Saturday, May 31, 2008

Our Saturday bar bet...

The total amount of money in a standard MONOPOLY game is $15,140.

20 $500 Bills (orange)
20 $100 Bills (beige)
30 $50 Bills (blue)
50 $20. Bills (green)
40 $10. Bills (yellow)
40 $5. Bills (pink)
40 $1. Bills (white)

You can also download and print Monopoly money for free, although I'm not sure why you would want to. Download and print Monopoly money.

Separation of See and State

Now this just gets plain confusing...

Vatican City, which may or may not be the smallest county, issues passports. That part is not confusing.

Vatican City exactly coincides with The Holy See, like a diocese but not quite the same as a diocese. Okay, that part is a little confusing. The Holy See also issues passports. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

It is The Holy See -- and not Vatican City -- that exchanges ambassadors with other countries. For example, the United States exchanges ambassadors with The Holy See not with Vatican City (the actual sovereign nation).

The Holy See (not the State of Vatican City) maintains formal diplomatic relations with 176 sovereign states and the European Union.

International Law recognizes the pope as sovereign of Vatican City and as the sovereign entity of The Holy See.

If you are with me so far, an ambassador of the pope -- called a Papal Nuncio -- is not the representative of any physical country. For example, between the dissolution of the Papal States and the creation of Vatican City, the popes still exchanged ambassadors with many countries.

Now, the tricky part. In every country, there is a Dean of the foreign ambassadors assigned to that country. This is usually the ambassador with the most seniority. The deanship is the most prestigious job among ambassadors, and the Dean is usually the first to be told import news. The Dean also represents diplomats when questions of privilege or immunity arise. At ceremonial occasions, it is the dean who is first in line. In the United States, it is the Dean who is invited to official White House arrival ceremonies for heads of state.

International Law provides that a country can sidestep the ambassador with the most senority and designate the Papal Nuncio instead. In other words, the top job goes to the guy not representing an actual country.

President Reagan established full diplomatic relations with The Holy See in 1984, ending more than a century of U.S. opposition to such relations.

[In case you're wondering, it has been storming all evening and I was bored so I read about ambassadorships, just in case anybody offers me one!]

Friday, May 30, 2008

I swear I did not fake this...

I followed a link from KSDK-TV to the MODOT YouTube video about I-70. There were other MODOT videos listed so I clicked the one about St. Louis. If you look closely, the first "Related Video" is Tits.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

"They went that a way!"

Can you guess where the window is?

I planted bird seed

But all I got was weeds!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

It's [finally] Jim's gazebo (and a can of rootbeer)

This is what the Lake Board fought to keep me from building, although the Board's attorney said in court that I could build a shed.

In arrived in 27 boxes.

It took maybe seven hours to completely assemble.

No, it's not learning, I was when I took the picture.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

These are my three!

"Hey, you really are glad to see me!"

"George Costanza was right about cold water!"

"Why don't you buy jeans that fit?"

The picture is from an article at EON eontarionow.com.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Hawaii?

The Union Jack, above, is part of the official national flags of four countries -- Australia, New Zealand, Tuvalu and Fiji.

It is also part of the official flag of Hawaii.Oddly enough, the union jack is not the national flag of the United Kingdom, it has none. The union jack is officially a flag of the Queen, rather than of the country.

The red cross is the English flag (see below). It is called the Cross of St. George.

The white saltire is the Scottish national flag. It is the Cross of St. Andrew.

The red saltire is supposed to be the Cross of St. Patrick and represents Ireland. There is little or no historical basis connecting the symbol with either St. Patrick or Ireland.

The Welsh just get screwed.

The reason people get rich selling used cars...

Man uses gun for backscratcher, shoots himself

Something silly for a Monday

Line Rider
Meant to be a waste of time!
But fun.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

This is not good news...

...but I wanted regular visitors to know.

Rooty has doggie lymphoma. He is Stage III, meaning it has spread to all his lymph nodes but, we hope, not to any organs. He starts chemotherapy this week. Humans are given strong doses of chemo in an attempt to obtain a cure. Dogs are given lower doses. The goal is to get the disease into remission while maintaining a normal quality of life.

My last dog, Charlie, was in Stage V when we discovered he had lymphoma. In Stage V, the organs and bone morrow are invaded and leukemia develops. Charlie was also a Wire Hair Fox Terrier. He lived 7 1/2 months after chemo was started. It was a 7 1/2 good months. Without the chemo he would have lived maybe two weeks.

Because of my experience with Charlie, I checked Rooty's lymph nodes every day, that how I discovered that something was wrong. He shows no signs of being sick and is just as loopy and playful as ever. He also loves going to the vet so that helps -- he actually pushes the vet's front door open with his nose in his anxiousness to get inside!

I am not going to allow comments on this post and I will take it down in a few days. Some of you are like Rooty's extended family so I thought you should know. Jim

A good Saturday night bar bet...

With nine-syllables, www takes three times as many syllables to say as World Wide Web.

And, a bonus bet:

"W" is the only letter name with more than one syllable (double-u --> duhb-uh-u).

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Most over-produced song of all time!


With the most over-produced video of all time!
But, I actually like it!

The dancing school boys would be in the mid to late 40's by now.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

We all knew that it would come to this...

A Solar-powered bra to charge your cell phone on the go!
Full Story from Reuters News Service

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

No one got me in the divorce

Last week I ran into a guy I had grown up with, in the neighborhood, in Missouri. We had been good friends when we were kids. One event that I never missed was the New Year's Eve party that her and his wife held every year. We might see each other other times, but the party was a must. Then they divorced.

When I saw the guy last week, I finally realized that his ex-wife had gotten me in the divorce. I had not seen him much since the divorce -- weddings, funerals -- and there had been no party invitations. He has remarried but I don't know if they have a New Year's Eve party or not.

Oh. His ex-wife remarried and moved to California.

So, I'm free on New Year's Eve since, you know, no one got me in the divorce.

Monday, May 12, 2008

The Valley of Flowers

Florissant is a city in St. Louis County. Like many places, it is having an ever-increasing problem with vandalism. Grafiti is a special problem and the city is considering installing cameras at locations that are frequently spray-painted.

Below is a quote from the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Robert Adams, 45, of St. Louis, who was building a wheelchair ramp at a Florissant church, said he was concerned about being cited for minor offenses.

"I don't like the idea of getting a letter in the mail talking about me having littered, or that I didn't have my safety belt on in my car or that I didn't have my kid in a car seat," Adams said. "I'm not cool with that."


The guy is pro-litter and pro-child endangerment. He doesn't even live in
Florissant . He apparently just wants to bring his trash there and throw it out of his car window, while his kids are bouncing around like flounders in the backseat.

Friday, May 09, 2008

I'm Pre-Medicare

I've reached that point in life where I don't throw away batteries after they have been replaced.

I'm a geek. There are ex-mouse batteries, and ex-remote control batteries, on every table and desktop. I found one in Rooty's bed!

I need to join Batteries Anonymous!

Save me!

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Things they clearly no longer teach in Drivers-Ed

1. To stop at the white line at a traffic signal, as opposed to straddling it with your rust-bucket. The lines are there for a reason, usually to provide a clear path for cars on the cross-street trying to make a left-turn.

2. To yield to the car on your right at an uncontrolled intersection, as opposed to just racing through it without looking in either direction. The main street into a subdivision has no more seniority than do the cross-streets. Yield to the car which arrives first at the intersection or to the car on your right if it reaches the intersection at the same time as you do.

3. If a traffic signals are not working at an intersection, it becomes a four-way stop. Dah!

I so want by school taxes back!

This isn't then law...

It's merely the title of the law:

An Act to establish and make provision about the National Assembly for Wales and the offices of Auditor General for Wales and Welsh Administration Ombudsman; to reform certain Welsh public bodies and abolish certain other Welsh public bodies; and for connected purposes.

For short, they call it "Bob"

Everyone who remembers "Princes Summer Fall Winter Spring" raise your hand!

Peter Phillips, 30, it the son of Princess Anne and eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II.

He is going to marry Canadian Autumn Kelly, 29.

That's right, she'll be Princess Autumn!

Not only is she Canadian but she's Catholic. Oops!

He's 11th in line for the throne so marrying a Catholic is not allowed.

So she renounced Catholicism.

And converted to
Anglicanism.

In secret!

I like a gal who can make a commitment.

Her goals are World Peace, Rogaine for the groom, and to bring hockey back to Canada.

Monday, May 05, 2008

What better way to start a Monday, a Stupidity Test !

icon

Click to Play!
You will be taken to game webpage.
Scroll to middle.
Test takes only a few seconds to load.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

He said __________ and then he died.

"I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis."
Humphrey Bogart, 1957

"I've never felt better."
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 1939

"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."
Oscar Wilde, 1900

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist. . . "
General John Sedgwick, Union Commander,
killed in Civil War battle, 1864

Saturday, May 03, 2008

It's sometimes confusing being Irish.

The Republic of Ireland's national anthem is A Soldier's Song (Amhrán na bhFiann) It is usually sung in Irish rather than English even though only a tiny percentage of the Irish population speak Irish. That's right, the national anthem is in a language that few understand.

The National Anthem of Northern Ireland is God Save The Queen.

Because the Irish rugby team represents both Ireland and Northern Ireland, Ireland Calls (in English) is used for rugby games outside of Ireland. For games in Ireland, both Amhrán na bhFiann and Ireland Calls are used. Irish hockey and cricket teams also use Ireland Calls.

Then comest the Irish-Americans, who usually consider Danny Boy to be their Irish anthem. Being 1/4 Irish, I can assure you that a good Irish funeral always includes the playing of Danny Boy on the church organ.

Both Amhrán na bhFiann and Ireland Calls are in the first video. (Note the players who sing only one of the two or sing none.) The second is Danny Boy, sung by Declan Galbraith. The third, in fairness, is God Save the Queen (may my grandfather forgive me.).


Friday, May 02, 2008

I knew this was fake!

I made a joke in a previous post about this guy, about my wishing something large would fall on him or some such thing. I took some heat for that.

Well.

Edwards "Bear" Grylls
Discovery Channel
Man v. Wild

Slept in the wilds of the Sierra Nevada -- actually slept at a hotel advertised as “a cosy getaway for families" with the crew.

A smoke machine was brought in to add excitement to a volcano.

Built a Polynesian- style raft using only materials around him, including bamboo and palm leaves for a sail -- except the production crew built the raft, which was then dismantled so that Grylls could be shown constructing it on camera.

Lassoed a 'wild' mustang in the Sierra Nevada -- the horses were actually tame and had been brought in by trailer from a nearby ranch.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

More fun from....well, you know.


What Is Love
by the
4th Civil Affairs Group Marines
deployed to Barwanah, Iraq
from September 06 - April 07,
and features men from 2/3 Fox Co.