Damn cool pics

I found a number of really interesting posts this week at Damn Cool Pics including:

The World's Most Unusual Weddings

5,000 KM Beard Growth Time Lapse

Which is definitely worth a look as there is more to the story than the video alone.

And the worrying story of Kimberley Vlaminck, and her tattooed face.

Have a good weekend now y'all

kthanxbai!

Button hurt in F1 accident - caution graphic

Repeatedly posted around the interweb. But with the British Grand Prix tomorrow it is even more relevant. And it made me LOL (laugh out loud)



kthanxbai!

They don't make 'em like they used to

Back in the Old Country we used to read a newspaper every day. I still read the same paper, but online and I read the obituary page in Google Reader as there are just the most interesting people who have had the most astonishing lives, leaving us. I have found that the only way to learn life's lessons from such great people is to read their obituaries.

Here are a few snippets from the last few days:

Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Becke:

• After withdrawing to reload his tommy-gun, he returned to account for at least four of the enemy
• Becke demonstrated archetypal British pluck when, monocled and with moustache bristling, he defied a mob trying to sack the British embassy in Jakarta
• In 1974 Becke and his wife drove most of the way from Scotland to Australia

Major Philip James:

• As well as instilling such old-fashioned virtues as politeness and the correct way to eat peas with a fork, James was a useful member of the staff cricket team
• On one occasion he bombarded another regiment's officers' mess with flaming polo balls
• "The Major", as he was always known, was never unduly impressed by celebrities

Wing Commander Ken Mackenzie:

• He then slammed his wing tip on the Bf 109's tail which snapped off sending it diving into the sea.
• On his way to a POW camp, Mackenzie gave his guard the slip on a crowded Paris railway station but was soon recaptured
• Over a long period of time he feigned madness and developed a severe stammer for the purpose

They don't make 'em like they used to

kthanxbai!

I didn't say nuffing

I just think that Bobski has a great way of summarizing what people say.

Bobski's blog

kthanxbai!

Wowzers - what a week

Thanks to Captain Caveman back in the '80s 'wowzers' became part of my everyday lexicon.

And so it is with pride that I include him in what has to be a pivotal series of events in my life that have occurred over the last 100 hours;

On Thursday morning, a court case in which I have become tied down since March has finally been resolved - mainly in my favor.

On Thursday afternoon I signed a lease on a new, spacier, more modern apartment in a new city away from the hustle and bustle of where my little family currently live.

On Thursday evening, after over 12 months of looking for the right job . . . (wait for it) . . . I was informed that funds are being sought to bring me in to The Company I have been looking to work for, in The Position I have wanted - since February 06!! (fingers, and much else, stay crossed until I am actually in the office with a company email address).

So far so good. Or, more accurately, so far Thursday damn fine!!


Thursday evening was the first time in over 2 weeks that I actually ate a meal. I have noshed at different foodstuffs but generally not taken in more than 500 calories a day. Which is not too healthy. Unless you're a hamster in which case I think its just dandy. I lost 7kg / 15lbs in 2 weeks.

Late Thursday evening Mrs J and I packed our suitcases for the trip to New York and Chicago to see family. Actually Mrs J packed and I hindered, absconded and generally detracted from all of her efforts.

It's what I do. And I do it well.

Friday afternoon saw us driving off to a friend's summer apartment by the sea for 25 hours of relaxation. We were a total of 5 adults and our baby so he was spoiled rotten. The food was great, the people were fun and we just had a superb time. Which was lucky as our trip began at midnight on Saturday.

12 hours on a plane.
With a 3 month old baby.

Not a pleasant experience by anyone's account but it had to be done. And I did it without medication. And I was helpful to the wife. And I even smiled through most of it. Which I think shows just how much stress I had been under.

The court case had really knocked the wind out of my sails as it was a really pathetic case of 'he said she said' which can never be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. In the end a compromise was arrived at, a compromise to my ethics and my beliefs but I was dealing with potentially (see - I'm learning already) not 100% kosher police who were in it to only help themselves. Allegedly. Maybe.



And now it is over. All connections I had with the police have now been cut. And the real 'kicker' in the whole story? I had been helping the police in a volunteer role when I became bogged down in the whole story.

And that's all I've got to say about that.



So, a happier, friendlier, less stressed Jumblerant will be coming to you from New York an Chicago until the end of the month.


kthanxbai!

Those Jews don't mess around

I've seen a fair bit of antisemitism in my day in London, Warsaw and Lebanon (ahem...) so i do smile when I find a post that 'gets it', understands what Israel is all about and why it does, what it does, on a regular basis.

I support Israel because I believe that if the terrorists would simply stop attacking them, all hostilities would cease. I also believe that if Israel stopped fighting the terrorists, Israel would cease to exist.

From "Those Jews don't mess around" by Robb Allen over at 'Sharp As A Marble'.

Abd this one? Already on my blogroll

Yes, I admit it. I put this blog onto my blogroll before I even told you about it. Yes, it's that good.

kristen's blog for today, 1 Down, 999 To Go had me smiling but her blog I'm Sorry had me nearly blubbering.

In other news I missed out on the 65th Anniversary of D-Day due to my illness, and the fact that in these cost cutting times we cancelled our cable package. In the midst of my illness I did manage to catch a few interesting blogging though:

This Ain't Hell, But you can see it from here has a very well written article about a 94 year old Phony paratrooper at D-Day Ceremony

The Mudville Gazette has some films from the time "Original video from the day, narrated by the men who were there...."

McQ over at Blackfive has a thought provoking blog about D-Day,  and the men and emotions involved. D-Day Plus 65 Years

And, again at the Mudville Gazette, Grayhawk has a modern day blog for today, June 8th 2009, to bring us back from the past and into the present. The Call. (You might need to 'take a moment' after reading this one).

To lift the mood of the blog slightly its over to Iraq and Steven Colbert of the Colbert Report who has gone 'high and tight' in support of the troops.


kthanxbai!

No, I am not an innkeeper

I don't even remember how I came to start reading the blog Behind the Blueberry recently. I just know that I like it.

In my exceptionally arrogant way I assume that you are the same as me and will also love it. Not so arrogant? Well I found this blog first, so I'm better than you - and there's the arrogance.

I guess I'll have to start working on that.

But go here and read their blog first. Before you take vindictive action against the Jumblerant....

And I have started talking about my persona in the 3rd party already. Oh bugger.

kthanxbai!

I'm back baby - oh yeah

Apologies for not blogging for what feels like forever but I had a really bad dose of the "I really don't know what I have but I don't want to eat and I sleep the whole time and you know what? Just leave me alone in bed please".

Luckily its not catching because Mrs Jumblerant was amazing through it all. Basically I didn't really eat for a week and then slowly began building up what I ate until (YAHOO!) I ate a whole bagel and some tuna today.

Who said you learn nothing from reading blogs?

So I'm back baby - oh yeah.

Whilst reading blogs in bed thanks to my Nokia N95, I came across a very interesting 'happening'. Apparently, a group of bloggers were invited to an overnighter on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier. Which, to put it bluntly, is insane!! From blogging about anything to being invited onto an aircraft carrier?!?!

I read a few of the blogs about the trip and found them exceptionally interesting. It looks like the US Navy is trying to get some good feeling going on the blogosphere.

Good for them.

And it leads to some very interesting blog titles such as: I’m not dead but I was technically in prison so I have a good reason for not posting or epic - which contains the astounding quote 'I was XO at Top Gun, not CO' - and I get to read your blog? I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!! The detailed blog that reports it all is 24 Hours at Sea on the USS Nimitz by Guy Kawasaki over at How to Change the World and I like his style.

Thats all for now - but it is good to be back.

kthanxbai!

Sorry - I've been a bit under the weather this week.

No real posting until I can refocus my eyes on the monitor. . .


kthanxbai!

A view of the future or a modern past?

I stumbled across an online article in the New York Times which started me thinking in a variety of directions. 

And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman cannot appear in the print version due to its style.

It cannot be seen as a normal article as it appears to in a font similar to hand writing.

It uses both photos and paintings for a very interesting visual effect.

I'd be interested in your thoughts in the comments page....

kthanxbai!

Handguns, telemarketers and bears, oh my!

Bob Davis at The Anniston Star has a very interesting article on the NRA vs. the 'Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence' when it comes to selling their members' information to irrelevant third parties.

Bob Davis: Handguns, telemarketers and bears, oh my!

To my everlasting regret I worked in a call center for a few months and know exactly what kind of rabid fool actually makes these calls. In my later life in the Mass (not bulk) Emailing industry I made sure that no-one ever even attempted to sell our customers' data.

But I digress. The article I think, was maybe trying to show how the NRA are a responsible bunch and their opponents are out to get a buck wherever they can. To me the article was saying why you should always keep your personal data, including your phone number, secure.

kthanxbai!

Taken with "Taken"

Over at Two Cats and a Hornet, Lorimor has a great review of a film I never actually heard of!

One of my assumptions in this blog is that you and I are on the same level on most ideas. Using my Jumblerant logic I therefore  assume that you have never heard of the film either. So here is the link:

Taken with "Taken"

kthanxbai!

Coming to a slow boil

My wife and son are American. I'm not. But I know what respect an honour are. A friend of mine, currently based in the US posted this as his facebook status:

Xxxx Xxxx is remembering the fallen by shopping the sales, bar-b-q and opening up of swimming pools

What an absolute pillock! A more rude, selfish and stupid phrase I have not heard in a long time.

He then had an open conversation with his wife which concluded with him saying:

I got jeans and shorts - I will remember the vets every time I wear them....

I'm hoping he doesn't read this blog but if he does.... well my opinion is still the same.

So if you have a friend who might have forgotten that Memorial Day is to remember the fallen here are a few blogs that you might like to get them to visit:

• Knottie's niche
• Bostonmaggie
• Sippican Cottage - Do Flowers Grow on Porkchop Hill?
• From Cow Pastures to Kosovo -
• 1 West Tennessee Veteran's Cemetery Prepares for Memorial Day
• 2 In Memory
• You Served -God Speed 1LT. Roslyn L. Schulte

Hat tip to Bouhammer for the drawings

kthanxbai!

Memorial Day - Map the Fallen

Today one of Google Earth's developers is launching the results of a personal project he started in 2005.

This Memorial Day I would like to share with you a personal project of mine that uses Google Earth to honor the more than 5,700 American and Coalition servicemen and women that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have created a map for Google Earth that will connect you with each of their stories—you can see photos, learn about how they died, visit memorial websites with comments from friends and families, and explore the places they called home and where they died.

During this project, I have sought the advice and perspectives of several groups directly tied to these losses, including Gold Star families, veterans' groups, active-duty servicemen and women, and leadership in the United States Army. I've done my best to incorporate their feedback and suggestions in creating something that pays tribute to the memory and service of these fallen heroes.

Go check it out at Map the Fallen

kthanxbai!

Memorial Day - Beslan

Over at Bayou Renaissance Man, Peter has posted a very interesting Memorial Day article. Instead of going with the traditional line of 'what our soldiers do for us' - which you can find all over the 'net (if you can't find anything, write me a note and I'll send you 30 or 40 links) he is showing another side, the side of 'why our soldiers do what they do for us'.

Memorial Day: Remembering Beslan

It is a very interesting and emotional piece. I advise you have a hankie or sleeve ready for use.

kthanxbai!

Whiteflash.be on Facebook

I received 4 messages today from friends on Facebook, each of them had the title "Look at this" and the body had just one sentence 'www . whiteflash .be". Not being a complete nonce I didn't click on the link - as they obviously had!

Apparently the site whiteflash.be looks like a Facebook log-in page, and is designed to steal your credentials and use them to send similar messages to all your friends.

Which gets me to asking - why ? ? What do you get in return if you were the one who created this? Kudos from friends? A wry smile every now and then? Sorry, I don't get it.

If you do receive one of these Facebook emails, simply delete it - one of your friends is infected but not you. If you find, however, that your account is sending the mails:

1. As a precaution, go to your browser settings and clear your cookies.

2. Change your Facebook password

3. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date and run a full system scan

Just a reminder

65 years ago this week French, Canadian, British, American and other Allied soldiers, airmen and sailors were getting ready for what was going to be the beginning of the final push to Berlin.

We all understand and grasp the enormity of the events that occurred after the landings, but how many of us think of how they all felt in the weeks before June 6th 1944, D-Day?

kthanxbai!

I challenge you!!

Treppenwitz has started a walking challenge between 24th May and 24th June. I have signed up for it. I think from now on, like his good self, I will add the number of paces I did the previous day to the bottom of the blog so that you can comment on how well, or otherwise I am doing.

The goal is to walk a minimum of 10,000 paces a day according to a pedometer. I did 14,000 yesterday so I know I can do  it, I just have to do it every day. We shall see . .

I challenge you too!! Come by and sign up.

kthanxbai!

A variety of bloggage

Please accept my humblest apologies. In an attempt to upgrade my little corner of the blogworld I have been rearranging the blog layout. As a result, Mr Blogger has bestowed Jumblerant with a variety of bugs;

• Google Analytics hasn't worked in 6 days (or you're not reading this)
• Adsense ads were removed and then miraculously appeared
• The shortening of the blog to 244 words in RSS was turned off - but enacted anyway

To combat Google Analytics' desertion I have started using the Koego software which brands itself as Blog Analytics. Its interesting to use but I do miss Google Analytics' no nonsense approach. The marketing team over at Koego are (hopefully) not English speakers as their interface has a selection of subtle grammatic mistakes. But the fact that they use the stats that bloggers want to see, and big yellow smiley faces, does endear them to me.

Whilst Google Analytics decided to abandon me I decided to retry a rather unique advertising software called Project Wonderful. What a super name!!!

Quite simply Project Wonderful allows bloggers and websites to decide on the location and size of an ad, then they submit it for auction. Currently, after 24 hours of running it, I am $0.08 in the black. WOOHOO!! I have found that the HTML from Project Wonderful played merry hell with Google Analytics on the site so be warned.

Again, thanks for your patience and if you hear of any good analytics software, or can tell me the difference between atom 2.0, 2.5 and RSS .92, 2.0 just type something in the comments.


kthanxbai!

Baby Rearing Hints & Tips II

Oh, and by the way, the answer to 'did the baby pee in the bath?' is not 'no, but I'll teach him'.

kthanxbai!

Quality service

Thought I'd just send you over here to have a smile.

Enjoy - oh, and kthanxbai!

Wiggly wigglers - Website of the week

Close friends will know that I am a nature lover. When combined with my love of the interweb and the need to buy my Mum, back in the UK, her Christmas and birthday presents you get a seasoned follower of WigglyWigglers.

Yes, that is their name and they are very astute in their marketing. They have a near daily blog, a few of their employees twitter and they have an active group on FaceBook. All free advertising that they do not abuse. And for that, and a great website, they get recognition from The Guardian.



Well done that WigglyWiggler!!

kthanxbai!

Welcome to binge Britain

Bob over at The Drawn Cutlass has drawn my attention to an interesting article about drinking and drunken behavior in the UK.

I wasn't at all surprised to see the photos in the article either. I lived in a University town and saw it regularly. I even visited Cardiff once!!

(Note to Dan - down the Roxy in Bristol on a Saturday night!)

I was surprised to see that the drunkenness didn't seem to have an age limit though.



Oh what a night: This dustbin seems the perfect place to catch your breath on a rowdy night out

kthanxbai!

Yummywear

Summer has finally popped up round these parts so thoughts have begun about what to wear in the 90°F heat we have around here.



Its available over at Thoseshirts.com

And yes, I have been saving this one since November!!

kthanxbai!

Madonna's latest single

I heard Madonna's latest single yesterday whilst driving back from the supermarket (YEAH! What a life I lead!!).

Anyway, I thought the single sucked smelly sox. And then I saw this picture over at Rofl Razzi



Which kind of explains it all.

kthanxbai!

The Most Dangerous Record Ever Made

    A very interesting new record has been made - whilst making a record.....

'The Most Dangerous Record Ever Made'

An army band that spent hours in a makeshift recording studio in Iraq before heading out to patrol the streets of Basra has scooped the Best Album gong at the Classical Brit Awards.

One minute, the pipers of the Royal Scots Dragoon guards were crammed into the studio, the next they were risking their lives on the frontline.

The pipers were halfway through putting together their album when they were deployed on a six-month tour of Iraq last Autumn.

But instead of scrapping the project, they shipped their recording equipment to Basra and braved 40-degree heat and the risk of grenade attacks to finish the work.

And against all the odds, the album described as "the most dangerous record ever made" was named the year's best at a star-studded evening held at the Royal Albert Hall.

The honour was accepted to a standing ovation by Major Angus Benson-Blair, who dedicated it to all British service personnel.

He said: "The award is obviously about the album, but I know everyone in the Armed Forces will see also each vote as supporting us in everything we do.

"So on behalf of every single soldier, sailor and airman I would like to say a huge and heartfelt thank you for every vote for the pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Thank you so much."

Its nice to see that the soldiers are thinking to the future and have their "eyes on the prize" - congratulations!

Baby Rearing Hints & Tips

Just in case anyone out there had any questions....

More parenting dos and don'ts to come.

kthanxbai!

Blinking Tealeaves

WHICHENDBITES has a very humorous look at the despicable theft from the British public by Britain's Members of Parliament (MPs) via their expense claims;

I is for Ikea carrier bag:
5p, claimed by a Labour MP in his Scottish constituency.

J is for Jaffa Cakes:
£1.60 for two packs, charged by an outspoken junior minister in 2004.

K is for Kit Kat:
£2.50, bought from the minibar of the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in London by one of Labour’s best-known female MPs.

L is for loo seat:
One particularly heavyweight Labour MP bought two in the space of a year for his constituency home.

Just before you go over there just please note:

• £1 = $1.45
• An Aga is a large, wood fueled oven, normally left on 24/7 and used in country mansions
• And 'Blinking Tealeaves' is cockney slang for 'Bloody Thieves'

kthanxbai!

You saw it here first!

Warship of future revealed by US Navy

The Daily Telegraph has a lovely little piece on the 'Warship of the Future'. But you saw it here first.





kthanxbai!!

I like Gitmo. Please don't take it away

Whilst everyone is shouting about how cruel and wasteful the Guantanamo Bay 'Terrorist Detention Program' was and how we broke the Geneva Convention by locking up and torturing people who plotted to kill us, here is a nice little bit of info to make you think twice....

Because of Gitmo, the following, amongst others, were averted;

• The West Coast Airliner Plot
• The 2004 UK Urban Targets Plot
• The Heathrow Airport Plot
• The Tall Buildings Plot

For more info hop on over to The Effectiveness of Gitmo and the Terrorist Detainee Program at the In Homeland Security blog. it makes for very interesting reading.

I put Roseanne's picture up there because I don't really like her. No other reason.

kthanxbai!!

Focus people, focus

see more Funny Graphs

kthanxbai!

I am a teaspoon

I realized just the other day that my wife, child and I can be classified as The Teaspoon Family.

This photo was taken after lunch. As you can see from the contents of the washing up bowl (on its side at the back) all we had used, since early that morning, were teaspoons: formula, coffee and more coffee between the 3 of us!

Is that a bad thing?

kthanxbai!

The US's first Littoral Combat Ship

Littoral Combat Ship - relatively small surface vessels intended for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore) (thanks Mr Wikipedia)

The US launched their first LCS on 1st May, the USS Freedom, and having seen the boat's trials at sea, I am very impressed with the little tyke. It looks like any Somalian even muttering the phrase 'ooh arr me hearties' will be wiped off the face of the earth with quick dispatch!!





The LCS has 3 helicopters, a 57mm gun, a variety of missiles and a couple of .50 cal guns so it really can make a pirate's day a very unpleasant one.

LCS High Speed Trials

Good luck and godspeed!

kthanxbai!

The Drawn Cutlass: War Crime: U.S. Military Shot Muslims With Ammo Made By Jews!

With all the 'hoopla' (and you can quote me on that) that the UN has been going on about Israel being not very nice to their enemy during their last war, I was wondering how they'd react to 'kosher bullets' being used in Iraq.

Bob has the story over at The Drawn Cutlass:

War Crime: U.S. Military Shot Muslims With Ammo Made By Jews!

kthanxbai!