Paul In Houston: Emergency Only

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Emergency Only

A status message I sometimes get on my cellphone (TracFone).

As far as I can determine, this happens when I get into an area that appears to be a local "dead zone" (not getting a signal for some reason). It usually goes back to normal when I move a bit and it gets a signal again.

But, I have to wonder ...

If it's not getting a signal, just how in Hell is it supposed to be of any use in an emergency?!!!

:(

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Posts I Feel Good About...

*** (Updated 06 Mar 2014) ***

And that's all she wrote ... -- Ever wonder how that phrase came to mean "It's over!" ? No? Never?!!! Well, tough. I'm gonna tell you anyway. (Be sure to check the comments for an answer to another mystery in that song. :-)

Hamlet -- I know, I KNOW! Someone has already written about this guy. So?

Gary Farmer - Contrary Warrior -- Indian actor Gary Farmer in Longmire episode and in movie Powwow Highway (1989).

Slim -- "Target in sight! Where in Hell is Major Kong?" -- Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Dr. Strangelove (1964) is loaded with first-rate performances,but the most iconic moment in the movie is owned by Slim Pickens riding that H-bomb to the target and into eternity.

"Big truck just went by. ...
-- Now it's gone." ~Morning traffic report on the "Res" -- My previous post "Toughest Pawnee" ... resulted in an email recommending the movie Smoke Signals (1998) which is what this post is about.

"Toughest Pawnee" ...
... is how actor Wes Studi (a full-blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma) is listed in the credits for Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990). YEP! This is about a number of movies he's been in, to show why I like this guy so much.

"Cast in the Name of God,
... Ye not Guilty" -- The Japanese have a whole series of series, in manga and anime, involving giant robots (or mecha, as most of these are not actually autonomous but have human pilots). Often they involve fighting monsters. This post is partly about Pacific Rim (2013).

When Worlds Collide ... Coming soon, to The Apocalyse Channel (aka The Weather Channel).

Never ascribe to malice ... ... that which is adequately explained by incompetence." ~Napoleon Bonaparte
A wonderful movie (Emperor (2012)) with an egregious slight (in the end credits) of one of the main historical characters. At present, the MOST read of my posts.

The "Field of Dreams" Principle "If you build it, they will come." Well, maybe not, About the recent movie "Phantom" (never heard of it? Here's why.), and a 10 year old one "Below".

Devil in a Blue Dress (Revised) "Flight" is not the first movie to team Don Cheadle with Denzel Washington. The movie named in the title of this post is a wonderful one to check out

The Conan Sword

Just don't see the need for a descriptor here. :-)

Two Movies (Updated) - Shoulda called it "Two WONDERFUL Movies" ("Argo" and "Skyfall") Also about Javier Bardem.

Shaking our tree - SPUTNIK!

Marquee (Updated) "The Creature from the Black Lagoon". As a kid, I watched it with my hands over my eyes, peeking between fingers. Lord, how things have changed.

Yet ANOTHER "He Who Must NOT Be Named" (Updated) - Author F. Paul Wilson, his universe of the Adversary whose name you shouldn't utter, Repairman Jack, and who I'd cast if a movie ever materialized.

"You keep using that word." "I do not think it means what you think it means." ("The Princess Bride")

The Year of the Jackpot
A discontinuous rambling about author Robert A. Heinlein.

Presence ... (Updated) ... is a not-easily defined quality, of an actor, that absolutely compels your attention when he or she shows up. One either has it or not. If not, it ain't something that can be bought.

Swedish Meatballs (Actually about my contender for the finest science-fiction TV series of all time.)

Dawn of the Commercial Space Age - On 25 May 2012, a commercial spacecraft delivered useful cargo to the International Space Station.

Treasure Island - On Saturday night, 05 May 2012, the SYFY Channel made a foray there. 22 years ago, the TNT Channel did the same, with a far superior result; perhaps the finest version ever.

"They say a snake bit her once ...
... and died." (From the the BBC mini-series "I, Claudius", in which Tiberius was speaking of his perpetually scheming mother Livia.)

"Of COURSE, they're naked!!! ...- It's dangerous to jump through a fire with your clothes on!" ~Christopher Lee (as Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man) to a policeman who has just stated the obvious while watching a pagan ritual. (Mr. Lee is the subject of this post)

What IS it with the Republican Party?!!! - Some quite lethal things actually. I'm going to address two of them here.

Living the dream ... - as one with the Gods. (Yup! It's about flying)

Gook - My favorite dictionary is so wrong about the origin of that word. (This post is about the Korean language)

The Zen of Firefly and Serenity ...
... I aim to misbehave.

Peacemaker - This post is about airplanes (the B-36 in particular), and is gonna have a bunch of boring photos of same.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Can a story that was made into a truly excellent five and a half hour mini-series be rendered into a script for a two-hour movie, without proving "rend" a very appropriate part of that verb?

CALL it "The Freedom Tower" ... - Not that mind-numbing bureaucratese of "One World Trade Center".

Ahhnold the Barbarian - version 2.0
Don't ever underestimate this guy.

"... and call off Christmas!!!" - Alan Rickman, as the Sheriff of Nottingham (and other roles).

The recipe for making a nuke ...
... starts out the same as the recipe for "wabbit" stew.

Possibly a good movie ... (or not). A Tale of Two Books,from print to film. ("Killer Elite", "Texas Rangers")

Bimbos of the Death Sun ...
... with apologies to Sharyn McCrumb.

Fw: How Dry Is It In Texas?
My memories of summer go back a loooong way.

Vietnam's most infamous photo ...
... has so much back story that you probably never knew.

"You gotta be careful where you go pokin'... - Who knows what you'll find?" ("Lone Star" movie)

Trivia about True Grit
Does this really need a descriptor?

True Grit vs True Grit.
- 1969 original vs 2010 remake.

"There's sore decline in Adam's line ... Rudyard Kipling had Obama's number 120 years ago.

Just 50 years ago today ... I celebrated my 19th birthday, on 25 May 1961.

$446.99 - Adventures in auto repair.

"It DOESN'T!!!"... - roared the CIA Records Keeper (Ernest Borgnine) ln response to operative William Cooper's (Karl Urban) observation, "I never knew this place even existed."

WANTED!!! -- For stealing these movies... - Three movies: each loaded with talent; and a character actor or relative newcomer makes it his own. ("Absence of Malice","Get Shorty", "RED")

"My name is Boyd Crowder... - A "bit of a rave" (Thanks, Foxfier :-), about my favorite TV show. ("Justified") - Updated 31 Jan 2012

Well, THAT was interesting...
Armed robbery, at my workplace.

The Anvil of Life - To be smart as Hell and to not have a lick of sense are not mutually exclusive.

A Boy and his Vampire - Mostly about remakes. ("Let Me In", 'True Grit", a few others.)

John Hawkes - Man of Steel - One very under-rated actor. ("Winter's Bone")

"...and the sharks will come." For a while, absolutely NOTHING on this blog got the number of hits this one did.

The Return of Mickey Rourke - Want to understand what "presence" means in movies? ("Iron Man 2")

On Reading... Something always so easy for me and making such a difference to my life, may not be so for others.

Today was a really, really good day...
A pleasant driver's license renewal?!!!

The Adventure - Continued - Apollo 17, later such journeys, and how they eventually led to a new career.

Adventure of a Lifetime
Going to watch the launch of Apollo 16.

On selling out our friends and allies
My biggest fear about The Won.

Snow - An email from a friend starts a trip down memory lane.

A Profound Sadness at the Polling Station - Or, how vital English is to making it here.

"Don't forget the money angle, Paul"
I haven't, but it is incidental.

What's this "Climategate" fuss all about? - Only the perversion of science.

A Parking Space to Die For - RAGE, over a parking space violation.

Some rambling thoughts on Houston
On why I love this town so much.

A Perspective on Man-Made Global Warming (Excuse me: "Climate Change") - FULL PREACH MODE: This is how I feel.
-

Really Fine Posts by Others...

Today, I was "Unprofessional"...
I got hooked on blogs because a link on MSNBC's website sent me to this, about the tsunami that hit Indonesia on Christmas Day, 2004.

How Not To Create A Historic Global Temp Index
AJStrata details the criminal stupidity of adjusting temperature data to fit the desired conclusions of the alarmists.

The Dog Ate my Data: RAW v ADJUSTED GHCN Data
Animated graph, of raw vs adjusted temperature data for Brisbane, Australia, makes the point clearer than thousands of words.

TALKING THROUGH MY HAT: How Ahmadinejad Made Me a Believer
Roger L. Simon's encounter with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ... (I was in the presence of pure Evil. ...
This was the guy that my president wanted to talk with?)

Houston elects fiscally conservative mayor
One other open your eyes item which caught my eye in the About Annise page: "the city’s $20 million Rainy Day Fund". What fiscal truth does Houston know, yet NYC, Boston, Chicago, and LA do not? This is not a tricky question.

Democracy Denied: The Obama Chart
Flashplayer interactive image shows how The Won bypasses all procedural restraints to get what he wants. LOTS of things to scream to your congressmen about. And, scream you should. (Update - 09 Jun 2012 - GONE, GONE, GONE!!! Clicking on the link gets you 404! This has been moved, lost or stolen. Searching on Google may find a static image of the chart, but the Flash video interactive chart I cannot find.)

Paul In Houston

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Emergency Only

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