Lets see – first game of Mutants and Masterminds… using the free module Dr. Null, Battle on Bay Bridge.

Not bad. We didn’t get started till late, and didn’t get to game that long, but we had….

Car sized bug bots being blasted into mushroom clouds of confetti

A pterodactyl winging in from the side of the bridge, and then suddenly shifting to a Tyrannosaurus Rex (while still airborne) to knock a bugbot off a gasoline tanker. The (not very bright) bugbot had been about to cut into the tanker with an arc welder.

A minivan being thrown through one of the bridges suspension cables. A bug bot being punched a couple of miles out to sea.

While we do have work to do….. its got potential.

Wow its a nice day outside! Why am I inside?

Randy Barnett at Volokh posts

Alternatively, states could include the repeal of the 16th Amendment in a more comprehensive “Federalism Amendment” such as this:
Section 1: Congress shall have power to regulate or prohibit any activity between one state and another, or with foreign nations, provided that no regulation or prohibition shall infringe any enumerated or unenumerated right, privilege or immunity recognized by this Constitution.

Section 2: Nothing in this article, or the eighth section of article I, shall be construed to authorize Congress to regulate or prohibit any activity that takes place wholly within a single state, regardless of its effects outside the state or whether it employs instrumentalities therefrom; but Congress may define and punish offenses constituting acts of war or violent insurrection against the United States.

Section 3: The power of Congress to appropriate any funds shall be limited to carrying into execution the powers enumerated by this Constitution and vested in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof; or to satisfy any current obligation of the United States to any person living at the time of the ratification of this article.

Section 4: The 16th article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed, effective five years from the date of the ratification of this article.

Section 5: The judicial power of the United States to enforce this article includes but is not limited to the power to nullify any prohibition or unreasonable regulation of a rightful exercise of liberty. The words of this article, and any other provision of this Constitution, shall be interpreted according to their public meaning at the time of their enactment.

Except for its expansion of Congressional power in Section 1, this proposed amendment is entirely consistent with the original meaning of the Constitution. It merely clarifies the boundary between federal and state powers and reaffirms the power of courts to police this boundary and protect individual liberty.

And, another of the Volokh bloggers has some additional thoughts.

Ugh. From an online ad for a severe macaw, up in the Bronx.

my macaw is like a year old or alittle younger if i’m not mistaken. i have a smart talking quaker but i will keep her being that its a gift from my son but my macraw is still young and she belongs to my daughter whom is now in college and can’t take care of her.

Why in the hell did someone get a bird before going away to college?

The Severe Macaw is a lovely bird from the macaw family wrapped up in a small package. One of the main characteristics of the Severe Macaw is that it is so people friendly and its size is somewhat more manageable as it measures at only about twenty inches from head to tail. With a colorful and fun personality, Severe macaws (also called the Chestnut Fronted Macaw) make for a great family pet.

Oh boy, does that ever NOT describe a Severe macaw! Here, take a gander at parrot musings, taking about her Severe Macaw, Rocky. Speaking of which – Parrot musings is the blog to read for day to day life with parrots. If you want to know what life is truly like with multiple birds, read that blog!

But anyway, the above quotes turn my stomach. Mind, at the same site, I found a woman wanting to give away an akc registered Hyacinth macaw. AKC = American Kennel Club. WTF?

I took a half day off work friday so that Dad and I could go to the Spring Feathered Horse Classic. Thats a horse show up in Tennessee – near Nashville. I don’t like horses, but my flickr feed is darn full of them. Anyway, dad wanted to see Gypsy Horses. Which we did… We were going to stay overnight, and go see some additional stuff today (Saturday). But, I had seen a flyer that I could get my dogs their rabies shots today for 8 bucks apiece. So we came on back in – total we were gone about ten hours.

Anyway – spending 50 minutes trapped with two ultra hyper dogs (Oh boy! We are out of the house and yard!) in a small honda element equals sheer frazzled chaos. I bought crates for a reason, and next year, I’ll use them. I didn’t have it as bad as the guy in front of me. He had three dogs not in crates, three kids not in crates, two cats in crates, and himself. He looked like he really wanted to be in a crate!

Harley is molting again. I swear that bird spends more time molting than he does not molting.

I got some other, even more minor garbage done, as well.

Yeah, yeah, so its all over the Internet…. so its a heavily edited clip…. but damn, that woman can SING.

Well, I’ll be getting a ticket for 70 bucks in the mail in a few days.

I ran a red light which is camera enforced today. Very solidly ran it too. It wasn’t intentional.

In my defense, I just have to say THANK YOU to the woman who was out jogging, working on keeping her truly awesome shape, and an additional THANK YOU for her excellent choice of exercise attire.

While at Cloudland Canyon sunday, Easter 2009, I heard Chimney Swifts for the first time this year. I didn’t see them – but they are around.

Last year I noticed them on the 10th, in downtown Canton, and at the house. I haven’t yet noticed them at either location this year.

Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganensis)

Originally uploaded by Houston Zoo.

See this lovely face in the picture above? Thats a two foot long salamander. I’ve wanted to see Hellbenders for years, so this summer, I’m going to set out to catch one. (I’ll just take a couple of pictures, then release it).

Even though

Hellbenders have fine teeth, however, as a rule. they usually do not bite when captured and handled. They are difficult to handle due to a production of a viscous slime which exudes from the skin during capture. A second type of sticky slime is sometimes noted in the field as well.

I’m buying a first aid kit. I’m a prima donna about pain. While my pain tolerance is moderately high, I hate bites and the like. Aches bother me more than sudden, then fading pain. Given how these things look, I expect them to bite.

Thats the name of an album that was recommended to me on Amazon.

Rodentia: Best of Dark Roots Music

Now, I favor dark, gritty, heavy music and films. Gothic, swamp americana, etc – whatever you want to call it. So, my interest was piqued. I’m not a big music fan, so my discoveries are haphazard, and generally months apart.

Though, I don’t like music thats dark, weird, and gloomy for the sake of being dark, weird and gloomy. (Thats why I don’t like the pine box boys – though skin and bones lady by them is rather nice). Unfortunately, based on listening to many of these musicians in 30 second clips from Itunes, thats what this cd appears to be. Pretentious in a way, actually.

It is kind of hard to say, though. Now, one of my favorite musicians is, hands down, Johnny Dowd. It took me 3-4 listens to more than one of his songs before I really developed a taste for his music. And, he isn’t on this album, nor is the Handsome Family, another of my favorites. So perhaps my liking is for a different genre.

Creech Hollow is one of the best band names I’ve ever heard. I’ll give them that. They are one of the better bands on here, based on a short listen. I do really, really like Damnation Way, by Strawfoot. Hmm, last.fm describes Strawfoot as “dirge country”. Eh. I prefer more minimalist stuff.

Man, I swear, sooner or later – and preferably sooner, I just have to see Johnny Dowd in concert.

Lets see, Sunday I took a drive up to Sea Creek falls, in the North Ga mountains. Its a nice little fairly low traffic falls, which was in good flow.

While photographing the falls, I noticed a flycatcher land nearby with a bit of plant stuff in its beak. It then flew under the overhang I was on, which was over the pool at the base of the falls. I figured it had a nest down there (flycatchers are ledge nesters). I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants legs, and waded across the stream. Sure enough, it had a nest down there. I am also a real tenderfoot. It was painful walking over those small rocks. Seeing the nest, and the pictures + video I took of it, were well worth it though.

I drove my element through the ford on the creek, and then wasted a couple of hours driving all over the dead end service roads up through there. I did see a bobcat, and a decent view of a pileated woodpecker. I didn’t get pics of either one. (I made eye contact with the bobcat – something you don’t want to do with predators, they either take it as a challenge, or as a danger sign.) I love pileated woodpeckers. They are one of my favorite birds, and I can watch one for forever. They are also a very easy bird to learn to identify. You can id one with just a glimpse, or by their very distinctive call.

I ended the day at the Swan drive in up at blue ridge, watching Monsters versus Aliens. Thats a top notch little cartoon. Way light on plot, but funny, and with decent characters. I like this drive in. Its very country, and very cool. Usually too crowded in the summer. I mostly go when its cold.

A Honda Element is awesome for a solo visit to a drive in. Take out the rear seats, and shove the front ones all the way forward, then put a full sized lounge chair in the back. Sprawl out with a pillow, blanket, drink + snack foods = sheer bliss. Until the battery goes dead, which even with the baby battery in the element, shouldn’t have happened. Oh well, something else to investigate.