Dan

The Bacon Lance

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Okay, so it’s not like I (and the enlightened contingent of humanity) don’t know that bacon isn’t the world’s most awesome meat, but until today, even I didn’t fully comprehend the heights of awesomeness that bacon could reach.

Now I know.

Behold, the bacon lance… a torch made of bacon that burns so hot it can cut through a steel pan. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s a cutting torch… made of bacon.

baconlance001

Ummm… wow. You can watch the video below (or at the link above) of the bacon lance’s construction.

My favorite quote: “It turns out that ordinary American bacon does not have the structural integrity that’s necessary for this applicaiton so I’m using an engineering grade of bacon which is known as prosciutto.”

“Engineering grade”… R0XX0R!

Sadly, at the end of the article, there’s a warning which says, “Theodore Gray is trained in lab safety. Don’t try this at home.”

So much for my weekend plans.

Seriously? The best health care system?

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Senator Richard Shelby

Republican Senator Richard Shelby said on Sunday that President Obama’s proposed health care reform plan is “first step in destroying the best health care system the world has ever known.”

Are we talking about the least expensive health care system? No. Are we talking about the most effective health care system? It seems not. Are we talking about the health care system that covers the most people in the country? It’s not that, either.

I wonder, then, what criteria Senator Shelby is using when he makes his statement because using the criteria that I think most people would use to judge the quality of the health care system, his statement can be considered nothing more than political grandstanding.

While I don’t necessarily know what the best way is to improve our health care system, I certainly don’t think that the solution is to spew partisan hyperbole or to repeatedly parrot the party-line talking points.

…especially when those talking points have no basis in reality.

Jenny McCarthy Body Count

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To augment my disgust with anti-vaxxers like Jenny McCarthy, I’d like to provide this link to JennyMcCarthyBodyCount.com.

Not only does it highlight the vaccine-preventable illnesses and deaths, but includes information and links about both vaccinations and the anti-vax movement.

Give it a visit and help show anti-vaxxers that their dangerous and ignorant actions are unacceptable.

We are very tiny

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I came across this video this weekend and wanted to share it. I’ve seen static images with size comparisons of the planets in our solar system, our sun, and other starts in our galaxy, but this video makes it significantly more dramatic.

It also uses the music from Disney’s movie The Black Hole, which, despite it’s scientific shenanigans with physics, is just a fun, fun movie.

(For the best effect, click the “HD” button and then make it full screen. Good stuff!)

Windows Live Writer

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I just used Windows Update to get the latest Windows Live tools and one tool was Windows Live Writer which gives you an editing interface for your desktop that can automatically publish your content to your blog (I’m using it to write this).

It’s somewhat like a mini-version of Microsoft Word, but it has some sidebars and dropdowns for blog-related stuff like categories and keywords, inserting pictures and links, and related stuff. It’s pretty much the browser interface of WordPress with a different layout, which begs the question… What’s the point?

If I’m using my computer and have an internet connection, why use Windows Live Writer instead of just loading my browser and using the WordPress interface. As far as I can tell, the Windows Live Writer writing interface isn’t all that much more feature-laden.

Perhaps some more experimentation is in order.

Don’t mess with my movie.

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Drop... your... sword.People who know me well know that my favorite movie of all time is The Princess Bride. Ever since college, it’s been at the top of my list and I think I’ve seen it well over 30 times, though I lost count a long time ago.

Whenever I had a bad day, I’d pop that movie in the VCR. If I was extra lucky, a good friend who also loved the movie would come over, too, and the two of us would sit there watching it and talking along with almost every single word of dialog. To anyone else, it would have been annoying beyond compare, but to the two of us, it was bliss. By the end of the movie, the bad day had been forgotten and the sunlit world of happy endings had taken over.

I’ve always had a knack for remembering lines from movies, songs, or scripts, something that came in handy during my participation in high school plays, musicals, and barbershop quartets. It’s also something that is a source of aggravation…either for me or for someone else who gets a movie quote wrong while I’m around.

“No. She didn’t say ‘like that.’ She said, ‘I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.'”

Believe me, if you’re not surrounded by friends who really like you (or by happy drunk people), that kind of thing gets eye rolls of derision.

I’ve learned (mostly) to keep it in check unless I’m just teasing a friend… or my boss. The only time it’s really tough to do is when someone screws up dialogue from a favorite movie; specifically The Princess Bride.

For instance…

Recently, my father-in-law was visiting (which is good, since I like my in-laws). He’s usually sleeping when I go to work, so I don’t get to see him in the mornings, but this particular morning, I was taking it easy and left the house later than usual, so he was up. As I was saying goodbye and was walking out the door, he said (in a Jewish Miracle Max voice), “Good luck stormin’ da castle!”

I smiled. I chuckled. I closed the door behind me. I got in my car. I started the engine. I pulled out of the driveway. I took a deep breath.

“It’s ‘HAVE FUN stormin’ da castle!'”

And that is how my knack for remembering movie dialogue creates aggravation for me.

But family harmony was preserved… which, like bacon, is a good thing.

Pixar’s UP Almost Ruined by Clueless Harpy

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Pixar UPI love Pixar movies. Pixar has never made a movie that has even come close to disappointing me. They’re consistently funny, dramatic, beautiful, and even a little geeky if you know some behind-the-scenes stuff.

Given my penchant for their movies, I was excited to see UP. I planned it so my daughter and I could go see it in 3D on opening night at the best theater in our area. We showed up an hour early just to make sure we could get tickets and get a good seat dead smack in the center of the screen. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as I’d expected, so we had no trouble at all… perfect seats.

Except for one thing.

Two rows behind me, sitting slightly to the left, was a woman who evidently lives in her own self-centered, egotistical bubble of inconsideration and, in an almost conversational volume, kept up an inane, non-stop commentary of the movie’s events to her child, stopping only to indignantly shush him when he made any comments or noises of his own.

“Awww…”

“Oh, look at that!”

“Wow!”

“Oh, they parked right where he wanted.”

“Look at all the balloons!”

“Uh-oh. The balloons are popping.”

“The bird wants her babies.”

“Awww… ” (again)

“Ha! Ha! Ha! That’s so clever!”

“Oh, the poor dog.”

“He’s sad.”

“Awww…” (oh yes… over, and over, and over…)

I’m very non-confrontational, so for a long time, I sat there and tried to ignore her. At one point, I got frustrated enough that I turned around and looked at her, displaying the universally accepted “shut the hell up” expression. Sadly, we all had the 3D glasses on, so the laser-focused, burning heat of my baleful glare didn’t have its fully intended effect.

A short while later, I took a page from her own playbook and turned around and shushed her. Sadly, the shush had a lasting effect of about 60 seconds. In retrospect, there’s a good chance she thought I was shushing her son. I think she was completely unaware of the extreme obnoxiousness of her behavior.

I really should have turned around and said something like, “Lady, would you please knock off the running commentary so the rest of us can enjoy the movie.” I probably would have gotten applause from the people sitting around me.

As it was, it took a lot away from the movie for both me and my daughter. I still loved the movie, though, which is a testament to Pixar’s genius, and I love going to real movie theaters. I really think, however, that it’s not the high prices of movie tickets, popcorn and drinks that will lead to the demise of theaters. It’s inconsiderate, rude, obnoxious, graceless, ignorant people (like the clueless harpy I encountered) that will bring them down.

Next time, I’ll speak up.

I support stem cell research

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Human Stem Cell ResearchNeil Gaimen supports stem cell research, too.

Since President Obama removed the restrictions on stem cell research funding, the National Institute of Health has been working on a set of guidelines for scientists wanting said funding. A draft of the guidelines has been issued and the next 14 days are the public comment period for those guidelines, so this is the chance to let your opinion be heard on the matter.

According to Don Reed, a national stem cell research advocate, the guidelines are a bit more conservative than hoped, but more importantly, are being flooded by stem cell research opponents. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued an action alert to oppose the funding and evidently, of the 6,000+ responses received so far, 99% of them are opposed to stem cell research.

You can add your comments in support of stem cell research on the NIH’s website using their comment form.

Don Reed said (emphasis mine)…

Your comment can be as short as “I support embryonic stem cell research, and am glad some of the restrictions are being loosened.”  That matters.

Anyone who clicks on the comment box, and writes in a sentence-that message will be tallied as one citizen in support. Of course, you may say more if you want. If you are a long-term research supporter,  our letter will be put in the expert witness category.

He also notes that more than one person in a family can comment. It takes less than 60 seconds to complete the information in the comment form and add your support to stem cell research.

Let’s not let religious dogma hobble this research… research that has some of the greatest potential for critical healthcare advances in science today.

Please take the time to comment using the NIH form before the May 26th deadline.

(crossposted via RationalityNow)

Fighting Giraffes

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I found this clip from a post on the Why Evolution is True blog. Two male giraffes fight by doing what’s called “necking” (it isn’t sweet). Watching it really made me cringe because of the power of the hits… and it’s just so incongruous with the stereotypical image that most people have (including me) of the tall gentle giant.

This combat is one of the ideas proposed for how and why giraffes evolved their long necks. The article linked above is quite interesting and explains the idea in more detail.

200 by 12/31/09

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Today I started my goal to weigh 200 pounds by December 31st, 2009. That’s a weight loss of 54 pounds and it’s a reasonable, healthy rate of weight loss.

Healthy food in smaller amounts combined with moderate exercise should get me there.

I’ll post my progress here from time to time.