Camel Crossing

Camel Crossing

This picture is from a Saudi blogger called Religious Policeman (link located under list of Samsari in my sidebar). He has taken a few pictures of the camel populace around Saudia Arabia and the one I'm showing here is probably my favorite.



Be sure to check out his other camel photos. Picture posted with owner's permission.

We Will Never Run Out Of Oil

We Will Never Run Out Of Oil

George Will has a fine column this week about how oil is only technically a limited resource because it will become cost-inefficient to collect before we ever run out and since we're a market-based society, we will never run out of oil - we just won't want to pay for it anymore.

Excerpts from The Washington Post
Oil: How Bad Do You Want It? by George Will
Sunday, June 13, 2004

Of course, oil supplies are, as some people say with a sense of profound discovery, "finite." But that distinguishes oil not at all from land, water or pistachio nuts.

Russell Roberts, an economist, says: Imagine that you love pistachio nuts and are given a room filled 5 feet deep with them. But you must eat them in the room and must leave the shells. When will you have eaten them all? Never. Because as it becomes increasingly difficult to find nuts amidst the shells, the cost of the nuts, in time and effort, will become too high. You will seek a substitute -- pistachios from a store, or another snack.

Tim Appenzeller, writing in National Geographic, says tar-sand deposits in Alberta "hold the equivalent of more than 1.6 trillion barrels of oil -- an amount that may exceed the world's remaining reserves of ordinary crude." Alberta, a future Saudi Arabia? Perhaps. Full-throttle production of oil from tar sand is not economical. So far.

MIT's [M.A.] Adelman notes that even before 1800 -- before the coal-fired Industrial Revolution -- Europeans worried about exhausting coal supplies. "European production actually did peak in 1913 and is nearly negligible today." Billions of tons remain beneath European soil but are uneconomical to remove. So far.

Growing Up

Growing Up

Fifteen years ago in high school, I remember looking at the middle school students and thinking, "I was never that young. They're getting younger."

Ten years ago in college, I watched the freshmen start their undergrad life and I thought to myself, "Those freshmen are young. No way I was that young when I started. They're getting younger."

Only recently is it beginning to dawn on me that they are a part of the work force and now the cycle repeats itself only with each new cycle, the cynicism gets worse as I get older. Because now we're on the same playing field. Before, I was the upper classman, my whole life still in front of me as I decided on what career to pursue. I was winning. I was in the lead. I was going to get to the finish line first. But now they have advanced to my level, they have crossed the finish line I crossed years ago and I'm still standing there at the end with nowhere to go. I'm at the finish line with the broken tape lying on the ground, but I'm not panting, I'm not sweating, I'm not even in shape anymore. I sneer from my La-Z-Boy recliner and watch them double over with exhaustion, smiling as someone hands them a cup of Gatorade.

Now, we are the same, we all finished, we are all workers eking out a living - except they're younger. It's funny, as a kid, I was winning by being older but now they caught me and they're crowding me... cramping my style... making me look old.

I finally realize that this group of kids I see enter where I once was, is the same group that has been chasing me all of my life, chasing me into old age. Did that generation before me have a bizarre recessive gene fusion accident that turned them out younger than I was at that age or have others noticed this about surrounding age groups?

In the seventh grade, I remember being intimidated by the 8th and 9th graders. You want my lunch money, here you go. You want to borrow my only pencil but never return it, go right ahead. I look at 8th and 9th graders now and I think, "I can take 'em."

That generation is always going to be right behind me and there's nothing I can do to shake them. They're always going to be there and remind me that I'm old and getting older.

To compound the problem, most of the celebrities are younger than I am. As a kid, I couldn't wait to grow up and be like them, but now, I passed it and they have millions and fame and good times and they're in their 20s! Sometimes younger! I know it's only going to get worse as I grow older and a new generation of celebrities and sports heroes take over and soon I won't only be older, I'll be twice their age.

I'm getting laughed at by the generation above me as they read this. They're thinking, "You think that's bad, wait till you're 40, 50, 60..." I do feel like the guy in the snowglobe staring into his own snowglobe.

You know the saying, 'the youth is wasted on the young.' I am appreciating it more and more as time marches me on.

Dag-blasted whippersnappers.

Bill Clinton

"Bill Clinton showed incredible energy and great personal appeal. As chief executive, he showed a deep and far-ranging knowledge of public policy, a great compassion for people in need, and the forward-looking spirit the Americans like in a President. Bill Clinton could always see a better day ahead -- and Americans knew he was working hard to bring that day closer. He's a man of enthusiasm and warmth, who could make a compelling case and effectively advance the causes that drew him to public service."

--President George W. Bush

Iraq's Future Looks Promising

Iraq's Future Looks Promising

Iraq's a mess, no doubt about it. But it's the birth of a new nation and I'm not sure I can expect anything more than a giant wreck at this stage. People who think nothing good can come of the new government that's about to be born in Iraq are forgetting their American history (or their own country which undoubtedly would have similar instances).

I'm very excited about the new Iraq. Stable? No. In the near future? Not likely. But it's growth. Whether or not you agree with the method of this regime change or continued coalition presence, this is history and you'll know it if can you remove yourself from your own opinions. Witness it, remember it, tell it.

I can't help but feel the cynicism from those that can not remove themselves from their ideals and just observe what is happening for a second. You might disagree with the methods (I am one of them), but boy do I have a story for you about how your country was formed.

What's So Civil About War Anyway

What's So Civil About War Anyway
	Over the weekend, Mrs. Lock and I took the Jeep out to Civil War Days in a very remote area in the state known as Billie Creek. If you haven't been to a reenactment event, I highly recommend this amazing experience. These people are the ultimate role players because they don't sit at home in an air conditioned house rolling d20 dice and eating Pringles but they look like they're still having fun. For them it's a creative and educational form of extreme camping.

Of course I have some pictures. I filled my 256 ram card with a ton of shots. Somehow I whittled it down to just ten to show here and I might have more for you in the days to come. I know I'd like to get one of the field cannons on here.

Battlefield
Cabin
The General
Drummer Boys
Marching To War
Pair of Mules
Ol' Glory
Sleeping Man
The Three Wise Men
Wagon

History Of The World Prejudice With Certain Epochs

History Of The World Prejudice With Certain Epochs
	Here's the problem with History Of The World: Part I. It's a fine movie, not hilarious but it has its moments, good gags that were funny in the early 80's anyway. What bugs me about this movie is that half of it is devoted to the Roman Empire sketch. For a movie titled History Of the World that has fifty percent of its onscreen time covering the Roman Empire seems to be a bit misleading to me. The Roman Empire did span a great many years in our human

history depending on your view of what exactly an empire is. Some historians put the Roman Empire lifespan at about 400 years. You can ratchet this up to 1000 if you include the Byzantine period, the splinter group of the Romans. So I will give Mel Brooks the benefit of the doubt and say the Roman Empire lasted 1000 years.

The Roman sketch in the movie would take up an accurate span of the film, that is half of the film is Roman because half of our 2000 year history saw the Roman Empire, since the movie ends with the French Revolution in the late 18th century we have an end point to this history that the film tries to cover. No problem right?

The movie opened with cavemen.

What's that? 30,000 years ago? The ratio is way off now with only fifteen minutes devoted to this prehistoric period. If 1000 years equates to 45 minutes on film, then 30,000 would make it 1350 minutes. That's 23 hours this movie would have to be just for the prehistoric scene. To make matters worse, fifteen minutes were devoted to the Spanish Inquisition and about fifteen minutes for the French Revolution. Now the formula is all out of whack.

Little wonder there was no Part II. They covered 30,000 years of history up until 1800 in one film. How can they possibly fill 90 minutes with the last 200 years? Hitler on Ice would only be interesting for about two minutes.

It is possible that the sequel planned on getting into our future with the Jews in Space. Maybe they plan on covering another 30,000 years but don't hold your breath. The voice over (Brooks himself I think) for the sequel previews did mention "Coming soon..." That was 23 years ago. But then again, 30,000 years is only 15 minutes using Mel's fuzzy math so who knows.

It's good to be the king.

Bad 1980 Teamups

Bad 1980 Teamups



So we need an Airwolf vs. Blue Thunder movie. That's right. If they're going to have Freddy Vs. Jason, why should we stop at one 80's duo matchup. Knight Rider vs Automan, Wonder Twins vs. Manimal, Big Bird vs. Snuffleupagus, Snuff's powers of invisibility would kick the crap out of an eight foot bird. Prepare to molt Big.

I want to see Airwolf take on Blue Thunder in a chopper showdown. I think Airwolf would win, being designed for stealth and warfare. Airwolf was more of a military design and Blue Thunder a street-patrolling tool for the cops of the LAPD. The federally designed equipment wins out almost every time since there is usually more money for the budget. Airwolf made it into the lower parts of outerspace, there's no way Blue Thunder could catch it. Plus Airwolf had a darn fine navigator in Ernest Borgnine. Who did Schneider have on BT? The dumb burglar from Home Alone who was also the loser in City Slickers. He was cool as the adult voice of Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years, but doing good voiceovers hardly qualifies you for navigator position on a state of the art flying machine.

Airwolf had the cooler theme song too.

As for the others, the victorious would be K.I.T.T. and Manimal.

Cicadas

Cicadas

They're heeeeeere.

I snapped this little bugger on my back porch. He wasn't moving much so my guess is he was spent if you know what I mean. What usually follows is death.

This particular one is the Brood X version of the Magicicadas, the largest of them all and the last time we saw his species was in 1987; next time will be 2021, at which point this blog will be virtual dust and I'll be 48 years old.

Cool Venus Transit Image

Cool Venus Transit Image



I thought this was a neat image. Here is the caption:

Tue Jun 8,12:02 PM ET
A bird flies during a transit of Venus, lower left, observed in Wakkanai, a town at the northernmost tip of Japan on Tuesday, June 8, 2004. A transit takes place when Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun. (AP Photo/ Kyodo)

I can't wait for the Mars transit!