Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

Monster Cat reminds us that Freedom is to be treasured - Freedom from Tyranny, Freedom from Religious Oppression, Freedom from Fear, and Freedom from Plastic Cones around our Heads.

It was a little over a year ago that he went through the hilarious yet traumatizing ordeal from which this comic was born. I’m not sure the actual anniversary is important since Monster Cat didn’t become a regular comic until January of this year, but it’s interesting to note that every once in a while Tennyson still walks with a rather pronounced limp. It doesn’t last more than a few steps usually so I’m not worried. He could be just a little stiff from time to time… or he could be faking it for attention.

More comics at: The Chronicles of Monster Cat

tags: cats, comics, conehead, elizabethan collar, monster cat, silly, tennyson

This site has been rated by Blogged.com. I’m right up there in the cats category with I Can Has Cheezburger and Stuff On My Cat. I am suitably amused and flattered. Somehow my personal blog has become “Monster Cat Central”… I know of several places where the links simply say “Monster Cat” rather than “Carla” or “Miscellany.” My cat has eclipsed me. My random musings on road trips, entertainment and politics are simply insignificant codas to his comic features. Somehow, I think I can deal with this.

I’m sure this will be going straight to Mr. Paw’s head.

tags: blogged.com, cats, monster cat, random, self-referential

So given the price of gas, taking a road trip is not the smartest things I could have done this summer. However, there were things in Maine that were easier to pick up in a car rather than ship and I really enjoy driving. A lot. I love my car. (Observe the “car shopper’s guilt” going on? Yes, I thought you might have noticed.) As an exercise in foolishness, I took notes along the way and kept my gas receipts. The short answer? It would have been cheaper to fly via Southwest, but the shipping costs would have made the trip more expensive. (And I wouldn’t have been able to see lisaf or to bring slyppi houseplants.)

Exciting observations about the trip? Traffic was light - the volume of cars seemed slightly lower. I didn’t get hung up in miles and miles or hours and hours of traffic in the usual spots between Philadelphia and Maine. Also, there were many fewer speed demons on the road. Usually I seem to see a lot of idiots doing 80-90 mph on any given highway. This trip I was often the fastest thing on the road at 65-75 mph. I was not driving for ideal gas mileage. It’s hard to talk myself into saving a few cents when I have a long drive ahead of me. Note the 7.5 hour trip from Maine to Philadelphia on the way home - sure, I didn’t hit any significant traffic snags but I also didn’t dawdle at rest stops or putter along at 55 mph on the highway.

The road trip math came out something like this:

1067 total miles driven
42.302 gallons of gas purchased
25 miles per gallon in the 1998 all-wheel-drive Subaru Imprezza
$171.02 spent on gas
~$25 spent on tolls (approximate because EZ Pass is my friend)

Gas prices were best in New Jersey at $3.989 on the Garden State Parkway coming home. I paid $3.999 per gallon in Brattleboro, Vermont on Friday. Prices in Windham, Maine were okay at $4.099. And the price at home at the cheapest station went from $4.079 when I left up to $4.159 when I got home. (Holiday week increase perhaps?)

I brought my own water and road food (most of which was very healthy!) so that reduced my number of stops as well as the amount of money I spent on food at rest stops. I think the only food I bought was lunch on the way home yesterday - $8 on pizza at Sbarro’s at the north end of the Garden State Parkway.

All in all, I would estimate this trip cost me about $30 more than it did in December 2007. Gas has gone up, some tolls have gone up, food prices in the rest stops have gone up. However, with all the hype about gas prices, I was expecting the increase to be much larger. I fell into that media trap, I guess! I love to drive but I’m still very lucky that I just don’t have to drive much.

But seriously - if you’re planning to drive to Pennsic, gas prices are about $1 higher this summer than they were last summer. If I were going in my car, the Pennsic trip would only cost me about $14 more each way from Drexel Hill to Butler, PA. That definitely sucks but it’s a lot less scary than the media makes it out to be.

Your Mileage May Vary.

tags: gas mileage, gas prices, imprezza, mpg, road trip, subaru, travel, your mileage may vary

If you haven’t seen Dr. Horrible yet, you should go check it out. Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris and a web mini-series of epic proportions of silly. It starts July 15th. Hurray for NPH!

Opening August 22nd: there’s a (sort-of) remake of Death Race 2000 coming called Death Race. There’s a trailer up here. And yes, that’s Jason Statham, saint of driving and eternal hotness. It looks like they’re spending a good chunk of money on this remake/sequel and the trailer actually shows promise. I won’t be getting my hopes up too high though - it’s unlikely that Death Race will jump from “Death by Double-Feature” to “international blockbuster”. It does look like it’s going to be fun and explosive.

Jason Statham really does do a lot of driving movies, doesn’t he? Transporter 3 is in post-production according to IMDB, as is Crank 2: High Voltage. (Okay, I admit to having contributed to the box office success of the terrible movie that was Crank, but it mostly because it involved Jason Statham. I probably won’t spring for Crank 2 in the theater.) And finally, The Brazillian Job, the third movie in The Italian Job series, was announced a few weeks ago. (The Bank Job, out earlier this year, didn’t actually involve much driving but it was a hoot.)

tags: death race, death race 2000, dr. horrible, jason statham, joss whedon, movies, neil patrick harris

So Mr. Paw is taking a quick break from his grueling interview schedule to do a little grooming. He really does love being brushed, though he doesn’t always cooperate in a way that’s actually helpful. It’s hard being a cat in a big fur coat all summer around here! Now he has put himself directly behind my (rolling) desk chair, sprawled on his side as spread as possible. Always the clever lounger, he is aligned perfectly with the fan.

More comics at: The Chronicles of Monster Cat

tags: cats, comics, monster cat, silly, tennyson

I left Maine at 7:30 a.m.

I arrived in Drexel Hill, PA at 3:00 p.m.

I love my car.

My car is mostly unpacked, my office air conditioner is on, and the next order of business is to switch from sneakers to sandals.

There will be a fuller accounting later.

tags: driving, road trip, travel

More comics at: The Chronicles of Monster Cat

tags: cats, comics, monster cat, silly, tennyson

What’s a superhero without a sidekick? Okay, yes, there have definitely been some. A lot, perhaps. But anyway, that’s not the point. I guess we’ll see what Monster Cat comes up with for options.

More comics at: The Chronicles of Monster Cat

tags: cats, comics, monster cat, silly, tennyson

It may be time for breasts to start pulling their own weight.

This week a very interesting topic came up in the Technology section of Slate: Breast Power! No, nothing like that… get your minds out of the gutters. We’re talking about green energy - harnessing the kinetic energy of the common breast! (Well, uncommon breast since you would probably need larger-than-average breast to make efficient use of the hypothetical system.) “Victoria’s Circuit: Harnessing the untapped power of breast motion” is both an amusing and technical article. Our future will probably come from this type of daydreaming about better ways than plugging into the grid to get energy. And if that future includes turning my breasts into a power plant, well, finally they’ll be making up for the high cost of quality bras.

“Per sotto, per farli combaciare,” meaning: “For the hair down there…to make it match.”

So here’s something I never thought of doing: coloring the “hair down there” (as the Betty Beauty website cutely calls it) pink or blue or any other color. The blue is specifically marketed to brides for their “something blue.” Personally, I imagine it would be a hoot to surprise one’s spouse on the wedding night with neon blue… and the options for embellishing are extensive. Betty Beauty also sells “CharmCils” for shaping the “hair down there”. I think it would hilarious to see the look on some guy’s face when suddenly a bright pink peace sign is unveiled where there was nothing but natural before.

It’s probably telling that I look at color for the “hair down there” as a means to mess with a significant other rather than a means to achieve sexy hotness. No, I will not be doing a product review.

[All links in this post are safe for work… assuming you don’t mind getting caught surfing frivolous hair color sites and Slate at work.]

tags: , alternative energy, betty beauty, bras, breast motion, breasts, energy, green energy, hair color

An entertaining accident of Google Ads “working as intended”: a John McCain campaign ad appears on the page for a YouTube video criticizing crude commentary McCain made about his wife (and the media’s complete lack of coverage of that comment). My assumption is McCain’s ad campaign with Google Ads is targeting pages that mention John McCain, which would make sense except that every once in a while ads will end up on pages that mention John McCain in a negative light.

I noticed the ad last week when dreda linked the video. I went back today and somewhat unsurprisingly… it’s still there. Google Ads is useful and pervasive, but there’s a reason a lot of big advertisers don’t want to take the chance of advertising on pages containing "user-generated content"…

So kudos to the McCain campaign for trying to reach out to the small donors one might find randomly on the Internet… but a bonk in the head for not doing it quite right. It did make me giggle a lot, so thanks guys. Oh, and when I was done giggling, I marveled at how some people stay employed.

YouTube Video pictured above - it is not safe for work and contains offensive language: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euu_DMhsXQo

As a random coda to this story, this morning I received a junk IM from a known spam source that simply said, “John McCain is aware of the Internet!”

tags: ad placement, advertising, campaign ads, election 2008, google ads, internet ads, john mccain, presidential candidates, youtube