gangibson's blog

Lazyblogs 2: The Search for Spam

One "Carey Whitley" recently sent me an e-mail entitled "Everything can be changed in some time with Generik Viagra."  I wasn't interested in her cryptic offer, but the text added to the end of the message to fool the spam filter (and I guess it worked) was extremely fascinating:

 

Her funding came from VenKee Enterprises, she owned her slave workers, and Tuk Keedair's security force had been drawn from outside of Poritrin. No one had any reason to pay attention to her work here in her lab, far from prying eyes. Spiny robots strode through tilled lands alongside the river channel, accompanied by crunching, heavy-assault vehicles on tractor treads. Dressed as local farmers instead of in their uniforms, Ginaz mercenaries harried the robots, provoking them into launching explosive projectiles and then quickly taking shelter. The robot army never deviated from its objective and pressed on toward vulnerable Darits.

 

Carey, forget the spam, you should be writing for "Stargate: SG-1!"

Edited to add: Turns out it's from "Dune."  Luckily, it's from one of those really crappy ones written by Frank Herbert's son, so I don't feel too badly for not recognizing it...

Lazyblogs

Maddy 419

Maddy 421

Maddy 420

Me: Well, maybe you could use Photoshop to combine two pictures into one where both Justin and I look normal.

Beth: I TRIED!!!

Change of pace

Hey, I saw yet another concert!  Craig Ferguson at the Royal Oak Music Theater!  It was a good show, but...

I have no photos!

I have no videos!

I have no photoshopped pictures to approximate things I saw at the show (one of those things would be kind of NSFW anyways)!

So... that's about it.  I did learn some things that night, like you should always add 30 minutes to pizza restaurant time estimates as a rule of thumb, that GPS units know nothing of road construction, and that gas station sandwiches are not very good (ok, that one did not come as a great shock).

Stay tuned for more blog!  BLOG!

Pure pop for now people

So the new Ting Tings album has been rocking my socks off, and for once I'm proud to have beaten an iPod commercial to the next big thing.  It seems that they are enjoyed by a wide and puzzling range of demographics, but don't just take my word for it!  Watch this dismal quality web video:

The Ting Tings! Great DJ

So, yes, they are British, but not Welsh.  Not to worry, I've been keeping my finger on the pulse of Cymru.  Please to enjoy Los Campesinos!

Death To Los Campesinos!

Count me as a popist, I guess...

Yawn

Ahhh, nothing like taking a month away from the blog.  You'd think I'd have more to show for it, but no.  Other than a new job, I guess.

Here, enjoy this purloined picture:

L_85a4e035b13d31b07a398be61912f2b9

I needed a haircut, but I got one not too much later.  Maddy looks fabulous as always, but that crayon is a little threatening...

It was worth the $12.50 and SASE!

(Excerpts from "Larry King Live," February 26, 2008, courtesy of CNN.)

Larry

LARRY KING: My guest is Valerie Bertinelli, the book is "Losing It And Gaining My Life Back One Pound At a Time,", the publisher is Free Press.
Let's take some calls.  Silver Springs, Maryland, hello?

Maddy1

CALLER: Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba

Larry

LARRY KING:  Caller, do you have a question for Valerie Bertinelli?

Maddy2

CALLER:  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Ee ee ee ee ee ba ba ba ba ba

Larry

LARRY KING:  Hello?  Is the caller there?  Hello?  Silver Springs, Maryland?  Is the caller there?  Must be a full moon tonight.  The guest is Valerie Bertinelli, the book is "Losing It And Gaining My Life Back One Pound At a Time," the publisher is Free Press.  Queen Latifah is now with Jenny Craig, are you going to do any things together?

The feverish rantings of a diseased man

Wow, sorry for the interruption in normal blog service.  I've been... busy.  At the moment, though, I have the flu.  The real-deal, full-blown, throw-uppy, muscle-achy, convulsively-chilly flu.  Blehh!  I'm feeling a little better this evening though, so why not make a blog post?  Why not, indeed...  This is something that I have intended but forgotten to tell Justin and Staci on about ten different occasions.  Anyway, Evan and Drew and I saw something very interesting at the Super Furry Animals concert in February.  Before the show had started, I saw a very familiar looking figure in my peripheral vision.  I thought "Justin?!?  He said he didn't want to go to this concert, why is he here?  How did he get here?"  Of course, upon a closer look, it turned out not to be Justin.  It did turn out to be a guy who bore a marked resemblance to him -- if his head had been slightly crushed.  It was Justin if an anvil had fallen onto his head!  He was wearing a corduroy jacket very similar to one Justin wears, but he was also wearing a wool cap.  Even better, this guy seemed to be there with his girlfriend, who -- you guessed it -- looked quite a bit like Staci with a crushed head.  "Why should I believe this, Gavin? You just said you're dying of the flu!" you ask, justifiably.  All I can suggest is that you ask Evan or Drew, they'll back me up on this.  Maybe Evan can post a comment to back me up.  Still, I can sense that you want a little more.  Well, using amazing CGI technology, I have managed to create a digital representation of bizarro-Justin and bizarro-Staci:

Scary

And on that note, I bid you good night.  If I succumb to this illness, know that I died as I lived: messing around with my blog.

The audacity of blog

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"What else are you gonna do, read a book?"

Wow, somebody at David Letterman's show must really love "Battlestar Galactica!"

BSG - Letterman

I thought this was pretty good!  I was amused at how they were in costume and more or less in character, although it was interesting to see Apollo morph into Jamie Bamber, US to UK accent and all.  And they played "All Along The Watchtower" at the beginning and end of the bit, a reference that will mean nothing to those who don't watch the show (and still confuses those of us who do!  Hopefully they'll fix that in the final season!).

"Eet ees naht a toomah...eet ees vaht's for deenah!"

100_2346

("Bingo Weds 6PM, Cancer Smorgasbord Sun 12-4PM")

OK OK, I know what you're thinking... isn't cancer more of a hearty autumn dish?  Still, enough tabasco sauce and anything is edible.  I had two plates worth, but then I had to lie down for a while.  Talk about full!

(Picture taken in Charlotte, MI while I was filling my car.  That's right, I didn't take this picture while driving or while standing in the middle of the road.)