VOKL

The Ghost Pontiac Reappears

2011-08-04T00:34:00.001-02:30

Because people have been after me to start blogging again and because I can't resist a cool Pontiac story, here's a new blog post about this transparent, plexiglass-bodied 1938 Pontiac . More here at Autoblog.

Photo courtesy of Hemmings Blog.

Intellectual Firepower

2010-02-13T19:51:00.002-03:30

TED 2010 is happening this weekend. The theme is What The World Needs Now.

If you like powerful ideas presented with artistry and passion, go explore.

From About TED:

...the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers ... are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Making A Living

2010-02-11T23:15:00.000-03:30

I haven't missed a day posting since I started at this last April. But I missed today. That's because real live paying, you know, work is elbowing in on my daily blogging time. Make hay while the sun shines and all that. So I'll post when I can, for the time being, hoping to get back to daily posting when things settle down.

A Three-Legged Bear

2010-02-10T22:28:00.000-03:30

What's more, she (I think she is a she because of the cub) walks upright on her hind legs. The video tells the tale. I hope those flies are fake, though.

Shackleton's Whiskey Stash Found In Antarctica

2010-02-10T22:15:00.000-03:30

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was one of the most famous Antarctic explorers of all time. Via Tonic.com:

During his expedition to Antarctica aboard the Endurance, he and his crew abandoned their sinking ship to camp on the floating polar ice for two months. It is a heroic tale of survival, as no lives were lost before their rescue in 1916.

And now, something else has been found from Shackleton's adventures: five cases of 100-year old Scotch whiskey and two cases of equally aged brandy.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

2010-02-09T22:20:00.003-03:30

The historic snow continues to fall on most of the eastern US.

Senator Jim DeMint Tweets:

It's going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries "uncle".

In that case, I hope they get the snowplows fixed.

Green Police!

2010-02-08T23:10:00.004-03:30

I didn't see the Superbowl, so I missed this Audi ad. Until today.

UPDATE: From the LA Times' Jonah Goldberg:

It will be interesting to see whether the ad actually sells cars. The premise only works if you take it as a given that this Gorewellian nightmare is inevitable.

An Interview With Andrew Breitbart

2010-02-08T13:36:00.000-03:30

Here is an conversation recorded this past weekend between two of the most influential Americans on the Internet today. Instapundit Glenn Reynolds talks with new media journalist and Internet entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart.

They talk at length about the Tea Party movement and much that is wrong with traditional political and media narratives in the US today. They are also joined by Reynold's wife, Dr. Helen Smith.

It's a great interview with much political and journalistic food for though. Watch the whole thing at PJTV.

Guess What This Does...

2010-02-07T21:46:00.000-03:30

Thanks to the indispensable Hemmings Auto Blogs, this:

Look closely at the toy Microbus and, without clicking through to Big Blue’s Online Carburetor blog, tell us what it does. Hint: It’s not a transistor radio.

And its wow and flutter specs are what you would expect from a VW Microbus, which is to say, zero. The video made me laugh out loud and cringe at the same time.

Breitbart Excoriates Main Stream Media

2010-02-07T17:39:00.002-03:30

At yesterday's Tea Party convention in Nashville, Andrew Breitbart (founder of BigGovernment, BigHollywood and lately BigJournalism) had this to say to the dozens of main stream media reporters in the back of the hall:

"It's not your business model that sucks, it's you that sucks"

The IPCC Still Has Some Credibility To Lose?

2010-02-07T16:59:00.000-03:30

Who knew. From The Times:

A leading British government scientist has warned the United Nations’ climate panel to tackle its blunders or lose all credibility.

Winter's Stern Command

2010-02-06T20:09:00.008-03:30

Courtesy of Environment Canada, this is the winter cyclone that clobbered us here in Newfoundland yesterday. This is a different storm than the one that hit the eastern US yesterday.

It took me four hours to snowblow the two driveways and clear the paths and doorways (now you understand my fixation on mad super-powered snowblowers). While the center of the storm stayed well out to sea, we still received 30-plus centimeters of heavy snow. The Americans got over 30 inches or about 80 centimeters..

But the real issue was winds gusting over 100 kph. From VOCM, here are photos of the damage caused in the Battery, the neighbourhood right in the narrows of St. John's Harbour.

By the way, the title, Winter's Stern Command, comes from the Ode to Newfoundland, Newfoundland's historic National anthem.

And here is Newfoundland metal guitarist Chris Feener with a mashup of The Ode to Newfoundland, Salt Water Joys (our unofficial anthem), and a Christmas tune of all things, The Mummer's Song.

So that's why we live here!

"...Ice Work If You Can Get It"

2010-02-05T13:29:00.003-03:30

Writing in Macleans Magazine, Mark Steyn questions how it is that, despite the avalanche of evidence of corruption in climate science, people still insist the science of global warming is "settled" and that humanity is to blame. Even as the IPCC reports are collapsing under their own falsehoods.

Meanwhile, over at the London Telegraph:

The Indian government has established its own body to monitor the effects of global warming because it “cannot rely” on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the group headed by its own leading scientist Dr R.K Pachauri.

The Red Army Choir and The Rockers

2010-02-04T16:07:00.000-03:30

I have heard the Russian Red Army Men's Choir many times. And so have you if you ever watched any of the old Canada-Soviet hockey wars. Here they are singing the old Soviet anthem. Someone has even thoughtfully translated the words so you can sing along if you like. Kind of like Kommie Karaoke:

Now I never ever heard of the Finnish rockers the Leningrad Cowboys until today. But thanks again to SDA, here they are in Helsinki, backed up by, you guessed it, the Red Army Choir. And what do they sing? Well the national anthem of Finland first, but then, well, you'll just have to watch. And turn it up loud.

Government Motors Vs. Toyota

2010-02-04T13:44:00.000-03:30

Via SDA, from the Washington Examiner:

"Nice car company ya got there, be a shame if anything happened to it."

Given the Obama administration's catering to one of its favorite special interest groups, the United Auto Workers union, during the government's bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler last year, it is difficult to avoid wondering whether Toyota has become a victim of the Chicago Way of dealing with competitors.

Government Guns

2010-02-04T02:22:00.000-03:30

The US tax collection agency, the IRS, has ordered 60 shotguns to go along with the ones it already has.

Glenn Reynolds reminds them that US taxpayers have a lot more.

Complex Computer Model: Speed Kills!

2010-02-04T01:52:00.003-03:30

From the Vancouver Sun:

Using complex computer models, a team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre determined that ... the more time spent behind the wheel, the more likely a person is to die in a car crash.

But the study also found that slowing down the average speed of North American drivers by just three kilometres an hour "yielded 11,000 fewer crashes each day, saved about $10 million from property damage each day, and conserved about 199 cumulative life years" across the continent.

Imagine if we all came to a dead stop. We should all be immortal.

All this is just a rehash of a couple of favorite 20th century nanny-state memes: Speed Kills! and Slow Down and Live! The first is untrue and the second is merely an excuse for generating revenue. Witness the foolish 55 mph national speed limit in the US thirty years ago. It saved neither lives nor fuel. But it sure raised a lot of money via enforcement.

To me, speeding is simply reckless driving. It is driving that disregards prevailing conditions, regardless of arbitrary speed limits. Crazy driving. And drunk driving. That's what kills. If it is speed alone that kills, we should all not exist.

I think the most damning fact in this whole report is that it was generated by "complex computer models". We have heard this before, where?

Ezra Levant Slams Danny Williams

2010-02-03T22:00:00.004-03:30

Ezra Levant, a man for whom I carry the utmost respect, has slammed Danny Williams for going to the US for heart surgery. He damns with faint praise.

His constituents can rot on a waiting list. Not for him, the King of the Island. At least he isn't lying about it, and at least he's not using taxpayers money to fly there. Unlike Jean Chretien.

No he's not lying. He just hasn't told us the whole story. Yet. His own doctors recommended he leave Newfoundland for the surgery. Did they tell him to go to the US? Who knows.

What I do know is that ever conservative Danny Williams is looking out for himself and I don't blame him. He is arguably the best educated, most accomplished, toughest, richest, cleanest and most enduringly-popular politician Newfoundland has ever known. And his work is not finished here. I think we Newfoundlanders would take up a collection to send this man to anywhere in the world to get his surgery. But we don't have to. He is paying the shot - all of it - himself. And he is not bumping anyone off a waiting list.

Funny Apple iPad Video

2010-02-02T18:51:00.001-03:30

Haven't heard about Apple's new iPad? Well here's Apple CEO Steve Jobs to tell you everything you need to know.

Oh For F(bleep)'s Sake

2010-02-02T01:36:00.001-03:30

As John Stewart would say.

Here we have the BBC Pension Trust worth 8.2-billion pounds and it is...

...heavily invested in an international group of investment managers who bust a gut to invest in 'climate change' schemes.

Helen Boaden, who is the overall boss of the BBC's news and current affairs operation, was appointed to the trust in 2008.

So the woman who tells environment reporters such as Roger Harrabin and Richard Black that the science is settled also works to maximise the returns of the pension fund.

Oh for f(bleep)'s sake.

NL Premier's Heart Surgery Will Be In US

2010-02-01T22:51:00.006-03:30

It's a big enough surprise that Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams actually needs heart surgery, being a healthy-looking, hockey-playing specimen and so on. But the bigger surprise to some is that he's already left to have the job done in the US.

What does this say about our Canadian health care system? Probably not much. Danny Williams is an immensely wealthy man and I believe many Canadians in his circumstances would do the same thing.

I have a hunch that Danny is going someplace where he knows the surgeon, possibly an ex-patriate Newfoundlander.

UPDATE: The story goes viral. Instapundit Glenn Reynolds is linking to the same story.

More: This story has legs in the US. Drudge is linking to the National Post.

Another update from the CBC.

Glaciergate: Hitler's Last Straw

2010-02-01T21:11:00.001-03:30

Hitler finds out about Glaciergate and the whole global warming card house just comes... well, let Hitler deal with it.

More about the "Hitler Finds Out" meme here. And the ever classic Hitler Finds Out He's An Internet Meme.

Mad Snowblower Mods

2010-01-31T14:59:00.000-03:30

How on earth did I miss this? I found the 1/6 scale Chevy V8 that actually runs and I found the V8 chainsaw... but this V8 snowblower at Popular Science is totally awesome. I want one... unfortunately no video.

Consolation prize: How about video of a 1979 Wheel Horse snowblower with a transplanted 1979 340 Arctic Cat two-cylinder two-stroke snowmobile engine? With around 30 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, it's fast (for a snowblower), and it's LOUD.

Whatever Happened To Copenhagen?

2010-01-30T19:51:00.000-03:30

Rex Murphy asks in the National Post:

Q. How is the recently concluded Copenhagen climate conference like the Medieval Warm Period?
A. They both may be seen to disappear when it serves a noble purpose.

... global warming is a very earnest, if not positively sullen topic, and to mine even an atom of a joke from all of the frenzied evangelism of self-appointed environmentalist groups, the grim coven that ran the now celebrated labs in East Anglia, or from our modern day catastrophist Savonarola, Al Gore, is too much even for the most deep-mining humourist.

How To Report The News

2010-01-29T10:51:00.000-03:30

British comic Charlie Brooker of the BBC's Newswipe does a Pythonesque take on how to make a TV news report. I love the people in the street's opinions of "streeters".

CNN Experimenting With 360-Degree Interactive Video

2010-01-28T23:40:00.001-03:30

CNN is experimenting with 360-degree videos that you can pan, tilt and zoom yourself in real time. It's eerily lifelike. Imagine Google Street View as videos instead of stills. The camera can be mounted on a vehicle or can be hand held. The technology is being developed by Immersive Media.

These videos are from CNN's coverage in Haiti. More here.

And Speaking Of Profits - Look At Ford!

2010-01-28T16:33:00.001-03:30

In the New York Times:

The no-bailout-required and never-bankrupt Ford Motor Company has declared a profit of $2.7 billion in 2009 and said today that it now expected to be profitable in 2010 as well.

FORD used to mean Found On Road Dead; or Fix Or Repair Daily; or Fireball On Rear Denting. Then it was Federal Oversight Respectfully Declined. Now it's a Functionally Obama Resistant Device.

Historical GM

2010-01-28T09:51:00.003-03:30

45 years ago today General Motors reported the biggest profit of any US company in history. And no wonder when they were putting out product like this.

The Cataclysmic Melting - Of The IPCC.

2010-01-27T23:17:00.002-03:30

On of the lead authors of the IPCC global warming reports, Canadian climatologist Andrew Weaver, has quit the IPCC with parting advice about replacement of IPCC leadership and institutional reform.

In today's National Post, Terence Corcoran details Weaver's qualms and waxes satirical about the probable demise of the IPCC:

In the language typical of an IPCC report, one might say that the radiative forcing created by Climategate and Glaciergate strongly suggest this is very likely to bring about cataclysmic melting of the organization within the next portion of the current decadal period. The words "very likely" in IPCC risk assessment terms mean a 90% or greater probability that something will happen. As it looks now, the IPCC is burnt toast and unless it is overhauled fast there's a 90% probability the climate-change political machine is going to come crashing down.

But It's Not About Him!

2010-01-27T13:14:00.000-03:30

Over at Breitbart.TV, someone has stitched together a video of Barack Obama referring to himself 132 times. In one speech:

"I've got a very short commute;" "I can't always visit people directly;" "I break out;" "I saw;" "I knew it would be unpopular;" "I ran for this office;" "I had no illusions;" "I had a whole bunch of political advisors"...

And still he is using the teleprompter. And still he won't look into the camera lens.

Dinosaur Ballet

2010-01-26T20:15:00.001-03:30

Betcha didn't see that coming! Oh what the heck.

Why All The Sub Crashes?

2010-01-25T17:01:00.000-03:30

At Strategy Page, a story about submarine crashes:

Subs underwater are running blind, as most depend on passive sensors most of the time. Constant attention must be paid to charts and electronic location devices. Crews are intensively trained to stay sharp and be careful when travelling submerged.

So why are so many of them crashing into fixed objects - like rocks - and each other?

The IPCC And The WWF

2010-01-25T15:30:00.000-03:30

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is mandated by the United Nations to investigate and report on climate change. The credibility of its work relies entirely on scientific peer review.

Now, the depths of the IPCC's entanglement with the non-peer reviewed activism of the World Wildlife Fund is being plumbed. Via Watts Up With That:

... it turns out that the WWF is cited all over the IPCC AR4 report, and as you know, WWF does not produce peer reviewed science, they produce opinion papers in line with their vision. Yet IPCC’s rules are such that they are supposed to rely on peer reviewed science only. It appears they’ve violated that rule dozens of times ...

A new posting authored by Canadian blogger Donna Laframboise, the creator of NOconsensus.org, shows what one can find in just one day of looking.

Did You Hear The One About The Blonde Warrior Princess...?

2010-01-25T11:50:00.000-03:30

Yeah, everybody did last week. Only problem was, it wasn't true. Apparently The Times had a blonde moment of its own.

Last week was a fascinating example of how fast a false story can spread across the Internet and make its way onto television. Specifically, there were dozens of reports citing a study that blonde women are more “warlike” due to a phenomenon known as the “princess effect.” However, according to Dr. Aaron Sell, the lead researcher of the study, no such study exists and most of the quotes about him were fabricated. To make matters worse, pundits subsequently attacked Sell based on these fictitious quotes. How could this have happened?

No Kicking Penguins

2010-01-25T00:31:00.000-03:30

It's an Internet meme started by 7-year old Colby Chipman right here in St. John's.

More from The Telegram.

T-shirts and more for autism at Colby's Dad's website.

Scientific Malpractise At The IPCC Continues

2010-01-24T20:40:00.000-03:30

In today's Daily Mail:

[Dr Murari Lal] ... the scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders.

And the furious finger pointing continues. But the sad part of it all is that the totally unsubstantiated glacier prediction passed the review of well over 500 scientists, bureaucrats and, indeed, the IPCC.

Dr Lal said: ‘We knew the WWF report with the 2035 date was “grey literature” [material not published in a peer-reviewed journal]. But it was never picked up by any of the authors in our working group, nor by any of the more than 500 external reviewers, by the governments to which it was sent, or by the final IPCC review editors.’In fact, the 2035 melting date seems to have been plucked from thin air.

Must Credit ACME

2010-01-23T18:53:00.001-03:30

James Lileks has found some black and white ACME photographs of New York City street scenes from the mid nineteen thirties through the early fiftes.

As he says in one caption, "Low tech as it all looks, remember: they had computers and nukes too."

Pick Up Trucks And Obama's Tin Ear

2010-01-23T17:06:00.001-03:30

Rex Murphy, writing nowadays for the National Post, takes the measure of Barack Obama one year in.

Obama is a parochial politician. He emerged from the small pool of the university environment and Chicago politics — the former, I think, more significant than the latter. Take his jibes at Scott Brown’s pickup, which he delivered repeatedly in Boston two days before the vote. Only the thickest of tin ears could imagine that slurs and put-downs about driving a pickup have any appeal beyond arugula snobs trading nose-in-the-air witticisms about rednecks.

Does Barack Obama not know that the best selling vehicle in America is, um, a pickup truck? And not, by the way a Government Motors GMC Canyon. No, the best selling vehicle in America is the no-bailout-needed Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Stewart Mocks Olbermann

2010-01-22T20:59:00.000-03:30

Someone had to do it. I am so glad it was Stewart. That's gonna leave a mark. Video at RealClearPolitics.

How To Prove Global Warming: Ignore Cold Temperatures

2010-01-21T15:03:00.005-03:30

If you wanted to make a case for human caused global warming you might decide to look at temperature records where the humans are. That would mean in the cities, of course. And you would see a clear trend: as the numbers of humans in a place rises, the temperature tends to rise too. It is called the urban heat island effect.

But what about temperatures in the outlying hinterlands? Say, the Canadian Arctic. Or the high Bolivian mountains. Since very few people live there, the urban heat island effect doesn't exist. But wouldn't these temperatures tend to bring the global average temperature down? Indeed they would. And that is why these outlying temperatures are being ignored in climate models or not even measured at all.

And that's the gist of revealing new research:

"NOAA . . . systematically eliminated 75% of the world's stations with a clear bias towards removing higher latitude, high altitude and rural locations, all of which had a tendency to be cooler," the authors say. "The thermometers in a sense, marched towards the tropics, the sea, and to airport tarmacs."

The NOAA database forms the basis of the influential climate modelling work, and the dire, periodic warnings on climate change, issued by James Hanson, the director of the GISS in New York.

That's one way of pinning global temperature rise on the humans - don't measure the places where they don't live. Because it's, you know, cold there.

Meanwhile, the Copenhagen Agreement is falling apart. Quelle surprise.

New Video Song From Pomplamoose

2010-01-21T08:51:00.003-03:30

New original stuff posted by Nataly and Jack...

If You Think You Need Some Lovin

Check out Pomplamoose's YouTube Channel.

Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won

2010-01-20T20:51:00.001-03:30

Brown Wins In Massachusetts

2010-01-19T22:54:00.004-03:30

The Associated Press reported a few minutes ago that Republican Scott Brown has been elected as the new senator from Massachusetts and the news is spreading across the internet as I type.

Brown's election to Teddy Kennedy's old seat is a stunning turnaround for Republicans in the Democratic bastion of Massachusetts and a repudiation of Democrat leadership and policies. It is certainly one for the books.

Some were already calling this one of the most significant elections in American history.

"This is going to be the most significant special election in modern American history if Scott Brown wins," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He predicted a Brown win would buoy every other "long-shot" Republican candidate in the country and add fuel to the party's momentum going into the midterms this fall.

More immediately, a Brown win would pose big problems for Obama's agenda items, not the least of which is health care reform. Brown, should he win, would break the Democrats' 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority, sending Democrats into a scramble to pass the health care bill before he arrives.

Though Republicans have occasionally been a political force in state politics, Massachusetts voters have not sent a Republican to represent them in the U.S. Senate since 1972. Every member of the state delegation currently in Washington is a Democrat.

UPDATE: Hard nosed analysis from Tom Blumer at Pajamas Media.

In electing Scott Brown to what the elites believed was Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat one day shy of the anniversary of Barack Obama’s inauguration, Massachusetts voters have delivered an irrefutable repudiation of the president, his agenda, and the people in Congress who support him.

The Massachusetts Senate Election

2010-01-19T21:30:00.002-03:30

Exciting politics in America tonight. The polls are now closed in Massachusetts. At Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com

...elections officials today reported high voter turnouts across the state in the 11th-hour nailbiter to choose a successor for the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Steady streams of voters have been heading into the polls to have their say in the bitter contest between GOP state Sen. Scott Brown and Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley – a fight to determine the fate of the controversial health care bill, President Obama’s agenda, and one-party dominance in Washington, D.C.

Independent and party-sponsored polling show Republican Scott Brown likely to win in what many are calling a referendum on the policies of Barack Obama.

Mini Mouse Motor - Actually Runs. The Mouse That Roared?

2010-01-19T15:20:00.005-03:30

If you know this blog, then you know what a Rat Motor is. But did you know there was also a Mouse Motor? Yep. While the Rat Motor was the big block Chevy V8 - really a truck engine - the Mouse Motor was - what else - the famous small block Chevy V8.

Here's a video of a 1/6th scale mini Mouse Motor machined from scratch by Jim Moyer. It's a replica of a Chevrolet 327 cu in V8 Mouse Motor that starts and runs.

Moyer took machinist and engineering measurements from an actual 1964 365 hp Corvette engine. The head and block were painstakingly machined from billet aluminum on a Bridgeport-style mill. The 5-main crank has real babbit bearings, while the cam is a scale 30-30 Duntov.The model is dead accurate.

I don't know what the horsepower and torque curves would be like for an engine this size, but it sounds like it would make a heck of a chainsaw engine. Loads of photos and specifications at Jim Moyer's website.

UPDATE: OK, the V8 chainsaw has already been done. Full size. And the V6. And the Harley V-Twin.Yikes.

Time To Kill Off Internet Explorer?

2010-01-18T20:51:00.000-03:30

Should you ditch your Internet Explorer Web Browser because of the Google China hacking vulnerability?

Microsoft says you should. The French and Germans too. If, after all that, you actually still use IE, here's how to limit your exposure.

Better yet, download Firefox. Or Opera.

Background on the story here.

Scientific Blunders By The IPCC?

2010-01-18T13:08:00.000-03:30

Put this in the category: Let's throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.

In this case, let's tell everyone the glaciers in the Himalayas will be totally melted in 25 years by global warming.

Let's just put this "fact" into our Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change benchmark report and claim that it incorporates the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming.

Let's not tell anyone that this is total, er, "speculation" based on a phone call in 1999 and is not supported by any formal research, whatsoever.

Yeah, let's do that.

And, you know what? That's just what they did.

Driving In New York Circa 1928

2010-01-17T22:50:00.002-03:30

Here's some amazing old film of silent star Harold Lloyd and others speeding, swerving and generally hooning around in New York traffic around 1928.

Someone has cleaned it up and put some appropriate music behind. It must be from some larger production, but the YouTube poster is mute on the provenance.

Watch for cabbie Harold Lloyd giving Babe Ruth a hair-raising cab ride to Yankee Stadium.The special effects are really great for their day.

The runaway horses are scary, though.

Obama Can't Fill A Hall In Boston?

2010-01-17T20:10:00.000-03:30

The race to fill Teddy Kennedy's senate seat in Massachusetts - held by Kennedy for 47 years - is down to the last two days. Republican Scott Brown appears to have a good chance of defeating Democrat candidate, and Massachusetts attorney general, Martha Coakley.

The two camps held competing rallies today. In Worcester, Brown filled a three-thousand seat house with another thousand out in the street. In Boston, Barack Obama flew in to boost Coakley. They could not fill their three-thousand seat venue.

Brahms Hungarian Dances

2010-01-17T00:46:00.001-03:30

What I am listening to this minute:

Brahms Hungarian Dances performed by the Berliner Philharmonikar conducted by Herbert Von Karajan and recorded in 1960 by Deutsche Grammophon. The German vinyl holds up brilliantly.

This is Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 1 recorded a year or so ago by Hungarian Békés County Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Dániel Somogyi-Tóth.

Lots more here.

LA Gang Tour

2010-01-17T00:19:00.000-03:30

Chicago has a prohibition-era gangster tour, and a Los Angeles group buses people to infamous crime scenes, heck, even St. John's has its world-famous Haunted Hike. But this is definitely new:

An unmarked tour bus is rolling through the dark side of the L.A.'s gang turf. More than 50 tourists paying $65 a head signed waivers acknowledging they could be crime victims and put their fate in the hands of tattooed ex-gang members who say they have negotiated a cease-fire among rivals in the most violent gangland in America.

Ghettotainment?

A Dirty Climate Change Secret

2010-01-16T21:14:00.000-03:30

Since the Copenhagen fiasco I've been neglecting the climate change industry. But here's a story that's too juicy to pass up.

The American government has commissioned a huge new supercomputer. It is expected to have 30 times the power of current systems. It will have its own power plant. Its fuel will be coal. It will be used to model climate change. Only in America.

The full story is at Watts Up With That.

NHL Goalie Hit With Laser - Wins Anyway

2010-01-16T14:51:00.000-03:30

The Calgary Flames edged out the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL shootout last week, 3-2, but the real story was Flames goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff making 19 saves while being nailed in the face with a laser for the better part of 60 minutes.

Why the coach didn't take his team off the ice until the cops nabbed this moron is a mystery to me, anyway.

The Most Influential Americans - From The Telegraph

2010-01-15T22:58:00.000-03:30

A must read for US political junkies or for anyone who needs a program to tell the players. The Telegraph of London is presenting its second list of the 100 most influential conservatives and 100 most influential liberals in America.

Here are the conservative top 20 and the liberal top 20.

All 200 here.

Google Earth Haiti Updates

2010-01-15T15:40:00.000-03:30

Google Earth now has a KML overlay you can download which updates the satellite views of Haiti so you can actually look at the earthquake damage.

If you have not yet downloaded Google Earth you can get it here for free. It is indispensible.

All Girl All Banjo Band

2010-01-15T10:51:00.000-03:30

Via Boing Boing, a 1928 all-girl, all-banjo orchestra plays "Shakin' the Blues Away":

Flight 1549 A Year Ago Today

2010-01-15T08:51:00.003-03:30

I posted the link to these videos last fall when they first came available, but it is worth reposting on the anniversary of the event to remind ourselves just how remarkable an event this was and why we need people like "Sully".

One year ago today Capt. Chesley Sullenburger laid his stricken Airbus down in New York's Hudson River as nice as you please.

He and his equally cool-as-a-cucumber co-pilot Jeff Skiles saved the lives of all 155 people on the aircraft.

Here are several excellent video reconstructions of the incident.

China Spies On The Internet

2010-01-14T22:51:00.002-03:30

Via Slashdot:

Researchers, examining the attacks on Google and over 20 other companies in December, have determined 'the source IPs and drop server of the attack correspond to a single foreign entity consisting either of agents of the Chinese state or proxies thereof.'"

If the report's findings are correct, it suggests that the government of China has been engaged for months in a massive campaign of industrial espionage against US companies.

Google is actually upset about this. It fought back and uncovered proof and is talking about pulling out of China. Lots more here at the New York Times.

Good geek stuff here.

More Psychedelic Pontiac Art

2010-01-14T17:20:00.002-03:30

The Truth About Cars has this feature on the automotive art of Fitzpatrick and Kaufman. Now I've blogged about F & K's work for Pontiac back in the '60s before (here and here) - but since TTAC brought it up again, I can't resist.

I love these old ads. The cars by Fitzpatrick are stunning - and impossibly wide - and the backgrounds by Kaufman are period chic and, dare I say, totally romantic.

Art Fitzpatrick is in his 90s now and is still in business.

Facts About Haiti

2010-01-14T14:59:00.000-03:30

Haiti is a country you rarely hear about. Now that the earthquake catastrophe has replaced all other top stories, here is some interesting info on Haiti. From the CIA Factbook.

Glenn Reynolds points to an article by Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution: Why is Haiti so poor?

Latest news updates by the CBC here, the BBC here and The Wall Street Journal here.

Misery In Haiti

2010-01-13T11:35:00.000-03:30

Haiti earthquake coverage from National Public Radio:

Endemic instability, murderous dictators, more than 30 coups and a seemingly endless series of hurricanes and other natural disasters have claimed countless souls over Haiti's tumultuous 206-year history, leaving it the Americas' poorest country and utterly dependent on foreign aid.

Add to that Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude quake, the strongest to hit what is now Haiti since 1770. Initial reports on its destruction are frightening.

Much more on the scope of Haiti's catastrophe here.

California To Vote On Legalizing Pot

2010-01-12T14:28:00.003-03:30

According to NBC, the first step to legalize marijuana in California could happen tomorrow. Lawmakers will vote on Assembly Bill 390 -- legislation to tax and regulate marijuana.

The bill, authored by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, would essentially treat pot the same way alcohol is treated under the law and would allow adults over 21 to possess, smoke and grow marijuana.

The law would also call for a fee of $50 per ounce sold and would help fund drug eradication and awareness programs. It could help pull California out of debt, supporters say, raising up to $990 million from the fees.

Full text of Bill 390 here.

UPDATE: The bill passed 4-3 but will likely die anyway.

Though the successful committee vote could end up being purely symbolic, pot advocates hailed it as an important step forward.

"We're thrilled," said Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance, a pro-legalization group. "This to me, this is the formal beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition in the United States."

Daily Caller Goes Live

2010-01-11T17:49:00.001-03:30

Fox News contributor and former host of CNN’s “Crossfire", Tucker Carlson's Washington insider news site The Daily Caller went live today. Lead story? Sarah Palin will join Fox News.

Lots more about Carlson and his plans in this Wall Street Journal article from last May... And Ariana Huffington hopes he can transcend left-right polarities and wishes him luck.

Pot Precedent?

2010-01-10T23:35:00.000-03:30

According to the Associated Press, a Superior Court Judge in L.A. (of course) has ordered the cops to give back a man's pot. For medicinal purposes (of course).

All 60 pounds of it.

Top 10 Hockey Goalie Bloopers

2010-01-10T21:51:00.000-03:30

From TSN:

Settled Science Unsettled...

2010-01-10T19:33:00.006-03:30

So now it's global cooling...?

From today's Mail Online:

The bitter winter afflicting much of the Northern Hemisphere is only the start of a global trend towards cooler weather that is likely to last for 20 or 30 years, say some of the world’s most eminent climate scientists.

Their predictions – based on an analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans – challenge some of the global warming orthodoxy’s most deeply cherished beliefs.

"...the orthodoxy's most deeply cherished beliefs." That sounds very much like religion to me. Now even the mainstream media is calling it.

Finding Another Earth?

2010-01-10T01:27:00.000-03:30

I hope this is true:

A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth-like planet where life could develop, or may have already. A planet close to the size of Earth could even be found sometime this year if preliminary hints from a new space telescope pan out.

The survival of our species - and many others - may ultimately depend on our finding an alternate habitable planet and creating the means to go there. Noah's Ark?

I Will Survive

2010-01-09T23:33:00.001-03:30

Via Facebook, Igudesman & Joo from their show "A Little Nightmare Music"

Art Clokey Has Died

2010-01-09T20:34:00.005-03:30

Art Clokey? He was an animator, whose bendable creation Gumby became a pop culture phenomenon through decades of toys, revivals and satires. He died Friday. He was 88. More here.

And here's a Gumby TV short called Toy Crazy. As a kid I loved the way real toys were integrated into the Gumby stories. For example, dig Gumby's Jag XK-120.

RIP Art Clokey.

The Staggering Implications Of Vitamin D

2010-01-09T18:49:00.000-03:30

More and more information is coming out describing the crucial importance of Vitamin D to human health. Vitamin D is the "sunshine" vitamin and those of us who live far away from the equator do not get nearly enough of either.

Patrick Cox is an economist who makes his living evaluating economic impacts of science. This requires him to read massive amounts of scientific research and reports. When it comes to Vitamin D, Cox has seen a clear pattern: We need to take more Vitamin D. A whole lot more.

The “scientific consensus” that has held sway for four decades regarding both exposure to the sun and vitamin D has collapsed. What has emerged in place of the old “settled science” is the knowledge that most people in America are seriously vitamin D deficient or insufficient. The same is true for Canada and Europe, and the implications are staggering.

Simply put, unless you are one of the few people with optimal serum D levels, such as lifeguards and roofers in South Florida, you can cut your risks from most major diseases by 50 to 80 percent [by supplementing with large doses of Vitamin D].

How large?

...the maximum safe dosage of vitamin D3, the preferred dietary form, is currently 2000IU. This is extremely unfortunate because it takes about a hundred IU to raise serum blood levels by 1 ng/ml in a healthy adult. To get into the optimal range, 40 to 60 ng/ml, one would therefore have to take 4000 IU daily. It would take even more if you were obese, are taking certain medications, or have one of a number of medical conditions that degrade or prevent the creation of usable D. The evidence, incidentally, is that 10,000IU is entirely safe.

75 Reasons To Love Elvis

2010-01-08T15:42:00.001-03:30

It's Elvis Presley's 75th birthday. From Entertainment Weekly, 75 reasons to love Elvis.

Plus, tons of photos at the New York Daily News.

Kissimmee Auction Oddities

2010-01-07T20:54:00.003-03:30

At the big collector car auction run by Mecum International later this month at Kissimmee you can see these and much, much more:

Lot F202: 1955 Dodge La Femme Coupe. I kid you not. 20-thousand miles plus "...documentation from Mrs. I. L. Peterson who purchased the La Femme from Shelby Motors in Champaign, Illinois on May 3, 1955." The La Femme came from the factory with a purse as standard equipment.

Lot S181: 1958 Pontiac Parisienne Convertible. A Canadian-spec Pontiac, thus all Chevy underneath. Lovely restoration. Like all of its contemporaries, remarkably and often inexplicably overstyled (I don't get so-called Continental kits).

Lot Z157: Neon Sign Pontiac. A classic '40s 10-footer. There are quite a few of these. Evidence all those ex-Pontiac dealers are clearing out the fixtures?

Lot Z642 Zombie Mannequin. How did this get in among the cars?

Lots more here.

The New Alternative Media

2010-01-07T16:46:00.001-03:30

Yesterday Andrew Breitbart's BigJournalism launched. This coming Monday, former MSNBC and CNN host Tucker Carlson will launch his own conservative news site The Daily Caller “along the lines of The Huffington Post” with an ideology “not in sync with the current program.”

More from the Washington Independent.

Veterans of other new media start-ups are sold on what they’ve heard about the “HuffPo of the Right.” Conor Friedersdorf, a freelance journalist who worked for the short-lived site Culture11, contrasted Carlson’s focus on journalism with the much-praised, quick-hitting tactics of Breitbart’s Big Hollywood, Big Government, and Big Journalism.

“I hope that The Daily Caller aspires to produce writing that is as well written and professionally edited as the stuff that the talented Tucker Carlson writes for Esquire,” said Friedersdorf. “The alternative — the Andrew Breitbart model — is to publish poorly reasoned, atrociously edited screeds on the cheap, on the assumption that ideologically friendly readers will keep clicking anyway.”

Partisan opinion aside, isn't it interesting that even as the mainstream "dead tree" media are fading away, new media enterprises are seemingly healthy - and growing. Especially if they are, as Carlson says, "not in sync with the current program."

Breitbart's BigJournalism Debuts, Declares War

2010-01-06T19:41:00.002-03:30

Leading new media journalist Andrew Breitbart has launched the latest outlet in his new media network. BigJournalism joins BigGovernment and BigHollywood.

In the midst of an account of his telephone conversation with ACORN organizer Bertha Lewis (who calls him a "bad, bad, bad journalist"), Breitbart says there is a new media war unfolding:

Big Journalism is staking the claim that media is now at war with one another: Big Media versus Small Media; Old Media versus New Media; Left Media Vs Right Media. You get the picture. The practice of journalism will never be the same, and not the New York Times’s Pinch Sulzberger nor all the sniping children at Gawker and Media Matters can un-ring this bell – which, after all, tolls for them.

It seems for the first time in my life people who agree with my broad point of view are using the media to tell their truths, to go on the offensive, to act as checks and balances against entrenched media power. And to have a major effect.

I sleep well being part of this process of stratification. If the media isn’t going to take the large clues of losing subscribers, dwindling viewers, thriving alternatives – perhaps something more aggressive will instigate a change for the better.

Even if you’re one of those awful, biased old-media types we seek to destroy, welcome to Big Journalism, where the spirit of free inquiry lives on.

Maple Leaf Training Requirements 1962

2010-01-06T08:51:00.005-03:30

What sort of conditioning was necessary to be a paid professional athlete in 1962? Here is an actual copy of a Toronto Maple Leaf training camp invitation sent by Leaf's general manager Punch Imlach, to winger Jim Pappin in 1962. Via PuckDoctors.com

Is that why the Leaf's haven't won a cup since ? Oh, that was '67. Darn those 30 knee-bends.

World Juniors: US 6 Canada 5

2010-01-06T01:40:00.000-03:30

From the Globe and Mail:

The United States of America last night put an end to any Canadian hopes of a record sixth straight gold medal in the world junior hockey championship when the fleet, sometimes panicking young Americans pulled off an upset 6-5 overtime victory over the defending champions and pre-tournament favourites.

The win dampened an incredible Canadian comeback late in the third that saw Jordan Eberle, the clutch hero of last year's gold-medal victory in Ottawa, score twice to force the overtime.

Unfortunately, unlike a year ago, the Canadians could not finish the job, the game lost at 4:21 of overtime when the Americans broke up ice on a three-on-one and defenceman John Carlson scored on a hard shot that beat Canadian goaltender Martin Jones.

And from the Canadian Press, a report card on Canada's performance in the world junior's final, rated on a scale of one to 10.

The final goal at 4:21 in overtime here:

Michael Yon Arrested. In America.

2010-01-05T18:18:00.006-03:30

Renowned American independent war correspondent Michael Yon has been arrested in Seattle. Not in Iraq. Not in Indonesia. Not in Afghanistan. Seattle.

Why? Because he refused to tell an airport security guard his annual income. From Yon's Facebook page:

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not "arrested", but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came -- they were professionals -- and rescued me from the border bullies.

I have personally heard lots of anecdotal evidence over the years that the US border guards are possibly the rudest in the world. And I have first hand experience. Although I was not arrested, I was rudely interrogated by a US customs buffoon in San Francisco some years ago after I flew in from Ottawa for my job. He demanded I justify myself as a Canadian taking work away from someone in America. That I was working on a contract under NAFTA eluded him.

And going into Boston I have encountered one loutish security guard after another. I have never seen such treatment at any other border except the US.

Buffoons and louts at US customs. Yeah, that'll stop the terrorists. Helluva job there, boys.

Hidden Under The Rain Forest

2010-01-05T16:29:00.000-03:30

National Geographic reports that what we once thought of as untouched, pristine Amazon rainforest was once home to teeming cities and monumental architecture. Once they were abandoned, that's when the rain forest took over.

Satellite images of the upper Amazon Basin taken since 1999 have revealed more than 200 geometric earthworks spanning a distance greater than 155 miles (250 kilometers).

Now researchers estimate that nearly ten times as many such structures—of unknown purpose—may exist undetected under the Amazon's forest cover.

Darwin Awards For 2009 Announced

2010-01-04T17:07:00.001-03:30

The Darwin Awards are given to those "doing the most to improve the human gene pool by removing themselves from it".

The 2009 winners, among others, are two bank robbers who blew themselves up - and an entire bank building - trying to break open a cash machine.

Much more on the Darwin Awards - including all the 2009 nominees - here.

Rex Murphy On Time's Person Of The Year

2010-01-03T21:51:00.002-03:30

TIME magazine has named Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, as its Person of the Year.

In the Globe and Mail Rex Murphy asks, why not Barack Obama?

I think Time went to the relatively faceless functionary Bernanke mainly not to name Barack Obama. Time, like a lot of its fellows in the wild world of the contemporary U.S. media, is in an awkward place with regards to Mr. Obama. Having devoted so much incense to his remarkable ascendancy, a great swath of his country's press is looking for a convenient and not too noticeable off-ramp while it – shall we say – recalibrates its enthusiasm.

Scary Snowplow Video

2010-01-03T15:40:00.002-03:30

What happens when you set up your camera too close to the tracks as the snowplow train comes barreling through. I think the engineer is a wee bit annoyed on the approach.

OK, so the engine wasn't pushing a snow plow. Just a lot of snow. For snowplow train total coolness, this is off the "scale".

Building Demolition Fail

2010-01-02T14:28:00.001-03:30

From today's Mail Online, this video, taken on December 30, shows a 22-floor residential building being demolished in the city of Liuzhou in southern China. As you will see, it does not go quite right.

That reminds me of another classic demolition fail from last year. Turkish television showed successful examples of how to demolish buildings. And then they showed this.

A Very Cool ISS Animation

2010-01-01T14:31:00.000-03:30

USAToday features an animated time line of the construction of the International Space Station. It begins with the arrival in orbit of the Russian-built Zarya module in November 1998 and ends with the future installation of the Jules Verne automated transfer module.

As each module arrives, you can click on the menu at right screen to get more info - and more animation - on each module. Very cool indeed. I could spend a lot of time in the Cupola attached to Node #3 (when it arrives).

Lots more on the ISS at National Geographic.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-03:30

May this new year and new decade be the best ever.

How To Grade Exams

2009-12-31T21:26:00.000-03:30

Law professor Glenn Reynolds links to law professor Daniel Solove's pictorial essay A Guide to Grading Exams. Isn't this the way they all do it?

Ring The Old Year Out - Ring The New Year In

2009-12-31T20:46:00.001-03:30

Bring us all good luck. Let the good guys win.

It's the 20th anniversary of a song I heard for the first time on New Year's Eve 1989. This is Murray McLaughlin's prayer for a happy new year with Tom Cochrane and Paul Hyde.

Let The Good Guys Win.

“And Then Tragically Obama Got Elected”

2009-12-31T18:19:00.001-03:30

Victor Davis Hanson writes a year-ender about Barack Obama's Humpty-Dumpty view of the world and the dilemmas and paradoxes he is facing - or not:

And then tragically Obama got elected and discovered that the real world had no relationship whatsoever to his fantasy impressions of it. In a cosmos of radical Islam, Chinese bankers, Japanese exporters, and Arab oil producers, there were no more law school profs, Rev. Wrights, or Chris Matthews and Newsweek editors to wink and nod and reassure Obama that his mellifluous but empty rhetoric allusions were at all reality-based.

As always, Hanson's commentors add invaluable insights. Like this:

Seems to me Mr. Obama is much more interested in the interests of the mandarin class and the destruction of liberty around the world. He and his ilk are far more interested in taking away my rights and my liberty than in defending or expanding them. Go to Honduras, to Iran, to Georgia and Israel and see thou what interests Barack Obama. If I were Taiwanese, I would be dreading now what mean price we will sell them to pay for the financing of bureaucracy and union jobs.

Once In A New Year's Eve Blue Moon

2009-12-31T16:36:00.008-03:30

In honour of tonight's very rare New Year's Eve blue moon (the last time was in 1990, the next one 's in 2028), here's Blue Moon performed by genius violinist Stephan Grappelli and the awesomely-named guitarist Martin Taylor in Australia in 1990. Jon Burr on bass:

More about the "blue moon" at National Geographic. And there will be a partial eclipse of the moon, for sky watchers in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia tonight.

Happy New Year to all my faithful readers!

New Chart From Chart Of The Day

2009-12-31T16:18:00.002-03:30

As the zeros decade concludes, today's chart presents the price performance of the Dow for each decade since 1900. So how do the 10 years just passed rank? As today's chart illustrates, the performance of the Dow from the close of 1999 through 2009 was the second worst performance on record. Only the Great Depression decade of the 1930s was worse. The current zeros decade also shares an unfortunate outcome with the 1930s in being a decade during which the Dow actually ended lower than where it started. Happy new decade.

Why Is Printer Ink So Expensive?

2009-12-30T16:29:00.002-03:30

I've thought about this every time the dang printer runs out of ink. Why is it the ink ends up costing waaaaay more than the printer? It really bugs the heck out of me that I had to hack my Brother 240C printer to print black just because one of the colour cartridges dried out.

From Boing Boing, a graph that compares the price of inkjet ink to other liquids. Hint: Ink costs more than human blood. Way more.

From the comments, one possible explanation:

Genuine HP Black Ink #45 is made by washing Karl Rove's soul in the tears of unicorns, for maximum opacity and colorfastness. Cheap 3rd party cartridges just aren't the same.

Pomplamoose - Always In The Season

2009-12-29T18:04:00.002-03:30

Another great original from Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte, this time accompanied by Zoe Keating on cello, Anton Patzner on violin, Matt Payne on trombone and Andy Wilke on trumpet. I thought I saw Jack Conte on trombone for a second.

As always, brilliant mastering and editing give Pomplamoose a surprisingly big sound. Turn it up and wait for the good mic to kick in!

The Iranian Revolution?

2009-12-29T08:51:00.001-03:30

The Times asks if the current uprising in Iran constitutes a revolution.

The Known Universe

2009-12-29T08:01:00.001-03:30

The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

For more information visit http://www.amnh.org

Be sure to watch full screen.

YouTube Christmas Extravaganza

2009-12-28T10:51:00.001-03:30

Wade Johnston's Christmas video collection from 2008. Includes this Christmas ditty from Pomplamoose:

The Muppets - Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-12-27T12:51:00.000-03:30

This video peaked when it debuted about a month ago. Then yesterday, it shot up again. Going on 12-million views...

The 100 Best Innovations of 2009

2009-12-26T22:17:00.001-03:30

Via KurzweilAI.net :

A robot that uses whiskers instead of cameras to see in the dark, a personal video network that lets users place cordless cameras virtually anywhere and view video in real time on the Web, and an electronic stethoscope that beams sounds to a doctor's PC by Bluetooth and renders a near-real-time graphical representation of the sounds onscreen are among Popular Science's Best of What's New list gallery of 100 innovations of 2009.

Neda Soltan Is The Times Person Of The Year

2009-12-26T19:02:00.002-03:30

I've blogged before about the brutal murder of Neda Soltan in Tehran during the anti-government protests last June. The Iranian opposition has not forgotten her despite thuggish actions by the government against her family and friends to suppress her legacy.

Now The Times of London has named her Person of the Year for 2009.

Christmas Around The World

2009-12-25T08:51:00.001-03:30

Enjoy this slideshow of Christmas displays from around the world from Examiner.com.

Merry Christmas!

The Meaning Of Christmas

2009-12-24T14:41:00.000-03:30

As told by Linus.

The End Of An Era - GM Cuts The Rat Motor

2009-12-23T17:39:00.006-03:30

When the clock on the office wall reads 4:54, gearheads never think "quitting time", gearheads always think "Rat Motor". And if you happen to have one sitting in the parking lot under your office window, patiently waiting your lead foot, then you are very lucky.

That's because the 454 Rat Motor was one of Chevy 's biggest engines. These were "big block" monsters, ranging from 396 to a massive 496 cubic inch displacement.

They were meant for trucks, motor homes and even boats, but they quickly found their way into blisteringly fast street cars of every type.

They've been known since hot-rodding time immemorial as "Rat Motors".

Now the Rats are no more. GM has stopped production.