The ObamaNator’s Minister of Energy is advocating painting stuff white to reduce “global warming.” The article points out that
Pale surfaces reflect up to 80 per cent of the sunlight that falls on them, compared with about 20 per cent for dark ones, which is why roofs and walls in hot countries are often whitewashed.
All makes sense to me. As we degenerate into a third-world backwater, we may as well look the part.
-k-
Bitterness To Be Classified As a Mental Illness
Some psychiatrists are trying to get excessive bitterness identified as a mental illness named post-traumatic embitterment disorder.
Santa didn’t bring me that cowboy suit when I was seven; it’s scarred me for life, I tell ya’. Will ObamaCare cover my situation?
-k-
Prison Break, one of the finest broadcast teevee shows to ever grace a screen, had its series finale episode Friday night.
I’ll not do any buzzkill recaps, in case it’s still on your DVR, but the finale was awesome. After four seasons of nail-biting, sitting on the edge of the chair drama, the finale wrapped it all up and put a bow on it. No speculation, no letdown; it’s over. Done. Fini. I’ll say only that this is the only episode in which MLB dabbed her eyes with a Kleenex. I have to admit I blinked pretty fast, and didn’t talk much, to avoid choking up.
Four seasons; a good run of an exciting show. Wrapped up right. Our weekly teevee fare won’t be the same without it, but in the same way that a good 8 ounce steak is more satisfying than a whole pound of greasy hamburger, we’re happy.
I ordered the DVD of season 4 from Amazon; we already had the rest of them. This is a series we’ll revisit later.
-k-
calibre 0.5.12 is available and installed on my Toshiba laptop.
I’m close to having a race ready Fedora RPM built. Given calibre’s update frequency, maybe I ought to finish the packaging.
When that happens, look for a Downloads tab appearing on a weblog near you.
-k-
Watching Bump Day from Indianapolis, I’m pondering how long it’s been since there has been no rain during Indy qualifications. Seems like a long time to me, but then I lose track of such things.
Bump Day is always a drama-packed event, as underfunded teams, teams struggling to get a break, scramble to find an extra bit of speed. Making the Indy 500 field is an achievement; I’d give retirement a shot if I had even the last-place money from that race.
So, I’m on the bridge in the tbbs WorldHQ control room, watching all the exciting action, and warming up the pipes for a rousing rendition of Back Home Again in Indiana one week from now.
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I liked the header graphic that has graced this old blog for a couple of months now. The average lifetime of a header around here has been in the 2-3 month range, so it’s time for new header livery.
The current header is a picture of the flag towers atop Fraser Hall, on the University of Kansas campus, and comes from Matt Kappenman, an occasional commenter around here.
Fraser Hall is the building that’s plainly visible for miles, as you approach Lawrence from the west on the Kansas Turnpike. A beautiful sight from the interstate, and a beautiful building up close.
Thanks, Matt, and I trust my ham-fisted Gimp skills didn’t unduly detract from your magnificent photograph. Those are the implicit risks in the Creative Commons Free to adapt clause.
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Amazon was less than understanding about my request for source code for their MP3 downloader. They were prompt and courteous in their response; that alone is rare. They don’t release source, and gosh, why don’t I use a Fedora release on which the downloader has been tested? Well, first, because it’s Fedora 9, two releases ago.
I was tempted to engage in an e-mail exchange with them, in which I’d point out that:
I still think Amazon should open source the downloader. But, to do business with them on Fedora 11, do the following; these instructions are for 32 bit systems; they should be easily modifiable to work on 64 bit installations:
I’ve downloaded one MP3 from Amazon since doing this, as a test run1. The MP3 was placed in ~/Music/artist/album_name/track_name. So, in my test case, the MP3 wound up in:
/home/knelson/Music/Amazon MP3/Country Joe And The Fish/Together/10 – Cetacean.mp3
And, it plays. I use Songbird, which gladly imports tracks from the aforementioned directory.
It would be trivial to hack up Amazon’s RPM, and include the libraries; or alternatively, to gin up another RPM which contains these libs. I’ll leave that for another day.
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1
Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Moms who drop by here. I’d love to be able to call my mother; MLB called hers before I got up this morning. MLB was a little subdued; her mother’s mental condition is deteriorating constantly and more and more visibly.
I’m not sure I could handle such a situation; MLB and I have talked about that at length. My mother has been with the Lord for nearly 10 years; MLB’s, while still physically here, is really not the person we’ve loved over the years. Lights on, nobody home. Still, we can’t just abandon her; that wouldn’t be right, and it’s the furthest thing from our minds. I’m amazed at MLB and her sister in Arkansas, as they do a great job in seeing to their mother’s care. I’m supportive, but at the same time thankful that I don’t have to provide such services for my Mom.
So, if you haven’t called your Mother today, pick up that phone.
Scott has already posted some great Mother’s Day tunage; I’ll add one of my faves. There’s more truth than fiction in this little ditty, at least in my experience.
-k-
While I typed into this old waste of bandwidth blog yesterday afternoon, the Indy 500 Pole Day Qualifying was run, and I missed it. I was somewhat bummed about that, but I enjoy all the Indy drama, so I thought I’d ass up and watch some of the second day qualifying. The 500′s website said it would be on ESPN2; no soap. Nor ESPN, nor ABC. I just thought that the Indy 500 had finally fallen from grace with the teevee networks.
Then, a scan around the DirecTV guide showed Indy qualifying on some channel called VS, DirecTV channel 603. Never heard of VS; had no idea we even got it. I’m watching it now. Hmm, Uncle Google reveals that VS is the network formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network.
OK, then.
-k-
If you tune in to FOX for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race tonight, they will tell you that this is the Southern 500. And so the race is named.
In the spirit of being true to NASCAR roots, if not a little Shiner fueled you kids get off my lawn rant, I’ll say that the Southern 500 is an historic jewel in NASCAR racing’s Triple Crown of not-too-many-years ago. The Winston Million1 paid a million dollars to whoever could win 3 of 4 of the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 6002, the Winston 5003, and the Southern 5004. The Southern 500 was run on Labor Day weekend, in Darlington SC. In the heat. In the humidity. On a track born out of a desire to provide a speedway where it was all about the driver, his skill and daring. As times rolled on, Darlington, an aging venue in the hard scrabble sand country of South Carolina, where racing is second only to family, community, and faith, fell from favor with NASCAR. Historic Darlington, where fans turned out through good times and bad, and were treated to racing spectacles unequalled virtually anywhere, was all of a sudden not Hollywood trendy enough to compete in NASCAR’s never-ending quest to ring the cash register more frequently, and with more green in the till. I’ve never understood teevee marketing; they always say the “Darlington market” was too small, too homogeneous, too whatever. I’ve watched races from Darlington on teevee in Norton KS, Urbandale IA, Simi Valley CA, Glen Rock PA, and Reston VA. Never once did the “Darlington market” cross my mind. I saw exciting racing, on a track made for racing. This track could have been in BFE for all I cared; it was exciting.
Formerly hosting two races per season, Darlington was cut to one race several years back. And it’s a night race. On Mother’s Day weekend. A weekend in which NASCAR formerly did not race. But in the “let’s throw Darlington a bone” mood, we race there. Tonight. And I’ll watch. And it will be exciting. To my regret, I passed within 10 miles of the track a few years ago, on a Search for America tour. I wanted to turn off, go by the track, and just bask in the glow of this historic old venue. Alas, time didn’t permit.
I owe it to myself, as a race fan, to attend a race there before NASCAR decides that the venue is totally unworthy. Maybe next Mother’s Day weekend. MLB likes racin’, too.
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