It's Billy's Blog

2010-06-13T02:55:00.000-05:00

I am testing a post to all bogs feature in Bloggar.

More Comic Con stuff: Stan Lee, Grant Morrison and two chicks decked out like 'Phoenix' and 'Emma Frost'

2008-05-15T20:32:00.002-05:00

Luckiest boy in Canada

2008-05-15T14:07:00.001-05:00

CUTLINE: Christian Elliott, 12, gets a hug to remember as Jayde Nicole makes a triumphant hometown return as the reigning Playmate of the Year.

Hrumph. And Peoria won't even build a statue for Richard Pryor.

Me. Want. This.

2008-05-14T22:22:00.001-05:00

CUTLINE: Yves Rossy, known as the 'Fusion Man,' flies with a jet-powered single wing over the Alps in Bex, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. Some people go fishing on their day off. Yves Rossy likes to jump out of a small plane with a pair of jet-powered wings and perform figure eights above the Swiss Alps. The revolutionary human flying machine comes after five years of training and many more years of dreaming.

Suddenly, I won't have to drive to work. I imagine it uses about as much fuel as my car, though.

It's official: Sitcoms rot your brain

2008-05-14T21:56:00.004-05:00

Apparently, someone needed to to a scientific study to determine this.

Here's my complaint: They are ALL the friggin' same.

New sitcom? Let me guess: The dad is fat, drinks too much beer, watches sports too much and is somewhat dysfunctional in his ability to raise the kids. The wife is out of his league, but is still a nag and a harpy. At least one of the kids with be a hottie daughter, and one of the kids will be a brainiac while the other struggles with grades. ALL of the kids will smart talk their parents in a way that would have gotten me a slap in the mouth. Oh, and they have a friend/neighbor/sister who's a bit of a slut.

Shall we name names?

'Hey, Angelina! Nice twins!'

2008-05-14T19:40:00.006-05:00

Yep. She's looking even more like Laura Croft these days, thanks to a double-sized bn in the oven:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angelina Jolie is indeed expecting twins, and it was Jack Black who let the news slip with a "Brady Bunch" crack. Long rumored to have two children by Brad Pitt on the way, Jolie confirmed the news during a side-by-side "Today" show interview with Black, her "Kung Fu Panda" co-star. The two are in Cannes, France, promoting the animated film.

The twins will be the 5th and 6th children for Jolie and Pitt. She didn't volunteer the information until Black dropped the hint, joking that the couple will "have as many as (the) 'Brady Bunch' when you have these."

Black's luck Angelina didn't go all Mr. and Mrs. Smith on his ass.

But seriously? Kung Fu Panda?

DC Comics corporate overlords should be ashamed of themselves

2008-05-14T19:34:00.002-05:00

Via BoingBoing:

Thomas Denton of comic blog Say It Backwards has a nephew who was diagnosed with cancer. A charity called Candlelighters helped his family out. Thomas decided to use his connections in the comics world to organize some charitable auctions featuring original artwork by various artists to give something back to the organization. Apparently Time Warner (who own DC comics, who in turn own Superman, Batman and most of the cool superheroes who wear capes) objected to the selling of the pieces featuring their copyrighted and trademarked characters on eBay, specifically Superman from what I understand.

Boo! Boo!

Drew Barrymore Update: Drew will hunt you down and beat you up

2008-05-14T13:50:00.007-05:00

Not really, but this guy came close:

Actress Drew Barrymore was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in West Hollywood on Monday but was not injured, authorities said today.

The collision occurred shortly before noon as Barrymore was driving near Gardner Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, said Sgt. Kristin Aloma of the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station.

Barrymore followed the hit-and-run vehicle after her car was rear-ended and got its license plate number, Aloma said.

I love William Shatner ... he's so completely full of crap

2008-05-14T12:41:00.004-05:00

Boy, it must have been rough for poor William Shatner:

The 77-year-old, who shot to fame as Captain Kirk in the original 1960s TV show, insists he couldn't enjoy flings with the series' most devoted followers because he was so turned off by their bizarre bedroom behaviour.

In his new autobiography, Up Till Now, Shatner explains how women would pretend they were being "beamed up" by the Starship Enterprise commander, shrieking: "So, this is what it's like to be in bed with Captain Kirk!"

He writes: "You can't imagine how much of a downer that is in every sense of the word."

Instead, Shatner porked every hot actress who ever appeared on the show.

Now that I think about it, I had the same problem. Whenever I bed a blog groupie,* she shouts out "LOL! LOL!"

I'm tellin' ya, that ain't good for your hard drive.

* Trust me folks, there ain't no such thing as a blog groupie.

Actually, Grant Morrison IS a god ...

2008-05-14T12:33:00.003-05:00

I still think his run on JLA is the best ever ...

Best. Interview. EVAR.

More evidence that life is not fair

2008-05-14T12:03:00.003-05:00

So, this chick who writes a mommy blog got fired for writing that her boss injects Botox into her face. She then devotes herself to full-time blogging and manages to eke out a modest income. How modest? Oh, just $40,000 a month. Yes, that's right. In one month. For a @!$%&*$ing mommy blog.

Sweet babbling Jesus.

Meanwhile, there's a Web site that essentially consists of pictures of cats, all of them submitted by readers. It's the hottest damn thing on the Web. And they sell advertising. I don't know how much they make, but I'm pretty sure it's more than I'm making.

So this is the situation in a nutshell: Over at my other site, I devote hours every day to writing articles that tell people about the ins and outs of local government and the media, in the hopes of filling the void created by uncaring corporate media that cuts news coverage and gives us daily updates on Brittney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

For as a reward, I'm lucky to recoup Web hosting and ISP costs.

But some person creates a mommy blog -- better-written-than-most, but still a mommy blog -- and she's earning more in a month than i earn in a year from my REAL job. And some goofballs post pictures of cats emblazoned with incorrectly spelled dialogue, and they also are making money hand over fist.

@!$%&*$ing mommy bloggers.

@!$%&*$ing cat bloggers.

Excuse me, I'm going to crawl into bed and whimper until it's time to leave for work.

Heroes and Villians, oh my!

2008-05-13T17:42:00.004-05:00

It's a promo for Heroes' 3-hour season premier ... this fall

Meanwhile, meet Brea Grant:

She plays Daphne, a who's supposed to be a foe for Hiro. Funny thing, I always considered Hiro to be thei series' version of the super-fast hero, like DC's "Flash" and Marvel's "Quicksilver."

'Sit your ass down, Mom'

2008-05-12T22:53:00.003-05:00

LeBron James has a few words for him mother when she gets in the face of a player who gave the Cav superstar a hard foul.

Not that I would ever say that to MY mom. She'd hit me.

Apparently, Bill O'Reilly even before he want to FOXNews

2008-05-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

Cap's shield in 'Iron Man' movie?

2008-05-12T14:37:00.003-05:00

It looks like we have another Easter egg in the Iron Man movie:

Right there, below Tony Stark's armpit, on the desk. Doesn't that look like Captain America's shield?

It would make sense for Stark to have a role in creating the shield, considering it's supposed to be composed of a mix of Adamantium and Vibranium, two very high-tech substances in the Marvel Universe.

But Cap started using the shield about six decades before Stark donned his iron long-johns.

If the word 'sex' is in the title, someone had better be gettin' nekkid

2008-05-11T15:50:00.005-05:00

Let me be perfectly clear: There's no way in Hell I'm spending any money to see the "Sex in the City" movie at the theater. But I do feel the need to acknowledge that out of the four women in the movie, the probably picked the right one to get naked.

And I won't be renting the DVD either.

And for the record, no one who looks like Kristen David has EVER had sex with a World of Warcraft player. Ever.

World of Warcraft players can't get laid even when they pay for it

2008-05-10T18:09:00.005-05:00

There's something fishy about this story:

Ralph Hardy, a 13 year old from Newark, Texas confessed to ordering an extra credit card from his father's existing credit card company, and took his friends on a $30,000 spending spree, culminating in playing "Halo" on an Xbox with a couple of hookers in a Texas motel.

The credit card company involved said it was regular practice to send extra credit cards out as long as all security questions are answered.

The escort girls who were released without charge, told the arresting officers something was up when the kids said they would rather play Xbox than get down to business.

...

Asked why he ordered two escorts, Ralph said he thought it was the thing to do when you win a "World of Warcraft" tournament. They told the suspicious working girls they were people of restricted growth working with a traveling circus, and as State law does not allow those with disabilities to be discriminated against they had no right to refuse them.

It seems like a century ago, but I vaguely recall that at age 13, I would have given my eye teeth to be in this situation (not that I recommend paying people for sex). But I also recall that I used to stammer and sweat like a pig if I thought a girl was even looking at me.

Of course, I wasn't the suave and debonair lady killer I am now. And we didn't have Xbox, but we did have Atari.

At the movies with Marvel (D.C., not so much)

2008-05-10T14:15:00.006-05:00

For every Marvel comic I buy, I buy 10 DC titles. I've always been more of a DC guy than a Marvel guy. I like my heroes iconic, not ironic.

Back when I was a kid, I bought my fair share of Marvel stuff. But I essentially stopped buying Marvel back in the late 80s early 90s because the quality of the books just went downhill. They started treating their readers like dolts (and then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter said about as much).

But I find myself really liking some Marvel titles: Astonishing X-Men, Captain America, Thor and Daredevil. But I find myself buying some D.C. titles out of habit. There are few that I buy because I simply cannot wait to get my hands on the next issue.

D.C. is rapidly becoming what Marvel was to me a decade ago: A producer of unreadable comics with bad art, lackluster plotting and writing, and over reliance on multiple crossovers and year-long mini-series that must, MUST affect every single character that ever existed. "Countdown" anyone?

And here comes more evidence of D.C.'s decline: The theaters are filling up with movies based on Marvel characters, while D.C. keeps screwing up. I had high hopes for several of them, including the Justice League. But the Justice League movie is officially tabled. Meanwhile, Marvel is slowly bringing every single original member fo the Avengers to the screen.

Feh.

So some advice: I mentioned those Marvel comics I like. Any suggestions? What gems am I missing?

It's a womb, not a clown car, woman!

2008-05-10T12:35:00.003-05:00

CULINE: "In this Aug. 2, 2007 file photo, Michelle Duggar, left, is surrounded by her children and husband Jim Bob, second from left, after the birth of her 17th child in Rogers, Ark. The Duggars announced on Friday, May 9, 2008 that they are expecting their 18th child.
(AP Photo/ Beth Hall, File)"

Good God woman. I like egg rolls, but I know when to stop.

In a related story, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin wants to ban puppy mills.

Like I said, I'm very interested in fashion

2008-05-10T12:32:00.003-05:00

CUTLINE: "A model presents a creation by Tania Lingerie house design in Medellin, Colombia May 7, 2008."

Scarlett is in fashion

2008-05-10T11:55:00.002-05:00

CUTLINE: "Scarlett Johansson, wearing Dolce and Gabbana, arrives for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, 'Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy' in New York May 5, 2008."

As you all know, I take fashion news very seriously (as opposed to "slightly" or "somewhat" seriously). So don't think for one minute that I posted this picture of Scarlett Johansson because she's sowing a little, well, you know. I'm not that shallow.

BREAKING NEWS: France invades California

2008-05-10T11:51:00.002-05:00

CUTLINE: "French fries are shown in Hollywood, California October 3, 2007. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)"

And the sent their smelly cheese and cooked snails to take over Washington D.C. Those bastards!

White Sox fan acting to type

2008-05-07T12:28:00.005-05:00

Via WHOI:

Investigators say Sox fan James Falakos had been drinking when he pushed a Cubs fan into a window at a Domino's Pizza restaurant, breaking the glass.

Falakos was charged with aggravated battery and released on $100 bond.

No telephone listing for Falakos could be found.

It's Billy Art, Part 3

2008-05-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the last of my bordom-generated MS Paint masterpieces. Enjoy.

Iron Man end-of-the-credits special

2008-05-05T19:28:00.002-05:00

I have no idea how long this will last until Marvel demands it be removed. But for now, enjoy.

Damn you, Ryan Reynolds! Damn you!

2008-05-05T17:31:00.004-05:00

Via Yahoo:

LOS ANGELES - Scarlett Johansson and her boyfriend, Ryan Reynolds, are engaged. The 23-year-old actress and the 31-year-old actor have not set a wedding date, Johansson's publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said Monday.

*Sigh*

I guess this means no more double dates with Polly in the dorm room.

UPDATE: Obviously, Scarlett never saw THIS SHOW, which, I am fairly certain, was co-produced by Satan.

Power Girl gets a job

2008-05-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

I posted another fan -made video featureing Power Girl over at Justice Blog of America (which I am essentially giving up now).

I'll try to retrieve it. It's funny stuff.

Jabba the Hutt's wildest fantasy comes to life ...

2008-05-04T18:56:00.001-05:00

... as well as the fantasy of every Star Wars fanboy who ever was or will be.

Wanna get a charge out of your electric car?

2008-05-04T18:45:00.004-05:00

I wonder how much my Ameren bill would be if I had to re-charge this bad boy every night:

The car [Tesla Roadster] goes from 0 to 60 mph in just under four seconds and tops out at 125 mph. It goes 225 miles on one charge and can be fully recharged in 3.5 hours, which Tesla officials say should allow most people to drive it to work and back and recharge it at night like a cell phone.

Driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, however, would require stopping in, say, Fresno and plugging its adapter cord into a motel room wall socket.

Some critics have expressed concerns about the durability and safety of the lithium-ion battery, which weighs about 1,000 pounds, more than a third of the entire weight of the 2,700-pound Roadster, whose body is made up of carbon fiber materials. Tesla officials respond that the car has passed all required safety tests. They say the battery should last for about 100,000 miles of driving.

The company, formed in 2003, is named for inventor Nikola Tesla, an early pioneer in the field of electricity. The people buying its cars so far, said national sales manager Doreen Allen, are celebrities, early adopters, wealthy people and environmentalists.

Tesla officials say Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, actors George Clooney and Kelsey Grammer and musicians Will.i.am and Flea have each ordered a Roadster.

B.J. Stone is a bit of a car snob, as I recall. He also HATES paying so much for gasoline. I wonder what he thinks?

What would be really neat would be if this sucker was powered remotely by was of a Tesla coil.

Guess what movie they're remaking now?

2008-05-04T17:00:00.008-05:00

Yep. Creature from the Black Lagoon. By the way, I actually have this poster.

Here's an article on the original. Julia Adams was hot.

'Excited delirium' isn't as cool as it sounds, trust me

2008-05-04T15:08:00.002-05:00

The people who manufacture TASERS, those wonderful devices that don't kill people w(with bullets) have convinced an Ohio judge to rule that coroners can't blame them contributing to the death of people who die immediately after they get TASERed. Seriously:

While they do have a number of scientific studies on which they establish their claims, it's interesting that the alternate cause of death they champion — excited delirium — appears only in police reports on the deaths of difficult or drug-addled inmates, not in medical textbooks. Of course, that may change soon — Taser is funding and promoting research on the subject. Coroner reports such as the ones in this case contributed to the UN's opinion that taser use is torture."

My concern about TASERs isn't that it's occasionally fatal. It's less lethal than a gun, and it has its role. My problem is when officers and entire police departments start using them simply to get argumentative people to comply a split second faster. I've seen video of TASERs being used when there really was no need.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

Hear hear! Curvey woman are in, baby!

2008-05-04T15:04:00.004-05:00

The Independent says rail-thin is ugly and wome with curves are in. For example: Princess Beatrice.

'Iron Man' needs to scrape off the rust

2008-05-04T14:22:00.006-05:00

For all the rave reviews, I thought the movie was at best three our of five stars. Robert Downey Jr. was superlative as Tony Stark, but then Downey is a superlative actor.

I thought it got off to a slow start, frankly. They could have cut 10 minutes off the front part of the movie easily. The James Rhodes character served no real purpose, and Terrence Howard was the wrong actor for that character anyway. And Stark didn't spend enough time in the armor. And the anti-war message was simplistic, and laid on a little thick.

So count me among those who are disappointed.

I did stick around to the end of the very long credits to see the "Easter egg." And a very cooooooool Easter egg it was. All I can say is that they have more than a few heroes left before than can do a movie about those cats.

Looking for a date?

2008-05-03T22:29:00.003-05:00

I am a sucker for good animation and good cartoon art. Especially so for good girl art, 'cause who doesn't like looking at pretty girls? This is a good post for those who also like this too.

Who watches the Watchmen?

2008-05-03T21:33:00.001-05:00

... I will when this cool movie comes out.

Hawaii is revolting

2008-05-03T17:58:00.003-05:00

Oh, I dunno. It seemed like such a pretty place on Magnum P.I.

Seriously, there's some sort of attempt to reclaim the state by natives and kick the United States out

AP's Mark Niesse reported yesterday, "Native Hawaiian sovereignty advocates" who are members of the group known as the Hawaiian Kingdom Government occupied the grounds of the palace of Hawaii's final monarch, Queen Lili`uokalani.
"Hawaiian activists have long used the palace as the site for protests of what they call the United States' occupation of the islands, but never before had they physically taken control," wrote Niesse.

Pacific Business News reported that the "protesters" surrounded the Iolani Palace in Honolulu, chained palace gates, posted no-trespassing signs, and told "palace officials that the palace is their rightful seat of government." The PBN story noted that "Only those with Hawaiian blood, as well as news media, were initially allowed onto palace grounds."

I gotta tell ya, not that worried. These people ain't exactly maori. We took over the place by, what, paying them off with trinkets and beads? It worked in Manhattan.

I say we put it up for a referendum. Of course, if they secede, everyone who lives there loses all their Social Security benefits, veterans benefits, etc.

Now, if we're talking about giving native Hawaiians the same rights as native Americans (as in "Indians") I completely agree.

New Peoria bloggers of note

2008-05-03T16:24:00.002-05:00

If you visit Peoria blogs by way of Peoria.com, you already know of these two:

TimMcGinnis.com and Peoriacomblogs.

Hero of the day

2008-05-03T15:20:00.007-05:00

Here's the deal on the hero in question:

O’Connor led a quick reaction force June 24, 2006, in Kandahar province’s Panjwai District, described by Special Forces as one of the most hotly contested areas of southern Afghanistan.

He maneuvered his force through Taliban positions and crawled alone through enemy machine-gun fire to reach two wounded soldiers, the citation said. He tied a signal cloth to his back to identify himself to aircraft overhead. While under fire, he provided medical care and carried a wounded soldier more than 150 yards across open ground. He climbed over a wall three times under enemy fire to help wounded soldiers seek cover. Then he took over as the operations sergeant and rallied, motivated and led his team.

Hrmph! It's not like he did something really brave, like wore a lapel pin or signed a document saying that waterboarding isn't torture.

Much ado about very little

2008-05-03T15:03:00.001-05:00

Oh grow up people.

At worst, this picture is mildly risque, considering she's 15. All that's showing is her bare back. Anyone so inclined can go to a girl's swim swin or any public swimming pool and see more.

Another eyeball

2008-05-03T14:31:00.001-05:00

All I can say is that I must have been thinking of Sauron from "Lord of the Rings" when I was creating this masterpiece.

Nice guys

2008-05-03T14:23:00.002-05:00

I was having lunch with my dad at Wal-Mart the other day, when who shoudl walk by but Peoria City Council member Ryan Spain. Ryan was nice enough to come over and say hello and listen to Dad espound on his theories of good government.

People who need to be driven 100 miles out into the desert and left there

2008-05-01T19:25:00.003-05:00

I could tell from the instant I got behind them in the checkout line at Walgreens that they would be trouble. Some people just give off that vibe. One of them left the line to get one more thing. Of course he wasn't back by the time she reached the cashier. Then, after several items had been rung up, she heard the announcement that her prescription was ready. THEN they debated whether to finish getting run-up at the front register or back in the pharmacy.

Thankfully, the second register opened and scooted over there. Just as I was leaving, one of these two winners knocked over a display.

Of course, they were all smiles.

I was out the door.

It's Billy's Art Project

2008-05-01T19:22:00.003-05:00

So, I was bored one day and started fiddling around with MS Paint. How much do you think it's worth?

I'm happy to see Kerry Wood is playing up to expectations

2008-05-01T17:10:00.002-05:00

Well, MY expectations, at least. The Cubs' "closer" blew a save opportunity, ruining a good pitching performance and a home-run by Carlos Zambrano.

Merciful God, when will the Cubs organization finally give up the ghost on this failed phenom.

OMG! They are going to kill Batman!

2008-05-01T14:38:00.004-05:00

I'm about as *YAWN* concerned as Olliver Willis: Not very. Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Jason Todd/Robin have all recently returned from the grave. Captain America's "dead" body has been discovered in suspended animation. And if you've read DC Universe 0, it looks like they are gettin' ready to bring back Barry Allen/Flash.

Like I said: *Yawn*

My first inbound link

2008-04-30T22:25:00.002-05:00

And it's from Jen at Keep Passing The Open Windows.

Woo hoo!

There's Something About Kate

2008-04-30T22:23:00.005-05:00

Kate Hudson.

Cameron Diaz.

Between the two, I think Kate uses more hair gel.

Finally, there's hope for all you WoW geeks

2008-04-30T21:28:00.003-05:00

A Belgian woman is offering to have sex with any virgin who promises to support Net Neutrality. To which this poster comments:

"For those of you on four day World of Warcraft binges, keep in mind that according to the terms of service, "Tania may deny service for hygiene reasons."

Man. That's cold.

Iron Man this Friday

2008-04-30T18:50:00.002-05:00

I have a day off. I think I'll see the first screening.

Hey, comics publishers! Enough with the multi-title crossovers, already!

2008-04-30T17:52:00.005-05:00

I picked up "DC Universe 0" today. It's basically giving DC Comics readers a taste of all the cross-overs planned for the coming year. Likewise, "Action Comics 864" is a taste of the upcoming "Legion of Three Worlds" with the Time Trapper as the villain and is designed to explain why there are three different versions of the Legion of Super Heroes out there. And "Green Lantern: Secret Origins" is already re-writing "Emerald Dawn."

Enough already. Stop rebooting, retelling and rehashing. Instead, try telling tasty-little stories in serialized art form. Every damn comic doesn't have to be part of a Major Event.

Actually, I did like both these comics. I'm hoping that "Final Crisis" is just that.

I hate to admit this, 'cause I've always been more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan, but the best comics titles out there are Captain America, Thor and Daredevil. I'm lost with the other Marvel stuff, 'cause they've got their own problems with multi-issue crossover disease. But these three books manage to tell well-plotted stories with decent art.

Blogger Bash rehash

2008-04-29T22:56:00.014-05:00

First, my apologies to everyone who was late or might not have gotten to tonight's Blogger Bash thanks to the crappy Google Map I used on my announcements. Of course, it would have helped had I bothered to include the very nice directions I was given by Katie.

I did remember to snap some pics. So, I thought I'd ~~drive some traffic~~ introduce readers to my new Blogger blog.

C.J. Summers tells an anonymous blogger that Peoria Chronicle is the most-read site in Peoria. But even C.J. cracks up at that one. What a kidder!

Cory of Morton Malaise and Alison West from Converse Marketing (more on her later) debate which geriatric rock band they are sick of most, AC/DC or the Rolling Stones.

Laura Petelle of Eyebrows McGee and the notorious C.J. debate something or other while the cute-as-a-bug Chloe pretends to be interested. Chloe is the daughter of Floyd of Central Illinois Gourmand-O-Rama. He was off camera somewhere talking to Katie's honey, Ron.

Laura left a bit early and beat me to the punch with her post about the bash.

This is the closest thing I have to a group picture. I'll try to name all the bashers who are in it. Back row: Laura, C.J. Chloe, Floyd, Katie, Brad Carter, Gary Sandberg (who showed up in an unsuccessful attempt to curry favor). We also can see back several heads. These three belong to Karen Carter (Brad's better half), Willa Lucas and Jason Salyers.

The aforementioned Allison and Jason work for Converse Marketing. They attended because they wanted to pick the brains of Peoria's blogging community about what Peoria means for them. They are using the info as they help Converse design a new logo for Peoria. Some of the less-than-serious suggestions included incorporating a crack-pipe or perhaps someone receiving a lap dance. A serious suggestion that received a lot of support was a logo using Peoria's skyline.

Willa Lucas and the Karen Carter, two babes from the East Bluff.

Present in spirit were Peoria Illinoisan and East Bluff Barbie.

City Planning for Dummies

2008-04-29T15:44:00.004-05:00

I'd like to thank the people who decided it would be an absolutely smashing idea to close down sections of West Columbia Terrace at the same time they've got multiple lanes of West Main Street closed at the intersection with Sheridan.

Moment sago, I was part of a three-block long line of cars stuck on Main Street trying to get home. Thanks to the barricades they put off to keep low-life scum like ME out of their neighborhoods, I couldn't pull off Main and hightail it up to Armstrong.

And on University between Columbia Terrace and Main, there are multiple city trucks and multiple city employees filling up potholes. But, I saw more workers standing on their shovels than using them, but it was late in the day ... 3 p.m. Backed-up traffic made me and, I am sure, hundreds of otherPeorians, waste gasoline as we sat through multiple traffic light changes,

Absolutely smashing example of the brilliant city planning we've come to expect here in the River City. It sort of reminded of two summers ago, when the closed down West Nebraska, Gale and Forrest Hill Drive at the same damn time, preventing anyone from being traveling east to west the the city.

Keep up the good work folks. It's always nice to see some things never change in the ol' River City.

Blogger Bash is tonight

2008-04-29T14:25:00.002-05:00

The Peoria-Area Blogger Bash will start at 6 p.m. TONIGHT at the Silver Bullet, 135 N Main St. East Peoria, IL. A map is available here.

I'll try to be there at least by 6 p.m. This is an event held in a public place, so anyone can show up. Creators of Peoria blogs, commenters and readers are especially invited. We sometimes have news makers and politicians show up to schmooze too.

And I'll be posting any pics from the bash HERE instead of on Peoria Pundit.

I'm really liking the new Blogger

2008-04-27T18:00:00.004-05:00

Seriously, guys. Blogger offers a bunch of stuff that you have to upload as a plug-in if you have WordPress. I can even upload a file to get a new theme if I want. Not that I can't change the look or my current theme anyway.

My suggestions is to try their Beta, because of the massive numbers of integrated "Gadgets" (WP calls them "widgets." I like the slide show gadget (which would eat up too much bandwidth and resources on MY system) and the news feed.

The advantages to Blogger: You don't have to pay for and administer your own site.

The disadvantages to Blogger: Your posts are ultimately not controlled by you. If Blogger (i.e. Google) decides to delete or lose your and you can't find someone at the company to take pity on you to help, you are screwed.

The twins

2008-04-27T17:09:00.005-05:00

Yet another reason to like Chris Muir's Day By Day.

Phrases I can do without hearing ever again

2008-04-27T15:39:00.002-05:00

"Baby bump."

I don't think I was even aware this term existed until I read it on one of those celebrity gossip sites.

They use it whenever the post a picture of any relatively well-known female who just might be expecting a baby, yet who hasn't announced it to the world.

It's the new scarlet letter.

America is a funny place. We both revel in sexuality and are appalled by it. It ain't healthy.

Life imitating sci-fi movies

2008-04-27T14:29:00.003-05:00

This is good news:

Caterpillar Inc. doesn't plan to stop at being the No. 1 construction equipment maker in the world.

It's aiming for the universe, with NASA as its partner.

Caterpillar and NASA - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - are getting closer to having the right earthmoving - er, moonmoving - equipment available to put on the moon in less than a decade to build habitats, roads and other infrastructure that could sustain life on the lunar surface.

Excellent. I am reminded of that scene in Aliens, where Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) hops into a exo-suit power-loader designed for moving equipment on a star ship, and does battle with the Alien Queen. And what giant corporation's logo adorned that exo suit? Caterpillar.

Aliens owes a lot to "Starship Troopers" (the book, not the bad movie) ) and you all know what a fan I am of Robert Heinlein. Two recurring themes in Heinlein's work are the settlement of the moon and the commercial exploitation of space. He was in favor of both, and so am I.

We NEED to expand onto other worlds. It's the only way to guarantee our survival. Right now, all our eggs (pun intended) are in one basket: Earth. And one reason space exploration is stalled is because we've let government have a monopoly.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

My bad TV habits

2008-04-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

I splurged and signed up for the most basic TV package Comcast offers. I get local stations, two superstations and some religious and home shopping channels.

I don't get the Sopranos or Weeds or any of trendy, water cooler shows. But I do get short-lived sitcoms that are in endless re-runs. One of them is "Half & Half." It's on really late at night and it's often the only thing that's watchable.* Except on weekends, when they are re-running original series Star Trek eps with revamped special effects.

So I'm watching Half & Half last night and I suddenly realised that I have seen every episode of this lightweight show.

I have GOT to get a life. Or better cable.

* "Watchable" excludes SMG informercials and Jay Janssen's fake legal advice show. However, the infomercial that has bust women extolling the virtues of male enhancement products is kinda interesting to watch with the sound turned off.

So, what is up with this?

2008-04-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

I decided I needed to own my own name.

So I went to GoDaddy and registered billydennis.com. I needed to point the domain somewhere. I tried pointing it to my local politics/media blog, Peoria Pundit. But why bother doing that?

Luckily, I had already snatched up this Blog*spot.com sub domain.

I haven't really blogged via Blogger for a long time. It's a big improvement over past versions. And there are advantages to a blog that really doesn't need a lot of tender-loving care on MY part. Nor do I have to PAY for hosting.

So I'll be posting stuff here, mostly of a personal nature. It'll be sort of a backup blog. I may upgrade it later.

Tech support hell

2008-04-19T19:44:00.000-05:00

The caller who asks me where the "start" button is, I'm going to tell them they are too fucking stupid to use the Internet. Swear to God.

Charisma Carpenter has still got it

2008-03-21T17:05:00.000-05:00

I assure you, gentle readers, the only reason I'm posting this pic is because I'm a huge fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Charisma was on the show during its first several seasons.

And, I haven't posted anything for a while. Enjoy.

Now that's a mouthful ...

2008-01-26T17:08:00.001-06:00

Actress Anne Hathaway has something she'd like to get off her chest. OK, that one was beneath me, but I'm writing under a lot of pressure here.

And what the Hell is this reporter here doing using a microcassette recorder? This is 2008, dude! Get digital already.

Cross posted from Bill's Content.

My new favorite tennis player

2008-01-16T17:11:00.001-06:00

Meet Tamira Paszek:

She's won no tournament of any importance. But she has a lot going for her.

And here's one from the Australian Open:

I'm telling you, this girl has talent.

Cross posted to Bill's Content.

Scarlett is an upstanding citizen

2008-01-12T17:18:00.001-06:00

I might have to consult an architect or two to figure out how the lovely Miss Johansson can wear this and not have a major accident. I'm betting duct tape is involved.

UPDATE: Courtney Love apparently wants Scarlett to play her in a movie about her and Kurt Cobain.So I guess there is a news peg for this photo after all.

Cross posted to Bill's Content.