Still in keeping with my love affair with altered time perception. This is a wonderfully ambitious stunt performed in New York’s Grand Central station. It is only successful because it is so massive in scale.
Harmless and fun, here is a link to the perpetrators’ blog (Improv Everywhere) if you want more info or to see some of their other missions
Say what you like about the US government’s ever expanding need to simplify the surveillance of her own citizens (hint: It’s *supposed* to be challenging, that’s why it’s detective *work*), but to retroactively change laws is absolutely and criminally wrong.
Maybe you can change the law from now going forward, I’m still steadfastly against ANYTHING that makes it easier for ANY government to collect and mine for wrongdoings that aren’t wrongdoings….yet, but changing the rules of the game after the game has been played erodes confidence in the government and the law. AT&T (and others) broke the law as it was at the time and they need to be taken to task for it. When they should have been using their not inconsiderable lobbying clout and corporate might to protect their customers, they were kowtowing before the federal government and participating in larceny of the absolute and most unforgivable kind: abuse of our trust.
My father was once stung by this kind of unforgivable betrayal by the Canadian government. It was not for something so egregious as what the US Federal government is currently hemorrhaging out of both the senate and the house of representatives, but in his case it was to do with taxation. At the end of the year the Canadian government felt that certain business perks should be taxable where before they were not. Again, it’s OK to pass such laws, but not retroactively like that. So he had a wholly unanticipated extra burden placed on him that he could neither plan for nor, should he have felt the need, avoided completely by simply not accepting the perk. That is just plain wrong.
What is the line where we find that our representatives’ (and I must use that term lightly) abrogation of, not only the constitution, but the very essence of fair play, honor and justice to be beyond our tolerance? Acting with indifference to the sanctity of the individual, pandering to nanny state philosophies without concern for the principals and foundations upon which America was created and made great. Generating new laws and shackling her citizens with overwhelming commitments (criminally mismanaged social programs, crippling deficit spending, short sighted – illegal if private enterprise attempted to behave similarly – social security).
We really need to take a serious look at deconstructing our government and rebuilding her upon the far more more modest and less sweeping social doctrines that our founding fathers envisioned. Rebuild representative government to get career politicians the hell out of dodge and get real, productive citizens with a knowledge of something other than politics or law into our congress so they can create laws for, by and of the people.
As scary as this looks I have to say that I’d *love* to try this someday. There is very little room for error and you definitely need to be confident with your skills.
Of course parking off to the side and watching planes taking off and landing from here would be a lot of fun too! I’ll have to see if I can ever get to St. Barts (maybe via a cruise) and make my way over to this strip for a couple of cool photo opps and some excitement.
Popeyes fries, called “Cajun Battered Fries, have a mildly spicy seasoning and are a perfect complement to their great greasy chicken breasts. Popeyes fries rate a 4 out of 5
I’ve done a little mountain biking in my time. This is definitely what it looked like from my perspective. I can’t say I was ever up to the level of these guys who make this look effortless. I got a great rush through the first half of the trail and then just simply enjoyed the rest. If you don’t ever think you’ll mountain bike on singletrack but really want to know what it’s like… well… here’s your chance!
I frequent (OK not so much frequent as just get there when I can – it’s kind of out of the way for me these days) the Jocks & Jills restaurant at the Galleria on Cobb Parkway (near I-285).
My favorite meal is their “Boneless Buffalo Bites” which has exactly the right amount of chicken and exactly the right amount of their wonderful french fries. Never mind the fact that their Buffalo sauce is perfectly tangy and just a little spicy, their french fries are worth writing home about too! These wonderful fries rate a 5 out of 5 for me. Slightly crunchy exterior, just the right texture on the inside. mmmm… that’s good eating!
This harkens obliquely to my love of altering time (either through time lapse or high speed filming), this is a very cool little project that I found to be great!
Pay special attention to #91 vs #93. You truly are as old as you make yourself!!
Looking for good fries, seek them elsewhere. The fries at Ted’s Montana grill are like warm cardboard. They have no redeeming qualities other than the fact that they might not kill you. They get a 1 out of 5.
Back in October of 2001 I had a radiator flush done by Jiffy Lube. Problem was, the geniuses there forgot to tighten the hose clamps and a couple of days later one of the radiator hoses just fell off, spewing radiator fluid everywhere!
Fortunately I was near a strip mall where I could get some more radiator fluid and continue on my way.
But it’s always been a concern for me. Too many uninspired people too isolated from the customers to feel any responsibility for their actions. You seldom see or meet the people working on your vehicle anymore. I often think that the risk of the damage they are doing to my car through carelessness might outweigh any good I’m doing by following my car’s maintenance plan.
I’ve had someone forget to tighten my oil pan screw and had the oil literally flowing out of the oil pan onto the garage floor. I always open the hood and inspect the work that’s supposedly been done, but who can tell if the valves have been properly shimmed (I used to be able to tell when I’d adjust my tappets on my motorcycle – apparently car valves make just as much noise after they’ve been shimmed as before). Anything other than newly replaced oil filters, or wiring is pretty hard to spot when you’re anxious to get on your way.
I once brought a car in because there was a strong smell of gasoline in the passenger compartment when I would brake hard. After a full servicing, the mechanic said he could find no cause for the smell. Getting off of my butt I went over the engine and found… the PCV valve was just sitting loosely over its rubber seal. Pushing it properly in place made the smell go away permanently.
I could go on and on, but I *hate* taking my car in for servicing. I have no problem paying the money but I want to feel confident that the car will be somehow improved afterwards.
One of my friends’ folks used to buy their cars and just drive them until they stopped working. The last little while with those cars was simply miserable (I recall when their little car only had 3 cylinders firing). OK if you’re a starving student, but not if you’ve got a family to haul around.
Anyway, here is Jiffy Lube being caught red-handed. I especially liked the chickens#!t district manager who kept pretending he wasn’t himself. Those unethical buggers need to be slapped upside the head and then forced to work for minimum wage for the next 15 years with all proceeds from their work that would let them enjoy life taken from them and passed back to the people they bilked.
There is a real level of sophistication in the way these dolphins interact with these bubble rings.
Probably it’s a matter of primate bigotry, but I’ve never really subscribed to the notion of dolphins being one of the more intelligent beings on this planet (aren’t they supposed to be 2nd or 3rd in line after Homo Sapiens?). But watching them at play can be pretty compelling…
