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Trivia question: opening scene of the Parallax View was shot on top of what Seattle landmark?



Kyle's mentally perturbed answer: The Seattle Tower! (It's a tower! It's in Seattle! I know it's called the Space Needle, but I said Seattle Tower!)

Went to Boeing surplus and picked up this lovely PC for $71 (why seventy-one?). It boots up, so it must be OK, right? It will be
MY FIRST LINUX BOX.

Faux screenshot from a Bionicle first-person game. The tiling is based on LEGO's nutty numbering system from Mata Nui.

Hey kids! Let's go to Mars! Don't forget your oxygen and Martian repellant!

Another before and after:

Fun with photoshop:




These are just foolies for the benefit of this thread on the FSM messageboard.

Quite an evening of celebration: many whiskeys at a martini bar, unwittingly stepped in dog crap on the way to karaoke, picked up a drunk who smacked his head on the sidewalk (Hey! Blood on my shoe! Blood on my jacket! Son of a bitch!), found dog crap on my shoe - grainy texture, skunky smell - removed same, but the toilet at the karaoke place backed up, violated the karaoke place's no alcohol policy, screamed karaoke for a while, spilled beer on myself, witnessed puking episode on the way home, tried to tell juvenile imbeciles their headlights were off while walking up 115th and was then vaguely menaced for my trouble. Took a shower. Washed clothes. Put shoes and backpack outside. Everything is fine.

A couple of half-assed MOCs are in evidence: a beefed-up Amazon. and a curiosity made of two Sparks.

Sure, I got laid off today, but that's no reason why the webcam should go down. However, I am going to stop providing lighting when I'm not around. If I have time (heh!) I'll rig up an on-demand light. That'll be fun. In the meantime, you may find that the camera is in the dark.

Another MOC. The main benefit of playing with these (aside from their obvious intrinsic value) is that it can be done while watching TV instead of eating potato chips. And sour cream. With the sweet, sweet, chivery flavor ....

Amusing thread on MovieMusic.com. Confoundingly, I did a search on the phrase 'in the style of Richard Strauss' and did not find what I was looking for even though that exact phrase is in the description.

The GNP contest has ended and I was a winner. A 3^rd place winner, which means that I was accurate, but not as quick on the draw as the 1^st and 2^nd place winner. My prize is a copy of Battle Beyond the Stars/Humanoids From The Deep

Left standing after the fracas:

Gali, Kopaka, Tahu, Onua, Pohatu and Tahu. Nokama, Whenua, Matau and Nuju. Huki, Jala, Matoro, Onepu and Kongu. The Comborider managed to escape, but sacrificed an arm. All the Roboriders and Turbo continue to prowl the lower levels. Jet flew away with Maku in its arms. The rest have been consigned to the Great Toy Chest in the Sky until the Next Play Date.

Melee between all manner of Lego action figures. Low quality pictures.

Gali has taken out Mr Shoulders with a lunge at his throat. Maku is in jeopardy between Spark and Jet. Millenium is beset by two Turaga and two Tohunga. Onua is about to toss Mr White over the edge. Pohatu, unsubtly, is kicking The Dog. Amazon is getting nowhere with the Turaga from the forest. Tahu and Lewa are having difficulty containing Langostino. Mr. Blue has been retired over a speaker. Mr. Gray stumbles toward the printer, neutralized. Scuba and Granite can't seem to get the better of a band of Tohunga. The fusion Comborider (airlifted by Mr. Wing?) has been overturned and is at the untender mercies of a pair of Tohunga mechanics. Mr. Wing has tumbled over the edge and is being protected by Blaster and Mr. Silly. Jala and Whenua don't seem to know what to do with Blaster. Electro and Spark are both in trouble although Ski may be about to deliver a sucker punch to an inattentive Tohunga. The Roboriders and Turbo, under the command of Blacklight, circle underneath looking to pick off anyone unlucky enough to fall from the desk. Up above, Kopaka has dealt another uncanny blow -- this time to the vulnerable knee of the fusion Throwbot.

Oh dear, I've discovered a real Pandora's box. Or more accurately, I've opened, just a little, the Pandora's box that I've known about for a while: Cascading Style Sheets. Always more to learn. For an especially inept use of CSS, check out the official home of CSS. That page is ugly.

What new deviltry has been ordered to plague the Toa and their little friends?

• 4 Black Connector 3 X 3 With Axle
• 2 Blue Connector 3 X 3 With Axle
• 2 Dark Grey Liftarm 1 x 7 with 2 Ball Joints
• 1 Green Arm Forked with Flexible Center and Ball Joint
• 2 Green Connector 3 X 3 With Axle
• 1 Green Gear Box
• 3 Green Liftarm 1 x 7 with 2 Ball Joints
• 4 Red Axle Joiner with Ball Housing
• 1 Teal Arm Forked with Flexible Center and Ball Joint
• 5 Teal Axle Joiner with Ball Housing
• 2 Teal Connector Block 3 x 3 x 1
• 1 Teal Gear 16 Tooth
• 2 Teal Throwbot Head

Watched the last episode of Morse last night. I'll play some Wagner to mark the occasion.
Pulled the sod from around the cherry tree. Sounds simple. And it would have been if the grass roots weren't tied up with cherry treee roots. Eesh.
Just tuned into the Mariners in time to hear the Star Spangled Banner. All I can say is Simpsons episode "Dancin' Homer."

Kitchen accomplishment:
The washer, dryer, coffee grinder, dishwasher and bread machine were all running at the same time. The next step will be to involve the microwave somehow. Tricky timing that, though. Grand slam: coffee grinder and coffee maker both running at the same time for some reason.
I am a very dull person.

Here's Kopaka on top of Mont Mønïtor:

I laugh at the confusion among the foolish humans! Ha! Ha!

Hi Manjit!

I wish I could say that the software controller failures were my clever way of preventing the cam from falling over, but I must confess that I have done nothing to prevent it. It's just a happy accident. (The author of the software corrected these problems a long time ago but I haven't installed the patched version. Don't blame Amnon.) Nature always finds a way.

The Blogger site has a pretty weird interface. "Post" is like a preview. "Publish" actually does a series of FTP events that are a lot like reaping and sowing.You'll get the hang of it with more exposure. But yes, it is weird.

Here's the deal with posting pictures: they must exist on an internet-accessible server. From there, you can link to them using HTML:

< IMG SRC="http://www.foo.net/foo.jpg"> 

I hope that this cools your fevered brow.

Kyle, your webcam STINKS. And so does this Blogger site. It erased my last rant. Your webcam is always breaking. All I want to do is spin it around and around and make it trip over its cord and fall over, but no, the damn thing freezes after I play with it for a few seconds. Also, this stupid blogger site won't let me post pictures of my parents dogs or ducks. And it erased the last thing I was about to post. Grrrr.

Filmscoremonthly.com posted a trivia contest tonight. Here are the questions:

1. How many times has JAMES HORNER been nominated for an Academy Award and for which films was he nominated?
   
2. BLACK SCORPION star Joan Severance had a cameo in what 1987 action film that spawned a series of successful sequels and who composed the score to that film?
   
3. Name 4 OTHER Films that James Horner's score to BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS has appeared in (and PLEASE, no Goldsmith jokes)?
   
4. What other film did James Horner score that BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS writer JOHN SAYLES wrote?
   
5. In the STARGATE SG-1 episode, "THOR'S HAMMER," a famous actor played the voice of a cave dwelling creature. What was that actor's name and what was the characters name he voiced?
   

The contest is based on who submits the correct answers soonest. My entry went in sometime around twelve minutes past midnight.

Well, if I looked up stuff on IMDB correctly, it's

1. Frira. Gvgnavp, Gvgnavp (fbat), Ncbyyb 26, Oenirurneg, Svryq bs Qernzf, Nyvraf, Nzrevpna Gnvy (fbat)
   
2. Yrguny Jrncba, Zvpunry Xnzra
   
3. Naql Pbyol'f Vaperqvoyr Nqiragher, Oneonevna Dhrra, Jvmneqf bs gur Ybfg Xvatqbz, Fcnpr Envqref.
   
4. Ynql va Erq
   
5. Wnzrf Rney Wbarf, Hanf
   

How to remove a brain from a Toa head:

Cat on the back porch: