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Saturday, May 31, 2008

«Looking For Group»

Richard - It is so easy when you're evil


The characters in that YouTube video are from the webcomic Looking For Group. I also like that song.

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Friday, May 30, 2008

«Eagle»

One thing we have a lot of around here is eagles. This one was being dive-bombed and tormented by a raven. Ravens are known to do that to eagles. Despite the raven being about a quarter of the size, the eagles seem to just put up with it or move; they never fight back.

Eagle in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Click image to view full

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

«Frozen Mountain Dew»

This is what happens when you just want to put a Mountain Dew in the freezer for "just a few minutes" to cool it down, then forget all about it until the next day.
Frozen, bulged can of Mountain Dew
I'm really surprised it didn't split the can open in the freezer.

The frost on the outside started to thaw out, so I held it over the sink and started to open it. The pressure release froze it again. It sizzled for a while as pure Mountain Dew syrup oozed out the top. Mmm... Concentrated Mountain Dew...

After the pressure was equalized, I still couldn't open the can all the way because of a block of ice inside the can. Because of the bulged bottom, I couldn't set it anywhere without it falling over. I held it until my hands got a little too cold, then I looked for alternatives. I got impatient, and ripped the can open.
Frozen Mountain Dew, ripped off the top of the can.
I dumped my solid Mountain Dew into a glass. So now I have a Mountain Dew snow cone.
Frozen Mountain dew in a glass.
Frozen Mountain dew in a window.
The problem with freezing Mountain Dew is it separates the syrup, so it's kinda watered down. I fixed that by pouring a little margarita mix over it.

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

«Cruise Ship Watch: Coral Princess, Infinity, Amsterdam, and Veendam»

4 ships in today, and I haven't put pictures of any of them on my blog yet, so here they are. Click an image to view full.

Coral Princess tied to the dock.
Coral Princess in Ketchikan, Alaska on May 28, 2008.
Infinity at the dock.
Infinity in Ketchikan, Alaska on May 28, 2008.
Amsterdam at the dock.
Amsterdam in Ketchikan, Alaska on May 28, 2008.
Veendam, moving toward the docks.
Veendam entering Katchikan, Alaska on May 28, 2008.
My attempt to get all 4 ships in the same picture. Off in the distance in the left of the picture is the Amsterdam leaving, closer is the Infinity. You can see the bow of the Coral Princess still docked and the Veendam getting ready to dock in the right of the picture.
Coral Princess, Infinity, Amsterdam, and Veendam all in the same picture on May 28, 2008.

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«News Topics»

Just a quick rundown of a few news topics that caught my attention today.

'Indiana Jones' tops box office on long holiday weekend
This is one movie I wouldn't mind seeing, even though I've read more poor reviews about it than good.
Aliens? In my Indiana Jones? It may be more likely than you think...

Noise Pollution
A complaint about a new firing range being built in town. This is the first I've heard of it. Oh, and the one they talk about as being "way out north" is also surrounded by neighborhoods, and in my opinion, is not that far out North of town.

Viacom and Google Should Share the Load
Yet another copyright lawsuit against Google... Need I say I hate copyrights? There's no feasible way Google could filter all the content uploaded by users, and they shouldn't have to.

Phoenix lander's work on Mars is delayed by a radio glitch
At least it landed safely, and everything seems to be in working order now. I hope this robot is like the others and far exceeds its expected lifespan.

TWO CENTS: Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry in California?
My answer is simply, yes. And not just in California, but every state.

See the rest of “News Topics”»

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

«Long Exposures»

Last night I was playing with long exposures. At first I started when it was still too bright outside. I got mostly white images. Later (10:30-ish PM) I got a picture. With a long exposure of a road, all you see are the trails of the headlights and tail lights of the cars; not the cars themselves.

You can see by the trails this picture, one car pulled up and stopped at a red light, and another came from the Plaza parking lot and went up Washington Street. 5 second exposure.
5 second exposure of Tongass in Ketchikan, Alaska.
This is one of the ones that were a bit too bright, but I like the phantom effect on the people with the stroller to the right of the image. I played around a little in Photoshop, trying to bring out the details in an otherwise overexposed, over-bright image. It was taken before the image above; while it was still fairly light out. 14.18 second exposure.
Phantom stroller

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Monday, May 26, 2008

Sunday, May 25, 2008

«Tagged Again»

I've been tagged by Monique...

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Am I suppose to remember something specific? I was 11... Umm... I was in school. I don't remember events by date too well.

2. 5 things on my to do list for today.

  • Go through my Google Reader like I do every day.
  • Copy some stuff on my thumb drive to bring over to my computer at my mom's.
  • Probably schedule my Motivational Monday post for Monday.
  • Go back to town and stay at my mom's place (I've been at my dad's for the past few days).
  • Go for a walk.

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Dark Chocolate.

4. Things I would do if I were a Billionaire.
I'd move the hell out of this town.

I'd move to Washington and buy some land around a lake or beach front, and have a relatively small castle built on the land. The castle would be built in a medieval style, at least on the exterior. I'd a few hidden rooms and passageways built into the place. It would be medieval in appearance only; the entire house would be wired with fiber optic for a 10Gb/s or even 100Gb/s network to every room, with network jacks as abundant as outlets in a modern home.

I'd have quite the computer network going. I'd probably even cluster some together to form a supercomputer. That way if I want to render videos or fractals, or perform complex mathematical equations I'd have the processing power for it.

I'd buy some gold bars and stash them in a hidden room. Got to have my own little treasure horde in my castle.

I would pay the Scott-e-Vest company to custom design a black leather trench coat with 100 or more pockets.

Beyond that, I'd save and invest most of it. I'll buy things as I decide I want them.

5. Places I have lived.
Only place is Ketchikan, Alaska. I grew up in a different house than I'm in now, but I've lived my entire life here so far.

6. Bloggers I want to know about.
Drek and Looney. I don't even know if Drek reads my blog or not. But both of you can consider yourselves tagged for this.

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Friday, May 23, 2008

«We Love You Dr. Freeman»

I haven't been in a real "bloggy" mood lately... That and the weather hasn't been that bad here, so I've been outside. I went on a several mile bicycle ride today.

Anyway, for no apparent reason, this video came to mind. It's about the Half Life game's story.

We Love You, Dr. Freeman (HL Parody)

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

«Sim City Societies»

Sometimes I can be quite boring when I have nothing to say...

I've been playing Sim City Societies, and when I'm playing a game I don't think about blog topics. The problem with blogging about a game is, no one knows what you're talking about unless they've played the game as well.

For example, I could say I managed to achieve 3 trophies in nightmare mode so far. But does anyone here know what that means or how difficult it is?

Sim City Societies is very different from the Sim City games before it. As long as you buy it with that in mind, and don't expect a Sim City-like game, it's pretty good.

And with all this talk about games...
Comic about The Game
The Game, you just lost.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

«Jesus Freeman»

Jesus Gordan Freeman
You'd have to have played Half Life 2 to understand... And here's House Freeman.
House Gordan Freeman
If they were ever to do a Half Life movie, Hugh Laurie would be the perfect actor to play Gordan Freeman.

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Monday, May 19, 2008

«Motivational Monday: Common Sence»

What were they hoping to achieve? The big forklift would easily reach high enough...

Common Sense / Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

«This is a Big Tree in My Opinion»

I wanted to show what I see in the way of big trees, so Monique can understand why I said the tree in her backyard is not a "massive beast".

This tree is in the campground around Ward Lake, it is a Sitka Spruce. As a comparison, I'm standing in front of the tree. There are many such trees in the area. Click images to view full.
Sitka Spruce near Ward Lake in Ketchikan, Alaska. That's me in front of it.
This one is a different tree of about the same size. Much more difficult to see the scale because there's nothing in the image to compare it to.
Upper part of a Sitka spruce near Ward Lake in Ketchikan, Alaska.
There's also rather unique root formations and openings under some of these trees. These form when a seeding grows on the broken stump of a previous tree. The seedling grows into a large tree and the old stump rots out from under it. You can see Ward Lake in the background.
Tree root formation with Ward Lake in the background.
As I've said before, I live in an Alaskan rainforest.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

«Caturday: Sorry About Last Week»

I skipped Caturday last week. I hope it didn't cause too many of you to wander in a disillusioned daze through the past week.

You gotta help me hide... ...From the Internet!!!
I are dunecat I controls the spice, I controls the universe.
Cat emoticons

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Friday, May 16, 2008

«Response to Looney on Gay Marriage»

This post is a response to Looney's opinions on California's ruling on gay marriage. It is suggested you go read his post first.

I fully support gay marriage. Just because there's been no precedent in civilization doesn't mean it's wrong. With that sort of attitude, civilization would never advance.

And how exactly does this ruling "trash the Constitution"? All I see it trashing is the Leviticus book of the Bible. And by our First Amendment, church and state are separate.

Besides, wasn't the Old Testament kinda trashed by the New Testament? Churches seem to ignore parts of the Old Testament that don't suit them (claiming the New Testament trumps it), while upholding other parts of the Old Testament that does suit them. (Wouldn't it be nice if we could just pick and choose what laws we wanted to follow, and disregard the rest?)

Anyway, back on topic... I'm sure I could find many different sources other than Ephesians 5:24-25 that define marriage. Just because you choose to use the biblical definition doesn't mean everyone should.

By your definition, Poor ol' Drek and his wife aren't really married, and can't be. Please, don't take this as calling Drek's wife a man; but rather that their marriage was not a symbol of Christ. And I'm sure Drek would have a word or two about asserting the validity of his marriage.

Besides, from what I read into Ephesians 5:24-25, it's using Christ's love as an example or analogy... Not directly saying marriage is a symbol of Christ.

It all comes down to the simple fact that gays are people, too. There are certain legal rights given to married couples, and gay couples should have those same rights.

Perhaps you can tell I have a strong opinion on the subject of gay rights?

See the rest of “Response to Looney on Gay Marriage”»

«Gibletzinsauseovich»

Comrade Corndogski Gibletzinsauseovich Nikolai Pimptastovich

I have searched for that exact name in Google, and not surprisingly, there were no results. Once Google indexes this page, there will be.

Where did I get that name? I wasn't even the one that thought it up. I ran across it when I was looking through my 7th grade steno pad from my math class. Another kid in that class came up with the name and I wrote it down.

Now it shall be an immortal name, as the Google cache and the Way Back Machine do not easily forget. I may make it a project later on to immortalize that entire steno pad. It has some quite unique content, and it would be a shame for it to fade from history.

See the rest of “Gibletzinsauseovich”»

Thursday, May 15, 2008

«The Immortal Bird»

I had to take pictures of this raven when I saw it. Look closely; you'll see it has a dart through its head! Almost looks like it went in the throat and out the eye on the other side. How it's still alive, I don't know. Click an image to view full.

Raven with a dart through its head standing on the dock.
Raven with a dart through its head standing on the railing.
Raven with a dart through its head and eye.
Raven with a dart through its head standing on the other railing.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

«Deer Mountain (Photo-Heavy)»

Yesterday I went for a hike on the Deer Mountain trail. I knew I wouldn't get to the top, because there's 50 or so feet of snow up there. Deer Mountain is 3,001 feet tall, and I'd say I made it to about 1,800 feet (just a guess) before the snow was prohibitive. Click an image to view full.

Here's a picture of the mountain.
Deer Mountain in Ketchikan, Alaska from the cruise ship docks.
Half a mile into the trail, elevation 980ft.
Half mile into the Deer Mountain Trail. Elevation is 980 feet, May 13 2008.
Not much past the previous picture, here's the first significant patch of snow.
First significant patch of snow on Deer Mountain Trail, May 13 2008.
And from there on there were patches across the trail in some places.
Snow across the trail, May 13 2008.
3/4 mile into the trail, elevation 1,240.
Three quarter mile into the Deer Mountain Trail, elevation is 1,240 feet, May 13 2008.
1 mile into the trail, elevation 1,500.
One mile into the Deer Mountain Trail, elevation is 1,500 feet, May 13 2008.
There's a viewpoint right past the 1 mile sign. There were 5 elderly people up there at this viewpoint. Two of them were talking on cell phones, while two others (presumably their wives) were worried about roaming charges. Finally one of the ones on the phone said they weren't roaming. It just struck me as funny. Here I am, 1,500 feet high on a mountain, had to walk through snow to get here... And I find a bunch of old people on cell phones. Here's a picture from the viewpoint.
Deer Mountain Trail viewpoint photo, May 13 2008.
I zoomed in as far as I could (20x) on Metlakatla from the viewpoint.
Metlakatla as seen from Deer Mountain viewpoint, May 13 2008.
A bit past the viewpoint, the trek gets more challenging.
Difficult snow on the Deer Mountain Trail, May 13 2008.
I looked directly across to another mountainside at my elevation, to find it covered in snow. No doubt my side looks similar.
Snow covered mountainside across from me, May 13 2008.
This is as far as I got. Keep in mind, I was only wearing slip-on shoes. I was starting to fall through the snow patches, so I turned around.
Little bridge, as far as I got on Deer Mountain Trail, May 13 2008.
I took a picture of part of town I could see from here, then descended back down the mountain. Looks like a junkyard or something on the South end of town.
View of a junkyard South of town from Deer Mountain, May 13 2008.

See the rest of “Deer Mountain (Photo-Heavy)”»

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

«Cruise Ship Watch: Zaandam»

There were actually 5 ships in today; Norwegian Star, Star Princess (already have pictures of those two from earlier this year), Mercury, Spirit of Glacier Bay (small ship), and Zaandam.

Zaandam in Ketchikan.
MV Zaandam in Ketchikan, Alaska on May 13, 2008.
By the time I was on the dock taking pictures, the Mercury and Spirit of Glacier Bay had already left. I already have posts about the Norwegian Star and Star Princess, so all you get is a picture of just the Zaandam today. Tomorrow you'll see what I was doing earlier in the day that caused me to miss taking pictures of the other two.

See the rest of “Cruise Ship Watch: Zaandam”»

«Elderly People»

Elderly signYou may have seen signs like this. They warn you of the possible presence of elderly people.

Why is there a need for a warning? Well, the type of elderly people the sign warns about may be a little freaky to those who are not prepared for see them...

Elderly people from the sign.This is an animated image

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

«Taken on May 6»

Here's a few more pictures I took on May 6, here in Ketchikan, Alaska. Although I concentrated on taking pictures of the cruise ship (Star Princess) that day, I took a few pictures of other things. Click an image to view full.

A view of our tunnel from the cruise ship dock. Here you can see the houses on top the tunnel. An interesting little piece of trivia: the houses on top are older than the tunnel itself.
Ketchikan cruise ship dock and tunnel, May 6, 2008.
Ok, here's another picture of the cruise ship that was in that day. I think this picture is a better size comparison between the ship and buses.
Cruise ship and bus size comparison.
The Ketchikan Creek fish ladder, and the creek itself. The town was named after this creek. The creek was named Kitschk-hin by the native Tlingit indians.
Ketchikan Creek fish ladder.
These stairs are part of Married Man's Trail. The name of the trail comes from the early 1900's, when married men used it as a hidden path to the brothels on Creek Street.
Married Man's Trail stairs.
Interesting little rock arrangement I found.
Rock arrangement.

See the rest of “Taken on May 6”»

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