Slow Motion Balloon Pop

This is pretty nifty...what other things could be recorded in super slow motion? Yea people have done bullet collisions, but nothing of the speed of the water balloon video. Explosions on a small scale would be interesting to see, or along the same lines as the water balloon but interactions of rainfall or chemical reactions.

Cheeseburger in a Can!

Ok, first off, this is just plain ridiculous. Who out there would think this up, or in fact, eat it. As if a regular cheeseburger from your local grease spot wasn't gross enough, the Germans though it better to start canning these things. Now don't think that it'll be a yummy homemade grilled burger that is stuffed into a can. It'll probably be some dollar menu mystery meat burger crammed into a can. I am still trying to figure out the reason for this. Canning good healthy food is a good thing for keeping good food from spoiling for a long time. Canning bad food is a bad idea...just following logic. Seeing someone crack open a can and seeing a cheeseburger would probably induce vomiting...especially if it resembled anything from your local (disgusting) McDonald's or Burger King. I'll pass. But, if you are into something like this...purchase a few here.

Retardation in Progress

Oregon Father Uses Stun Gun on 18 Month Old
By Christine Moers
A father in Albany, Oregon is accused of using a stun gun on his 18 month old son.
Capt. Eric Carter, of the Albany Police Department, told CNN's Dave Northfield, "You're talking about an 18 month old child, so it has to be excruciating. This would cause extreme pain to you or I."
Rian James Whittman, 23, is the man accused of using the weapon to electrically shock his son. He was arraigned on three counts of second-degree assault and criminal mistreatment. Whittman is a long-haul trucker who isn't home much, but has shown his violent temper when he isn't on the road, said neighbors. An unidentified neighbor told CNN, "Jennifer seems pretty nice. Rian is gone most of the time, but when he isn't he's usually drinking."
Whittman's wife Jennifer, 21, who was not named in the police report to media, reported the abuse on Saturday. Rian Whittman was arrested later that night, without incident, in the 1900 block of SE Hill Street, police said. He was held in the Linn County Jail.
Police say that the 100,000-volt stun gun removed from Whittman is similar to the type of stun gun authorities use on suspects. Carter said that the device was not a taser weapon, named for the manufacturer, but a much older model that must be applied against the person. The child showed the obvious signs of the weapon's use - burns or welts where the metal prongs had made contact with the skin, said authorities.
The young boy received treatment at a hospital before being taken into protective custody by the state Department of Human Services.
According to TBO-Tech, a stun gun is designed to affect the nervous system. Energy is pumped into the muscles in a rapid cycle. That, in turn, depletes blood sugar by converting it into lactic acid in seconds. The result is disorientation, loss of balance and leaving the victim confused and passive for several minutes.
TBO-Tech states on its web site, "As a general rule, a one-half second contact can repel and startle the attacker, giving some pain and muscle contraction. One to two seconds can cause muscle spasms and a dazed mental state. Over three seconds can cause loss of balance and muscle control, mental confusion and disorientation."
Detectives disclosed that Whittman had been utilizing the device over a three-week period. There were at least 10 incidences of use on the boy.

Ok so this story is almost a year old, but now this Rian Whittman is ONLY getting 4 years in prison. I think the wife should be charged also, for the simple reason of "not seeing" the previous 9 sessions of abuse on the poor child.

136 cats in a small apartment

There is always something interesting in seeing any animal in mass quantities. I think it would be interesting with a few laser pointers or a light show in the middle of this number of cats. Ah, throwing a bag of catnip in the middle of the room would be the pinnacle of chaos. If you haven't seen what actual catnip does to a cat, then visit your local crack addict...then you will know.

Turn a Teddy Bear Inside Out?

Think of your favorite teddy bear. Now imagine it’s been ripped open, gutted, and turned inside-out. That’s what Kent Rogowski's Bears series has done to the iconic stuffed animals of our childhoods. This is pretty cool, even though I don't see any parents purchasing these for their children anytime soon. I would definitely pick one up...the scarier the better.

New is not so bad

I've been here (in Fayetteville) for almost 5 months now and it is growing on me despite the negative comments made about the general area. The diversity in this area is awesome thanks to the military bringing in lots of people. Along with leaving Abilene I had to find a good replacement church. Well after visiting Berean for the past few months, it has brought more than thought I was going to get in this town as far as a church offers. Dave, too bad you had to run off to Florida so quickly before getting to visit outside of helping with some furniture. On the plus side, you can see what kind of company compensation you can get for a nice long trip home, right?

Now then, for the past couple of months I have been conceiving a vacation spot but need any assistance if it's out there. I want to go to a place(close by the east coast) that offers some great spelunking...If anything, some unguided spelunking would be the best. For the past year I've been getting the gear needed for it and just need a place, a time, and some people interested in going along for the fun. So, if anyone has been to any place outside of a guided(walking) tour with many many many people, let me know please. Thx.

Laugh Fest

Despite the slow start for the Tarheels today against NC State, the rhythm came in a flash after a tie game of 9 apiece. It was tied at one point in the first half & then something happened to the Wolf Pack of NC State...they forgot how to make a shot, any shot, even layups. The Tarheels held State to only 13 points in the first half(43-13 at the end). Going almost 12 minutes in college basketball without scoring is pretty sad, especially with simple shots under the basket. For the majority of the first half, I was laughing about how horrible State was playing & how well the Heels were capitalizing off of it.
It was at the end of the first half when State finally made a shot before heading into the locker room to get reamed at by their coach. After they made a rare shot, it was the Heel fans that started to cheer them on. I am sure Coach Williams was questioning who his team was playing when they walked back to talk about what just happened. Being up by 30 points isn't insane. It's just funny when the lead is at halftime and from a team that actually beat UNC last year. The Tarheels go to 17-0 for the season & 2-0 for conference play...not too shabby.

Well Abby is coming down to visit in the morning to join me at my church & whatever after. I'm sure some food will be involved before, after, or both.

Completion on many more Pans

Alrighty, I completed a lot more panoramic pictures. Here are a few of them...plus you can view the full album here.

Home in China Grove, NC


Yosemite, CA


Yosemite, CA


San Francisco, CA


Abilene, TX


Me in the middle of Yosemite

Panoramics Everywhere

So over the past several years I have taken tons of pictures, especially many panoramic spreads to piece together afterwards. Well starting tonight I put together a ton of them. I will post a lot of them soon, but here is a taste of the span of what can be done these days with a digital camera and the power of a computer. Just as a heads up...these pictures are very large(but I still didn't upload them at their full size) and you might want to have a high resolution monitor to view them on. A few of the pans have close to ten pictures making up the full photo...making the field of view close to 180 degrees. Now that I have an extremely easy process of putting these together after taking them, there will be much more.

With a good stable surface you will get the best results...a cheap tripod will do the trick. Most of these were taken with a steady hand and a lot of work afterwards to make them look right. So, here is one of the largest pans I worked on tonight(early morning).

This picture above is the Half Dome at Yosemite National Park. As you can see, there is a lot more to see than a single shot. Click to see the entire picture...download on the right side of the page and see the full picture.

Nailbiter Frenzy

Tonight after leaving church I went and picked up some game food for the first ACC meeting for Carolina & Clemson. It didn't look pretty from the beginning and pretty much to the end...the officiating for this game was extremely poor. Clemson did a great job at defending the basket the entire game, especially on Hansbrough. The story tonight was definitely surrounding Ellington, scoring a career high 36. For every game this season the Tarheels have had a few dry spells during their games but with a nice double digit lead...meaning I am usually just relaxing on the couch and waiting for one of the leaders to step up and take some charge.
Well tonight's poor substitution calls by Roy Williams & around 20 turnovers led me to an elevated heart rate and sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for something positive to happen for the Heels. Carolina, being 14-0 walking into this game(first ACC game, away game also) was laying a lot on the line, especially since Clemson is a great team this year. After watching Clemson miss three shots to end the game at the end of the regulation, it didn't look good for them. I am very glad Clemson needs to work on their free throws, haha. They were horrible. Now once my heartbeat drops down to normal mode I might be able to get some pillowface time.
Tarheel Blue Article on tonight's game

Diving back into a routine

So, today after work I finally pushed myself back into the gym. It has been quite hard after leaving Abilene to stay going to the gym. The people in general at the gym here are totally different...a negative vibe is easily seen just walking in, especially compared to Hendrick in Abilene. For the past two months my gym bag has been in a corner and has really messed with my daily energy. Now, hopefully I won't be getting tired so easily and will keep my place to release stress.

I got some more of the pictures taken just last month. Here are some of Dave & me trying to hard to get some love from the camera. Dave, enjoy being down in Florida...glad to hear that you are liking it, even though you had to end your apartment hunt for your first service call. Don't work too hard.

Tonight it is supposed to get down in the teens. The poor cat outside really wants to get inside, but then there would be some competition for food, and milk...and we can't have that!

Dell's Crystal Top leaked

Dell already pulled it off of their site right after the pictures leaked out, but here are some sneaks of the new LCD frame they are using. There is another picture of it in the article. I don't see the justification it it being $1200 for a 22" LCD. That's four times the cost of mine more than two year ago. Still though, it is a sweet look...kind of a Sony Bravia look, but better in my opinion.

End of 2007 Pics

So yea, here are a few of pictures from the end of December last year. I haven't "acquired" all of the pictures yet, so more to come later sometime.