**This story is from 2016. I mistakenly thought it was current, however it is still wonderful.**
Canuck probably hangs with a pretty tough murder.
CBC:
Canuck the crow, Vancouver's most notorious bird, is being accused of flying away with a knife from a crime scene.
The crow has quite a reputation in Vancouver and its antics are regularly chronicled on social media, including a dedicated Facebook page that has a profile photo of the bird holding a knife in its beak.
Earlier on Tuesday, police had shot a man near Hastings and Cassiar streets. They were called to the scene of a car engulfed in flames. When they arrived, police said, they were confronted by a man with a knife.
Shots were fired and the man was arrested.
Vancouver Courier reporter Mike Howell said he saw the bird — which had a red tag on its leg as does Canuck — swoop in and pick up an object from inside an area cordoned off by police tape.
"A cop chased it for about 15 to 20 feet, and then the crow dropped it and took off," Howell told CBC.
"It was really strange. In my 20-plus years reporting from crime scenes, I've never seen anything like that crow trying to take a knife."
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Thank you, London. Read the rest
I did not realize this existed.
To spoof the "Special Edition" re-release of Star Wars in 1997, which included additional scenes and more advanced digital special effects, Hardware Wars was re-released on VHS as a twenty-minute "Special Edition," with new digital "special defects." Fosselius did not participate or approve of this release, as noted in a disclaimer on the packaging.
The new digital effects in no way improve either film. Read the rest
This is a fantastic short documentary on Teddy the Great Pyrenees. Teddy is a working livestock guardian, as opposed to my Great Pyr Nemo, who is a big walking carpet.
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This 'Star Wars Millennium Falcon approaches the Death Star' sunshade gets me a lot of compliments.
I have found notes under my wiper blades telling me everything from "That's no moon!" to "Let the Wookie win!"
I love this sunshade and it has mostly held up for 4 years. There has been some fading and separation of the plastic layers, but it works just fine to keep the car cool and entertaining.
Plasticolor 003700R01 Star Wars Accordion Sunshade via Amazon Read the rest
Ford developing a race car to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans is a wonderful story.
Whenever I wear my Gulf Oil/Le Mans racing jacket people stop me to talk about this Steve McQueen movie. I never get tired of it.
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Who needs V'ger? This scene of Kirk and Scotty made the entire movie for me. Read the rest
I put a collar emblazoned with owls on my Cavalier King Charles spaniel, thus combining two things I love.
I can't get a good shot of said owl collar on Zuul, cause she is too fuzzy. They come in sizes for many, if not all, dogs.
The Pyrenees got some gingham bs my kid choose, but it looks good on him.
dogs
Buckle-Down Plastic Clip Collar - Owls Striped w/Swirls Purple via Amazon Read the rest
This fantastic documentary must be watched. I love these guys. Read the rest
Chills. I get chills and I'm on the edge of tears. Read the rest
While famed singer and songwriter Leon Redbone has passed away at the age of 69, the official announcement of his death claims he was 127.
Variety:
Singer-songwriter Leon Redbone, who specialized in old-school vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley-style music, died earlier today, his family confirmed. He was 69 — although, in characteristically whimsical fashion, the official statement announcing his death gave his age as 127.
Redbone had officially retired in 2015, with a representative then citing unspecified health concerns as the reason for his being unable to continue performing or recording.
A post on Redbone’s website confirming his death contained enough deadpan humor and whimsical fiction that it was almost certainly prepared in advance by the singer himself. “It is with heavy hearts we announce that early this morning, May 30th, 2019, Leon Redbone crossed the delta for that beautiful shore at the age of 127,” it read. “He departed our world with his guitar, his trusty companion Rover, and a simple tip of his hat. He’s interested to see what Blind Blake, Emmett, and Jelly Roll have been up to in his absence, and has plans for a rousing sing along number with Sári Barabás. An eternity of pouring through texts in the Library of Ashurbanipal will be a welcome repose, perhaps followed by a shot or two of whiskey with Lee Morse, and some long overdue discussions with his favorite Uncle, Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites. To his fans, friends, and loving family who have already been missing him so in this realm he says, ‘Oh behave yourselves.
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Countless times I have frantically rummaged through my camping gear, digging for toilet paper as I madly need to go. My daughter never, ever, EVER returns toilet supplies to the same place. The Booty Duty bag is a handy, one-stop kit for all your excretory waste management supplies.
Camping for me involves a Volkswagen Camper. My bus starts most trips out as a well organized and carefully arranged environment. Everything from the solar panel to the BBQ is in its assigned place! I have tools, back-ups for the tools, cables, batteries, fuel, blankets, hats, sunscreen, bug repellant, you name it and someplace in that VW van you can probably find it. Zero thought ever goes into the toilet paper and supplies. They get stuffed into whatever space looks good at the moment. Then the TP is lost.
Most State and Federally designated/managed camping sites have bathrooms. Government TP is like sandpaper, but it is there. When camping even a tiny bit more off the grid, you better have your own shovel and paper. Finding that shovel and paper in the middle of the night, or really any time you are in a hurry always turns into a comedy of errors.
The Booty Duty is a purpose built bag that carries your roll of toilet paper and all your bathroom supplies! The bag handily affixes to your shovel and becomes a dispenser! It is thoughtfully designed to also house wet wipes, and have space for other hygiene products that may be required based on the composition of your camping party. Read the rest
Hey everyone, let us all take a Victory Poison Pill!
ABC News:
Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, who signed the export order and also attended the Clean Energy Ministerial, said he was "pleased that the Department of Energy is doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported to the world."
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Phenomenal maker Simone Giertz shares some of her battle with her brain tumor and makes a great lamp out of her radiation mask.
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I keep this ball and vase trick around because kids like it.
Sure, you are brilliant. We get that know how it works. You can also read this post. While little kids often find card and coins tricks to be a yawn, they love even a lamely presented magic ball and vase!
After you fool them with the trick a few times, sneak the ball insert out and let the kids play with the empty vase.
It is as much fun as fooling your cat with a laser pointer.
Magic Ball and Vase via Amazon Read the rest
My brother was having a ton of issues with his home WIFI network. One quick look and his 7 to 10-year-old WIFI router suggested he needed a new one.
The number of packets we expected early generations of 802.11 wifi to push barely anticipated the huge amounts of internet traffic we currently sling around. Ten plus years later, a router that was perfectly fine for surfing early YouTube video and maaaaybe occasionally streaming a movie is no longer adequate. My brother is paying for a connection that'll burst well over 100mbps and should sustain 60-80mbps no problem. Sadly, he hadn't upgraded his WIFI router in forever.
His 100mbps pipe was limited to around 20mpbs. Laden with packet loss whenever 2-3 people were doing much beyond web surfing, the old box was overloaded. With 3-4 phones, 2-3 laptops, 2-3 tablets, and two tv's attempting to use this tiny, not much bigger than a deck of cards, router connections were hard to maintain.
My brother was looking at all sort of online configuration options with Google Home wifi and other tools. Years ago the solution for bad connectivity in parts of the house, or failing connections, was to add these god awful WIFI repeaters. They rarely worked as described very well, or for very long. I suggested he simply buy one big honking wifi base-station with great antenna and a lot of CPU.
Enter the NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S AC2600 4x4 Dual Band Smart WiFi Router.
A few years ago I switched from an OG Apple Airport to a slightly older model Netgear. Read the rest
