Down Under

Ugly is taking his very lovely family on a two-week tour of Australia. We are leaving tomorrow morning and coming back the day after Labor Day. Please, no jealousy. Anyone who works hard can have the same.

We will be scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, listening to romantic tunes at the Sydney Opera House, visiting Mount Ossa and the Oyster Bay and hoping the boys get carried away by Tasmanian Devils, having Yalumba wine in Adelaide, seeing the Ayres Rocks, visiting Kangaroo Island, visiting high rocks and the Twelve Apostles at Port Campbell, making love on Honeymoon Bay, watching my lovely wife sunbathe in the nude at Magnetic Island while the koalas watch, and watching the boys surf at Fraser Island, as well as many other adventures.

Monika has forbid me from touching the blog from the time our plane takes off till it lands back at BWI, so we will continue when we get back. We'll leave you with this famous song:

Traveling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said

"Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover"

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
And he said

"I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men sunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover"

Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw and not much to say
I said to the man, "Are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty?"
And he said

"Oh! do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover"

Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover

Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover

Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover

Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover

"More Interesting Stuff"

(Written 8/9/12 by ChristopherK2 for the Uglier MDers blog)

 

Favorite Olympic Moment

 

I haven't watched as much of the Olympics as I normally do because of NBC's greedy decision to tape delay everything worthwhile into prime time.  After reading about it hours earlier (even TMZ has had some coverage), I've seldom been willing to sit thru hours of dressage and other crap just to see a tape of something.

 

Nonetheless, there have been some terrific moments, especially in swimming (the incredible Michael Phelps) and track (the equally amazing Usain Bolt).  But my personal fav is still the seemingly ageless Allyson Felix *finally* getting gold in track's 200 meter sprint.  She's been around for about a decade, always coming close at the Olympics (silver medals in the last two for the 200). You can see the race at NBC's site (http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/track-and-field/highlights-allyson-felix-strikes-gold-in-200m.html).

 

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Curiosity Lands on Mars!

 

NASA gained world-wide attention earlier this week for its flawless landing of the SUV-size Curiosity lander.  I happened to be awake when it landed, and was utterly amazed.  A super-sonic parachute deployed at 1,000 mph?!?!?  76 pyrotechnic devices?!?!?  A sky crane?!?!!?  From 13,000 mph to ZERO in 7 minutes?!?!?

 

A video of the so-called "7 Minutes of Terror" can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?collection_id=18895

 

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Favorite Olympic Moment EVER!

 

I've never gotten out of my head what happened in the men's 400 meter run at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.  I've never seen anything that even approaches it for personifying perseverance and the Olympic spirit.  Still brings a tear to my eyes...

 

An article is at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/07/13/derek-redmond-2012-london-olympics/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_bf3_a3.  But the video is what will get to you...

 

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We're Sadists???

 

For comic relief, check out "NASA Scientist Finds 6% Of Drivers Are Sadists" at http://autos.aol.com/article/nasa-roadkill-experiment/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl16%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D182138.

 

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Further Proof that Texans are Nuts!

 

$60 million for a football stadium for a *high school* ?!?!?!  Seriously??? 

 

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/07/everythings-bigger-in-texas-especially-this-60-million-high-school-football-stadium/?hpt=hp_t3

 

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What Was the FIRST Computer-Generated Animation?

 

Was it something of great scientific importance?  Ya'right... just an early geek doodling is more like it.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/worlds-first-computer-generated-animation-traced-1963_n_1687475.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl11%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D182144

 

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Do YOU Have $4,000 to Piss Away???

 

The most recent sign that the world is going to hell in a handbasket is a pair of Roger Federer's (tennis weenie) shoes selling on Ebay for $4,000.  Yep, $4 grand for a pair of smelly sneakers, folks.

 

http://tennis.si.com/2012/07/20/roger-federer-shoes-287-nike/?xid=cnnbin

 

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For the Cat Nuts Among Y'all

 

First, I hate cats!  Second, here are 13 videos of cats doing stupid crap for those of you who actually like them.  I only watched part of one, and felt like puking my guts up. 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/cats-playing-in-boxes-videos_n_1690080.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl17%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D182171

 

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Hacking Stuff I Don't Pretend to Understand

 

If you have both an Amazon account and a Apple ID, then you should check out what happened to some poor tech writer. Scary stuff...

 

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/07/technology/mat-honan-hacked/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3

Imagine

Imagine Billy with a girlfriend

It's know it's not easy but try
No totally victories and all day chat rooms
No photoshopping heads
Imagine all the pent up frustration gone

Imagine MVM with a woman
In the past it wasn't hard to do
Just drive to the nearest street corner
He wasn't smart to wear a condom, now he can't play

Imagine all the pent up frustration gone
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope someday they'll get laid
And their world will be as one

Imagine Ronnie with a girlfriend
I wonder if you can
He's fat, stupid, and a drunk
Maybe MVM can suggest a ho

Imagine all the pent up frustration gone
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope someday they'll get laid
And their world will be as one

"Rolling Stone" Magazine Bitch Slaps Zeeke

(Written 7/31/12 by ChristopherK2 for the Uglier MDers blog)

 

I've previously mentioned Zeeke's claim to have his "finger on the pulse of pop culture" when he trashed Justin Bieber ("Bieber fever came and went...at least a year ago.").  I also pointed out a few recent stats that were at odds with Zeeke's pronouncement, such as that Bieber's upcoming concert tour (48 shows in 45 cities) sold out in exactly ONE HOUR.

 

Well, *someone* (not me, I swear!) apparently told "Rolling Stone" magazine about Zeeke's opinion, and they have responded in their 8/2/12 issue.  Not with a little column filler (suggested headline of "Zeeke's a Total Tool!"), but with the full cover story treatment. It included the cover photo and a six-page article with six more pics.

 

"Rolling Stone" included a couple of other stats, such as that Bieber has more Facebook fans that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney *combined*.  As a laugh at Bieber's popularity, it joked that, "Any day now you half expect the [Bill and Melissa] Gates Foundation to announce that it's given up on malaria and will henceforth focus all its resources on curing Bieber Fever."

 

As a final smackdown of Zeeke, the article opines that "Five years later, the [Bieber Fever] phenomenon shows no signs of abating."  [For the Zombies reading this, "abating" means "reducing in amount, degree, intensity, etc."]

 

So, let's see... self-appointed pop culture guru Zeeke says Bieber has been toast for at least a year.  "Rolling Stone" magazine devotes their cover and a substantial amount of inside space to basically saying exactly the opposite.  Hmmmm... which to believe... which to believe...

 

BTW, to update one small stat since my July 17th article, the view count on Bieber's YouTube fan video of Carly Rae Jepsen 's hit song has increased by another *2 million*.  In the same time frame, Zeeke's blog has had... let me double check... yep... ZERO comments.