Electric Lightning

Over beers, met a fellow working with the Anglo American Lightning Organisation on the restoration of an Electric Lightning yesterday evening.  Amazing airplane.  So not only does Kiln "th' Kill" Mississippi field an an excellent microbrew, it also has at least one Mach 2 fighter jet.  Go read up on it at the above wiki link.

Downtown Success

Yesterday's post about going downtown worked out.  Dropped the Darling Daughter at an antique shop then walked down to Bay Books and picked up Under Surge, Under Siege and a CD copy of Wing's Band on the Run (my old quadraphonic eight track of the album gave out sometime during the Carter adminstration).  Then on to the Mockingbird, where the Jefferson Stout went really well with a Mockingburger.
BTW, that last item is not anything as advertised.  It is, in fact, made from ground beef, not ground-up mockingbirds.  Probably for the best.

Going downtown.

It's Black Friday, so I'm taking the Darling Daughter downtown to do some shopping today.  Main stops planned are Bay Books and lunch at The Mockingbird, then we'll see what else pulls us in.
Was a good Thanksgiving.  I'm still full from the one meal yesterday, and there's half a turkey still in the fridge; we're set for the weekend.

Geek Factor 10, Captain.

Randall Munroe's out with personal stuff, so Bill Amend is today's guest artist at XKCD:

Just.... wow.  Here's the link.

hmmm....

Loooong mountain bike ride.  Check.
Cool, maybe even damp weather for the ride.  Check.
Logistics support for said ride.  Check.
Gumbo-feed at the end of the rainbow.  Check.
Worthwhile cause to give it that "We're doin' it for the children!" patina of respectability.  Check.
It's the PORC 2010 Toys for Tots Epic.  What could be better?


Will post pictures when it's all done.

Rock Audio Slideshows from the BBC

Here's one about The Clash & their "London Calling" album art.  Here's another on Mick Rock's photography.  Not a lot I can say here beyond that watching will be time well spent, and there're a bunch of interesting other slideshows on the same page that you'll have to dig around for.  Recommended!
ps: 100 blog posts!

Seafood Festival

Drove over to Apalachicola for the Florida Seafood Festival this past weekend.  Ate half-shell oysters, smoked mullet, boiled shrimp, something fancy with a scallop on top of it, and a bunch more.  Bought some books, said 'hi' to a bunch of friends and family.  Was fun!  

Positive Proof: Obama is a Keynesian.

No matter how much people like these try to waffle about the issue, NPR (NPR no less! N-P-freekin'-R!) has absolute proof that Obama is, in fact, a Keynesian.
*facepalm* 
And to think, some of the people in that video will be voting today.


Edit 11/10: YouTube link repaired after original clip was deleted.

Starship?

Well, at least NASA's starting to talk about them, as seen here.  But they probably should read Orphans of the Sky a few times before getting too far along on this particular mode of interstellar travel.

Somehow, I knew this all along.

Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage.
And I'm still wondering if something similar lurks in Fred LeBlanc's family tree.  You ever see the guy play, then start swinging from the rafters in mid-song?  No, on second thought, I don't have to wonder about his family tree at all either.