Article: Babylon 5 returns??

This article mentions that JMS (and if you don't know who that is, this post probably doesn't concern you) talked of a new B-5 spinoff. Of course, I am an adoring fan of Babylon 5. The original 5-year arc (sp?), although initially plagued with cheesy grahics, turned out to be one of the richest stories ever told on the TV. The music as absolutely unparalleled as well. I haven't cared much for the spinoffs, but a couple of the movies have been awesome.

Mmmmm.....can you say "Mira Furlan"? ;)

Picture: The hands of freedom

(Picture is courtesy of CNN.com)

I love this picture. This is a shot from the G-8 summit last week when President Bush tried to give German Chancellor Merkel an inpromptu shoulder rub. Look at that woman cringe!! It's like something straight out of a sitcom. That's almost every guy's worst nightmare. I can't imagine what it'd be like for the president at an official international summit. I'm also assuming that she's married.

On another note, there's been some press regarding Bush's use of the "S" word whilst at that summit. He was talking with British Prime Minister Blair off the record and neither of them had noticed that all of the microphones were still turned on (which they shouldn't have been). Apparently, he used a naughty word somewhere in there.

This is what kills me. If you listen to the sounds that were recorded from all of the microphones, they're a bunch of different voices all blended together and they're very soft-spoken. It sounds like a bunch of people in a church. However, if you have some A/V specialists go in and professinally seperate the voices and then have them amplified a few times, that word can be (barely) heard a single time. Of course, now, there have been articles on every network regarding Bush's "questionable choice of language" and the example that it sets. Wow.

Is this Orwellian or not?? Honestly, if this were the ruler by which every person on this earth was measured, then I don't think there would be a good role model to be found anywhere. If people (anywhere) can't be free to express themselves however they want in their own personal space when they are supposedly in a position of privacy, then what's the point of liberty in the first place? (Rhretorical question)

Oh...by the way....HAPPY MONDAY! :)

Entry: Random pictures

While I was going through some junk in my apartment (trying to decide what to move to the new house and what to toss out), I ran across a CD with some pictures that were taken back in October of '04. My buddy Mike had come up with a couple of friends and we had a blast over a couple of days.

I hope Tracy doesn't get mad that I put this picture on here. I happen to think it's horribly cute. :)

Jes' hangin' out with the F-14.

You know what they say about sailors?! :)

If memory serves, this is a mock-up of an A-4 Skyhawk cockpit.

Ummm....yes. I am JUST that stupid.

A cool shot of the old downtown city jail at night.

Some random fountain.

I personally like the A-7. It's the bird that my dad flew when he was in the Navy.

The old church on church street. Again...a good night shot.

Hello. I'll be your captain today. Please return your tray tables and seats to their full upright positions.

Entry: The Wedding

Well...went to my first wedding yesterday in a long while. Congratulations to Stacia Froom and Michael Mckee for tying the knot! I'm still gonna call her "Froom" though. She'll never get rid of that nickname.

Saw quite a few people whom I haven't seen in a while. Also met some knew folks. It was nice to finally be able to put some names with some faces. It was fun. One of the things that I thought was funny that evening was that all of the single women in the crowd clawed and grabbed for the boquet (sp?) but, when the time came for the guys to do the garter catching, it pretty much just landed on the floor. The person who got it was the one who was willing to bend over and pick it up first. The girls predicted that it would happen that way. Gender bias? Perhaps. ;)

Oh yeah...one more embarassing piece of trivia - the little bottles of soap that they passed out at the end for everyone to blow while the bride/groom were getting into the carriage to be taken away...I thought it was to take home and use in a bath. I'm certainly glad that someone "enlightened" me before I did something irreperably stupid. :)

Entry: Another random day

Wow. Two weeks (minus a day) since my last post. How have you all been?!

My co-workers and I have been discussing this truly obnoxious commercial that we see on CNN and Fox News. It's for a product called HeadOn. The entire commercial is as follows.....

"Head on...Apply directly to the forehead! Head on...Apply directly to the forehead! Head on...Apply directly to the forehead!"

If you don't believe me, you can watch it here. Imagine seeing that commercial a few times a day. It'll drive you crazy. The funny thing is that it's next to impossible to tell what the product actually does! Is it headache relief? Is it zit cream? Is it an exfoliator (sp?)? Is it a roll-on perfume? I had to look it up on the Internet.

Was in Virginia all of last week. Went to get trained up on some kewl technology. While I was there, I took a little detour to the new Air and Space Museum that they have next to Dulles International. That place rocks! It had cool things like an SR-71, a Concorde, the Enola Gay (a B-29 SuperFortress), the space shuttle Enterprise, and a full-size mockup of one of the early TDRS satellites. It was QUITE a site to behold.

Oh...I also ended up waiting 11.5 hours for my flight back to Charleston last Friday. That kinda STUNK!!

Life is progressing. Can't really say much more than that. I had another house inspection today. Over half the things weren't fixed yet. Speaking of said house...the closing is next Thursday. Thank God! I'm SO ready to have this nightmare done and over with! I've been boxing things up but have yet to actually stop and think about how I'm going to do the actual moving.

Met a girl recently. Nice one too. Oddly enough, she's prone to sudden bouts of being incommunicado. I take that as a bad sign. I've only been out with her twice and, each time, I kinda get to like her a little more. Of course, it's the old Miller curse...either I will become more and more interested and she'll become less and less, or the other way around. It ALWAYS seems to work out that way. Normally, I abhore putting details like this about myself on this blog. But, just this once....what the heck. Might as well let the whole world in on it. :)

I'd also like to give kudos to my friend Tracy. She's a kick@$$ friend and deserves all the happiness in the world.

At work, I'm totally excelling at showing my new co-workers just how much I can screw up a server. Ever had one of those situations where you were sent in to make fixes and improvements only to find that you have fouled everything up beyond recognition? Yeah...well....that's me. :)

Anyhoo...stay tuned for the next action-packed installment of Miller's Blog!

Entry: The physics of Superman

The physics of Superman mostly belong in the realm of comic books, but some scientists decided to give their input on the matter. The article tells of a scientific experiment in which a researcher put several chickens in a centrifuge and raised them in twice-normal gravity for months at a time. When they emerged, the chickens were stronger and had larger bones and muscles, and greater endurance. In other words, they were superchickens.

Now why couldn't I have been raised in a centrifuge?!

Entry: My 4th of July

My fourth wasn't too terribly eventful. Went to Clay and Nan's, ate some burgers and dogs, played some board games, and watched a movie.

If you've ever been to Earthfare and wanted to buy one of their pre-made burgers with the cheese actually kneeded into the patty, don't. I couldn't taste or see any difference between one of them and a regular burger.

Also, if you've never played the Mad Magazine board game, you're missing out. I grew up on that game. Then again, good luck finding it in stores anymore. It probably hasn't actually been manufactured in the last 20 years. Clay just happened to have one (much to my delight).

Again, I was happy to miss the whole fireworks thing. I'm really not into fireworks. It's not that I'm a killjoy or anything, but once you've seen them a few times, you've seen them enough to last you a lifetime. Plus, after the fireworks display last year at the opening of the new Cooper River bridge, I think that everything else afterward would be somewhat anti-climactic.

Entry: The other half of the weekend

Let's see...what all has happened since my post on Sunday. Not much really.

Something interesting did occur on Sunday. I was laying on my couch watching the ol' brain-sucking tube and saw the shadow of a bird on my wall in my living area. Of course, this shadow was being cast by a bird that was flying around my deck outside my apartment. I lifted my head off the couch just enough to see what it was out of sheer curiosity. Lo and behold, there's a huge vulture on my deck looking at me through my window! He wasn't really looking at ME per se....I think I startled him when I stirred on the couch since he had his eye on me with his fight-or-flight mechanism kicked into high gear. About a minute of pure stillness later, the vulture jumps up onto the guard rail on my deck and starts scanning the area (presumably for prey)....one eye on its surroundings and the other on me the whole time. About five minutes later, the bird takes to flight. I haven't been THAT close to a vulture since I lived in MD and almost hit one with my windshield.

Took another stab at the climbing wall at James Island county park yesterday. Surprisingly enough, the place was deserted. Clay and I had the entire thing to ourselves. Now, granted, we were climbing in 94 degrees with 4,000% humidity, but it was fun nonetheless. It was a brief yet painful reminder of just how out-of-shape I really am. Bah! By the way....not much else sucks more than to have your shirt soaked with sweat....your eyes stinging from salt...your arms on *FIRE*...panting to catch your breath....just to go up to a Gatorade vending machine with a pocket full of $1 bills only to find that the bill thing doesn't work. Kinda reminds me of that Alannis Morisette song...."Isn't it Ironic....".

Article: Dude wakes up with lighbulb stuck in odd place

(Picture courtesy of MSNBC.com)

So, this guy wakes up one day in jail and is experiencing an odd discomfort in his abdominal region. He finally is taken to the hospital to find that there is an object in his bowels that aught not be there. He is supposedly very surprised and has no idea how it got there.

Entry: Interesting South Carolina laws

• A railroad my not remove itself from a town of more than five hundred people.
• All schools must prepare a suitable program for Francis Willard Day.
• By law, if a man promises to marry an unmarried woman, the marriage must take place.
• Charleston: It is against the law to drive a motorized vehicle on King Street. The Fire Department may blow up your house. This law was made so that the fire department could create a fire brake.
• Dance halls may not operate on Sundays.
• Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks.
• Fortune tellers are required to obtain a special permit from the state.
• Fountain Inn: Horses are to wear pants at all times.
• Horses may not be kept in bathtubs.
• In South Carolina, wife beaters weren't allowed to hold public office.
• In South Carolina you can be fined for not denouncing "the evils of intemperance" on the fourth Friday of every October.
• It is a capital offense to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide.
• It is considered an offense to get a tattoo.
• It is illegal to communicate with a woman using obscene messages.
• It is illegal to display a confederate flag on a courthouse.
• It is illegal to give or receive oral sex.
• It is illegal to sell any alcoholic beverages on Sunday, unless you own a private club.
• It is legal to beat your wife on a Sunday morning on the steps of the state house.
• It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps on Sundays.
• Lancaster County: It is illegal to dance in public.
• Merchandise may not be sold within a half mile of a church unless fruit is being sold.
• Musical instruments may not be sold on Sunday.
• No work may be done on Sunday. An exception is that light bulbs may be sold.
• On Hilton Head Island, South Carolina it is illegal to shine a flashlight on a sea turtle
• Performing a U-turn within 1,000 feet of an intersection is illegal.
• Railroad companies may be held liable in some instances for scaring horses.
• Spartanburg: Eating watermelons in the Magnolia Street cemetery is forbidden.
• When approaching a four way or blind intersection in a non-horse driven vehicle you must stop 100 ft from the intersection and discharge a firearm into the air to warn horse traffic.

Entry: Halfway through the weekend

This is a random mid-weekend entry. So, I'm over at Clay's last night and we decided that it was time to do get our old-school Nintendo groove on. It had been a while so, why not. It was a blast. We played all the way through 'Super Mario Bros. 3'.

The point that I wanted to make by telling you all this isn't that I was playing a game, but that it's weird how a person's memory works. I just think it's hilarious that I can study a formula for hours for a test and have such a hard time but yet, I can so clearly remember secrets and hidden items (down to the pixel!) in games that I haven't touched in 10-15 years! What is up with that?? I would SO trade that ability in if it meant it could make my schoolwork easier!

Also in the news, I was cleaning out my fish's tank yesterday and noticed that the big fake cave that I bought for him a while ago was past its prime. So, I discarded it and went to Pet Smart to get something else. I ended up buying this fake little corel reef segment that had a big barrel with holes on top of it. Rex loves it. The problem is that he loves it TOO MUCH! He spends all of his time in the bloody barrel now! Oyvay. He just sits there and floats at the top of the inside of the barrel. I have to contort my neck to be able to see in at an angle to be able to see him. But, he's there. He's got his own little nook now. Of course, he's probably going to like it so much now that he'll become lazy and fat.

Speaking of lazy and fat, my television is ruining me. I still get my workout time in but I'm spending wayyy too much time in front of that brain-sucking device. I can almost HEAR myself getting dumber as I watch. Blast that Discovery Channel! Blast it all to heck! I'd be on a sports team if my knee didn't bother me so much. Blah.

For those who don't know already, I have a contract down on a house and will be closing at the end of this month. This nightmare is almost over (and the new nightmare of home-ownership is about to begin).

That's not asking too much...is it? ;)
(And yeah...this is probably one of the more risque pictures that I've put on my blog.)