Here’s the new addition to the Angry household, Wrex Barkley:

full size here

full size here

Lots of controversy over the new Mike Huckabee Xmas ad:

It is a pretty clear bit of pandering to the Evangelicals, and he is taking criticism for it. And though I personally don’t agree with his politics or his message, I award him full points for his response to the critics:

I will confess this: If you play the spot backwards it says, ‘Paul is dead. Paul is dead.’

That’s a good line.

Scans of old Christmas Catalogs!

Man, o man, my grandparents would get the Sears Wishbook every year and I would spend HOURS looking at it. I pawed through it again and again to meticulously compose my Christmas List. Here is a sample of the splendor contained within:

Yes, that is a 7 1/2 foot GI Joe aircraft carrier. I have no words.

Content has been scarce here at the Mothership lately, but I’m still Tumbling along at my Tumblr blog. Stop by and check it out, and feel free to use this post as a place for discussion for anything you see there.

‘Bout time we got a decent new wave band / Blondie ripoff in the 2000’s! I present to you my favorite band to come out of Sweden since The Cardigans, The Sounds.

I know I’m about a year late (or three) on these guys, but I live in Chattanooga (where the radio stations have decided that Creed is cool again) so cut me some slack!

I really have no reason to post this other than the fact that it is hilarious. It’s old as hell and not relevant to anything. But it’s funny, even if you have a no clue who Yngwie Malmsteen is.

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Threatens To Kill Airline Passenger

The audio link is both awesome and very NSFW. You’ve unleashed the f*$king fury!

Gonzales has resigned, officials say

HooRAY!!! Now if the government would just get an Attorney General who actually understood and obeyed the laws of this land, we will be in good shape. Gonzales wasn’t that guy

Well, everyone using Vista who has pinged a WGA server lately anyway:

Windows Genuine Advantage suffers worldwide outage, problems galore

I hope maybe this will be the kick in the ass that people need to start some sort of revolt against DRM and activation. It continues to astound me that we allow companies to treat us, their PAYING CUSTOMERS, like thieves.

This has always been in the back of my mind as a “what if” ever since Microsoft instituted their activation scheme, and I’m glad that it finally has happened. Microsoft has been adding more and more “checks” with each operating system release, and I hope that maybe this time they went too far and the backlash will bite them in the ass.

Oh, and in related DRM news:

BioShock Installs a Rootkit

The BioShock game from 2kgames is using SecureROM DRM (which is owned by Sony…remember THIS?!?) that installs a tasty little chunk of malware (not quite a rootkit like the article title says, but pretty damn close) on your system. What does it do? Among other nefarious things, it runs a service at startup that gives all user security levels admin rights to SecureROM. Wonderful. The software also requires activation, and only allows TWO activations of the software. What if I have to reinstall? What if I want to run the game on more than two PC’s? SOL, baby. Even more stunning is that the DRM is included in the DEMO version of the game. Why the hell does a demo need to to be activated?!?

I had heard so many good things about the game itself that I was planning on purchasing it. Not now. Not ever. Congratulations 2kgames, you have lost a sale.

I’m so pissed about this…

Wife who killed preacher set free

So…she shoots her husband in the back, spends two months undergoing therapy in a mental health facility, and then she is free as a bird. That is just wonderful. Next time I feel like murdering someone, I’ll just claim that they “forced me” to wear slutty shoes and a wig, and I’ll end probably end up with a bloody medal.

If this bitch gets her kids back, I give up. This country is just too f’d up for me to deal with.

Things I’ve seen so far:

Bionic Woman - A truly dreadful pilot. Worse than Heroes was last year (I like the show, but the pilot was terrible.) I’m still planning on watching this, but I’ll be hoping for a marked improvement from the first episode. Michelle Ryan is Jamie Sommers, and as Jamie Sommers she is no Lindsay Wagner. She’ll need to grow on me. Miguel Ferrer doesn’t get much to do other than glower and say overdramatic lines in an extra gravely way. I like him so let’s hope he gets better stuff to work with.

Sarah Connor Chronicles - I liked it. When I first heard about a Terminator TV show, I rolled my eyes and thought, “Why?” But I have to say that I was won over. Lena Headey was really good taking over for Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Thomas Dekker does a fine job as John. I wasn’t overly excited about Summer Glau’s special Terminator ability to act like a 21 Jump Street-type teenager until the bullets start flying, but once she switched to full-on Terminator mode she was much better. The bank scene was cool, and I loved how mom christens each new home with a little drywall patching and paint. My biggest fear with this show is that it is on FOX, which loves nothing else than to invest a bunch of time and money into a show only to drop it like a rock after two weeks of so-so ratings.

Had to go shopping today for a new refrigerator. I ran off the guy at Sears and spent my time looking over all the models until I finally settled on one. Then the real fun begins:

Salesperson: OK, let me put that model into the computer.
Me: OK.
Salesperson: Hmm, it’s not coming up.
Me: (I say nothing)
Salesperson: It’s not coming up in the computer.
Me: (I remain silent)
Salesperson: Let me go look at the model number again.
Me: OK.
Salesperson: It’s still not coming up…Maybe that model has been discontinued.
Me: Maybe.
Salesperson: Well, can I show you a different model?
Me: No.
Salesperson: Oh. Well, if I can’t find that model…
Me: That’s OK. Thanks for checking. Have a nice day. (Start walking away)
Salesperson: Oh. Well, let’s see…oh, here it is. I can’t sell it without an ice maker though. Is that OK?
Me: No.
Salesperson: Oh. Let me try something here…OK there, I guess I can sell it without the ice maker.
Me: No kidding.
Salesperson: Let me tell you about some of our extended maintenance options…
Me: No.
Salesperson: O…K…Do you want it delivered?
Me: Is that free?
Salesperson: No but there is a rebate…
Me: No.
Salesperson: Do you want to get a Sears card and get blah blah percent off?
Me: No.

At this point she pretty much gave up and just rung up the sale. Amazing the things she was able to make that computer do once she figured out that I was only buying one thing and one thing only. Miraculous.

I know it doesn’t really matter in the long run as he has ZERO chance of getting the nomination, but it is nice to see someone with some libertarian ideas actually getting some traction. And frankly, I’m surprised to see anything other than a “W” sign in Chattanooga.

Spice Girls reunite!

Finally, our chance to recognize Sporty Spice as the driving talent behind the group’s success. It may also be time to update my VHS copy of Spice World with a fresh copy on DVD.

Look! Our girls are all grown up:

I’ve held back this rant because I know it is kind of divisive. But I just gotta yell. Regarding the Creation “Museum” recently built in Kentucky, I read the following “opinion”
piece in today’s Chattanoogan and it was the final piece of the puzzle and I can’t hold back any more. First, the letter:

It was with great anticipation that my wife and I visited the recently opened Creation Museum near Cincinnati, Oh. We were not disappointed. The Creation Museum provides an exciting glimpse at how our Creator God brought everything into existence. It also offers a walk through human history and how God has interacted with man since the beginning. Hope for the future is the great theme that runs throughout the Museum.

The exhibits are professionally designed and executed and are true to the topic being depicted. Science and history are accurately presented at the Creation Museum.

It was gratifying to see all ages and many different cultures in attendance during our visit. Although there were many folks visiting at the same time we were, we felt secure, and good attitudes were being exhibited by all.

I highly recommend the Creation Museum to the people of our area. Parents and grandparents will be glad they took their young people. They will receive a positive message and learn how they can live with hope for the future.

Science and history are accurately presented?!? Are you f’n kidding me?!? There is no science within the walls of that travesty, and the idea that people take their kids and flat out lie to them about it makes me ill. Taken from a Washington Post article about the museum opening, Lawrence M. Krauss sums things up nicely:

“This may be fascinating, but this is nonsense,” said Lawrence M. Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Case Western Reserve University and a vocal defender of evolutionary science. “It’s fine for people to believe whatever they want. What’s inappropriate is to then essentially lie and say science supports these notions.”

With a nation of people raising their children to believe in the tripe this museum is peddling, is it any wonder that scientific interest in our country is so damn low? Really my issue is the same as that of Mr. Krauss though. Believe in creation if you want, teach it if you must, but for the love of your god, don’t outright lie about evolution whether it be from ignorance or intent. That my friends is propaganda, not education.

An aside, I’d love to actually see this travesty at some point, just to marvel at the cahones of the people that make this crap up. However, I’d never in a billion trillion (or even 6000 *wink*) years give them any of my money.

PS - I was going to tumbl this link, but I decided to have a bit of a vent instead. Hopefully I didn’t step on too many toes.

My posts have become scarce since my boss started working me like a dog, so I’m going to give Tumblr a whirl to see if I can post a sentence or two with a little more regularity.

http://angryb.tumblr.com/

This is an experiment and not intended to replace this blog. That is all.

My reader2 page has been changed to Shelfari. Reason? reader2 seems to be dead and gone. Shelfari seems to be faster and prettier anyway, so it’s fine. I looked at Library Thing, but they had limits to how many books you could list. My page is here, feel free to “friend” me if you have a page.

Also new to the sidebar is my Bookmooch plug. I’ve been using that service quite a bit and can now give it a good recommendation. If you are a big reader but not a big book collector, you might want to check it out.

Rev. Jerry Falwell dies at age 73

It looks like the “good lord” has taken Jerry Falwell home.

He can have him.

Man Who Shot Girlfriend In Rectum Pleads Guilty To Gun Charge

Rectum?!? I nearly killed ‘em!

P.S. - Later this evening I noticed this right below the rectum article:

I’ll have to remember the “coon hunt defense” if I’m ever in a compromising situation…