Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Calculator

http://oracleofbacon.org/advanced.html I'm a three, fools! I know a guy (he's a 2) who starred in a TV movie with JoBeth Williams (1) who was in an episode of Frasier with Kevin Bacon (0).

Brilliant

Last night's "Law and Order" combined the following political threads into one episode:

The Tony Rezko corruption stuff.

The naughty senator hitting on dudes in the mensroom.

Ambitious Hillary Clinton-esque politician, named Menanie. Played by the actress who played the evil president in "Prison Break"

And, of course, murder most foul.

Really Surprised

That both Guiliani and Edwards are going to drop out so early. Is it early? Seems early. I enjoyed Edwards' "Kenneth from 30 Rock" southern likability. And I was really surprised that Rudy wasn't more of a force in the GOP. I mean, there is a lot of dislike for him out there, but I honestly thought he was going to be a force. I guess it just shows that that old saw is true, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear just by destroying portions of a major US city". He was "America's Mayor" for that time, and you can't take that away from him. You also can't take away his brief desire to suspend elections and remain mayor indefinitely, or his mis-tout of Bernie Kerik, or his association with suspect middle eastern royals and businessmen, or his early career as a pit bull, or his bad behavior during his divorces. (I know ones private life is supposed to be that, but he filed for divorce on live tv and abandoned Gracie Mansion. That's the behavior of an underhanded twerp. Frankly, lying about a blowjob pales in comparison on the spectrum of forthrightness.) (I guess I will have to retract my prediction that after the 06 midterms, Cheney would resign for medical reasons and that Rudy would be appointed Veep and successor. It seemed like a very Karl Rove like move.) Predictions/random comments:

B-rock will get the Dem nomination, and Romney will get the GOP.

On Monday, Hillary will drop some sort of characteristic 11h hour bomb on Barak, but it won't work. Barely.

I'm really disappointed in Bill Clinton for engaging in politics the way he is. As an ex-president, he should have just a little detachment from the processes. He may well be fullfilling a bargain with her, but still. Comparing Barak Obama to Jesse Jackson? Low.

Dream team: if somehow the fates aligned to put Barak and McCain on the same ticket, and somehow winning. Pres and veep, kicking ass and taking names. They would be like a political Chuck Norris.

Deadly serious

So, we have an actual winter storm a-blowin' through. I could not stop the urge to go driving around the neighborhood, so off I went with the camera. Terrible pictures, probably not worth even sharing. You try photographing snow at night. But here's the thing- I actually experienced white out conditions. I'm driving along, and then nothing. Pure white terror. For a few seconds at a time, the worst driving I've ever seen. That I can remember.

I had no idea

That the primary process was so ridiculous, at least on the Demmycrat side. Of course, on the GOP side they don't need all that fancy math; if people don't vote properly Uncle Dick will smite them. Comedy!

The Comedy!

Whenever I see the following advertisement, I instantly think the guy is making the gesture in the picture that follows it.

The fucking CTA

OK, so they just raised my taxes because they could not continue operations otherwise. (So they say) Fine. Maybe it's worth it to me to keep the straphangers off the roads. And I'm sure I just don't understand how giving senior citizens free rides they didn't ask for benefits society. But what the fuck? You can't raise my fucking taxes to pay for improvements that are more "pleasing to the eye" to the riders. First, this is coming from the agency that gave up the "cream and green limousine" color scheme for the garish white blue and red. Second, I don't appreciate subsidizing public transportation just to have them instantly waste the money on PLASMA TVs (and the millions of dollars of infrastructure required to pay for it)! Christ! Especially when the bus line that goes closest to my house (where there are no sidewalks leading to it or a bus shelter to wait at for the hourly or every other hourly service), when that bus is never more than 15% full. Rod Blagojevich is the worst governor of anything, ever.

On mixing topics ridiculously

1) Hey coke-fiend stock traders: please, please continue panicking. I love nothing more than buying your undervalued castoffs as you sell into a panic. I probably get to retire a month earlier now. Thank you! 2) Speaking of bad TV, how about that CSI Miami? It really has everything. Over the top dramatics, phony science, phony technology and bad, bad acting. The sort of TV show that makes everyone involved with it less talented and the viewer stupider for having watched it. But, damn the cinematography. Just beautifully shot and produced. I have begun watching it just because it brings beauty into my living room.

Death

Suzanne Pleshette and John Stewart. Two master practitioners of their professions.

Hilarious!

So Hillary "won" yesterday, yet now Obama is further ahead in the delagate race. Go Hillary!

State of the moment news!

http://www.metafilter.com/68219/Lew-Rockwell-Dunnit

50 things

You might not know about banks. #51- Credit unions aren't banks.

First in a series...

Of dating euphemisms translated. Things people say, and what they mean. Or what one can reliably infer. "Friends first" = Still has a regular booty-call. You will be auditioning. "Never a dull moment" = Bipolar Disorder. "Sarcastic" = Mean. "Sick of the bar scene" = Not getting any. "Driven" = Nuts. "Fun-loving" = Please entertain me. "Christian" = Needy; judgmental. "Avid traveler" = Bad credit. "Need someone who can keep up with me" = Virgin. "Classy" = Not classy. "We are a polyamorous couple seeking same" = Morbidly obese. "I can't believe I'm on this site" = I won't respect you because you were on this site. "Always up for adventure" = Messy apartment. "Down to earth" = Almost out of bankruptcy. "laid back, hip" = Judgmental, high strung, not hip. "My friend made me do this" = Easy. [For entertainment purposes only, past performance not an indicator of future results, etc.]

Bo knows banking regulations!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon_bo-jackson-bank_0114jan14,1,6243474,print.story?ctrack=7&cset=true

Internet Memetist?

http://www.cylegage.com/lulz/

Tremendous Awesomeness!

http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html

The Power of Forsight

Or, "Get that AAA Membership Paid Up!" I paid $51.37 for a tank of shitty gas and my car instantly ceased functioning here. Called the friendly folks at AAA Chicago, and within an hour I was attached to a tow truck heading home. For nothing. Now for the fuel filter autopsy to see what's wrong with the thing. UPDATE: I bought a humidifier that looks like a penguin. Wait, wrong topic. What I meant was that I got the car working. What had happened was that the fuel filter did indeed clog, which caused a resistor to overheat and pop. Which caused the fuel pump to not work correctly. You see, the fuel pump has two modes of operation- full speed and reduced speed. There is a relay that switches from high to low, and when it's on low speed it routes through a resistor to reduce the voltage available to the fuel pump. Now what makes this problem confounding is that normally when you first turn the key on, you get that little "beeeezt!" from the fuel tank area telling you that you now have fuel available at full pressure, ready to be burned for your driving excitement. In this particular car and in this particular failure-mode, the fuel pump does do that, but then when you start the car, it switches to the (now malfunctioning) low speed mode. So it will start and run for 10 seconds and then die. (And then, once dead, the car would sarcastically reprime the pump.) The easy solution is to remove the hi/low relay, bend over one of the pins, and reinsert it. That solution requires that you know about it. Sadly, I did not. What I theorize happened is that the shitty gas clogged the filter, causing the fuel pump to work really hard to maintain pressure. This causes the pump to draw more power, which causes the resistor to burn out.

Font Police

CNN is doing a story about Ron Paul and some kind of newsletter he put out in the 90's. A copy of which is here. Let me just be "a blogger" about this and wonder about the typesetting and fonts in that letter. I say, for no good reason, that it's fake.