foto obligado

cherry, originally uploaded by Knotty.

'tis the season..

standup bar

Speciality: Lemon Sour with Vodka Depth Charge.

standup bar, originally uploaded by Knotty.

kinryuzan

kinryuzan, originally uploaded by Knotty.

The lull before the storm

Millionaire

Here are 10 possible reasons you aren't a millionaire:

1. You Care What Your Neighbors Think
2. You Aren't Patient
3. You Have Bad Habits
4. You Have No Goals
5. You Haven't Prepared
6. You Try to Make a Quick Buck
7. You Rely on Others to Take Care of Your Money
8. You Invest in Things You Don't Understand
9. You're Financially Afraid
10. You Ignore Your Finances
    

via The Mess That Greenspan Made

Stubborn

A building sits on its own island of land in Chongqing Municipality, China. The homeowner has refused to sell to a developer, who went ahead with construction around the site.

via NYTimes

UPDATE. Not anymore.. seems a deal was made reports the BBC.

for za wife - click on the notice

Some (from a list of 16) things it takes most of us 50 years to learn..

3. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

5. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is: age 11.

6. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

13. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

16. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.


the full list here at Scribd, via Kottke.org

Tesla Roadster.. Yes Please.

Chinese vs Indian

pretty good.. i like.

Reported to be the most expensive television commercial ever created..

Turn the volume up, CLICK HERE, name the cities

via Autoblog

Hot water..

Two chimps get into a bath.

One says, "Ooo, aa, ee, oo, aaa, eee, aaah, oooh".

The other replies, "Put some cold water in, then!'

bald is best

bald is best, originally uploaded by Knotty.

Our sushi chef..

Hereditary Peers

From The Economist Inbox..

"Sir

Hereditary Peers are a Good Thing

Democracy is not long-lived. The oldest popular democracy in the world is a relatively new nation: the US. Many other forms of government have lasted much longer.

The problem seems to be that democracies create a political class that stays in power by bribing the people with their own money, a tactic that leads to ever-increasing growth of the public sector - which, eventually, weakens the state, which is then overthrown by some younger, more vigorous and less democratic entity.

There seem to be few correctives to this process, but the old House of Lords was in fact one. Its members were not elected hence had no need to bribe and pander to an electorate. In a meritocracy, generation by generation the Lords must increasingly come to represent a random sample of the population, as regression to the mean moves all to the average. As William F. Buckley observed many years ago, better to be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. Perhaps it is better for British democracy to be tempered by a few hundred average un-elected Lords than cede hegemony to a bunch of professional pols.

John Staddon"

Yes, I agree, perhaps it IS better to be tempered..

Sebring 12 Hours Finish

..amazingly close finish for a 12 hour race! and even quite exciting for motorsports..

Now. There's a good idea..

Pit Lane Queue

Queue, originally uploaded by Knotty.

We went to Motegi on Sunday for the day.

Motegi Twin Ring is a Honda owned race track and oval track. Amongst the activities we had a go at were Go-Karting and Skid-Pan Driving (or as it was known here, Active Safety Driving).

The elusive time to beat on the Go-Kart track was 45 seconds. I managed a 46.673 as a pb. Unfortunately no-one in the group was able to break below 46.00. Next time!

Golf?

One day, a man came home from work and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightdress.

"Tie me up," she purred, "and you can do anything you want."

So he tied her up and went golfing.

the pet..

the pet.., originally uploaded by Knotty.

Pet Rules

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - nose height.

Dear Dogs and Cats,

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, bark, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butts. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it fur"niture.
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Remember:

Dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3. Are easier to train
4. Normally come when called
5. Never ask to drive the car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't want to wear your clothes
9. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college
10. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children

via Georgia..

How to get just one phone number.. a "uninumber"

www.GrandCentral.com this looks really cool.. US only for now.. I hope they launch it internationally.. via an article in the NYT.

The Death of Captain America

As reported on CNN, Marvel Comics has killed off Captain America.

Why we ask?

Publicity for an upcoming movie perhaps?

Or as suggested in a cartoon in Newsweek..

because Captain China will do the same work for a fraction of the cost and no benefits.

Heehee..

Frank Caliendo - funny as hell..

Possibly one of the funniest things I have seen recently.. wait for the Bush stuff.. its worth it.

Wise words..

"Check stuff out before you have an opinion on it."
Wynton Marsalis

"To get young people interested in politics, institute the draft."
Jon Stewart

for those that were asking recently..

Distance 24km
Elevation (Start) 1050m, (Finish) 2355m
Average Grade 5.2%
Maximum Grade 7.8%

A Tipping Point?

"Owners of mortgage securities that have been pooled, for example, do not have to reflect the prevailing market prices of those securities each day, as stockholders do. Only when a security is downgraded by a rating agency do investors have to mark their holdings to the market value. As a result, traders say, many investors are reporting the values of their holdings at inflated prices.. ..accounting conventions in mortgage securities require an investor to mark his holdings to market only when they get downgraded.. ..In 2000, according to Banc of America Securities, the average loan to a subprime lender was 48 percent of the value of the underlying property. By 2006, that figure reached 82 percent.."

analogies drawn with the technology/internet boom and bust.. but a bit concerned about the mark to market 'practice'.. surely most crises in the financial markets seem to be brought about by using the wrong valuations.. isnt that the case here?

Crisis Looms

Buggered Bugatti Bring Brotherly Love?

"..described as the world's costliest road crash.. the owner had paid a substantial premium for early delivery only a week before, with a view to renting the car as a £20,000 'driving experience'. The driver.. now believed to be the younger brother of the owner, may find that the experience could yet prove even more costly."

Times article and photos.

Woof woof

"The dog is listed on all correspondence as the head of customer services, and it is Ms. Charlotte Lew who gets e-mail when there is a problem.

“It saves a lot of headaches,” Ms. Lew said, “especially with difficult customers.”"

I like this idea.. I would like to bring Pepper to the office.. maybe not every day, but once or twice a week would be cool..

Can Your Dog Humanize the Office? Full article.

window cleaners

window cleaners, originally uploaded by Knotty.

Maps of the World

clever.. click the banner

For example.

Territory size shows the proportion of worldwide wealth, that is Gross Domestic Product (2002) based on exchange rates with the US$, that is found there.

via Dana Blankenhorn

cheers

The metro system in Tokyo has a huge number of advertisements for alcohol (generally Beer) plastered all over the place. Note, the model's dyed hair, which is definitely no longer as taboo as it once was.

cheers, originally uploaded by Knotty.

How to Grow a Super-Athlete

An interesting article.

Basically.. train, train, train.. then train some more.. and focus on technique.

Oh. And lose the Gameboy.

Certain Image Powder Shots

Click HERE and then hit slideshow for action shots of me from the ski trip to Canada..

uma

Treat me the way you want to be treated..

Note From Boss To Employees

1. I am sometimes under enormous pressure from upper management; pressure that you seldom see. Anything that you can do to make my job easier will be greatly appreciated.
2. Your interests are important, but please remember that I also have to juggle the concerns and feelings of a bunch of other people, including individuals outside of the department.
3. I may not have been given a huge amount of training before being named to a supervisory position. As a result, I’ve had to learn through trial and error. That's not always bad. Many of my responsibilities can only be learned through practice.
4. If you are a former co-worker of mine, please recognize that supervising former peers is one of the toughest jobs any supervisor faces. The support that you give me is crucial.
5. I will make mistakes. Please give me the same understanding that you’d like me to give you when you blunder.
6. If I do something dumb or am on the verge of doing so, please tell me. Don’t hint. Tell me.
7. I don’t like unpleasant surprises. Let me in on bad news as soon as possible. (Things that you believe are obvious may not be that clear to me. On the other hand, you'd be surprised at how quickly the latest gossip reaches my ears.)
8. I expect you to take initiative. If you keep bouncing things to me, I’m going to wonder why I have you around.
9. You should ask questions if you don’t know what to do. On the other hand, you should not have to be taught the same thing over and over again.
10. Let’s respect each other’s time. We each have a job to do and the more we can reduce unnecessary interruptions, the happier we'll each be.
11. Don't let all of my talk about meeting goals and producing results lead you into unethical behavior. You always have my permission to be ethical.
12. If either of us has a problem with the other's performance, let's talk about it.

via Execpundit.com via Seth's Blog

Political Correctness in Iraq or How to Build an Empire

Liberators make friends in Iraq

US marine corps are introducing sensitivity training to their soldiers in Iraq. They're staring to wonder if such things as the troops' slogan t shirts might not be such a good thing. Favourites include:

* "Eat Pork Or Die" (in English and Arabic)
* "Shrine Busters" (which show burning minarets, some with unit logos.)
* "Napalm. Sticks Like Crazy."
* "The road to Paradise begins with me." (Usually in Arabic, often with sniper's crosshairs)
* "Guns don't kill people. I kill people."

via Popbitch

Bombero

Q. What did the Mexican fireman name his two sons?
A. Jose and Hose B.

Keep Your Ipod Interesting