Posts for Wednesday, 19 March 2008

Just because mankind can do something, doesn’t mean he should.

Take driving and eating yogurt for instance…

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What could be more satisfying than getting someone’s $16.99 birthday gift new on eBay for 99 cents? Not much, as far as eBay is concerned.

I almost felt like I was robbing the girl who had it for sale, but she had been given the set as a gift and already had another copy, so I guess it wasn’t much of a loss. She just needs to learn how to list things more effectively on eBay. (Fortunately I’ve already mastered searching for common things in obscure places.)

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Be the envy of all your geek friends with a real live wi-fi detecting t-shirt!  [via] Thanks, Matt!

Be the envy of all your geek friends with a real live wi-fi detecting t-shirt!  [via]

Thanks, Matt!

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December 1944, Reunion This is one of my favorite WWII photos. This kid may very well not even remember meeting his dad before this. The famous family story is that my uncle’s Uncle Herb came back from the war, with the young lad only to be disappointed that man wasn’t actually Daddy arriving home. Then Uncle Elmer came home! “Daddy?” Nope, sorry.By the time he finally did meet “Dad”, the little kiddo didn’t warm up to him right away! (I found this through some government website a while back… probably the Library of Congress.)

December 1944, Reunion

This is one of my favorite WWII photos. This kid may very well not even remember meeting his dad before this. The famous family story is that my uncle’s Uncle Herb came back from the war, with the young lad only to be disappointed that man wasn’t actually Daddy arriving home. Then Uncle Elmer came home! “Daddy?” Nope, sorry.
By the time he finally did meet “Dad”, the little kiddo didn’t warm up to him right away!

(I found this through some government website a while back… probably the Library of Congress.)

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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

3 Plays

Before his long run with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fred Rogers worked in the ’50s on WQED’s The Children’s Corner.

I wanted to feature a few songs related to Mr. Rogers this week since tomorrow would have been his 80th birthday. Here’s an excerpt from a Children’s Corner LP which features Mr. Rogers voicing “Daniel Striped Tiger” and “King Friday”, alongside co-host Josey Carey who starts off this track. Mr. Rogers was the puppeteer for the vast majority of the characters in the “Land of Make-Believe”, including X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, Queen Sarah, and Lady Elaine Fairchild. Here we get to hear a few of those characters in their early days, along with orchestral accompaniment, unlike the the brilliant jazz piano heard later in Neighborhood. (I have some of that piano music to come.)

This clip also reveals why King Friday is named after a day of the week… 

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sleepmachine: nsx: Child Craft: Folk and Fairy Tales (via anja louise verdugo)

sleepmachine: nsx:

Child Craft: Folk and Fairy Tales (via anja louise verdugo)
crosscontinue:  Monster-Munch

crosscontinue:  Monster-Munch

dirtyworld: Soloman the Man Monkey heads towards the Strand after a grueling session at Parliament. [via] Heh

dirtyworld:

Soloman the Man Monkey heads towards the Strand after a grueling session at Parliament.

[via]

Heh

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Education… Has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
G.M. Trevelyan

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So despite the fact that people straight out of high school apparently get $5000 up front to enlist and I’m actually going to be a doctor, the military didn’t offer people on my scholarship program any signing bonus when I came on board.

So here I am, living hand-to-mouth, barely running the heat in a winter wasteland, and driving an unreliable car which guzzles gas and dies when it hasn’t been idled for 15 minutes before use on a cold day (which is every day here).

I just found out today that they’re giving new recriuts in the same program $20,000 signing bonuses.

(@&*%#$!)

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