Eh....

Life this past week has been mediocre. It's been rainy, and fall is finally here. A couple points of interest from my side:

• I got to see the German Chancellor land at the airport
• I met the mayor of Dresden
  

That's really it. Hopefully I'll write more soon...when I have something to say.

This Rocks!

More Tits!

More photos of tits: a very cute, and extremely shy bird.

My First Night Time HDR PHoto!

Quoting Christopher Hitchens

I think Christopher Hitchens is a brilliant man. Yes, he has flaws, but he is brilliant.

He recently wrote an article on slate.com.

He wrote about McCain:

The most insulting thing that a politician can do is to compel you to ask yourself: "What does he take me for?" Precisely this question is provoked by the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin. I wrote not long ago that it was not right to condescend to her just because of her provincial roots or her piety, let alone her slight flirtatiousness, but really her conduct since then has been a national disgrace. It turns out that none of her early claims to political courage was founded in fact, and it further turns out that some of the untested rumors about her—her vindictiveness in local quarrels, her bizarre religious and political affiliations—were very well-founded, indeed. Moreover, given the nasty and lowly task of stirring up the whack-job fringe of the party's right wing and of recycling patent falsehoods about Obama's position on Afghanistan, she has drawn upon the only talent that she apparently possesses.

I know that no human, let alone politician, is perfect. But I have to agree with most of what he wrote in his article.

Here is the whole article.

Idiots

I am proud that my country has the right to free speech.

But this is sad. It's false. Not that politicians don't lie, but that this sign somehow ties Obama in with terrorists. Huh? 

And it's a smear. 

Stupid should indeed be painful.

Michael Palin For President!

I See the Light!

I have to admit that I know nothing about lighting.

Ok...maybe a little but not nearly enough to say I am confident.

So, I am going to spend the next couple hours doing experiments with my 2 speedlites. I have really nice ones, I may as well use them...right?

Starting off:

4:29: going to try to do some "low key" photography. I bought a 1 euro spatula to see if I can do it.

Off I go!

Result:

Not quite what I wanted but not a terrible start.

Better...

More to come.

VP Debate

I am in the middle of watching the VP debate. (I know, a bit late, but I have to see Biden tear apart Palin)

Can someone please tell me why Palin is saying that Iraq=success?

Huh??!!!

Sorry, I am trying to be fair, but this chick is bat shit crazy. Her eyes just glaze over during any answer she gives...just like a typical fundie.

Man she is crazy. And Biden keeps stuttering.

In any case, anytime Palin speaks I just can't stop thinking about Fargo.

Oh, you betcha, ya!

The Stupid, it Burns...

I got this from another site I contribute to and thought it sums up what I feel when I listen to Sarah Palin speak.

Who Wants To Be a Millionare??

"there is nothing like getting a million dollars and then being told I am a lying, thieving adulterating, blasphemous sinner"

I was sitting at dinner in a nice Thai restaurant when it happened.

My friend pulled out a million dollar bill and put it on the table.

I'd heard about these things from other websites and podcasts I listen to but this was the first one I've ever seen.

No...it's not real money. It's a jesus-freak-turn-or-burn tract.

This one is done by the newest boob of the fundies, Ray Comfort. Ray is a little, seemingly friendly man from New Zealand and he is, as far as I can see, Fundamentalist Christianity's shining knight. He's partnered up with the most saccharin of actors, Kirk Cameron, to try to convince other fundies to do what they do.

He's also an antagonistic blow hard who thinks he can prove the existence of god without using the bible (he can't, either way) and thinks that demeaning people will make them want to love god.

When I blurted out at dinner "oh this is one of those Ray Comfort things", I got a delighted response "Oh, you know who he is!".

Yep.

Do I like the fact that I know who he is?

Not really.

But aside from all that, this million dollar tract really gets on my nerves and I don't quite know why. Maybe it's because back in my fundie days, people were using something similar to tip waitresses (substituting the actual tip) and really pissing off the hard working wait staff. Or maybe it's because it looks too much like actual currency. Or maybe it's a really weird way to try to convert people. 

I could go on and on about how much of a boob I think he is, and maybe I will someday, but right now I want to go eat dinner.