Basil's Blog

[Basil's Blog] Thoughts for 2010-01-06

Congratulations to Boise State for their win over TCU in the 1-AA championship game last night! #
Wore a blue shirt yesterday and Boise State won. Wearing a yellow shirt today for Georgia Tech. Except that Iowa wears yellow, too. Oops! #
Gosh, but it's cold! Throw another Global Warming Alarmist on the fire! #
U.S. suspends transerring Gitmo prisoners to Yemen http://bit.ly/8CuuDo #
If TCU had won last night, how many sportswriters/bloggers/Twitterers would have used Yosemite Sam's catchprase, "Great Horny Toads!" #
Obama wants the same bureaucracy that failed to stop a bomber after his dad told on him, to give you quality medical care #
Iowa man spell's out wife's birthday message in manure http://bit.ly/8uYZj I sh*t you not! #
The new Apple Magic Mouse has arrived! Me like! #
Google's Picasa face recognition tried to match my father's face (from daughter's wedding) to Hillary Clinton #

Obama: This was a screw up that could have been disastrous. Averted by brave individuals not because the system worked http://bit.ly/6WUi9T #
Lawsuit calls yoga chain a cult http://bit.ly/5eWwwo Same is true for yogurt #
Just in case you weren't already convinced that Ron Paul is nuts http://bit.ly/6Wah9W #
dammitalltohell #GaTech #
Men Know When They're Aroused, Women May Not http://bit.ly/5H3Ro0 Hint: If you don't know if you are, you are not. #
Pogue isn't overwhelmed by the new Google phone thingy http://bit.ly/5HqYg5 #
U.S. auto sales grew in December; Ford surged while Chrysler, GM slipped http://bit.ly/7A4nFp Who took bailout money and who didn't? #
Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' http://bit.ly/4QS0X8 Just like liberals #
Report says an Apple product that doesn't exist will run on a wireless provider they don't have a contract with http://bit.ly/4IJyAR #
Did I read this wrong, or did LA Times say "Avatar" was red-state politics? http://bit.ly/8EDZg7 #
Democrats are Dropping Like Flies http://bit.ly/7xH8wN #
Report: Bin Laden was a bad parent http://bit.ly/67nh6i In other news, water is wet #
Death sentence commuted: low IQ "has significant limitations in his functioning." http://bit.ly/63rdGb His murder functions worked just fine #
WaPo: Chris Dodd to step aside http://bit.ly/632svf #
All these Dems that have decided to not run again ... I wish they'd pull a Sarah Palin and go ahead and quit to go write a book #
Some states allow doctor-assisted suicide. But Facebook won't allow application-assisted suicide http://bit.ly/5RehHX #
Microsoft launches Bing to compete with Google.... andGoogle responds with a device aimed at Apple's iPhone? #
Great. New Firefox (3.5.7) is out. That means another round of Keychain alerts. (It's a Mac plugin thing.) #
Still running Office 2003 (Windows) and 2004 (Mac) ... and Office 2010 prices have been announced. http://bit.ly/83dgJQ #
Tubberville to Texas Tech? http://bit.ly/4DBaz8 #
Another Georgia man found shot to death in his car. This is happening a lot lately. http://bit.ly/5vfp5p #
Steele: Republicans 'Screwed Up' After Reagan http://bit.ly/4TxIKl #

[Basil's Blog] What I want for next Christmas...

Wife's final Christmas present to me arrived today. It's the new Apple Magic Mouse.

It's a lot slimmer than the old one, the Mighty Mouse. But the thing I like the most is the "trackpad" feature. Apple calls it the "Seamless Multi-Touch Surface." It rocks.

Wife, though, thinks my wanting a new mouse was silly. But, she got it for me anyway.

Her feelings about my new toy -- and many of the new toys I want and often get -- are summed up pretty well in this Onion video from last year (WARNING: NSFW)


[Direct link]

I want it. I want it bad.

[Basil's Blog] Driving like hell

Lots of drivers are bad drivers. Sure, I've made mistakes. I've taken my eyes off the road to look at a passenger or something beside the road that caught my eye, and have nearly run off the road in the process. So, yes, I make mistakes when driving. We all do.

But some people? They seem to have no clue what they're doing. Like when they stop -- completely stop -- in the road because they have no clue what to do. The green light, or the "Right Lane Must Turn Right" sign don't seem to provide any insight. Neither does the sign that says "US 80" with a sign pointing left. These things are no help to some drivers. Those drivers are clueless.

And I've noticed one thing about many of these drivers: Obama bumper stickers. Oh, not all of them. But enough to know that when I see an Obama bumper sticker, I need to watch out. Particularly all these months after the election when they still have the bumper sticker "proudly" showing their support.

So, I wondered about this. What kind of person would still be proud of their support of Barack Obama? A dumbass, perhaps. And their driving habits -- driving like a dumbass -- supported this theory. So I began watching for Obama bumper stickers and bad drivers.

Now, to be fair, not every bad driver has an Obama bumper sticker. And not every Obama bumper sticker is on a car I've seen driving poorly. But there is enough of an overlap that I'm seeing a connection.

Oh, and there's that one other thing: Obama supporters not only drive like hell, they're driving the country there too.

We need to revoke their licenses.

[Basil's Blog] Thoughts for 2010-01-04

Giant smurfs rule at the box office http://bit.ly/5rZwEU Me? I have TiVo and Netflix. #
More Dems opposing moving Gitmo prisoners to Yemen http://bit.ly/5sxuUI #
Man opts for jail over New Year with relatives http://bit.ly/587UOh I have some relatives like that... #
U.S.: No ‘smoking gun’ in airline bombing plot http://bit.ly/7kVSWW Just smoking underwear... #
I hate when football announcers incorrectly call an endaround a "reverse." There is a difference. via Kirsten http://bit.ly/6WF4pV #
Watching Buster Keaton on teh TiVo. He was teh awesome! #
Watching Georgia vs Notre Dame (1981 Sugar Bowl) on ESPN Classic. I was at that game. Finally get to see it on TV. #
Obama hanged in effigy, which, apparently, is in Sumter County, Georgia http://bit.ly/8iUkWj #
When somebody went through the wrong door in a Three Stooges short, hilarity ensued. Not so at EWR http://bit.ly/4A8SF5 #
Pat-downs for all travelers from 14 nations http://bit.ly/6b7Q4G Now, 80-year-old grandmothers AND Libyans will be screened #
Did I miss it, or did no one get fired/resign while Obama was out of the office? Not even Napolitano. #
China says 5,394 arrested in Internet porn crackdown http://bit.ly/91H6RX If only they'd crack down on spammers #
My question for Bernanke: Who regulates Frank and Dodd? http://bit.ly/8cYge9 #
Waiting on the Obama administration to blame Bush for the lockdown at Newark http://bit.ly/4ybpE2 #
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[Basil's Blog] Thoughts for 2010-01-03

Global Warming kills scores in India http://bit.ly/4W2DeK #
Watching Star Trek (2009) again. It's better the second time. And, so far, the third time. #
Now even Obama knows the Northwest 253 attack was an al Qaeda attack http://bit.ly/7BkJ9M #
The Wife and I have held out as long as we can. Watching "Lost" on the TiVo: season One, pilot episode #
SEC is at 4-4 in bowls. Mississippi beat Oklahoma State, but South Carolina lost ... to UConn! #
SEC at 5-4 in bowls: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi win; Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee lose. #
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[Basil's Blog] Thoughts for 2010-01-02

SEC is now 1-2 in bowls: Va Tech beat Tennessee last night in the Chicken Sandwich Bowl. Today, Auburn, LSU, and Florida play. #
RT @allahpundit: Leave Napolitano alone! http://is.gd/5IU8J #
RT @blondegator: #Auburn, you are letting the #SEC down. Get it together pronto! #
RT @thekencook: George Soros believes in "a strong central international govt to correct for the excesses of self-interest." Sound familiar? #
RT @coryodonnell: I've never seen a team shit the bed so much in so little time like Auburn. Kudos to Northwestern for capitalizing. #
Who wants to NOT win the Outback Bowl the most: Auburn or Northwestern? It's a toss-up. And overtime. #
I say again: Which team wants to NOT win the Outback Bowl the most? #
Finally. Auburn 38, Northwestern 35. I think. #
RT @JohnJ2427: Iraq is not getting nearly as much media attention now that it can't be used as a political weapon. #
Tangerine/Citrus/Capital One Bowl is traditional football: Three yards and a cloud of mud. #
TSA nominee lied to Congress about inappropriately accessing confidential records: http://bit.ly/7Zi1FU #
Actually, Southers would be great to lead the TSA ... if his wife ever starts dating terrorists http://bit.ly/7Zi1FU #
RT @HowardKurtz: CNN says Rush to hold news conference. Dittohead alert. #
Ice cream. I want ice cream. #
You know, it doesn't matter. What's traditional ice cream for New Year's Day? 2009 was Rocky Road, for sure. @EauPureEtClaire #
Nothing says "funny" like two teammates drawing handguns on each other over a gambling debt. http://bit.ly/8tD2Ht #
NBA's Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton pull guns over a gambling debt. And Pete Rose is still banned from baseball for gambling #
Never! RT @EauPureEtClaire: @basilsblog Long as you're not switching from Rocky Road to Very Barry, er, Berry this year... #
There's a hole in the moon http://bit.ly/6DwL1u Doesn't Ron Popeil have something that will fix that? #
CNN story refers to a "moon hole" http://bit.ly/6DwL1u Sounds like something Anderson Cooper would say #
Where'd the LSU quarterback learn clock management? At Penn State? #
RT @ExJon: And Rush Limbaugh owns the news cycle for the first day of 2010. Expect that to happen ~364 times this year. #
How long before the left says Rush faked it so he could call a news conference and say health care is great as is? #
Wife: I want a Great Pyrenees. Me: I visited that when I was in Egypt. It was awesome! #
RT @EauPureEtClaire: Nancy Pelosi ... Wicked Witch of the West ... Bucket of water ... Still really funny if it doesn't work... #
Kwanzaa is over. And I forgot to ... do whatever the heck you do during Kwanzaa. #
Just found out Michael Jackson's step-grandfather's house still stands in Russell County, AL. I think I'll run by there. Or not. #
Former Lesbian Defies Custody Case Order http://bit.ly/7sG3TG #
Ohio State leads Orgeon 7-0 early in the WhoCaresAboutTheseTwoTeams Bowl in Pasadena #
Go ahead. Shoot bullets into the air in celebration. What could go wrong? http://bit.ly/50JHpD #
Can you blame the cops for giving chase when they saw the Coke machine swerving down a Tennessee highway? http://bit.ly/6yUKrj #
Now, Northwest is checking packages in mid-flight? http://bit.ly/5f8jZ2 #
Brittney Spears is Fox's Celebrity of the Decade http://bit.ly/7LM54V And after all Michael Jackson did to compete for the title... #
RT @AoSHQ: Tom Hayden: "It's time to strip the Obama sticker off my car." http://bit.ly/7elxei #
Coke-can explosive found in Texas http://bit.ly/8NexYX #
RT @MelissaTweets: RT @EmailCopywriter: Top 5 Most Outrageous News Stories of 2009 http://su.pr/1FvnhK #
As long as she gets attention and people are stupid enough to talk about her... http://bit.ly/63fY4y Or, ahem, tweet about her #
Kurt Westergaard's security could give the Secret Service ... or the Pope ... some pointers http://bit.ly/5eFUUj #
Burglar does it doggie-style http://bit.ly/53erL9 #
RT @wsredneck: I remember last year as if it was yesterday. RT @comedyclipsblog (via @funnyoneliners) #
Coming up! Cincinnati and Florida in the DudeWheresMyCoach Bowl #
Now they finally confirm that a 2nd man was detained on Northwest 253 http://bit.ly/4DQulP #
TSA decides to not go after bloggers after all http://bit.ly/5nXlKI #
Sea lions disappearing from San Francisco http://bit.ly/69wL0u If it was sea cows, I'd have a great Nancy Pelosi joke... #
Spider-man works for Mickey Mouse http://bit.ly/8sE8uf #
Somebody needs to run a vacuum over the carpet in the Superdome. #
Pac-10 officials are calling the Sugar Bowl? They couldn't find any from a major conference? #
Charles Johnson Denounces the “Right-Wing Racism” of a Picture Forwarded by . . . a Democrat - http://shar.es/aUou1 #
President's model for efficient health care stop accepting Medicare patients http://bit.ly/7nMc1s #
The Tebow-cam? http://bit.ly/5eeclq #
Thanks goodness an SEC team played like an SEC team today. #
So far, SEC is only 3-3 in bowls: Florida, Auburn, and UGA won; KY, TN, LSU lost. Still ahead: USC, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Alabama. #
Columbus nearly made it through the first day of the year without someone being shot to death http://bit.ly/4BPDai #
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[Basil's Blog] Thoughts for 2010-01-01

How is DHS handling security lapses? By going after bloggers who spilled the beans on knee-jerk reactions http://bit.ly/6gguYp #
TSA goes after blasphemers, uh, critics http://bit.ly/8eaGbs #
Sturgis, SD woman DUI at 9 times legal limit http://bit.ly/6c9uRV Plans to move to Montana and run for Max Baucus's Senate seat #
'I'm Alive,' Says Yemen Radical Anwar Awlaki Despite U.S. Attack http://bit.ly/56LaX7 #
Obama vetoes a bill that never took effect http://bit.ly/5Wvufz #
Snowstorm squelches climate change protest http://bit.ly/5QjdVi Al Gore not around; perhaps it should be called the "Idiot Effect" #

[Basil's Blog] New Year's Resolutions for 2010

For the new year, I hereby resolve to...
be tolerant of liberals
not call everyone who voted for Obama a moron
refrain from setting traps for the neighbors' dogs
be correct 110% of the time
improve my math skills
not call everyone who voted for Obama an idiot
better manage my money
learn a language ... such as English
lose weight

not call everyone who voted for Obama a dumbass
become a serious blogger
sprout wings and fly
I shall achieve them all with equal success!

Thoughts for 2009-12-31

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: Obama 'more aggressive in fighting al Qaeda' than Bush http://bit.ly/8bdGnr #
• Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI): "It is insulting that The Obama administration would make such a claim" http://bit.ly/8bdGnr #
• Wrong body found in great-grandmother's casket. And the relatives aren't the only ones burned up about it: http://bit.ly/7G7xHJ #
• I missed Idaho's Humanitatian Bowl win. When I got the color of the field correct, the players were purple: #
  
• Five Canadians killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan http://bit.ly/8AhZj5 Somehow, George Bush is to blame #
• Obama, Pelosi, Limbaugh ... who isn't in Hawaii? Besides me. #
• World Champion Liar named. And, yes, I was as shocked as you to learn it wasn't Obama http://bit.ly/6e5cCO #
• Give MSNBC credit. Only 3/8 of their Limbaugh's hospitalization story were about his drug charges, which were dropped http://bit.ly/8Eohxv #
• Anyone surprised by the left's reaction to Limbaugh's hospitalization is probably naive enough to have voted for Obama. #
• The left does NOT have a monopoly on idiocy and hatred. Neither does Microsoft have a monopoly on operating systems http://bit.ly/8ZVA4f #
• Those vile comments the left has for Rush? They help me realize that, however tasteless or mean I can be, compared to them, I'm a saint. #
• Why doesn't a reporter ask if Jeff Goldblum has been hospitalized in Hawaii? Just to see if the hospital denies it. #
• Rush Limbaugh hospitalized. Obama blames Bush administration. #
• Remember when a shooting at a McDonald's was news, not just part of a story saying two shootings might be related? http://bit.ly/7ELgi0 #
• If you don't want water poured on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed but do want Rush Limbaugh to die, you might be a liberal. #
• Jim Traficant: I'm Going to Run For Congress http://bit.ly/5ZlAGB With his record, he should get a top position in the Obama administration #
• What's the difference between a terrorist who wants you to die and a liberal who wants Rush to die? The goat smell. #
• Max Baucus says he was sober http://bit.ly/7OggdS A sober Democrat = impaired anything else. At least, that is clear. #
• Which is worse: rising earlier on a day off work, or rising late on a work day? #

[Basil's Blog] The "Best" Movies: Recap, part 22

I'm giving a rundown of the "best" movies (details about the list are here). I've done 210 of 222 so far. Now, the final dozen:
Toy Story
#99 Top 100 (2007)
#6 Animation
Saw it on DVD. Never cared to see it in the theatres. It was okay.
Unforgiven
#98 Top 100 (1998)
#68 Top 100 (2007)
#4 Western
Best Picture (1992)
Clint Eastwood movie. Good film.
Vertigo
#61 Top 100 (1998)
#9 Top 100 (2007)
#1 Mystery
Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock make an awesome team. Again.
West Side Story
#41 Top 100 (1998)
#51 Top 100 (2007)
Best Picture (1961)
Definitely NOT the best picture of the year; "The Guns of Navarone," "The Hustler," and "Judgment at Nuremberg" were all better. Pretty good music, though. Although the dancing Puerto Ricans in the fruity-colored outfits is a bit odd.
When Harry Met Sally...
#6 Romantic comedy
Not a bad film.
White Heat
#4 Gangster movie
Top of the world, Ma!
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
#67 Top 100 (2007)
What a dump!
Wings
Best Picture (1928)
First movie (and only silent film) to win Best Picture. Actually, "Wings" and "Sunrise" each won Best Production awards ("Wings" won Most Outstanding Production and "Sunrise" won Most Artistic Quality of Production). In 1929, they combined the two awards (as Best Production) and said that "Wings" was considered the Best Production the previous year. As for the movie itself, it's a pretty good film.
Witness for the Prosecution
#6 Courtroom drama
Good murder mystery. I liked this film.
Wuthering Heights (1939)
#73 Top 100 (1998)
Never read the book. After seeing the movie, I don't think I missed out on anything.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
#100 Top 100 (1998)
#98 Top 100 (2007)
Good film. And it's funny watching James Cagney sing and dance, after having him pigeon-holed as a gangster type.
You Can't Take It with You
Best Picture (1938)
Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra should be a can't miss. But, I just wasn't floored by it. Perhaps, after "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" and "It's A Wonderful Life," I was expecting more.
That wraps up 222 of the "best" movies. Many I watched simply because I decided to watch whatever was on the list. Some were good. Some weren't.

Overall, though, I'm glad I did this.