It's gonna be huge!


The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon(рус. субтитры)

Jimmy and Kayleigh by Uncle Stevie's tree on the first day of school.

Jimmy is starting first grade. No, I didn't dress him. I think he is hiding from the teachers.

Kayleigh is starting fourth grade. She was so excited last night that she couldn't fall asleep.

H/T to dfwmerlin for both stories...

Greenpeace lied, no polar bears died. It turns out that the claim that the Arctic ice will be gone by 2030 was false. But I'm sure he isn't making this up:
"Leipold said later in the BBC interview that there is an urgent need for the suppression of economic growth in the United States and around the world. He said annual growth rates of 3 percent to 8 percent cannot continue without serious consequences for the climate."

Obama commits $2 billion in loans for off-shore drilling! Oh wait, it is for Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras. In what I'm sure is unrelated news, New York-based hedge-fund firm, Soros Fund Management LLC bought 5.8 million of the company’s U.S.-traded preferred shares a few days before Obama promised the money.

So US oil companies can't drill here, but we'll pay for Brazil to drill there?

It takes a minute to get going. Strange.

Since I took a couple more trips, here is the update:

39 States plus DC and PR. Not too bad.


visited 39 states (78%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or vertaling nederlands duits?

Someone made an LJ-userpic to mock me? Wow!

I am honored to be on the same list as reality_hammer and jlc20thmaine.

How can you tell the difference between a northern zoo and a southern zoo?

The northern zoo has a card with each animal telling details about their habits and habitats. A southern zoo also includes a recipe.

Brought to mind by this.

Our tribe, The Mighty Kiowa, won the Ottawa-ball tournament

( Cut because I have never tried embedding from Facebook before... )

1100 pages going into law and no one is given time to read it before the vote. Yet, 246 Democrats feel no need to actually read what they are voting for.



(h/t to ellie_kay and melvin_udall)

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Ok, it is very cold today. The schools here are closed for the second day in a row and the temperature this morning was -15F when I woke up. It hit -20F overnight.

Now for the funny:

I found this old commercial on YouTube.

Just me and Kayleigh left awake and 30 minutes to go before the clock strikes midnight in Chicago. Jody went to bed early (as usual) and Jimmy feel asleep on the couch around 10:30 while we were watching Horsefeathers and Duck Soup. Secretly, the kids enjoy these movies but will never admit it.

It hasn't been such a bad year. We took some nice trips and we ended the year with jobs and a roof over our heads. Here's hoping that we exit 2009 in as good of shape or better.

The kids are doing well in their new school this year. Jody and I are busy at work. Aside from basic colds, we are all in good health. All is well.

I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2009. God bless and Happy New Year!


( I leave you with a preview of Obama's inauguration speech behind the cut )

I know they've come down, but they'll go up again as soon as people resume driving. I've got an idea about never having to pay for gas again:

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/12/21/fat-fuel-biodiesel-tech-sciences-cz_pcb_1222fatfuel.html?feed=rss_technology

Chicago next?

I went to see Cinematic Titanic Live at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago for the 10:30 PM, Saturday night show. The show got off to a late start because it seems that a lot of people from the 7:30 show stayed afterward to meet the cast and get autographs. We had to wait outside in 10 degree temperatures until around 11. It was a fun crowd so it wasn't too bad. My brother, friend and myself had VIP tickets and, for some odd reason, the people seating us decided to announce our party and we got a round of applause. Go figure.

The movie on Saturday was Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks and it was truly a stinker. The riffs were great and I was told later that this was the first time they had done this movie live. Well, second really, because the first was the 7:30 show. It was a blast and it was fun having some audience interaction with the CT gang. Yes, we would groan at the bad jokes (AP Beast, has already been mentioned but I remember "Hay!" being a bit funnier).

After the show, the cast stayed again and signed autographs and took pictures with everyone who wanted one. We were almost the last in line (because we couldn't figure out where the line started). My brother took my camera and was able to get some pictures with me.

( Pics behind the cut )

I hope everyone has a great day. We have so much for which to be thankful.

My turkeys are on and I'm waiting for my family to get here and football to start. The kids are making cookies and pumpkin pies.

Today is the 7th annual Ammo Day BUYcott and I've done my part.




100 Rounds of Federal 12-gauge 00 Buckshot plus 20 rounds of Federal Hydra-Shok in .380 ACP.

h/t melvin_udall

Requiem for a Dream:

We must remember that we are conservatives, and not liberals or "progressives" or whatever they're calling themselves today. Politics is not our life. Unlike liberals, if we lose an election, we're still going to be happier than liberals, whose worldview is premised on misery. They place their hopes and dreams in government, and so they will always be disappointed, especially when they find out they have to pay for their gas and mortgage after all. Conservatives, on the other hand, have low expectations of human nature and even lower from government; it is hard to be disappointed. And unlike liberals, our happiness is where it has always been and will be tomorrow: our family, our friends, our local community, in our work, our faith, and in our country. These will be around whether or not the current incumbents have a "R" or "D" next to their name.