Video of the day: When big rocks collide

This has been floating around for a while, I realize, but I thought I’d go ahead and post it… For the full awesomeness, put it in full screen.

Yea… about that poll

Remember that poll I did?

Well, I’m finally getting around to writing the wrap-up post about it.

As you can see from the right, Texas Governor Rick Perry holds onto his title as Governor Goodhair.

I’ll do another poll sometime soon if I get around to it.

A new feature

This blog now has star ratings.

I’ve wanted to add these for a while, but I just now got around to making a couple changes to the CSS coding that wouldn’t make it look horrible and out of place.

So, feel free to tell me what you think with the stars since most of you are too damn lazy to leave comments… or something.

The best therapy

Today I had an eye doctor’s appointment in Houston. The appointment went great.

The trip back home was even better. A good hour and a half of blasting rock and driving 70 MPH without hitting any traffic.

Nothing better in the world if you ask me…

Now to hit AmazonMP3 and download some songs I heard on the radio…

So I’m good for you if you’ve got a cold?

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

You Are Chicken Noodle Soup

You are a traditional and conservative person. You value the past, and change frightens you. You are very loyal, especially to your family. You prefer a low-key life, with lots of time spent at home. You like soup because it's easy, quick, and cheap. You tend to have a favorite soup you stick to. Why change a good thing?

What Kind of Soup Are You?

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Holiday Jack gets into the spirit

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Last year about this time, Jack in the Box gave away “Holiday Jack’s” to people who bought a certain combo meal. I bought that mean and stuck Jack on my car.

It’s been a rough year for Jack. His hat’s faded, he has an eye and his mouth are missing, but he’s still in the spirit.

Even in the snow:

LOL of the day

more animals

From all of us here at Justin’s Random Thoughts, have a Merry Christmas.

I hope Santa brought you catnipz (or whatever else you wanted).

I’ll just tell you right now that the results of this quiz are total bullshit

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

What Your Height Says About You

You are a gifted communicator, and you understand other people well. You are compassionate and empathetic. You feel other's pain a little too easily. Because of your open heart and open mind, many people admire and adore you. You are classy and well mannered. You have the art of charm mastered. You are about as tall as the average Australian man.

What Does Your Height Say About You?

Classy and well-mannered? Have you ever read my blog?

Anybody who knows me in real life can tell you a lot of that other stuff is a load of crap too.

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Who has better hair? We put the poll up, you decide.

Ever since Rod Blagojevich made the news for his (alleged) corruption, I’ve wondered one thing.

Who has better hair?

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich

-or-

Texas Governor Rick Perry

I can’t decide, so I’m asking y’all.

The poll’s up in the right sidebar just under “About Me.” It’ll be open for two weeks a week, then I’ll come back and post the results.

And, if this goes well, a new poll.

Video of the day

Plaxico Burress on gun safety:

Just the guy I want to learn from!

The kid’s first time

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

I took Bruiser outside briefly when it snowed last week. He wasn’t terribly thrilled about it.

OK, I’ve seen snow now. Now can we please go inside?

And I took him in not long after that.

Of our three, only Taffy’s seen snow before. Not because she’s old, but just because she lived in Fort Worth before coming to us.

Here’s how the three kids reacted to it:

• Petey: Ran around in it some, but went back in pretty quick.
• Bruiser: Walked around a little, but wasn’t very interested.
• Taffy: Didn’t want anything to do with it.

I don’t have pictures of the other two in it.

LOLcat of the day

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And I thought my last name was bad…

… but K T Cat shows me a name that’s way worse.

Heh.

Video FAIL of the day: I’m never ordering pizza for delivery again

Seriously, I’ll come pick it up.

Remember those nightmares you had after seeing ‘Jurassic Park’ where the velociraptors were chasing you? This is way worse.

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

1 minute, 32 seconds

Created by Bunk Beds.net

Have you taken this quiz like Houston from Tater Tots For The Masses has? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

The palms

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
The palm tree across the street with a little something unusual on top:

I’ve uploaded the same photo to Weather Underground’s photo galleries. It’s got a rating on there (as of when I wrote this) of 9.2.
The snow was falling fairly hard and with those big, fat flakes when I took the picture. The snow messed with my autofocus some, but most of my shots came out wonderfully.

Updated: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Might be worth it to hit play while reading this:

Dean Martin - Let it Snow

Overnight something happened that hasn’t happened (that I can remember anyway) for almost 20 years.

We had a decent snowfall.

Beaumont missed out on the 2004 Christmas Eve snowstorm, not getting enough to do anything with.

This is only the third time in my life I’ve seen an accumulation of snowfall. It happened once here when I was about four years old and once when I was traveling to Washington, DC.

My brother happened to be up when I looked out the window just to see if any had accumulated. Boy had it!

He got dressed and we went out and did what kids do: play in the snow.

This is the first time he’d seen it in his life. He was around the last time we had snow, but he wasn’t old enough to remember it.

We had snowball fights, made mini-snowmen, and even made snow angels, as you can see.

We even briefly took all three of the dogs out in it.

As you can see from this shot of me with Bruiser, they weren’t very thrilled.

When I was out there earlier I stuck my finger in a random place just to see how much was sitting on top of the grass. My finger went most of the way, making it at least two inches worth.

I walked down the street and talked with a neighbor who’s a college student from another country, though I’m not sure which. I told him that the last time we’d had a snow like this I was four years old. He countered by saying that, where he was from, it snowed six months out of the year. He later commented that it “felt like home.”

I’ve got a lot more pictures that I shot, and I’ll share them here in Friday Photos during the upcoming weeks.

If you can’t wait, then you can check out my photo gallery, in which the snow pictures have their own category.

Sadly, the snow should melt off quickly once the sun comes up, as the high today is supposed to get into the 50’s.

Which I’m not really complaining about, considering it was rainy, windy, and never got out of the 30’s all day yesterday.

UPDATE: The NWS put out this Record Report today. Shows you just how amazing this is:

... Record earliest measurable snowfall set at Beaumont Port Arthur...
... All time record snowfall for December set at Beaumont Port
Arthur...

Officially 1.8 inches of snow was measured at the southeast Texas regional Airport. This sets the all time earliest measurable snowfall record for Beaumont Port Arthur. The previous record was set on December 22 1989 when 0.7 inches of snow was measured.

Ike recovery update

I figured I should give a window into how our personal Ike recovery is going.

All that’s left is getting the roof fixed. It’s not terrible and we don’t have any leaks so it wasn’t something we were exactly rushing to take care of.

Last week we called our roofer, who was supposed to come out and see us for the past month. For some reason we weren’t in their computer system, so we were told we’d be getting a call back from them later.

When they did call back they apologized profusely and said they’d be out in a couple days to take a look at the roof and give us an estimate.

Our insurance adjuster had assumed that the roof just needed some patches in a few place when he looked at it.

Well, the roofer disagreed.

He said that he could patch it, but a lot of areas needed patching (mainly because of loose shingles, which are common from hurricanes) and we’d be better off with getting the whole roof replaced.

The roofer’s talking it over with the insurance company for us. All we’ve had to do for them is fax them the receipt from the work they did after Rita three years ago, which was just a patch of one area.

It makes sense for them to ask. I know of at least one person who got their check to get roof repairs done after Rita but didn’t ever get them done. Their insurance company refused to pay this time around, as they should.

Anyway, we should be scheduled to get the roof redone sometime in the near future and we’ll be pretty much back to normal.

LOLceleb of the day

more lol celebs!

Video of the day

Always drop hints, folks.

Always.

My ‘family’ name

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

Your Mafia Name Is Salvatore "Fatty" Gambini

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

What's Your Mafia Name?

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Look at the fluffball

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Petey, who I swear would lose half his weight if we shaved him, was out running recently

I love this cold weather, leave me alone! 

Sure thing, Petey.

He really does love it when it gets cold here. When it is, he’s happy staying outside as much as he can.

Think twice next time before you talk about your ex-girlfriends

The Stars’ Sean Avery, suspended:

Of all the cajoling, snide remarks and other stunts Sean Avery pulled on the way to becoming the biggest pest in hockey, never had he gone so far that the NHL suspended him -- until Tuesday.

Avery was punished indefinitely by commissioner Gary Bettman for using a crude term about his former girlfriends now dating other hockey players. Bettman acted within hours, in time to keep Avery out of the Dallas Stars' game against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.

Over what? A comment about ex-girlfriends:

"I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada," the Ontario native said. "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight." He then walked out of the locker room.

He was referring to ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert (picture below), who has gone on to date other NHL players.

Personally, I thought Avery’s comment was stupid, but hardly worth a suspension.

Honestly, I doubt even Roger Goodell would have suspended Avery for the comment.

Video FAIL of the day

(from FAIL Blog)

Just what I’d want to see on a plane:

How ‘bout them Texans

So the Texans finally got some exposure on Monday Night Football.

They made the most of it, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-17.

I watched the entire game and was very impressed with how they played out there.

Hopefully the exposure helps them get rid of the image that they’re the “lowly” Texans and earns the team some respect.

And a MNF game next year.

In which they try to guess who I voted for

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

Thought it might be interesting to see what this one said since I’m more or less in the middle politically.

We Predict You Voted For McCain

We're 65% sure you voted for McCain. You seem to fit the profile of a typical McCain voter. We're not saying you should have (or shouldn't have) voted for him. But if we had to place a bet, we'd guess you voted McCain this year.

Did You Vote for Obama or McCain?

Hey, it was right!

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving…

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

We all know what the day after Thanksgiving means, right?

Christmas shopping.

Here’s a shot from three years ago (after Rita) that’s sure to put you in the spirit:

We were building a fence in this neighborhood and drove by that every day. I finally remembered to bring my camera and snap a picture of it while driving by.

LOLcat of the day

more animals

I wish a very happy Thanksgiving to all my readers out there in cyberspace.

Chicken Parmesan

A couple weeks ago I started looking online for a chicken parmesan recipe that wouldn’t be too difficult.

I found one and tried it last night.

Delicious!

LOLdog of the day

see more puppies

What’s my blog wanted for?

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

www.jrtblog.com

WANTED FOR THE PAINFUL HATING of a SULKY THIRD NIPPLE

$1600

What's Your Blog Wanted For?

Created by OnePlusYou

Uh… yea…

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Teens are (often) stupid, here’s the proof

Fighting it out, bumper car styie:

"Friends don't let friends drive mad" might need to become a teenage adage.

Two Orange teenagers drew police attention Wednesday evening when their boyfriend-girlfriend spat turned into a bumper-car game with real vehicles.

[…]

A 17-year-old girl driving a 1991 Ford S10 pickup truck said her boyfriend had hit the back of her truck with his 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis.

[…]

Later, the 17-year-old boyfriend in the Grand Marquis drove back to the scene. He told the officer they had been arguing at a house on Curtis and 13th Street. When he started to drive away, she blocked his way with her truck.

That’s it, my kids aren’t getting drivers licenses’ until they’re 18!

Standing watch

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Miss Taffy’s on top of the hill watching the other dogs:

No I’m not! I’m waiting for those neighbor dogs to come to the fence so I can bark at them some more!

Oh, sorry.

Graph of the day

And on a timely topic none the less…

more music charts

WIN of the day

Well that showed them!

see more pwn and owned pictures

What a shock!

For the second year in a row, my Texans prediction turned out to be an EPIC FAIL!

With the Texans’ 33-27 loss to the Colts they drop to 3-7, making my prediction unreachable.

I really need to stop predicting these things, maybe they’d do better if I didn’t.

At least I never said I’d post a nude pic this year.

My thoughts on Quantum of Solace

Yea, I know I said I’d write this Saturday. Oh well.

It starts off right where Casino Royale left off with a very good car chase sequence. Later in the movie there’s a boat chase and then a plane chase. All three were well-done, but what would you expect?

I’ll not say too much of the plot, but it did leave some loose ends. I’m assuming that at least some of those loose ends will be addressed in the next movie.

Daniel Craig’s filling in well into the James Bond role I think. He brings something different to them, which is probably a good thing since the series is undergoing a reboot

Anyway, here’s the bottom line:

It’s a decent movie. It’s not as good as Casino Royale, but it’s not bad. It was worth the $5 I shelled out to catch a matinee on Friday afternoon.

Just a recommendation: Watch (or re-watch) Casino Royale before you watch Quantum of Solace, just to refresh on things.

What you’ll get out of my dead body

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

$4365.00

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

LOLceleb of the day

more lol celebs!

I’m off to see the wizard! I’m off to see the wizard!

Not really…

But this afternoon I am off to see Quantum of Solace, the new Bond flick that comes out today.

I’ll write something up on it tomorrow for y’all.

Lurking

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Bruiser tries to hide…

Can you see me? You can? Darn.

Sorry kiddo. The grass may have been high, but it wasn’t that high.

I’ve seen it and I still don’t believe it!

A gas station sign in Beaumont on August 5th, 2008, after Tropical Storm Edouard moved through the area.

After the craziness of gas prices this summer, which got to $3.99 here, it’s amazing to think that yesterday I saw many stations around town that had it for $1.99

Sadly, I don’t have a picture of that. I might go by a nearby Exxon later today and get a shot of their sign, who knows.

I realize that it won’t stay down this low for forever, but it’s sure nice while it lasts.

Artwork of the day

Houston (who lives in Dallas for some reason) from Tater Tots For The Masses drew a cartoon on a whiteboard yesterday.

Check it out.

Probably not a good career choice for me

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

44%

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

LOLdog of the day: Kickin’ back for the weekend

Settling down in the recliner to watch some college football?

see more puppies

Sounds like a winner to me!

It’s not what you think it is, I swear!

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Bruiser’s in the backyard doing WHAT?

I’m not peeing, that’s for sure.

I promise y’all, he really isn’t. He’s the only male dog I’ve ever seen that doesn’t (usually) hike a leg when he does his business.

LOLcat of the day

more animals

The sad thing? That cat has more skills than I do.

… but deliver us from politics

I am happy to report that, at least here, the 2008 elections season is over.

Sure, it didn’t turn out the way I’d have liked it to. But that’s alright, I didn’t really expect it to.

I’m just glad that we can finally put an end to all the bickering that comes with elections.

Good riddance, I say!

LOLpundit of the day: “We have a choice” edition

Today we all have a choice.

We get to choose who our next president will be.

We can choose between this one

see Sarah Palin pictures

or “that one”

see Sarah Palin pictures

Whomever you should pick isn’t something I’m going to chime in on.

Do your research. Come to an educated conclusion. Then vote.

Or quityerbitchin.

Couldn’t help it

Today I hopped on Pundit Kitchen and saw a picture waiting for a caption that I had to roll with.

It goes along with something I whipped up a few months ago…

So I made one and submitted it. Here’s the link if you want to take a look and/or vote.

How do you pronounce it?

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

Because, really, I have no clue…

Your Funky Japanese Name Is

Zudoseitakino

What's Your Funky Japanese Name?

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Keeping an eye out

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Taffy’s so relaxed

Not really! I’m making sure the boys don’t get in trouble!

Oh, my bad.

Lady doesn’t check where she taps, calls CNN to complain

Here we go…

CNN reported on Tuesday that a person from Beaumont called to say that his mother was not sure the electronic touch screen machine accurately was recording her preference for Sen. Barack Obama.

"She went to punch the selection for Obama and it flipped to McCain," the caller told CNN.

Jefferson County clerk Carolyn Guidry told the news channel that she was aware of the problems voters were having with the electronic touch screen machines, but that the number of reported problems was small.

[...]

Guidry called the touch screens "density sensitive," meaning machines will record were pressure is applied, which may be a different spot on the screen than where a voter believes he or she has touched.

How the hell can you not be sure? Even if you didn’t happen to notice that the wrong one was checked off on the machines we use, you have to go through a confirmation page for all the elections before the machines will allow you to cast your ballot. If you’re still unsure who you voted for after all that then maybe you shouldn't be voting.

People are so stupid…

I guess I should blog about the trip to Fort Worth

Allergies have been kicking my ass the past few days, sorry I haven’t gotten back to y’all.

Friday was an experience. I came out during the day to make a quick run to Wal-Mart to get something for the trip when I notice I have a flat tire. I aired up the tire and went to Discount Tire, which was insanely backed up, and thus required me to wait two and a half hours to get the work done. Turned out to be a nail in the tire in a spot they couldn’t patch.

These kind of things are fairly common after hurricanes since everybody piles up their debris at the curb for pick-up, so no huge thing (besides the wait).

Finally got out of Beaumont about 6 and got into Fort Worth a little after midnight. Went straight to bed.

Next morning was the stuff we came for. We rented a U-Haul and went to my aunt’s apartment. Because of some stuff going on with her ex-husband at the time she rented the place, she got a third-floor apartment and our job was to move the bed and couch out of there.

Tons of fun, right?

Oh, it was! Especially since the mattress and couch were made out of fabric that was near impossible to get a good grip on.

Remind me to never get a third floor apartment.

Then we unloaded the stuff at her house and returned the truck. After grabbing lunch at Spring Creek Barbecue, we cleaned up and relaxed for a while before heading to the Stars game.

Instead of making the hour’s drive to Dallas, we decided to take the TRE, a commuter train running between Dallas and Fort Worth that stops right at the American Airlines Center on game days.

It was way easier than driving.

We got to the AAC just about the time they opened the doors and went to find our seats.

	Cell phone picture I sent to Utteril. Click here for more

They were so high up that calling them the nosebleeds doesn’t do justice to how high they are.

We were literally in the back row of the building, but the view was still really good.

It was a really exciting game, with the Stars losing 6-5 in overtime. I still believe that a team should never score five goals and lose, but that’s what happened.

The train ride really paid off for leaving, as we got to watch all the people fighting traffic as we sat comfortably in our seats heading towards Fort Worth.

Saturday we took my aunt out to lunch at Massey’s and then had an uneventful trip home.

Arr, Maitey!

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

Would I FAIL as a pirate?

You Are 35% Pirate

Ahoy matey! Ye can think o' yerself as a swashbuckler in trainin'. If ye study hard an 'do what the captain tells ye, ye may be gettin' part o' the booty. Get to work on yer pillagin', swordfightin', an' drinkin'. Ye dasn't want to end up in Davy Jones' locker, so make sure ye pipe down when the captain be around.

Would You Make a Good Pirate?

So, yes, I would fail as a pirate. Now anyway…

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Another Justin’s Random Thoughts public service announcement

I’ve always known this, but you might not have:

more lol celebs! (Click for full size)

Now you know.

FAIL of the day

Hope I don’t see this on the interstate this evening going up to Fort Worth!

see more pwn and owned pictures

The whole gang

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

I managed to snag the whole gang in one

Don’t ask me what they’re doing…

Looks like I’ll be seeing some hockey this season after all

I’m going up to Fort Worth tomorrow to help my aunt (the wonderful one that took us in TWICE) move stuff from the apartment she rented to her house.

It’s the least I can do for her dealing with us.

The best part of the trip, however, will have nothing to do with my aunt.

My cousin and I are going to see the Stars play the Washington Capitals at the AAC.

I’ve never been to an NHL game before, so I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ll take some pictures from the experience, but nothing like the ones I did for Wildcatters games. Never mind that they won’t allow me to bring my Rebel inside (the AAC doesn’t allow long lenses), but we’ll be sitting in the nosebleeds taking advantage of the $15 seat promotion that they have going on.

LOLdog of the day

Aww… poor puppeh:

see more puppies

If I could ask Roger Goodell anything …

	Free photos for websites - FreeDigitalPhotos.net

… I’d ask him about these crazy TV rules the league has.

Last year, when they had the Colts-Patriots game that EVERYBODY wanted to see, we had to miss it because the Texans were on the road playing the Raiders. Apparently there’s some rule that the main markets around a team have to show that team when they’re on the road. Since Beaumont’s considered a main market for the Texans, we were screwed.

Fast forward to today. Today’s a single game on FOX and both the Cowboys and Texans are on there. I’m not sure about the Cowboys, but the Texans are definitely at home.

Not that it matters, since this isn’t considered a Cowboys market.

Take a guess which game the local FOX affiliate picks.

Yea, the Cowboys.

They did this once last year too.

And not because the game was blacked out here. The Texans have sold out every game in their history, even when they went 2-14, so that’s not the issue.

If you look at the NFL TV map for FOX today, you’ll see that places like Cincinnati, San Diego, Miami, and Buffalo are getting to watch the Texans game.

Personally, I think it’s a load of crap that K T Cat can watch my team play but I can’t.

Here’s my question: How in the world can it make any sense at all for us to not be able to watch our team at home when we’ve been forced, under NFL television rules, to watch our team when they’re on the road?

Try to not think about that too long, your head might overheat and explode.

At least our CBS affiliate is good about picking the Texans when they’re on there and FOX only gets a chance to fuck this up two or three times a year.

But it’s two or three times too many if you ask me.

Just about sums it up…

from PunditKitchen (click image for full size)

Seriously, what was the point of them? Because I don’t know.

Probably the strangest quiz I’ve ever taken

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

I’ve always wanted to do one or two of the more “womanly” quizzes for this, but never could find one that would fit.

Well, I found one.

You Should Call Your Boobs

Superman & Wonder Woman

What Should You Nickname Your Boobs?

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Having fun

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Well hey there, Petey!

I just love this backyard!

This is from the same set of pictures where I caught that great one of Bruiser running.