Sunday, July 31, 2005

The Showcase #23

Back in February, the Showcase made its return. And now, we're proud to host the 23rd edition of the second incarnation of The Showcase.

And, we've received some blogs of interest this week. Three of them, it turns out, were already on my BlogRoll. But the others have now been added. We have a good group of new blogs this week. Let me tell you about then.

Catfish Fall To Greenville

CatfishFrom the Columbus Catfish:

Late Catfish Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to Greenville
Fish Strand Tying and Go-Ahead Runs on Base in Ninth; Series Evened at One Game

GREENVILLE, SC—Despite just one hit in the first eight innings, the Catfish rallied with three hits to trail by just a run in the top of the ninth in Greenville, falling a run short tonight in a 3-2 loss to the Bombers at Greenville Municipal Stadium. 3B Blake DeWitt broke up a no-hitter by RHP Gary Galvez with a leadoff double in the seventh, but Galvez dominated to earn his eight win, retiring the first 15 Catfish hitters. CF Ryan Russ had a two-run single in the ninth to bring the Catfish to within one, but a sliding catch by Greenville SS Christian Lara with runners on first and second in the ninth preserved the Greenville victory. Both teams have won a 3-2 game in the series, with the Catfish falling back to .500 at 17-17 in the second half (45-58 overall), and Greenville improving to 17-18 in the second half (52-51 overall).

RHP Brandon Weeden struck out seven in four innings tonight, but he also walked four and gave up the first run (unearned) to the Bombers on a wild pitch in the third inning. In the sixth inning against Catfish RHP Steve Nelson, the Bombers scored another unearned run after a Logan Sorensen RBI double.  In the ninth inning, Greenville's Jeff Natale drove in a run with a sac fly to make it 3-0 Bombers. The Fish didn't have a baserunner until the sixth, and didn't have a hit until the seventh against Galvez, who departed after 6.2 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven.

In the ninth against closer RHP Mike James, the Catfish rallied when Russ's two-run single drove home both DeWitt and C Chris Westervelt. With two on and two out, Lara's catch ended the game with the Fish stranding the tying run at second and go-ahead run at third. Tomorrow LHP Scott Elbert (6-5, 3.00 ERA) starts against RHP Henry Cabrera for Greenville at 7:05 PM at Greenville Municipal Stadium.

Headline News: 7/31/2005

[Warning: Harry Potter spoiler on last item]

From CNN:
Genetic flaw leaves felines without sweet tooth
Origin of "Sour Puss" explained

From CNN:
Report: Mobile sales head for 1billion
Beth visits Colonial Mall

From CNN:
'Matty the Horse' among 20 indicted
Mr. Ed is an unindicted co-conspirator

From WKMG:
Rip-current rescues top 2,000
Lifeguard thanks really stupid swimmers for allowing record to be set

From KOAT:
Governor targets child obesity
Fat asses should make an easy target

From CNN:
Cardinal: Chavez needs 'exorcism'
Chavez: Fat Cardinal needs exercise

From CNN:
Zimbabwe: Land is for blacks only
U.N. yet to criticize "Apartheid 2005"

From AJC:
Boy who vanished at Yankees game is found
Was traded to Dodgers

From MSNBC:
Democrat warns against Bolton appointment
Threaten to pout, hold breath until they turn blue

From MSNBC:
Chinese pirates rewrite, hawk Harry Potter
Albus Dumbledore lives, Severus Snape elected President of the United States

Brunch: 7/31/2005

Try one of these specials with your weekend brunch:

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Space Cadet Basil

I heard some music on some commercial the other day and it reminded me of "The Right Stuff." You know that movie, right? About the beginnings of the U.S. space program? Sure you do. It's one of my favorites.

When the cable (and therefore, Internet) went out Friday night,  I grabbed the DVD and hit "play." It was great!

Perhaps one of the reasons I'm fascinated by it is, even though I'm old enought to remember them, I don't remember any of the Mercury space shots. Not any of them! And I wish I did.

But I do remember the Gemini flights. I can't say I recall each and every one, but I do remember sitting way too close to the television and seeing the Titan II rocket with the Gemini capsule on the top. I can picture that in my mind today.

Of course, I remember the Apollo program, from the Apollo 1 fire to the Apollo-Soyuz flight.

But Gemini, because it's the first space flight program that I remember, it holds a special place in my heart.

Gemini is the fogotten space program, in my mind. You don't see any movies about Gemini. There have been movies about the Mercury program and the Apollo program, but I don't recall any about Gemini.

Mercury was the first Americans in space. Apollo was Americans landing on the moon. Gemini was ... what?

Was it the first space walk? Not really. The Soviets beat us to that. Aleksei Leonov made the first space walk during the Voskhod II mission on March 18, 1965. But the Americans mastered the space walk, which was needed for going to the moon.

Sure, it was the first rendezvous and docking, but how exciting is that? It's big news, and they couldn't have gone to the moon without it, but it's not flashy. But it sure was important.

There's one thing about Gemini that I didn't know at the time, but Gemini was more advanced than Apollo. Betcha didn't know that, did ya?

You see, the Apollo program was designed to follow the Mercury program. But once Mercury started, they found out it was a lot harder than they thought. So they came up with another program. And the third American space program was actually the second to fly: Gemini.

They used information they learned from Mercury to design Gemini. And, because Apollo was already underway, they made some adaptations, but it was essentially older technology than Gemini.

In face, there was an effort by some in the space program to send Gemini to the moon! Heck, I was shocked when I learned that. But, it was a more advanced technology craft than Apollo, and could have done it, had it been it approved.

So, what's all this got to do with anything?

The Space Shuttle is old technology. It was designed in the 1970s, and the first one flew in 1981. And Discovery first flew in 1984.

The Shuttle fleet is old. Sure, they do upgrades and modifications, but the basic desgin and technology on which it is based is old.

After the Mercury and Apollo programs began, the need for anther program was discovered and they came up with Gemini. That's what we need today: rocket scientists that can come up with something brilliant that can do more than it was designed to do.

Maybe we need to go capture some more German rocket scientists.

Catfish 3, Greenville 2

From the Columbus Catfish:
Small Ball Guides Catfish to 3-2 Win Over Greenville
Three Catfish Pitchers Combine on Six-Hitter in Victory

GREENVILLE, SC—SS Dominique Laurin's sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Catfish a 3-2 win against the Greenville Bombers in the first game of a four-game series.  RHP Dimas Reina, RHP Brian Akin, and LHP Wesley Wright combined to limit the top hitting team in the South Atlantic League to just six hits, with Wright earning his first win of the season.  C Gabriel Gutierrez went 3-4 for Columbus and had a single in the ninth inning to set up the game-winning run.  2B Brandon Carter had two hits and two RBI for the Catfish, who improve to 17-16 in the second half (45-57 overall) while Greenville falls to 16-18 (51-51 overall).

Reina gave up a solo HR to Greenville RF Chris Turner in the second inning, and the Catfish could not manage a run against Greenville RHP Jarrett Gardner in the first four innings.  In the fifth, singles by RF Ryan Carter and Gutierrez, along with a sac bunt by Laurin put runners at second and third with one out.  Carter followed with a two-run single to give the Catfish a 2-1 lead.

Akin fired three scoreless innings from the fifth through the seventh, but in the bottom of the eighth leading 2-1, the Catfish hurler gave up a one-out double to 2B Jeff Natale.  Natale moved to third on an error by RF Ryan Russ, and scored when 3B Andrew Pinckney singled off Wright in relief.  In the top of the ninth against RHP Harvey Garcia, Ryan Carter and Gutierrez singled to put runners at first and third, and Carter scored on Laurin's sac fly.  Wright pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.  The Catfish have a 9-7 advantage over Greenville in the 23-game season series, which continues tomorrow when RHP Brandon Weeden (2-7, 5.55 ERA) faces off against RHP Gary Galvez for Greenville at 6:05 PM at Greenville Municipal Stadium.

Headline News: 7/30/2005

From ABC News:
Ex-Citigroup banker Zankel dead in fall
Was listening to Eric Clapton CD when he fell

From ABC News:
Woman Claims Buttocks Burned on the Toilet
Coal-powered commode a failure

From ABC News:
Study Reveals Causes of Weight Gain Among School Children
Eating like pigs cited

From ABC News:
Abandoned Baby Found in Bag on NYC Street
Bush blamed

From ABC News:
Al Qaeda's Next Generation Spurring New Wave of Attacks?
Osama Bin Picard, Abu Musab al-Riker sought by coalition forces

From ABC News:
Doctors say Bush in excellent shape, trimmer
Studies Show Many Americans Prefer a Trim Bush

From ABC News:
Robin, Not Crow, May Be West Nile Culprit
Bruce Wayne surprised, family of Eric Draven relieved

From ABC News:
Inouye: GOP Not Doing Enough for Troops
Calls on Republicans to follow Democrats' lead and cut funding to troops, oppose the War on Terror, call troops 'Nazis'

From ABC News:
Carter: Guantanamo Detentions Disgraceful
Democratic foreign policy expert breaks silence, calls on country to wear sweaters to fight the threat of killer rabbits

From ABC News:
Are Golf, Shopping Behind Daylight-Saving Time?
Or is it just Satan?

Brunch: 7/30/2005

Try one of these specials with your weekend brunch:

Friday, July 29, 2005

Change Your Default Target For Links

Earlier this week, two blogs I frequent both mentioned the same blogging tip. The odd thing is that they both mentioned it on the same day and, I feel certain, by coincidence.

Posting at the Alliance, phin mentioned the tip, while Cory of Core|Blog mentioned using the value "_blank" for the attribute "target" when writing links.

For example, if you wanted to write a link that linked to this little blog, you'd normally do it this way:
<a href="http://www.basilsblog.com/">Visit basil's blog</a>

If, however, you wanted the that same link to open a new window (or, if you use a Mozilla browser such as Firefox, Opera, Netscape 8, or Mozilla Suite browser, open in a new tab), you'd change the link to look like this:
<a href="http://www.basilsblog.com/" target="_blank">Visit basil's blog</a>

The difference, you'll notice, is the  target="_blank" part. Of course, you need to be able to edit the HTML of your post, or your interface would need to have the ability to add a target.

That's essentially what phin and Cory suggested. And it works. But it's not how we're doing things here at this little blog.

Suppose you find that you want most of the links to open that way. That is, suppose opening in a new window/tab is the norm? Suppose it's only sometimes that you want to open in the same window?

Well, that's how I have this little blog set up. I don't have to put target="_blank" on my links, because that is the default I use. How is that done? Well, it's easy. But there's always a catch.

Catfish Survive Thompson, Fall to Rome

CatfishThe Catfish survived an appearance of Atlanta Braves pitcher John Thompson who made a rehab start for the Rome Braves tonight. However, they didn't survive their own errors, falling 7-1.

When Thompson left the game, it was a scoreless tie and he didn't figure in the decision. However, six errors by the Catfish allowed things to fall apart.

The Catfish split the four-game series with Rome.

Dan Batz is away with family matters and again didn't play. Lucas May did, but was hitless tonight.

The Catfish travel to Greenville to face the Bombers (Red Sox) for four games.

Headline News: 7/29/2005

From ABC News:
Dove Ads With 'Real' Women Get Attention
RuPaul, The Lady Chablis lose modeling jobs

From ABC News:
Man Allegedly Steals Hundreds of Undies
Glen Quagmire arrested

From ABC News:
Museum to Let Naked People in Free
Curator: "How could I charge them admission? Think about where they keep their wallets."

From ABC News:
Miami Newspaper Case Sparks Ethics Debate
Publisher: Should newspapers have ethics?

From ABC News:
'Ex-Gay' Camps, Therapy Programs Attract Controversy
Being gay doesn't

From ABC News:
Chechen Guerrilla Leader Calls Russians 'Terrorists'
Calls cats 'dogs,' hot 'cold,' and black 'white'

From ABC News:
Arm Yourself With Vigilance While Traveling
If that doesn't work, try a 9mm

From ABC News:
Jellyfish Gone With the Wind in Calif.
Flordia sharks to star in Casablanca

From ABC News:
31 Die in China From Pig-Borne Disease
Michael Moore movie debuts in Beijing

From Washington Post:
North Korea Getting High Marks From US
Bush: "Kim Jong Il must be high if he thinks I'll give in"

Supper: 7/29/2005

Try one of these specials with your supper:

Catfish vs John Thompson

CatfishTonight, it doesn't get any easier for the Catfish. They conclude the series against the Rome Braves, who are sending Braves pitcher John Thompson to the mound.

No, that's not a Rome Braves pitcher with the same name as the Atlanta Braves pitcher. That's the Atlanta Braves pitcher, John Thompson.

Yes, the National League East Division leading Atlanta Braves pitcher, John Thompson.

Thompson is working a rehab assignment after injuring his hand in May. He'll pitch in the minors until he's ready to rejoin the Atlanta Bravers. And, tonight, the Catfish get the opportunity to face the recovering major leaguer.

It should be loads of fun.

Why I Really Wish People Would Read Phin's Blogger Etiquette Post

Over at the Alliance, blogging tips guru phin had a post on blogging etiquette.  And it focused mainly on e-mail communication by bloggers.

The one of most interest to me was the suggestion that, when sending e-mails to multiple recipients (that is, a mailing list), that the e-mail addresses be hidden. One of the easiest ways to do that is by using BCC: (blind carbon copy, sometimes called blind courtesy copy).

Why do I think this is a good idea? Simple. If my e-mail address is in the TO: section or the CC: section, it's visible to all recipients. And to any malicious software that any of those recipients may have on their machine.

Like most people, I feel my personal computer is safe and protected. I keep my software up-to-date, and have software that is generally considered high-quality on my computers.

However, think about this for a second: I got virused one time because I happened to be one of the first people hit with a virus.

How? Well, let's run through it. Someone writes a new "zombie" virus that is released. Virus companies like Zone Labs, McAfee (Network Associates), Norton (Symantec), and others get reports and rush out updates to keep people safe.

Where did they get those reports from? From someone who got hit by the virus!

So, as quick as the major players get updates out, the first people hit are, well, screwed if the virus is different enough.

All that to say this. If I send an e-mail to a mailing list, and if I don't hide the recipients, and if even one of those recipients has a computer that's compromised, then the e-mail address of everyone on that mailing list is compromised.

And you will get stuff like this:

Lunch: 7/29/2005

Try one of these specials with your lunch:
  • phin cat-blogs. Sort of.
  • Beth (MY VRWC) has an answer for Helen Thomas.
  • SondraK says Jennifer Wilbanks is toast.
  • Michelle Malkin sees one side of the discussion silenced.
  • Life of Rubin knows why the shuttle is having problems.
  • La Shawn Barber (the real one) is following the Air America scandal.
  • Nicke Goomba says some now realize the '60s are over.
  • moehawk (oystersnout) has passed the six week mark!

Breakfast: 7/29/2005

Try one of these specials with your breakfast:

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Buying Instapundit



A Filthy LieHua Yang, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, looked around the room at the men seated at the table. "Thank you for your kind attendance gentlemen," he said as he bowed slightly. There was a gentle murmuring of politeness all around.

The CNOOC Ltd. CFO continued, "As you know, it was widely reported that Union Oil of California recently rejected our overtures. While it would have been a tremendous coup ..." Yang was interrupted by sudden gasps. "I beg your pardon. That was an unfortunate choice of wording. Allow me to correct it please. It would have been a tremendous boost to the company to have successfully completed the purchase of UNOCAL. However, we have managed something even more amazing. For the amazing low price of $145-million, we have acquired InstaPundit."


Catfish 5, Rome 4

CatfishThe Catfish put on a show for regional television tonight as they beat the Rome Braves 5-4. The game was carried on Fox Sports South, and was available in nine states.

The Catfish jumped out to an early lead, but nearly lost it in the ninth inning, the way so many games have gone this year. Fortunately, they came out on the winning end of a one-run game. That's the 7th one-run win. The Catfish have lost 22 one-run games.

Dan didn't play tonight, but Luke was in left field and had a hit.

The win keeps the Catfish in second place, now just 3 games out of first.

From the Columbus Catfish:

Headline News: 7/28/2005

From ABC News:
Ancient Stone Phallus Discovered in Germany
Sherman Klump's grandmother says "That Stone Phallus is the only white man to make me moist."

From ABC News:
N.D. Man Wins Annual Bad-Writing Contest
To start blog

From ABC News:
Report Criticizes Calif. Mental Hospital
Administrator calls report "crazy"

From ABC News:
Transgender Golfer Still Faces Barriers
Questions over golfer's balls

From ABC News:
UN to expand its crackdown on al Qaeda, Taliban
New resolution threatens to frown really, really hard at terrorists

From ABC News:
Google: Microsoft Lawsuit Is a 'Charade'
Calls Yahoo! lawsuit another 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'

From ABC News:
Microsoft Still Targets Linux Users
18 Linux users have reportedly had their legs broken

From ABC News:
Dad more involved if paternity is confirmed early
Columbia University study: Not evidence that marriage is better for raising children

From ABC News:
Moby Has Newfound Respect for Eminem
Didn't think Eminem could whip his ass, was wrong

From ABC News:
Blind Teen Amazes With Video-Game Skills
He ain't got no distractions
Can't hear those buzzers and bells,
Don't see lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell.
Always has a replay

Supper: 7/28/2005

Try one of these specials with your supper:

Catfish On TV!

CatfishHey, I'm excited! And, if you can pick up Fox Sports South, you can see why. Tonight's game with the Catfish playing against the Rome Braves will be broadcast on Fox Sports South. So, I can watch the game without driving up to Rome to watch the Catfish play.

More from a press release by the Columbus Catfish:

Lunch: 7/28/2005

Try one of these specials with your lunch:

  • WrightWay is selling bras. And they ain't your mama's bras!

  • The Steel Deal reports that for the right price, the Russians will take you where they themselves couldn't go.

  • Michelle Malkin follows Air America's disavowment of blame.

  • Frank J. (IMAO) asks "Tommy, can you hear me?"

  • phin says we're Living On The Edge.

  • Steve H. (Hog On Ice) reviews another chef.

  • Harvey (Bad Example version) would complain if you hung him with new rope.

  • William Teach (Pirate's Cove) looks at the Senate telling the ACLU to bugger off.

  • Vince Aut Morire sees hope for justice.

  • ScrappleFace reports Dubya turns the table on the Senators.

Breakfast: 7/28/2005

Try one of these specials with your breakfast:

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

You Wanna Start Something?

One of the things I hate about hot weather is ... well, it's hot. And for the first time I can remember, I had a car battery go bad in the heat.

Oh, I've had car batteries go bad during cold weather. Now, I know, it really doesn't get cold here. Not like it does up north. But it gets cold on occasion. And when I've had a car battery fail, it's been during cold weather. You know, you go outside, there's ice on the windshield, your teeth are chattering, you open the car door, jump inside, put the key in the ignition, and turn the key.

Nothing.

Okay, maybe a "rrrrrurrrrrr...." or a "clk-clk-clk-clk-clk..." or something like that. But either way, it means a dead battery.

Now, I've had problems when it wasn't cold, but those times always turned out to be the alternator had gone out and the battery wasn't being charged and it died. And when the alternator was fixed or replaced, sometimes the battery had been damaged and needed replacing.

But when it was just the battery, it was cold weather.

Until this week.

I went to the car which I had parked in the lot at work (instead of the covered garage as is the norm), opened the door, got inside, put the key in the ignition, and ... "clk-clk-clk-clk-clk-clk-clk."

Another was leaving about the same time, but in a distant section of the lot. He got in his vehicles, pulled out, started my way, and suddenly turned and went out another exit.

Then another person did the same thing.

Finally, another person came out of the building, walked over to my way and asked if I needed a jump. So, I managed to get home.

The next morning, same thing. I was late getting to work, but got there.

This evening, I had enough. Charging it last night hadn't worked, so when the wife got home, we ate supper then went to Sears. Sears has an automotive center and Die Hard batteries.

I've used other batteries in the past. The very first time I bought a battery for a car, I bought a Western Auto battery. Within a couple of days, I had driven to my grandparents house, and I got stuck with another dead battery. That's when my grandfather told me I shouldn't have bought a "Western Ought-To" battery. Needless to say, it was the last one of those I bought.

If we had lived in Savannah, heck I might have bought a Hixon. I remember a commercial that was always played on the TV stations in Savannah. It was a drawing of a tough-looking fella holding up his fist. One voice said, "You wanna start something?" Another voice replied "Yeahhh!" The first voice said "Get a Hixon." Then an announcer said something about Hixon Batteries. Which, I guess, was a local Savannah business. The lady who ran it died about five years ago. I don't think they are still in business. At least, not as Hixon.

Anyway, I've bought other batteries, but have never had a problem with a Die Hard. Maybe I'm just lucky. Or maybe they're just good. Either way, my history with them is a good one.

So, tonight, we went to Sears and left them the car. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

Catfish 5, Rome 0

CatfishFrom the Columbus Catfish:

Catfish Lefties Dominate in 5-0 Shutout Over Rome
LHP Scott Elbert Throws Six Shutout Frames and Wesley Wright Follows with Three Scoreless in Seventh Catfish Shutout of 2005

ROME, GA—After tossing a seven-inning complete game shutout last Friday, LHP Scott Elbert backed up that performance with an equally stellar outing against the Rome Braves, combining with LHP Wesley Wright on a two-hit shutout in a 5-0 Catfish win over the Braves at State Mutual Stadium in Rome, GA. Elbert allowed just one hit in six innings while striking out five batters, and has not allowed a run in his last 13 innings, allowing just four hits in that time span. LF Ryan Carter and C Chris Westervelt each had two hits and two RBI for the Catfish, who scored runs in four straight innings tonight to even the series at one game apiece. Wright finished the game with three shutout innings, getting his first five outs via strikeout. The Catfish are back to .500 at 15-15 in the second half (43-56 overall) while Rome falls a game beneath the .500 mark at 15-16 (54-45 overall).

The Braves loaded the bases in the first inning with nobody out against Elbert, but Elbert struck out 3B Van Pope for the first out of the inning. With the bags packed, Elbert induced a popout into right that was caught by 2B Travis Denker, who threw out Rome LF Matt Young at the plate trying to score to end the inning. In the second, the Fish took the lead on an RBI single by Carter, and scored two more runs off Rome starter RHP Charlie Morton on a two-run single by Westervelt in the third inning. In the fourth, SS David Nicholson delivered a run scoring single, and Carter's fifth inning double capped the scoring for Columbus tonight in the 5-0 win.

The Braves came into the game with a red-hot offense, having pounded out 72 hits in the five games prior to tonight. The Catfish shutout is the seventh of the season thrown by the staff and second in last six days. Tomorrow, the Catfish take on the Braves at 7:00 PM at State Mutual Stadium, with RHP Jarod Plummer (0-1, 4.03 ERA) taking the hill for Columbus. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Net South in the Southeastern US, and can be heard on WDAK 540 AM in Columbus and on www.columbuscatfish.com.

Headline News: 7/27/2005

From ABC News:
Woman Convicted of Groping Screener
Record number of men apply for screener's position

From ABC News:
Cops Find Nude Man Looking for Gump's Home
Police confirm: Stupid is as stupid does

From ABC News:
Woman Bills Husband for All the Housework She Did
Husband agrees to pay if he can sleep with the houskeeper

From ABC News:
Wife Seeks Husband Who Disappeared During Vacation
Wants to present him with bill

From ABC News:
Iraq's al Qaeda says it killed Algerian envoys
Michael Moore proud of his "minutemen" *

From ABC News:
Anheuser-Busch Earnings Fall
Anheuser-Busch Drinkers Stagger, Fall

From ABC News:
Starbucks profit above view
$6.00 cup of coffee credited

From ABC News:
Now Streaming Live: Pacific Walruses
Or the Bolton hearings. We can't tell which.

From ABC News:
More Rare Hummingbirds Spotted in Texas
Striped elsewhere

From ABC News:
Underwood, Martin Are Sexiest Vegetarians
Zuchini, tomatoes are sexiest vegetables

Supper: 7/27/2005

Try one of these specials with your supper:

Lunch: 7/27/2005

Try one of these specials with your lunch:

Breakfast: 7/27/2005

Try one of these specials with your breakfast:

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Busy Week

White Trash Wednesdays

I tell you what, it's has been a busy, busy week around these parts. I almost called Basil and told him that I couldn't fill in for him today, but I decided that he needs at least one day off a week from blogging. Besides, things finally worked out, as bad as they had been.

Let me tell you about my week.

The latter part of last week was scary around here. We had a jailbreak from the county jail. They had some big-time criminal brought through here supposedly all secret-like, but you know you can't keep a secret around here. Anyway, the son-of-a-gun escaped! And for a couple of days, folks was all worried until one of the deputies found him and brung him back in.

After all that excitement, we decided to take some time off and we went fishing this past weekend. Didn't catch a thing. But, as long as we was at the water, we decided to try our hand at skiing. That wasn't as much fun as folks make it out to be.

When we got home, we found that my cousin who stays with us had a party while we was gone and every dish in the house was dirty. And him and his buddies had gone hunting with the dog and the poor thing really stank something awful and needed washing. So, we figured out how to save time and get everything done at once. We're nothing if not efficient.

After we finally got everything cleaned up, we hardly had time to get us any rest before we had to get up and go to work Monday.

I sure hope your week went better.

More White Trash Wednesday:

Agent Bedhead
Alabama Improper
And Rightly So!
BOBO BLOGGER
Dangerous Logic
Feisty Republican Whore
HECTOR VEX
It Is What It Is
Lost In Lima Ohio
Mean Ol' Meany
Merri Musings
MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Pennsylvanian in exile
Pirate's Cove
Public Figures
Riehl World View
Right Truth
Rightwingsparkle
Six Meat Buffet
Sortapundit
Stupid Random Thoughts
The Jawa Report
The Nose On Your Face
The Therapist
Vince Aut Morire

Catfish Fall To Rome

From the Columbus Catfish:

Fish Unable to Capitalize on Five Rome Braves Errors and Fall 9-7 in Series Opener
2B Brandon Carter and RF Ryan Russ Each with Three Hits in Catfish Loss

ROME, GA—The Rome Braves overcame sloppy defense and a tenacious Columbus offense in a 9-7 victory at State Mutual Stadium in Rome, GA. 2B Brandon Carter finished 3-4 with a double and two RBI while RF Ryan Russ hit a homer and reached four times in the Catfish loss. Rome broke a 7-7 tie with two runs in the eighth inning against Catfish RHP Dimas Reina, beating the Catfish for the 10th time in 2005 in 16 games.  Columbus falls under .500 in the second half to 14-15 (42-56 overall), while Rome gets back to .500 with the win at 15-15 (54-44 overall).  LF Matt Young went 4-5 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Braves.

Catfish took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI double by DH Travis Denker, who had two more RBI tonight to give him a team-best 67 this season. However, Rome scored two runs in the first and one in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead against Catfish starter RHP Brandon Weeden.  In the third, Carter ripped the second of his three hits, a double to right, and scored on an RBI single by 3B Blake DeWitt to cut the deficit to 3-2.  Matt Young's two-run double helped to cap a three-run third for the Braves as they increased their lead to 6-3.  The wild scoring continued in the fourth, when the Catfish came back to within a run after a sacrifice fly and Carter's two run two-out single to make it 6-5 Rome.

Trailing 7-6 in the seventh, Russ hit a solo HR down the left field line to tie the game.  In the bottom of the eighth, three Braves hits including the game-breaking RBI double by Rome RF Brandon Jones gave the Braves a 9-7 lead.  While the Catfish put the tying run on base in the ninth, they could not score, giving Rome a series-opening victory. Tomorrow LHP Scott Elbert (5-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the hill for Columbus at 7:00 PM at State Mutual Stadium.

Headline News: 7/26/2005

From ABC News:
Maggot Treatment Saves Mich. Woman's Foot
First larva to receive medical degree lauded

From ABC News:
AFL-CIO Splinters, Spooking Some Democrats
Party can't afford to bribe individual workers, only union leaders

From ABC News:
Zoo Director Becomes Spider Monkey's Mom
Late nights working at Zoo office explained

From ABC News:
Stressed-out worms die young-study
Calm worms die young, too, so ... screw it

From ABC News:
Israel Angry at Pope Over Terror Comments
Warn Pontiff: "You remember what we did to your boss, right?"

From ABC News:
Brazilians Demand Arrest Over Killing
London police agree, arrest corpse

From ABC News:
Non-Religious Kids Find Refuge in 'Godless' Camp
Camp Burn-In-Hell a hit

From ABC News:
Some U.S. Airlines May Return to Black
Soul Plane announces flight schedule

From ABC News:
Wild Dogs Go on Killing Sprees
Bush blamed

From ABC News:
Courtney Love, David Grohl Still Feuding
Battling for title of Biggest Has-Been

Supper: 7/26/2005

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Attention All New Blogs!

This week, The Showcase — the rotating carnival highlighting new blogs — will be ...(drum roll)... here!

Yes, they finally relented and have allowed this little blog to host The Showcase! I guess I can let their heads up out of the water now.

If you are a new blogger, enter your blog in The Showcase.

What's a new blogger? Well, you've been blogging less than three months. The submissions are for the week of July 26 - August 1. That means, if your blog came online on or after April 26, 2005, you can enter.

What's that you say? You just missed the cutoff? And you didn't know about The Showcase? Gosh, you are new.

If that's the case, though, enter anyway and submit a lame excuse. But it better be a good lame excuse. None of this "the dog ate my blog." Unless, of course, the dog did eat your blog. Then, it's okay.

Oh, and when you enter your blog, it's a darn good idea to have The Showcase on your blogroll. And, if you don't know how to add a blog to your blogroll ... well, gosh, you are new, aren't you?!

Here's how to enter your blog. Use the handy-dandy Carnival Submission Form that's provided by Conservative Cat. No, you don't have to be conservative — or a cat — to enter. But it won't hurt. The entry selection for The Showcase is the third one. It says "Showcase Carnival." See how handy and dandy that is?

Anyway, submissions are being accepted between now and August 1, 2005.

Enter your new blog in The Showcase.

It's Free! It's Fun! It's The Showcase!

Lunch: 7/26/2005

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Breakfast: 7/26/2005

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Monday, July 25, 2005

Attacking Roberts

Precision Guided Humor
July 19, 2005

Howard Dean clicked on the AOL icon on his computer screen.

"You've got mail!" came the voice of El Edwards.

"I've got mail! Yaaay!" cried the leader of the Democratic Party.

Howard Dean clicked on the the Read mail icon. Ah, it was from Karl Rove. What did HE want? He opened the e-mail and was surprised by what he read.


"Roberts? Roberts? Who in the world is Roberts?" muttered Howard Dean. "Oh, well. I'll find out this week. I better let the others know."

Loss

The Therapist has experienced a loss. His father passed away earlier today. Nothing I can say (or write) can ease the pain he and his family are experiencing. No words from me can offer any comfort.

However, your prayers can. Please keep Ron ... and his family ... in your prayers.

100,000

Well, I'll be a son-of-a-gun. 100,000 visitors. I remember when I started this little blog that I never figured we'd hit 100,000 at all, much less in the first year.

Oh, sure, I'm fully aware that lots of blogs hit 100,000 in a shorter period of time than we did. This little blog doesn't compare to them. But still, it's a big deal for a small blog like this one. Even though visitor number 100,000 was someone looking for Jamie Lynn Spears.

It took 76 days to go from 0 to 10,000. It took 78 days to go from 10,0001 to 50,000. And it took 75 days to go from 50,001 to 100,000.

That pace isn't the fastest, to be sure, but it does indicate a trend. More and more of you are visiting this little blog, and many more are coming back.

I have no idea why. But I'm grateful. And I'm grateful to all the blogs that have thought this little blog worthy of adding to their blogroll or linking to a post or two.

Thanks to you all.

Headline News: 7/25/2005

From KPRC:
Chase lands 5 behind bars
Citibank makes clean getaway

From CNN:
Clinton expresses regret in Rwanda
Shouldn't have lied to the U.S.

From CNN:
Franklin forms near Bahamas
Ghost of American Founding Father enjoys vacation

From CNN:
Scientists worried by riot control ray gun
Fear guns won't be as effective as photon torpedos

From CNN:
Michael Jackson to get seized property
Last property he siezed was a 12-year-old's penis

From ABC News:
Ex-Driver Tries to Sell NASCAR Fans on Wine
Will return to circuit driving the #52 Boone's Farm Chevrolet

From ABC News:
Blair Spent $3,130 on Makeup in Six Years
And $3,750 on bras and panties

From ABC News:
Life-Sized Statue of Betty Boop Beheaded
Life-sized Statue of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claims credit

From ABC News:
LAPD Recruits Computer to Stop Rogue Cops
Contracts with Detroit's OCP Corporation *

From ABC News:
Pope Prays for God to Stop Terrorists
God to Pope: "Hey, I got absolutely nothing to do with those lunatics"

Says Who?


"not just anybody can summarize the news" ? ? ? ? ?

Says who? I've been doing it for, gosh, weeks now. Okay, months. And, in about a half-hour, I'll do it again!

Take that, Jeff Goldstein!

Supper: 7/25/2005

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The Columbus Leftist-Enquirer, Part II

Well, well, well. Seems the local paper, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer gave a rat's ass about what I wrote back in February. In that post, I was critical of their taking an Associated Press piece about blogs and not bothering to do a local tie-in.
There are blogs around here, but the paper did nothing to tie in any local angle. Lots of papers do local tie-ins. For instance, they might take an AP piece, then may add a paragraph or two near the bottom that ties it in to something local, then under the column put "Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane contriubuted to this piece" or something of the sort. But the local daily didn't even do that.
Well, I don't know if they thought I was complaining about no mention of this little blog or not. But I wasn't. I was complaining about sloppy reporting. Or the lack of reporting.

I used to do news, but it was radio news. Maybe they don't consider that news. But, I tell you what's not news: sitting on your ass. Something is only news if it's unusual or not the norm. But, from what I see, there's a lot of "sitting on your ass" going on at the Ledger-Enquirer.

Heck, all I suggested they do in my previous post is do a Yahoo! or Google search for area blogs. I even provided the link. All they had to do was click on it. But that must be too much work for the Jimmy Olsens and Clarke Kents in downtown Columbus.

What brought this rant up again? An article in the Sunday, July 17, 2005 Ledger-Enquirer. It was in their "Buzz" section, which is a section for middle-school and high-school students.

I'm not criticizing them for "The Buzz." I think it's good to get students involved in, well, just about everything. But, if you are going to work with children, why not teach them right?

The July 17 Buzz had a nice article on blogs. And, it was written by Buzz staff writer Erick Richman. It gave a little bit of the history of blogs and the term "blog." Overall, a good article. As good as what I've seen written by adults. But it lacked something: a local tie-in.

Nobody at the Ledger-Enquirer thought to suggest this? All news is local. You sometimes need to remember that. So, where's the local angle? Having a local person write it? Hate to say it, fellas, but that don't cut it.

There are plenty of blogs out there in the Columbus/Phenix City/Auburn/Opelika area. Oh, not as many as you'll find in Atlanta. But a lot.

The Yahoo! search I provided returned, among others The Blog of Columbus, Georgia and Core|Blog. Google, of course, returned this little blog. Clicking on those would have revealed other blogs. And they all have e-mail links. I don't know Richard, who does "The Blog of Columbus, Georgia," but I suspect he wouldn't mind talking with them. Corey is in the media business himself. Just not newspaper. If he wouldn't talk with them, a click on his blogroll would reveal other area blogs. No, not this little blog, but others. And, had they contacted me, I'd have pointed them to some good local blogs.

Now, in fairness, I have linked to stories they've published before. And I excerpted pieces from a column that one of their sports columnists wrote when he was making the same point I was making. Great minds, huh? So, they do good sometimes. Okay, lots of times. But in this instance, they did the very thing I mentioned before ... on the same topic!

I'm not looking to get in the local paper. I've been in the local paper. Posed picture and everything. But not about blogs or computers or anything like that. So, no, I'm not looking for any publicity from them. Heck, according to Technorati, I have 20 times the links they have. Maybe if they did their job, I'd link to them more. And write something nice about them.

Lunch: 7/25/2005

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Breakfast: 7/25/2005

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Sunday, July 24, 2005

Al-Qaida Nukes In The U.S.

Homespun BloggersThis week's question supposes that reports that Al-Qaida nukes are already in U.S.

It might be more accurate to say, "What if it's true?" in regards to the reports. The  Homespun Blogger Symposium XXIX question is:


What do we do about this potential threat not only to the United States, but to the global economy and the history of mankind?

Well, this might be one of those questions that has no right answer. If the reports aren't true, is it necessary to even discuss it? Perhaps. But, again, the premise is that the reports are true. So, let's give it a shot.

Headline News: 7/24/2005

From ABC News:
Rock Stars Harness Wind Power for Greener Concerts
Promoter: It helps if the rock act really blows

From ABC News:
Kimberly-Clark Plans About 6,000 Job Cuts
Losing money, Kotex maker hopes to stop the bleeding

From ABC News:
Longhorn is Now Windows Vista
Outback is now Red Hat Linux

From ABC News:
Linksys Buys Kiss Technologies
Gene Simmons sells out

From ABC News:
McDonald's Plans to Stay at Ohio Hospital
Mayor McCheese in for bypass operation

From ABC News:
Aging Laboratory Unlikely to Be Replaced
Dr. Frankenstein to continue research at family castle

From ABC News:
Tom Sizemore Ordered to Remain in Rehab
Suffering plastic penis withdrawal

From CNN:
Expert questions existence of rare bird
Bird rarer than previously thought

From CNN:
Bush creates high-level anti-piracy post
Pirates to be tied to post, whipped

From CNN:
BRAC votes against closing Pearl Harbor
Space Ghost, Moltar support decision

Catfish 8, Savannah 5

Go Catfish!The Catfish closed out their short home stand with an 8-5 victory over the Savannah Sand Gnats (Nationals) this afternoon. The victory gives the Catfish the series, 3 games to 1.

Our two players, Dan Batz and Lucas May, both played. Dan, playing 1B, had a double and scored a run. Luke broke out of an 0-for-15 slump with a single and an RBI. Another Catfish player, recently acquired RF Sergio Pedrosa, broke an 0-for-18 slump with two home runs.

The win moves the Catfish into at least third second place in the division, thanks to Rome's loss to Asheville. They can take over second place if Charleston loses and Charleston's loss to division leader Kannapolis.

Although the Catfish played seven games in this home stand (eight were scheduled), the weather necessitated two double-headers. So they only had five game days during the home stand.

After a scheduled day off tomorrow, the Catfish hit the road for four games with the Rome Braves and four more against the Greenville Bombers (Red Sox).

Brunch: 7/24/2005

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Saturday, July 23, 2005

Rotating Testimonials

With the recent re-working of the appearance of this little blog, I decided to do something that I've been wanting to do for a while now. But first, some background.

One of the membership requirements of the Alliance of Free Blogs is to post a fake quote by Glenn Reynolds. Back in February, phin of phin's blog provided the Alliance with a method of rotating multiple quotes.

That gave me an idea.

I've had "testimonials" on this little blog for, gosh, seems like forever. Or since last December, which is close enough. Some of them are actual nice things people said about me or the blog. Some are silly things that people said that may or may not be nice things about me or the blog. And some are mean things that people have said about me or the blog.

Why the mean things? Simple. There's no such thing as bad publicity. Plus, who knows? Maybe it'll come back to haunt them one day. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Anyway, I had a bunch of testimonials I had added over time, and it was really too many.

So, inspired by phin's rotation script and idea, I wrote a rotation script for "Testimonials." It's a little different, because there are different requirements.

  • For one thing, they're real. They may be out of context, but they're real. And I wanted to continue offering links to the actual quote in it's real context.
  • Also, I might want to add more or remove some as the need or mood stuck me. So the number in rotation might vary.
  • And, some of the "testimonials" might be from people who don't, to my knowledge, have blogs. So there might not be a link to a blog. Others might have blogs and I'd provide a link to them.


So, with those differences in mind, and because of those differences, I wrote a JavaScript function that was a little different than what phin had.

Catfish 6, Savannah 1

From the Columbus Catfish:

Four Catfish Pitchers Limit Savannah to Four Hits in Columbus 6-1 Win
2B Travis Denker's 21st HR of the Season in the Sixth Inning Gives Catfish Lead and Win

COLUMBUS, GA—2B Travis Denker hit a tiebreaking three-run HR in the bottom of the sixth inning and four Catfish pitchers combined on a four-hitter to beat Savannah 6-1 tonight at Golden Park. The Catfish had just one run on two hits into the sixth inning, but Denker's second HR in as many nights and ninth in his last 62 AB gave Columbus the lead and the win tonight. RHP Brian Akin picked up his first win of the season with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, and with the win the Catfish took a 2-1 lead in the series with Savannah. CF Ryan Russ and 1B David Nicholson added two hits each for the Catfish, and Nicholson had a pair of RBI. The Catfish improve to 13-14 in the second half with the win (41-55 overall) while Savannah falls to 14-15 in the second half, 45-52 overall in 2005.

RHP Dimas Reina and RHP Chris Malone combined to allow just one run in five innings to start the game on the hill for the Catfish tonight, as each team took a run on two hits into the sixth inning. Savannah starter RHP Jim Henderson retired 11 straight Catfish hitters until Nicholson's one-out single in the sixth. DH Brandon Carter walked on four pitches, and Denker deposited a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left for a three-run blast. Denker has hit 14 HR since June 11th and is fourth in the league with 21 HR. In the eighth inning, Nicholson added a pair of runs to the Catfish total with a two-out double into the left field corner to make it 6-1 Fish.

Akin and RHP Kyle Wilson each pitched two scoreless innings tonight to lead the Catfish to victory. Every Catfish pitcher allowed just one hit and struck out at least two batters. The Catfish induced four double plays off the Sand Gnat bats tonight, including a 6-4-3 double-play groundout to end the game. Tomorrow the Catfish wrap up a seven-game homestand as they finish a four-game set with the Sand Gnats at 2:00 PM. RHP Zach Hammes (3-4, 4.60 ERA) earns the start tomorrow for Columbus against Savannah RHP Chris Goodman.

Headline News: 7/23/2005

From ABC News:
Hawaiian Caterpillar Has Unique Taste
Tastes more like pork than chicken

From ABC News:
Peasants pay with blood to save Mexico forest
Activists plan 'No Blood For Wood' protest

From ABC News:
62 Killed by Multiple Bomb Blasts in Egypt
Blair and Bush blamed

From ABC News:
Kerry Seeks Release of Roberts' Documents
Wants to know if judge served in Cambodia

From ABC News:
Inmate Sues Over Fingertip in Frozen Food
Wanted a thumb

From ABC News:
Man Knocked Unconscious While Eluding Rock
Hip-hop got him

From ABC News:
Moose Carcass Stench Keeps Woman Indoors
Tips for the cuckolded husband

From ABC News:
Friends Mount Billboard for Bachelor
Horny friends no help at all

From ABC News:
Wildfire Threatens Tiny Town in Utah
Midgets prepared to evacuate

From ABC News:
Future of Confederate White House Unknown
Time travelers refuse to disclose information

Dictionaraoke

Heh. Dictionaraoke. Indeed®. [via aTypicalJoe]

Brunch: 7/23/2005

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Friday, July 22, 2005

Tariq Is Da Man!

I've been a little unhappy with Network Solutions lately. If you're not familar with them, they are the company that I use to register my domain names. If you're not sure what that means, well, you know when you go to a Web site or a blog or something, you either click on a link or type something like http://www.basilsblog.com/ in the address bar of your browser? Well, that's actually a URL. That's shorthand for Universal Resource Locator. Think of a Web page address. That's a URL.

Now, before some geek starts up saying, "Actually, it's a URI (Universal Resource Identifier)" ... and, yes, I know some of you that are thinking of saying that ... well, yes, it is a URI. But a URL is a type of URI. All URLs are URIs. But not all URIs are URLs. So, it's a URL. So there.

Anyway, I was talking about my domain name. And "basilsblog.net" is the domain name I own. And I use a "registrar" called Network Solutions to register it and have that name point to this little blog.

Only there was a problem. Details are in this post from Thursday. But to sum the problem, if folks typed "www.basilsblog.net" they got here, but if they left off the "www" part and only typed "basilsblog.net" they didn't.

But it's been fixed now. Thanks to Tariq.

Catfish, Savannah Split Two

Go Catfish!The Catfish broke out of a five-game losing streak tonight, beating the Savannah Sand Gnats (Nationals) 4-0 in the first game of a double-header, but dropped the second game, 5-3.

With rain this week wreaking havoc with the schedule, tonight's games were seven-inning affairs. Well, the second game went 8 innings because it was tied after 7.

Our two players played in both games tonight, with Dan Batz at first base for both, and Lucas May playing left field in the opener and DHing in the nightcap. Both were hitless in the two games, but each scored a run in the first game. Savannah's pitchers were outstanding tonight, allowing just nine hits over the two games, and some good defense made it hard to punch runs across.

The loss in the second game took a little of the smile off the players' faces, but they did feel good to break out of that losing streak.

Tomorrow night is game three of the four-game series, which wraps up Sunday.

Headline News: 7/22/2005

From CNNmoney:
Halliburton posts 2Q profit
Oil prices down, blood prices up

From CNN:
U.S. military claims anger China
Pouts, call U.S. a "tattle-tale"

From CNN:
UK police: Latest bombers failed
Final proof that Al-Qaeda members are either so stupid they fail or so crazy they succeed

From ABC News:
Skateboarder Branded by Manhole Cover Sues
Con Edison to modify all manhole covers with words "I'm A Dumbass"

From ABC News:
Group Takes 550 Gerbils From Small House
Richard Gere's summer home raided

From AP/Excite:
Marketers May Stop Calling Dead People
Long distance calls to hell cited as too costly

From ABC News:
Polanski Wins Vanity Fair Libel Suit
Fugitive director anally raped a 13-year-old girl, but didn't flirt with a woman en route to Sharon Tate's funeral *

From ABC News:
Bears Wander Into Motels in New Mexico
Heard Tom Bodett say they left the light on for them

From ABC News:
Moose Removed From Colorado Army Post
Prostitution crackdown nets unusual perpetrator

From ABC News:
Zoo Names Penguin After Steelers Announcer
Director: We'd have named him after the hockey team's guy, but we forgot who he was, what with the strike and all *

I Don't Like Spiders

I have missed seeing my quote, so I thought I'd put it up for all to see again...if only briefly.

basil doesn't like bridges....I understand....I used to have dreams (nightmares?) myself about going off a bridge in a car. I'd always wake up before I died, though.

There were a bunch of spiders out the back door today. I sprayed them with bug spray, and of course, they went beserk, so I had to run from them. YECH!

I don't like spiders.