To The Metal

Decided to ring in the new season’s beautiful sunshine and 80 degree temperatures with a trip down to Bushkill, PA’s “Bushkill Falls.” It could not have been a more beautiful day – maybe a little greener – but I’ll give it another week or so. I’d never heard of Bushkill before a friend recommended it a few weeks back. After paying the $9 admittance fee, we had the choice of 3 paths – a 15 minute path, a 45 minute path, and a 2.5 hour path. Yes, I was lazy and took the 45 minute path, but as the photos below show – there was no lack of just plain breathtaking views of nature.

I figure next month I’ll make another run down and try out the 2.5 hour path for ‘serious hikers’ as the sign explained. Anyone interested in coming along? Check out The Niagara of Pennsylvania in the mean time, and enjoy the photos I’ve shared below.

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The VT shooter bought his guns legally – because the process in place to prevent identified nutbags from purchasing a gun failed.

Larry King: ‘Unfair’ Treatment of Owner of Gun Store That Sold to Virginia Tech Killer

Turns out he lied on the part of the form where one would identify themselves as a nutbag – big surprise.

So while legislators eager for a few more votes from the ‘take my money because I can’t fight back’ lobby will call for greater controls – I’m left to ask “why did the system fail?” “Why was the letter of the law not enforced?” It looks like in this case, the only agency that was doing its job right was in fact the gun shop. We cannot hold them responsible if the government control which they must and – did – follow, failed.

Get into the office this morning around 7:30, still a bit sleepy. Go into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee… Open up the cabinet, get a fresh packet of Green Mountain… Tear it open, pour it into my cup… Walk back to my desk… 10 minutes later I take a sip and… It wasn’t quite what I intended.

Maybe I should buy that caffeinated shower soap again. Can’t get any simpler than that.

*yawn*

Global Warming.

Global Cooling.

Nope… Just gas.

About 2 years ago we had some pretty severe rains that flooded the northeast. This past week, we had the same. Now I can’t remember anything like this from my youth, but what can I say – I didn’t get around much back then. I took some time to snap a few photos of flooding down the street from my house. What’s underwater is a golf course and a cornfield. Once Spring has finally sprung and everything has sprouted I’ll get some comparison shots. It’s fair to say a good sized portion of Pine Island is currently underwater. This morning on the way to work I even saw a bunch of rather confused chaps who couldn’t get to their barn because the road between the highway and the facility had been flooded out.

Enjoy the snaps. If you want any hi-res copies, drop me an email.

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I’ve got to say, the most entertaining aspect of this season’s American Idol is how pathetically bad it is.

That said, I’m personally hoping that the Sanjaya kid wins and that the flaming gay Daughtry clone gets voted off. I mean seriously, Daughtry was a bad ass… This jerk shaves his head, slaps on more makeup than CC Deville at a 1986 Poison concert and thinks he’ll get through on looks.

Maybe for a remake of Little Shop.

As for that Sanjaya, he’s bad. He might not be the worse on the show, but that’s like trying to pick which turd out of a pile of manure will generate the grandest pumpkin at harvest time. He’s definitely better than Hicks, at least this kid is uniquely horrible.

Worth a chuckle…

The other day, while heading to mediate the fallout from the Don Imus fiasco, NJ’s Liberal governor John Corzine totaled his SUV.

N.J. Gov.’s SUV Went 91 Mph Before Crash

A Liberal? Driving an SUV? Why I never. What of the carbon output???

Insult to injury, he wasn’t wearing a seat belt (isn’t that illegal?) The guy had a NJ State Trooper following him in a marked SUV, and he didn’t even get a ticket. What, are we to believe that this political elite is immune to the justice constantly laid upon the common American?

One tick further, Corzine was travelling at 91mph. Now the top speed of just about any big highway in Jersey is 65mph.

Marked trooper, 91mph in a 65mph zone, no seat belt. Anyone else would have gotten pulled over, cussed out, and maybe even arrested. Quite honestly, after years of Liberal elitism and ‘do as I say but not as I do crap’ I don’t find a Liberal wrecking an SUV while driving 91mph without a seat belt on an accident.

I call it Karma.

When I first got the original Xbox, I was dismayed by the fact my favorite genre of game – simulation racing – had yet to find a real home on the system. PGR 2 was a joke. Sure, the cars were eye candy – but the physics were so arcade-like they made OutRun look like Gran Turismo. I had grown accustomed to Gran Turismo – playing every version from the very first on the original PlayStation.

Project Gotham Racing 3 is the game that shows Microsoft is serious about racing. While I won’t hold it in the same regard as Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport it holds a close 2nd, very close. The physics are just about dead on, handling, controls, braking, drifting, all the aspects of controlling the car are heavily geared towards simulation… not so much that the cars aren’t forgiving, but try to take out a vehicle marked expert and drive it like something rated novice – you’ll toss it into a wall and blow the pretty paint job. Skill levels are abundant as well, and accurate.

Up the skill level and the AI adjusts accordingly, giving the player a better run and greater challenge. Kudos are back, not quite sure what these are for besides unlocking rides, but you are rewarded for various stunts including the now common drifting. All the tracks are tiered out, increasing in difficulty and complexity as each new tier opens.

Graphics – It’s a Microsoft game on a Microsoft console, they’re outstanding. Being an early title, even under 1080i some pixels are visible – but not so much that the view is any less breathtaking. Engine and braking sounds are accurate and paired with the extremely precise force feedback only serve to add to the overall experience.

I fully expect this game to get trounced by Forza Motorsport 2, but in the mean time for about $20 it’s the best racing game on the console.

I get home from work today, fire up the TV, and flip through my music stations. My basic cable gets me VH1, MTV, MTV2, BET, and FUSE. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched much music video since they fully embraced POP, but there was nothing on TV so why not.

VH1? Flavor of Love. That’s right, a show all about trying to get a washed up rapper laid.
MTV? Parental Control. A show where parents set up their kids on dates with kids they approve of.
MTV2? Pimp My Ride. Mind you, they did bring a ’66 Thunderbird back to life, but it’s still a show about customizng cars – hosted by a rapper.
FUSE? Felicity. A show that lost 99% of its viewers when the main character got a hair cut.

What about BET? Rap videos. Last I heard, rap sales are still doing pretty good. Good to see some folks aren’t asleep at the wheel.

I need to find a new place to live.

I’ve lived out in the boonies for a few years now, the quaint and quiet country life has a lot going for it. Tack on my affection for the scents of nature as well as the fact that I can nest just about anywhere, it has worked out well for me. Those facts aside, I am renting. While I have done small upgrades here and there to improve the environment, it’s a small house and there’s not much room for me, my lady, or any pets.

Last night while we were in the midst of the latest nor-easter – the roof over my futon started to leak… or it had been leaking, and eventually made its way through the ceiling tile… That’ll wake you up. So while reaching up to find where its coming from, I put a nice hole in the ceiling tile. Whoops.

I set up the bucket and garbage bag underneath it to protect the futon, and left it at that. Landlord said he’d patch the roof when the weather warmed up. In the mean time, he put some other stuff in the way of the leak to slow it down from getting into my place. So I get to sleep around 11pm, I wanted to stay up for The Shield but I had planned on getting to the gym at 6am the next day and 6 hours of sleep would have made that a really painful decision.

Around 12:15 I wake up and hear ‘beep – beep – beep’ and my alarm clock is dead. Sure enough, the power is out – Pine Island is black, and my UPS is letting me know about it. I shut everything down and for a few minutes enjoy the complete silence of where I live. Then the tinitus kicks in. Ok, I can deal with that. It goes away and I hear the dripping. I can’t tell if it’s outside, over my head, or coming through the ceiling.

I can still rest when I sleep light, but it just takes longer than if I’m out cold, so I stayed in bed until around 8:30am. Then I hear “scratch scratch scratch.” Mouse in the outside wall. No sleeping now, because between the woodpecker from the previous day, the dripping from the overnight, and the mouse now, I’m enduring at least 3 layers of Chinese Water Torture type activity and had I not gotten up I probably would have just started screaming.

So I like where I live – but I think it’s time for me to look around and find something better. Since the housing market has taken a nice big shit there are plenty of affordable properties all around, so hopefully in the coming weeks I’ll be moving in to a nice home of my own.

Hopefully.