Tuesday, November 3, 2009

You Are Most Troublesome, for a Security Guard...



Cool! A new post! Wow, it's been so long since I've update my blog, I can't remember the last time... sorry to make you all wait so long. Your patience and devotion is appreciated. I mean, 24 hours is really too, too long to have to wait for more Dave. I mean, where else are you going to go to see nonsense like this:



That... is one hardcore mustache. My first question when I see that is: what is this guy hiding from? Maybe it's for defensive purposes... I mean, to be effective at all in punching this guy in the face, you need to sort of loop your punch up and over that set of fur tusks, and, like, aim for the eye socket region. Even then, the brim of the hat might provide additional defense. I wonder what a mustache like that smells like... to him, I mean. Come on, I'm not talking about trying to smell another man's mustache, get real here...

See more wild facial hair HERE.

And in case you ever have the sudden urge to move to a city that is precariously situated on the edge of a steep precipice, you can find 5 great candidates HERE. Here is an example:



This particular place is called Bonifacio, on the southern tip of the island of Corsica. Man, if I lived there, I'd spit off the balcony all the time. I wonder if they get broadband there... Of course, also featured in that link is Santorini Island, near Greece. Those that have frequented this blog for a while may remember me referencing Santorini a time or three. I have a particular fascination with the place.

Which reminds me, a few months back, I mentioned in a blog post that during the day, I saw a cloud in the sky that was rainbow striped, in the middle of the sky, surrounded by scattered clouds of the more traditional "white and fluffy" variety. At the time, I took it as a harbinger of doom and despair (since I had no better explanation), but lo and behold, I found the explanation today!



"The atmospheric phenomenon known as a circumhorizontal arc, or "fire rainbow", appears when the sun is high in the sky, and its light passes through diaphanous, high-altitude cirrus clouds made up of hexagonal plate crystals. Sunlight entering the crystals' vertical side faces and leaving through their bottom faces is refracted (as through a prism) and separated into an array of visible colors. When the plate crystals in cirrus clouds are aligned optimally (with their faces parallel to the ground), the resulting display is a brilliant spectrum of colors reminiscent of a rainbow."

That was the wordy way of saying, "Hey, it's freaky cool!"

Random Odds and Ends:

-- I finished up the Piranha newsletters today, as well as made modifications to an interview trascript... are you proud of me? You are? Wow, that was easy... you need to make it more challenging to earn your pride next time. But, hey, for now, I'll take it!

-- I also played Torchlight a goodly amount during the breaks in action. Great game, I'm loving it.

-- I watched What the Bleep Do We Know? again tonight as well. It's worth wading through the corniness to get at the more thought-provoking questions that the doc raises. You also have to dismiss how seriously the film makers take themselves. I'm not much into quantum physics, but it's fun to think about, in any case.

-- I walked to the top of Beethoven again today. That's two days in a row! I'm going to try to do it everyday this month. It's a steep hill; took me 20 minutes up and 20 minutes back down again, walking and listening to the Book of Acts on my iPod, enjoying the sunset. Felt great. I've also started doing push-ups & sit-ups every morning too. Hey, I'm trying to write my novel every day, I might as well add more "things to do every day" to the list while I'm at it! Now if I could just get the camp slideshow done...

-- Found this moving video clip today... the title is misleading... probably on purpose...




She thinks she's going to give an oral report to her class on her dad who's stationed in Iraq, but her dad surprises her by coming to class in person to hear it... Now every time I need to cry, I'll watch that clip. I've watched it several times today and it never ceases to move me deeply. Talk about pure emotion... that's like the "cool, crisp, still, snowy morning" of emotional responses. Unmixed, no nuance, just straight, unspoiled, wonderful emotion. She's going to remember the way that moment felt for the rest of her life. Probably dream about it, too... Makes me wonder why I work so hard to bury mine so deep...

I guess I better end tonight's post with a cool picture of horses, to make Shannon happy... and the other horse-lovers among us, too, I suppose...



Personally, horses scare me, but I'm kind of a wuss like that. I'll stick to a skateboard for the time being... awesome picture though...

Until tomorrow, remember, this time John Wayne does not walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly.

7 comments:

Abbie said...

That is an amazing horse picture! and so was your opening and the precipice pictures as well :)
Sounds like this is going to be a good month! I'm excited for you :) oh yeah, i saw those same types of clouds too! not as brilliant as the picture you found, but i was able to capture a little bit of the color on my camera. What we found also said that it was because of hte ice in the clouds... it was pretty amazing!

have a good one dave!!

Sodi said...

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!! WOW Dave awesome horse picture. My favorite one is the one on the front left. I love the black socks it has! So beautiful, I wish I could jump in that picture right onto that horses back! Like in Narnia! So awesome how the horses look like they never end. You made my day!

Dude, I feel way to insane right now. Way too much caffeine and way too much studying. And I have so much homework to do but I keep doing every possible thing on this earth to keep me from doing my homework. I can't stop moving... ok, have a great day Dave...... ok bye

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Amazing pictures! I love all of them, well except for the mustache one. The scenery is amazing today!

Okay, I know there is no contest this month but I have to ask. The title: You are most troublesone, for a security guard... is this Die Hard?

I am not very good at the quotes from movies thing. I never have been. I was always amazed at others walking around quoting movies and always the best parts of the movies. Just thought I would ask.

logankstewart said...

Dang it Dave, you made me get a speck of dirt in my eyes both times I watched that video. Maybe it's because my brother's already been to Iraq once, or maybe it's because he's leaving again in January, but it was supremely moving and heart-warming.

Awesome pictures, today.

David Wagner said...

Glad you guys enjoyed today's pictures... I was rather fond of them myself...

Melissa, yeah, that's a quote from Die Hard, as is the closing "until tomorrow" line. It's simple and fun enough to still grab cool quotes for those two spots, so I still do it.

Logan: Such a strong video clip, I'm surprised you're the only one that mentioned it so far. Maybe it's a guy thing...

Good luck with the schoolwork, Shannon...

havah said...

Okay, is it still considered a moustache if part of it seems to be beard? :o My dad grew handlebars one year -- although not like that! *L* -- he's a little odd sometimes. :)

Wow. Talk about living on the edge! The view must be amazing, and I'm sure they have a few good years left though before they plummet into the sea.

Freaky cool clouds indeed!

I walked to the kitchen today. Thanks for making me feel like a slug. :(
j/k

Oh, that made me cry. When you see that kind of honest emotion, you realise that no movie will ever truly capture reality.

Gorgeous horse picture. Horses intimidate me somewhat too. Must have been that half-wild thing they stuck me on when I was five.

Anyway...Cool post. I'm amazed you have time given your mounting NaNo wordage. I'm waaayyy behind. :(

Paula Titus said...

Loved the video - so heart warming. :) And the horse pic is amazing! They are such beautiful creatures.

Keep up the good work on your novel, I know you can do it!