Rocket Jones

April 11, 2007

CheatSheets!

If you do html, css, java, php, regular expressions, etc.


Posted by: Ted at 05:11 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 10, 2007

I Don't Know What's Wrong With Me, But I Bet It's Hard To Pronounce

Down below, the title "I Vaaaaant to Suck Your Blooooooood", about the Dracula opera... while I was typing that, I was singing it in my head along with some quickie made-up song lyrics...

...to the tune of the theme from Ice Castles!

For those wondering, Robbie Benson said "We forgot about the flowers" to Lexie at the end of that movie. Welcome to the Rocket Jones Sensitive Moment.

And here's a page chock full o' midi files, including *three* versions of "Through the Eyes of Love." The middle version - labeled (1) - is the best.

Posted by: Ted at 06:20 PM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

I Vaaaaaaaant To Suck Your Bloooooooood

Dracula, the Opera.

Posted by: Ted at 06:05 AM | Comments (46) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Why Bother Voting?

Maryland's governor is set to sign into law today a bill that will award the state's ten electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate gets the most 'popular' votes nationwide.

In simple terms, the rest of the country will now decide whether or not your vote counts. Cal Ripken could get 90% of the vote in Maryland and if George Steinbrenner gets the most votes nationwide then that's who gets all of the Maryland electoral votes. In simplest terms: screw you, Maryland voters!

Think about the implications of this for a minute. Maryland isn't the only state considering this kind of legislation, which means that future elections will almost certainly be decided by the courts as candidates will automatically file lawsuits to have every vote counted or suppressed, depending on the situation.

Third party candidates just became even less likely. Why bother campaigning in Maryland if you know you don't have a chance to win their votes?

This is a terrible decision, and just because it's "popular" doesn't make it correct.

Posted by: Ted at 05:53 AM | Comments (36) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 09, 2007

K's Moving Pictures

From the host of K's Lounge (NSFW), a new site featuring videos of sexy asian ladies dancing and doing, er... naughty things.

Posted by: Ted at 05:55 AM | Comments (28) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Low-Grade Blech

I felt like crap all weekend and spent most of it sleeping and laying around.

The recently added "recently viewed" box over on the sidebar is longer than normal now, because I watched more movies than I usually get a chance to see. There will be at least one new movie review coming up too.

Posted by: Ted at 05:51 AM | Comments (63) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 08, 2007

Yummmmmm

Dark chocolate-covered blueberries!

Posted by: Ted at 08:16 AM | Comments (19) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Knit Your Own Bunny

Awwwww, how cute.

Posted by: Ted at 07:32 AM | Comments (29) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

First In War, First In Peace...

It's going to be ugly this year for the Washington Nationals baseball team. Fielding a team mostly comprised of cast-offs, wannabe's and never-were's, a lot of preseason pundits proclaim them the worst of the league this season. So far, they're playing like it.

I don't hate them, but I have no love for them either. For all the talk about how much baseball means to DC, the fact remains that on opening day they drew 40,000 in a 56,000 seat stadium. It's not going to get better, and they need a miracle of biblical proportions - ala the Amazin' Mets - just to reach up to the level of lousy. Opening day may well have been their high point for the next couple of seasons. So much depends on this new ownership.

...Last in the American National League.

Here's hoping for a Washington/Baltimore World Series in the very near future.

Posted by: Ted at 06:15 AM | Comments (63) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 07, 2007

Marketing 101

Over at Dawn's Place.

2. Youre at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at you, says, Shes fantastic in bed. Thats Advertising.

The explanation for Junk Mail is priceless.

Posted by: Ted at 11:14 AM | Comments (26) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Winter Wonderland

The forecast called for a little snow, more towards our end of the area. I woke up this morning to about an inch of the fluffy white stuff. It's already mostly gone now, but the return of cold weather means I get major snuggles all night. And when the dog moves, I can cuddle my wife.

Posted by: Ted at 11:10 AM | Comments (59) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 06, 2007

This Is Hell

9:00 on a friday night, freezing, while I prepare copies of portraits to be printed on printers that are out of ink and out of paper.

A security guard just asked how big my project was... answer? "Self Inflicted 9th Level of Hell."

If I have to look at another portrait I may kill something.... I'm up to 450...

Posted by: Mookie at 08:03 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Quick! Hand me that clue-by-four!

Brewer Anhauser-Busch comes out with a new energy drink called Spyke, which contains 12 percent alcohol. The packaging is miniature, since the product is sold in 2 ounce portions. Naturally, some people who just want to "protect the children" are insisting that the product be removed from the market.

"Saying that it is the parent's responsibility to keep it out of the hands of young people is absolutely ridiculous," Hacker said.

Parenting? Why bother, when we can just pass a law.

Posted by: Ted at 06:25 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

A Movie So Disturbing That I Must See It

Barn of the Blood Llama.

bloodllama2.jpg

I mean, how can you *not* wanna see a movie that has a coffin for a llama?

I suspect that Robbo and Steve and the rest of the crew over at The Llama Butchers are nothing like the characters in this movie. But it's only a suspicion.

Posted by: Ted at 05:48 AM | Comments (180) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 05, 2007

Double Feature At The Theatre Surreal

Why not a Burl Ives Double Feature?

Kick it off with Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Finish up with Ensign Pulver.

Two characters with hearts of ice, played by a man with a heart of gold.

Posted by: Ted at 11:45 AM | Comments (67) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 04, 2007

Launch Report: 3/31/07-4/1/07

Last weekend was a two-day club launch at Great Meadow Equestrian Center in The Plains, Virginia. The weather was beautiful both days, and even though the forecast called for rain on Sunday, it stayed dry and the winds stayed light.

Saturday was definitely the busier day, with upwards of 50 cars there, many filled with students making flights for the upcoming Team America Rocketry Contest. Lots of practice flights and more than a few qualification attempts.

Fifty cars might not sound impressive, but for a rocket club it's an almost unheard number, and it's become our norm. It wasn't too many years ago when a typical club launch was a dozen people. Very relaxed. For NOVAAR, those days are long gone, which is both good and bad.

On Sunday the crowd was lighter, but we were joined by a Cub Scout pack who upped the energy and enthusiasm levels considerably. I volunteered to work a shift at safety check-in both days, and in between socializing I still managed to get in quite a few flights of my own.

Saturday

1. Snitch - D12-0 / C6-0 - I CHAD-staged (CHeap-And-Dirty) this Estes ready-to-fly UFO saucer. Great flight and recovered very close, but I cracked the plastic after recovery while pulling out the motor. A little epoxy will fix it good as new.

2. Pacifyer - D12-5 - This is my flying blood-dripping battleaxe and as usual it got a lot of attention. Nice quite boost but the ejection sounded very loud and the bottom half of the rocket (with fins) came tumbling down as the rest drifted slowly under the parachute. A "bonus" ejection charge blew out the baffle and scorched everything inside, including burning through the shock cord. Easily fixed.

3. Flying Jenny - B4-2 - The Jenny is a balsa bi-wing rocket glider that originally came out in the 60's or 70's. I love 'em, and this is the third or fourth I've had in my collection. She hasn't flown since last year, and winter can do some strange things to balsa, so I wasn't sure what kind of flight to expect. Straight boost and really high altitude, but not much glide. She went into the (soft) grass nose first and snapped the upper wing off. I found that the tail weight was missing, which probably accounted for the poor glide performance. No problem, I'll just build a new one.

4. Saturn Wannabe - A10-3T x4 - This original design turned in my first "perfect" flight of the day. All four motors in the cluster lit and at apogee it sounded like popcorn as the ejection charges went off. Perfect recovery under chute, and I got it back undamaged.

5. Angel - D12-5 - Sweet flight from this original design ring-fin. Recovered undamaged.

6. Groove Tube - C6-5 - Typical flight profile from this rocket: arrow-straight boost and recovered undamaged. This is a clone of the 70's model tube-fin originally offered by Centuri.

7. Der Red Max - C6-5 - Another clone, this one from Estes. Another great flight and excellent recovery.

After a shaky start I quit breaking everything I flew. The winds were very cooperative, so I was using maximum motors for almost everything (except the Flying Jenny).

Before heading over to do my shift as range crew I talked to Ken Allen of Performance Hobbies. He's been dealing with some very directed harrassment from the BATFE, who're still fighting our hobby every step of the way through the court system. We keep winning the judgements, they keep throwing up new and inane regulations in an effort to maintain their "power". Ken finally quit selling high-power rocket motors because of their actions (including confiscating his phones and computers) and has gotten more into kits and parts. In a wonderful development, his business is thriving even moreso than before, which is the best way I can think of to get back at those government assholes.

Saturday night I got home very tired and very happy with a day well spent.

Sunday morning I woke up to find that tick in my arm.

Sunday

Another great day watching student teams make practice and qualification flights. Next weekend is the last day to submit results, so these kids are working hard and achieving impressive turnaround times between flights. Once again I put up several of my own.

1. Vampyre - A10-3T - I think this is the oldest rocket in my fleet that I still fly regularly. I designed it to fly on mini-motors and it's very quick and gets super altitude. The ring-fin makes for great stability too, even in windy conditions. Today we notice early on that the ground-level winds are blowing about 10mph, but maybe 100 feet up the air is still. Recovered nicely under a streamer.

2. YJ-218 - C6-7 x2 - Another cluster, this one an upscale of the Estes Yellow Jacket. Both motors lit. Great flight, fine recovery.

3. Edmonds Tinee - 1/4A-3T - This glider needs a 1/2A for altitude, but all I had was the 1/4A. It did glide, but pulled out of it's dive just above head level and made a strafing run on the people around the check-in table. It's light enough not to hurt if it had hit anyone. It landed in the grass about five feet from where I was standing.

4. Alchemy - D12-5 - Folks are noticing that I like ring-fin rockets. This one was an experiment in paint finishes. The aft end is done in that textured granite spray paint, and fades up through hammered silver to chrome at the nose. Flies great and recovered undamaged.

5. Dynamic Carrier - C6-5 - This is an interesting kit design. I finished it as an alien spaceship and she looks pretty cool. Nice flight, but the chute didn't open fully and she came down quickly. No damage because she landed on the soft grass.

6. Honest John - C6-5 - Scale version of the old US tactical nuke. She took a big arc off of the rod, but the chute ejected on time and I recovered her undamaged.

7. Sparrow Upscale - C6-5 - This is a slightly larger version of my very first rocket. It's not all that big, which points up that the original was *tiny*. Nice straight boost and good recovery.

8. Barenaked Lady - E11-3 - Super flight with a big honking motor in a very light rocket , but she drifted a long way because of the extreme altitude. Still got her back and she was fine and ready to fly again.

That was it for my weekend. I flew everything I'd brought, and after helping to take down the range went home very very tired but happy. Plus, I get to do it again next weekend! Yay!!!

Posted by: Ted at 08:15 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

New Rocket Jones Feature in Amazing CinemaRamaScope with Super-3D ChillerVision!!!

Over on the sidebar I've added a blip that lists the last few movies that I've watched. Where possible, I'll include links to IMDB or other reviews.

For the complete collection of reviews, articles and posts about those crappy movies that I love so much, check out the Rocket Jones Cult Flick Archives.

Posted by: Ted at 05:15 AM | Comments (89) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Festival of Frugality

There is something for everyone on this big ol' internet, and one my hang outs are the personal finance blogs.

This week, the loverly Mapgirl is hosting the 68th edition of the Festival of Frugality. I highly recommend you go check it out. Who knows? You might discover a new addition to your blogroll.

PS: A great demonstration of frugality is our semi-regular minor league baseball game blogmeets. I mean, why pay major league prices for minor league quality? And yeah, that's a slam on the Washington Nationals.

Posted by: Ted at 05:13 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

April 03, 2007

A Mashup Made In Heaven Hell

A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead.

Thanks to Dustbury for the pointer (and he saw it here).

Posted by: Ted at 06:08 PM | Comments (93) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

What The Hell Is That?

Remember the tick? As of today I'm taking antibiotics for Lyme Disease.

Posted by: Ted at 02:15 PM | Comments (73) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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