Wow!

Just. . . wow!

Tarja Turunen is wow!



Perhaps one more after the fold:
more...

Posted by: roggowj at 02:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 15 words, total size 1 kb.

A Bit of a Drive

Oil prices are a big deal right now.  Perhaps, more immediately, gasoline prices.  I mentioned I have to pay over $4.50 for diesel fuel these days (except I don't because I pretty much stopped driving).

Americans have enjoyed a culture of driving convenience.  We can go to the grocery store, the McDonald's, the hardware store, the bookstore, the day care center, the court house, work, the video rental store, the smoothie shop, the coffee shop, and the liquor store all in one day.  Each in a separate trip.  On Saturday we drive to the theatre, the farmer's market, the coffee shop, the lawn and garden nursery, the rental place, the mountains for a picnic, and maybe the bar.  Sunday it's church, garage sales, groceries (again), and twice to the hardware store (honey-dos).

I've become vaguely disgusted with Americans.  All I hear is how much a tank of gas costs, and how much oil companies make in revenue and profit, and how somebody should do something.  Maybe that should be you.  America has always been characterized by innovative and creative people (pioneers, if you will).  People who do what has to be done to make things better.

Except for now.  We're characterized by whiners and complainers who can't run to the McDonalds for supper when their whiny, complaining kids are hungry.
more...

Posted by: roggowj at 11:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 504 words, total size 3 kb.

HIV Vaccine

Here's an article about the failure of HIV vaccines.

I think the most interesting bit is this:

Vaccines work by teaching your immune system to recognize viruses and produce anti-bodies to prevent them from replicating excessively.  Vaccines don't actually keep you from getting the disease.  Some of the 24 hour bugs you've had may have been bugs you've caught many times before.  The symptoms don't last long because your body recognizes the virus and quickly starts producing the right anti-bodies to get rid of them.

That's why an HIV vaccine isn't likely to be successful.  People will still be infected with HIV, their immune systems compromised by default.  And the danger remains that HIV replicates poorly and thus, mutates easily.  I think the traditional vaccine makes a poor avenue of research into HIV.

Posted by: roggowj at 06:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 190 words, total size 1 kb.

The Numbers Game

This may be a tactic worth trying.  The best way to get a someone to call you is for you and your friends to chase after their car waving a cardboard sign with your phone number on it.  Preferably at high speed.  Nothing says 'I want to be with you' like leering through somebody's car window while attempting vehicular manslaughter.

Here's an excerpt and the link:

"Saudi society is strictly segregated along gender lines, and after several weeks spent interviewing Saudi teenage girls, I'd become very curious about life on the other side of the gender divide. I'd seen groups of young Saudi men out "numbering" - chasing cars containing young girls and trying to give the girls their phone numbers via Bluetooth, or by holding written phone numbers up to their car windows."

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/out-with-the-boys-for-a-night-of-numbering/

Posted by: roggowj at 07:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 138 words, total size 1 kb.

Dirt Stuff

It's finally time to plant the garden here at the manor.  It's been a long winter, but I'm finally getting spring fever just in time for summer misery.

In any case, the garden goes in today.  Some tomatoes, some peppers.  Some herbs.  I won't have a big garden, but I will have tomatoes. 

Tomatoes give me happy.

Posted by: roggowj at 10:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 59 words, total size 1 kb.

Immortality

British super-skanks, Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse have swapped scabies.

I believe this is an important advance in immunology and is key to my plan to live forever (mu-ha). By fusing their respective scabies they have created super-bugs that will be capable of demolishing any potential infectious agent.

Unfortunately, I must fly to London and kiss Pete Doherty. Thoroughly.

Immortality is not cheap. Thankfully, vodka is.

Thanks to Seriously? OMG!
See the horrifying price of immortality below:
more...

Posted by: roggowj at 11:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 78 words, total size 1 kb.

Why I Have a Great Ass

Sorry folks. Fuel isn't cheapening. I love to drive, but my Dodge turbo diesel costs a lot to drive these days. Instead of spending $300 a month on fuel, I bought a bicycle and a $30 bus pass. The bus service isn't great here in Boise, but I just have to plan a bit. Sixty percent of the world will not be content living in darkness and squalor while the U.S. and the rest of the developed world have cars and nuclear powered light bulbs. Nothing the United States does will change the fact that most of the pollution in the world is actually coming from developing countries. It's expensive to clean up pollution and most of the world can't afford to do it. Regardless of what impact mankind has on the environment, the experiment will be done. The curious thing is that I feel good about not driving. I'm generally skeptical of the whole global climate change panic. However, I'm guilty of being lazy and pursuing convenience. I complained about gas prices when they were $3.00 per gallon. I stopped driving when I had to pay $4.00. I hear everybody else continuing to complain. Bitching isn't going to solve anything. Only action will ease the hurt in our pocketbooks. And that means driving as little as possible. With a pass I can ride the bus as much as I want for $30 per month. I can bike to the bookstore, the bank, the liquor store, my friends' houses, and the coffee shop. I get a great endorphin rush, an exercise fueled libido, and a great ass to show off to my dates. Or, the dates I might have with, you know, people. Someday.

Posted by: roggowj at 03:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 290 words, total size 2 kb.