Friday, June 26, 2009

Governor Sanford and Conan

Heard on Conan Last night:

I still cannot get over Governor Sanford’s press conference yesterday. Did you watch it? Who watched it? That was unbelievable. At a press conference yesterday, if you don't know, South Carolina governor  Mark Sanford admitted having a mistress from Argentina. That’s right. Yea. Then, there was an awkward moment as he waited for someone to give him a high five.

They say he may have broken the law because he left the country without transferring power to his Lieutenant Governor. Apparently Sanford violated South Carolina’s sacred “bros before hos” law.

What a week!

I have had the house all to myself this week. Cindy and the girls stole off to Maryland for a week of seeing their Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and VBS.

My week was otherwise normal. However, I realize that I really need them. I am looking forward to them coming home tonight!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Audible Note

If you like to get audio books for long rides, or working in the yard, I suggest taking a look at Audible. Audible has been around for many years, and provides a wide range of support for listening devices.

But, I have one tip for you.

Find the book that you want, add it to your cart. Then, go to Amazon, find the same item and purchase it. Amazon uses Audible and the price will usually be five dollars less.

Or, you can skip the step above, and use Amazon directly. Either way, you are getting a great service and a slightly lower price.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

D-Day Remembrance

It’s 9:21 on Saturday Morning, June 6th. It was during this hour that my Grandfather, Marvin Morton, stepped onto Utah Beach.

They had been in their landing craft since about 3:30 waiting for the word. A few hours earlier, members of the 82nd and 101 Airborne parachuted behind the lines. When the word was given, it took several hours for the men to leave the Transport ships and hit the beach.

Unfortunately, the Landing Craft that had been sent ahead to act as markers to the LZ had been sunk. The LC that carried the troops landed south of the target.

On one of the first boats was the only General to land at Normandy. He was a veteran of several wars, son of a president and nephew to the current president. Brigadier General Roosevelt wore not helmet and carried his cane off of the boat. It was said that men feared him more than the Germans.

He decided that, instead of going back to the original LZ, they would establish the beach head right were they stood. This decision saved many men that day: the original LZ was heavily defended.

South of Utah, at Pointe du Hoc, a group of Army Rangers scaled the cliffs with ropes and ladders to take out the gun emplacements capable of hitting Utah and Omaha beaches.

1st Lt Richard Winters, of Company E (Easy), 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division devolved (aka – the Band of Brothers), led a group of men to take out artillery located at BrĂ©court Manor. The battery “had initially been reported to be 88 mm guns firing onto causeway exit #2 leading off Utah Beach and disrupting landing forces of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division advancing inland on this route.” It turned out to be much more than that – it was four 105 mm howitzers connected by trenches and defended by a platoon of soldiers. Winter’s attacked the positions, and as a result, there were less guns pointing at Utah.

Decisions were made and heroic actions were performed on June 6th, 1944. Actions that saved many soldier’s lives of the 4th Infantry Division, including my Grandfather’s.

Twitter – I still can’t get into it.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

How I gave my Guinea Pig a Purple Nurple

It was, of course, quite by accident. I did not start off trying to accomplish this task, but the result was the same, none the less.

The kids came in last Sunday in a panic. They had taken Butterball, our guinea pig, outside and they had found a tick on him.

I went to the Horse tackle box, and grabbed our “official” tick pulling tweezers. Sure enough, there was what appeared to me, an engorged tick.

Have I mentioned my eye sight is getting worse with age. And, I just had a birthday.

So I went to work trying to rid the pig of the tick.

Until I started suspecting it wasn’t a tick.

I asked for a flashlight so that I could get a better look. It wasn’t a tick, and google confirmed, it was a teat.

So yes, I gave my guinea pig a purple nurple. Thanks kids!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Got Xbox?

This week, the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is happening in Los Angeles. On Monday, Microsoft held it's annual press conference about what the future holds. Here are some of the highlights that I thought were cool

1. Social Networking comes to 360 - Facebook and Twitter applications will be coming to the dash board

2. Music - Last.fm will allow you to access millions of streaming songs (I love Pandora streaming through my blu-ray player).

3. Instant HD Movies- You will be able to access 1080p HD in an instant (e.g., no waiting for half the movie to download). I had told my father-in-law that blu-ray/HD wars will be but a blip because I knew this was coming.

4. Shared Movies (XBox Live Party) - I posted on Mot's Blog that we ought to get together for a shared Star Trek movie. Well, we might actually be able to do that. It appears that you will be able to share a movie with another Xbox Live User and it will coordinate the viewing. That, plus a microphone, and we can make our own MST3K Track.

5. Project Natal - Remember when the WII came out? How it had these new controllers that allowed you to use natural movements in order to control your screen avatar? Project Natal takes it one step further - NO CONTROLLER. Your body IS the controller. It combines an RGB Camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device. It tracks your body movement in 3-d while responding to commands, directions and even a shift in emotion in your voice.

The "vision" video that is demonstrated is very cool and shows the possibilities when this is delivered (2010?). Have you gotten your Xbox yet?