Month: March 2009

Maybe I’m A Fossil

I just can’t do books any other way than holding bound paper in my hands. I’ve tried audio books, fortunately I didn’t buy any, only to be disappointed, but I’ve sampled some free choices from the corners of the web (LibriVox, LearnOutLoud, etc.) and it is just not for me. I can barely pay attention sitting, listening in front of the PC, let alone try and listen while driving. Another reason is I haven’t found a voice I enjoy listening to.

A couple times in the last week my daily dose of SciFi site directed me to some free electronic books, one was Suvudu Free Book Library with pdf files that look like a scan of a book (other formats are available) and today’s site was Baen Free Library which has been around since 2002 and offers downloads in various formats including HTML. So far none of the formats I’ve tried have been comfortable to me. The second place offers books in a Microsoft Reader format, but I’m not sure I even want to install the software for it.

Guess I’m going to keep patronizing the local used book store…

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 144

Giant Metal Squirrels

On our little tour of Daufuskie Island there were several historic sites and a couple of art “galleries” that were highlighted for us to stop at.

When we left the General Store and Cart Rental place we started out following the recommended tour route. The first stop was a spot that held two historic places, an old church and an old school. Of course there were two other golf carts stopped there too, so we hung around until they left and instead of continuing on the “tour” we took the first left we could. From then on we almost never saw any of our ferry mates again. Hey we came here to get away from people.

We eventually rode on most of the tour route just backwards or coming at it sideways. There were a couple of historic cemeteries that we wanted to check out and in spite of traveling down the roads they were on, never did see any. We did find one of the artist galleries, The Iron Fish, and parked our golf cart under the tree in the side yard. It is a 100 year-old original island house that has a front porch that serves as the gallery and the front wall is covered with funky, yet appealing schools of metal fish. The are also metal crabs and mermaids mixed in. There was a note on the front door with purchase instructions: If you see something you like take it and slip your money under the door. For credit card purchases, leave a note saying what you bought and your phone number. A nice school of four small fish would be an awesome decoration on a living room or bed room wall, but at $85 per fish they were a bit rich for our blood.

As we got back into the cart to leave we both noticed several large metal squirrels stuck to the trunk of the tree and both of us went, “Coool.” I checked the price and they were $45 a piece and both of us went, “Naaah.” Just before turning the key to start the cart Donna said, “You sure?” I hesitated and then said, “Why not?” Chase, the artist, was in his backyard, so I walked over and gave him the cash. He offered to wrap it up, but we declined just sticking it in the bottom of our black travel bag.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 143

Finis

It has been 1870 days (5 years, 1 month, 12 days) since taking the first Post Office picture of Summerall Station in Aiken to this one, the last, from Daufuskie Island last Saturday. In that time frame I have taken pictures of 453 Post Offices with the Emperor (or some portion of him) or his Mini-Me somewhere in the frame.

I started out with at least six more to do, those on the military bases in the state, but have decided that if I couldn’t get them all I wouldn’t do any of them. My out is that although the bases are physically located inside the state’s borders they really are on U.S. Government property. The two Marine Corp bases near Beaufort have no problem with visitors as long as they get a visitor’s pass. Fort Jackson in Columbia probably wouldn’t have been an issue either as it is a boot camp for the Army and they are used to visitors. The two Air Force bases are stricter and I would have needed to have been escorted on base by someone stationed there (only one of which I would have had someone to do that for me.) The Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek was going to be the deal breaker anyway. Just the name of the place doesn’t sound like the kind of place they let civilians wander about, with a camera no less. Plus they used to keep the nukes for the subs at the Charleston Navy Base before it closed down and for all I know they still house the ones the Air Force needs.

There is still a slight controversy as to whether to include the second Hampton PO. It looks for all the world like a backwoods county home with pickups out front and it has no outward indications of any postal activity, no blue box and no signage. All I have is one small photo I snapped from inside the car because Donna didn’t want me to get out. So when we got home from that trip I wrote to the Postmaster of that zip code. A couple weeks later I received a reply stating that it is a Community Post Office, but I’m still not so sure I should include it.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 143

A Redneck Love Poem

Susie Lee done fell in love, she planned to marry Joe.
She was so happy ’bout it all, she told her pappy so.

Pappy told her, Susie gal, you’ll have to find another.
I’d just as soon yo’ ma don’t know, but Joe is yo’ half brother.

So Susie put aside her Joe and planned to marry Will.
But after telling pappy this, he said, there’s trouble still.

You can’t marry Will, my gal, and please don’t tell yo’ mother,
but Will and Joe, and several more I know is yo’ half brothers.

But mama knew and said, my child, just do what makes yo’ happy.
Marry Will or marry Joe; you ain’t no kin to pappy.

(Kinda brings a tear to yer eye, don’t it?)

Summer?

We took advantage of the early summer weather today to ride the tandem into work under the full moon. It was so nice that there were only a couple places on the way to work that a jacket was required and on the way home it would have been perfect for not a 10-12 mile an hour headwind on a 1/4 of the journey. It may not be officially spring yet, but it is starting to look it, as the Bradford Pear trees are blooming. Tomorrow, for one day, it is going to feel like summer with a high in the upper 80’s before return to the more normal 60’s on Thursday.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 143

Hodge Podge

Remember Photofunia? You know that Russian site where you uplaod yor photo and the site does some magic in the background and integrates that photo into a scene? Well here is another one for you, WriteOnIt. Their selection of images is not as diverse as Photofunia, but they do have a couple of other options that make it worth a peek – magazine covers and adding captions to some of there own photos.

Via io9:
Cartoonist Chris Gine has decided that he’ll draw three new robots (with… stuff) each week for a year, giving you a glimpse into just how much variety there is in the robot world. He is up to sixteen with 149 to go. Bots with Stuff. My favorite so far: #11, a robot with a really cool jetpack, but no friends to show it to. Although the very first one, a robot with a delicious groundhog is a close second.

Via Techdirt:
Sita Sings The Blues. Because the cost of obtaining the of copyrights on songs from the 1920’s, a weird mashup movie of that eras jazz vocals, the epic Indian tale of Ramayana and sumptuous animation couldn’t be released as a for profit movie, so instead, the filmmaker has decided to press 4,999 copies on DVD (just below a level to keep the royalty fees at the $50k she has already put up) and make promotional copies available for downloading from several web venues. These promotional copies are not subject to royalty fees or something. The filmmaker is going to rely on other ways of making money on the project instead of the whole find distributor Hollywood route, one of which is the “pay what you want” model by accepting donations. I’ve probably got a few details of this whole thing wrong, more info can be found on the filmmaker’s blog, Rogert Ebert’s blog and the films site. I’m downloading the torrent now and plan on kicking a few bucks Nina Paley’s way.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 143

Grandma’s Birth Control Pills

The doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her.

As the young doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized she had a prescription for birth control pills.

“Mrs. Smith, do you realize these are BIRTH CONTROL pills?

“Yes, they help me sleep at night.”

“Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could possibly help you sleep!”

She reached out and patted the young Doctor’s knee. “Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old granddaughter drinks…and believe me, it helps me sleep at night.”