I parked just off the main road (Hwy 80) and hitched a ride back with Dave who had a pickup.

The drive back was a pain as the Border Patrol had their checkpoint running (only 1 lane, and tons of traffic), and I lost 20min coming back. I'm all worn out now, even after a nap and shower.

a month later!

The Saudis are admitting that King Fahd is in the hospital.

I wonder if the Saudis are admitting what happened a month ago or the the April story was written by Nostradmus.

Jury Duty

I was selected for jury duty, starting on Jun 20. Fortunately, it's 1 day or 1 trial; this means that if I'm not selected for a trial on the 20th (or told to return), then I'm done.

A big fat "meh" for the new Benz ML350

I was invited by Benz (since I own one already) to a dog and pony show for their new ML series. The MLs are their SUV. It is bigger than their old one in every dimension. However, I came away very unimpressed. First, the tailgate hatch opens up quite nicely so that I can stand under it and load stuff without ducking. This means that it'd be unlikely for Noreen to be able to reach up and close the hatch on her own. I got a few laughs when I squatted down and reached up, trying to estimate if Noreen could reach it. They do offer an automatic opener/closer, but to get it adds $8K to the price (since you need to buy the premium leather package to get it). How hard is it to add a friggin strap to grab? When I was driving it, I felt like I had no idea where the thing was at. I couldn't tell where the front bumper was and wasn't quite sure where the back end was. Again, if I can't tell where the front end is, Noreen would have even more trouble. I can't imagine trying to handle this thing in San Diego on a daily basis, trying to parallel park (or just park in a parking garage trying not to mash the front bumper). Also, driving it wasn't anything special.

I'll compare it quickly to a couple of other SUVs I've driven:
My mom's Suburban (I forget exactly what it's called). Now, this is a truck-based SUV (body-on-frame instead of the ML's unibody), so it wouldn't be something you'd drive hard. But I knew exactly where it was at when I was driving it. I wouldn't try to parallel park it, but I knew where the back end was for sure.

The Volvo SC90 V8: I drove this at at car show in Anaheim a few months ago. It's not as big as the new ML, however, I knew exactly where it was at and could drive it very hard. It handled very well and I don't seem to remember the glaring issues for short people that the ML had.

If I had $50K to drop on a car/SUV, the ML wouldn't even enter my orbit of interest.

This time it's the Iranians

The Iranians are looking at giving an Iranian the death penalty for converting to Christianity and proselytizing.

I'm no fan of organized religion, but one of these days, maybe, just maybe the Islamic idiot nutjobs will realize there is more religious freedom here in the US than ever existed in Saudi Arabia or Iran. Oh wait, that's their problem with us. Nevermind.

It aint official

But everyone at Gitmo is congratulating Noreen on making first class! She's so excited/proud/happy she could explode! There were roughly 850 that went up for 1st and only around 140 made it!

Yipee!

US & Islam vs the Saudis & Christianity

Contrast this story about a Congressional resolution urging respect for the Koran and this story about Saudi Arabia and The Bible.

Not a good start

WTF is wrong with the Pistons? half way thru the 1st quarter, no FGs, only 2 pts from FTs.

Not that the Pacers are doing much better.

The Death of Intellectual property

Intellectual property or IP, is the basis that covers the rights of owners on everything from music, TV shows, movies and computer programs. (this is different than real property, like a car or a house). You can get a patent on your IP, saying that you were the first to create it, and therefore everyone else who uses your idea has to pay you royalties.

The concept, however, gets harder and harder to defend when the USPTO decides to issue a patent for "addresses as objects for email messaages".

Someone in the USPTO needs to be kicked in the nads. This isn't the first time they've done something this stupid.

PC vs Religious guy

Religious guy: 1, PC Nut: 0

Read David French's Brilliant Answer (about half way down).

Some are more equal than others

Progress on "hate crimes" and multiculturalism in Europe

Is hockey dead in the USA?

Well, at least the NHL is, according to the Freep today.
Here's your weekly depressing television statistic regarding hockey: ESPN's "Bowling Night," on which athletes from various team sports compete against one another, is drawing an 0.7 rating on ESPN and 0.4 on ESPN2. Those numbers are similar to what the NHL playoffs drew after 46 games last year. Incidentally, the bowling is replacement programming for what would have been the NHL playoffs this spring.

Are we serious about illegal immigration?

No.
Not when the Border Patrol in AZ is told to not arrest so many illegals, lest the Minuteman Project look like it's a success and the BP a bunch of idiots.

Also, in AZ, the state legislature there passed a bill denying a bunch of benefits to illegals. However, the provision in the same bill to target employers of illegals was dropped

Condi for Prez!

I can't say that I always agree with Condi (and sometimes, she's still stuck in her old Sovietologist mode), but when she comes out with gems like this she makes me support her for Prez.

Wouldn't that be hysterical? The Republicans running a black woman (with a fairly legit chance of making it) for Pres, while the Democrats keep talking a good show about race & gender and not doin much about it.

Not that I care what gender/race someone is.

What to do when you catch someone lookin at kiddie porn...

Punch them in the head. And toss their computer down the stairs. Did I mention that the pervert was in a diaper?

A 2-fer!

Maybe it's a 1-fer. Anyway, God hates AT&T. And MCI and so on.
This might be a 2-fer because:
It ridicules AT&T
It's the American Taliban (or at least their goons) acting goofy

More on GM sucks

Matt Helms, one of the auto writers for the Detroit Free Press recently bought a 2005 Honda Accord.
I sent him this email:

Hello,
I read your piece today "U.S. carmakers ignore many buyers' needs" on
the web and had a couple of different reactions.

The sense of entitlement that seems to come across from the emailers that railed against your choice of cars was astonishing. They felt that they had no duty as employees to build a good car, just that you should buy their car based on where you live. (does that mean that since I live in San Diego, I should buy a VW since they're built in Mexico?). If these people were so concerned about auto manufacturing jobs, they'd be storming the design & engineering centers demanding to know why they keep coming up with such droll stuff using 10-20 year old technology.


His article on buying the Honda is here and the followup a few days later from more of the mindless masses is here.

Bad is good, good is bad

First, the reports came out that beer was good for you, in various ways, and there was much rejoicing. Now, there's areport that single malt scotches help fight cancer.

Ok, I know, I have the rule "if it's in the news, it ain't science", but I think I'll do some cancer preventing later tonight.

Fainting goats

This is hilarious...watching goats faint

Justice is slow

And sometimes, it takes a Presidential Order, but it happens. The (insert several bad words here) quota-baby Brig. Gen that was in charge of Abu Ghraib gets demoted to COL, which will effectively end her career. Read the joyous news

Generous & stupid San Diegans

We're pretty generous here in San Diego, even when you wear a Ferrari hat to go panhandling. (and you're a millionare)

Why Americans stink at science

Students meander through three pages of Algonquin lore before they learn that climate is affected by the rotation and tilt of Earth--not by the return of the crows.

The people that write these books, the people that sell these books and the people that allow these books to be used in the classroom all need to be shot.
More goodness here

One of the funny comments on a paid-website I read was this one:
"An object at rest tends to stay at rest, unless you make lots of noise and wake Daddy up you little bastards! *smack* Yeah, you better keep running..."

The American Taliban, Take 93

Radley Balko, the Agitator, says what I would say, he just beat me to the punch.

The first casualty in war

is truth. This axiom holds, even when it's the drug war

Aspirin

If aspirin had to go through the FDA approval process today as a new drug, it wouldn't make it. This and other good stuff in Reason today.

Some parents need to be hit in the head

Repeatedly. With very very very heavy, blunt objects. It's quite obvious that it takes no brains to do the act or pop a baby, as this story shows.

The Pistons Game

I hope the Pistons win tonite (barely into the 4th Qtr now, just after the Iverson ankle-twist). AI is a friggin machine - he refuses to give up, goes back in after coming up lame. He's the reason the 76ers have stayed in this game and is an amazing player. The Pistons gans reaction to his limping was not unexpected and Larry Brown's reaction was also not unexpected.

This is why we love basketball (at this level)

Neat mailing lists

Since I own a Benz, I'm on neat mailing lists. This one came directly from Benz...a dog & pony show on the new ML class. Of course, I'm going.

209mph car crash

A boxer in the UK was driving 209mph when he wrecked is Benz McLaren SLR and got arrested for his trouble. story