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October 30, 2008
Sony Vaio Function Keys Not Working
My function keys are not working properly. Not sure why.
http://www.handbag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369798
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread25715.html
Id/password = bugmenot/bugmenot.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 30, 2008 at 11:54 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 28, 2008
Paint Louis
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I was driving around the St. Louis riverfront today and I stumbled onto this crazy long graffiti wall. Apparently, back in 2000, the mayor sponsored some time of graffiti party where people came from all over the country to try to create the largest graffiti mural in the world or something crazy like that. It was originally titled the "Art of the Flood Wall" project, but later came to be known as "Paint Louis". I drove the length of the wall tonight shooting photos. I measured it to be 2.25 miles long.
Update: Photos of Paint Louis murals posted here.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 28, 2008 at 11:19 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Gateway Arch
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Posted by Rob Kiser on October 28, 2008 at 12:10 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 26, 2008
Obama in 2001
Obama talks about the best way to redistribute wealth on a radio interview in 2001.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 26, 2008 at 10:34 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 25, 2008
Grilling Biden
Someone finally asks Biden some hard questions. Can you imagine where this campaign would be if someone in the news media actually asked Obama some hard questions?
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 25, 2008 at 11:58 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Lake Evergreen
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Jen and I took the canoe out for its maiden voyage on Lake Evergreen today. The canoe handled like a champ. It's the perfect size for the two of us. At 13 feet long, it's small enough that I can load it onto the Tahoe without any help, but big enough that we can canoe it across the lake without tipping over.
Jennifer packed a lunch in our "Yogi Bear"-style Hawkeye picnic basket and we paddled all over the lake, feeding the Mallards and chasing muskrats. (Jen insists on calling the muskrats "swimmie things".) We watched a large Red-Tailed Hawk hunting over the lake and discovered the peculiar mud nests of the Barn Swallows hidden amongst the metal trusses beneath the hiking path bridges around the lake.
We tried a little fishing, but weren't having much luck until we got down near the Lake House where we found a little secret cove that can only be accessed by boat. We started casting up into this little cove and we'd catch a fish or get a strike on nearly every cast. But the wind picked up quite suddenly and I allowed the wind to push the canoe into the bank so that we wouldn't be capsized or pushed out into the center of the lake.
As soon as the canoe touched the shore, some rabid tree-hugger came out of the Lake House and started yelling at us. She was foaming at the mouth like a Dachshund eating a frog. Teetering on the brink of self-immolation, she screeched that we shouldn't be touching the land with our canoe as it was a protected wetland.
I'm just looking at this rotten wench thinking, "You have got to be kidding me." Like...here's a man with his 10 year old daughter out fishing on a lake paddling around in a canoe. Like - I don't even have a trolling motor here. Just two wooden paddles. And this rotten fervent-feminist-Obama-loving wench has got to stop what she's doing to come scream at us for allowing our canoe to touch the land. If I had a rifle, I'd have shot her right between the eyes and left her putrid corpse to decay in the sacred wetlands.
I yelled back that the wind had nearly capsized us and we were lucky to be alive. She just scowled and stomped off.
This is the way of the tree-huggers. They don't give a "tinker's damn" about a human life. But if a muskrat or a cormorant is threatened - then we have a problem.
"You know dad...I'm really surprised that they ever even allowed them to build a Lake House here in the first place," Jennifer observed.
I tried to explain to her that everything we have that is nice was built before the eco-terrorist movement took hold and that today, nothing could be built. Not just the Lake House, but the lake itself, as Evergreen Lake is a man-made lake. If you walked in and requested a permit to dam Bear Creek to make a lake today they'd laugh you out of the state.
After our verbal thrashing, we were more careful to keep the canoe centered in the cove, and we reeled in fish until our arms were tired. Jennifer said we caught six Rainbow Trout and one German Brown, but we lost a lot of fish also. In the end, we only kept two because we really didn't want to clean out the whole lake.
We were able to put the bitter vitriol of the tree-hugger behind us, as that's just the way of those vermin. They have no manners. No sense of common decency. They're rude, vulgar, bitter, and antagonistic. It's just their nature. But we did stop on the way home and pick up a McCain/Palin sign and I hammered it into the ground in my yard before we unloaded the canoe from the truck.
Continue reading "Lake Evergreen"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 25, 2008 at 10:31 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink
Joe Biden Speaks
What do you think is funniest about this video?
a) Job Biden believes FDR was president in 1929.
b) Biden believes people watched the stock market crash on television
c) Biden believes the intent of the 2nd Amendment was to protect wealthy pheasant hunters.
d) Jon Stewart has never heard of a Beretta shotgun.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 25, 2008 at 10:07 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 24, 2008
Daily Photos
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A bull elk chews his cud this evening in the Evergreen HIghlands.
Continue reading "Daily Photos"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 24, 2008 at 11:23 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Trick-or-Treat
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 24, 2008 at 12:43 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The Socialist Utopia Through Education
This just slays me. Jefferson County, the county in which I reside, is currently proposing a massive mill levy (tax increase) for the schools. Now, keep in mind that my daughter's elementary school principal makes over $96,000 a year. I pay several thousand dollars a year in property taxes already. So I'm not overly inclined to pay more. So, I just voted "No" on the tax increase and went on.
But my fishing buddy clued me in that a prankster slipped the following sarcastic comments into the measure that were mailed out in the analysis of Issue 3A to every resident in Jefferson County:
"This tax increase furthers the goals of our teacher unions. It is consistent with a presidential candidate's promise for change, and hope for progress toward the Socialist utopia through education. This increase could create a pad until the oppressive TABOR measures can be repealed, and the Amendment 23 extra millions for schools be made permanent. The same criteria and logic should be applied in consideration of ballot question 3B, resulting in a resounding approval of the $754 million debt. This will add as much as $69 million to the $34 million for 3A, annually, a picayune amount considering the future of our youth and well-being of the District's employees."
The sad thing is that a government bureaucracy is probably the least effective and least efficient organization ever devised by man.
What percentage of high school students would have to rank below "proficient" in order for the school system to be shut down? If the answer is "10%", then start shutting Jeffco down. Because that's the right number. Less than 10% of the 10th graders in Jefferson County School District ranked "proficient" in math. But don't take my word for it. Look at the CSAP scores online yourself. (Select District:Jeffco and Grade/Subject:10th Grade Math.) Or download the CSAP Score Data directly from the Colorado Department of Education website as Excel Spreadsheets.
The Department of Education, in general, and the Jefferson County School District, in particular, should be shut down. The schools are accomplishing nothing. I used to work for Jefferson County School District. I should know. I'd argue that 10% of the kids could learn math on their own. The schools should be shut down tomorrow.
If, on the other hand, you don't care if your kids are learning math, then maybe you just see the schools as a fairly inexpensive secular daycare program. In that case - carry on, komrade. Spread the wealth.
Update: After downloading the excel spreadsheets and analyzing the data locally, on my own computer, instead of relying on the data I saw on the maps, the data for Math proficiency for 10th graders in Jefferson County doesn't look as abysmal as I'd originally imagined. It looks like, county wide, 40% of the students rank as proficient or better in 10th Grade/Math. So, only 60% of the 10th graders can't do any math. I stand corrected.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 24, 2008 at 11:25 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink
October 23, 2008
Note To Self - The Mirror Reverses Images From Left To Right
OK. Here's the story...bear with me on this one...this McCain supporter named Ashley Todd was allegedly beaten up and robbed, but then when they saw her McCain bumpersticker, they carved a "B" into her face. Right. Except that the "B" is backwards. And on her right cheek. Which means that she's right handed and she scratched a "B" on her right cheek while she was looking in the mirror. In addition to being overweight and aesthetically challenged, she's also not terribly bright, apparently.
This reminds me of when Morton Downey Jr. went into an airport bathroom and beat himself up and then blamed it on skinheads. The swastika he painted on his forehead was backwards also.
Not to mention that, if a person was carving a letter into your face with a knife, I doubt that it would come out this well. My guess is that they'd just hack at you fairly roughly with a knife and you'd have a hard time trying to discern exactly what message they were trying to convey. This "B" looks perfect. Like it was made by a custom waffle iron or a giant typewriter.
FAIL!!!!
Update: She made it up. Big surprise.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 23, 2008 at 11:04 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
The Bill Ayers Genocide
Obama launched his campaign in the living room of his close friend Bill Ayers. Ayers was the head of the Weather Underground, a group of terrorists from the '60's thant planned to take over the United States and allow the communists in Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and China to occupy the United States. Here, Larry Grathwohl, an FBI informant that infiltrated the group, discusses the Weather Underground's plans to commit genocide on 25 million Americans.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 23, 2008 at 3:33 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
The Gore Effect
The Gore Effect rolls on. Al Gore is giving a speech on the perils of Global Warming and the temperature is hitting a near record low. Priceless.
"In Cambridge, the warmest October 22nd occurred in 1979 when the temperature climbed to 83 °F. Well, it doesn't look like what they see today. Even the average high temperature for this day is 60 °F which is still far too high. After the noon, the temperature in Cambridge is 44.5 °F. Tonight, it is predicted to drop to 34 °F, close to the record low of 28 °F measured in 1940."
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 23, 2008 at 2:19 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The Toronto Stock Exchange
This video is hilarious.
"Whatever your investment goals were, you're screwed. You're poorer than you think. This message brougth to you by the Toronto Stock Exchange."
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 23, 2008 at 12:00 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 22, 2008
First Snow
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We got a little snow last night and then it snowed on and off all day. Not much, mind you. Just a light dusting. It was technically our second snow here at the compound. But this is the first time this season that it's snowed all day like this. The snow fell in fuzzy round balls and I went out shooting after lunch. The deer were going crazy, eating everything that wasn't nailed down, including Juniper and Russian Thistles. I'm hoping that it will warm up for the weekend though, so Jennifer and I can take the new canoe for a shakedown cruise in Lake Evergreen.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 22, 2008 at 8:17 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 21, 2008
Br'er Fox
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I'm still trying to get a decent shot of this fox. I must admit that I don't know much about foxes. For instance, I saw this fox bury some food today, like a squirrel burying an acorn. I was quite surprised as I hide no idea they engaged in such behavior.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 21, 2008 at 6:55 PM : Comments (3) | Permalink
October 20, 2008
Fall Photos
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Continue reading "Fall Photos"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 20, 2008 at 6:38 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
October 19, 2008
Red Fox
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I shot a photo of a red fox tonight up at the farm. Beautiful animal.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 19, 2008 at 8:20 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Fall
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I've posted some shots from this fall as an 11 Meg (4:36) Adobe Flash slideshow(2008_fall.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above.
These images were all captured with a Canon EOS 40D and a Canon L-Series image stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM) with an ET-83C hood.
If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (2008_fall.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, etc.
Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro, which I highly recommend.
The soundtrack is Fade Into You by Mazzy Star off of So Tonight That I Might See CD. Lyrics in extended entry.
Click here to view the other slideshows.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 19, 2008 at 1:44 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 17, 2008
Joe The Plumber Speaks Out Against Socialism
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 17, 2008 at 12:18 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Senator Government
Senator Government says "Spread The Wealth". Punish success. Reward failure. It's an old Dimocratic saw. How on earth did we get from the Red Scare to this?
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 17, 2008 at 9:44 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 16, 2008
Jennifer On The Farm
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I took Jennifer up to George's place this evening for the first time. She was ecstatic, walking among the chickens, geese, llamas, horses, ponies, and donkeys. You'd think she'd never been to a farm before. She does OK on her four wheeler, but she never looks behind her and I have to keep yelling at her to get on her side of the road. You'd think they'd know that much, but somehow, this escapes her and she tends to drive in the middle of the road through blind curves like my driver in the Peruvian Andes last year. Somehow, we both made it home alive.
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Continue reading "Jennifer On The Farm"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 16, 2008 at 9:31 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 15, 2008
McCain Pimp Slaps 'Senator Government'
At 2:00 in the video above, McCain says "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." Snap!
At 0:40 in the video above, McCain says "So Senator Obama, who has never traveled south of our border, opposes our Colombia Free Trade agreement. [snip] Free trade with Colombia is something that's a 'no brainer'. But maybe you ought to travel down there, and visit them, and maybe you could understand it a lot better."
Continue reading "McCain Pimp Slaps 'Senator Government'"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 15, 2008 at 8:11 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Arctic Sea Ice Makes a Comeback
Although the Arctic sea ice is coming back in a big way as global temperatures fall, the Global-Warming-Sky-Is-Falling-Tree-Huggers are conspicuously silent on this issue.
"There is no mention of this on the National Snow and Ice Data Center sea ice news webpage, which has been trumpeting every loss and low for the past two years...not a peep. You'd think this would be big news. Perhaps the embarrassment of not having an ice free north pole in 2008, which was sparked by press comments made by Dr. Mark Serreze there and speculation on their own website, has made them unresponsive in this case."
Oh, snap! How about that, tree-huggers. The Arctic sea ice is coming back in a big way. Oh my. What now, Chicken Little?
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 15, 2008 at 6:37 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Mystery Bird
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Found this poor deceased bird outside in the yard today. I live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado. I found the bird today (10/15/2008). The bird is small - approximately 4 1/2" long from beak to tail. Has distinctive yellow patch/line extending across the bird's back. Underside appears to be sort of spotted/mottled color of mixed brown and white. I tried using the installed the WhatBird toolbar, and it suggest 43 birds, but I looked at all of them and couldn't figure it out. Any clue what this bird is?
http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/ShowThread.aspx?PostID=62170#62170
Update: Best guess at this point is a male Pine Siskin.
Continue reading "Mystery Bird"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 15, 2008 at 11:24 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Boulder Fark Party - 10/15/2008
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| From Boulder Fark Party |
This is a photo of me and Drew Curtis, the owner of www.fark.com. The sticker on my shirt says "I'm a BITTER Gun Owner & I VOTE www.nraila.org" - Courtesy of Robert Racansky.
More photos from the Fark party last night in Boulder.
Continue reading "Boulder Fark Party - 10/15/2008"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 15, 2008 at 6:44 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 14, 2008
What the Fark?
From tonight's Fark party in Boulder, Colorado.
Posted by Robert Racansky on October 14, 2008 at 11:12 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 13, 2008
Lawsuit Against Obama
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 13, 2008 at 12:16 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink
October 12, 2008
1929 MovieTone News on Stock Market Crash
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 12, 2008 at 10:42 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Obama's Lead Dwindles
Looks like Obama's lead is dwindling according to the latest Gallup Pole.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 12, 2008 at 8:53 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 11
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I don't know why I do it. I really don't. But when I go out to shoot in the evening, I always go hop on my four wheeler and take off down the road and I always forget to look out back first. Or I never remember to look out back. Is there a difference? I dunno.
But, in any event, it's freezing cold out there. It really is. So cold that I'm wearing gloves and a helmet because last night I got so cold I had to stay at the Grundy's all night drinking wine and playing 13's. So tonight, I remembered how cold it was and I wore my gloves and my helmet and a jacket and I swear it just made no difference at all.
I can't tell you how what the weather is like except to say that it's as misty as Portland, Oregon and as cold as Detroit, Michigan. So maybe that gives you an idea of the weather here. The weather seems to be crashing along with the stock market.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 11"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 12, 2008 at 6:53 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Pimp My Pumpkin
Here's a website that lets you carve a pumpkin online.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 12, 2008 at 6:30 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 11, 2008
The "Big" Deer - Day 10
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Today was gray and misty and cold. I still haven't seen the "big" deer Bud saw, but I did spot this one today, along with a fox and a rabbit.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 10"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 11, 2008 at 5:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Clear Creek County
Jennifer and I drove up to Georgetown today and I stopped to snap this picture. The colors are peak right about now. The leaves will all be on the ground in a few days. I thought it would snow today but it hasn't yet.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 11, 2008 at 4:01 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The Pumpkin Patch
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Allie and Jen at the Pumpkin Patch.
Continue reading "The Pumpkin Patch"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 11, 2008 at 3:55 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
You know you're from Colorado if...
You know you're from Colorado if...you'll eat ice cream in the winter.
When the weather report says it's going to be 65 degrees, you shave your legs and wear a skirt.
It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be canceled.
You'll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature.
You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them.
'Humid' is over 25%.
Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains.
You say 'the interstate' and everybody knows which one.
You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.
Continue reading "You know you're from Colorado if..."
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 11, 2008 at 3:09 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 10, 2008
Timmy's Fifth Bird
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Timmy caught his fifth bird today. This is a Red-Breasted Nuthatch(Sitta canadensis).
He's been catching about one a day here lately, it seems. I think he's catching them out of the bird bath, so possibly I should move it so that he can't pounce on them when they're drinking. So far, we've released three that lived. I found one dead in the house, and then there was one that was MIA - I just found a bunch of feathers on that one.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 10, 2008 at 8:15 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 9
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The bucks are clearly out of rut at this point. The bucks have left the does and are just hanging out and fattening up for winter. Today was cold and misty and they just laid around behind the house all day chewing their cud and occasionally sneaking out to steal a few bites of some tasty plant they like to eat at the base of the Russian Thistles. Jennifer was whistling to them from the redwood deck, which got them to turn around and face the lens.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 9"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 10, 2008 at 7:31 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
GoogleUpdate.exe
I could not kill this stupid TSR named GoogleUpdate.exe. I tried to stop it with Codestuff Starter. No dice. Tried running MSCONFIG to turn it off. No dice. Tried uninstalling Google Update and Chrome. Still no dice. Finally, I figured out that the b@st@rds have set up two scheduled tasks on my computer to make sure it's running all the time - GoogleUpdateTaskMachine and GoogleUpdateTaskUser.
Finally, I looked at the properties of the scheduled tasks and found that they were executing the following:
C:\Documents and Settings\Rob\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe
This is after I uninstalled Google Update. And Chrome. I think that we're done here, Google. Thanks for playing. You fvcked me, but it won't happen again. Fool me one, shame on you... ;)
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 10, 2008 at 6:06 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 9, 2008
PhotoshopElementsFileAgent.exe
I just noticed today that I've got a fair amount of garbage processes running without my permission, not the least annoying of which is PhotoshopElementsFileAgent.exe. I see this when I do a CTRL-ALT-DELETE, as we like to call it in the Windows world, a "three finger salute". So, I see it out there and for some reason, Codestuff Starter isn't blocking it and now I've decided it has to go, come h3ll or high water.
I mean, I don't even use Adobe Photoshop Elements. It's like Photoshop with training wheels. True - I have it installed, and I never use it, but I don't want to have to uninstall it just because it's smarter than I am. I want to win.
So, this post leads me to believe that it's a process used by something called "Adobe Active File Monitor." Which I'm sure I don't need. So, I'll try to follow these directions and get the best of it.
Try this: click the "start" key then click "run". Type "msconfig" (without the ")then okay. The System Config Utility should now be displayed. Click the Services tab and then uncheck the Adobe Active File Monitor. Click Apply, then OK and re-boot. This solved the problem for me and I was able to finally receive the updates.
Oh yeah. I found it and I unchecked a bunch of other things like that stupid GoogleUpdater.exe and some other nonsense. My computer may never work again, but I doubt that I'll see that stupid PhotoshopElements and GoogleUpdater crap again. Death to the TSR's!
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 9, 2008 at 10:37 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
AK Ice Cubes
This comes to me from buddy "Fly" back in MS today. Ice cubes shaped like AK-47 bullets. Pre-order yours for the holidays here. This is about as cool as the other side of the pillow. Why didn't I think of this?
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 9, 2008 at 10:10 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
October 8, 2008
Autumn in the Hills
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Posted by Rob Kiser on October 8, 2008 at 8:40 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Rifle or a Shotgun?
The Los Angeles Times asks the very interesting question, "How did Newsweek convince Gov. Sarah Palin to pose with a rifle for its cover?"
It's an interesting question because Sarah Palin is clearly holding a shotgun, not a rifle.
That's right. The mediots at the Los Angeles Times are so stupid they can't tell a rifle from a shotgun. Then, they try to say that she's not holding the firearm safely, when in fact, the breech is open and the barrel is pointing down. She's actually handling the firearm perfectly. Classic.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 8, 2008 at 8:19 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 7, 2008
Scrap Metal Racket
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When I bought this house, it had this big old-school satellite dish on a steel pole out in one of my fields. I never used it, and it finally bothered me enough that I dug it up this summer. I pulled all of the bolts out that I could and sort of disassembled it, but then my interest in it waned.
Lately, I've been thinking we'll have snow pretty soon and it would suck to hit that thing with the four wheeler in the snow so I finally decided to get it out of here. Plus, someone had recently pointed out that the dish was painted cast aluminum, so I figured I'd see what I could get for it at the scrap metal place. Instead of having to pay the dump to take it, I was thinking maybe I could get a little cash out of it and get it out of my field so I'd have more room for doing donuts in the snow this winter.
Robert and I filled the hole in as best we could this past weekend. And yesterday, I loaded the satellite dish and an old engine block onto the 18 foot trailer with a chain fall and a come along.
The trailer is not in good shape. All the lights are smashed out on it and the spare has a hole in it you could stick your hand in. It has no license plate at all. I tie everything down fairly well, which means that there's a reasonable chance that all the scrap will be on the trailer when I get to Denver, but I wouldn't wager any money on it.
I've driving down the road and crap is blowing off of the trailer like crazy...pine cones, pine straw, rocks, dirt...you name it. The smart cars fall back. Like...here's a clue, people. When you see a trailer going down the road and no license plate and crap falling off onto the highway, you need to give that guy a wide berth, OK? This is for your own good. I'm trying to help you here. See?
Continue reading "Scrap Metal Racket"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 7, 2008 at 9:03 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 8
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Tonight, I changed the gear oil in the front and read differentials on the four wheelers. I was going to change the oil in the crankcase also, but I was out of 10 weight oil, so I held back. Then, I decided to drive up and see if there were any bucks out by George's or Jan's. I saw a nice buck up at George's. Last night, I saw a couple of bucks up there as well. I've posted some of these photos above and in the extended entry.
I stopped by Bud's and asked him if any of these looked like the "Big" deer he saw with Art and Chris. But he keeps saying that there's a big one up there and I'll know him when I see him.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 8"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 7, 2008 at 8:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
People Who Should Be Shot
SNL takes on George Soros and Herb and Marion Sandler. Apparently, they threatened to sue and got SNL to pull the skit. Apparently the didn't realize that I had a copy. :)
Update: They took mine down. I'm going to change it and upload it a again. Also, I'll post it here and I don't care what they say I'll never take it down. (MIght take a while to download though as the file is about 20 megs.)
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 7, 2008 at 4:15 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Fox Totals SUV
A man named Fox was driving through Tennessee when he ran over a fox. Fox stopped and put the dead fox in the back of his SUV. The dead fox came back to life while he was driving down the road and instead of stomping on the breaks and pulling off the road, he fought with it, crossed the median, and flipped his SUV. Classic.
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810060325
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 7, 2008 at 9:50 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 6, 2008
Nero Jumps The Shark
Like, if you're thinking....maybe I should try to install Nero? Then, let me save you the trouble. Don't bother. I can't begin to say how bloated this disaster is but it makes Vista look like a fine application. I downloaded 340 Megs of garbage. And then the install was running for like a half an hour and I was just like....wft? So, I finally canceled it. This release of Nero is release 9 and called "Move It'. Bloatware extraordinaire.
Nero 6.6.1.4 was 33 Megs. Nero 9.0.9.4b is 370 Megs. Seriously. WTF?
Mark my words. I'll never try to install Nero again in my life. I'll never go back to Detroit and I'll never put another dime in the stock market and I'll never try to install Nero again. Nero sucks!
The only reason I wanted to install it to begin with is that Microsoft's XP O/S allows you to write files to a CD but not a DVD. Argh!
Update: Nero completely FVCKED my system registry. Thanks for that Nero. You're a peach.
Continue reading "Nero Jumps The Shark"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 6, 2008 at 9:50 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Dimocrats, FNMA, and Freddie Mac
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 6, 2008 at 8:35 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Sarahcuda Eviscerates a Heckler
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 6, 2008 at 8:27 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The Obama Youth
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 6, 2008 at 12:23 AM : Comments (3) | Permalink
October 4, 2008
Did a Judge Order Obama to Produce his Birth Certificate?
I received an email today from Bud that goes as follows:
JUDGE ORDERS OBAMA TO PRODUCE BIRTH CERTIFICATE
By Jon Christian Dryer
October 3, 2008
NewsWithViews. com
On September 29, 2008 US District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick, the
federal magistrate for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in
the matter of Philip J. Berg vs Barack Hussein Obama, et al as the
world was distracted by the $700 billion subprime mortgage crisis.
Obama signed a breathe of relief as the mainstream media chose to
ignore the question:"Can Senator Barack Hussein Obama legally seek the office of President
of the United States?"[large portion redacted here - see extended entry to full article]
© 2008 Jon C. Ryter - All Rights Reserved
So, I did some research and the article in question by "Jon Christian Dryer" does not exist on the NewsWithViews.com website. Furthermore, the top of the article lists the author as "Jon Christian Dryer" but the article is signed by "Jon C. Ryter". There is a person named "Jon C. Ryter" that has articles posted on NewsWithViews.com website, but this article is not to be found there.
I checked with Snopes, and they were kind enough to allow as to how Obama is being sued by Philip J. Berg, but they had no specific reference to this particular rumor. Plus, keep in mind that Snopes cannot be trusted as they are clearly in the tank for the Dimocrats. I noticed this some time ago. It would be nice if they were impartial, but they aren't and they can't be trusted when politics are involved.
So, there definitely is a lawsuit filed against Obama by Philip J. Berg over Obama's citizenship and the suit has been moving forward for some time. You can follow the status of the lawsuit against Obama at Citizen Wells.
I found Philip Berg's cell phone number here.
So, I called him on his cell phone and spoke to him for some time. He's a nice guy and he does have a lawsuit against Obama, but the story I saw was a mistake made by someone who saw Philip Berg's response to the jugde and mistakenly believe that the judge had asked Obama to produce his birth certificate. This is not the case.
However, the judge may very well do just that in the next few days. If the judge grants Philip J. Berg the rights of "discovery", then Obama will have to produce a birth certificate.
You can learn more about the suit and follow it at Philip J. Berg's website ObamaCrimes.com.
Hold the phone, folks. This one could get interesting. :)
Continue reading "Did a Judge Order Obama to Produce his Birth Certificate?"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 4, 2008 at 5:21 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Bird and Fortune explain the Subprime Crisis
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 4, 2008 at 5:14 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 3, 2008
Steve Fossett's Crash Coordinates
The Live Leak web site says that Steve Fossett's Crash Coordinates are 37º 39' 32" N, 119º 07' 32" W, based on this recently issued FAA NOTAM.
Converted to decimal, it comes out to:
Latitude: 37.658889
Longitude: -119.125556
Or, just open this NOTAM.kmz file in Google Earth.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 3, 2008 at 9:43 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Lunch with an angel
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I went and ate lunch with Jennifer today because she'll be out of town this weekend.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 3, 2008 at 9:24 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Bill O'Reilly rips Barney Frank
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 3, 2008 at 8:50 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Ordering Prints
I've promised more people prints of images than you could ever imagine and, if the truth be know, I'm not clear that I've ever come through on any. There was that one time that Jennifer and I stayed out on Pensacola beach and I sent some prints to Fran and Charlie. I also ordered some prints for Carol when I was in Tennessee. I printed a few photos out and put them up when we got back from Hawaii, but that was years ago. I seriously probably have only about 5 prints in my house.
And I've shot well over a hundred thousand images. So, there's something stopping me from having my images printed, obviously. But now, the time has come for me to deliver on some prints.
I've complained before about the problems with printing digital images. And there are many problems to deal with. Let's make that perfectly clear.
But I'm going to try to print some images with the Photoworks service because they offer 3:2 prints and I can't stand cropping my shots after I carefully composed them in the camera. But I digress.
They have 8" x 12" prints for $3.00, so these seem fairly reasonable.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 3, 2008 at 11:02 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 7
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I saw the big deer up at the top of the hill, between George's and Jan's places. But my battery was dead and I couldn't get any shots. Then Bud made Shepherd's Pie so I went over for dinner and some does and their fawns came around eating the acorns from the scrub oaks.
I'm trying to get some shots of the mule deer bouncing like Pepe Le Pew, but this is a hard shot to capture when they're moving fast at dusk.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 3, 2008 at 8:36 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Communism - Change You Can Believe In
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 3, 2008 at 6:30 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 2, 2008
MSM Reports on the Palin-Biden Debate Before it Happens
I paused the debate to see what others were saying, and I find out that the AP jumped the gun and already filed all of their reports before the debate even started.
Wow. I just don't know what to say about this. I mean, as someone said in the comments, we always knew the MSM was in the tank for the Dims, but they used to hide it. No such formalities any more. No more Mr. Nice Guy...be ready when it hits you.
Here's one of the AP reports filed on the debate before it occurred. And here's a AP reporter Jim Kuhnhenn reporting on the debate in past tense before it happened.
I'm going to go back and finish watching the debate, but somehow I get the feeling that the actual debate itself will have very little affect on what the liberal media reports.
Wow. I don't know what else to say. Wow.
Update: OK. Just paused the debate again. I think Sarah Palin is sharp. She's had some strong moments. I'll cover those in a minute. For now, however, I have to say that we're about a stone's throw of having someone else in the White House that can't pronounce "nuclear". How on earth can anyone pronounce Ak-mah-din-eh-jahd correctly without a hiccup, but then say "newk-yew-lehr" in the same sentence?"
Update 2: I watched the debate tonight. It took me a while because I drank a bottle of wine over the course of the skirmish. I have to say this - I'm not in a position to say who won. I think the debates are a Rorschach test. You project your beliefs onto them. If you're still undecided at this point, I seriously think you shouldn't be allowed to vote.
I believe that intelligence is a curse. This is a position I've held for some time. Being a member of the intelligentsia means that you're forever attempting to explain complicated issues to dullards.
My ACT scores put me in the 99.9 percentile in the nation. I am a member of Mensa. I've had the great fortune of talking to some exceptionally intelligent and insightful people. And what does it get me? Not much, unfortunately.
Mostly what it brings is frustration. The frustration of trying to explain to people how taxes drain the economy. How taxing yourself into prosperity is like standing in a bucket and trying to lift yourself by the handle. Why capitalism is better than socialism. Why socialism and communism are inseparable.
Today, the average person asks not what they can do for their country, but what their country can do for them. This is the zeitgeist.
I think that Sarah Palin is a brilliant person with a bright future in the Republican party. But I also think that a democratically elected government is only as intelligent as the people they represent. And regrettably, we've watered down our gene pool. We've watered down the voting rights and the average voting American today has zero understanding of economics. No understanding of what it means to be an American. And hence, no pride in being an American.
And tonight, I could see for the first time, that we will lose. America will lose. We will lose, not because Palin lost the debate. Not because of anything that Obama or McCain said or did. We will lose, not because we are wrong. We will lose because the idiots outnumber us. God save us all.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 2, 2008 at 7:35 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
How The Stock Market Works
Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.
The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them.
The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at $20.
This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.
The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50!
However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on his behalf.
In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.'
The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys.
Then they never saw the man nor his assistant ever again, only monkeys everywhere!
Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 2, 2008 at 2:09 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Steve Fossett's Plane Found
Confirmation that Steve Fossett's plane has been found this morning.
(CNN) -- Authorities have found the plane Steve Fossett was flying when he disappeared last year, but they have not found the millionaire adventurer's body, the Madera County, California, sheriff said Thursday.
Fossett's pilot's license and a torn $100 bill were found by a hiker Wednesday."They did locate an aircraft which we have now confirmed is the one Steve Fossett was flying when it disappeared last Labor Day," Sheriff John Anderson told reporters at a news conference in Mammoth Lakes.
The plane apparently crashed head-on into the side of a mountain, and the damage was "so severe I doubt someone would've walked away from it," the sheriff said.
Anderson said local authorities would search for Fossett's remains, and the National Transportation Safety Board would try to determine why and how the crash occurred.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 2, 2008 at 9:04 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Searching For Steve Fossett
I'm searching for Steve Fossett's plane using Google Earth. I helped search for him last year using Google Earth and the Mechanical Turk. You can see the search area we focused on last year in the photo above. Obviously, he wasn't in our targeted search area.
I'm trying to search for him again now using Google Earth, but there were no dates on the images, so I couldn't even be sure they were taken after he disappeared. Then, I found this post from April of 2008:
Today Google will release Google Earth 4.3 that includes some new interesting features:
1. You can now find the exact date when a particular satellite image was captured - move the cursor over the image and the date (when that image was taken) will appear near the status bar of Google Earth.
2. Google Maps street view pictures will become available inside Google Earth 4.3.
So, I checked and of course, I had version 4.2 of Google Earth, so I upgraded to Google Earth 4.3, but now I see that the Google Earth images I have of Fossett's plane crash site are from 2005, so they're about as useless as teats on a bull.
Google Earth KMZ files:
Fossett departs from Flying M Ranch on 9/3/2007. Hours later, the Bellanca Super Decathlon (not a Citabria) tail number N240R piloted by Fossett crashes above the Minaret Mine, in California's Eastern Sierras just east of the Minaret Mountain Range, and southwest of Mammoth Lakes, California.
The latest version of Google Earth has a Ruler feature that allows you to measure distance between points in Google Earth. So, I measured and the distance from the Flying-M Ranch to the crash site is exactly 65.45 miles, as the crow flies.
Continue reading "Searching For Steve Fossett"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 2, 2008 at 7:02 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Steve Fossett's Plane Wreckage Possibly Found
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431605,00.html
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. -- Search teams combing a rugged part of eastern California for any sign of Steve Fossett, the adventurer who vanished on a solo flight more than a year ago, have spotted what appeared to be wreckage Wednesday, authorities said.
Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Office, would not reveal the exact location of the reported aerial sighting, which she said was called in around sunset.
Searchers had been combing a 10-mile radius around the spot where a hiker had found what appeared to be a pilot's license and other items belonging to Fossett earlier in the week.
A ground team was en route to the site Wednesday night, and authorities would be able to confirm there is actual wreckage and whether it belongs to Fossett on Thursday morning, Stuart said.
I think Fossett's Super Decathlon went down above the Minaret Mine at approximately this location. The guy claims to have found Fossett's Identification papers, money, and jacket up near the Minaret Mine.
Logically, this means the plane had to have crashed above the mine.
If he survived the crash, he would have hiked down, not up. If you're 65 years old and crash your plane at 10,000 feet above sea level, you're not going to climb out of the cockpit and start climbing higher up the mountain. You'd take the easiest way out and walk downhill to civilization.
On the other hand, if Fossett perished in the crash, the snow and ice would have pushed him and the plane down the mountain.
Either way, the plane will be found above the site where Fossett's personal effects were found, which will put the plane right about here.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 2, 2008 at 5:14 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
October 1, 2008
Steve Fossett's Personal Items Found
Hiker Preston Morrow said he found the Federal Aviation Administration identity card, pilot's license and a third ID and $1,005 in cash while hiking with his dog, Kona, west of the town of Mammoth Lakes Monday. Steve Fossett was last seen on the morning of September 3, 2007, when he took off from the Flying-M Ranch outside Minden, Nevada, in a Bellanca Super Decathlon tail dragger.
He filed no flight plan for the solo flight and was never seen or heard from again.
Update:
Continue reading "Steve Fossett's Personal Items Found"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 1, 2008 at 9:56 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The New Dollar Bill
Libby sent me this today. Looks about right.
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 1, 2008 at 11:54 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 6
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I've pretty much given up hope of finding the "Big" deer. Probably, he was just passing through. Or maybe he never existed. Maybe he was a fig newton of our imagination. But I do enjoy shooting the deer that hang around here. So bear with me.
This evening, I found a few deer in Bud's yard, eating the acorns from beneath the Scrub Oaks that Jennifer and Allie missed this weekend. They love the acorns because they're extremely rich in protein. For the bucks, it's supposed to help them grow a larger rack. For the does, probably it just helps them to put on weight to make it through the winter.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 6"
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 1, 2008 at 12:03 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink