I haven't heard a whole lot so far, but I'm really beginning to like the music of Lisa Loeb.

Posted by: Ted at 11:27 AM | category: Links
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 23 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I liked that "Stay" song of hers, but...Well, that's where the fascination ended.

Posted by: Derek at May 18, 2005 04:13 PM (wEVXE)

2 I thought she was pretty hot on Saturday Night Live.Haven't heard too much of her stuff beyond that though.BTW,the dude in the pic named Dweezil is Frank Zappa's son.He does the voice of Ajax on the show Duckman.

Posted by: Russ at May 18, 2005 04:20 PM (ObxzR)

3 Lisa Loeb?!

She was a cutie ten years ago.

I know nothing of her music. But, jus' judging by her choice of eye-glasses, she's one politely ornary chick.

My kinda gal!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 18, 2005 11:27 PM (gStd8)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

And Gir provided not one, but two!

Posted by: Ted at 11:17 AM | category: Links
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 19 words, total size 1 kb.

My "official" email address has changed over on the sidebar. The hotmail account has been gradually overrun by spam, so I'm making the switch to Gmail. You'll still be able to reach me at the old account, but be aware that my response might be delayed because I'm not checking it as often as I used to.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 59 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Wondered what was up with that... I emailed stating I'd borrowed your google bomb and even did a post about it, and never heard back if you minded... I don't like doing things w/o asking permission first. :-P

Posted by: John at May 18, 2005 08:40 AM (GuDvW)

2 I don't mind at all, just hadn't had a chance to let you know. Saw the post and your email this morning, but had to run and can't access the hotmail account from work, so I was going to respond tonight.

That's me, a day late and a dollar short.

Posted by: Ted at May 18, 2005 09:12 AM (blNMI)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

There's been quite a bit happening around the ol' household the last couple of weeks.

First up, my son is looking for his own place. He's been living at home for almost a year now after doing his hitch in the Navy, and I've decided that it's time for him to get out there and tackle the world on his own.

Yep, I threw him out.

He's looking at places to live nearer his work (he's got a pretty good job, but the commute from our house is a real bitch), and the plan is for him to be out by the end of the month. Call it tough love, but sometimes if you don't kick 'em out of the nest they never learn to fly.

Secondly, and even more exciting, is related to that odd little post about googling 36CC and 36HH. Our health insurance has approved a breast reduction for our oldest daughter, Robyn. She is, ah, over-endowed* shall we say, and has suffered from chronic back pain since the age of 14. Thanks to the foresight of our wonderful family doctor, it's been documented the entire time. Robyn is just shy of 21 years old now, and my health plan has agreed that physical therapy and other non-surgical methods have been ineffective, and that in the long run a reduction would be best for her health. I can blog this because she said it was ok, plus she's already called all her friends** and relatives to let them know. Yep, we're all excited and happy for her.

So my household shall soon be rid of three big boobs.

Oh look, I made a funny.

*At 36HH, she left Barbie in the dust long ago.

**So far my favorite reactions*** have come from some of her male friends, who suggest that she should wait awhile before going through with it, because "you might like them that big when you get older". That, my friends, is looking out for your fellow man.

***My second favorite reaction comes from some of her female friends, who freak out when they find out that dad is taking her to the hospital because mom can't get the day off of work.

Posted by: Ted at 12:08 PM | category: Seriously
Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 372 words, total size 2 kb.

When putting together your color pallete, don't forget that about 1 in 12 people who visit your site will be color blind.

Here's a good page with ideas on how to incorporate color blind awareness into your design.

Posted by: Ted at 11:59 AM | category: Links
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 44 words, total size 1 kb.

One of my little foibles is that I hate to mispronounce someone's name. I won't remember it (I'm terrible with faces and names), but I'll absolutely work on the pronounciation until I get it right before forgetting it.

A couple of blogging friends have names that I'm sure I butcher, even if only in my mind.

Boudicca - I pronounce it "bow (like the front of a ship) dee-cha", and the emphasis goes on either of the first two sylables interchangably, for no good reason.

Prochein Amy - In my mind, I say "pro-cheen", rhymes with protein. Dunno if that's right or not.

There are others too, but mostly I can suss 'em out if I don't know right off how to say it. So there ya go, I fret over mispronouncing names. Weird, eh?

Posted by: Ted at 06:03 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 139 words, total size 1 kb.

1 These are my guesses:
Boudicca - Bodiqua.
Prochein - Pro-sheen. Like Indochine, or Prairie du chien.

?

Posted by: shank at May 17, 2005 10:56 AM (+H1yK)

2 pronouncing names correctly is a good way to avoid embarassment and I'm a big proponent of that. I worked as a P.A. announcer for a pro hockey team for a while, a lot of odd names on every roster. It's usually the ones that look tame that really get ya. There's nothing worse than mispronouncing a player's name when they're sitting 4 feet from you in the penalty box. Rest assured that they will correct you in a heartbeat.

Posted by: Derek at May 17, 2005 11:05 AM (wEVXE)

3 Boudicca: "Boo-DEEK-ka"
Prochein: "Pro-Chay'n" (the ' is there because it's not quite three syllables. Run it together quickly, like if you were drunk...)

And if you're ever curious, it's "Den-EE-ta" ;-)

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at May 17, 2005 01:18 PM (nwO5C)

4 Denita, I never doubted about how to pronounce your name. I can say that now without feeling stoopid because I was already saying it correctly.

Posted by: Ted at May 17, 2005 06:14 PM (+OVgL)

5 Opps, I was even saying Prochein wrong!!!! LOL!!! www.dictionary.com was not much help!

Posted by: Amy at May 18, 2005 07:28 PM (tPzR0)

6 Ted--COOL! It's surprisingly rare for someone to get it right on the first try, despite what seems to be rather cut-and-dry phonetics. Three years later I still have neighbors that pronounce my name "Den-EYE-ta" or "Dih-NET-ta". For many years I had a kindly old lady who lived down the street from my childhood home, who insisted on calling me "DON-ee-ta".

To say the least of the myriad derisive derivatives... Just be glad "Ted" isn't hard to fob up or turn into a nasty insult... ;-)

As for the others, did anyone find out how they're actually pronounced?

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at May 19, 2005 12:31 AM (aLqE1)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

The headline reads "At Least 24 Iraqis Killed; 50 Bodies Found".

Uh, yeah. In my school 50 was more than 24.

Posted by: Ted at 05:52 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 31 words, total size 1 kb.

1 maybe they all weren't iraqis.

Where do you bury the survivors?

Posted by: shank at May 17, 2005 10:57 AM (+H1yK)

2 I didn't think of that, although I'd suppose the survivors would bitch if they tried to bury them.

Posted by: Ted at May 17, 2005 06:16 PM (+OVgL)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Who remembers Peaches and Herb? Here's a little bit of Shake Your Groove Thing:

Let's show the world we can dance

Bad enough to strut our stuff

The music gives us a chance

We do more out on the floor

Groovin' loose or heart to heart
We put in motion every single part
Funky sounds wall to wall
We're bumpin' booties, havin' us a ball, y'all

Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah
Show 'em how we do it now
Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah
Show 'em how we do it now

I'd pay money to hear William Shatner sing that live.

Posted by: Ted at 11:32 AM | category: Waxing Lyrical
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 132 words, total size 1 kb.

This is the final prep week. Starting Friday evening, Mookie and I will be immersed in students and rockets. It looks like over 500 students and teachers will descend on our little corner of Virginia to launch raw eggs and see if their designs are successful enough to snag a share of the scholarship money. Most importantly though, these teams are the finalists, each scored well enough in the qualification round to place in the top 100 of over 750 entered teams.

The goal is difficult, and just getting a successful flight was a huge challenge. These kids are flying amazingly complex rockets, and making it look routine, that experienced rocketeers seldom attempted just a few years ago.

Speaking from experience, whoever said that you learn more from failures than successes, knew what they were talking about. Every team that attempted the challenge this year learned a lot about technology and various sciences, even if they never got their designs to work correctly. This year.

From the final status update:

This year we will have more media coverage, much more NASA/industry participation, and more elaborate site facilities than in previous years. Neither Senator Enzi [Wyoming - RJ] nor Homer Hickam can make it, but we are optimistic about the new NASA Administrator making it. The Marines are sending a flyover of helos from the Presidential helo squadron as part of the opening ceremony. We have a great HPR demo lined up for the end of the day, and Steve Humphrey and Paul Rodgers have built a full-size replica of Goddard's original rocket to fly as an afternoon demonstration flight as well. Goddard was a physicist, and our event co-sponsor this year is the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Kids and rockets, you can't go wrong with a combination like that. I'm gettin' excited!

Posted by: Ted at 11:21 AM | category: Rocketry
Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 310 words, total size 2 kb.

It wasn't.

I remember looking at my watch and seeing it was nearing 9pm when we dashed for our cars through the rain. At this point, we'd been standing around under cover for at least a half hour.

The game resumed at 9:40pm after the storms rolled on out.

So those tickets we all bought aren't any good. I'm mildly annoyed at the length of the delay, because by then most everybody had to have left the stadium. Then again, I realize that minor league teams probably have a razor thin profit margin and will do most anything to avoid rainouts. Oh well, at least we got to see a good inning and a half of baseball.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 127 words, total size 1 kb.

Last year on May 11th, I posted this picture, showing a small flower bed in my front yard and describing what I was hoping would happen.

Here's the same bed this year, taken this morning (in the extended entry). You don't need a lot of space for a spectacular flower bed, especially if you go vertical with it. more...

Posted by: Ted at 01:52 PM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 64 words, total size 1 kb.

Sometimes when you get together with friends it doesn't matter what's going on, nothing is going to spoil a good time. Raging flood? Lash the cooler to a tree so the beer doesn't wash away. Alien invasion? Lash the cooler to a tree so the beer doesn't get captured. You get the idea.

Last night's get-together was just such an evening for me. Mookie, oldest-daughter Robyn and I arrived at the stadium to find Dawn already there. A few minutes later near simultaneous calls from Victor and Buckethead came in, letting us know that they were stuck in traffic but on the way.

We managed to get a block of seats, and when the game started an actual baseball game was just background to the great conversations going on all around. Altogether, it was Victor and Nic, Buckethead and his lovely wife and son (who was seeing his first ballgame), Dawn, Mookie, Robyn and myself.

The sky had been threatening for quite awhile, and the first wave of thunderstorms had missed us, but the second wave rolled in during the second inning. The groundscrew unrolled the tarps and everyone in the stands headed under cover while the lightning put on quite a show.

I have no idea how long we spent together, packed in with the rest of the crowd under the grandstands, waiting out the rain. It didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon, so we headed over to a restaurant for more great conversation over drinks, chips and guacamole.

Nic easily told the funniest story of the night, about recognizing people in old photographs. I'm still chuckling over that one. I'll add links to the others blogs if they give their version of events, because I very much skimmed over lots of what went on.

Damn people, lets do this again real soon. Saturday, June 25th is already marked on my calendar for another game.

Dawn tells her version here, it involves emperiled children, road rage, and a seriously screwed up back bumper.

Nic and Victor decided to get most of their adventures out of the way early in the evening.

I gotta tell you, Victor's is *much* bigger than mine. In fact, I'm a girly-man in comparison to the tool that Victor totes around.

Also, I'd like to thank Buckethead publicly for his foresight and wisdom. While buying souvenirs (jeez that word looks wrong, but the spell checker ok'd it), he picked up a miniature bat for his son, but thought of the potential for damage and put it back down. Instead they bought him a set of those inflatable thunder sticks. Later, his son whacked me right in the strike zone with it. Recap: thunder stick = hilarity; baseball bat = I might still be in the fetal position.

Posted by: Ted at 08:34 AM | category: Links
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 480 words, total size 3 kb.

We'll be at the stadium in front of (or near) the ticket windows between 5:30 and 6:00. I've emailed our cell phone number to those who expressed interest, so if you haven't heard from me, let me know in the comments.

Background and details here.

I'm looking forward to meeting y'all.

Posted by: Ted at 09:04 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 57 words, total size 1 kb.

What is an "Urkel Moment?"

Any time you suddenly stop and say "did I do that?" Named after the character Steve Urkel, who made a (brief) career out of doing just that in the the television sitcom Family Matters. You know, the one where the youngest TV daughter grew up to do porn movies.*

Did I do that?

I'd make bets that you've mentally asked yourself that after breaking up with someone. Any incriminating photos in your past (Dr. Laura - nsfw)?

"I'm not saying I'm gay or anything, but I would so do David Hasselhoff." from the Urban Dictionary

One night while stationed in Alabama my wife and I and another couple went to a drive-in theater we'd heard about that showed porn movies. I don't remember a thing about the movies we saw except for one item. One of the male stars was none other than David Hasselhoff. This was pre-Knight Rider days and long before Baywatch. But he was still a star, appearing as a regular and important character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. His character name? Snapper. I shit you not.

I wonder what he got paid for doing that porn movie? Definitely an Urkel moment.

Did you know that Harlan (Colonel) Sanders used to offer free fried chicken to movie crews if they'd give him walk-on bit parts? It's true, and there are several very forgettable movies in which he makes an appearance. Something I didn't realize was that the man was 6'5" tall, so he often literally stood head and shoulders above the other characters in a scene.

Probably best known as the upper and lower left corners of the original Hollywood Squares game shows, Wally Cox and Charlie Weaver each fell into doing parts in crap movies after their careers faded. Cox in particular did some really odd and disturbing work making use of his milquetoast personna.

Neil Sedaka's Urkel Moment is undoubtedly an uncredited appearance (probably the wisest thing he ever did, the uncredited part that is) in a 70's movie called Chatterbox. Here's the plot synopsis:

A young woman who works in a beauty parlor discovers that her vagina can talk, which causes her no end of trouble.

Who says Hollywood has gone to hell lately?

Titled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, you know this one is on my "track down and see someday" list.

* The youngest daughter on Family Matters was named Jaimee Foxworth, so if you believe at all in karma, then that name doomed her to porn right from the start. Her porn star name was Crave and she starred in flicks such as "Booty Talk #20". She's since "found God" and is trying to get back into mainstream acting. And no, I've never seen any of her movies, but Google is my friend.

Posted by: Ted at 08:58 AM | category: Cult Flicks
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 481 words, total size 3 kb.

main-frame ('mAn-frAm noun): An obsolete device still used by thousands of obsolete companies and government entities, serving billions of obsolete customers and obsolete constituents, making huge obsolete profits for obsolete shareholders, and this year's obsolete models run twice as fast as last year's.

Posted by: Ted at 06:30 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 59 words, total size 1 kb.

If you type "36DD" into Google, you'll get page after page of porn sites.

If you type "36HH" into Google, you'll get page after page of online bra stores.

Posted by: Ted at 08:21 PM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 45 words, total size 1 kb.

This week it's hosted by fellow-Munuvian Boudicca, who is automatically tres chic because she and I share the same birthday.*

So go visit, I've already noted several new dishes that go straight into my "to try" recipe binder.

*Better than some cheap parlor trick, that it happened is a statistical certainty! Look it up! Now. You're on the freakin' internet, get your lazy butt over to Google and look. It. Up. And if you ask me how to spell "statistical" I'll answer

"d...i...c...t...i...o...n...a...r...y".

Kids these days. Sheesh.

Posted by: Ted at 12:02 PM | category: Links
Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 99 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I realized we had the same birthday when I first started reading you.

I think if you go back 9 months you'll find we're definitely holiday party babies!

Posted by: Boudicca at May 13, 2005 09:17 PM (z7nbM)

2 Well, a near certainty.

Give us a few more months and it will be a certainty!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 14, 2005 06:30 AM (+S1Ft)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list has reportedly been leaked, and there are some surprises.

Fort Belvoir, Virginia is on the list.

Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota is on the list.

Redstone Arsenal, Alabama is on the list.

Belvoir is local to where I live, and I spent five winters in Grand Forks (you can read the stories here). Redstone is steeped in history in regards to American space programs.

Like I said, if the leaked list is accurate... ouch.

UPDATE: The list as originally linked to above is not very accurate. For instance, Redstone Arsenal is indeed on the final list, but not for closure. It will actually be growing as personnel from other organizations are transferred there.

Likewise, Grand Forks is not closing, but will lose over 2,600 personnel in realignment.

My third example, Fort Belvoir will actually gain 11,000+ people.

Exit polls and leaked reports, you just can't trust 'em. Here's the official list (.pdf format).

Thanks to Wizbang for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 06:12 AM | category: Military
Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 178 words, total size 1 kb.

Official results later, after we locate some missing absentee ballots.

Also, I'd like to officially announce that there was almost zero participation by minorities in the voting process, but it was due to the fact that my street cred is right up there alongside Pat Boone, not that we disenfranchised an entire class of people for nefarious purposes.

In the meantime, enjoy the apparent winner, subject to change by recount or lawsuit.

Posted by: Ted at 06:03 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 78 words, total size 1 kb.

I don't know and I don't care.

Posted by: Ted at 04:42 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 19 words, total size 1 kb.