tvashtarkatena

Tot choadness.

On it.

The Shuttle program has many aspects, some good, some not so, depending on your outlook. Half of all it's missions have been military in nature. At over $10,000 per pound put into orbit, it's an expensive launch platform. It has had some obvious reliability problems. Many would argue that it has sucked the lion's share of money from more worthy, unmanned science missions. On the other hand, the Shuttle has proven to be an effective satellite transport and maintenance platform...the Hubble repair and all that. On the other hand again, the Shuttle helped build the ISS; arguably the most expensive and purposeless piece of space junk ever conceived. In the end, the credit or blame for the Shuttle should probably go to Stanley Kubrick, Harry Lange, and Arthur C. Clarke.

Why don't you slip off to a sand dune real soon

5 octaves of pure annoyance.

F'in oompa loompas. Can't control 'em. Photogenic though.

Nicely done!

Yeah. Next time do us a favor and break all of your fingers.

Promountainsports.com, a local shop owned by Jim Nelson, has some good information on the subject. Here's what I use in winter conditions on really bad days: TOP: T shirt long sleeve shirt (I get the syntho shirts they give away at 10Ks and stuff from Goodwill; that fabric seems to work the best) softshell down sweater light hooded shell (anything reasonably windproof will do) windstopper balaklava down hood (around the neck or worn as needed) Down parka as backup Bottom: microfibre boxers Longjohns schoeller pants lightest nylon wind pants you can find calf length smartwool socks OR Alti mitts goggles (of course) You should be able to travel in some pretty nasty conditions gussied up like that, as well as hang around camp in style.

TR: Chair Peak NE Buttress, Jan 27, 2009 Separated at birth? Don on station in the ready position. Nothing brings out your eloquent side like having your brain frozen through your eye sockets by high velocity spindrift. After a beautiful weekend and its attending flurry of trip reports, Don and I beat the crowds, ex post facto, by following their many divots up Chair Peak’s NE buttress. Unfortunately for us, the forecasted storm arrived 12 hours earlier than expected. Despite heavy snowfall at the parking lot, we decided to have a romp anyway, given the friendly avalanche conditions. Source Lake was buried under the wreckage of the basin’s former snow pack, courtesy of ‘The Weather Event’. On the approach we were surprised to encounter two other pilgrims who apparently didn’t get the weather memo either. After pitching the first gulley and its accompanying spindrift induced brain-freeze headache, we simulclimbed the remainder of the route without incident. The snow and ice conditions were still as good as the weather was not. The summit, with its frequent spindrift blasts, afforded an opportunity to finally exfoliate my face, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now. I down climbed most of the way with my eyes shut to avoid pitting my corneas. Unfortunately, my fogged, then frozen goggles were at that point worthless. Enjoying a nice sandblasting on the summit The rap gulley, its flutings awash in spindrift, resembled something out of the Andes. I managed to loose a 6” deposition slab on the way down which scoured the remainder of the descent nicely. Rapping down the spindrift hose Filling the pack with snow for the trip down All in all, an interesting immersion into conditions one normally doesn’t experience if one has any foresight or brains. [video:youtube]Au3G_a5h4NE

Let's all hope you don't choose to start a similar thread when diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Much more likely: the stabbings would have been shootings.

I still don't get your point.

Why is there an IPhone floating in space next to that guy in the Bunny Foo Foo pose?

The solution is clear: let children play with sharp objects.

Why? There are many people who view morality apart from religion but still see a danger in proceeding down a path to save one human life at the expense of an innocent and sentient being. Bush's decision to not allow taxpayer funding of stem cell research--while not pursuing a ban on private research--struck a fair balance, IMO. How do you explain supporting war then? That uses innocent lives as well as the majority of our tax money. The fetuses from which stem cells are harvested are extras that are not implanted in the in vitro fertilization process. Many eggs are fertilized to produce a viable fetus for implantation (obviously). These fetuses, many of which are not viable, are discarded anyway. They go into the trash not matter what...there is no 'innocent life spent' or whatever. Why not save lives with them, or would that make too much sense? Or is in vitro fertilization itself somehow morally wrong?

Burn them

Death to the Party of Reagan

Death to the Faithful.

Next tahm ah ketchu boyz up'ere Ah'monna sheute yore assis offa thar with mah 50 cal. Yue damn near took mah rear transaxle off with onena them fuhkin' astroids yue sent down mah way.

Mine fazzuh died ven I vas seben.

Why should older folks deserve more respect than anyone else? Seems like the buttholes in the crowd just get more tweaked out as they rot with age.

The fact that there were any restrictions at all, and they were substantial, should be at the very least embarrassing.

The Flat Earth debate rages on....

My grandpa used to make us call him "Mr. Funnypants". He used to hide things for us in his oversized pants, always belted well above the navel. He'd burst through the door, arms akimbo, beaming with that half demon/half angel smile of his, and yell "Find the gum!" We guessed that Grandpa didn't like to be called "Grandpa" because, despite a leaky colostomy bag, he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the aging process. Grandpa loved everyone. He was constantly hugging us tightly. He breathed diversity, like a cross between Big Bird and Mike Doonsbury. The only people he didn't like were Republicans, whom he referred to as "pig fuckers" or "The Unwashed". He had this funny theory that Republicans retained neandertal genes from some paleolithic cross breeding. Grandpa finally passed when the hole through his bowels became infected. Sure, I miss him, but not as much as I thought I would. He was a funny guy, in more ways than one.