Some more pictures of kittens

Slushy Christmas

 Well the good people of the South Side are having themselves a gray and drag little Christmas Season. It was not a white Christmas. Even so it has ben white shortly after it.

Pictured to the right is a gad pump that was knocked over by a car when it started snowing. Apparently ice is slippery. You will not that it has been propper up and is being held in place with half a roll of duct tape. Red Green would be proud.

Bellow  is a grey and sickly slush man. He has been made in one of the South Side's most precious of places, a parking space. You can't read it from the picture but he is holding a sign asking people not to knock him over. It is very heart warming. That is if you ignore the fact that small children have to beg for the lives of their snow men.

Well just checking in. Be safe out there and keep your sticks on the ice.

Kittens N'at

The wife is still visiting her family in the place where her family is.

She did ask for pictures of the kittens. So here are pictures of the kittens. Well three of them anyway. The other two like to hide under the chair.

They are just at the start of the getting into things that they should not be getting into stage of life.

By the way if anyone out there wants a black kitten we have many to choose from. They are cute and affectionate. There is one that has a strange shoe fetish.

 He is still cute but you have to check your boots before you put them on. 

And to the people that complain that I do not speak with a yinzer accent I said the word N'at out loud when I typed it.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Interview

This was a nice little interview with terrible sound quality

Too Good

Doctor Who is Brilliant

Redding Up

I was at a knitting group the other day and someone noted that I do not have a Pittsburgh accent. I suppose they meant to say that I do not talk like a yinzer. They noted that I used the term redding up a little while ago and do not speak that way normally. They sugested that I was making fun the yinzer accent.

I am in a funny business. So yes I naturally make fun of things. Granted the yinzer accent is a joke unto itself. Anyone that would willingly wear a mullet in this day and age is a walking joke.

The person also stated that I did not put any Chris Brown videos on the old blog. I am not sure why I would. I do not put and clips of Wagner Operas on my blog for the same reason. I do not like them.They asked me if I did not like rap.

Not being a Chris Brown fan I did not know that he was a rapper. So I visited the good folks at You tube and listened to some of his music. I am not sure that I would call him a rapper. I would certainly call him formulaic. What ever he is it is clear that he only records what his producers tell him to. He is a programmed performer regurgitating someone else's words.

I may not love everything that Ice T and Dr. Dre said still it was what they were feeling. They are flag bearers of the pain and hurt that they feel. I think that they may have made the same music if only a handful of people had bought it. I am pretty sure Chris Brown would have been a knitter, basket weaver or anything else if obscene amounts of money could be made at it.

I think the most telling part of if someone is a defining member of their profession is how the next generation looks at them. With just a wee bit of research it looks as if Dr. Dre had something to do with bringing Eminem along. I was not able to find a story about Chris Brown doing that for someone else. Will the next generation of rappers be rapping about Chris Brown, I doubt it.  The next generation is rapping about Dr. Dre.



I think it is fairly obvious that I am not a huge fan of the rap. Still, like everything, some of it is good and a lot of it not so much. Maybe someday Chris Brown will not be in the not so much catagory. That day is not today. I leave you with a video Chris did with a Japanese Rap group. I will let you judge which is an artful socially important video. We have a heartfelt thanks to a mentor or an adamant statement that Chris like rear ends.

Can't Sleep

Can't sleep. I think I need a ham sandwich. Just wanted to share.

Lost Juggling Balls

I have lost 36 balls. I have no idea where they are. I hate to loose things. I don't suppose anyone likes loosing things. I am not sure why anyone out there would care that I lost a bag full of juggling balls. When I mentioned it to a couple people at the church where we practice they thought it was funny. So there you are. Also if you see a bad full of white and yellow rubber balls in Pittsburgh let me know. They might be a reward in it. There might also be a couple orange balls in there.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Happy Christmas and Kittens

I loverly Christmas Eve has been had thus far. I have managed to put exactly one inch on a sweater while under constant assault from a small army of cat. I wonder how many cats would actually constitute a small army. Well there are four cats and five kittens. They all like the yarn. Well I suppose that is something in the DNA of Cats.

Anyway this is mommy and her kitten under a chair. Well it is fairly obvious what is going on here. The Wife is away visiting her family and she asked me to put up some pictures of the kittens. Well the little critter squirm around and very few of the pictures are clear. I suppose if i were using a better camera they would some out better.

Also it appear that the primary purpose for blog is also to put pictures of one's cat on the internet. So here are cat pictures. I suppose that my blog does not have as many cat pictures as it could.

The mother is named Cuckie. She was given to me by a couple of the kids in the Clown Brigade. They named her and insist that is how you spell Cookie. The babies do not have names. There are five of them and they are cute as you would expect kittens to be. Anyway These are four week old kitten and they are just starting to crawl around and steal my yarn. So eventually these little yarn snatcher are going to need a home. If you live in Pittsburgh and would like a fur ball leave a comment.

Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice.

Bloodlust

MST3000 gen names Bloodlust.

Great stuff.

Random Clown Stuff

It is early Christmas Eve and I am here blogging. I can't sleep and I am working on the Brigade Newsletter. We are almost done and are just waiting for the article from out Minister. It would be great it looks as if we are going to get this thing out on time. We have several lovely articles a game page and lots of other stuff. I am very happy with it.

I am messing around with the idea of putting an online version of the newsletter on the Brigade's blog. I would just have to figure out how to do that. 

Also on the Clowning Front we are going to be performing in a Roller Rink on Thursday. It is basically a balloon fest. Still it should be fun. 

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

The French

On this new version of blogger one of the things they have is a gizmo that tell you what country the people are visiting your blog from. In the last week a I have had just about a hundred people from the United States visit my blog. I have had 165 visit from France.

I have always thought of the French of refined and cultured people. This makes me wonder why are the visiting this blog, Maybe I am sort of like a Jerry Lewis of the Blogs. Not really all that funny but for some reason the French enjoy me.

Well I suppose I should have some programming for my French viewer from time to time.

This is Ricky Gervais trying to teach people English. The subtitle are in French.By the way if you are going to learn English it is best to learn it from the English. Americans think people with English accent sound smart. A Chinese person who sounds like Cooter from Dukes of Hazard will get into trouble.



Really this vid is a bit pointless. Still if you are reading this blog then you are all about that pointless.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Unmoderated Stuff

I continue to go through the drafts that have been left orphaned on this blog. There are loads of them. The more I read the more I question my own sanity. For some reason there are a bunch of Mystery Science Threater 3000 vids left laying about over the last year. I really am not sure why I started putting them in this blog.

On other front I have just been watching the Silence with Douglas Henshall. It is a gripping little story about a deaf girl who sees the police murder someone. She is also personally struggling with a cochlear implant and parents who different ideas about what her life should be.

All four episodes are on the Net Flix. They are a great afternoon. They are also a wonderful cross section of UK accents

Wonderful Revenge

Visit Doug Savage and buy his stuff. http://www.savagechickens.com/

Christmas in Pittsburgh

The giant electric tree is on the side of a building signalling that is is Christmas in Pittsburgh once again. I am sure this is a post card somewhere. If not it should be.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

The Pointless Christmas Gloves

The ill fated gloves have made another appearance. I somehow got it in my head that I needed the challenge of knitting a pair of gloves. I have eight fingers and a thumb done. Every year I get through couple more fingers. Then after I finish the second or third finger I come to realization that the entire project is pointless. And this is not the normal sort of knitting pointless. I was sitting around thinking of something that I had not knit and came up with the idea that I should knit gloves.

It is like someone the sees a mountain and thinks they need to get to the top of that. There is no good reason to be up there. There are no new mountains to climb. If I want to feel what it is like up there and can sit in a bath of ice water and look at a picture book. The same is true for knit gloves. First off there are too many young people in my life to wear knit gloves. At least half a dozen times a winter I find myself the target of a surprise snow ball assault. So I carry an nice insulated water proof set of gloves. I would not walk around in a knit coat. I would get wet in Pittsburgh.

Still the gloves are symbolic of Christmas in general. They are something that we do not need to do and still do it anyway. I am fairly sure Jesus would rather we do some volunteering instead of going into debt on his birthday.

Well just checking in. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

New Savage Chickens

Buy stuff from Mr. Doug Savage.  http://www.savagechickens.com/

Two More Ermeys for the world at large

A couple of Juggle Batons were purchased by a members of the local COAI. Oddly they wanted one Red, White and Black (Steel City Clown Brigade colors) and white, yellow and blue. They are both 2 foot long Ermeys and came out rather nicely if I do say so myself. They are called that because they have short stubbly ends similar to a famous Drill Sergeant and motivational speaker. Actually I am not sure if R. Lee Ermey does any motivational speaking. I do know that he goes around and does rallies for Marines. Still, Marines really do not need that much motivation. Every Marine I have met has been what one would call a self starter. Still, I think that he would be rather good at if he did. They should really make an R. Lee Ermey alarm clock. I do know they make some kind of action figure of him in his Marine Corps Uniform.

Anyway back to the Devil Sticks. As I type this they are drying out. The end are glue together and then you let them dry and put the decorative tape and grip tape on them. Before I finish this post I hope they will be close enough that I can tape them up for a picture. Also with these particular stick they will have the head mongrammed. I do not know what they want on them so they will be monogrammed at the COAI meeting on Monday. The picture here is them with in complete ends. If they get finished at the COAI meeting I may put up picture of them.

Also just for fun I have put there map location of where this post was made. I am not sure why this feature is there. Maybe is makes it easier for loonies to hunt blogger down and kill them.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Tweeties

I have tweeted a couple times. I am up to nine followers I think. I am not sure if that is good or not.

Variety Show

There should be more Variety Shows for Children in the United States. There are several int he UK and various other places. There is Blue Peter and The Slammer. We have had a couple over the years in the States. They do not have much staying power. The Slammer is an actual proper variety show with singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians and other performers. If I ever make billions of dollars I will buy a local TV station and have a Saturday Evening Variety Show. There would be no mimes on my show.

This is an episode of the Slammer from last year.



We have been kicking around the idea of having a variety show as a fund raiser for the Brigade.

We are going to give the old Brigade Newsletter another shot. This will be the third attempt at it. We usually start it off and loose interest throughout the year. I may work on putting together an online version of the newsletter. If anyone is interested out there I will put together an email list thing I suppose.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Unmoderated Stuff

I have a ton of draft posts on this blog. At this point there are twice as many draft posts on this blog for the year as there are posted posts. The effort to go back and finish those posts is not something that I am giving too much energy to. That would explain why there are so many unfinished ones.

If I did five a day I might clear them out by the end of the year. Even so, who am I kidding? I do not post everyday. So why would I go back and fix old posts. That would just be silly.

I did go through the unmoderated comments today. There was not a single one that I would want posted. Every one of them is an advert for something else. Just use your imagination and it is in there. I am not going to post examples because then I would be giving them what they want.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Random Buss Posting

            Once again tooling around on the bus as it winds it’s way through the hills of Pittsburgh. I am sitting next to someone that smells as if the rub menthol cigarettes on his body instead of bathing. I hope he does not have kids. You have to wonder about people that are willing to make their children sick to feed a habit. Some slick person needs to start suing smokers on behalf of their children. Some of the money could go to the state for health care. The rest could go to educate those children.

            On the clowning front we have several stage shows that we are messing around with. It has been a couple years since we worked on such shows. With everyone doing better at juggling there is a renewed interest in stage shows. At least three of the young ones could be team juggling clubs in a couple months. And since they are growing into teenagers they are almost as tall as me. So for a year they will getting to my height and then there will be some time at my height and another year when they are just a bit taller than me. Chances are one of the girls will stop growing at just a bit taller than me and I will finally have a juggling partner that is not a couple feet shorter than me.

            On other fronts we are still messing about with internet media. We are not sure what we are going to do. We just know that we are going to do something. We are sort of leaning toward a documentary sort of thing covering our practices. We would have to use fake names for the young ones. It looks like the preferred Sir Name is Brooks for that. If we ever throw together an episode I will put it up here.

            Oh thank goodness I can stop breathing through my ears. Mr. Virginia Slim has gotten up to spread cancer to his family and friends. If I were mean I would have taken a picture of him and put it up on the old blog here. Well, things are looking up.

Well that is it for today. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Yinzer Rocket Science

Have you ever noticed that there are no yinzers that are rocket scientists? Maybe there is something that happens when one gets a mullet that reduces their brainpower. I think I am going to call the people are Carnegie Mellon and ask if they have any yinzers on staff. I wonder what department that would be?

I mean somewhere there must be a smart yinzer. There has to be one out there.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Typing

I wonder if I can type faster than I can speak? There are several programs out there that claim to be able to transcribe what you are saying into a word processor. I tried one a few years back. And after playing with it for more than a week it assumed words that I was not actually saying. Apparently I have such a funny accent the computer could not understand me.

I was watching the New Stephen Fry Gadget Show. On it they had someone using an updated version of that program with great ease. I am sure that company wants their product to be featured in the best light. So I am not sure if it really works as well as they claim it does.

I am not sure such a thing would serve me very well on the bus. Also I do not have to dictate when I am typing something out. I am not sure if I could get to the point where I would tell the computer where to end sentences and the like. I imagine that I would have one huge block of text without punctuation of any kind. Perhaps my spelling would be better. Although, now that I think of it, the computer would probably be suing the wrong words for this and that.  

Now if they could come up with a computer program that would tell me when know one care about what I am typing that might be something useful. Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Looking for New Blogs

I have noticed that many of the blogs that I have been reading over the years have begun to fall off. So if anyone out there thinks they have a great blog that they are reading let me know.

I have been looking for some clown blogs. Most of them are inactive. Wouldn't it be a shame if I am the only clown in the internet blogging. Well there are a couple I have found that I am keeping an eye on. One the guy claims that he does not have to juggle do balloon animals or even wear make up. So he is a truck drive that claims not to need a truck. Well if I like any of these I might start a clown blog section on the old blog.

I came across one named Johny the clown this is about a skinny woman with an eating disorder trying on clothes.

There is an Abstinence clown blog that I am not going to share the address to because it is offensive and useless.

PPD Hates You

Over the last several months I have been complaining about the fact all my neighbors park on the sidewalk. Because of this I have to walk in the street. If I walk in the street they cuss me out when they drive past. And since everyone has at least two cars there is no room for parking. Thus they park so close together a pedestrian cannot walk between the car. The Pittsburgh Police refused to ticket these cars.

So I called the Mayor's Office to complain. I then received a call from Commander McNeily. She said she had no intention of ticketing the cars. I asked her if it was because her squad cars break this very same law. She claimed this was not happening. I told her I had taken several pictures of police cars on the side walk. She did not care. Also the police station is within sight of the blocked sidewalk.

It is amazing that the police are not incumbered by following the law themselves. It is no wonder the general public in Pittsburgh appears to be trusting the police less and less. The city knocked down three houses so that this station could have enough parking for their cars. When this picture was taken there were fifteen empty parking spaces in their lot. Still this bit of sidewalk is closer to the door. Also the new sidewalk is now cracked where the police are parking their cars. Of course the good people Pittsburgh are going to be paying to repair that.

You have to wonder. If the police can lie to the public when it is obvious they are wrong what else are they lying about? Why does it take three armed men to take down an unarmed teenage? Why do the police jump into a car during a traffic stop? Why is the police force mostly white males?

If you see the police stopping someone take their pictures. You need to do this especially if the person they are stopping is black and male. The Pittsburgh Police have a habit of trying to kill them for being black. You might be saving someone's life. 

Space 1999 on MST3K sort of

Every once and while some TV Producer does something truely strange. One of those things was taking two episodes of Space 1999 and putting them together to make this movie.

Enjoy,,,, if you can

MST3K

Mystery Science Theater 3000 still continued to pop in my viewing schedule from time to time. It has bee a while since it has been off the air and I have not seen every episode. I Do beleive most of them are on the Youtube at this point.

Here is a random one I was watching in the background yesterday.

Mighty Jack

I still loved the Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mighty Jack is one of the greatest things Sandy Frank has ever done. Here it is if you have missed it.



Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Go Round Remix

This is a remix of a new Namie Amuro Song. Good Times There is no video still it is a nice little song.

Top 10 Things Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson Didn't Say

Well these are the top ten things that Dr. Tyson would not say.


10. We need more cup holders on the Shuttle

9. Star Trek Enterprise is my favorite show.

8. I need to ask Snookie to the White House the next time the Obamas have me over.

7. Neil Armstrong was a wuss.

6. I need to be more like Vanilla Ice.

5. I have to ask Honey Boo Boo to do an internship at the Hayden Planitarium.

4. I need to ask Bill Shatner for hair advice.

3. Cory Feldman is my Hero

2. Brian Green is the Captain Kangaroon of Science.

1. Stephen Hawking is faking it for a better parking space.

Sandy Frank

The high point for this blog appears to be 2007 there were 413 posts that year. I am not sure why this is improtant. I am just noting it.

One thing I do think I should do eventually is an internet Clown Movie thing like MTS3K. I think we should try and do all the Sandy Frank Movies.



I also read somewhere that at 81 years of age he go into a fight with his wife where they were both charged with asault.

Green Clown Scarf

I am working on a green clown scarf for the up coming COAI  auction. I am pretty sure I will also be making a couple balloon pump holsters. I am on the bus so I cannot take pictures of it. I suppose I could. I am just not going to. Well just checking in on some actual knitting information.

Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice

More Bus Blogging

Just checking in as I tool around on the bus. One thing I have notices is that I have nearly a couple hundred posts that in draft form stuck in the old blogger. Being that this is all less than important unpublished less than important is probably even less important. I am not sure why I thought some things needed more consideration that other things. Looking over some of them they appear to be just as pointless as everything else.

Well anyway I figure I will look through these posts and publish or erase them. It will be a bit like the saddest Easter Egg hunt ever. New posts will appear in past months and years.

In other news, if you can call it news, I was elected President of our Choir. Granted no one else wanted the job.  Even so, I am putting that in the win column. And uncontested victory is still a victory.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

On My Way to Practice & a Brilliant Idea

On my way to practice on the mighty 54C. This happens to be my favorite bus in the world. The only thing better would be a double deck British style bus playing constant techno with a free soda fountain and wifi. If do not think that bus exists. Thus I will stick with this bus. Anyway I am off to Oakland to pick up the snack for tonight. The snack will be popcorn if you are keeping track.

My next project is to try and figure out how to get my blog to play music. I think people that people who visit here should have a random assortment of music. It would be what it is like to be in my head. I am not sure anyone wants that. Still, this is my blog and rambling is a big part of it. I think this blog should be an assault on all the senses much like my existence is. Making it smell like random cookies and pierogies and then slapping you in the back of the head will be harder.

Also if you are a person that wears 3x clothing there are somethings to avoid, like tube tops and hot pants. The thing that bothers me is the waste. Nowadays everyone is wearing pants that have thing writing on the rear end. Most of these have a single word like Juicy. This is a terrible waste. If you are a 3x person you need to have a poem by Robert Frost in forty pt. Time New Roman back there. For one it is a more effective use of space. Two you can think people are reading the poem instead of looking at you but in horror that you are wearing spandex warm up pants.

It gets even better. If you are a 4x or 5x you can publish chapter of classical literature back there. You would have to wear you pant in a certain order so that your readers will be able to keep up with the story. Still, I think it is viable sacrifice for Mark Twain. For some reason I think he would be the most abused by big people sitting on his books literally. Mark Twain literally means six feet. And if you have six feet in your back field you should be helping indoctrinate people in the classics.

Still Leeanring the New Stupid Format

I have figured out how to change the dates on when a entry is posted. So I think I will post all of the old entries to the time When I actually wrote them. It will give the blog some kind of continuity. Well not really. I would have to have a regular subject or something interesting to be talking about in order for that to happen. We all know that will probably not come together so many years into a blog.

Small Things

On less than exciting news I have figured out how to get pictures off my phone with out having to email them to myself. Frankly I am way to cheap to email something to myself. So figuring this out is a big thing for me.

Well that is it for now. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Profanity Laced Messages

I had a rather rude responce from someone who read my post on Mitt Romney's dancing horse. The basic gist of it was that I was not really an everyman.

I have reread that post and at no point did I claim to be an everyman. Everyman cannot juggle breath first or walk on stilts. So I have always thought of myself as special. Well that is what my mother would tell me before she would load me on the short bus to school every morning as  a child, but I digress.

I did erase the response because besides being rather rude it used the f bomb seven times. I think there were only five sentences so that is a bit excessive.

The reason I bring this up is that ther person posted another message gripping about the fact I did not publish their message. it's my bleeding blog I can publish what ever I want. More importantly kids read this things. There is no need for that kind of language.

So there you go. You are right I am not an everyman. Not because I special, mainly because noone else wants to be me.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Also I am a clown not a person should look to for political advice.

Support MST3K Archive Project

There are some fine Americans that are putting the Mystery Sciene Theater 3000 episodes on the internet. Many of these are on youtube and some are other places.

This is Gorgo one of my personal favorites.

Someone Loves Me

Today a random person walked up to me and hugged me at the bus stop.

So just to keep score I have be robbed or assaulted at the bus stop seven times. So hugs to punches punches are winning by six. Feel free to hug me if you see me.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice

Fictional Real Person

It is three in the morning and I am once again looking at a blank page. I have spent the last two months reading everything I can on a man named Samuel Logan Brengle who was Commissioner in The Salvation Army. He is also the only real person who is a regular character int he stories. For this reason I feel a great deal of pressure to get him right.

On the moral front he wrote several books. So I have little trouble guessing where his moralities lies. This issue that I am having is what kind of man was he. I can figure that he did not cuss and I can get a feeling for what his speech pattern were from his books.

I simply do not know that I am doing the man justice.

Still as I ponder him I wonder how many people out there know who he was. Is he famous enough that people would recognize if my character is a good representation of the real man?

Cleaning Up

As I look around the old blog it is apparent there needs to be some redding up around here. No that is not a way to say there is not enough communism on the blog. That is a Pittsburgh expression for cleaning up for all two of my international readers. It has not gone unnoticed that I have a bunch of stuff cluttering up the place. Several of the blogs I used to follow have gone fallow. And still their links live on here. Well I think I will take some time to see what is still working and get rid of what is not working.

I still like the over all format with the three columns. It gives me the space to put up all kinds of junk. Oh and by the way here is a random Ramstien Video. I am not sure what is going on here. Still there it is.



Well that is it for now. Yes I know that was mostly pointless. Still, that is where things are at the moment. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Random Stuff

It was another fun day of sewing and other random things for the Clown Brigade. Everyone needs apparatus bags for everyone. That is the one down side of everyone getting better. The better they get the more they can juggle. The more they can juggle the more stuff they need to carry around. The more they carry around the bigger the bag they need to carry everything in.

It is a viscous cycle. Well I suppose I cannot blame them for paying attention and getting better.

There is some interesting stuff on the COAI front. Two of the young people in my group will be joining the education committee for the COAI's local chapter. They have each taught or assisted with five or six lessons so they have already been helping with the committee.

The interesting thing is that these young people do not have a vote in how the Tri Rivers Ally of the COAI does things. A couple of them realize this is unfair that they pay the same dues and cannot vote.  Also three of them have taught lessons this year when half the members locally prefer not to help with teaching new clowns. They have faith that eventually they will be treated fairly.

The rub is that the bylaws committee has been suspended for the rest of the year. So there is no chance this issue can be fixed at this point. Well it can be but it would require bringing them up in a general meeting causing chaos. Yes, talking about bylaws in our meeting causes horrible fights. This is the reason the Bylaws committee was put together in the first place.

 Also the Ally has been in bad way the last couple years. Membership is shrinking and it has been hard to find people to do shows. Also when ever something new is tried it annoys half the existing people in the ally. So we do not want to change to accommodate new people.  It is tough road to navigate. Actually it is a road that cannot be navigated. Someone must be annoyed while things get better.

On the blogging front I am trying to make an effort here. I am not really sure if anyone cares about the random junk that I am throwing up on this thing. Still, it is something to do.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Radar Secret Service

Robot Repair at it's worst

High School Big Shot

More Mystery Science Theater Magic. Enjoy

Village of the Giants

Be safe out there and don't get stepped on

No Good Comments

I am debating if I want more people to read this blog or not. I am sure that when I started it I wanted everyone to give it a read. I am not sure that I have imparted any wisdom or anything useful. I do not think I have a following or regular readers. The comments are rubbish from people advertising something. So what is the point? I am not sure.

Danger Death Ray

Mike and the Bots take a run at this classic

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

There are just not Words

This was great. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

The Projected Man

Shows like this make me want to have shows like this.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

I am a church goer and I would be annoyed if someone tried to teach astrophysics during Sunday School. Actually if is was Dr. Tyson I would probably not be that bothered. Still, I do not think he is going to come to Pittsburgh and do this.

I also run a clown troupe and I would not let people teach astro physics during our meetings. OK Dr. Tyson might have some very interesting takes on what is happening during juggling practice. Ok so besides Dr. Tyson, Dr Hawking and a reanimated Albert Einstien it would annoy me. Any where here is a picture thing with a quote from him. Well at least the person who made it thinks it is his quote. Sadly Dr. Tyson does not have the time to waste reading this drivel to confirm or deny these things.

Ring of Terror

Giant Spider Invasion

Would it be an invasion if the spiders were normal size

Be Safe out There and Keep Your Stick on the Ice.

Random Cat Picture

This is a Random picture of my cat eating on the cat shelf in my office.

Well here I am once again on the old blog. With the help of an internet mobile stick thing I am blogging on the bus. As always it is a magical experience. There is a guy next to me with too much cologne. We are going to called what ever smells that bad cologne. Also he is annoy I have the audacity to sit next to him. Of course he is sitting arms Folded with his legs spread to take up as much room as possible. The sad thing is he probably feels justified being rude in a public place. Well what can you do. I suppose I will be snarky on my blog about the situation. It would probably be too over the top to take a picture of the guy. Well it doesn't matter and you folks out there are not that interested.

Not that it matters but I have started playing the sim city on the facebook. Sim City with the actualy city was the only video game I have installed on my computer. I will putter around with and see what it is like. Well I am not really sure why it was important to ass this entry. Still there it is.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Stuff

I do not know is Dr Tyson said the following. It sounds like something he could have said.

In the defense of the Mayan they were never claimed to know when the world would end. It is goodballs in our time who said this.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

This is playing card for something or other that feature Dr. Tyson

The Thing That Couldn't Die

More fun from the good people at Mystery Science Theater 3000

King Dinosaur

What can I say. This is just wonderful

Knitting in the Office

The front meeting room in our office is just about ready to be used again. I do need a couple more comfy chair for the knitting group and a couple ceiling tile. I have just finished running the wire to add speakers to the stereo. I do find that knitting groups go better with music.

Restarting the Clown Brigade's knitting group has been a bit rocky. Finding a place to meet was a bit of an issue. Still, using the office is as good a solution as any. It is just that we will not be able to have the public show up. Still, it may be a blessing just have the ability to knit among ourselves. The strange things that clowns have to knit are not always understood at regular knitting groups.

So we will see how it goes. Maybe we can post in Pittsburgh Knitting when we have a stable date and can invite the public.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Stay Family

I have a tiger stripe cat and her seven kittens in my house. The critters found there way into my living room. They have been at the house eating all my cat food for the last week. I have never had a cat wondering into myhouse with kittens before. They may be someone's else lost cat. I suppose I should put up posters or something. Well I should take some pictures of them and put them up here. I am terrible at the putting up pictures on this thing.

Writing in the voice of teen age girls is a pain in the neck. On the up side I have had some help from a couple of the young women in the clown troupe. According to them my dialog is unrealistic for teenagers and they have made some suggestions. In retrospect maybe I should have made Evangeline and Yamato boys. Still, I think there is something compelling about a girl trying to save her future husband.

Right now I am calling this book the Junior Time Lords. I hate this title more than any other title I have come up with. It fits the book but it is stupid. I have been thinking of calling it the Herald of the Last Fleet Lord. It is better title but it minimises the contribution of the other characters. Well it is something that I will have to play with. Maybe after I get it in good shape I will let the girls from the troupe read it and see what their suggestions are.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice

Horses Should not Dance

You are not an everyman if you have a horse that dances. That is the very definition of not being an everyman. You look up not an everyman it shows a picture of a guy with a dancing horse. I normally o not political on this blog. Mainly because not one cares what a clown thinks about the next President.

Well I think we need a President that has some grip on reality. The Dancing horse looks like Dukakis in a Tank. Well there it is. I just hope he does not strap his horse to the roof of his car.

Homestead Town Meeting

Tonight I attended a town meeting in Homestead. The goal was to find solutions to prevent future violence. Several people spoke. Only about one in five had an actionable item. Most were lamenting things were not like they were or who or what annoyed them. All and all it was fairly predictable.

There were a couple of good ideas that centered around community watch and putting more people on the streets. The bottom line is that if kids are acting up you have to do something to keep and eye on them and keep them busy. Drug Dealers do not want to hang out with a bunch of people They want to do their business in a quiet corner. If your town does not have that out of the way place for them they will go somewhere else. They are like electricity, they will take the path of least resistance. When the community has a bunch of people watching the bad guy and giving the kids in the middle something to do the drug dealers cannot thrive.

This is not rocket surgery. The rub is if your town can get along well enough to deal with the issues. We shall see.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Still puttering around in Homestead

Duck Hollow Fire Stuff

The fire juggling thing may be shaping up slowly. I recall there being a really great event once upon a time that had spinner and drummers. This even has not survived to this year.

Well to fix this we have started a new facebook group and have gone about inviting people from scratch. It is as you might exspect a pain in the neck. Still there have been a couple folks who have been very help in creating a new group. There are a handfull of people that have responded to this and said they are going to show up. I hope that we make a good showing so that they come back next time.

By the way this first event will be this Friday at 9:00PM at the Duck Hollow Fish Area under the Homestead High Level Bridge.

Still getting used to the new blogger. Usually I hate the changes for a while and then I start to accept them. Acceptance has not happened yet. In fact this is annoying me more then when it first happened. Blogger is lucky I am way too lazy to move all my stuff elsewhere. Granted I doubt they care even a little.

On the up side of things There is interest in the Duck Hollow Fire Arts thing. The first meeting of this group will be the 22nd. So that could be a very good thing. IF you are into poi or juggling fire we will be at the duck hollow fishing area at 9:00 PM so be there or be square. Yes I am old

Arby's is better

I am still not loving the new blogger that has been forced upon us. I spend part of today looking at other blogging sites. I think I need to learn what ever language these things are written in and buy a server to host my own site. This might be expensive and more than my attention span can handle.

Well clown stuff is still plugging along. The knitting group has met once and will meet again. We are going to meeting at the subway at station square. It is not the first place that you think of for knitting in Pittsburgh. Still it is a great deal more comfortable than you would think. They have nice plushie chairs and don't play terrible elevator music. I will take and post pictures of our never meeting.

Also on the fast food front. I continue to be amazed how bad the service is at the down town McDonalds. I went to the Wood St location and was standing in line. A staff person was scooping crud out of the french frier. They when took the strainer and smacked it around inside a garbage can. They then stuck it back into the frier and repeated the procedure. I asked the person is they were beating their scoop inside a trash can. They replied that they were. I turned around and left. I want to the Arby's next door. I wanted a cherry turn over. I asked them for the cherry turn over and they said they were out. The lady at the counter apologized and asked if I would like an apple one. I replied that I never had one and asked if they were any good. She gave me one for free as an apology for not having the cherry ones. I am certain the McDonalds would have just told me I have to have the Apple one or leave.

And yet for some reason the McDonald's is always packed and Arby's does not have the same crowd. Granted this one is physically smaller. Still the service is so much better and the staff is actually nice to you. If the Arby's had wifi I would never go back to the golden arches.

Well this is me checking in., Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Tooling around the burgh with my blind kitten

Bus Posting

I just finished the last Two and Half Men. It was not bad. I am not sure if this means they are getting rid of Jake or what. I suppose they could get some mileage out of him being in the military. Maybe he just wants out so that this show does not kill his acting career. I should probably look up to see if he is coming back next year.

On other fronts I continue to blog on the road. I happen to be on the 61D tooling through Oakland. I am very tired for some reason even though I do not feel as if I have done anything. I am on my way home from Bible study and it was very good. This is probably the largest Bible Study I have ever been apart of. If I did not see it working I would not have though it would do so well. Perhaps it has something to do with it’s novel structure. Everyone is given a verse or two to take home. You are then to come up with how you feel the verse impact what ever the given subject is. You get some very interesting insights from the other folks there. 

Well I will catch you all later. Keep you stick on the ice and be safe out there

Idiots with Fire

There is lots of interesting stuff to talk about in the performing world. First things first, the Brigade is doing well. We have had some great practices recently and have a new member who is fluent in ASL. This is great because it has been one of our goals to learn it. We took a couple classes at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. They were good for the folks that took them. They then told us that the kids could not take further classes. I even offer to take the classes with the kids. Something about that don’t have classes for kids unless they have family who are deaf. Well this has left us to our own devices. My mastery of ASL is lousy at best. I can get the idea across but I have no one to talk with. We have been having classes at Tuesday practice of our own. We have everyone up on the animals color and some basic greeting. It is not much. Still, if we have to do a Show in the Deaf Community we would be able to do balloon animals.

Pittsburgh Fire Arts continues to be an issue. Their leader, Doug, claims that he contacted the police and fire department. I have contacted the police and fire department and they never heard of him. In my conversation with Doug he claims to be a proud Pot Head and feels that blankets are the best way to be safe around fire. Can a blanket smother fire? Sure. Will someone high on pot or drunk have the same response time as a sober person with fire extinguished? Absolutely not.

Is it a pain in the neck to cart around a fire extinguisher? Of course it is. I do it on the bus all the time. Is that a reason to lie about taking proper precautions?  The sad part is that the actions of this person have limited my options. If they had not thrown me out of the facebook group I could have appealed to everyone else for better safety. Perhaps he is lying to them about the research he has done.

I would really like to see an event like this take place. I could not live with myself if the price of that event was that someone gets run over by a drunk or Squirrel Hill gets burned down.

Why can't I cut and paste stuff into blogger since the upgrade? Recently I have been typing my posts in a word processor so that I can use a decent spell check. I would then cut and past it into the blogger. I cannot do that. I have to open both windows and drag it over. It is pain and there is no good reason for me to have to do it. Blogger should stop messing with it's features.

Clown Polotics and Blogger Gets Even Worse

Blogging continues to be something that I want to do but do not do. It is not as if I am too busy. I have the notebook with me almost all the time now and still I cannot remember to knock of a page of text here and there. I am creating all kind of useless pages of fiction. Still I cannot find the effort to tell people about rather ordinary life. I would say that I have had nothing interesting to report. That is not the case though. There are strange happening with the COAI locally and Brigade continued to be a source of inspiration and consternation.

Well I might as well ramble on about the COAI. The COAI is the Clown of America International. It is a club for clowns basically. When everything is working correctly you go to the meetings and learn stuff about clowning. Our local chapter has fallen on hard times. It’s membership is down and for what ever reason they did not allow young people to join the alley. After bring my young folks to the meeting for a year this rule was change to reflect the national organization. Now young folks are allowed to join the alley.

At the last meeting the old President brought a copy of the bylaws that they typed themselves. In this copy they made a couple of changes including raising the membership age to it’s previous level. My young folks, as one might expect, felt annoyed by this. How do you explain to a kids that an adult does not want them around. It is even sillier when even the kids can see the group needs members because it is about to die. Now this is just one person of an other wise relatively stable group. Well stable for clowns anyway.

Blogger continues to get worse as time goes on. They have once again changed the format. AS far as I can tell they have not added any new features or made it any better. They simply moved around the stuff. If I did not have so many posts I would move them all over to wordpress or somewhere else. So if you are reading this and thinking of starting a blog. Don’t do it here.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

R e v T u r n e r ` s o n f i r e t o d a y

Knitting and other random stuff

The knitting group is moving along slowly. Walt and I met at the Subway at Station Square. None of the young ones were available for our first meeting. So it was just Walt and I knitting on the south side. There was knitting that was had. I stated a new long scarf with a figure 8 cast on. Thus someone else will be able to knit on it. Walt was working on an orange scarf with the Martha stitch. I think walt must know dozens of hunter that need orange scarves. I should ask him about this. I think I have personally seen him knit five or six of them. Maybe he has just been knitting the same one for the last three years. It is probably that I am thinking about this too much.

There will be pictures of the next meeting. I think we will be at the subway and with luck there will be some young folks with us. We might even mention it on the Ravelry and invite the general public.

On the writing front I have dramatically changed the first book in the series. The adding of the Yukawas makes it a different book. Several things were taken out and I get them all back to the Ganterian Empire a wee bit latter than I had in the first draft. One thing that always bothered me about the first draft was the the Ganterian were so helpful. I am adding some political problems within the Empire to make that situation more realistic.

It is odd because I we getting close to finished with it. Now I have two version of the same book that are very different. Well I am sure it will work out eventually. 

Oh and to the good people at blogger. The new layout annoys me. I should have the option to keep things the way they were. 

Why

Why and the heck are all these Russian folks trying to post stuff on my blog. I do not speak Russian nor have I ever posted in it. I do like the little wooden dolls tat fit one inside the other. That is about as much as I know about Russia. Well i suppose I know they had the largest tank battle in History with the Nazi and Catherine was pretty Great. Other than that not much. If you are Russian and looking for a place to advertise impotence pills or porn this is not the place.

On other fronts life is puttering along. The clown Brigade continues as it has with few changes. One of the young Brimages is become quite a good little clown. And it is just in time we have had some requests for shows ans will need her help if we are going to fill them. Young Miss Wilson has been sick and requires prayer. So please add her to your lists.

WEll I am just checking in . Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Taco Bell Dorito taco so bad for me but so tasty

Back at the Hive

After a many year absence I find myself back at the Beehive this evening. The hive as given up on it silly expansion into a three storefront bar. It is back to the single store front of my youth. The place still smells funy and the soft drinks are still over priced. I have no intention of bringing the knitting group back here The place is still lit like a dive bar. The bigs difference now is that everyone has their nose in a computer instead of a used book. I would like to think they are all on line reading the latest subversive literature. In reality they a probably playing angry birds.

Odd how some of the old faces are still around. The kids are gone. The might be still selling some beer here. For what ever reason the place is not as happy. I am not sure that i mind. It is just something that is different. They are making more food here and it smells like three kinds of terrible. It is not bad enough to make me leave but it might keep me from coming back. On some level I miss the pizza bagels and terrible egg salad. Actually the egg salad sandwiches were not that back. In face the last time I think I had one was five years ago when I was here.

The only up side is the lack of cigarettes. At least I do not think anyone is allowed to smoke in here anymore. Well I don't know. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

More Randomw Stuff

Just a couple random things. Montverde is a company that make pens and their refills. I have these pens that I use with big padded grips on them. There was a refill that I used in them that is no longer available in my area. So I was using the Foray refills tat were not nearly as smooth and cost a buck more for two. Well I went to another stone and found these that are a dollar less. They are very smooth and if the ink holds out on them they will be new brand of pen refill.

Also I had a Quaker Steak and Lube shrimp basket recently and was really disappointed. The shrimp were all bread and the fries were just the charred ends of the potato. Now I assume i got the bottom of the bag on these two things and that is why there were so bad. Still for ten buck one expects a better meal.

I have my torches in my bag along with parafin to celebrate the anniversary of our clown brigade this evening. So goos time will be had by all tonight. I will see you all next time and maybe with some nice pictures.

Spring and Shows

Well it is Spring and every clown's heart turns to summer shows when April rolls around. I have been juggling an telling knock knock jokes in the mirror to get ready. This spring is different from the last couple for my Brigade. This is the first year that we have more than two clowns that are really able to handle doing shows. So we are going to put our name up on the internet as a source for your clowning needs. I just hope the Mayor's office does not jam our blog with request for advice.

Well just checking in and trying to be a better blogger. Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice.

Writting Stuff

I have made a decisions I think. I will make the Captains Booth and the Lost Empire's the first book in the series. It is not chronologically the first. Still, I think one can say that the story starts there. Those of you that are out there that cannot read the book or know what is in my head this does not matter. Heck i may never be able to publish the things in the first place. They may all be terrible for all i know.

Well that also means that I have not been working on the first book for the last month. This book is a pain because I have to write about the Japanese Navy. I know very little about the modern Japanse Navy. Actually it is currently the Maratine Defense Force. So not technically a Navy. In the future where the book take place it is a Navy again.

It is relatively easy to write about the American Navy. I think I know enough about it to be convincing. For the most part the customs and tradition of the United States Navy are part of American culture. In many ways the Japanese Navy is changing a great deal. At one point the thought they would have an aircraft carried was unthinkable with the modern MDF. Now they have a couple jump carriers.

The Navy that I am writing about is 150 years from now and has star ships. Will the Japanese Military be entirely past the events of the Second World War by then. Will it be a more militaristic nation then? Who know? No one can know.

This is what bothers me. Of everything in the book the least realistic thing may be the Japanese Military. Well I will have to just keep reading what I can and figure it out. The chances I can find a Japanese Sailor in Pittsburgh and have a long conversation with them is not good.

Well I am not sure how to solve this to my satisfaction.

Random Physics Ideas

I am several weeks behind on episodes of Star Talk. I wonder how many of their listeners listen to it while it is being broadcast. Perhaps, that means I am not as a big a nerd as I think I am. I have been thinking that there should be a physics inspired clown show. I would teach about gravity with juggling or something along those lines. Now that I think of it no one would pay for that show. Well it was just another random thing that passed through my mind while I was sitting in front of the computer.

The Green Stuff

Once again it is St Patrick's Day and my neighborhood has become ground zero from the drunks and wanna be Irish who want to be drunk. Pittsburgh Police claims they are enforcing the open bottle laws but that does not do anything to stop the regular drunk people from staggering around. I had to go out today for a church meeting.

One thing i have noticed it annoys some drunk people if you are not wearing green. According to the internet, that is never wrong, Pittsburgh is about 22 % Irish. So a fifth of the city has a right to celebrate. If you eliminate kids and the elderly you get around 12 percent of the city can celebrate. There is more than that staggering around defecating of St. Pat's memory.

Anyway I am on the bus coming back from church and someone demands to know where my green is. It told him on an old casserole in the back of my fridge. I actually do not think I own very much green stuff. It is not one of my favorite colors so I do not buy clothes that are green. Anyway back to the drunk. Someone else on the bud was sober enough to realized my comment was snarky

The guy then starts cussing up a storm he tells me his father survives the potato famine, I think he meant grandfather or great grandfather by his age. He got up and then fell down smacking his head off one of the seats as he went down. That was the first person I saw scooped up by the paramedics today. The other was at Station Square and looked like he walked into something. I did not see it but his buddies were loudly telling everyone how he was running across the street and his the metal telephone pole.

Well that is my report from the festivities. I know you were riveted.

Not Much Going On

Well there is not much going on. And yes there is so little going on that I have dragged myself onto the internet to say that there is not much going on. Well there you go. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice

Once again unto the Beich

I was just just watching Henry V so instead of killing French folks I am off to clown practice. Today was get ready for the one and only parade the Steel City Clown Brigade does every years. The Ides of March March. This is a fun filled event of running around the South Side and making noise. WE are warning that they should beware of our March that occurs on the Ides of March. After we have warned everyone we go somewhere and have cake. This year I think I will be running around on my stitls. Well maybe not running as so much as walking along with everyone else.

It looks as if it starts around six o-clock so we will all be there with our strange stuff on ready to warn the world about the March.

I hope to see you all there. Mainly because I cannot see you on this thing now. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Google Annoys Me Amoung Others

Every time I log into my blogger account google asks me for my mobile phone number. I am sure tey want it so they can sent me text that i do not want or need and be charged for them. In the states we are charged for receiving a text even if we do not read or open it. You would think a corporation would be sensitive to this annoyance and not sent us junk that we do not want. Also only my phone I have to use the google search engine. So I have to pay for the internet time on the phone and I have to down load their add while I do it. If my blog did not have hundreds of entries I would more them all to another blog service.

I mean why must they nickle and dime me? I can understand if they are going to give me a service and they want to charge me for it. Heck I would pay a reasonable price to use blogger without the constant begging for a little bit more information. I do not have that option to the best of my knowledge.

I do miss the old blogger without all this foolishnes.

Also it would appear no one is reading this at this time. There are no comments from people who are willing to say who they are. Still, people keep sending anonymous comments that never get posted. If no one is reading this blog why are people trying to advertise on it. I am sure you could make buck if you posted something on the yarn harlot.

Well if you are anonymous and advertising pills or something else it will not get posted here. And I am not posting anything with a link unless it is to another blog or something that I might find interesting.

Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ic.e

Found next Evanovich book cheap. My inner Scott is happy

Knitting update

I am still working on coming up with a decent pattern for knitting balls that can be stuffed with pellets and juggled. If you make them with a worsted yarn on american 5 needles you can just about get them to hold the pellets that they are stuffed with. I have not come up with a pattern that makes a round ball. They are just a bit off. Maybe this is because I have not knit this thing before and it may need more fines than I am putting into them.

Well I will keep working at it and see if I can come up with something better. Now you may be saying to yourself. Why don't you crochet them. Well I am not such a fan of the so called hooked art. I have it in my head that this can be don with the knitting so I am going to try and figure it out.

Sunday is the ice skating trip with the church and I am wearing my skates as I type because I have not worn them in a long time and want to make certain they still fit. They appear to fit. I am sure that mattered to everyone out there in the interweb land.

There is actual honest to goodness knitting prograss in this entry. And on top of that once again i am knitting something odd.

First off is a little sewing. I am making balls for juggling. he is a lovely basket full of sewing jugggling balls As you may not they are not round. these are balls for people that are learning how to juggle. And cubes are the best thing for people that are learning how to juggle. First and foremost when you drop them they stay where you drop them. if you drop a ball it will go whee ever it can roll. this may not sound like much. Still, if you are jugling this gets annoying when you are running all over the place looking for your balls. Make up your own jokes if you must at this point.

The other thing that was have been trying to do is sew round balls. I have tried a four segment style and a two piece style modeled on the base ball. It is a real pain to make them round. I am not be good enough with the sewing machine to do this. even so I am giving it a show with some scrap fabric from a bag making project. Neither came out round.

Well as stated the sewing them round is not working. So i am trying knitting them round. This is my first attempt at knitting a round ball. It was too loose to hold the stuffng. As I type this I have a half finished balls make with a smaller gauge set of needles. hopefully it will hold the stuffing better. the stuff is wood fuel pellets that are used in wood burning stoves.

As you can see it is round. It also does not take foreever to knit. The down side is that knitting one of these take the same amount of time as sewing three cubes. Well when i get better I will put up a completed set that looks nice.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice