Saturday, April 24, 2010

A Large, Swirling Maelstrom of Odds and Ends

This could well be the most amazing picture I've ever posted on my blog... it's supposed to be that volcano in Iceland...

Greetings!

As promised, here are a bunch of random pics and videos that I found interesting lately. I thought I'd share them with you! Don't you feel special? Well, if you don't, then you should! So there!

First, this could well be the greatest prank ever pulled. This is from a couple years back. So, before the World Cup, a guy in the Netherlands drove around to popular bars, bringing with him a bunch of remote controls, testing to see if any of them would effect the TV's in the bar, taking notes of which ones worked on which TV's. Then, on the day of the big World Cup game that Holland was competing in, he went around to the packed bars, with all the people into the game, and waited for a tense moment... and then switched off the set... HILARIOUS.



OMG, that guy was playing with fire. Loved it.

Check out this amazing collapsible bookshelf! Quick, someone show Peter!

So I'm officially in the planning stages of the LAN party for May 14th overnight to May 15th. Yep, 24 hours of gaming goodness! Right now, the guest list is a dozen people long... who knows if everyone will be able to show up or not, we'll see. And if I can get Rockband and a few other console games for the non-PC gamers, perhaps there will be even more people that can come... I'm going to get lots of great food and refreshments, throw the doors open, and just have a blast. We'll get a bunch of games going, and hopefully make it a party to remember...

Time for another video...

Dang, this guy should win a Nobel Prize or something for this invention. I wonder when it will become a reality. Or if it will be bought and buried...



Amazing that he could do all that using water...

And now, the funniest thing I've seen all day...


Yeah, I know... I'm a man that's easily amused... or is it "a man who's easily amused"? O, whatever. You get the idea.

I've decided to buy a web notebook computer like my daughters have. Here's my reasoning. For some reason, when I'm on this desktop machine, I have WAAYY too many options, as far as things to do, so writing new material on my novel(s) slips and bumps down the list, usually hanging in about the #4 or 5 position, until bedtime. I have work to do, web to surf, games to play, funny videos to watch, Facebook Scrabble to play, etc. Ironically, when 1:45 to 2:00 am rolls around and I'm ready for bed, I set up my sleeping quarters on the living room couch, grab the book I'm reading of late, and settle in for some reading time. INVARIABLY, that's when I also get the itch to write. But my laptop is bulky and the battery is dead (so I have to plug it in) and it's awkward trying to balance it on my lap or my propped legs, and keep air circulating...

So last night, I snagged Middle Daughter's web book and fired it up instead of opening the book I'm reading, to see if writing on the web book worked. And it does! The battery life is super-long, so I don't have to plug it in. It's little so it's less awkward and doesn't get hot. And it's easy to type as I lay there on the couch with it resting in my lap, legs bent at 45 degrees. I could easily write for a half-hour each night, without distraction (since I will disable the web access) before switching it off and grabbing my book.

And they're only 300 bucks or so. Seems like a great solution.

OK, I'm going to post one last video. There's a guy on YouTube named Mr. Chi City who is a real character. I've never posted his videos on here before because he's usually pretty free with his language, but he really is funny and fun to watch. Well, I'm finally going to post a video of his, since it is free of any colorful language, and is really a heartwarming clip.

Pay no attention to how it starts! Skip ahead to about the 35 second mark to pass the confusing intro. Basically, he and his friend AC go around Chicago each year at Christmas, giving away Christmas cards with money in them to random people on the streets and in businesses. Man, I've always wanted to do stuff like this. It really is cool to see people's reactions to a random stranger giving them money and wishing them Merry Christmas...



One of Mr. Chi City's gimmicks is he never shows his face in his videos... like in the annoying intro, where you can't see his face - that's intentional. If you can handle the occasionally off-color language, check out a couple other of his videos. He's a character, all right...

OK, I'm done for now. Hope something in this post amused you. In fact...


Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Dave

5 comments:

Joseph said...

Wow. Amazing, amazing photo. I'm blown away.

Also, hoping I can come to the LAN. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Odhynn said...

Dear Lord, nasty prank ! And inside a bar full of nail-biting soccer fans ! He's lucky to have survived ...

Hmm, this reusable-water-powered engine can't be that simple from a Physics perspective, but still possible.
So what ? The natural environment's greatest foe is human economy. As long as maximum profit depends on fossil fuel usage, none will be allowed to innovate.

havah said...

Look, Dave! It's me! It's me! (As promised.)

Stunning photograph! I wonder how long it took to get a shot like that.

The Amsterdam prank was too funny! I wouldn't recommend he do that in good old SA though!

I LOVE the bookcase! I'd pay good money (assuming I had any) for that thing.

As Dry says...nothing like that will be allowed while fossil fuels pull in the bucks. So if you're thinking about perpetual motion...might as well forget about that too.

Hmm...methinks Mr Chi City is loaded, because those are $20 and $50 bills in there. I wonder if he claims back on his taxes? Yes, yes, I know...no cynicism allowed. It's a great idea. I do wish I could do something like that...I love the reactions.

And, yes, I find that semi amusing.

PS I do love your blog. I'm glad you kept it going. :)

Abbie said...

amazing top pic dave! totally awesome... nice Joker joke too, haha, i liked that one!

David Wagner said...

Joe: Glad you dug the pic. Hope you can come to the LAN too, eh!

Dry: I tend to agree with you, about the tech. But in my advanced age, I'm trying not to be as cynical as I used to be...

Havah: I saw another of Mr Chi City's vids (Make a Difference Monday #5) that showed him as he began to prep for the Xmas give-away... he had a cigar box FULL of $50 bills... he must have given away several thousand bucks...

Abbie: That Joker comic is classic... wish I'd have thought it up...