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The computer man cometh

Yesterday afternoon I was writing along about something I wanted to say and was interrupted by the Dell lady. I spent the next hour letting her pick through my laptop and she finally said I was going to need another touch-pad and another hard drive. It supposedly will not cost me anything. It better not. But crap!

I guess I will either need to pay for an extended warranty or fix up one of the two kaput laptops I have if this one goes down after my next birthday in October. Happy Birthday! You need a new laptop. Damn, I hope not. I need to get one of those sturdy laptops with a durable case like the Army uses. I have a computer like that for my job. But it is a monumental piece of s**t. That’s MPOS, in troll talk.

Friday is supposedly the day the computer jockey comes to fix up this Inspiron. So I have all that re-loading stuff to look forward to this weekend. The Dell lady said she will “own” my case and will put all the software back on my laptop. Indian porn generator, perhaps? Sorry, it’s been a long day.

 

 

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Top 10, finally. Good effort, not too great results.

For quite awhile I have wanted to do a slide show so I could more easily and efficiently compose lists, perhaps even with music. Well today I started with the Top 10 concerts I have attended. It was neither an easy nor efficient use of my time and that of my alternative ego, Mr. Smith, who was kind enough to let us make use of his You Tube account.

The slide show may or may not have music. If it does, it may eventually creep into songs played in the concerts I attended, although once the music gets going the slide show stops until you decide to run it again. Or so it went when I tried it out. Well, no one said I nor Mr. Smith were techno-whizes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxlMvvCaW4Q&list=HL1378159071&feature=player_detailpage

A word about these concerts. Some are listed with other times I saw the act. For instance, I saw Fleetwood Mac as part of the ZZ Top extravaganza in New Orleans. This was around the time they released the self-titled album. It was likewise just after Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group. Then they were the featured act at another City Park show in New Orleans in, I believe, June 1977. I know it was just before I departed Gulfport for sea duty in the Western and Southern Pacific. That particular show in the late Spring of ’77 was pretty much my favorite concert ever. That had more to do with the friends I went with to the concert. We had a blast, Danny, George Jim, Rene and his friend, whose name slips my mind, and myself. The music was really good as well. It seemed every song from “Rumours,” was producing hit after hit from the spring through past the end of the year.

Also, another very popular album at that time was Bob Seger’s fantastic “Night Moves,” another hit machine. Starting off the concert was the melodic and soulful Louisiana Leroux, which has been a.k.a. “Leroux.” The performance was rounded out by Kenny Loggins, who had not long before split with his longtime musical partner, Jim Messina.

About a month before stopping off at our first liberty on our New Zealand and Australian “tour” on board the old destroyer we were given word by the XO that Fleetwood Mac would be playing in Auckland, N.Z., while we were to be there. There were a limited number of tickets available for, I think $7. Not a lot of money but when you were grossing about $535 — $7 would be worth about $27 these days, according to the BLS — then it was a little bit of cash to think about. But I wanted to see if concerts in the U.S. were different than the ones in New Zealand. It was a little different. You didn’t see people smoking reefer as was prevalent at concerts in the USA back then. Other than that not much difference at all. Plus, it was really good music.

So, thinking about “back in the day,” while trying to work with Mr. Smith on movies or slideshows. Here is hoping the ones I do in the future are much better.

Well, I played the video again and no music that time. Also, I noticed a slight error. The Superdome concert I attended where the Allman Brothers were headliners was the first rock concert (perhaps even Southern Rock) to ever take place. There were some other MOR people who played between the opening ceremonies in Aug. 3, 1975, and whenever the concert was … about a month later.

 

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Who invented Labor Day? You don’t want to know

No, it wasn’t Jerry Mcguire who founded Labor Day.  Nor was it the McGuire Sisters. It certainly wasn’t Barry McGuire. He was too busy singing the 60s protest song “Eve of Destruction.” A great way to start you day is listening to that song, or maybe Pink Floyd’s “Mother (Do You Think They’ll Drop the Bomb).” That along with your choice of bran flakes and skim milk.

  “While most sources, even the Department of Labor, credit Peter McGuire with the origination of Labor Day, recent evidence suggests that the true father of Labor Day may in fact be another famous union leader of the 19th Century, Matthew Maguire,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Which Maguire or McGuire founded Labor Day? Wrong. It was Jerry McGuire. Show me the money!!
Which Maguire or McGuire founded Labor Day? Wrong. It was Jerry McGuire. Show me the money!!

“Peter McGuire was a young, though well-respected, union leader. A child of immigrants, he quit school at an early age to go to work. In 1881, he founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, which would become the largest trade union of the time. Later, McGuire would join with his friend, Samuel Gompers, to found the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Through the AFL and the Carpenters, McGuire led the great strikes of 1886 and 1890, which would eventually result in the adoption of the eight-hour workday on the nation’s agenda.”

But naturally something is always there in labor to gum things up, said DOL.

“In the 1870s, Matthew Maguire led several strikes, most of which were intended to force the plight of manufacturing workers and their long hours into the public consciousness. By 1882, Maguire had become the secretary of and a leading figure in the Central Labor Union of New York.”

So why has the Mag been overlooked for the Matt? Politics, me boy!

  “According to The First Labor Day Parade, by Ted Watts, Maguire held some political beliefs that were considered fairly radical for the day and also for Samuel Gompers and his American Federation of Labor. Allegedly, Gompers did not want Labor Day to become associated with the sort of “radical” politics of Matthew Maguire, so in a 1897 interview, Gompers’ close friend Peter J. McGuire was assigned the credit for the origination of Labor Day,” the Labor Department history of Labor Day goes on.

Ain’t that the s**ts?”

Oh, well Happy Labor Day.

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Teacher Figg and stoner Herbie Head welcome new element 115

Class, we would like to welcome 115 to the discussion. Who is “we?” Why it’s me, myself and I. No, that’s a little funny I made. We, are the class, with your teacher, me. I’m Mr. Figg. And yes, that includes you, Mr. Herbie Head. So just what is 115 and why are we talking about it?

Why, 115 is the newest element. It is the most recent addition to the Periodic Table of the Elements. Say what, man? You know, Mr. Head, the table you memorized for Chemistry I in the 10th Grade? Say what? You did take Chemistry in high school. Oh wow man, did I. I took every kind of chemical I could get my hands on. You know the saying: “Better love through chemistry.” Uh, I think that is “Better LIFE through chemistry.” Yeah, that too.

Okay, bring up your periodic charts from the Web and look at the top, right corner. And look on the bottom row of that group and you will find “Uup.” It is located between “Fl and Lv.” It has the number 115 on it.

Does anyone have a guess what Uup stands for? Yes, Mr. Head. Uh, wow man, I think it stands for U up. You know, like “U up for a good time?

Uh, no. No, the Uup represents “ununpentium.” Those are Greek and Latin words for 115. How nifty, huh? It sits in between flerovium and livermorium.

Uh, hey Mr. Figg, man, does any of those letters stand for a BC Powder, those words are kind of giving me a headache?

No, Mr. Head. They do not. Now here in a nutshell: We have the atomic number, such as 115, which stands for the number of protons found in the nucleus of an element. So for ununpentium, it has 115 protons in its nucleus. Now uranium has 92 protons, thus making it the heaviest element that nature has to offer. So then, what does that make 115? (Sigh) Yes, Mr. Head.

That makes, like, one really heavy dude, man. So like all those protons are weighted down so 115 is like the heaviest unnatural dude. Yes, Mr. Head, that is correct. The dude, er, ah, element was made in a laboratory. And eventually a scientific body might name 115, something else? Yes, Mr. Herb. I mean, Mr. Head.

You mean, like, Ms. Conner’s? She has one scientific bod!

Uh, I think it’s about bell time. You can find more information in this well-written article on the newest element. It’s on the National Geographic Web site. Have a nice evening.

You too, Figg man.

 

 

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A & M to be deprived of Johnny Football for one-half against Rice, sources say.

Okay Johnny, which wrist would you like us to slap? Oh. Of course, we wouldn’t want to slap your passing arm even though the slap will be more like a finger tap.

I know I should tread lightly talking about Texas A & M and it’s headline-making quarterback Johnny Manziel. Half of my family went to A & M and a close friend from college days is a big fan since our college is only what is now called a “Football Championship Series” team and not a BCS one.

Johnny Football after June 2012 arrest for fighting and fake identification. / Photograph courtesy of Brazos County's Judicial Records Search at http://justiceweb.co.brazos.tx.us
Johnny Football after June 2012 arrest for fighting and fake identification. / Photograph courtesy of Brazos County’s Judicial Records Search at http://justiceweb.co.brazos.tx.us

But if all the reports this afternoon are right then it seems Heisman Trophy winner “Johnny Football” will have to sit out one half of the Aggies season opener against Rice. This news comes from ESPN and other media outlets, based on a Twitter feed from an Aggie insider.

The one-half suspension will permanently shut the door on allegations Manziel was paid to sign more than 4,000 autographs. Scott Van Pelt said on his ESPN radio show this afternoon that autograph brokers who snitched on Manziel to the media would not talk to NCAA investigators. At least that is a popular theory. The reason is that, allegedly, the Aggies quarterback was devaluing his autographs by signing so many.

Might one say that they smell a rat in Indianapolis, home of the NCAA?

A second Heisman season is possible for Manziel and there is an outside chance he might lead the Aggies to a national championship season, this being the team’s second in Southeastern Conference play.

With this chapter in Manziel’s history apparently closed, plus putting his legal problems to bed, this might be quite a season for Johnny Football. After this season Mr. Football will be eligible for the NFL draft. And he seems eager to let the draft madness begin and escape College Station. If he can just keep out of trouble …