Category: Photographs

What I Did This Memorial Day Weekend

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My old Weber kettle grill having given up the ghost, the vent on the bottom had rusted through, I looked to get a new grill. 

It had to be a charcoal grill, because while I may be a jerk, I’m not a complete git.  Gas grills are for posers.  (They are OK for camp stoves though)

I liked the Weber, and would recommend it, it’s a solid basic grill, but I was thinking.

I actually spent some time debating between just getting a new Weber, and this grill, a “Nexgrill 29 in. Barrel Charcoal Grill with Smoker,” which was about 30 bucks more, but included a thermometer, a side smoker box,and a side table.

The clincher was that I could get this assembled from Home Depot. (It just fit in Sharon’s* station wagon with the back seats folded.)

So, I fired it up empty to cook off any manufacturing residue, and then yesterday afternoon, I grilled some chicken.

I’m not sure if it is as sturdy as the Weber, but it has a thermometer, more grill space, a top grill, its 2-piece grills actually fit in our dish washer, and with careful use of the side box, I can do some relatively low temperature smoking.  

I could hold it steady about 225°F [107°C] on the kettle grill, and I’m figuring that I could reliably go as low as 150°F [66°C] on this.

Made lamb for Sharon* and me, and chicken for the kids last evening.

*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.

Quote of the Day

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Look, is the seller a vampire?

No, not that I’m aware of.

If he was, would you be allowed to say, or is there some kind of realtor privilege?

Well, in real estate we talk about the property, not the people, because of housing discrimination.

Oh, that’s a good point. I don’t know if vampires are a protected class.

I’ve learned in fair housing seminar after fair housing seminar, you do not talk about people. You want me to tell you how many square feet or how long the driveway or what it looks like inside, no problem.

—Slate, interviewing a realtor trying to sell a vampire-goth themed house in Baltimore.

The listing is linked to in the article, and it’s a trip.

Daym! They Just Made Donald Trump Look Classy

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A group called Tramps Against Trump will send you nude selfies for voting against Trump:

While lots of women have shown their opposition to the billionaire in a range of ways, one group is taking a particularly unique approach. They’re called Tramps Against Trump, and if you vote for anyone but Donald Trump, they will send you a nude photo.

I need to talk to NASA.  I have to leave this world.

Time to Get Your Geek ON

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Click for Slide Show

The Smithsonian is conducting a full refurbishment of the original 11 foot long Star Ship Enterprise model from the original series.

They are going whole hog on this, using multi-spectral and chemical analysis to determine original colors, as well as observing colors that were preserved in between pieces of the assembly:

The final painting of the Enterprise model will begin in April, using newly discovered reference photos from our appeal to Trek fans in the fall. The team will also build new nacelle domes with LED lights to mimic the spinning effect seen on television. For reference, they will first build a 1:1 mock-up of the original mechanism, which utilized mirrors, motors, nails, and Christmas lights. Conservator Ariel O’Connor explains, “Although the original nacelle dome lights did not survive, we can replicate the original effect in a way that is safe to install on the model. The LED lights can be programmed to match the original VFX footage while eliminating the burnt-out bulbs, extreme heat, and motor problems that troubled the original lights. It is a wonderful solution to re-light the nacelles while ensuring the model’s safety and longevity.”

The Enterprise model has been carefully separated into its individual components—saucer section; secondary hull; port and starboard nacelles and pylons; deflector dish array; hangar bay doors; and the bridge. Each section is being meticulously studied to determine its construction and condition and will be documented with visible, ultraviolet, and infrared photography. We completed X-ray photography, with help from our colleagues at the Smithsonian Zoological Park, in spring 2015.

Needless to say, once they are done, I will seriously get down to the Air and Space museum to get my geek on.

H/t Ars Technica.

A Christmas Gift for Those of You Who Celebrate Christmas

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I give you the real Old Economy Steve:

In the past several weeks, a photo meme has exploded on Reddit, Facebook, and in several other corners of the social web. The meme, called “Old Economy Steve,” is designed as wry commentary on the way today’s young people struggle with student debt, unemployment, and other recession-era economic concerns, only to be described as lazy and entitled by members of an earlier, luckier generation. The photo associated with the meme, of a seventies teen with a Partridge Family haircut, has sparked nearly a thousand Quickmeme posts and has become, as The Atlantic put it, “the official meme for embittered Millenials.”

Until now, nobody has identified the smirking teen in the photo. But with some Internet sleuthing, we tracked down the genuine Old Economy Steve and asked him what it feels like to become the face of an out-of-touch generation.

The real Old Economy Steve is Kenneth W. Kiser, a 48-year-old graphic designer and hobbyist photographer from Coshocton, Ohio. Contacted by e-mail, Kiser said he had no idea his old school photo (taken “in the late seventies,” when he was about 14 years old, he said) was being circulated as a meme until a relative brought it to his attention less than a week ago.

Good to know, huh?

FBI Director Blames Public Accountability for Murder Spike

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James Comey is arguing that because everyone has a camera on their cell phone now, police are unwilling or unable to do their jobs:

The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Friday that the additional scrutiny and criticism of police officers in the wake of highly publicized episodes of police brutality may have led to an increase in violent crime in some cities as officers have become less aggressive.

With his remarks, Mr. Comey lent the prestige of the F.B.I., the nation’s most prominent law enforcement agency, to a theory that is far from settled: that the increased attention on the police has made officers less aggressive and emboldened criminals. But he acknowledged that there is so far no data to back up his assertion and that it may be just one of many factors that are contributing to the rise in crime, like cheaper drugs and an increase in criminals who are being released from prison.

………

Mr. Comey’s remarks caught officials by surprise at the Justice Department, where his views are not shared at the top levels. Holding the police accountable for civil rights violations has been a top priority at the department in recent years, and some senior officials do not believe that scrutiny of police officers has led to an increase in crime. While the department had no immediate comment on Friday, several officials privately fumed at Mr. Comey’s suggestion.

………

After civil rights leaders and the Justice Department accused the Seattle Police Department of discriminatory policing and excessive force, the number of officer-instigated stops declined and crime ticked upward, said Kathleen O’Toole, the police chief.

Chief O’Toole said it was up to police leaders to insist on reversing that trend. The critiques made the department better, she said. Crime is down this year, and her city has hosted police officials from places such as Baltimore wanting to understand why.

“There’s never been as much scrutiny on police officers as there is now,” Chief O’Toole said. “We should embrace it.”

Yes, we should embrace greater police accountability.

Being a cop may be a tough job, but it is also one which pays relatively well, and when juxtaposed with its good job security, it means that you can generally find people willing to do the work.

This means that to the the degree that bad cops are flushed out of the system, they will be replaced by good cops.

Then you have to flush the bad attitudes and practices out of the system.

Also, as I have noted before, I think that a significant portion of the police force is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a counselor friend of mine believes that it is nearly universal after about 5 years, and mentally ill cops are not going to be good cops.

In terms of addressing PTSD, I would start with the following:

  • Eliminate routine overtime in police departments.
  • Forbid moonlighting by cops in security positions.
  • Make vacation longer, at least 6 weeks a year, and mandatory.
    • Also, again, no moonlighting on vacation.
  • Mandatory counseling for all police officers on at least a monthly basis, because if all cops have to talk to a counselor, there is no stigma.
  • Stop having cops act as revenue agents through ticketing and the like.  Everyone has a God given right to hate the taxman, and being widely loathed is not conducive to mental health.

Understand that these changes would require a significant increase in base pay, probably by at least 20%, but we are living the alternative, and it ain’t pretty.

Funniest Lad Mad Cover in Pakistan of the Day

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Pakistani actress Veena Malik just appeared nude on the cover of FHM India sporting ink on her left arm saying “ISI”.

This is a reference to the Pakistani intelligence service which has been accused of supporting terrorists in South Asia, and they are not amused:

In this month’s issue of FHM India, an international men’s magazine, Pakistani actress Veena Malik made worldwide headlines with a risqué nude photo shoot. While much of the attention has been on what Malik wasn’t wearing, one of the most powerful elements of her photo shoot was what she was sporting: a big, bold tattoo on her left arm, stating very simply, “ISI,” for Pakistani’s secretive Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

The cover headline: “Pakistani W.M.D. Veena Malik Shows You How to Throw a Grenade!”

Indeed, the cover has been explosive; PakAlertPress.com, for instance splashed a headline on its blog: “India and Pakistan Are Going Nuclear Over Provocative Political Tattoo.” And the photo has elicited a furious reaction in Pakistan’s media and in its living rooms.

In one fell swoop, the enormous tattoo on a bare woman’s body managed to demystify, emasculate and parody the ISI — something most people have been afraid to do in public since the inception of the agency a year after the birth of the nation in 1947. Founded with a mission of coordinating intelligence in the country after Pakistan’s loss to India in the 1947 war in Kashmir, the agency has become a feared, though privately mocked, enterprise, its hands allegedly in every back-room Pakistani deal; rigging elections, training militants for battle in India and Afghanistan, and monitoring its own citizens. The tattoo’s location on Malik’s body takes on special meaning in light of retired Adm. Mike Mullen’s statement in September that the militant Haqqani Network, considered by most Western analysts and experts to be based in the tribal areas of Pakistan, is a “veritable arm” of the ISI.

………

Kabeer Sharma, editor of FHM India, says the ISI tattoo was meant to be a sardonic reflection of India’s own conspiracy theories about the intelligence agency. “In India, you say, ‘The milk has gone bad. The ISI did it,’ They blame all of their problems on ISI,” says Sharma.

Sharma, the son of an Indian satirist and New Delhi bookstore owner, says that a dilemma on the subcontinent is that folks don’t laugh enough over the absurdities of politics. “The problem,” he says, “is that we all blame our problems on this imaginary force. Who is this ISI?” Meanwhile, on the Pakistan side, everything is blamed on RAW. “We collectively have no sense of humor. We have no sense of irony,” he says.

………

But this isn’t just a conspiracy hatched in India (though the magazine was produced there), feeding the siege mentality behind so much of the rhetoric in Pakistan. In a country where the “ghairat brigade,” or honor squad, of talking heads takes regularly to the airwaves to defend Pakistan’s honor against enemies — perceived and imagined — the photo shoot was a victory for a new movement that is emerging in Pakistan: the beghairat brigade, or the squad “without honor,” or more aptly the “shameless brigade.”

To many, the beghairat brigade offers a counter to the conspiracy theories that so permeate debates in Pakistan. Josh White, a scholar on Pakistan at the U.S. Institute of Peace, says, “I think the significance of the small but interesting beghairat movement is that it is trying to forge a way of being genuinely nationalistic without accepting the narrative that all of Pakistan’s problems are the result of someone else’s meddling.”

I am sure that there are some deeper sociological points here, but this tempest in a teapot also amusing as hell.

Son, I Think That We Need to Have a Talk about the Dangers of Furries………

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This is a bit disturbing


And coming out to his whole high school in public announcements is not good.

Let me clarify: My son is not a furry, he has a media class, and they needed to shoot a short scene, and he drew the short straw, and had to wear the unicorn sleeper.

He decided to make the most of this, and do school announcements in the costume.

Nothing to see here, move along.

I Am Shocked That This Is Not Florida

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You know the saying, don’t mess with Alligators


And the inevitable Taiwanese computer animation

I asked a number of people about this, and they all guessed that it was Florida, but instead it was Texas where a man shouted f%$# that alligator and jumped in an infested lake, where he was promptly killed by an alligator:

The man in question, 28 year old Tommie Woodward, mocked warning signs cautioning against getting in the water because of the alligator before jumping in and meeting a grizzly end.

Alligators had been spotted around the marina previously, with plenty of notices being placed around to warn people not to get too close to the water, let alone jump in and go swimming.

Woodward and an unidentified woman decided to ignore said warnings and get in the water, and while Woodward was tragically killed by the animal, the woman was thankfully unharmed.

The first gator death in Texas in about 180 years.

It’s been 8 years since a Florida gator death.

Also, Florida is cray cray, so it is not surprising that we all jumped to this conclusion.