YouTube Tuesday: Scavenger

Hey let's face it guys, times are tough.

People are losing their jobs, NFL teams are going 1-20, auto company CEOs are forced to drive rather than fly private jets, I mean it's rough out there.

And desperate times call for resourcefulness. So here's a video tip on how to take advantage of one of Kansas City's most abundant and overlooked resources.



tagged: Kansas City, recession, financial, economy, video, You Tube, scavenge, homicide

Obama calling

Okay, I get why these guys were fired.

A company can't have employees snooping around in the private files of their clients, especially high-profile, politically influential clients like, oh I don't know, the PRESIDENT ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!

But still, as Johnny Sacramoni would say, it seems "funny, ironic, whatever" that these guys got fired for doing something with Obama's records that Obama himself voted in favor of allowing the telecom companies to do.

For those of you with a short memory, here's what happened just a few short months ago:

Sen. Barack Obama explained his support for a compromise on FISA legislation, saying that concerns over American security trumped, at this point in time, objections over immunity for telecommunications that participated in the previously illegal program.

The old Potomac Two-Step continues...

tagged: Obama, telephone, FISA, politics, Johnny Sacramoni

Friday Blogthing: Typealyzer

I ganked this from May at May's Machete. This kind of thing is very useful for those of us who like to separate everybody into nice neat little psychological categories.

The analysis indicates that the author of http://3oclockam.blogspot.com/ is of the type:

ESTP - The Doers

The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Analysis

This shows what parts of the brain were dominant during writing.

tagged: Friday, blogthing, personality, type, Typealyzer, doer, quiz, blog, meme

Go Elf Yourself!

Just in time for the holidays, OfficeMax is teaming up with those knuckleheads at JibJab to sponsor the ElfYourself viral campaign.

And it's obviously working, since they got me to post this ridonkulous video ecard.

Still, with cameos from such local bloggy luminaries as Shane, Chimpotle, Xavier Onassis and The D, I think the entertainment value is worth the two minutes it takes to watch. However, it's definitely NOT as cool as last year's Handbell Hero viral staring Pensive Girl.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

tagged: Holidays, Christmas, JibJab, OfficeMax, viral, marketing, video

As seen in Kansas: Atomic Cannon

If you drive far enough west of Kansas City on 1-70, you eventually come to a bend where the highway cuts south with Fort Riley on the west side and a steep Flint Hills bluff to the east side.

If you're paying attention to the scenery instead of the traffic, you may notice at the top of the bluff just as the highway makes a westward turn, a rather large looking cannon.

And, if you've got some extra time, if you're feeling adventurous, if you need to stretch your legs and if the weather is nice, you can pull off the highway into Freedom Park and find out just what the dealio is with that rather large looking cannon anyway.

When you park, you'll see a park shelter with some historical information and a plaque describing one of the few US Army atomic cannons still in existence. You'll also see the beginning of a switch back trail that leads up to the top of the bluff for a close-up view of this nuclear titan.

As you make your way up the switch backs (which are currently riddled with washouts so watch your step), you'll see an artillery piece rise up out of the prairie grass in front of you.

This isn't the Atomic Cannon. It's a rather run of the mill (though still impressive) M1 155 mm Howitzer. There's another one up the hill, aimed roughly in the direction of south Junction City. The WWII-era gun was used widely by the U.S. through the Vietnam war and is still in use by some countries.

Anyhoo, follow the trail a few hundred yards to the top of the bluff, brace yourself against the ubiquitous Kansas gale and catch your breath.

You have arrived.

The M65 Atomic Cannon, affectionately called "Atomic Annie" by the grunts back in the day, stands guard against the Flint Hills prairie chickens and hawks.

Standing next to the impressive weapon you get a sense of scale that you simply can't appreciate when you drive by at 80 mph on I-70 a couple hundred feet below.

The engineers behind this beast had some serious damage in mind when they came up with the idea of building a cannon that could fire a nuclear-tipped shell over 20 miles.

Yes, 20 miles. In it's current position, that puts the recently tornado ravaged hamlet of Chapman, Kan, well within range. Or, you could point the barrel in the opposite direction and lob a radio active round right into downtown Manhattan, though I don't know why anyone would want to do that.

The M65 was conceived and built to defend Europe from those evil Soviet devils back in a time when people used the word "atomic" rather than "nuclear" (or "nookyoular" for that matter).

It was the army's largest artillery gun, and the one at Ft. Riley is the largest of the twenty M65's made during the cold war. Only eight are still around. The one at Ft. Riley is on permanent loan from The Smithsonian.

Here are a few other fun facts about Atomic Annie:

• At 47 tons, the gun was transported at a top speed of 35 mph by two tractors which brought the total weight to 83 tons. The army considered it "highly mobile" in comparison to the strategic atomic weapons of the day.
• The drivers of the vehicles communicated with each other by means of a built-in telephone system.
• The 11-inch projectile fired by the gun weighed in at 550 pounds.
• The atomic cannon first went into service in 1952, and was deactivated in 1963.

tagged: gun, artillary, cold war, Atomic Cannon, Soviet, nuclear, Fort Riley, Kansas, Howitzer, Army, Military

Small change

This just in from The Guardian, Clinton to accept offer of secretary of state job:

Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.
...
Clinton, who still harbours hopes of a future presidential run, had to weigh up whether she would be better placed by staying in the Senate, which offers a platform for life, or making the more uncertain career move to the state department.

Obviously this won't happen until it happens, but let's just to make sure we're all on the same page here: Obama's definition of "change" is hiring a bunch of Clinton-era retreads (or, actual Clintons themselves).

tagged: politics, Clinton, Change, Obama, Secretary fo State

YouTube Tuesday: Peter Schiff and his Magical Time Machine

I was mildly blown away when I saw this clip posted by Nick Sloan.



Schiff is almost as prescient as El Borak. Almost.

tagged: Peter Schiff, recession, financial, economy, video, You Tube

It's gotta be the shoes

This has been a really strange day.

It started this morning when I left the house without my wallet. So after dropping the kid off at school, I went a few blocks out of the way to stop by my house to pick it up so I'd have cash for hookers and blow this afternoon.

So then, 10 minutes later I parked in the garage at work and was making my way to the door of my building when I realized I'd forgotten my work ID/key card. So back in the car, 10 minute drive back home, up to my bedroom to get my key card, back in the car, another 10 minutes to the garage, park (I get the same parking place I had the first time), and finally up to my desk.

So I'm starting work late, my computer's acting all up and stuff and it just feels like thing the world in general is out of sync with me and I can't figure out why.

Then it hits me. I bought some new shoes Saturday.

I've been in need of new shoes for a while, and I'm kind of a picky shoe buyer, embracing as I do the importance of comfortable kicks. As Cliff Claven rightly pointed out, all great civilizations had, at their base, comfortable footwear.

Anyway, it takes me a lot of shopping before I can settle on a pair of shoes fit for my soles. But Saturday I stumble into a suitably comfy pair of shoes from Johnston & Murphy.

So today I'm wearing my new Sandro Moscolonis and, while they are indeed cozy (they were "hand made in Brazil" so of course they're comfortable), they just don't feel like my shoes yet.

So that's what I attribute the mild imbalance too. You gotta feel good from the feet up or your day will just seem a little off kilter.

tagged: shoes, Johnston & Murphy, Sandro Moscoloni, shopping

Beet down in the OP Streets

From the Overland Park Public Works department comes this little green tidbit:

Starting this snow season, the Public Works Department is going to experiment with beet juice to treat streets. This organic agriculture by-product is created from desugared beets. It has a sweet smell but is not sticky.

The beet juice, which is mixed with liquid magnesium chloride, will be tested on thoroughfares south of 143rd Street and on residential streets between 119th and 135th streets, from Metcalf west to Antioch.

It is anticipated that use of the juice will reduce overall costs and benefit the environment.

At first, I thought this was some kind of cockamamie scheme cooked up by the powerful beet lobby. But it turns out many states and municipalities have been testing this new solution for the last couple of years.

It works by lowering the freezing temperature of the brine that's used to pretreat roads, experts say. And it's made from a waste product that was dumped down the drain before this new use was discovered.

I've also learned that Kansas City, Mo., will be trying something similar, except instead of beet juice they'll be putting giant steel plates on their roads.

tagged: Johnson County, Overland Park, Kansas, Kansas City, beet juice, streets, environmentalist

Friday Blogthing: King me

You Are Checkers

You are very logical and rational. You are able to understand what is and isn't a factor. You're able to compartmentalize and focus on the essentials. You appreciate simplicity. You can see the layers of complexity and beauty in anything. You are also playful and good natured. You don't take life too seriously!

What Board Game Are You?

tagged: Friday, blogthing, checkers, board, game, quiz, blog, meme