Spectre’s Sayings

Where the hell is Matt? (2008):

Where the hell is Matt? (2006):

Personally, I like the 2008 video better, since more often it has people dancing with him. Anyway, here’s the obligatory link to the website.

You know, Strawberry Crush tastes pretty darn good.

It’s been a while since I’ve last reported on the progress in my house-building project. I now have a driveway and a front porch. The back porch is ready to be poured, but the forms for the walkway up to my front door haven’t yet been put in place. The pest control guy came by earlier this evening and sprayed down the back porch location, and probed his spray wand deep into the earth in front of the front porch.

Trim work and closet shelves are going up. The hardwood flooring has been laid, but still needs to be sanded and have a finish coat applied. The oak staircase is nearly done being varnished, and will be installed soon. The floor tiles have been laid in the kitchen, laundry room, bathrooms, and near the front entrance. Bricks have begun to be laid. And my kitchen cabinets (sans countertop) are all installed.

All in all, we’re nearing the end.

“The hoppiest kölsch I’ve ever had,” is how I thought of New Holland Brewing’s Lucid. It’s similar to other kölsches I’ve had - light, refreshing - but there’s a definite hoppy floral aroma that made me wonder whether I’d picked up a pale ale by mistake. Not to worry, however. It wasn’t bitter at all, although you could detect the hops bitterness if you looked for it.

Not bad.

Update: this is my 150th post in the “Beer” category.

ZENIT - Canada’s Human Rights Beef With Catholics.

Cool: Cancer patient recovers after injection of immune cells.

From the Anchoress: Is Canada the Stepford Nation?

Read the whole thing.

Update 10:51 pm: Here’s a video about the Mark Steyn case:

Check out this New Scientist story: Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab.

Now, this is a cool idea. Maybe it would be a different enough approach to actually get through to those idiots in Congress.

 

 
Read the whole thing.

Update: President Bush has now started to pressure Congress to act now too.

This is one of those humorous emails you sometimes get. I liked this one so much, I’m reprinting it here in its entirety.

Ask Calvin’s Dad

Calvin’s dad answering questions, quoted from various Calvin and Hobbes books by Bill Watterson.

Q. Why does the sun set?
A. It’s because hot air rises. The sun’s hot in the middle of the day, so it rises high in the sky. In the evening then, it cools down and sets.
Q. Why does it go from east to west?
A. Solar wind.

Q. Why does the sky turn red as the sun sets?
A. That’s all the oxygen in the atmosphere catching fire.
Q. Where does the sun go when it sets?
A. The sun sets in the west. In Arizona actually, near Flagstaff. That’s why the rocks there are so red.
Q. Don’t the people get burned up?
A. No, the sun goes out as it sets. That’s why it’s dark at night.
Q. Doesn’t the sun crush the whole state as it lands?
A. Ha ha, of course not. Hold a quarter up. See, the sun’s just about the same size.
Q. I thought I read that the sun was really big.
A. You can’t believe everything you read, I’m afraid.
Q. How come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?
A. Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It’s just that the world was black and white then. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Q. But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?
A. Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Q. But… But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?
A. Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the ’30s.
Q. So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?
A. Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?

Q. Dad, will you explain the theory of relativity to me? I don’t understand why time goes slower at great speed.
A. It’s because you keep changing time zones. See, if you fly to California, you gain three hours on a five-hour flight, right? So if you go at the speed of light, you gain more time, because it doesn’t take as long to get there. Of course, the theory of relativity only works if you’re going west.

Q. Why do my eyes shut when I sneeze?
A. If your lids weren’t closed, the force of the explosion would blow your eyeballs out and stretch the optic nerve, so your eyes would flop around and you’d have to point them with your hands to see anything.

Q. How do bank machines work?
A. Well, let’s say you want 25 dollars. You punch in the amount and behind the machine there’s a guy with a printing press who makes the money and sticks it out this slot.
Q. Sort of like the guy who lives up in our garage and opens the door?
A. Exactly.

Q. What causes the wind?
A. Trees sneezing.

Q. Why does ice float?
A. Because it’s cold. Ice wants to get warm, so it goes to the top of liquids to be nearer to the sun.
Q. Is that true?
A. Look it up and find out.
Q. I should just look up stuff in the first place.

Q. How come you know so much?
A. It’s all in the book you get when you become a father.

Yahoo News is reporting that Utah announced a major dinosaur fossil discovery. This is cool. My local newspaper additionally said that researchers from Rockford, Illinois were in on the discovery.

I had a Flying Dog’s In Heat Wheat Hefeweizen Ale the other night. Like a German hefeweizen, it had a big head. Unlike a German hefeweizen, it didn’t last long. It had a nice, fruity flavor, reddish-amber color, and was quite refreshing. A great summer beer.

Mmmm, yummy!

The takeoff of a Delta II rocket carrying GLAST. Click on the picture for more information.