The Beautiful People

It is common knowledge that television is generally horrible for our self-esteem. You hardly ever see a 'normal' everyday person, it is always the 'perfect' person. One giant marketing boob-tube and we are all the lemmings. It suckers us into the latest fashions, hair care products, make-up, etc, making us think that if we buy it, be happy. When that fails to work, the pharmaceutical companies jump in with their ads for the latest drug to solve all our problems _{(may cause diarrhea)}.

I have been simmering over this for years, but finally last night something Carrie pointed out something to me that put me over the edge. During a lull in a football game the camera panned the crowd and focused in on a dude so good looking, he makes Brad Pitt look like Gary Busey.

Sickening. Young boys growing up will never be able to match this guys rugged good looks. The guy just stands there stoically with his arms crossed in his trendy away jersey. I'll bet he was a plant by the NFL to try and sell more jerseys for a team that is down on their luck.

Sadly people will spend millions to look as good as this guy, but will never be successful. They will most likely end up depressed.

Again, it makes me sick.

I took a few screenshots to show you just how blatant this is...


They start with an inconspicuous wide shot and then zoom in on the fella. Look for him in the white jersey with his arms crossed and a look of steely nonchalance that is oh-so-hip...


See what I mean? Nobody can possibly look as good as this guy. It isn't even worth trying.

BTW, I bet you didn't know that Santa Claus was a Hawks fan. Probably his last 'me-time' getaway until after the busy season.

Meh

I'd like to think that I had a part in this...

Meh chosen for 30th anniversary of Collins English Dictionary

Some of my loyal readers (reader) will remember that 'meh' was my word of the day for March 2, 2008.

Yep, Mike D is still a trend setter...

Check This Out

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Check this video that I came across during my daily visit with Google Reader. Very creative, weird, cool, creepy and fascinating at the same time.

I think being creative is to the brain as doing sit-ups is to the abdomen. My brain BTW, is in much better shape than my abdomen (gut). Seeing stuff like this gives me ideas, most that probably won't be used, but just the thoughts are good exercise.

I need to get out shooting pictures....

(h/t f/1.0)

Lewis Hamilton Wins World Championship

Fantastic! Probably one of the most exciting races that I have witness. The world championship literally came down to the last corner.

Phew!

So close that at the finish, both Ferrari (Massa) and McLaren-Mercedes (Hamilton) were celebrating at the same time....

With less than five laps to go, Massa was leading, and Lewis was comfortably in fourth (he needed to finish fifth or better to clinch). A hard charging Vettel was behind him, but there was no reason to fight and chance a spin, because fifth would still get the WC and Kovalainen, his teammate was in sixth. There is no way that Kovi would pass him.

Then it rained.

Oh boy, this could be bad for all players. Luckily for Massa it didn't seem to rain too hard, he was able to circle around and trade his drys for wets without relinquishing the lead. Hamilton was not so lucky. Because the rain was light Timo Glock in the Toyota chanced it and stayed out on dry tires, Leap-frogging quite a few places while everyone (including Lewis) pitted for wets.

No problem yet.

Lewis exited the pits in fifth place with Vettel right on his tail. The WC was still his on the track. Then, out of nowhere Robert Kubica in his BMW caught up to the two drivers like he had an extra gear. I would guess that as rain was threatened all weekend BMW took a chance and set their cars up for it. He blew by Vettel and when he took Lewis, he forced him wide, leaving Vettel the opportunity to get by as well... With two laps to go!!! Hamilton, now in sixth, was going to lose the WC to Massa. I couldn't believe it, how could this happen to him two years in a row. Lewis was making no progress with Vettel, in fact, Vettel was pulling away...

Until the last corner.

As they came to the last corner, in traffic, was the red and white Toyota of Glock, floundering with his dry tires on. His tires had cooled with the water on the track and he just couldn't put the power down. Lewis blew by him to regain fifth and become world champion! Amazing!

I don't think that I have ever been so excited! You couldn't have scripted a better finish. Formula 1 is my favorite sport, but I may have to stop watching if the seasons keep ending like this... My heart just can't take it!



I get a kick of all the haters of Lewis. The dumbest thing I hear is, "He doesn't deserve it". Why not? He scored more points. Simple as that. We can debate if Massa is a better driver (cough, Silverstone, cough), 'til be are blue in the face. Lewis scored more points (even with the gift of five to Massa at Spa...). The people thinking Kubica deserves it more are nuts. To win the WC, you need to be a fantastic driver, AND have a great car. Kubica is a great driver, but at the end of the year, his car just wasn't there.

Then we get the people that thin Timo sandbagged to let Lewis by. Please. If Timo or Toyota was going to do that, they would have pitted at the same time as every other team did. Timo would've had to do the final lap five seconds faster than his more than capable teammate, in an identical car, with the same tires, in the same conditions, with the same fuel load. No, Vettel and Hamilton blew by him simply because the track was wet, they had wet tires, and Timo was on drys.

Toro Rosso and Sebastian Vettel would be my vote for most impressive at the end of the year. They were right there with the rest of the not-Ferrari-or-McLaren teams. I think that Vettel is going to be one of the greats when he is done.

Next year cannot come fast enough... The new aero, taking away a bunch of downforce and the new kinetic energy recovery system should make things really interesting. Will Honda get back in the hunt? Will Renault continue to improve? BMW? ...I don't know how I wil make it until March!!!

Bothering Me...

Hey all! It's been a bit... I've been working some pretty long days at work lately and have been too exhausted to type anything up. I'm pretty stoked to get to sleep in on a Saturday tomorrow.

Something has been bothering me.

You hear it all the time, people complaining about how much money gets spent on this or that. Whether we are talking about Bill Gates's home office, someones private jet, or even an aircraft carrier. You always get someone saying things like, "Why do they need that, they should give it to charity/kids/education".

It drive me up the wall. Do they think the money is just burned?

Here is an example.

My office is next door to a company that builds upscale luxurious yachts. We're talking tens or hundreds of millions to purchase one. Do you know where that money goes? It goes to people like you and me. These things don't build themselves. Countless people are employed to make a boat like that. You got engineers, drafters, carpenters, welders, material handlers, truck drivers, crane operators, janitors, managers, painters, plumbers, electricians, etc. And that is just where they assemble the thing. Their suppliers for furniture, windows, engines, and electronics all employ a bunch of people, just like their suppliers. On down the line we go.

Same thing goes with military spending. Stop spending any money on aircraft carriers, airplanes, tanks, bombs, and you have a hell of a lot of unemployed people.

Things don't cost a lot of money just because. I'd be curious to how many man-hours go into the building of a Ferrari compared to a Chevy. I'm talking from the ground up. The guy raising the cattle for the leather seats, the person mining the minerals to make the metal, the people that sweep the floor, the people in HR, everything. Yes, the Ferrari costs 10 times as much as the Chevy, but it also feeds many more people per car.

Basically people need to open their minds and stop looking at just the shell. See the whole egg.

The G1 is here

After some worry that my order didn't go through because the tracking never showed up, my G1 was dropped off by Mr. UPS on my front porch.



Woot!!!

I'm off to play with it some more... Detailed report to follow...

Still Sailing

Here we are almost a week since my last post and I am still sailing in the Volvo Ocean Race Game.



True to my word, I have stayed the course and not bought any options. The boat doesn't change course unless I grab the wheel and do it myself. First thing in the morning, a little before five (I work early) I get up, set up the coffee maker, and check my progress. I'll tweak my course and re-set my sail if it has become worn, checking what the future wind may be. Off I go to the office.

I ignore it all day and check it first thing when I get home. This is when I set my strategy for the next 24 hours. I scour the GRIB files, looking for a path with some good wind. Pretty much, I end up just guessing. I'll check back a few time through the evening and tweak, ending with a final course setting that should get me through the night without hitting land.

It is definitely not an adrenaline rush, but there is a lot of satisfaction seeing the long term progress.

From a start around 16061st place my boat has steadily moved up to 12288th. Still 4400 miles to go. The end of the race won't find me in the winners circle, but my results are encouraging. I'm pretty confidant that I'll do just fine when I get to start with everyone else.