A new tribute has been opened at Arlington National Cemetary, outside of Washington, D.C.

"Faces of the Fallen," 1,327 individual portraits of the dead produced by 200 artists, opens to the public Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

The images, each 6-by-8 inches, are mounted on plain steel rods that reach to near eye level. Each rod includes a label with the soldier's name, hometown and date of death.

The display does not include every soldier who've given their life to date.

The artists worked mostly from newspaper and Internet photos, and some sent by families of the dead.

One particularly poignant portrait was done by John R. Phelps, a Vietnam veteran chosen to design the World War II memorial in Lander, Wyo. He painted his son, Marine Pfc. Clarence Phelps, who died April 9 from head wounds.

The artists, who donated their time and paid for all the materials, plan to give the portraits to the families when the exhibit is over, Polan said.

The memorial will be on display until September 5th, and admission is free.

Posted by: Ted at 11:39 AM | category: Links
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From Stephen at Hold the Mayo.

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I am.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
The only one I can think of that might apply is Corson, from the series Silverglass. She's a strong, stubborn, cagey sword-for-hire. I'd never be bored around her, and there's more to her than a pretty face and a sharp edge. Here's the cover illustration of her from the cover of the first book of the series: Corson (big graphic image).

The last book you bought is:
Tamales 101.

The last book you read:
I just finished rereading P.J. O'Rourke's Eat the Rich.

What are you currently reading?
Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours, Third Edition

Five books you would take to a deserted island.

Hmmmm... I could read these over and over (and have). I'm shallow... deal.

1. Job: A Comedy of Justice. Heinlein. My all-time favorite book.
2. Starship Troopers. Heinlein. My all-time favorite book that isn't listed above.
3. Team Yankee. Coyle. War fiction. Love it.
4. Any anthology of H.P. Lovecraft. The closest thing to mind-altering drugs without involving actual drugs.
5. The Lord of The Rings. Complex and rich in texture, this is a story you can spend years understanding. Not one of my all-time favorites, but I'm thinking about whiling away many hours with this one.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

Nic, who always has something interesting to say, even when she claims she's being trite.

Rob, who also goes to concerts at King's Dominion, and I don't hear from often enough.

Oorgo, another guy who has interesting opinions, even when we disagree.

Amy, because I have counting issues and her cute toes would've come in handy right about now. Besides, she only does one meme on her blog and I'm a sucker for rejection.

Posted by: Ted at 06:03 AM | category: Links
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1 Crap... sorry... didn't see this, I don't have trackback capability on my blog. It's soon to come, hopefully.

I will have to work out some questions... I'm fumbling the meme-stick!

Posted by: Oorgo at March 23, 2005 11:46 AM (lM0qs)

2 No worries, my friend. If it's not fun, then why do it, eh?

Posted by: Ted at March 23, 2005 12:27 PM (blNMI)

3 That is TRUE, but I've put it up anyways

No, it was fun, and it made me realize how little I actually read offline anymore

Posted by: Oorgo at March 24, 2005 03:03 PM (lM0qs)

4 I've only been to the one concert at KD.

Unless you count the THOUSANDS of times we went to see the Wolf Pack Five.

WP5 ROCKED!

Posted by: Rob@L&R at March 24, 2005 04:23 PM (H2edq)

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A humorous look at President Bush contrasted with Senator Kerry, in pictures.

Thanks to Transterrestrial Musings for pointing it out.

Posted by: Ted at 05:24 AM | category: Links
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What it's all about:

On January 11, 2005, Greg Hammond hosted a comment based fundraiser on his blog, http://www.californiahammonds.com. The fundraiser was in memory of his lovely wife, Cheryl, who lost her battle with breast cancer after more than 5 years of fighting. The proceeds from the fundraiser totaled $2,846 and were donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation's education and screening programs.

The fundraiser worked by spreading the word of the need for donations and asking those who heard about it to please leave a comment on his blog. Sponsors pledged money for certain numbers of comments. For example, Greg himself donated $1 for each of the first 500 comments. A different sponsor donated $1 for each of the first 50. The another donated $1 for the 50 following those. And on and on.

On April 1, 2005, the one year anniversary of Cheryl's death, Greg plans to host another fundraiser. Again, the proceeds will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation's education and screening programs, and the format of comments and sponsors will remain the same.

You can get more information here. Please consider clicking the banner and leaving a comment on April 1st.

Thanks to Tricia for pointing this one out and asking me to help.

Posted by: Ted at 12:32 PM | category: Links
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I dunno Jennifer, apparently I don't have the knack for adding "bitch" to the end of every sentence... bitch.

See? Oh well.

Anyways, I get these emails griping about how the contest "wasn't fair" and "I didn't make it clear" and other crap like that.

I won't kid you and claim that I care. But I do see some possibilities here.

So, here's what we'll do. I won't name names (you know who you are), but I invite Rocket Jones readers to. Leave a guess in the comments about who you think sent me a complaint about the contest and results, and say something snarky about them. This has the potential to be hugely entertaining and I won't be happy unless we see at least three flame-filled linkwars started... bitch.

Hey, maybe I'm getting the hang of this!

Posted by: Ted at 04:14 AM | category: Links
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The Hockey Hall of Fame website is a nifty place to visit. For instance:

One Game Wonders

Brief bios of all the players who managed but a single game in the NHL. Don Cherry, the player, coach and hockey icon is on this list. Way cool.

The Players

A registry of every player who's ever played in the NHL. Built-in searches on Name, Birthplace, Position played, Team, and career milestones like number of goals scored or total games played. I've spent a lot of time here just browsing around.

The Legends

The members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Players, builders, officials, media, each category is comprehensively covered with bios, stats and photos. Searchable too. Did you know that eighteen different clubs from Calgary are represented in the HOF?

Posted by: Ted at 08:54 AM | category: Links
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Since I can't actually tell who the official Rocket Jones 100K visitor was, I've decided that Cindy of Dusting My Brain is the winner.

I had narrowed it down to her and Collins, until Paul made a late charge with his decision to use the word "mofo" more often in conversation. Despite the massive increase in street cred, Paul fell just short. So how did Cindy emerge victorious?

(in the extended entry) more...

Posted by: Ted at 07:44 PM | category: Links
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1 Damn! Foiled again.

Posted by: Paul at March 20, 2005 07:11 AM (/gLH3)

2 Yay for me! I feel SO SPECIAL!!! This is too cool, Ted! Thank you SO MUCH!

Posted by: Cindy at March 20, 2005 09:14 AM (MMDER)

3 You're lack of integrity disgusts me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to return to the bushes outside your daughter's window.

Posted by: Collins at March 20, 2005 01:28 PM (YkSuu)

4 Just as long as it's the daughter who isn't jailbait, Collins.

Posted by: dawn at March 20, 2005 06:59 PM (Dh1V0)

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I always thought that Dread Zeppelin was the oddest rock band out there. I mean, they've got it all. Led Zeppelin tunes done in reggae, and their lead singer is an Elvis impersonator.

Way more cool than "The Charmer", that calypso artist who changed careers and is now better known by his real name: Louis Farrakhan, outspoken head whackjob leader of the Nation of Islam.

But then, along comes Hatebeak. Self described as:

Face-crushing guitars, head-pounding drums, bass so low you'll vacate your bowels, and vocals so scorching, so extreme they simply can't be human! They're not. This death metal outfit with a parrot for a singer trashes the pathetic birdfeeder you call the metal underground!

Yep.

Songs are available for download.

Thanks to John of Texas' Best Grok for the pointer to The Charmer.
Thanks to Johno of the Ministry for pointing out Hatebeak.

Posted by: Ted at 07:18 AM | category: Links
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Disabled con artists and their shyster lawyers are becoming a problem.

Gary Walker was horrified when legal documents arrived at his small restaurant notifying him that he was being sued for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law that requires wheelchair ramps and other features for the disabled.

The feeling turned to anger when Walker found out the man suing him, Shiloh Hobleman, had filed a series of practically carbon-copy lawsuits against more than a dozen small businesses in the area.

"Hobleman is what can only be characterized as a `serial plaintiff,'" Walker's lawyer said in court papers. "Except for the named defendants, each of the ADA complaints is virtually, if not exactly, identical to the instant suit — right down to the typographical and grammatical errors."

My wife Liz was in a wheelchair for several years. Here's an old post about that, and what I said about it:

We also got to be quite the crusaders for handicapped access. Our local Lions club replaced itÂ’s front doors because they were a designated voting station, but wheelchairs couldnÂ’t fit through them because of the center jamb. Two stores modified their register layouts because Liz raised enough hell (up to the county level) about wheelchair access and, more importantly, fire safety. I once got into it with the manager of a computer store (major chain) because they had the aisles packed with stacks of extra inventory, and I was kicking them over one by one as we shopped to make room for the wheelchair. He wanted to call the cops, but hesitated when I wanted that too. The county supervisor got involved and I assume theyÂ’ve changed their ways, but weÂ’ve never gone back. I refuse to give my money to assholes.

YouÂ’d be surprised how many times someone pulls up in front of a store and blocks the wheelchair ramp. If they have the grace to apologize when they come running out and see us waiting, weÂ’d figure they learned the lesson and be more aware next time. If they didnÂ’t care, IÂ’d scrape the chair along their car getting around it. Call the cops asshole, and make sure you mention how you were threatening a lady in a wheelchair.

So I've seen what kinds of problems the ADA is supposed to solve, and I've seen the difficulties caused for the disabled when those laws are ignored. At the same time, we never even considered suing.

I hope they can come up with some way to limit these nitwits who make a career out of filing ADA lawsuits (I especially like the judge's decision to not award costs to the one plaintiff). However they manage it, it'll have to be fair, and that's going to take someone with the wisdom of Solomon. And a thick damn skin, because you know the nanny-state believers will be crawling out from under every rock to whine about disabled rights.

Posted by: Ted at 06:02 AM | category: Links
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Would you survive a zombie emergency?

Official Survivor
Congratulations! You scored 64%!

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

According to the results, I scored higher than 99% of males my age.

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid

I'm assuming I rate slightly above 'spare' with the guys at the Ministry?

Posted by: Ted at 12:06 PM | category: Links
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From the Jawa Report:

Achmed: We demand 1 million lira for Sgrena's release! (pinky to mouth)

Sgrena: Er, 1 million lira is like $700 U.S. dollars.

Achmed: Oh? Really.....

Sgrena: Yeah........

Achmed: Ok....We demand 1 billion lira! (pinky finger to mouth)

Sgrena:....

Achmed: What? Too much??.....

Sgrena: Well.....er.....better. That's like $700,000 U.S.

Achmed:.....

Sgrena:......

Achmed:.......So?

Sgrena: Wouldn't you be able to fund more Iraqi 'Minutemen' to kill the Zionist-Crusader forces with like a trillion lira......???

Achmed:.......

Sgrena:...............

Achmed:You know we invented the zero, don't you?

You owe me a keyboard.

Posted by: Ted at 06:09 AM | category: Links
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Now this is interesting. Check out this recipe that wasn't sent in to the Carnival. I'm having a hard time believing that a cat wrote that post because, frankly, I don't think a cat would care enough about anyone else to bother. But then, I'm a dog person.

Posted by: Ted at 04:56 AM | category: Links
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1 Sounds like a kitty who is trying to kill its humans. Why DO cats want us to die? Mine trip me all the time. Don't they realize that they will not get food of their own when I am gone?

Posted by: dawn at March 14, 2005 12:56 PM (bNYuK)

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Russ alerted me to this a few days ago, but I couldn't find a link until now.

Danny Joe Brown passed away.

Danny Joe Brown, a founding member of Southern rockers Molly Hatchet, and singer and co-writer of the band's biggest hits from the late '70s, died on Thursday at his home in Davie of complications from pneumonia. He was 53.

Brown had been a diabetic and had problems with his health for years.

Posted by: Ted at 07:56 PM | category: Links
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The Milwaukee Admirals edged my Cleveland Barons over the weekend. In accordance with the prophesy By the rules, I hereby display the victorious Admirals logo here

and provide links to Brian J and Frinklin, who doubled up for Beer City.

Posted by: Ted at 04:42 PM | category: Links
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Eric of Off Wing Opinion asks:

Has Miracle knocked Slapshot out of the top spot for the greatest hockey movie of all time?

The comments are interesting and amusing, and personally, while I liked Miracle a lot, it doesn't top Slapshot.

Posted by: Ted at 03:59 PM | category: Links
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Most everyone has heard of the SETI@home project, where you can download a screensaver that uses your PC's downtime to process data collected by the big radio telescopes pointed "out there" looking for life.

There is a similar effort to utilize PC's as a massively distributed platform to study protein folding.

What are proteins and why do they "fold"? Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out their biochemical function, they remarkably assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, remains a mystery. Moreover, perhaps not surprisingly, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), there can be serious effects, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease.

Check out details here, and Rich has more links and information at his place.

Posted by: Ted at 10:04 AM | category: SciTech
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The ladies have Valentine's Day, and are showered with roses and chocolate (you did shower someone sweet, right?). Well, a gentleman has come up with a brilliant equivalent for us guys. March 14th shall henceforth and forevermore be:

Steak and BJ Day

No cards, no flowers, no special nights on the town; the name of the holiday explains it all, just a steak and a BJ. Thats it. Finally, this twin pair of Valentine's Day and Steak and Blowjob Day will usher in a new age of love as men everywhere try THAT much harder in February to ensure a memorable March 14th!

I'd say that I think this is a fine idea, but being a guy, that would be redundant.

Thanks to the guys at The Ministry of Minor Perfidy for pointing this one out, and who've redecorated and returned refreshed and kicking butt. Mmmmm, Caribou steak....

Posted by: Ted at 08:31 PM | category: Links
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I've talked about Infocom games before (Zork is an example). Now, thanks to Alan Brain, you can recall the good ol' days, or find out what you were missing.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (online versions).

Posted by: Ted at 05:02 AM | category: Links
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Cindy, aka Squipper, of Dusting My Brain fame (who is also a podcasting pioneer I might add), is rooting for the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Jamboree this season. Her Bulldogs edged the Barons in this weekend's game and so I'm posting her team logo here.

Nice doggie.

Posted by: Ted at 04:50 AM | category: Links
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Courtesy of Dustbury, 1,159 words the NFL won't put on your authentic football jersey.

Posted by: Ted at 07:10 AM | category: Links
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