stickmaker | Recent Entries

I am irritated that Wikipedia has Melange/Spice but not Stroon (the Santa Clara drug). I recently mentioned it in my "Angel of..." series and people who haven't already read Cordwainer Smith (primarily Norstrilia) aren't going to know what I'm talking about.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

When you hear some politician say "MAHA" the immediate response should be "Aha!" in a falsetto.

Moe: The maha-...
Curly: Aha! Razbanyi siati benefuchi...

Curly: Razbanyai siati benefuchi, I fall down.

Moe: The maha-...
Curly: Aha! Lazpanya se chekini fuchi...
Moe: Siddown!
Curly: Oh, shaddap! I don't have to!

Moe: Razbanyi siati benefuchi timiniharogi. That, how do you call it, that froghead, he askee taskaskee, whatifichorsa inginzoben. Gotet something else kiddo?
Curly: Razbanyai siati benefuchi timinharongi. Paradeecke mahiha. I'd want to see that.
Moe: Sit down, you flatbush flathead!

Moe: Maha, Razbanyi siati benefuchi timiniharongi a bay meadows. That iron head askee taskee whatificharsaia kemdal ayendalay. You got some slick chicks?
Curly: Aha. Oh a wolf. Razbanyi siati benefuchi timiniharongi paraleechemahiha. I'd like to see some babes myself.
Curly: Hittin' a guy with glasses, huh?

Moe: The raja says that in his domain on the islands of Coney & Long there are some fair chickadees who prowl through the meadows day & night.
Moe: If you give us till sunup, we shall bring some back by sundown.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" by Bob Segar

Aleph Two has published the second collection of my Masks stories: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0HN1PYCF9

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

When an AI provides a complicated proof to a stubborn math problem, someone needs to tell it "Show your work."

Current Mood: irritated
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Imagine _Lost in Space_ miniatures special effects done by Gerry Anderson's studio.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "Space: 1999 (Marked Down From 2001)" theme.

I had a bunch of stuff planned for today, but once I give Patches her medicine I'm going down for a nap.

I have a vet's appointment for Nuisance tomorrow (just a checkup and vaccinations) so I need to do stuff today or Wednesday, but am just too sleepy right now. I "napped" for over two hours Saturday, and more than an hour yesterday, in addition to long, good sleeps the past few nights. Maybe it's the weather.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "Tubular Bells" by Vangelis

I am so tired of hearing people blithely parrot "wisdom" which is blatantly incorrect. For example "there are no straight lines in nature."

Even a passing acquaintance with nature would reveal this to be untrue. There are, indeed, straight lines in nature. From too small to be seen (microscopic crystals) to huge (the hexagon around Saturn's north pole). There is actually a feature on the Moon named The Straight Wall, visible from Earth through even a moderately large telescope.

The Devil's Postpile in Yellowstone and the Giant's Causeway in Ireland are both due to masses of basalt which cooled slowly underground and were subsequently exposed by erosion. Both are composed of long columns with straight edges.

This "rule" is the reason so many amateurs have declared that large rock formations which have fractured along natural planes "must" be worked stone and therefore signs of ancient civilizations.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Planned to trim and mow at least some this morning, but it was still raining. Waited 'till after 11 and did most of the trimming. Took an unplanned break when I ran out of trimmer string on the new trimmer and had trouble finding the manual. Turns out that reloading is pretty easy. (I'm starting to love Ego products.) Soaked with sweat; cooler but still very humid. Will resume after 3 this afternoon.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

How about a fanfic with Columbo meeting Kolchak?

It's surprisingly easy to bring those two together. Columbo is in Chicago, briefing the local police on a murderous cult which started in California, and trying to find them himself. However, the only person who seems to be taking these cannibals seriously is an eccentric reporter for a small newspaper. He also, oddly, it the only one with any hard information, though it doesn't seem real at first.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Power was off here for just under an hour last night, after a huge lightning bolt in the distance which woke me. From about 1:10 to about 2:05. Not only did my UPSes start beeping, but at that time but the cordless phone in the charger lit up the whole room!

Then I woke early! I fed the cats, opened the cat door and went back to bed. Managed to sleep some, but the phone rang at about 8:50, with a call from Kroger pharmacy telling me my prescription is ready. They called me about that yesterday!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

"The thing is, we know who shot him and have him in custody."

"Yeah. All I'm supposed to do is determine if this was a hate crime. However, that means I need to check things for myself, including the scene of the crime."

"He was shot in the rotunda," said the cop.

"I beg your pardon?" said Vic, startled.

"The Ford Rotunda. The big Ford building, in Dearborn, with the Buckminster Fuller roof. The one that almost burned down in Sixty-two or Sixty-three.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Masks 27 is out:

https://www.amazon.com/Target-Hero-Masks-Book-27-ebook/dp/B0H5FS66ZW?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

NASA did not invent the space pen. They didn't spend a fortune on it, while the Soviet space program used mechanical pencils.

First off, you don't use pencils of any kind in space. Writing with them generates small graphite particles. Graphite is a semiconductor, you don't want it to get in your switches. You also don't want to breath them.

Early on, NASA and the Soviets both used felt-tipped pens, and these continued with later missions. "Buzz" Aldrin even repurposed one to repair the circuit breaker he damaged during his last boarding of the Eagle lunar lander. (From Wikipedia: While moving inside the cabin, Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the [ascent] engine for liftoff from the Moon. There was a concern this would prevent firing the engine, stranding them on the Moon. The nonconductive tip of a Duro felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.)

Paul Fisher invented the pressurized ink cartridge and the special ink for it on his own for other purposes, then offered samples to NASA. After some examination, they adopted it.

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: The _F Troop_ theme. :-)

The first Masks stories have been published in a collection, with a bit of rewriting and some added material:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZY67V54

Ultimate Masks Volume 1

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Patches the cat is fine. She fussed a lot, but her heart murmur is gone, and her pulse and blood pressure are fine. She got a dose of Revolution while she was at the vet's, and isn't due her vaccinations until October. I am unscratched! Despite her fighting going into the pet carrier.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Currently working on Masks 29. One section involves the Rescue Team in 1971. (_Thunderbirds_ was originally named _International Rescue_. )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: Guess.

Here are the URLs of the two current US Mars rovers and the US Mars orbiter

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/

http://themis.asu.edu/

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Why do people keep saying there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? We know they had nerve agents. By international agreement those count as WMD.

Last year NPR had a whole series on the difficulties faced by soldiers exposed to nerve agents during the occupation of Iraq getting important follow-up treatments from the VA. Their exposures were documented by the US military.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Had a rough night, and didn't actually wake up and get out of bed until 11:11. I was rather surprised to see the time.

I took two Imodium at about 5:30, woke and fed the cats a bit after 8 then went back to bed and back to sleep.

So, overslept, and not going to make Frisch's for lunch, today. Don't know, yet, if I'll make the gun show in Lexington this weekend. Probably not.

Much to do this afternoon and tomorrow. Among other problems, landline phone is out again. Again due to copper theft. AT&T won't let me change to Wireless without a lot of baggage I don't want, so they have to pay for new copper wire and its installation, which they haven't done yet! Still have my cell phone, though.

Current Mood: Rested
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Politician: "Friends, let me tell you about MAHA..."

Curly: "Aha! Razbanyai siati benefuchi timinharongi. Paradeecke mahiha."

Current Mood: confused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: Guess...

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Touch of Magic

Fighting the Mundane

Recent Entries

Fictional Substances

Today's Political Statement

New Collection

Show Your Work

What If...

Sleepy

Common Misbeliefs

Joys of Home Ownership

Fanfic Idea

Lost Sleep

Anyone Else Remember This?

Another Masks Novel!

A Bit of Debunking

Ultimate Masks Collection, Volume 1

Cat Update

(no subject)

Mars Images

No WMD in Iraq?

Overslept

What I Hear