Reading The Times

Take The Times (UK) lager quiz (in the right sidebar on this page)…and see how much you really know about beer. I scored 7/10. And I consider myself knowledgeable about beer…not a connoisseur, by any means, but knowledgeable. So, I suppose 70% is about where I should be. There are some fairly esoteric questions in this quiz, so don’t go laughing or making fun of me because of my relatively low score.

There’s a lot to interest beer lager drinkers on the linked page. I tend to drink ales almost exclusively, but even speaking as a non-lager lover, I spent more than a few minutes here.

How’s your taste? Are you tasteful? Or tasteless? Read the Brit definition(s) here… “Does your taste suck?” Excerpt:

Another word for this phenomenon is “grotesque”. That’s what a lot of our purchases, even our bodies, are becoming. Our cars have ballooned, our garages doubled, our houses have been extended, our muscles bulked up, our breasts inflated and our lips beestung. At the end of that we’ve had our teeth bleached bunny-rabbit white and hopped onto a sunbed. Is this new Texan-style sensibility necessarily bad taste, though? Definitions of good taste are notoriously difficult. It could be argued that the whole idea of good taste is in bad taste. Why do we need to be prescriptive? Isn’t that pretentious, divisive and arrogant? Well, yes, but it’s quite good fun.

Hmmm. What’s this “Texan-style sensibility” stuff? I assume the author is going for the “ever thang’s bigger in Texas!” stereotype. But he’s British, so one never knows. Good article, though, and I pretty much agree with all that’s said. But then again, I would. After all, I’m a man of remarkably good taste. (ahem)

Another passing…Art Arfons, who was something of a childhood hero of mine, died on December 3rd. And I didn’t see a single obituary in a US paper. How sad. But, as for Mr. Arfons…he had a major impact on my young life. The stuff he did, and the way he did it, made him a role-model for gear heads everywhere, especially young ones. That and the fact he was in the pages (if not on the cover) of Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, and the like throughout the 50s and 60s. There was just something about The Green Monsters…in all their incarnations, but most especially the jet-powered ones…that captured the imagination of the pre-adolescent Bucky Pennington. And the young man that followed, too.

In 1952 he and Walt built their first proper vehicle, a three-wheeled dragster with an Oldsmobile engine, splashed with green tractor paint. The commentator at the drag strip called the creation “the green monster”, a name that adhered to all Art Arfons's projects thereafter, whatever their hue. The green monster proved somewhat slow at 85mph, but the brothers raised their game by switching to aircraft engines. The Green Monster 2 had a 2,000-horsepower Allison V1710 aircraft engine as used on the Lockheed P38, six wheels and a top speed of 145.16mph on the quarter mile, a drag-racing world record. It won the first drag racing World Series at Lawrenceville, Illinois, in 1953. Green Monster 6 was the first dragster to exceed 150mph; Green Monster II reached 191mph.

Both hungry for glory, the Arfons split up to duel amicably with each other on the drag strip. Walt was the first to develop a jet-engined dragster, for which he was required to invent the parachute as a stopping device. Art later refined a means to fire the parachute with a shotgun mechanism, and created a Green Monster with a J97 static thrust engine from a Lockheed F104 Starfighter, bought from a scrap dealer in 1967. A request to General Electric for a repair manual resulted in a government agent turning up to confiscate the engine, telling Arfons that components for the Starfighter — which had held simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and climb rate — were still top secret. He was horrified that Arfons had repaired the engine without assistance.

Whatta guy, eh? Obituary here.

Photo credit: The Times.

It’s Been A Long Time Since They Rock ‘n’ Rolled….

…and a few folks think it should have been longer…like forever. First there was this sort of sour grapes carping from Diana West:

As for Mr. Plant himself, The New York Times said: "He was authoritative; he was dignified."

OK. I'll pretend I haven't seen concert pictures of Mr. Plant, his face contorted over his hand-held microphone and under his disheveled perm. In fact, maybe "authoritative" works, at least in the way a street person yelling at a bus is authoritative. But "dignified"?

No doubt "dignified" is in the eye of the beholder -- in this case, the concert audience, some 10,000 strong. Among them was the Washington Post's reviewer, a self-described attorney "staring down the barrel of 40," who wrote of the "palpable sense of community" in the crowd around him, and more. "It appears that all the tickets to this concert went to couples who care about each other deeply," he wrote. "Fathers and sons. Mothers and daughters. Lifelong friends who bonded all those years ago to the music of the men onstage." I can hear the old song now: "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, woman, you need it!"

I say “sour grapes” because one suspects Ms. West was among the 19,990,000 unsuccessful souls who participated in the ticket lottery. Or not, if you tend to believe her hippie-bashing. Which, of course, is the thing to do these days.

The Brits do snark the best, however. From Mick Hume, writing in The Times (UK):

So how come, long after they were buried, Led Zep can suddenly create “the longest ticket queue in history”? This is the age of the reunion, from the Spice Girls to (sadly) the Sex Pistols. It must say something about how tame youth music has become that the year's most talked-about gigs star a “girdle power” group and boring even-older farts who had a nice cup of tea afterwards.

Nostalgia clearly ain't what it used to be. Once it was the preserve of old people, focused on big events in their lives and times. Now we have middle- aged men, seemingly with guitar-shaped holes in their souls, banging on about the meaning of Zep or Floyd as their parents talked about the war.

Most depressing is the apparent desire of young people to be retro Zep-heads. A Facebook group entitled “And God said, Let there be rock. And there was Led Zeppelin” has 30,500 members; one called “Led Zeppelin SUCKS!” boasts just 49. Youngsters interviewed with their parents at the O2 gig were breathlessly excited about seeing “real” rock music and smug about their jealous mates.

Tip o’ the ice berg, that. Short, but sweet. Still and even, a very cursory look tells me they’ve still got it…

The fact that a bunch of guys in their early 60s (OK, Plant is 59) could take the stage and even attempt what is a young man’s game is cause enough for admiration. The fact that they succeeded (according to most accounts, the above are exceptions) is simply amazing.

More power to ‘em, more often.

Pertinent Video Comment

If you’ve been by Mushy’s place today, you’ve seen this. But it’s just too danged good NOT to post here at EIP.

Perfect. Just frickin’ perfect, innit?

I used to dread the onslaught of Christmas catalogs, back when they still were Christmas catalogs. I dunno exactly when the Official American Vernacular changed, but it was sometime in the last six or seven years, methinks. But Hey! Opportunities abound for great good fun with this phenomenon. I simply revel in the opportunity to respond to some clerk, manager, or other hapless employee (who’s been instructed to use the now-ubiquitous “Happy Holidays!” by his employer) with “Merry Christmas!” And yannowhut? The response, nine times out of ten, is a big smile and a “Thank You!”

Most of us Get It, regardless of what the PC-Police think.

Blather...Real and Imagined

In what’s turning into a semi-regular event here at EIP, here’s today’s Cannon AFB update, courtesy (once again) of the Air Force Association’s “Daily Brief:”

What Are Those Things?: Air Force Special Operations Command is beginning to move several units to its new western base at Cannon AFB, N.M., and this summer plans to send in a relatively new and low-profile airframe-the U-28A. According to Col. Tim Leahy, commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon, the aircraft came out of the emphasis placed on special operations forces in the last Quadrennial Defense Review. Dubbed the "Non-Standard Aircraft" and called NSA, the small airlifter is a variant of the Pilatus PC-12 and joined the air commando fleet in August 2005. Filled with advanced communications and navigation gear and a host of classified capabilities, the aircraft is designed to provide intratheater support to special ops forces. AFSOC chose the U-28A specifically to operate from short and unimproved runway surfaces and even dirt strips. One reason for assigning them to Cannon is to take advantage of the nearby Melrose training range, where AFSOC is interested in practicing assault landings on one of the dirt strips, according to range chief Johnny Rogers. "The rougher the better," Rogers said during a tour of the range. The aircraft are currently operated by the 319th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

I find these lil tidbits very interesting. These news releases are small clues as to what sort of activities, and what sort of military personnel participating in these activities, are going to be taking place in and around Cannon Airplane Patch in the very near future. Methinks we’re going to get a lot more diverse in these parts. In addition to Air Commandos, I’m thinking we’ll be seeing folks from Marine Force Recon, Army Rangers, and such. And there may be SEALs, too, but I think not…those guys are pretty big on the self-contained, organic, in-house thing, including transport to and from the fight. Or they used to be. The current “jointness” trend might have overcome that tendency, so it wouldn’t surprise me a whit to see SEALs walking around Cannon. Maybe.

Have you ever wondered what life is like for the rank and file aboard an aircraft carrier? A deployed aircraft carrier, on station in the Gulf? And by “rank and file,” I mean the guys who work on the jets and get them ready to do what must be done, not the high-visibility guys who do the flying. Those fly-guy stories are well represented and well-told…most notably here. But it’s the support troops who rarely get the press, and even more rarely tell their stories. One such story is being told here… in “Post Cards From Deployment: In the Gulf.” (This is but one installment in a series... I suggest you read them all!)

Wonder no more. And a BIG tip o’ the hat to SJS for doing the blog-hosting chores for Southern Air Pirate.

So…I was catching up on my Lileks last evening and came across a wonderful 1953 Harley ad James had so kindly and thoughtfully posted in the “Advertising” sub-section of his site, along with his trademarked piquant commentary.

There are lots and lots of adjectives that come to mind when thinking of J. Lileks…like “prolific,” “erudite,” “witty,” and “talented.” But the only adjective that adequately describes his knowledge of motorcycles is “lacking.” And why is that, you ask, Gentle Reader? Because one doesn’t drive a bike, one rides. And one rides on a motorcycle, not in one (just how would you get “in” a motorcycle, anyway?). Both usages are the tell-tale signs of a person who may admire motorcycles but has rarely ridden one, if ever. Take my criticisms with a grain of salt, because the ad is great. You should go.

Yes, I am nitpicking. It’s simple jealousy at play, that’s all. Sheer, unadulterated jealousy.

Long-time readers of EIP may wonder about the lack of political fodder around these parts of late. Well, I’m going through yet another of my periodic “screw-it” episodes, wherein I wash my hands of all things political. Which, of course, is necessary from time to time, if only to keep what’s left of one’s (my) sanity. And besides that, it’s The Holidays…and who needs MORE idiots at this time o’ year?

Still and even, I’m going wade back into the morass to bring you this lil interesting installment of point-counterpoint political dialog, otherwise known as the “Jane, you ignorant slut!” school of intellectual exchange. From The Times (UK):

Al Gore, the former US Vice-President, launched a very public attack on Washington today blaming American officials for the failure of this week’s United Nations climate change conference.

The United States refused to sign up to emissions targets as the Bali conference on global warming limped to an acrimonious conclusion today.

Mr Gore, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year for his work on climate change, was clear in his denunciation of President Bush’s attitude.

“I am not an official and I am not bound by diplomatic niceties. So I am going to speak an inconvenient truth: my own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali,” he said, to the applause of delegates.

As Charles Krauthammer remarked, rather pithily, on FNC’s Special Report last evening (transcript not available; quoting from memory): “It’s global warming, not ‘American warming’.” Krauthammer’s point is the two nations with bigger problems than the US (China and India)…when it comes to emissions… are excluded from the Kyoto Protocol and other future climate change proposals. And the US is absolutely, positively correct in refusing to accept the economic burden(s) of Kyoto without similar concessions from those whose problems are larger than ours…and getting worse. That’s just one lil anecdote. There are others, such as this, from Christopher Monckton:

As a contributor to the IPCC’s 2007 report, I share the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. Yet I and many of my peers in the British House of Lords - through our hereditary element the most independent-minded of lawmakers - profoundly disagree on fundamental scientific grounds with both the IPCC and my co-laureate’s alarmist movie An Inconvenient Truth, which won this year’s Oscar for Best Sci-Fi Comedy Horror.

[…]

If we take the heroically stupid decisions now on the table at Bali, it will once again be the world’s poorest people who will die unheeded in their tens of millions, this time for lack of the heat and light and power and medical attention which we in the West have long been fortunate enough to take for granted.

If we deny them the fossil-fuelled growth we have enjoyed, they will remain poor and, paradoxically, their populations will continue to increase, making the world’s carbon footprint very much larger in the long run.

And this:

Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.

The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.

Well now. I’m in no way dissing the Pope (but it sure does look like it, since I’m invoking the pontiff’s name in conjunction with Algore), but it seems odd to me that one High Priest is in serious disagreement with another (real!) High Priest. I dunno about you, Gentle Reader, but even in this day and age I’ll wager the Pope has more moral authority than Algore.

In his little finger.

Thus endeth today’s lesson.

Wreaths Across America

A few days back this week, blog-buddy Kris posted a story (with pics!) about Wreaths Across America. Kris had a special connection with Wreaths Across America, as her Mom was at the send-off event in Harrington, Maine (Kris’ Mom was in Belfast, ME). The wreaths arrive in Washington DC tommorrow, and the placement ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled to begin at 0900 hours this Sunday.

The Arlington wreath-laying ceremonies are scheduled to commence at 9 a.m. Dec. 15, culminating with a nationwide ceremony and moment of remembrance at 12 p.m. All Wreath Across America participants nationwide will adorn veterans' graves with remembrance wreaths concurrently with the Arlington celebration at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The Civil Air Patrol, USAF’s civilian auxiliary, is participating in this project in a big way:

12/7/2007 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- Veterans' memorials and gravesites across the nation will be adorned with remembrance wreaths on Dec. 15 in stirring, solemn tributes to the courage and sacrifice of those who have guarded and preserved the nation throughout history.

Through Wreaths Across America, Civil Air Patrol members join with Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, in remembering the nation's departed veterans. CAP units will lead 132 of the 268 observances this year, and will participate with other color and honor guards in approximately 25 additional locations.

This year, for the first time ever, members of the public sponsored placement of 16,500 wreaths on veterans' graves across the U.S., with more than 4,000 of those sponsored through CAP. These wreaths will be placed during ceremonies in all 50 states. Worcester Wreath Co. donated 15,644 wreaths, 10,000 of which will be placed at Arlington National Cemetery. In all, 32,144 wreaths will adorn cemeteries and memorials through Wreaths Across America.

After a sendoff ceremony Dec. 9, the 10,000 remembrance wreaths designated for Arlington will make a 750-mile journey from Harrington, Maine, and arrive in the D.C. area Dec. 14. The route will become perhaps the longest veterans' celebration ever as patriotic Americans, veterans groups and other local organizations plan to show their support for the project with parades and ceremonies at more than 20 stops along the way.

Kudos to everyone involved in this special project, but most especially to the Worcester Wreath Co.

Wreath photos: (U.S. Air Force photos/Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi)

The Aging of Your Air Force

You may have read elsewhere that the USAF has grounded…twice…its entire fleet of 442 F-15s (with the exception of the “E” model) following the crash of an F-15C back in early November. The latest grounding is “indefinite” and would appear to put a serious kink in our…read that as USAF’s and by extension, the nation’s… global airpower capabilities. You can’t take 442 fighters out of the mix and not feel some sort of major impact, both here in the USofA and in the war zones. Still and even, USAF’s operational responsibilities aren’t diminishing in the least. Operation Noble Eagle is one such example.

December 12, 2007— Air Forces Northern, headquartered at Tyndall AFB, Fla., has continued to conduct Operation Noble Eagle, despite the Air Force's grounding of its F-15 A-D fleet. As we've reported earlier, units that fly other fighters are substituting for F-15 units normally tasked with ONE alerts. The latest data, covering the month of November, shows ONE crews racked up 50 more sorties in November than in October.

(Graphic and caption from the Air Force Association)

Air frames can be repaired and retrofitted to correct structural deficiencies, but there is a limit to what can be done to counter the physical aging process of any mechanical system including, and perhaps especially, aircraft. The current F-15 issues may only be the tip of the iceberg, given the ages of the aircraft in the Air Force’s fleet. The charts on pages 63 and 64 of the current Air Force Almanac show the average ages of the USAF and Air National Guard’s inventories (pdf alert). You’ll note the F-15, with an average of (just!) 19.7 years is less than half that of the B-52 (44.8 years) or the KC-135 (44.5 years)…and that’s in the regular Air Force. The Guard and Reserve fare much worse, given as how they tend to fly aircraft quite a bit older than the Regular AF.

USAF’s senior leadership have been warning…for years…that the service faces a major fiscal challenge in the recapitalization of the fleet, an effort that will require billions and billions of dollars, not to mention time. It’s a serious problem:

After four years in Iraq, five-and-a-half years in Afghanistan, and 16 nonstop years of combat operations throughout Southwest Asia, the Air Force stands at a strategic crossroads. One path leads to continuation of a dominant air and space power, while the other leads to something less—perhaps a lot less.

Such was the import of somber public remarks from the service’s senior officials at the Air Force Association’s annual Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

The Air Force must find a way to sustain today’s creaking equipment, modernize the force with next generation systems, and provide airmen to support the proposed addition of 92,000 troops to the Army and Marine Corps.

It must do all of this with what officials openly concede is an inadequate budget for Fiscal Year 2008, which begins on Oct. 1, and years beyond.

Read the whole thing, as it’s said. The bottom line is we’re sending our Best and Brightest up to fight in aircraft that, in some instances, are much older than the pilots and aircrew themselves.

That ain’t right.

For Gearheads Only…

Here are the first few pages of the 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS sales brochure…and the window sticker from the SS I owned and loved. As always, click the pics for the larger versions (which are larger than is my usual practice, but only to keep the text readable).

I’ve only owned 18 cars in my entire life, being a “buy and hold” kinda guy when it comes to cars…particularly if I like the things. (A case-in-point: The Green Hornet and I celebrated our seventh anniversary together this past October. Some actual marriages between human beans don't last that long.) And even if I didn’t like a car all that much I usually wound up keeping it, at least until it was paid off and I could rationalize— really rationalize — buying something new. The SS is one of only five cars I wish I still owned, and it’s in my “Top Three” favorite cars of all time. I’d probably still own the thing if I had maintained a conventional life instead of opting to run all around the country for a few years in a motor home. And then stay in the danged thing… but I digress, yet again.

The Impala SS is what used to be called a “Gentleman’s Express,” which is to say a hot rod for adults (as opposed to, say, a pony car or a rice-rocket). She was BIG, weighing just over two tons (!), comfortable, and fast… as in “set the cruise control on 95 mph and haul-ass” fast. I actually did this on Highway 401 between Toronto and Windsor on numerous occasions, back in the day when I commuted between Rochester, NY and Detroit. You really could drive that fast on “The 401,” and faster. There were times when I was batting along at 95 mph and got passed. Swear-to-God. Anyhoo… I don’t believe I’ve ever owned another car that was better on the open (American) road. I’ve owned a couple that were equal, but none better.

Here’s a professional take on the ’96 Impala SS, and here’s what The Wiki has to say about her.

Dang. I miss that car!

Cannon AFB In the News...

From the Air Force Association’s Daily Report— an e-mail newsletter that hits my in-box every week day morning without fail — three items about Cannon Airplane Patch:

Home On The (Melrose) Range: Just a few months after the base transitioned to Air Force Special Operations Command, air commando officials at Cannon AFB, N.M. are preparing to ramp up training at one of the facility's key assets-the nearby Melrose Bombing and Gunnery Range. One of the big reasons why AFSOC decided to open their western base of operations in the High Plains of eastern New Mexico is the sheer space the range has to offer-about 60,000 acres of Air Force property, 8,800 of which are dedicated impact areas for day or night gunnery and bombing practice. AFSOC expects by April to unleash its AC-130 gunships on the range as a regular patrons. During a tour of the range last week Lt. Col. Toby Corey, director of operations for the 27th Special Operations Support Squadron, said Cannon planned to open two dedicated gunship impact training areas this spring. The two areas-named "Spirit" and "Jockey" in honor of two gunships lost in the Gulf War and Operation Restore Hope, respectively-will be filled with about 26 targets. During his final flight before retiring, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, former AFSOC commander, helped demonstrate the "proof of concept" for the two areas by flying the AC-130 that shot the first live rounds. Since the air commandos will have priority use on the range space, Corey said that AFSOC plans to begin regular temporary duty training rotations with gunship crews, and will soon include training with special tactics airmen.

-Marc V. Schanz

Cross Training at Melrose: While AFSOC's 27th Special Operations Wing would have priority access to the open training space on Melrose (see above), the air commandos won't be alone according to Lt. Col. Toby Corey, ops boss for the 27th Special Operations Support Squadron. In addition to hosting special tactics training from AFSOC units based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., the 27th SOW will be able to work closely with the nearby 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M. The 58th SOW, an Air Education and Training Command unit, is the schoolhouse for AFSOC's helicopter and MC-130 crews and has picked up the training role for the new CV-22. "They are familiar with the environment and the terrain and it will a benefit to have them nearby," Corey said. The short distance for both the Kirtland and Cannon SOF units to the training range also means shorter missions-meaning both the schoolhouse and the wing will get more chances to train.

First On the Ramp: The last F-16 will fly off the ramp at Cannon AFB, N.M. by the end of the month, according to Col. Tim Leahy, the commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing, the new boss at Cannon. The base is undergoing modification and construction of new facilities to support its new Air Force Special Operations Command missions. The first full AFSOC squadron scheduled to take up residence is the 73rd Special Operations Squadron, which flies the MC-130W Combat Spear. While only one of the aircraft was on the ramp as of early December, the squadron is planning to move 12 aircraft out to New Mexico by the end of February; the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia has been modifying standard C-130H models into the special ops version. In the summertime, AFSOC's dedicated unmanned aerial vehicle squadron-the 3rd SOS-will be picking up and moving down from Creech AFB, Nev. Currently construction is proceeding on pads and ground stations for Predator operators at Cannon, as well as conversion of simulation facilities and squadron operations office space.

I’ve noticed there are usually two C-130s on the ramp whenever I go out to the base lately. (You’ll note I didn’t put the “A” or the “M” prefix on “C-130,” since I cannot tell which variant is which from my perspective on the perimeter road.) I also watched an AFSOC C-130 shooting touch ’n’ goes while out at the base a couple of weeks ago… slowing down to a crawl and managing to take in two such passes on the active runway before I ran out of road. My salient observation of this exercise? A/MC-130s are a whole helluva lot quieter than F-16s; an order of magnitude quieter. On take-off, anyway. It’s quite a different story once they start playing around out at the Melrose range. BIG boomers, then!

I'm looking forward to seeing the Ospreys in this part of the world, too.

(Photo credit: Official USAF photo of an AC-130 on the Cannon AFB ramp.)

OK...One More and Then We'll Go...

TSMP in Oxford, England…sometime in 1980.

Dang. This is fun!

Former Happy Days

It's here... and a day early, at that. What's here, you ask, Gentle Reader? Why…the new scanner! So much for that "serious post" I alluded to below. I think I'm gonna be busy playing with the new toy for the rest of the day and probably well into the night, if truth be told.

So. Here’s my first scan: my favorite photo of The Second Mrs. Pennington and I, taken in Deetroit by my Good Buddy Greg sometime in the early '90s. Pretty good looking couple, weren’t we?

This photo scan has been resized to 20% of the original scan size. I think I might need a lil bit of training on this new piece of equipment…

Update, 12/12/2007: I was playing around with PhotoShop Elements and corrected the color on this print. The reults are as you see above. And, as always: click for larger.

No Ice...Thank God

So…the winter storm warning for the High Plains has been cancelled. No ice storm today… I think. But the potential still exists; it’s raining moderately heavy as I type and the temp is 36 degrees. Not a nice day to be out and about. It’s a lot worse elsewhere, though.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Roads were treacherous Monday from the Plains into parts of the Northeast as a storm spread a coating of ice and freezing rain that blacked out a more than half-million homes and businesses. At least 13 traffic deaths were linked to icy roads.

Winter weather warnings and advisories were posted along a cold front that stretched from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.

A state of emergency was declared for the entire state of Oklahoma, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Management. Fifty industrial generators and three truckloads of bottled water were to be shipped to blacked-out areas. Missouri had declared an emergency on Sunday and put the National Guard on alert.

Oklahoma utilities said some 400,000 customers were blacked out as power lines snapped under the weight of ice and falling tree branches, and utilities in Missouri said more than 100,000 homes and business had no power there. Roughly 11,000 were blacked out in southern Illinois.

[…]

On ice-covered Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Okla., four people died in "one huge cluster of an accident" that involved 11 vehicles, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph.

Eight other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads, and Missouri had one death on a slippery highway.

As I said yesterday: I’m not liking this. And I won’t travel if this sh|t continues apace.

Stuff I really like… Part 29:

Geico commercials. Some are just strange:

And some are simply classic:

“Pull that string one more time. I dare ya!” That makes me laugh right out loud every frickin’ time I see this ad. And speaking of LOL moments, there’s this one, too:

The ad isn’t running any longer (it should run forever, in my book), but it’s most-definitely the weirdest of the bunch. I lurves me some weird. I really DO. And Geico delivers…with interesting, funny, and oh-so-prolific ads. I wish others flogging their products would take a page out of Geico’s book. The company never runs any one theme into the ground, and they’re always coming up with new stuff. I admire them for that.

But I’m not switching my insurance, though.

I’m mulling over a serious post but haven’t quite got it sorted out yet. The post involves that world-class twit Bill Moyers and his program on PBS… “Bill Moyers Journal”… which I happened to watch in its entirety this past Friday night. Sleeping with the enemy, as it were. What’s up with that, anyway? Maybe there’s something else screwed up in my life at the moment…other than my circadian rhythms.

I’m beginning to worry.

Oh, Goody.

This kinda-sorta just in from The National WX Service:

Winter Storm Warning.

Harding county-far northeast plains- Conchas Lake/Guadalupe county- Quay county-De Baca county-Chaves county Plains-Roosevelt county- Curry county- including the cities of...Roy... Clayton...Santa Rosa... Tucumcari... Fort Sumner...Roswell...Portales... Clovis 335 pm mst Sun Dec 9 2007

...Winter storm warning in effect from midnight tonight to 6 am mst Tuesday...

The National Weather Service in Albuquerque has issued a winter storm warning...which is in effect from midnight tonight to 6 am mst Tuesday. The winter storm watch is no longer in effect.

The potential exists for freezing rain and sleet to produce greater than or equal to one quarter inch of ice accumulation by Monday night across New Mexico’s eastern plains. Areas of dense fog may also develop and reduce visibility below one half mile at times. North of I-40...the freezing rain could change over to snow with light snow accumulation on top of the ice by Tuesday morning. Ice accumulation could make driving hazardous and may topple power lines and other fragile structures.

Snow doesn’t bother me. Ice, on the other hand, scares the BeJeebus out of me. Power lines going down is not a nice thing at any time, but it’s a life threatening thing in winter.

It’s not like we haven’t done this sort of thing before — the pic is from January 14^th of this year, which was a minor sort of ice-storm. Let’s hope the one that’s on the way is minor, as well.

Sunday

Purloined from Phlegmmy:

I’m not really a Guinness kinda-guy, indulging once in a Blue Moon and only in winter…but. Is this a great ad, or what?

Extra added benefit: Now I know where that pounding in my head comes from on the morning after the night before… Maybe Guinness should rethink their “secret ingredient?” And stop sharing it with the other breweries and distilleries, too.

Yesterday’s “Fun With SiteMeter” moment:

Location
Continent- : -North America
Country- : -United States (Facts)
State- : -Arizona
City- : -Phoenix

Time of Visit: Dec 8 2007 2:48:25 pm
Last Page View: Dec 8 2007 2:48:25 pm
Visit Length: 0 seconds
Page Views: 1
Referring URL: http://images.google...hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff
Search Engine: images.google.com
Search Words: site:bp0.blogger.com neighbor lust
Visit Entry Page: http://exileinportal...7_09_01_archive.html
Visit Exit Page: http://exileinportal...7_09_01_archive.html

Someone, somewhere, must have linked this particular EIP entry coz I’ve been getting a hit or three a day for the past few on this pic. Some folks are easily amused, I guess. Including, of course, YrHmblScrb, who’s still wondering why we don’t have neighbors like the one in the pic.

So…I’ve been paying very close attention to the WX as the time for my drive north approaches. And I’m NOT liking what I’m seeing. Last night I noticed virtually the entire states of Oklahoma and most of Kansas were covered with freezing rain and ice storms. It’s a lil bit better today, but not much. The weather will stop me dead in my tracks if it continues in the manner of the last few days.

As I’ve noted elsewhere on the blog, the Green Hornet wears summer-only performance tires, and those tires are nearing the end of their life. So: ice, freezing rain, and snow just don’t work for the Green Hornet and, more importantly, me in it. Not at all. I’ve given some thought to renting a car for the trip, which would be slightly cheaper and much more expedient than re-shoeing TGH.

We’ll see what we see, eh?

Trivial...Yet Mundane!

Further, further on the Iran NIE… Chap has been doing some serious thinking and linking on the subject. I’ve read a lot about the NIE over the last few, and Chap’s post is a real tour de force. If you’re at all interested in this subject you really should go read…

That’s it for the serious stuff… on to the trivial and mundane, as is our practice here at EIP. Yesterday was nearly a total loss, and it’s mostly because I’m going through another one of those periodic episodes where my circadian rhythms resemble those of an owl or some other nocturnal creature, rather than a garden-variety human bean. About which, bedtime was shortly after 0500 yesterday morning, and I didn’t stir again until 1130 that same morning. I did somewhat better last evening…err…this morning, hitting the hay at 0400 hrs and arising at 1100.

I have NO idea why this happens, it just does. A minor problem in the general scheme of things, since I have nowhere to be (in particular) and no one to answer to. Still and even: I hate it when this happens.

Mundane, Part Deux… The Christmas shopping is done, and took all of about 30 minutes as is always the case. I’ll confess that Xmas shopping is fairly easy for me since the usual, customary, and reasonable gift(s) happen to be gift certificates from Amazon. On the one hand, this shows a decided lack of creativity on my part…and some would infer a general lack of interest in the gift-giving process, as well. But, OTOH, and in my defense, I don’t think anyone has ever returned one of my gifts. I’m not passing out useless sh|t like silver-plated business card holders or tea pot cozies, ya know. If you can’t find something that tickles your fancy at Amazon then you are an amazing person, indeed, Gentle Reader. I even bought my present…that scanner I was on about a week or two ago… at Amazon. I think they're gonna own retail when this inter-tube thing catches on.

The fall-out from completing my Christmas shopping was CitiBank put a “hold” on my credit card. “Suspicious activity,” ya know. I’ll admit that putting just under a thousand dollars on my credit card in the space of 30 minutes is highly unusual (for me), unless it’s December. And it’s been a regular occurrence for the past…oh…nine consecutive years. Citi called early yesterday morning and I didn’t hear the phone ring. (I may not be sleeping normally, but I’m sleeping well.) So, I awake to a cryptic message saying, essentially, “phone this number immediately about your credit card ending in XXXX.” Part of the message was garbled, which further added an aura of the unknown about it. I called the number given in the voice mail, which was not the same as the number printed on the back of my credit card. The woman who answered the phone immediately asks me for my credit card number. I replied by asking her who she was associated with, as in “what organization,” further adding I’m not in the habit of giving out my card number to just anyone who asks. She refused to answer, asking for my SSAN, instead. At which point I firmly but politely told her I was terminating the call and would call the customer service number on the back of my card. “Fine,” sez she.

I made the call, verified the transactions to CitiBank’s satisfaction, and the hold was lifted, according to the customer service rep. So it all worked out… I think. The Second Mrs. Pennington tells me via e-mail that SN3’s gift certificate still hasn’t arrived in her in-box; Amazon sez it’s been sent.

I suppose it’s A Good Thing that CitiBank is monitoring and tracking suspicious activity. But the best of intentions sometime go awry.

We’re experiencing a lil bit of that “calm before the storm” phenomenon here on The High Plains of New Mexico, as far as weather is concerned. Yesterday was semi-gorgeous, what with an un-December-like high of nearly 75 degrees. I say “semi,” because the ever-present wind was up, which made sitting outside in the pale afternoon sun with a hefeweizen and a cigar not as pleasant as it could have been. Add in the fact there is precious little warmth in the late-afternoon sun on these December days and one feels a noticeable chill in the air, even when the thermometer says it’s 73 degrees out. So… sitting in full-sun at 1500 hours in just a tee shirt was moderately chilly. Sunset is fast approaching by the time 1600 hours rolls around and it really begins to cool off at that hour…quickly. Thankfully the consumables had been consumed by that time, and I retreated indoors. And the consumables were GOOD, too! Those Montecristos would make a fine “everyday” smoke if they weren’t so danged pricey…it would be cheaper, but much less pleasant, to simply pull a ten dollar bill out of my pocket and burn it. So, the Montecristos will remain a special treat. My usual smoke… Partagas’ Spanish Rosados… are nearly as good and a lot cheaper.

Today’s Pic: SN3’s “official” fifth grade pic, which hit my in-box this past week. He looks SO much like The Second Mrs. Pennington it’s scary…right down to that twisted lil grin of his. That’s directly from Mom, it is. And it’s not a bad thing. TSMP and I have an on-going argument about whose eyes he has. I think they’re mine. But, as usual... everything I know is wrong.

As always, click for larger.

Update, 12-09-2007: Lou, in the comments to this post, said she went looking for a pic to compare eyes with. I, in turn, said I'd put up a couple of comparative pics so's we can determine whose eyes are whose.

So... in the immortal words of Fox News Channel... "We report; you decide." Both the pic of TSMP (cropped) and the one of me (also cropped) were taken in May of this year.

Pearl Harbor Day

From last year's post...which I cannot improve upon, today:

It’s said — quite often and by many, many people — that 9/11/2001 “changed everything.” And it is indeed true for the current generations of Americans. But I’ll submit that 12/07/1941 “changed everything” to a degree it is impossible for us who were not alive and going about our business on that Sunday in December, 1941 to realize. Those of us whose parents were members of The Greatest Generation understand my point. A smaller subset, those of us whose parents fought in World War II, understand the point a little bit better, perhaps. We have the benefit of hearing the first-person narratives of that day in December 1941, and stories from the long, long days that followed…from the dark and despair of the war’s first year to the signing of the Japanese surrender on the decks of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay not quite four years later. And a lot in between.

They are leaving us. The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is holding their last meeting today.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - With their number quickly dwindling, survivors of Pearl Harbor will gather Thursday one last time to honor those killed by the Japanese 65 years ago, and to mark a day that lives in infamy.

This will be their last visit to this watery grave to share stories, exchange smiles, find peace and salute their fallen friends. This, they say, will be their final farewell.

"This will be one to remember," said Mal Middlesworth, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. "It's going to be something that we'll cherish forever."

The survivors have met here every five years for four decades, but they're now in their 80s or 90s and are not counting on a 70th reunion. They have made every effort to report for one final roll call.

Their last meeting. I know All Things Must Pass, but it saddens me so. We owe them so much, and our thank-yous seem inadequate compared to the sacrifices they made.

But: We shall continue, we shall honor their sacrifices, we will remember, and we shall rededicate ourselves to the task that faces this generation…the one that began on 9/11/2001. The Greatest Generation expects it from us.

The image above was taken from The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association web site.

Happiness Is...

…a re-supply of cigars (brought by "The Brown Truck of Happiness," as Phlegmmy calls it) and a new humongous ashtray, which was a freebie that came with ten Montecristo cigars (five white Toros and five Media Noches). I strongly suspect cigar.com was just trying to rid themselves of excess inventory, as the ashtray commemorates Montecristo’s 70^th anniversary... which happened back in 2005. This ashtray is huge! So much so that I have no idea where I’m gonna put the danged thing. For the moment it’s resting exactly where you see it in the picture: on my stove top. That will change, come dinner time.

I tried to sit outside and smoke the Monte you see in the picture while indulging in a Shiner hefeweizen. Alas, it was just a mite too chilly to stay the course… so I came back inside and snapped this pic. The cigar will wait, the beer will be finished.

Today’s “Fun With Site Meter” entry…

Location
Continent : Asia
Country : Saudi Arabia (Facts)
Lat/Long : 25, 45 (Map)
Distance : 7,844 miles
Language: English (U.S.)
Time of Visit: Dec 6 2007 11:23:45 am
Last Page View: Dec 6 2007 11:23:45 am
Visit Length: 0 seconds
Page Views: 1
Referring URL: http://www.google.co...=u tuib pakistan sex
Search Engine: google.com
Search Words: u tuib pakistan sex

Hmm. I suppose YouTube could be spelled U-Tuib if English is your second language. I just wonder if the searcher found what he was looking for. Pre-vacation planning, one assumes. Or perhaps “best places to train for jihad, with benefits.” “Benefits” meaning goats, one further assumes.

150 Things

Via Blog-Buddy Kris… A lengthy list of stuff; I've done the bits in bold. Feel free to reciprocate, but…no pressure, eh?

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree (but not intentionally)
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris (lived there for three years, actually)
12. Watched a lightning storm.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (just last week)
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (I got half-way up. Close enough.)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (Bullwinkle, to amuse the graddaughters)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (I’m working on this one, 14 years to go)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan (lived there for five years)
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke (some good war stories here, LOL!)
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie (assuming a corporate training video counts. No, if not.)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (numerous close calls, but no American Flags or Mom.)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house (five of ‘em)
91. Been in a combat zone (does “near” count?)
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship (a qualified yes on this…a passenger liner in/on the Black Sea)
94. Spoken more than one language fluently (French. It’s gone now.)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country (motorcycle tour. Different, yet same?)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication (depends on the definition of “large.” I have been published.)
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane (not legally, as in “licensed,” but I was in control)
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (I suspect I have but am too lazy to count)
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (do fish count?)
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life (not literally. Figuratively, yes.)

Well. I’m almost certain I’ve posted this list in the past, but danged if I can find it.