Even Robots Like Ducks!

In Episode 02 of the BBC2 series James May's Big Ideas, the presenter deals with such things as powered suits, artificial eyes, AIs, and robots.  One such robot that he meets is able to recognize items just from seeing shapes.  It's actually quite impressive; at one point it sees a chair, then is presented with a computer stool.  It can tell that both items fall into the category of "chair", despite not looking anything alike.  It can also tell that a table isn't a chair, despite having many of the same characteristics (flat surface, four legs, etc etc etc).  Of course, we do that without giving it a second thought, but for a robot/computer to figure it out?  That's quite the feat.

So Mr May decides to show it some items, and what's one of 'em?

A really nice duckie!  And what does the Asimo see?

Yep, it knows just what's important in life... though it calls it a "toy duck" instead of the more correct "rubber duckie."  It also completely ignores James May.  Clarkson and Hammond would be proud.

(and for the record, that's a "Racer" Bud Duck... Bud is a fine maker of luxury duckies, and not easy to find in stores.  I've only got three, and they were gifts.)

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Lack Of Spark

I seem to have misplaced my motivation to do much of anything right now.

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Thoughts and Webrangling

I'm working on a couple of posts, each about a particular aircraft carrier, at the moment, but neither are ready for prime-time quite yet.  So, while you wait, here's this post instead!

Just received an order from Robert's this afternoon that I'm very excited about.  First up is HidaSketch x 365, the second series in the franchise.  The other thing I got is ARIA the Origination.  That's the third and final series of the ARIA saga, and it has what I consider the single finest episode of anime I've ever seen in it, ep09.   The interesting thing about that particular episode is that it really only works if you've watched all the others in the franchise; if you just drop in the DVD and watch it standalone, it doesn't have anywhere near the impact.  I suppose some might say that because of that, it can't be the best episode ever, to which I'd say "pbpbpbpbpbpbpbpbbpbpbthhhhhhhhh."  So there.

Nozomi/Right Stuf really did a nice job on their releases for ARIA.  No skimping here.  Four boxes, four or five DVDs per box, a "guidebook" in each as well with episode notes, sketches and the like.  Then there's the best idea I've seen in a while: the extras DVD.  Instead of spreading things like interviews, trailers, music videos, etc, across all the other DVDs in the box, thereby using space that could better be used for other things, Nozomi put them all on their own disc.  Great idea!

In other news, we've gotten our first applicant for the Formula 1 gridslot relinquished by the failed USF1.  Durango Automotive, until recently a GP2 team, made their desire known today.  Unfortunately, the reason they withdrew from GP2 was... financial problems.  Just what we need, huh?  They're confident, however, that if they get the slot, they'll find backers... sound familiar?  Best of luck to you, guys, you'll need it.

Speaking of USF1, it's official: the team is totally dead.  They fired all their employees, whom had been on unpaid leave for many weeks, via e-mail a few days ago.

Andy over at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Catgirls, might be the luckiest person on the face of the earth.  He went on vacation back in March, with his first stop being Australia.  His itinerary put him in Melbourne for a few days around March 24th... in other words, during the Grand Prix weekend.  Which he didn't realize; he's not a F1 fan.  After Melbourne, his next holiday stop was... Kuala Lumpur.  During the Grand Prix weekend.  Which he didn't realize; he's not a F1 fan.  On the plane flight over, there were a bunch of people wearing identical shirts... the Renault team.  Then once he's in KL, he gets caught in one of those ever-present (but not during the race!) afternoon/evening thunderstorms.  Like any intelligent person, he ducks into a shopping mall to avoid the deluge... just in time to be present for Team Lotus' unveiling of their car for the home fans.  Oh, and don't forget about the static collection of early '90s F1 cars, too.  Then there's the Duck Store, too...  AND HE'S NOT A F1 FAN!  *whimper*

Finally, the first episode of the second series of K-On!! has hit the torrents, and it's just like the first series only moreso.  Hate the OP, though... sounds like someone hit the helium bottles before they started singing.  Enjoyable episode, not anything deep and memorable... just like K-On! probably should be.

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Fantasy Baseball and F1 Scheduling

So my Fantasy League Baseball auction is over and done with, and there's no question in my mind that my team, the Generics, completely bites the rosin bag.  That's encouraging, actually, because over the 20+ years I've been in this league, my best teams are the ones that I think suck coming out of the auction.  Maybe it was my partner's help.  Other than constantly telling me to bid on Brandon Duckworth, even though he's not in the major leagues, he did good work today.

Tomorrow is Easter, and I'm having lunch with Ph.Duck and his aunt at noon-ish.  Normally I'd watch the grand prix before lunch, but there might be a problem with that.  See, the satellite feed provided by the apartment complex is full of static and snow SPEED's channel... but none of the other channels.  Great, just great.  I might be forced to d/l the race and watch it that way.  If that happens, that  means the F1 Update! won't be up until the evening.  Of course, if things work themselves out, then I'll be able to watch the videotape and all will be right with the world.

We'll see what happens.

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Where's the "Blush" Button

I would be remiss if I didn't give a big ol' Thank You! to Karel and his humorously witty webcomic Quacked Panes for its April 1st shoutout to... um...

...well, me.

Karel's comic is nearing its 100th installment, by the way.  THAT one should be epic indeed!  Go check him out, won't you?

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Under Destruction

Nothing to see here, move along.  These aren't the droids you're looking for.  Let the Wookie win.

UPDATE: Hah!  That fixed it!

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Reliving The Nightmare

It was six months ago today that Momzerduck passed away.  I still find myself wondering why the telephone doesn't ring around 7pm every night.

Wow.  I thought I could write about how I'm feeling, but I find I can't without losing it.  Instead, I'll just leave this here:

I miss her so very much.

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Midway: The Forgotten Plane

The list of aircraft involved at the Battle of Midway reads like a roll call of legendary planes.  The best fighter in the world in 1942, the A6M Zero.  The Aichi D3A Val and Nakajima B5N Kate, striking arm of Kido Butai.  The F4F Wildcat, sturdy and resilient.  SBD Dauntless, the premiere dive-bomber of WWII.  The hapless Brewster Buffalo.  The tragic TBD Devastator.  The PBY Catalina played a major role in finding the Japanese fleet.  Even the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-26 Marauder and TBF Avenger made small but dramatic appearances in the battlespace.

Oft neglected amongst all these stellar names, though, is a little-known dive-bomber flown from Midway by Marine squadron VMSB-241 known as the SB2U Vindicator. 

Designed to a 1934 US Navy requirement, it entered squadron service three years later.  On the whole, the Vindicator was a bland, inoffensive airframe with no outstanding qualities or drawbacks.  The US Navy's first monoplane dive-bomber, it could carry a 1000lb bombload and was armed with two machine guns, one on a flexible mount for the observer and one firing forward.  Like many planes of the time, the rear fuselage and tail were fabric covered.  Powered by a 825hp Pratt & Whitney engine, it could cruise at 150mph and maxed out at 243mph.  While equipped with dive brakes, these were found to be dangerously ineffective, meaning that pilots were forced to extend the landing gear when performing a steep diving attack.  This limitation was countered somewhat by use of a reversible-pitch propeller.  It also had a habit of shedding fabric from its airframe in a steep dive.

When war broke out in Europe, France was desperate for aircraft of all types and placed an order for 90 V-156 (the export version of the Vindicator), though only 40 were ever delivered to the Aeronavale, and 24 entered squadron service.  Though originally acquired to serve on the CV Bearn, that ship sortied only rarely and never with any V-156s on board.  Thus when the German blitzkrieg rolled into France, the Vindicator operated from land bases only.  Most of the French aircraft were destroyed on the ground, and the rest were quickly worn out from nigh-constant (and mostly ineffectual) use.

The British Fleet Air Arm also used the Vindicator, though they called it the Chesapeake.  Amusingly, their pilots gave the plane the epic nickname of "Cheesecake."  Intended for use on escort carriers for anti-submarine duties by 811 Naval Air Squadron, it was quickly discovered that it was wholly unsuitable for such short flight decks.  Withdrawn from carrier duty, 811 Squadron's Chesapeakes were replaced by the Fairey Swordfish and used for training.

The US Navy put SB2Us on four of its carriers between 1937 and September 1942, the USS Saratoga, Lexington, Wasp and Ranger.  It provided stout service but was quickly phased out of carrier service when the SBD Dauntless became available.  It was around this time that the Vindicator earned its second great nickname when it became known as the "Wind Indicator."  Aboard the Ranger and Wasp, the Vindicator provided cover for multiple Atlantic convoys, while in the Pacific the Navy gained valuable experience in operating dive bombers off of carriers pre-war.  Despite this, no Navy SB2Us ever saw combat. 

It was in service with the US Marine Corps that the Vindicator experienced its first (and last) action.  The Marines were provided with a variant of the SB2U, the -3 with more armor and a much larger fuel tank.  The fuel tank allowed VMSB-241 to fly the 1200 miles from Hawaii and Midway, which was at the time a world record for single-engined planes over water.  The squadron reinforced Midway just before the battle itself.  There were 11 Vindicators in VMSB-241, along with 16 Dauntlesses.  Squadron leader Lofton Henderson put his best pilots in the SBDs, leaving the SB2U-3s, under command of Major Benjamin Norris, to be flown by true rookies, many of whom had never actually executed a dive bombing attack.

On June 4th, 1942, this mixed squadron attacked Kido Butai.  With their higher cruising speed, the Marine SBDs arrived over the Japanese fleet some minutes ahead of the slower Vindicators.  While the Dauntlesses went after the carriers and thus were treated rudely by the Japanese CAP, Major Norris realized that, with his slow planes, his detachment stood no chance of surviving a run at the CVs.  Wisely, he and his rookies executed glide bombing attacks on the nearest Japanese capital ship, the battleship Haruna.  The 11 SB2Us scored a few near misses, which did no damage to the battlewagon, while losing two planes to Zeros, while battle-damaged Vindicators ran out of fuel on the flight back to Midway.  As with the TBF and B-26s, the SB2U-3's main role in the Battle of Midway was to keep Kido Butai busy defending itself from attack, preventing it from launching an attack on the American fleet.

By early 1943, all Vindicators had been withdrawn from mainline duty, reduced to training roles, and subsequently forgotten.

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Testing Testing 1-2-3

Lets see if that worked...

UPDATE:  Yup, sure did.  No more awkward 585 pixel-width pictures... we're moving up to 640px!  Everybody, refresh your cache!  VGA, baby, oh yeah.

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Goodbye To Getting Anything Done

There is a new Civilization being released in the fall of 2010.  It will be fully moddable and for the first time in the series, it will use a hexagon-based map.

I might need to get a new graphics card.  And a more comfortable computer chair.  And probably a new job after I stop showing up to the Duck U. Bookstore to play this.

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Air Penguins!

A different type of hardware from all the F1 stuff we've been seeing:

I find myself mesmerized.

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Happy Birthday

Today would have been Momzerduck's 66th Birthday.

It's amazing how much I miss her.

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A Little Housekeeping

I'm currently working on the post for Ga-Rei Zero, Episode 03.  It's a remarkably time-consuming process.  I take roughly one screenshot per minute of running time per episode (25-30 screencaps per 24 minute show), plus variants for many of them.  For example, let's look at this shot:

I actually had five different versions of this picture.  The only differences were the positions of the "overhead lights" (she's actually standing underneath an overpass, and as cars went over, the lights moved.  No, I don't understand how the highway bridge is see-through either, but it's a neat look). 

Then, of course, I have to adjust the saturation, contrast, and size of each screencap as well.  ZoomPlayer's snapshot feature is good, but the resulting pictures sometimes seem washed out; maybe it's just me, though.  Then comes the uploading of each picture, and THEN I get to write a thousand words around them.  Each writeup seems to take between three or four hours all told, not including the initial viewing of the episode.

In other business, there's little going on in the world of Formula 1 at the moment, but that'll be changing very soon.  The first Preseason Test session is February 1st at Valencia, and many of the teams are rolling out their cars just ahead of that date.  Ferrari, for example, will debut their car to the press on January 28th.  Of course, I'll be doing a F1 Pr0n entry for each one!

Fortunately for my sanity, the motorsports season is just about to get underway.  First there's the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction, which begins on the 19th.  Legendary Announce Team member Bob Varsha is the head voice for SPEED's coverage, and it's great to see all those cool cars.  Then we get the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 30th.  I love watching the 24-hour races, and the Daytona one is pretty much the unofficial start of the American motorsport year.

So, yeah, that's what is going on over here at The Pond at the moment.  Only 54 more days until the first practice for the Grand Prix of Bahrain!

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The Hawk and Big Mac

It's hard to think baseball in the middle of January, but over the past few days there's been two big news items to come from America's Game.  It might be interesting to compare the individuals involved, Andre Dawson and Mark McGwire.

Andre "The Hawk" Dawson started his major league career in 1976 as an outfielder for the Montreal Expos.  He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1977, and eight Gold Gloves for his defense (1980-1985, 1987-1988).  He was what they called a "five-tool player," able to hit for average and power, had good speed, a cannon arm and played excellent defense in the field. 

A testament to his offensive abilities is that he became only the third member of one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball, the 300-300 club, in 1991.  At the time, only Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds had reached those numbers in home runs and steals (there are now six players with those numbers). 

In 1987, Dawson won the NL MVP award, hitting 49 homers and driving in 137 runs.  More amazing is that he won the award playing for a last place team, the 76-85 Chicago Cubs.  He joined the Cubs in 1986, practically begging the team to give him a contract.  This was the age of collusion, when the Major League teams had decided that they wouldn't sign other teams' free agents, no matter what.  Dawson gave the Cubs a standard contract with his signature on it, but with the amount he was to be paid left blank.  He then told the club to fill in the amount they were willing to pay.  They offered him $500000 plus incentives worth an additional $750000 if he made the All-Star team, started in the All-Star game, or won the MVP.  These numbers were well below what he should have been offered, but he still took it.

He had good reason to leave Montreal for Chicago: the field.  The astroturf in Montreal's Olympic Stadium was easily the hardest in the Majors, being barely more than a plastic grass carpet laid directly on concrete.  Over the 10 years he played there, his knees degenerated into putty from all the pounding they took.  Much of his speed was lost after 1983, when he stole 25 bases.  He never stole close to 20 again.  He was always the first to the ballpark, and the last to leave, simply because he needed the extra time to get therapy on his knees just so he could play.  While they didn't shorten his career, they certainly made it much more painful.  He's actually had one of his knees replaced twice since his retirement, and the other will be replaced sometime soon, as it has no cartilage remaining.

He retired in 1996.  In 2005, Ryne Sandburg, the Cubs' great second baseman, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.  During his induction speech, Sandburg pushed for Dawson's enshrinement, saying "No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987 [with the Cubs], and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."

This past weekend, Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Mark "Big Mac" McGwire, hit 70 home runs in 1998, breaking the single season record previously held by Roger Maris.  He hit 583 for his career.  Today, he came out and admitted that he used cheated by steroids during his career, including that 1998 season. 

Two more different people would be difficult to find.

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Happy New Year To All!

So 2009 heads into the record books, and I, for one, am glad to see the back of it.  The passing of Momzerduck made this the worst year ever, personally, and sure makes 2010 look bleak.  Still, there were some good things that occurred in the past 365 days.  Consider:

In Formula 1, the season started off with Honda kicking the bucket late in 2008.  The pieces were picked up by Ross Brawn, however, so we had a full 20-car grid.  However, something strange happened a week later, something that became the story of the year: nobody could touch the Brawns' pace at the final testing session.  It seemed to be because of their twin-level diffuser, which four other teams protested (and were denied), but nobody really thought anything about it, really.  A rookie team based on the bones of a bad team?  Still, it was a nice story...

...and then Jensen Button took pole for the first race of the season, followed closely by his teammate Rubens Barrichello.  Brawn won the Australian Grand Prix with a 1-2 finish to boot... in their first race ever.  Button won the next race, in Malaysia, which became F1's first rain-shortened race since 1991.  If that wasn't enough reason to declare it Bizarro Season, Red Bull took the next race with a 1-2 finish of their own.  Throw in the fact that Ferrari at this point hadn't collected any points at all, and we knew we had the oddball of all oddballs on our hands. 

The only thing that put a damper on the season as a whole was the horrible incident involving Felipe Massa and a spring off the rear of Barrichello's car.  His season was over, and for a while it was thought his career as well.  Michael "Slappy" Schumacher was named to replace Massa at the same time BMW announced they were withdrawing from F1 at the end of the year.  Schumacher had suffered a neck injury in a motorcycle racing accident some months previously, however, and couldn't handle the physical aspect of driving, leading to his pulling out of the seat... which was then given to Luca Badoer.  Badoer promptly peed the chance down the leg of his firesuit, recalling the legendary "Fast" Yuji Ide in the process. 

Renault wound up in the midst of scandal when Nelson Piquet Jr accused the team of forcing him to crash in the 2008 Singapore GP.  They were found guilty and team principal Flavio Briatore was given a lifetime ban.  Ever since, Renault has been making noises like they intend to quit the sport; it hasn't happened yet, though they sold a major stake in the team recently.

The Grand Prix of Belgium brought us the most Bizarro occurrence in a Bizarro season: Force India took pole!  Even more incredibly, they finished the race in second, the team's first points-paying result, and their first podium.  Giancarlo Fisichella promptly bailed on the team (in what ended up being my headline of the year) and took over Luca Badoer's place at Ferrari... where he was almost as slow.

The Japanese Grand Prix brought us the weirdest qualy session I've ever witnessed, with some repaving in the Degner Curve being the main culprit for the three red flags and multiple yellows.  One of the red flags was for Timo Glock's accident, which knocked him out for the season with a fractured vertebra.

The penultimate race in Brazil essentially brought the Bizarro Season to an end in fitting form: Jenson Button clinched the Driver's Championship for Brawn, which also clinched the Constructor's Championship.  Not too bad for a team that didn't exist a month before the season started.  A few weeks after the season ended, so did BrawnGP: they were sold to Mercedes-Benz... who then signed Michael "Slappy" Schumacher to drive for them in 2010.

Three new teams were tabbed to join the F1 Circus in 2010 as well, including America's very own USF1.  Toyota withdrew and was (essentially) replaced by Lotus, while Sauber took over BMW's old slot.  All of this sets the stage for an incredible season in the new year!

On the Anime front, The Pond was a little... sparse this year.  I didn't stop watching, far from it, but I didn't really write much about it.  The world's first doujin anime, based on the Touhou series of games, was released with an incredible voice cast but lackluster animation.  Kurokami's first episode promised great things, but the show quickly managed to disgust me with fetishistic levels of violence meted out against the main character.  ADV Sentai Filmworks released Clannad on DVD, but I had a few complaints about the actual release.  Please note that this wound up not stopping me from getting the rest of the series, or the followup Clannad ~After Story~ for that matter. 

It's not exactly anime, but the visual novel Katawa Shoujo had a demo released.  Many people were disgusted by the subject matter, but I liked the game quite a bit.  But then, I found myself enjoying KissxSis, which has somewhat "iffy" subject matter as well.  Unlike most of the rest of the anime blogosphere, I also liked the new Haruhi Suzumiya series.  Finally, my long-hoped-for wish for a crossover between Formula 1 and anime came to light, in not one but two different series!  There was even a F1 reference in the second Haruhi Suzumiya novel.  I also met a fellow anime blogger for lunch one day.

Then there was my WWII musings.  The Hosho got a post that was nearly as long as it was.  I found myself fascinated with the Sangamon-class "Jeep" carriers, a nearly ignored type of ship.  My best writings, though, of course were based on the Battle of Midway.  The third in my "What If...?" series dealt with the issue of timing on that June 6th morning.  Correcting the conventional wisdom regarding the Tone #4 scout plane actually earned me a mention in an issue of the Battle of Midway Roundtable, much to my surprise.  I also turned my thoughts to dive bombing and why it worked so well, yet disappeared so quickly. 

So, that about covers the year here at The Pond, but I can't end it without thanking Big Poppa Pixy for his hosting of this blog.  I would be remiss if I didn't also thank you, dear readers, for coming back here every so often.  You've made it all worthwhile, and you're helping me make it through the worst stretch I can imagine.  Thank you.

Happy New Year, everybody! 

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The Flock Has A Sad Today

Twenty-two years ago, Christine Christopher and Ian Knight of Ringwood, England, rescued a small, injured duckling that had been abandoned by its mother as the runt of the litter.  They named it Edward, a name that turned out to be a poor choice when the duck began laying eggs.

Renaming the duck Edwina, the two nursed the little duckette to full health then returned it to the lake where they had first encountered it.

Edwina followed them back home, where she became fond of tea and toast.

For two decades, Edwina lived with the couple.  This past July, the British Trust for Ornithology claimed she was the oldest known wild mallard in the U.K.

"She hadn't been well over Christmas.   Her legs were a bit wobbly, and she wasn't her normal self.  We were planning to take her to the vet."

This past Monday, Edwina was found dead in her duckrun at the age of 22.  She was buried in the family garden with an ornamental duck placed on top of her final resting place as a memorial.

The Pond sends its condolences and thanks to the Knights for their care of Edwina.

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Bears Beat Vikings In OT

...and the NFC road to the Super Bowl now has to go through New Orleans.

Say "thank you", Ubu!

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The "Win A Book From Wonderduck" Contest!

Last year around this time, I stumbled upon and purchased a copy of A Dawn Like Thunder by Robert Mrazek.  This book, an oral history of Torpedo Squadron 8 off the USS Hornet, amongst others, may have been the best piece of military history to come out in 2008.  Certainly it was the best that I read!  I liked it so much, I reviewed it here, only the second book review I've ever done here on The Pond.  Well, my uncle JoeDuck gave me a copy of the trade-paperback version of A Dawn Like Thunder for Christmas!  A fantastic gift indeed, but I surely don't need two copies of the book... but here's YOUR chance to Win A Book From Wonderduck!

Tell me why I should send you a copy of this book for your library!  You can write it on your blog if you have one (just include a link to the post here), or you can write it here if you don't.  Feel free to accompany the post with charts, graphs, pictures, bribes, ducks, whatever you think it'll take to win the contest!  As long as it's legal.  One entry per person.  Do not taunt happy fun ball.  Entries must be in by 1159pm (Pond Time) on January 2nd, 2010.  I will be the sole judge of this contest and my decision is final.  Other than that, there are no rules!  Go wild! 

I'm looking forward to this!

UPDATE:  I forgot to mention that I'll handle the shipping, so no fear that way.  As long you've got a location that FedEx ships to, that is.  US residents only, I'm afraid, as I can't handle the cost of shipping this to, say, Australia.  Sorry, Pixy.

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Home Again, Home Again

I've made it back from Albuquerque.  I've been home for about an hour or so... about 10 hours after Ph.Duck and I left Uncle JoeDuck's place.  Read that again: 10 hours!

We got to the Albuquerque International Sunport at 1145am Mountain time for a 1pm flight.  Breezed through security while giving the screener a good laugh when he saw the World Market holiday rubber duckies in my carry-on, went right to our gate... and saw that the flight had been delayed until 2pm.  Weather at O'Hare was piss-poor and getting worse.

Oh, great.  JUST peachy. 

Still, we did board at 2pm and did take off at about 215pm, so American Eagle got that part right.  A rather bumpy climb to altitude later (it was actually snowing in Albuquerque today), and we were on our way.  It was on the descent to O'Hare, however, that the flight took an ugly turn.  As soon as we left cruising altitude, we were in the clouds, and we wouldn't escape them until a minute or so before we landed.  That, my friends, was not pleasant... not in the least.

Turned out that we had some exciting crosswinds across the runway.  It's rather disconcerting to feel the plane heel from port to starboard and back a few times when you're about to touch down, lemme tell ya.  We touched down fairly hard, the pilot slammed on the brakes immediately, reversed the engines, threw out the anchor, and even dragged his feet to get us to stop.  Slipping and sliding, but eventually we did stop.  Then we starting taxiing to our gate... and went right by it.  One nice scenic tour of the O'Hare "back lots" later, we approached our gate again... and again, went right by it.  WTF???  The Captain then gets on the intercom and says, essentially, that American Airlines couldn't get their act together and there were a few extra jets blocking the gate.  Oh joy.

So again, around we went.  About halfway through this third circuit, I look out the window and see a BIG PLANE!!!  RIGHT THERE!!!  MOVING FAST!!!  Our pilot slammed on the brakes, the BIG PLANE!!!, a Continental Airlines widebody, slammed on the brakes, and disaster was avoided... but not by enough to suit me, everybody on the right side of the plane, and our collective bladders.  Meanwhile, the head flight attendant is chatting on her cellphone and snapping her gum.  Oi.

At 7pm Central time (about 2 hours late), we deplaned into chaos.  While Ph.Duck went in search of the loo, I found myself chatting to a pilot.  According to him, O'Hare had been screwed up all day.  Seems flights are scheduled so tightly at the world's busiest (or second busiest, depending on how you measure it) airport that one little problem causes a cascading series of backups and delays... and the weather had been causing havoc.  Depending on when you were looking outside, it had been raining, snowing, sleeting, freezing rain, ice storming, rain of frogs, meteorites, hail of fire, you name it.  Again, according to this pilot, at one point there were four hour delays on some flights east.

Bladders emptied, Ph.Duck and I went off to catch the bus back to Duckford.  When it finally showed up, 20 minutes late, the driver told us that the roads were "sheer ice" and it might take two hours to get home.  Well, it didn't... it only took 100 minutes, instead of the hour it usually takes.  The roads in Duckford were... well, wet and sloppy.  I suspect by sometime on Xmas Eve, they'll be ice rinks.  At 1045pm, I walked through the door of Pond Central exhausted, tired, and hungry... and home.

There's no place like it.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:31 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Lunch With A Blogger

The staff of The Japanese Kitchen (Sushi Side) had not a clue the importance of the two people who walked in around noon today.  One, a tall man with a Russian accent.  The other, a duck from the Midwest.  Both are anime bloggers and greatly enjoy Japanese food.

The orders were for simple fare: croquettes for both, gyoza for the human, cali rolls for the duck. While the croquettes and gyoza were tasty indeed, the sushi wouldn't've made it to the table without inquiries as to where it had gone to.

In between bites, they chatted mostly about either linux or anime... go figure.  It turns out that, for the most part, what show one liked, the other did not... save for Azumanga Daioh and Kampfer, of which the duck had only yet seen a couple of episodes.

Still and all, a good time was had.  Comestibles were masticated, beverages were imbibed, and the tall one was kind enough to pick up the tab.

Thanks for lunch, Pete!  A pleasure to meet you, and my offer stands: you ever make it out Duckford way, lemme know!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:59 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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