Archive for the ‘Clippings’ Category

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Lonesome Roads.

Monday, July 18th, 2011

The Texas Department of Transportation has been building a couple of additional “flyover” connections down south of town; specifically, at the intersection of Loop 1 (also known locally as “MoPac”) and U.S. Highway 290.

Unfortunately, TXDOT contracted with Wiser Construction,  a company based in Nevada. (The Statesman says Wiser is based in Las Vegas, but all the business addresses I found for them are in Moapa, which is about 55 miles away according to Google Maps.)

Why is that unfortunate? Because Wiser Construction declared bankruptcy last week and walked off the job, leaving the flyovers uncompleted. (A search of the two Las Vegas newspapers turned up nothing about this bankruptcy.)

Edited to add 7/19: Here’s a link to another Statesman story. If you look at both that story, and the blog post I linked to yesterday, neither one currently contains any mention of bankruptcy. (The Statesman blog post appears to have been revised sometime after my original post.)

A bond insurance company informed TxDOT’s Austin office Monday in a letter that Wiser Construction Co. would not complete the $8.4 million job, said Tim Weight, TxDOT’s Austin district director of construction. The letter did not explain why the Las Vegas company was quitting the project, Weight said.

However, this story from KUVE still refers to the contractor’s bankruptcy.

Posted in Bridges, Clippings, Roads | 1 Comment »

News roundup.

Friday, July 15th, 2011

By way of our good friend James, we have learned that CNN did a story on Texans purchasing guns to prepare for uncertain economic times. Ordinarily, we probably wouldn’t have said anything about this piece, but the gun shop profiled is Tex-Guns, the official purveyor of fine weapons to WCD.

And the NYT has discovered the Snake Farm on I-35. This is a place that we have not been to yet, but we keep threatening to load up the car and take our nephews there. Perhaps we will arrange that in the next couple of weeks.

Posted in Clippings, Reptiles, Snakes | Comments Closed

Wanna buy a house?

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Three bedrooms. “Semi-detached”. Conveniently located within walking distance of shopping.

In the interest of honesty, there are some…issues…to keep in mind.

  • The previous owner didn’t do a lot of work on the house; it sounds like a bit of a fixer-upper.
  • The asking price is 320,000 British pounds, which at current exchange rates translates to $515,968. That sounds high for a fixer-upper, but you might be able to talk the sellers down.
  • The house is in England, which may be an advantage for some folks.

And the prestige of being able to say, “Oh, yes, I’m the new owner of the old JG Ballard place” doesn’t have a price.

Posted in Books, Clippings | Comments Closed

Happy Bastille Day, everyone!

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

I’m avoiding the temptation to make cheap jokes about the French this year, especially after spending much of last winter immersed in the French Revolution.

Instead, here’s a link to what purports to be Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon recipe. I have not tried this, but I would like to: the last time I cooked Beef Bourguignon, I used a recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which is behind a paywall.

Here’s what the site of the Bastille looks like today.

And here’s a kind of neat article from yesterday’s Statesman about a French bistro in Lakeway that has an annual Bastille Day fest.

I got to thinking: hey, what’s the French Legation doing today that I’m going to have to miss, being stuck here at work? The answer is: actually, the French Legation is having their Bastille Day observance on Saturday.

Edited to add: By way of Lawrence, Jerry Pournelle on Bastille Day. I think there’s an argument to be made that the significance of the fall of the Bastille has less to do with the actual prisoners and the release of same, and more to do with the fact that the fall of the Bastille put guns and ammunition into the hands of people revolting against a tyrannical government. Indeed, I made that argument to a certain extent last winter, and boy do I wish I could reproduce that discussion here. (Sadly, it is behind the university’s Blackboard system.)

Posted in Beef, Clippings, Food, Guns, History | 1 Comment »

The NYT travels to the hinterlands…

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

…where they discover the “Mexican Martini“, two, two, two lies in one!

Seriously, the “Mexican Martini” is a decent drink, and Trudy’s isn’t a bad place to eat and drink. But putting a drink in a martini glass doesn’t make it a martini, and using tequila doesn’t make it Mexican.

At his previous job, at the Eastside Showroom, Mr. Bryan refused to make it.

“I removed the olives from the entire restaurant,” he said, “so when I told customers, ‘I can’t make Mexican Martinis because I don’t carry olives,’ people weren’t as upset as when I said, ‘No, I can’t make you that on principle.’ ”

I wonder what Mr. Bryan’s customers who wanted a traditional martini with an olive garnish thought when he said “I don’t carry olives.”

Edited to add: I also wonder what a “Mexican Martini” would be like with an onion instead of an olive. Hmmmm. May have to try that this weekend.

Posted in Clippings, Mixology | 1 Comment »

Quick random notes: July 12, 2011.

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Obit watch: Sherwood Schwartz. I understand he’s going to Heaven, but they’ve scheduled a three-hour tour of Purgatory first…

Kurt Rambis: out as coach of the Timberwolves. Rambis was 32-132 over two seasons.

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Where, indeed, do we get such men?

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Sergeant 1st Class Leroy Petry has become the second living recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions during conflict in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Petry, who was with the 75th Ranger Regiment at the time of his actions, became engaged in a firefight during a raid on an insurgent compound in Paktia. During the course of the firefight, Sgt. Petry was shot through both legs. Another Ranger near Sgt. Petry was hit in his body armor; Sgt. Petry led the other Ranger to a safe position behind a chicken coop and then re-engaged with the enemy.

He was near the chicken coop when a grenade tossed by insurgents exploded nearby, wounding two Rangers. When yet another grenade landed near the pair, Petry moved quickly to throw it in the direction of the insurgents. It detonated near his right hand.

Petry assessed the wound and placed a tourniquet on his own wrist, according to the Army field reports. He then reported to his comrades that he was still in contact.

Posted in Clippings, Heroism | Comments Closed

The men who pee at goats.

Friday, July 8th, 2011

According to an AP report picked up by the Statesman (but originally from the Peninsula Daily News), hikers in Olympic National Park (upstate Washington, nearish to Bremerton) are being told not to urinate near trails.

Why? Apparently, hiker urine attracts “aggressive goats”. At least one person has been gored to death in the past year (which gives the Olympic goats a body count equal to the Yellowstone bears).

In addition, park staff plan to implement “adverse conditioning”

…such as setting off sirens and compressed air horns, and shooting rubber projectiles and bean bags.

Actually, I had three reasons for linking to this story:

  1. Slow news day.
  2. The use of the phrase “long, linear salt licks“.
  3. It gives me a chance to ask the question: what gun for goat?

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Urine | 4 Comments »

Police professionalism update.

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

We previously noted the case of the LA County Sheriff’s deputies who worked in the county jail, and who were fired for thumping on fellow employees at the Christmas party.

As a followup, and in the interest of fairness, we update the story: the prosecutor’s office has decided not to file charges against the accused deputies.

According to a memo from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, charges were not filed against eight deputies in part because one of them who was alleging he was assaulted admitted he “struck the first blow,” which would “certainly raise the defense of self-defense.”

Prosecutors also found the statements of a female deputy who alleged she was punched in the chin to be unreliable. She reported being hit, according to the memo, 10 days after the incident, and was apparently inconsistent about who she believed struck her.

According to a department spokesman quoted in the LAT, this does not affect the ongoing departmental investigation.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, Law | Comments Closed

Choctaw bingo.

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Too weird to pass up. On Friday, the Sunset Valley PD arrested a guy on charges of impersonating a police officer. (Sunset Valley is a small municipality on the outskirts of Austin; most of Sunset Valley consists of strip centers and big box stores. Just FYI.)

…31-year-old Crag Redhawk was arrested and charged with two counts of tampering with a government record after police found him to be carrying ticket books from area police and sheriff’s departments.

I really, really want to know where he got those ticket books.

…on Friday afternoon, Sunset Valley police stopped Redhawk in a Crown Victoria sedan with Home Depot-bought stickers on the side that said “Choctaw Police.” Redhawk claimed to be a member of the Choctaw Tribal Police Department, but that agency told the officers they had no record of Redhawk working for them. In addition, the car belonged to the Williamson County sheriff’s office and had a fake inspection sticker.

I also really, really want to know how he came into possession of a car belonging to the Williamson County sheriff’s office. Notice that the list of charges does not, so far, include “car theft” or “possession of a stolen vehicle”.

(I know what you’re thinking: “That might explain where he got the ticket books, too.” Maybe. But the way I read the article, he didn’t just have Williamson County ticket books, but also ones from the Austin Police Department and other local agencies. I don’t think all of those would be in one WCSO car.)

The fake inspection sticker is a nice touch, too. What, he couldn’t swing by one of those 10 minute inspection places? Then again, maybe the WCSO car wouldn’t pass inspection. Perhaps there was a problem with the emissions testing.

I wonder how they know he bought the “Choctaw Police” stickers at Home Depot. Was there a receipt in the car? Heck, I didn’t even know you could get custom stickers for your car done at Home Depot. That gives me a few ideas…

Redhawk was found to be carrying an antique handgun,

I’m wondering about that “antique handgun” as well.

a badge

I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!

and a handcuff case, the affidavit said.

(Subject line hattip: Do you really need one? He cooks that crystal meth because the shine don’t sell. I’m mildly annoyed that you can’t purchase that song as a stand-alone tune on iTunes, and Amazon charges $1.99 for it instead of the usual 99 cents. Then again, it is over eight minutes long, so you’re getting good value for money. And how many songs do you know that give a shout-out to the SKS and Berdan-primed ammo from some East bloc nation?)

Posted in Clippings, Law, Music | 3 Comments »

Obit watch: July 1, 2011.

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Robert Morris, computer security expert.

Back many thousands of years ago, I remember going to the university library and digging out old issues of the Bell System Technical Journal just so I could read Morris’ paper, “File Security and the UNIX Crypt Command“. Kids today have it easy.

Edith Fellows. I’d never heard of Ms. Fellows before, but this is a pretty interesting story.

Her grandmother brought her to Hollywood to pursue an acting career at the age of 4. By the time she was 13, she’d appeared in 30 movies, and was the subject of a bitter custody dispute between her grandmother and mother.

Her earnings were put into a trust, estimated to be worth $150,000 in 1939: she ended up with $900.60 when the trust matured.

She went on to pursue a stage career, but suffered a breakdown in 1958 and didn’t act again until 1970.

Fellows died of natural causes Sunday at the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s retirement home in Woodland Hills, said her only child, Kathy Fields Lander. She was 88.

(Interesting fact: Kathy Fields Lander is married to David “Squiggy” Lander.)

Posted in Clippings, Obits | Comments Closed

Good cop, bad cop.

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Good cop:

Between 1977 and 1987, six women in Northern California were killed and dumped. The cases became known as the “I-5 Strangler” killings; Roger Kibbe was convicted of one of the murders in 1987, and pled guilty to additional murders in 2008.

Unfortunately, the body of one of his victims, Lou Ellen Burleigh, was never found, even though Kibbe attempted to lead law enforcement to where he had left the body.

Earlier this year, Napa County Deputy Sheriff Michael Bartlett decided to search for the body on his own time. It took him about a month, but he eventually found a place that matched up with Kibbe’s description, and a bone.

DNA tests confirmed the bone was Burleigh’s.

At least now her people know. Well done, Officer Bartlett.

Bad cop: Houston police officer Mike Hamby.

Actually, make that “former Houston police officer”. Mr. Hamby was “relieved of duty” June 17th.

What gets you fired from HPD? In this case, former officer Hamby was accused of throwing a tear gas canister into another team’s tent during a barbecue cookoff at the Livestock Show and Rodeo earlier this year.

The powerful chemical irritant wafted over two military veterans — both of them multiple amputees — who were brought to the rodeo event in wheelchairs and were waiting for a ride home.

Former officer Hamby can appeal his firing.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, Law | Comments Closed

Today’s bulletin from the Department of WTF?! (#4 in a series)

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Mark Davis is a writer in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Mark Davis wrote a book about a writer who gets discouraged over his rejections.

So he finds an uber-successful agent, kidnaps her daughter, and gives her 90 days to get his latest novel in print.

That’s not a bad sounding plot. But Mark Davis decided to take things one step further.

…Davis staged and filmed a kidnapping (“I checked with a lawyer first to make sure I wouldn’t get in trouble”) to post on the website, then sent an e-mail to a wide variety of agents. It began: “By the time you receive this, I will have already kidnapped your child.”

“The first phone call I received the next day was at 7:30 in the morning, from an agent,” Davis recalled. “She was yelling at me, saying, ‘Are you crazy?’”

Yeah, I’m going to say the answer to that question is, “Hell, yes!” Either that, or Mr. Davis put on the Bad Idea Jeans that morning. I’m boggled at the fact that a lawyer apparently told him this was legal, or even a good idea.

Apparently, this strategy actually worked, for definitions of  “worked” that include “finding a publisher” (Poinsettia Publications, according to the article; the book is available in their online store) but there’s no mention that Mr. Davis has actually secured an agent. Frankly, if I were a literary agent who’d read about this stunt, or received one of those letters, my first reactions would involve a restraining order against Mr. Davis and press-checking my .45.

(Hattip on this: I picked up the story by way of Marko Kloos on the Twitter.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, IANAL, Law | Comments Closed

Obit roundup: June 28, 2011.

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Some of these are new, some of these I missed, some of these I’ve been intending to blog but haven’t gotten to it.

Randall Dale Adams, wrongfully convicted of the murder of a Dallas police officer, and subject of the Errol Morris documentary “The Thin Blue Line“. Mr. Adams apparently passed away in October of last year, but his death didn’t make the news until last Friday.

Margaret Tyzack, noted British actress (“The Forsyte Saga”, “I, Claudius”). (Hattip: Lawrence.)

Martin Harry Greenberg, noted SF and mystery anthologist. I can’t begin to count the number of Greenberg anthologies I’ve read; his death is a huge loss to both communities. The Rap Sheet also has a nice tribute to Mr. Greenberg.

Posted in Books, Clippings, Obits | Comments Closed

I am a mean person.

Monday, June 27th, 2011

This is a well established fact.

The latest evidence for my being mean and evil? The fact that I take a great deal of delight in the detail that the Dodgers number one creditor in their bankruptcy filing is…Manny Ramirez, who is owed $21 million by the Dodgers.

For those who don’t follow baseball, Manny no longer plays the game; he retired from Tampa Bay five games into this season after failing a drug test, and hasn’t played for the Dodgers since last year. Tampa Bay doesn’t owe him any money because he failed the drug test. The Dodgers traded Manny to Chicago late in the 2010 season; Chicago doesn’t owe him any money, as far as I know, since he completed his contract. But the Dodgers somehow wound up owing him $21 million?

Other creditors include Kaz Ishii, who is owed $3.3 million, and who hasn’t played for the Dodgers since 2004, and Marquis Grissom, who is owed $2.7 million and who hasn’t played for the Dodgers since 2002.

I think I have a decent understanding of the idea of deferred salary, but come on! You owe all this money to whodats who haven’t played in years? This is your Dodgers management, ladies and Germans.

Lawrence had a good suggestion when we were discussing this at work: someone should buy the Dodgers and move them to a baseball deprived area of the country. Someplace that would be receptive to baseball. Someplace like…Brooklyn.

Edited to add 6/28: There’s a good take on this over at the American McCarver blog. Speaking of that blog, it looks like it might be kind of promising; I’m familiar with the works of people like Jason Snell, Philip Michaels, and (of course) John Gruber from other contexts, and I enjoy reading their stuff. However, American McCarver is pretty baseball-obsessed at the moment, and my feelings on baseball are well known. I’d like to see how the site develops after the season ends.

Posted in Clippings, Schadenfreude, Sports | 1 Comment »

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