BagOfNothing.com

Archive for October, 2008

I’m posting this because the kid is cute, because the Biden stuff is ho-humm.

View the interative map here.

If you scroll down a little bit you can see a list of newspapers that endorsed Bush in the last election but has endorsed Obama this time around.  There’s also a list of newspapers that are listed that endorsed Kerry and now endorse Obama as well.

Speaking of newspaper endorsements, Palin’s hometown paper endorses Obama.

When a customer of First Missouri State Bank recovered a zip-top bag of cash he’d misplaced during the ice storm last winter and the flooding in March, he got an unpleasant surprise.

The vinyl bag had been left in a wooden desk, unzipped, and he told Michelle Johns, manager of the Jackson branch, that it had been damaged by rodents.

He brought in the bag in August to see if anything could be done.

“I told him I’d take care of it because we were really busy that day,” Johns said.

When she and employees Cristal McCoy, Wendy Aufdenberg and Jamie Koch dumped out the contents of the bag on the bank’s long counter, most of the bills were mutilated beyond recognition and littered with bird feathers and rodent feces.

Federal policy dictates that both serial numbers, in the top right corner and the bottom left, are needed to get credit for the entire amount of the bill, so the employees set about the task of piecing together the shredded cash.

Full Article

http://www.joewurzelbacher2010.com/

And it appears he’s considering it . . .

(CNN) – Could Joe the Plumber become Joe the congressman?

Joe Wurzelbacher, the most famous plumber in America thanks to John McCain and Sarah Palin, told conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham Friday he’s considering a run for Congress in 2010.

Article

No official word on Joe Six Pack yet.

The Hereford and Normandy breed cows were discovered by the ranch manager in the field.

A veterinary expert who examined the carcases said they had been killed by lightning hitting the wire fence bordering the field where the animals were stood. The incident occurred in Valdez Chico, near Montevideo, Uruguay.

In September, 53 cattle were killed by lightning in Katosi, Uganda. They had been seeking shelter underneath trees, according to local reports.

Lightning hits the earth an average 100 times per second, or 8.6 million times a day.

Each spark of lightning can reach over five miles in length, soar to temperatures of approximately 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and contain 100 million electrical volts.

Full Article

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s government has an unusual money problem as much of the world grapples with a credit crunch — it can’t spend its oil riches fast enough.

The U.S. is trying to change that by training Iraqi bureaucrats struggling to emerge from a centralized system in which nearly all decisions — from where to build a water-treatment plant to which workers would do the job — came from the top.

“Our efforts are devoted to helping the Iraqis spend their own money,” said Marc Wall, the U.S. Embassy’s coordinator for economic transition in Iraq. “We’ve zeroed in on it in the last year or two.”

The issue came to the fore over the summer when the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) predicted Iraq could finish the year with as much as a $79 billion cumulative surplus because of oil revenues and unspent funds from previous budgets.

The August report drew outrage in Congress, where lawmakers asked why the Iraqis haven’t spent more of their own money on reconstruction efforts while U.S. taxpayers shell out some $12 billion a month for Iraq — most for military operations.

Full Article

Looking for a truly memorable gift for your spouse? Charla Muller has one: Offer your spouse sex every day for a year. That’s what she gave her husband, Brad, for his 40th birthday.

The gem of 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy lies less in the gift itself and more in Muller’s motivation for giving it. She and Brad had been married ten years, the last several of which were “off kilter.” She struggled with depression and wasn’t much interested in sex at all. Her offer of The Gift was a way of telling Brad she was committed to restoring their relationship. Through stories and dialogue, Muller makes the case that marriage is worth unusual sacrifice and work—and that spouses will be happier and healthier for the effort.

Full Christianity Today Review

After news broke yesterday about Governor Palin’s rather large clothing expenditures, a friend sent me an email, challenging me to build a complete, Vice Presidential candidate worthy, wardrobe for Governor Palin for less than $2,500. Now $2500 is more than I spend on clothing all year, but she IS a VP candidate, not a budget shopper like myself.

The rules:
- enough suit/dress options to last at least two weeks on the campaign trail
- must include shoes that were of quality and comfortable
- the items had to come from stores that a Hockey/Football/Basketball/Baseball Mom would shop (so no Saks, Neiman, Barneys, unless it’s their outlet stores)
- the clothing had to fit Governor Palin’s personal style (the Governor loves her some red)
- Everything had to be quality and could be worn on television (which meant patterns, stores like Payhalf and F21, were pretty much out of the picture)

Did I win the challenge? You decide….

Link

During our Open Ocean Plankton Class, CMA recently collected a live specimen of a Helicocranchid squid known as the “piglet squid.” Although the animal unfortunately died, it is preserved for our research and teaching collections (Helicocranchia pfefferi, CMA 2006.4.16) and is available to view in our information booth. The photo might suggest the reason for its common name.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

• I just realized this is the first year I haven’t used my Halloween header.
• ANNOUNCEMENT:  It’s going to be a very busy week for me, so I’m not sure how dedicated I can be to BON this week.  I may post as normal, but then again, I may not be able to make any posts at all for a few days this week.
• This article [Survey: Half of US doctors use placebo treatments] made me wonder if this can be related to all the prescription drug commercials that tell use to ask our doctors about said advertised drug.
• At work a person’s cube is usually decorated for a birthday.  Usually it’s decorated with a plethora of balloons and streamers and stuff right after they go home the day before the birthday.  One of my coworkers whose birthday was the next day decided to rig an alarm when something was moved on his desk which emitted a loud and high pitched beep that goes on for minutes.  But the kick was, he even set up video surveillance and was able to capture the whole thing on tape.  Impressive, eh?
• I sent the following text to my closest family and friends on Friday around noon, “I’m eating in an Indian restaurant right now.”  The majority of them wondered if this was code for something else like “I’ve been kidnapped by they Taliban” since they know I’m really just a meat and potatoes kind of guy and I’m not one to try new food, not to mention, they all know how I can’t stand the smell of curie.  But a lot of my coworkers are Indian and they really wanted me to experience a little bit of their culture, so I decided to drop the selfish attitude and put my friends first in this case.
• Did I like it?  Well, not really.  I don’t plan on going back ever again unless it’s some special occasion.
• After eating Indian food we passed by the Salvation Army headquarters and saw them getting the kettle buckets red and shinny.
• I was taking a dump at work Friday afternoon, and as soon as I sat down and opened my ESPN The Magazine the fire alarm went off.  I hate being rushed.
• Speaking of ESPN The Magazine, I saw that the city of Clyde, Texas was mentioned in there.
• One of the perks of being loaded is the ability to buy a fighter jet just for the heck of it.  Link
• I”m not sure sure about the interactive mirror.  It’s cook, but is it really functional or needed?
• Conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family is focusing on political attacks.
• During the Oklahoma State/University of Texas football game on Saturday I saw a David Garrard commercial for a restaurant called Zaxby’s.  First of all I thought it was weird to see a Jacksonville Jaguar on our airwaves, so I decided to visit the restaurant’s website.  Turns out they don’t have any locations in Oklahoma or Texas.  Must have been some sort of advertising glitch on ABC’s part.
• I think I have a new favorite Cowboy – our new punter.  Not only did he make the hardest kit and most textbook tackle I’ve seen all season from this team, but he’s bound to get more playtime because of the ineptitude of our offense.
• During the Bucs/Cowboys game on Fox I saw a gamebreak highlight of another gamer, Chiefs/Jets on CBS.  It’s normal to see these gamebreak highlights of other games in progress, but what made this notable was this was the first time I saw another network game highlighted in progress.
• Shadows makes watching a Cowboys home game a bit hard to watch.  I have a feeling it will only be worst at the new stadium with that ginormous HD jumbotron that will hover over the field.
• The lucky Staubach shirt came through.
• I really don’t like the NFL playing a regular season game in London each year.  Baseball get 81 home games a year, and each NBA team gets 41 home games a year.  Compare that to the 8 home games each NFL team gets a year – it’s a shame that the home team fans get cheated.
• If Europe brought two of their best teams to play in the Cotton Bowl I would have absolutely no desire to check out the event.
• NYU students found that Bush’s body signature is closer to McCain than Obama.  Link
• Pepsi (which I can’t stand to drink, but appreciate their commercials) has a new logo.  Not much different, but different enough that I don’t like it.
• Pladroid – convert your digital pics into Polarids.  Link
• For my Twitter friends, this site will grade your Twitter.
• The church history stuff I’ve been checking out is soooo intriguing.
• How to carve a Death Star pumpkin.  Link
• I was watching the Andy Rooney segment on 60 Minutes last night and I saw this government website about the minimum wage.  It was my assumption that the minimum wage was the absolute minimum that could employers could pay their employees, but this site lists Kansas as paying $2.65 an hour.  I thought that may have been the wait staff wage, since I know a lot of wait staff gets paid a small amount hourly but makes up the difference with tips.  So I looked up the minimum wage for Texas and there wasn’t any reference.  I feel a little confused.
• Speaking of confused, I couldn’t decided whether to use payed or paid in that last rambling.
• Bush voted via mail in ballot, I wonder if it was a straight ticket?
• I’m thinking of buying some gas logs for the fireplace, any suggestions?

Yes, it’s pro-Obama, but besides that it was crazy seeing Ron play his old characters again with both him and Henry Winkler in costume complete with wigs. And it’s worth mentioning, but Andy Griffith looks pretty darn good for an 82 year old.

Two moves . . . that’s it.

Solve The Cube With 2 Moves! – video powered by Metacafe

Who woulda thunk?

Bear carries a caribou head with big antlers.

The pic is after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Harrison Ford – “Air Force One” (1997)

2. Morgan Freeman – “Deep Impact” (1998)

3. Michael Douglas – “The American President” (1995)

4. Bill Pullman – “Independence Day” (1996)

5. Kevin Kline – “Dave” (1993)

6. Dennis Quaid – “American Dreamz” (2006)

7. Bruce Greenwood – “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” (2003)

8. James Cromwell – “The Sum of All Fears” (2002)

9. Jack Nicholson – “Mars Attacks” (1996)

10. Jeff Bridges – “The Contender” (2000)

Article

I’ve seen eight of the ten.  I think the most surprising performance wa Jeff Bridges, I was really impressed.  And Kevin Kline’s perfomance was just a nice heart warming performance.  Sometimes I sing his shower song from the movie, “Hail to the Chief, he’s the one we say hail to, Hail to the Chief because he keeps himself so clean . . .”

There’s no better way to supe up an apple pie than with some cinnamon bacon. Unless, of course, you create a lattice work of cinnamon bacon on top. The fine folks at Eli Cooks have developed one great-looking pie.

Link

[Thanks, Chris!]

A smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice, a new study finds.

The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide (H2S), can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well, out.

The new research found that cells lining mice’s blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents’ blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). This gas is “no doubt” produced in cells lining human blood vessels too, the researchers said.

“Now that we know hydrogen sulfide’s role in regulating blood pressure, it may be possible to design drug therapies that enhance its formation as an alternative to the current methods of treatment for hypertension,” said Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., a co-author of the study detailed in the Oct. 24th issue of the journal Science.

Full Article