The Newsreport Boilerplate.. too funny!

If it weren't true.. but unfortunately it is. Love
that British Humor ;-)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The Presidents Q&A at the Republican retreat

No matter which side you are on.. this is extremely interesting
to watch. The interaction between the President and members
of congress from the Republican Party. The full text is
here

Contrast this with the 'closed door session' that GWB had
with Democratic leaders in 2007 (transcript here)

In either case.. it's clear that one man (the Pres.) cannot solve
the issues by himself and that Congress is where the solutions
need to come from.

The best take-away after the video... Everyone would all
be better served with a bit more 'civility' less attacks, and
more constructive work towards getting things done.

Check out this guys take on the whole thing...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On Health Care:
------------------
The component parts of this thing are pretty similar to what Howard Baker, Bob Dole, and Tom Daschle proposed at the beginning of this debate last year.

Now, you may not agree with Bob Dole and Howard Baker, and, certainly you don't agree with Tom Daschle on much, but that's not a radical bunch. But if you were to listen to the debate and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot. No, I mean, that's how you guys presented it.

And so I'm thinking to myself, well, how does this square with a plan that is pretty centrist -- no, look, I mean, I'm just saying, I know you guys disagree, but if you look at the facts of this bill, most independent observers would say this is actually what many Republicans -- is similar to what many Republicans proposed to Bill Clinton when he was doing his debate on health care.

So all I'm saying is, we've got to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and the reality. I'm not suggesting that we're going to agree on everything, whether it's on health care or energy or what have you, but if the way these issues are being presented by the Republicans is that this is some wild-eyed plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives, what happens is you guys then don't have a lot of room to negotiate with me.

I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own base, in your own party. You've given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion because what you've been telling your constituents is, this guy is doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.

And I would just say that we have to think about tone. It's not just on your side, by the way -- it's on our side, as well. This is part of what's happened in our politics, where we demonize the other side so much that when it comes to actually getting things done, it becomes tough to do.

Cave Creek Mtn. Bike Ride

Great ride today from a friends house near New River,
down to Cave Creek / Carefree AZ.

Approx. 13mi over an hour and a half with just under 1000ft
of climbing.

Thanks Mike for putting this together!

Garmin Connect GPS info is here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21270374

Jan the Stunt Man!

First on Vimeo:
---------------

Jan the Stunt Man! from tim schneider on Vimeo.

Let's see how it looks on Flickr:
-----------------------------------

Season's Greetings!

---

From X-Mas Greetings!

Really Digging Flickriver!

---

Wanted a way to be able to share/send people some of my best
shots, so I grouped them into a 'My Favs' set, then used
the Flickriver 'tools' menu to generate a clickable embedded
html badge. Cool stuff.. I like the way Flickriver displays
the photos in the browser.

Build your own "Tiki O Lantern"!

---

Okay.. so I was thinking, what could top last years *flaming pumpkin*, which I am doing again BTW.

Got to thinking, it would be cool to have a couple of those smaller pumpkins, on a stick.. kinda all 'Tiki Torch' like, to make the front yard kinda look like an episode of Halloween 'Survivor Island'

So after picking up a can of kerosene, I strolled down the lawn/garden aisle at Lowe's and noticed those 'tiki torches' Picked up a couple, and a jug of fuel for them and stopped by Whitfil Nursery for some smaller $1 pumpkins. Some 'Gorilla Tape' (black gaffers tape, kinda like duct tape on steroids) and carving tools.

The next sequence of photos details the steps.. first arrange all your materials:
(sorry Apricot Ale was the closest I had to 'pumpkin ale' :)




Here is the Tiki Torch pattern


Now the steps. First place the image on the pumpkin, then trace the outline using a small tool to make 'holes' so you can connect the dots with your saw/cutting tool.



Next, connect the dots, then size up the opening on the bottom for the top of the tiki torch.





Finally, assemble and you're done! I'll post some photos from tonight, after dark, of the Tiki O Lantern in action! :)








Flickr Photo Gallery Here: