silent_and_gray

Got a pair of Minolta Hi-Matic rangefinders going thanks to my handy dandy gunsmith tools and soldering iron.  The example below was the bigger challenge.  Probably used once and stuffed in a closet for 35+ years.  In the meantime, mercuric oxide escaped the surly bonds of the metal cell sometime in early 1980s and proceeded to munch everything in its path.     





Dropped in some beefier 26 AWG wire for the ground.  The original had 5 strands the width of a human hair--impossible to strip and reuse.  Probably would have failed due to stress anyway, given the way + and - were all twisted and jammed together.  Oiled up some of the visible springs and joints, and voila:

Grand closin'

There will never, ever, ever, be a functional, unfucked ingress or egress to/from this city that lasts more than 15 consecutive days.  Not unless the gates of Heaven and/or Hell open up for commuter traffic.  I don' t know how many times I've been routed off of 75 and into a war zone where the detour signs abruptly end in the middle of DaddyI'mScared Boulevard.  Luckily I'm a transplant and have half a clue even without a GPS; my heart goes out to frightened out-of-staters who by now have vowed never to return.

I generally don't care for scary monsters/super freaks, boobies, playing cards, pistols, anime, or lynyrd skynyrd on a moto helmet, although they're all quite wonderful and make for a memorable party. 

But a closeout price tag of $45 will make a convert out of anyone.  They got this depression on.  I'd rock a Geico Gecko helmet for a $50 discount.  The Caveman, I dunno, maybe free insurance for life.  At HD, $45 will get you a limited edition helmet-shaped pin and a postcard from Sturgis 2004.

It was time for the old 'un to go.  There is no magic milestone, anniversary, or quality check; you can just tell when they're tired.  Mine had murdered 56,300 bugs.  To the people who gave Obama a hard time for killing a fly, I am guilty of war crimes.

Also, a shout out to the_macross for the hand-me-down armored jacket handed me down via tydeus .  May the Brotherhood of the Traveling Jacket live on.  Yeah, I could go get my own, but they got this depression on and...

The secret CIA program halted last month by Director Leon E. Panetta involved establishing elite paramilitary teams that could be inserted into Pakistan or other locations to capture or kill top leaders of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, according to former U.S. intelligence officials.

OK, just to be on the safe side, what I want y'all to do is form these teams solely with unarmed civilians who have no special training or skills, airdrop them into Finland, and make sure TMZ is notified at least 30 days in advance.

Both men turned the big 6-oh this year.  I thought this was Ron Perlman getting an award, but it's actually Robert Plant.  Time for a shampoo and detox.  Chuck for the win.

I dunno....these things had at least another 47 miles left in them...

Spent the earlier part of the week with research and procurement for brake pad replacement on the sportay.  Slapped 'em in last night. 

Narrowly avoided disaster introduced by--shocker--bad information from a HD salesperson.  I went to buy the recommended* DOT 5 fluid, and was told that since it was a 2006, it required DOT 4 fluid.  I protested a bit, but the ponytailed wonder behind the counter insisted.       

I went ahead and bought it, but didn't feel right pressing ahead with the work until I gathered more facts.  Two pertinent ones:

1) Both reservoirs clearly state USE DOT 5 ONLY.

2) Many, many, many, many Harley owners have been given this information, mixed the two, and wound up with braking systems clogged start to finish with the goo that forms when these two chemicals collide.  Short of flushing monthly until the end of time, there is no solution other than total system replacement.  Maybe this is the intent.  Maybe it was plain old incompetence.  Either way, when you degrade this system, people die.     

Google has a core value used to evaluate business decisions of any kind:  Don't be evil.  They need to take over HD, not Microsoft. 

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* During a recent indymech visit, it was more like a stern warning bordering on a threat.  

here.

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and the best literal video in the relatively short HIStory of literal video goes to:

( Read more... )

Wordnik - look, when you want to look up look, traditional sources now return hypnotic, pseudo-candid loops of two girls rumpshaking in a copier room.  And results, somewhere, if you can remember why you needed them in the first place.  Urban Dictionary has devolved into a sewer and a haven for juvenile graffiti.  Wordnik is somewhere in between and fairly clutter-free (for now).  Offers a nicely arranged summary with stats and examples, including tweets (why thank you, BkwdGreenComet, I too think prolix is a great word).

Flowing Data - FD is a hub for data modelers who use their considerable talents for expanding the mind (the frightening, WOPR-at-war-like growth of Wal-Mart in the US) and killing it softly (the best beer in America, an X-Men relationship map.)

Alpha Dictionary - grammar guides and lists, such as The 100 Most Beautiful Words...because my goal in life is to have a plethora of fetching ingenues hanging out in my bungalow, where we will listen to REM's mellifluous Murmur all day long while getting smashed on Inglenook wine. 

Lastly, thanks to starry_night  for this.  It kinda sorta works.  Probably totally works for those lucky enough not to have NGGYU's chorus hardwired in their skulls. 

I've never destroyed a piece of music in my life, with the possible exception of Walk on the Wild Side at a karaoke bar or three.  There was, however, a childhood incident brought to my attention recently.  My brother told me I once walked into our room and stepped on his 45 of Carole King's I Feel The Earth Move/It's Too Late.  He's carried this horror with him for decades and has never forgiven the trespass.  So I mailed him a copy of her Tapestry disc and wrote "We're even...GET OVER IT" on the package.

So if you ever drew a beard and Trotsky glasses on your sister's copy of Like A Virgin, or turned your brother's GI JOE collection into a paraplegic burn ward, it's not too late to fix it.  

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With all the celebs headed for the big sleep lately, one might have been pushed below the fold--Mollie Sugden of Are You Being Served? passed away earlier today.  Here's hoping her will contains provisos for the custody and ongoing care of her pussy.

He slowly ran his fingers through her long black hair, which wasn't really black because she used Preference by L'Oreal to color it (because "she was worth it"); her carrot-colored roots were starting to show, and it reminded him of the time he'd covered his car's check engine light with black electrical tape, but a faint orange glow still shone around the edges.

Welcome to the annual Bulwer-Lytton bad fiction awards.   Finally, something I have a shot at winning (although the contestants here are trying to be awful.)

I've been thinking a lot about this business and have done some writing, but it isn't quite there.  In the meantime, I would like to thank the editors of Time for selecting a photo that captured him at the height of his powers, and where he should have checked out and gone to live in France like an old jazz expatriate.  Before it got too weird and Naomi Campbell discovered cell phones.  The moonwalk is one thing, but I've always liked the silhouette work in the final minute of this.  The guy just had double the normal points of articulation in a human leg.  That's the only explanation I can offer.

 

The road to optimal beer temperature is paved with the carcasses of the weak.

Looked out the window at lunch today and noticed a biker with starting issues/dead battery.   High-dollar Harley of fairly recent vintage.  The guy whips off the seat as if it's attached with velcro, grabs two jumper cables out of a saddlebag, attaches them to the battery, and is Gone in 60 Seconds.

where
has
this
product
been
all
my
life...

Stunning, gory, and beautiful photographs coming out of Tehran. 

Motorcycle-based warfare (tydeus , try spotting the '77 CB-750K). 
Cyberwarfare (Twitter is being used as both a weapon and as a broadcast channel). 
Fat thugs who seem to have no problem slapping women around.

I can't help thinking about the possible poetic justice of Jimmy Carter heading there to monitor the election if there's a recount.      

I too would like to personally thank the soldiers who stormed Obama Beach, wherever the hell it is. Hawaii?

A slip up, sure, and not nearly as bad as failing to invite the Queen.  You know, the only living head of state to have actually served in WWII. 

Damm, she could sing a mess o' blues. I first discovered her music on an Alligator Records compilation in the 80s, which included her stunning version of I'd Rather Go Blind.