Jack’s Old & Busted Blog

Animated bunnies re-enact movies. In 30 seconds (angryalien.com).

Just finished the last of the Ian Fleming Bond novels (courtesy of Gerry’s gift). From 007 in New York, a short story in the recent Penguin reissue of of Octopussy and The Living Daylights:

Scrambled Eggs James Bond

For four individualists:

12 fresh eggs

Salt and pepper

5-6 oz. of fresh butter.

Break the eggs into a bowl. Beat thoroughly with a fork and season well. In a small copper (or heavy bottomed saucepan) melt four oz. of the butter. When melted, pour in the eggs and cook over a very low heat, whisking continuously with a small egg whisk.

While the eggs are slightly more moist than you would wish for eating, remove the pan from heat, add rest of butter and continue whisking for half a minute, adding the while finely chopped chives or fines herbes. Serve on hot buttered toast in individual copper dishes (for appearance only) with pink champagne (Taittinger) and low music.

One of the advantages of owning a “commodity vehicle” like a Fr0d Ixploruh is the huge community of people who are knowledgeable about repairing them and who share that knowledge online. I was able to successfully troubleshoot and repair a “check engine light” on our SUV today just by getting the trouble code (extracted free with a diagnostic tool at a local auto parts chain) and then Googling around. No parts, just cleaning a sensor, and so-far-so-good. Even if my “fix” fails, I know what I have to replace, where it lives, and how to do it. Say what you want about “buying American,” but compare this process to the woes some people face with less common vehicles like, say, a Mini Cooper. Even if the community is there for your semi-exotic, the parts, know-how, and “data points” are not as plentiful. All this will change when we switch to hybrids, which will require a visit to the dealer to change radio station presets, I fear (hackers notwithstanding).

“It’s compatible with our orbiting brain lasers.” [SwitchLinux.swf] (via slashdot).

Watch this enough with your eyelids propped open (a la Clockwork Orange) and you’ll be hankerin’ for a double-wide and a pitbull [QuickTime movie].

Contains a lot of British/European selections (bfi.org.uk).

(NewYorker): “I came here in peace, seeking gold and slaves. But you have treated me like an intruder. Maybe it is not me who is the intruder but you.”