Humor

Tilting at Windmills…

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I read some articles a few weeks ago about a study which found wind farms causing localized ground surface warming in certain regions because they mix the higher, warmer air with the cooler air closer to the ground at night. The headlines were predictably misleading at first, saying things like “Wind farms causing climate to warm.” In a few days, things settled down and the people who understood the study responded with explanations… no, they’re not causing global warming. It’s localized warming. It’s at night. Here’s what happens. etc… etc…

So most headlines were more accurate from that point. Not all. There were still plenty of misleading ones, just not as prominent or numerous. What I found funny, however, was the collection of headlines in my Google News feed on the subject (ordered and formatted here as it showed up in my feed). Note the headline message… and the news source. One of these things is (predictably) not like the others. Ha!

Don’t believe the headlines. Wind farms do not cause ‘global’ warming.
Christian Science Monitor – ‎20 hours ago‎
A recent study published in Nature Climate Change suggests that large wind farms could be pulling down hot air at night, raising the average temperature of the local region.

No, wind farms are not causing global warming
Washington Post (blog)

Myth-busting claims that wind farms cause global warming
Alaska Dispatch

In Depth:Wind farms are causing global warming, researchers say
Fox News

The Common Loon

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The Common LoonAt the "State" Fair at my daughter’s school today (where all the students show off the projects they did about their selected US state), I just found out that the state bird of Minnesota is the Common Loon (also known as the Great Northern Loon).

It struck me as wholly appropriate, given that Minnesota is the home state of Michele Bachmann.

It’s got to be a coincidence, right? Right?!

Christmas Animatronics

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There’s something creepy about animatronic bears.

I was  at a friend’s mom’s Christmas party yesterday and her house is amazingly decorated with animatronic characters, four Christmas trees, animated villages, lights, bows, bells, garlands… the works. It’s wonderfully festive.

Some of the animatronic characters are in a bit of shadow and while looking at the slowly-moving bears, I was just a little bit creeped out… so I decided to run with it and took some video using my phone. Adding a bit of not-particularly-festive music changed the whole vibe from festive to disturbingly creepy.

There you have it!

Bohemian Rhapsody

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This evening, while checking out new posts on Facebook, I came across this gem.

I see a little silhouetto of a man

Well, Lori and I thought it was hysterical, since we both fell right into the trap. Megan, who is 10, didn’t get it.

So, after Lori and I did a poorly-performed duet of the song verses in question, I went to YouTube and found a video of Queen performing Bohemian Rhapsody and had Megan listen to it. She gave me lots of weird "What the heck is THIS?" looks while the song was playing, but she then understood (as much as a 10-year-old can understand her parents’ ancient memories).

The kicker to this little story comes from one of the commenters on the YouTube video. An hour later and I’m still chuckling over it.

I hate it when people compare Freddie Mercury to God. He is good but for fuck’s sake, he is not Freddie Mercury.

Thanks, speslqueen, for that wonderful bit of cleverness!

Aluminum Journey

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I just finished my latest video project today. This was probably the most effort I’ve put into anything I’ve done to date… more moving parts and shots than previous videos. I think it was also my first multi-location video as well.

Fun to shoot. Fun to edit (to a point). It changed focus from being an emotional, tiring journey to a lighthearted romp across various landscapes (the video, not my attitude toward making it). It also changed from having a somewhat serious message to… well… not.

I shot it using a Kodak Playsport and a Kodak Zi8. Editing was done using Hitfilm Ultimate. Music composed with SmartSound Sonicfire Pro. Additional sound cleanup was done using Audacity.