davintosh

Here’s a weather-related phenomenon I had never heard of before today; chandeliering ice.

According to the NatureWorldnNws.com site, chandeliering “happens when warming temperatures cause a once solid mass of ice to splinter into fine, glass-like shards.”

That would be something to see. Too bad the video is a bit grainy, and there’s no close-up of what’s going on there. Very cool!

Street performers… I can take ‘em or leave ‘em, but I don’t mess with them either. This guy on Australia’s Gold Coast did, and got exactly what he deserved. Would’ve been nice to see what followed though…

YouTube Link
via twentytwowords.com

Here’s a great story…

Joe and Beverly Smith had a 1948 Plymouth convertible when they first married, but had to sell it when Joe was drafted for the Korean War. For the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary, their son Joel surprised them with a car that brought back memories. It wasn’t easy, but it was all worth it.

– via Nag on the Lake

I stumbled upon this bit of prose & thought I’d stick it up here:

Outlook

Greed

My life is full indeed of gloom.
I’ve naught , you see, just this small room.
I need more wealth – that’s misery.
What joys in great renown! What glee!
The mace and throne I long to own.
No crown too grand for me alone.

Contentment

My life is full indeed!
Of gloom I’ve naught, you see.
Just this small room I need.
More wealth? That’s misery.
What joy’s in great renown?
What glee the mace and throne?
I long to own no crown.
Too grand for me alone.

---

The Pessimist

That deep red rose – I see its thorn.
I just ignore the scent that’s borne.
To me it’s nothing. I deplore
Those scratches that I got before.
I just complain about the pain.
A lot I think of beauty’s gain!

The Optimist

That deep red rose I see,
Its thorn I just ignore.
The scent that’s borne to me -
It’s nothing I deplore!
Those scratches that I got -
Before I just complain
About the pain a lot,
I think of beauty’s gain.

---

Degradation

This skid row bum will win no more.
He’ll strive and lose in his sad war.
On gin he’s hooked – that demon booze!
And now he’ll loudly sing the blues.
He’s chased away all hope today.
Will Spring have cheer? No – more decay.

Redemption

This skid row bum will win!
No more he’ll strive and lose.
In his sad war on gin
He’s hooked that demon booze.
And now he’ll loudly sing,
The blues he’s chased away.
All hope today will spring:
Have cheer – no more decay!

— Mary Youngquist

It’s all in the punctuation, and perspective. Or outlook.

I just bumped into this photo on Flickr while looking for something else… such a cool old truck!

The photo belongs to Flickr user Ned & Neva; unfortunately there’s no clues as to where the truck was when the photo was snapped. The caption below the photo says it’s a “1929 Ford Ag Uitlity Vehicle”, and you can see hints of the Ford Model A cowl, door frame & dashboard, but the colors scream Ford 8N tractor. From the Flickr pages, it looks like it was taken at an event held at the Michigan Flywheelers Museum in Bangor, MI, which looks to be just down the road from Muskegon, one of our favorite vacation spots! Next time we’re in the area…

I’ve heard the term “doodlebug” many times before, and according to Wikipedia, it can refer to a lot of different things, but in this case a doodlebug is “a home-made tractor made in the United States during World War II when production tractors were in short supply. The Doodlebug of the 1940s was usually based on a 1920s or 1930s era Ford automobile which was then modified either by the complete removal or alteration of some of the vehicle body.” That description seems to fit this little gem perfectly.

What I was looking for was a higher resolution image of a sign like this…

I don’t recall ever seeing that as an ad or a sign before, but I think I can hear Dad saying something like it! I might have to make something like that to hang on my shed, or in the garage.

I saw this photo on some website this morning…

… and thought it needed a caption, at minimum. But I think this is better…

I was thinking of Gazerbeam, but there weren’t many images of him dredged up by Google and I couldn’t tweak his helmet to fit the photo. I ended up using Frozone’s helmet for him, and what do you know; it fits!

I can almost hear him role playing with Michelle, “Honey? Where’s my super-suit?”

After listening to last night’s debate, if I couldn’t laugh at the candidates, I’d have to cry.

… I want to do what this guy does.

Or maybe this guy…

I get so tired sometimes of working for someone else, doing things that seem to have no lasting value, and fails to bring any joy in life. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate the job I have and the people I work with and the company I work for. My job has flexibility and perks that would be the envy of many, but I don’t like doing what I do. It’s a long story… Maybe I’ll share it sometime. Until then, I’ll think of Robin Wood & John Neeman and the cool things they make.

I’ve never tried Little Baby’s Ice Cream, and after watching their ads, I’m not sure I want to.

Shades of Hannibal Lecter right there… Creepy.

They’ve named the character in the commercials Malcom, or more correctly, “the incomparable Malcolm, an asexual, genderless, non-human (but human-esque) being that formed from a failed batch of Duck Sauce Vanilla ice cream.” Probably a blessing that Malcom is incomparable, considering the aura of creepiness exuded by he/she/it/whatever-it-is. Having just one is more than enough.

I understand fully that one man’s meat is another man’s poison — what one person finds absolutely delicious might taste terrible to another — but I believe I’ve discovered the perfect beer; Hetanker Brewery’s Cuvée van de Keizer Blauw (aka: Gouden Carolus Carolus D’Or – Grand Cru Of The Emperor.)

Finding this beer was pretty serendipitous; it’s a Belgian strong dark ale, and it was being served by one of the vendors we visited at a trade show I attended in Germany this spring (I’m reasonably sure there are harsh punishments for serving anything but German beers in Germany!) The vendor — Xeikon — has their manufacturing and R&D center in Belgium, so bringing a local brew to the show was a natural thing. The sales guys invited us back to their display area for drinks after the show closed; there were two beers on tap — a light and a dark, as is the custom there — and this was the dark beer.

Another European custom is to serve a beer in glasses designed specifically for it; most every beer has its own glass. The Gouden Carolus glasses weren’t very big, but after quickly downing my first glass and getting into my second I discovered that the stuff also has a pretty potent alcohol content. Another evening after the show I found myself asking for a third glass, and I can safely say that that’s as drunk as I have been since, oh, 1984 or so.

I’ve looked high and low locally looking for this brew, and have been unsuccessful, so far. Looking has had its benefits though; one never knows how many beers there are until one starts looking. Actually, I’m just kind of guessing what beer it was, but I’m betting that I’ve found it. The beer I had in Germany was definitely brewed by Hetanker, and it was called Gouden Carolus (the glasses told that tale.) In June, having only the name “Gouden Carolus” to go by, I found Gouden Carolus Classic could be purchased online from France44.com, & ordered three bottles. I disappointed when I tried it though; it wasn’t the one. I still have two bottles left. It’s good, very good in fact, but not it.

Sioux Falls has two locally-owned stores that carry huge selections of beers — Good Spirits Fine Wind & Liquor and JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars. Good Spirits carries two brews from Hetanker, but so far the owner has been unable to get his hands on any Grand Cru. I think he’s getting tired of me asking about it.

Since I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I wondered if there were other beers that were similar, so (poor me) I bought a few to give them a try. Some have been OK, some have been downright awful (they’ll go unnamed), and some have been very good, but not quite what I had in Germany. There are a couple of beers stocked by the local shops that carry the Grand Cru moniker; Abbey du Val-Dieu Grand Cru is excellent, and is thus far the closest match to what I had in Germany (a second 750mL bottle is waiting in the fridge downstairs for a special occasion!) It’s an excellent beer in its own right, and I was happy to find it. North Coast Grand Cru is another, but at $18 for a 500mL bottle, it’s hard for a cheapskate like me to justify, just to try it. The paltry 78 rating at BeerAdvocate.com doesn’t help. The Val-Dieu sells for about $9; I happily pay that, but cracking open a bottle requires a reason and a partner — once the cork is out it doesn’t go back in without a fight, and even if it does the beer won’t keep. At 10.5% ABV, there’s no way I could finish a 750mL bottle myself. Well, I could, but…

I’ve been in the process of writing this post for several weeks now, and thought I’d finish it up today. And oh happy day… Just now I went back to find the link to the page for Gouden Carolus Classic at France44.com and found that Grand Cru is in stock! So excited… I just ordered five bottles. Now, the wait… It’ll be worth it!

Belgian Family Brewers Brewery Het Anker page

Here’s something kinda fun; an Argus C2, my newest old camera find.

I picked it up for cheap at a local thrift store a while back, the latest in my decades-old penchant for old cameras. I think my collection — if it can be called that — started with my grandmother’s Brownie Hawkeye, which somehow ended up in my possession — I have no memory of exactly how — after she passed away.

I actually used that camera for a time; it didn’t produce terribly high-quality photos, but it was kind of a novelty in the day when Instamatic cameras were more the norm and 35mm cameras were the hot thing. Eventually it became more & more difficult to get film for it, and even more difficult finding a lab to process the film & make prints, so… On the shelf it went, along with some flashbulbs. How many people remember using flash bulbs?

From that start, I’ve been adding to the collection by keeping an eye out for old cameras at rummage sales, antique stores & thrift stores. There are now (I think) a couple dozen of them, plus some assorted light meters, lens filters, flash units, cases, etc… There are a couple of old movie cameras in the bunch, and a Polaroid camera or two. The newest “antiques” I have are a very early Fuji digital camera and an Apple QuickTake 100; in computer lifespans, they ought to be considered antiques by now. Finding a working computer they could interface with would be the big challenge now, so by that measurement, they qualify.

I was glad to find the Argus C2 though; I had another one like it years ago but gave it and a nice light meter to my brother-in-law as a Christmas gift. That was well before the ubiquity of digital cameras, and he actually got a fair amount of use from it (which was better than the shelf duty it served at my house!) The new(?) C2 is in slightly better shape (from what I remember of the old one), probably due to the heavy leather case and padding that came with it. It’s a heavy camera, built back in the day when heft meant “durability” and “quality”.

When I look at the old cameras, especially the 35mm cameras, I can’t help but admire the craftsmanship that went into them. These things were designed & built long before CAD was ever even thought of, and probably assembled by hand. The glass in the lenses was ground using really old-school technology, and even the tiniest metal parts… who knows how they were manufactured. Most were made of metal, with a smattering of paper products for the bellows and leather to dress them up a bit. It’s a wonder to me that the softer parts on these cameras have survived so many years in such good condition. Some of the lower-end cameras from the ’30′s – ’50′s used Bakelite for their cases; today’s cameras are mostly plastic with some metal, and lots of silicon for the electronics in them. If you were to drop one of the older cameras, chances are it would get scuffed up a bit but keep working; if it didn’t work you could often take it somewhere to get repaired. Today’s cameras — especially the under-$100 cameras — are for the most part disposable. Getting one repaired would cost more than replacing it.

For all the benefits and niceties of the older cameras, it would be hard to go back to film. The digital camera was really a game-changer in a lot of ways. In the mid-1980′s I spent a pile of money on a Canon T70 35mm camera and a couple of lenses for it. I could take some decent photos, but I never really put in the effort to learn all the tricks because with film you’d have such a time gap between when you set up a shot and when you’d see the result, not to mention the cost of the film and developing. With many digital cameras you can enable most all of the same controls as with a nice 35mm camera, but with digital you can see your results almost immediately.

That said, I still haven’t taken the time to learn many tricks with them; it’s mostly just point & shoot. Someday…