Call Homeland Security

After the sink-hole event on Wendover this week, I'm prepared to agree with James Lileks on the source of these things. "I still think these are the result of the Mole People probing our defenses."

More Law Enforcement Trouble

According to a link from James Lileks wonderful Buzz.mn blog (scroll down a little to the Scott Joplin entry if necessary), it looks like Greensboro isn't the only law enforcemeny organization with questionable members needing investigation. I wonder how long the chief/sheriff will last there?

More Photoshop Magic

Michelle Malkin posted this photo of the slums of Baghdad:



It would have been greatly improved by a quick trip to Photoshop and the application of the Highlight Shadow Adjustment:

Follow-up on Photoshop

Powerline did get a corrected version of the Kerry mess hall photo. Theirs was even better than mine, but then I'm not much of a color corrector. I have had a lot of experience in trying to improve these "available darkness " shots like this one, though.
Theirs:


















Mine:

Gerald Ford

On the passing of former president Ford, I offer this photo. Just six years out of office, he came to Durham to participate in the 1982 Duke Childrens Classic. Pictured here with some other golfer and one of Perry Como's show business friends, I remember being struck then by the unobtrusive security around th ex-president--just a few guys in casual dress with "hearing aids".

Ain't Photoshop Something

Powerline used this photo of John Kerry to make a point.

They could have applied a little fundamental color correction in Photoshop and made the point much better.



One of the remarkable things about digital photos is how much detail is hidden in the shadows.
You can find my favorite color correction text here.

Waiting for Santa

Other blogs have posted old Christmas photos, so I thought I'd join in.

One of my Favorite Night-Before-Christmas's was in 1969. Our dachshund "Punkin" had just had a litter of puppies, so we included them in the wait for Santa.

Here is a picture of my first wife with some of the puppies:

Nachos

This is a little early, but next Saturday is the International Day of the Nacho, so looking at the origin of the word is appropriate.

The Worst Word in the English Language

I was actually going to write the word "******" for the title of this post, but I couldn't do it. I guess that makes "******" the worst word in the English lanaguage. I don''t believe that word should be used as an epithet, but I do think it has other uses and shouldn't be absolutely banned.

Language Log

I bookmarked Language Log some time ago, but I haven't checked it often. After yesterday's entry, I think I'll look in more often. It is the most interesting commentary I've seen on the Mel Gibson affair.

The Fourth of July

If you haven't sung the National Anthem today, sing along with this one.

Words of the Day

With Dictionaries.com, it is now easy to translate what Peggy Noonan meant when she used "termagant" and "phenomenological" to describe Hillery Clinton. That makes these the Words of the Day.

Amazing Street Painter

I've always liked the work of street artists. Here are photos of one in Barcelona and others in San Diego.



For a truly amazing street painter, look at this!

Today's Sports Quiz

Who are DeSagana Diop, Udonis Haslem, Antoine Walker, Adrian Griffin, and Jason Terry?

A. Reserves for the Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup hockey team.
B. Members of the USA World Cup Soccer team.
C. Starters in the NBA finals.

I would guess "B" and be wrong. The correct answer here.

Favorite Irish Joke

In recognition of St. Patrick's Day, here is my favorite Irish joke. Some twenty-five years ago it was named one of the Ten Best Clean Jokes of that year.

The CIA has lost contact with one of its operatives in Ireland, so it sends another spy to try to locate the man. All the new guy knows is that the operative's name is Murphy and the password phrase is "It's a beautiful day today" and the response is "and it will be a beautiful day tomorrow".

The new man flies to Shannon airport, rents a car, and heads out hunting for Murphy. He stops at the first village he comes to, goes into a pub, and tells the pubkeeper he's looking for a man named Murphy. The pubkeeper tells him, "Well, there's Murphy the pharmacist, there's Murphy the plumber, even I myself am a Murphy." The CIA guy thanks him, and as he is leaving says, "It's a beautiful day today."

The Pubkeeper replies, "Oh, it's Murphy the spy you'll be looking for then."

Interesting New Tool

This is a couple of weeks early, but I saw this tool on the internet and thought others might like to get one. It is certainly versatile.

Nychthemeron

The word of the day is "Nychthemeron". I've never heard of it before.

Old Family Photos

If you want to see some old family photos, check out these, and here, too. They are among the oldest color photos in the world--only a hundred or so years old.

Smile of the day

An Expert Slips

The right side of Blogostan has been atwitter this week about a photo in the New York Times that mis-identified a piece of ordnance in Pakistan. Powerline cited it, and the American Thinker has gotten in a pissing contest with the Times I over it. They report:

"Ned Barnett is an expert on military technology, and frequently serves as a contributor to The History Channel on mil-tech issues. He has plenty of experience researching military ordnance.

"He told me: “Based on my extensive experience in researching military technology, I can verify that this is a 152mm or 155mm artillery shell – unfired – and by the looks of it, fairly old. It also looks like it has a fuse in it, suggesting that the guys in the photo are either ditch-water dumb or have a death-wish."

He has missed the boat on the "unfired" part. The shell has obviously been fired. Note the grooves on the rotating band near the base of the shell The rotating band engages the rifiling grooves in the gun barrel and cause the shell to rotate during flight. If unfired, there would be no grooves on the shell's rotating band.