Health 1-28-2013

Urg.
I’m tempted to leave it at that, but this was not a good weekend and I’m still feeling little better than one of the walking dead. It would be more accurate to call me the “sleeping dead” because I’m what the Brits call completely knackered and spent most of yesterday in bed. At least, I think I’m using that word correctly.
Crossword puzzles and video games have shown me to be very out of it, so the head full of cotton is not making things easy and the results show it. Three tries to spell “results,” sigh.
This is a consequence of doing too much and going out too many times while feeling very iffy this past week. And the brain just turned to mush and I can’t think of anymore to write.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Review

In 2004, Miyazaki’s loose adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel hit Japanese theaters and quickly became the third highest grossing film in Japanese history.  Filled with lessons about life and love, the film’s main story takes place against the backdrop of massive war with treachery and danger around every corner. Magic meets steampunk, but the movie is really all about heart. UPDATED with new screen captures and revised text.

There is magic to be found in Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films and Howl’s Moving Castle is no exception. If a film comes out of Studio Ghibli you are guaranteed an incredible experience filled with beauty and emotion. Well, anything other than Pom Poko, but the less said about that movie the better. Yes, I am recommending buying this even before starting the review. So what makes it an automatic buy? Read on to find out.

The film begins with the title structure; a steam belching monstrosity on mechanical legs lurching through the mist of an European countryside.  It is a beautiful view of an ugly thing, something that only Miyazaki could pull off. Shortly after seeing the castle ambulate into the mist to escape pursuers, the heroine of the movie is introduced.

An Odd Bit of Spam

2013 continues to be an interesting year for blog referral spam here at From the Sidelines. The latest one intrigued me a great deal due to how ridiculously long the link was:

applehut . info / 2011 / 08 / 05/ woot – deal – 16gb – hp – touchpad - %e2%80%93 – 379 – 99 – 5 – shipping . php

I’ve added a lot of spaces to disable the link from working, but did check it out in a Linux virtual machine. The site is another fake meant to lure traffic in and poses as an aggregator of smart/cellphone news. It even has an “About” page! That particular post is very out of date which was a tip off that they hadn’t really linked me. Also, I’ve never written about the HP Touchpad! Something very amusing to me is that the post itself may have been spammed in the comments.

If you are going to sucker people in for a deal, it would be smart to at least have the date on the post be within the current month and year, don’t you think? Not to mention using a product that isn’t out of production and replaced by cheaper alternatives that are vastly superior.

As far as how safe the link is to check out, I cannot say since I used Linux to visit it. There might be some Windows (or other OS) based malware there in the ads, but I wouldn’t be able to tell. I highly recommend not clicking on this or any other link from there in your referrals.

Also recommended is adding Google Analytics, Statcounter, or some other tracking service rather than relying on Blogger’s own stats. They filter this spam out a lot more effectively, though they aren’t bullet proof. In the end, your own judgment is your best defense against spam.

Neither registered this referral.

Saw Two Sundogs Today

So of course, I did not have a camera along. My hands are too shaky too take pictures using a cellphone, so you will have to accept my word on this happening. They were equidistant from the sun on either side and fairly bright. It was if a rainbow had tried to form and forgot the arch only leaving the supporting pillars on both sides. The arcs visible in photos at the Wikipedia entry on sundogs were not visible at all, which made them even more surreal looking.

It was an interesting day that was capped off by seeing this coming home from running errands and getting groceries. Due to hitting a hardware store that actually has plastic model kits and supplies for that hobby, I’ll be getting back into that pronto. Funny, I dreamed last night that I needed to put shelves up in the weight/hobby room for built models. This was an unusual occurrence, so it should help me keep to that promise.

Health 1-21-2013

Last week was not a good one with chest congestion, coughing, and sinusitis flaring up. I didn’t get half of what I wanted to achieve done, but that half that got done was worth hurting my health a bit. More driving than I’d done in a long time was part of it due to church related tasks, so I really can’t complain too much.

Suppressing coughing and sounding like death warmed over was the main problem once I got anywhere. Since the effort involved forced a lot of down time on me, I did play a lot of video games – poorly. It was time killing at its most grinding, involving dying repeatedly in order to advance along storylines.

Today is going to be a very tired one, that I can already tell. Monday’s usually are but I put out a lot more activity this weekend than I probably should have. It will be nice when the flu and other bugs going around finally fade out in this area.

Dry in the Breadbasket

Forget about the fluctuating temperatures this winter because there is something more problematic going on with the weather. There is a serious lack of precipitation to alleviate the drought that has been going on since last year. Take a look at the map and you’ll see the heartland which produces most of the wheat, corn, and soy beans is not doing well.

Not a pretty picture, is it?

Locally, things aren’t great, but could be worse. The fields near creeks and rivers fared well, but those farther out varied considerably this past growing season. Even though we are near two creeks, quite a bit of the corn was underdeveloped. Farther west things were a lot worse in Minnesota.

The map tells me food prices will be going up with even more pain at the grocery store than just the inflation we have been experiencing. Lucky for me I’m attempting to downsize my body so less food isn’t a problem. But to families raising children this is a real concern.

Hopefully the weather will get more unpredictable and do something to relieve the situation. If you are interested in following the drought, check out the National Drought Mitigation Center page for it. It is regularly updated, hence the screen capture above to catch the moment.

India's Bantam Weight Fighter: The LCA Tejas Displays

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for light weight fighter jets and so has the Indian Air Force. They are more committed to the concept than any other country with a sizable air force, but their aging MiG-21s are true antiques in the 21st Century.  For some years they have been developing an indigenous fighter to replace the Russian plane in a protracted development that makes the F-35 program look speedy by comparison.

The LCA Tejas is a small delta winged single engine multirole fighter. While still not ready for prime time and not really in service yet despite official pronouncements, it is an interesting little plane. Much propaganda about it has been put out, but it is no match even for the now elderly F-16 (40 year old design now). Talking about any fighter project tends to devolve into mindless nationalism, so my writing that may offend some -- but it is the truth.

Still it is not a bad idea for the needs for India, since the likely opponents are China and Pakistan if conflict arises. It could make for an excellent little point interceptor especially if the Mk 2 ever gets built with a more powerful engine and AESA radar. To me, it is a modern Folland Gnat F. 1 which was a dandy little fighter proven in combat by India.

The big question is will it ever go into full production? Only time will tell.

Until then, enjoy this flight display by one of the repainted prototypes. You can tell it is one by the peeling away paint on the underside showing the original gloss white scheme.