Goodbye to the OTHER David Jones (Bowie) (1947-2016) :(
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Posted:Jan 11, 2016 3:11 am
Last Updated:Dec 19, 2016 4:10 pm
16408 Views
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Another sad day for music and film lovers... 
Nearly four years after we lost David Jones, the Monkee to a heart attack (David Jones Monkees 19452012 ), we lost David Jones, the Bowie to cancer yesterday.
David Bowie celebrated his 69th birthday just three days ago with his final album, a seven- track farewell called Blackstar.
In addition to his great performing and songwriting, he also became an accomplished actor, with the Ziggy Stardust role. And the world can thank Brian Henson that he convinced his dad, Jim, to cast Bowie over Sting in the box-office-bust-turned cult classic film Labyrinth.
He shall be greatly missed. 
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Why good rules (and their enforcement) matter: introduction
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Posted:Jan 10, 2016 12:26 am
Last Updated:Jan 10, 2016 2:52 pm
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This is the introduction to a series of posts. Post links will be added when the articles are ready, and this introduction will also be expanded. Right now, I am just getting my initial thoughts written.
Part 1: In the course of sporting events
Part 2: In the course of human events
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I have been promising to write about crappy sports officials for a few years now. This year's pee-poor performance of NFL officials takes the cow pie for stinking to high heaven!
The corn frosting is last night's AFC playoff game between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Two times, Bengals defenders delivered perfectly legal shoulder pad-to-shoulder pad hits on Steelers receivers, only to be wrongly penalized for Unnecessary Roughness. But Steeler defender Ryan Shazier gets away with a blatant helmet-to-helmet hit on Bengal running back Giovani Bernard that caused a bogus turnover and knocked Bernard out of the game? And what the heck is Steeler linebacker coach Joey Porter doing on the field for an injured RECEIVER (Antonio Brown, the second legal hit mentioned above), cussing out the Bengals defense and causing the totally bogus bonus "brush up" penalty on Adam Jones, and Porter is not likewise penalized?!?!?
WTF?!? WTF?!? WTF?!?
Read Rule 12, section 2, article 8 of the NFL rule book regarding such hits and see how inconsistent the officials were in its enforcement. Thus, did the officials give the game away to the unworthy Steelers. Enough said on that for now.
There is a significant part of every society that thinks breaking rules is OK. However, once that slope slides out from under you, there is no society left, only chaos. Who is more out of control, the Bengals defenders, or the Steelers players and coaches who get away with holding and grievous bodily harm?!?
This series aims to explore why good rules/laws are important, as is the will and wisdom to consistently, correctly, and fairly enforce them.
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USC's Lowest Blow Ever
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Posted:Oct 13, 2015 5:08 am
Last Updated:Feb 8, 2017 6:05 am
17387 Views
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You do not kick a man when he is down. That is the lowest blow anyone or any organization can deliver.
Such is what happened yesterday.
The University of Southern California's Athletic Director, Pat Haden, announced the termination of head football coach Steve Sarkisian, only one day after Haden asked him to take a leave of absence to deal with his alcohol problems, to which he had agreed.
I used to have great respect for Mr. Haden, the former standout quarterback for both the USC Trojans and the LA iteration of the NFL's Rams. Not anymore. What he did was very disrespectful. You do not kick a man when he is down. EVER!!!
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December 13 2015 Footnote: Last week, Sarkisian took USC to court for wrongful termination, which of course, the school's administration says they'll vigorously defend. I pray for a Sarkisian victory in the case, and in staying sober.
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DECEMBER 2016 UPDATE: In 2016, Sarkisian's predecessor at USC, Lane Kiffin (Alabama's offensive coordinator) got him hired as an offensive consultant (booth jockey) at Alabama. With Kiffin's departure to become head coach at Florida Atlantic, Sarkisian will become Alabama's offensive coordinator. The lawsuit with USC will go to arbitration.
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FEBRUARY 7, 2017 UPDATE: Well, that didn't last long... After losing the CFP Championship game to Clemson, Sarkisian and Saban weren't getting along, and he's going to be the new offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, after their previous one, Kyle Shanahan, bolted following the robbery by the officials in Stupor Bowl LI to become the new head coach in San Francisco.
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BASEBALLING: Unbelievably Ugly Chase Utley
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Posted:Oct 11, 2015 5:54 am
Last Updated:Jan 10, 2016 3:04 am
15679 Views
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Did anyone see that travesty of a baseball game last night (10/10)?
Game 2 of the National League Divisional Series between the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Cheaters, dodging the rules yet again with the capitulation of the umpires and replay officials at MLB HQ in New York.
What Chase Utley did to Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in the bottom of the 7th Inning was clearly illegal and beyond what players are taught in trying to break up a double play. Not only was this a reprise of what Utley did to Tejada in 2010, it also broke Tejada's right fibula, ending his season.
To add insult to injury, the assholes in the replay office overturned the out on Utley saying Tejada never touched the bag, which is pure BS! A better angle they never saw from the left field camera shows clearly Tejada tapping Second before making the move to First.
Three problems:
1) Dodger manager Don Mattingly had no right to challenge the call at second, because "neighborhood plays" are exempt from replay review.
2) Rule 6.05 (m) clearly states that a batter is out if a runner interferes with a fielder attempting to make a play.
3) Rule 7.09 (e) clearly defines what constitutes runner interference.
So if the rule book had been enforced correctly, the Mets would have ended the bottom of the 7th with those two outs, and retained their 2-1 lead. Instead the Dodgers score the game-stealing runs.
See David Schoenfield's article on ESPN for the full descriptions of the cited rules.
Watch my blog for a long-promised article on shitty officiating... 
Why good rules and their enforcement matter introduction
UPDATE, 10/12/2015: MLB had the courage to suspend Utley for games 3 and 4, which of course, the clearly guilty Utley is appealing, hoping to get it reversed before tonight's game. VP of Baseball Ops Joe Torre cited rule 5.09 (a) (13), which prohibits rolling blocks by runners.
Thanks to the Mets comeback to win the series, Utley's suspension will be served at the start of the 2016 regular season.
I wish they had the courage to invalidate the end of Game 2 and replay it from the double play the Mets turned (granted under rules 6.05 (m) and 7.09 (e)).
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Adventures in Driving 2015: Food for Thought (or Crying in your Deer)
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Posted:Oct 6, 2015 12:09 am
Last Updated:Apr 24, 2019 4:57 am
14957 Views
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Do you ever have experiences behind the wheel that shake your confidence?
This year has been very nerve-rattling for me.
PART 1: Oh, Deer!
In my part of the Rockies, we are used to seeing the occasional animal saunter across the road.
But in the last five years, the deer population has exploded... and they are playing chicken with our cars and trucks.
Just a month after getting my vehicle back in service, I hit and killed one who darted out in front of me, and I have had a number of close calls in the five months since. Last month, my niece hit one on the same stretch of road, and one of my neighbors hit one on the way to work.
I am being so vigilant, I am pissing off the people behind me, but I intend not to be a cross by the roadside.
Time to issue more deer hunting permits, so the insurance companies don't go under, or have more drivers going six feet under.
PART 2: Wrong-Way Tragedy
Nowadays, we can find out about many of the accidents we see on the road. But do we really want to?
A few weeks ago, I was driving home through the Idaho panhandle on a recently upgraded-to-Interstate-standard section of US 95 north of Coeur d'Alene. Near Athol, I saw a dead deer on the shoulder of the northbound lanes, and a few hundred feet further north I saw the aftermath of a horrendous accident in the southbound lanes, thinking it was another deer hit.
A couple of days later, I did some research and discovered what had happened... Some guy went the wrong-way with his pick-em up truck in the southbound lanes and collided head-on with a minivan carrying a 33 year old father and his two daughters (ages 8 and 6) on the way home from a distribution run to Sandpoint for Spokane's regional newspaper, The Spokesman-Review. None of the three was wearing seat belts, and all died at the scene. (The girls were on a mattress in the back 40 of the van.). A good mother is now a widow and her girls are gone as well.
The 27 year old pick-up drunk driver survived the crash, was treated for his injuries and as of September 15 was still hospitalized. He will face three charges of vehicular manslaughter.
I have read at least five articles the past year about wrong-way driver fatal accidents in western Montana alone. What is up with these people? Not all of them were DUI...
And where was God when the victims of these crimes needed Him most? They did not deserve to die that way, especially the father taking the girls on his paper run so his wife could work.
There is no justice in the world, it seems.
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RIP REO Speedwagon's Gary Richrath (1949-2015) :(
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Posted:Sep 14, 2015 4:17 pm
Last Updated:Aug 10, 2016 1:33 am
14972 Views
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If the name Gary Richrath doesn't recall musical memories, his music should...
From 1971-1989, he was the lead guitarist and writer/co-writer of many songs for Illinois super rock band REO Speedwagon. Pick up the albums Hi Infidelity (1980), Good Trouble (1982), and Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) for the three best examples of his performing and writing skills.
Richrath passed away yesterday (9/13), about a month shy of his 66th birthday.
Excerpt from Foxnews:
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"I feel so sad. Gary was both a unique guitarist and songwriter, and the embodiment of the tough guy with a heart of gold. I learned most of what I know about being in a rock band from Gary Richrath," REO Speedwagon's lead singer, Kevin Cronin, wrote on the band's website and Facebook page. "The entire REO Family mourns his death and shares in the grief of his family, friends, and fans. These words do not come close to expressing the depth of emotions I am feeling at this time."
Richrath last played with REO Speedwagon in 2013, when the band performed a benefit concert in Bloomington, Illinois, to raise money for tornado victims.
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He shall be greatly missed.
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Your school district's A/C is run by ... an Amiga? :D
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Posted:Jul 15, 2015 7:11 am
Last Updated:Dec 13, 2015 1:54 pm
11667 Views
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... or If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I just saw an article from Digital Trends about 19 schools in Grand Rapids, Michigan who have their heating and cooling systems managed by... a late 1980s Commodore Amiga 500. 
The image from the website shows this nearly 30-year old computer, still running an un-upgraded Kickstart and Workbench 1, probably version 1.2 or 1.3.
The system, including 9-pin bus mouse (that's the same plug used by the Atari 2600 joysticks, BTW), monitor, printer, hard drive, 1200-baud modem (that's 1.2 kilobits per second) and external second DS/DD floppy drive (to compliment the A500's built-in drive) cost about $2,000 and was paid for by an energy bond to replace a controller that was as large as a refrigerator. It is the hub of a radio-controlled network that monitors each school's systems and adjusts them accordingly. And they call in the local resident who designed the control program for any needed system maintenance. I wonder if they use it to play classic games like Lemmings? lol 
Vendors want to charge the school district $2,000,000 for a system to replace it, one no doubt vulnerable to all the spyware control hacks. That's 1,000 times what they paid initially! 
Durable, built-to-last -- can't say that about much these days. I'll wager a good number of you who watched TV in the '80s and '90s saw on-screen graphics or cartoons (like Animaniacs) that were produced or processed on Amiga systems.
And the Amiga OS has only had 4 major versions to date. Apple has had at least five different versions of OS X, and Windows is now on its ninth major iteration -- Windows 10 skipped a whole number, boy those Microsoft guys should pull out their old Commodore PETs and learn how to count again! lol
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And on a slightly related note, two Italian entreprenuers have purchased the rights to the Commodore name, and released an Android smart phone called the "Commodore PET", named after the iconic late-1970s computer that first introduced many to the world of 8-bit computers, green monochrome screens, and CBM BASIC -- created by a then-unknown startup called Microsoft.
This phone includes, preinstalled, the VICE C64 and Uae4AII2-SDL Amiga emulators to play classic Commodore 64 and Amiga games. They didn't say if there's an adaptor to plug in the requisite Atari 2600 joystick for controlling games never designed for a touch-screen... lol
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Highway Robbery (or Adventures in Car Repair 2015)
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Posted:Apr 6, 2015 10:45 pm
Last Updated:Aug 25, 2016 11:27 pm
12103 Views
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A follow-up to previous post F'd up Fall or Adventures in Car Repairs 2011...
My car is in the repair shop getting the transmission replaced at long last, and should be back in service by the end the month. 
I took it to a local shop that advertises fair prices for their work. He wasn't kidding.
I priced two other shops. One, a NAPA-certified and sometimes supplied shop, offered to replace the original made by GM in Flint, Michigan with a very pricey Japanese-made unit for about $ 7000! They did not offer any other options, not even the NAPA-supplied part I could have ordered online for $ 2000.
This same pricey transmission, if installed by my fair mechanic, only $ 4900. He at least gave me two other options, including the one we are going with, a genuine GM factory-rebuilt unit at about $ 3300 installed. So I'm saving, at minimum, $ 2100. I showed him my research, and he was just as shocked as I was at the price difference!
Questions of the day: 1.) How the heck are mechanics allowed to get away with that kind of highway robbery? and 2.) When are we going to do something about it?
UPDATE 04/17/2015:
Tack on needed front and rear main seals and oil pan gasket, and the repairs ka-ching at just less than $ 3900. So overall, I saved about $ 3100. over the pricey shop, and I shouldn't have to worry about those repairs again. 
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Too much of a good thing?!?
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Posted:Feb 15, 2015 7:35 am
Last Updated:Jun 9, 2019 10:45 pm
11287 Views
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News Flash from the Northern Rockies bureau of channel 69, ASSwitness News...
Fox News Health on Friday reposted an article from Newser about a 17-year-old Florida boy having what is believed to be the first tool tuck...
Medical Daily reported what doctors from the University of South Florida did to fix the boy's cock... He came in with a cock 7 inches long but with a 10 inch circumference!
Let me repeat that, a 10 inch circumference!!! Seems the boy has sickle cell disease, which caused priapism -- painful erections that don't immediately subside—and three bouts of it since age 10 had left his penis not looking very penis-like.
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"In other words," writes Lizette Borreli at Medical Daily, "his rugby ball-shaped member was too enlarged and disfigured for him to experience a normal erection and penetrate his partner—it just became firmer." Doctors similarly describe the 's phallus as "too large for intercourse."
"The doctors at the University of South Florida who took the case recognized its weird nature, titling their paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, "The Answer to the Improbable Urologic Question 'Can You Make My Penis Smaller?'" It turns out they could, removing tissue in a procedure that one likens to "having two side tummy-tucks," reports the Daily Mail. They're not saying what the final dimensions are, only that the penis is slightly bigger than normal but symmetrical and fully functional, and the is pleased. "Lord knows there's a global race on how to make it longer and thicker in plastic surgery circles, but very little on how to make it smaller," says the USF's Dr. Rafael Carrion. (Another man's bout of priapism lasted 17 hours.)"
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I have two questions:
1.) Why is a 10-year-old boy having sex in the first place? and
2.) Why did he wait 7 years to get it fixed?!?
Just goes to show you CAN have too much of a good thing.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled perving... 
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Slow news day Headlines
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Posted:Feb 6, 2015 3:14 pm
Last Updated:Dec 13, 2015 1:57 pm
10159 Views
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Ever wonder what's going on in the world on a slow news day? I saw a headline in a news site's RSS feed that prompted this post.
Let's see how many weird headlines we can cum up with!  Please identify the site's name, subsection if applicable, and which specific news feed you saw it in if you did not see it on the web site first.
Let us start with:
"What's So 'Cringeworthy' about Long Duk Dong in 'Sixteen Candles'?"
(NPR Code Switch 2/6/15, headline featured in the main NPR RSS feed)
Long Duk Dong (Sound GONG here!) was, of course, the exchange student played by Gedde Watanabe, who hangs upside down from a tree in front of Molly Ringwald's character saying, "What's happenin' hot stuff?"
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Stupor Bowl 49: Another tainted title for Belicheat
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Posted:Feb 1, 2015 8:23 pm
Last Updated:Dec 13, 2015 2:06 pm
10348 Views
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To say I am greatly disappointed by tonight's "game" is a great understatement.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, at minimum, should have suspended Belicheat pending the outcome of the investigation into "Deflategate". Once again, the NFuckingL got it wrong. The integrity of the game cannot be guaranteed so long as the commisssioner is too cozy with team owners such as Robert Kraft that he fails to take warranted actions against Kraft and his proven cheat of a coach.
And let us not forget the blatant unflagged defensive pass interference that allowed Butler to be in position to make the game-stealing interception for New England? I'm sorry, but a shoulder to move the receiver out of the way is NOT incidental contact!
It is a sad day for our nation in that, yet again, cheaters are allowed to prosper in politics and professional sports.
And even sadder that Tom Brady refused to accept his punishment like a man.
Yet Belicheat still went unpunished for encouraging the atmosphere of cheating, even when he did not need to.
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