Skinny G for VP… for real !

Thanks to Jen for asking about my view on the whole deal. Here it is:

Why, oh why, did John McCain pick Sarah Palin as his running mate?
It just makes no sense.

Sarah "Skinny White Chocolate Latte Gets It All Over Town" Palin (aka "Skinny G") a year ago was the queen of the world. She was elected because she was by far the most ethical candidate running for governor.

I even talked about her as a possible VP choice January 3rd of this year. Actually here's my whole Skinny G file (clickity doo) If it do say so myself some of the posts are pretty funny (even if you just look at the pictures).

Yet lately she’s been tarnished by two really stupid moves on her part:

1) She allegedly used her influence to get her ex-brother in law fired from his job as a state trooper. When that didn’t work she fired the commissioner of public safety, citing no real reason initially.

Her brother in law is likely a scumbag and there’s no secret Sarah and her husband Todd (who really needs to get a hobby and keep himself out of actual government business – he’s no Hilary Clinton that one) most definitely and admittedly did their best to get the guy fired. That shows great support of her sister but not all that good judgment as governor.

2) A few days before the election this week she “took off her governor hat” and endorsed voting against a proposition which was pro-clean water but anti-mining (or actually anti one proposed mine in particular). This might have actually violated the law. You can’t take off your “governor hat” and you can’t endorse any propositions as governor. The are laws about this sort of thing.

These are small beans compared to “Uncle Ted” Stevens who was just indicted on corruption charges involving receiving lavish gifts from oil service companies and not reporting them as contributions.

Then there is Representative Don Young who has spent nearly a million dollars on legal fees in anticipation of corruption charges of his own. He might not have even won his primary race this week (too close to call). Although I try not to speak ill of Don Young because he'll bite me like a mink.

I voted for Sarah Palin for governor. I tend to like her even though I’m not a Republican. But why would McCain pick a running mate with way less experience than Obama who has current troubles of her own? What is the McCain vetting process?

If Obama is not our next President then it’ll be final: Americans are idiots.

It’s your choice folks.

Bastards!

I realize this is a radical move for me but I encourage all friends of The Panic Blog to boycott Telekomunikacja Polska. Yep, I said it and I intend to prevent them from getting any of our hard earned zlotys.

'Phoney' queues used to spur Polish iPhone launch

Aug 22 12:05 PM US/Eastern
From Breitbart.com

Poland's biggest telecoms operator, Telekomunikacja Polska, acknowledged Friday that it had paid young, hip-looking film extras to stand in queues for the national launch of Apple's iPhone.

"It was a marketing move. We thought it was a pretty interesting strategy," TP spokesman Wojciech Jabczynski told AFP.

TP is controlled by France Telecom, which owns the Orange mobile telephone brand.

The iPhone, which had its initial launch in the Unites States in July, went on sale at Orange's Polish stores on Friday after the stroke of midnight (2200 GMT Thursday).

In other parts of the world, Apple fans have stood in line for hours -- and sometimes days --- to get their hands on the new iPhone.

On Thursday evening, apparent queues began forming outside Orange's stores across Poland, with some in the line offering to sell their slot to passers-by for 100-300 zlotys (30-90 euros, 45-135 dollars).

"The aim was to attract attention. The people in the queues told passers-by about the iPhone," said Jabczynski.

Such a marketing ploy is ironic in Poland because queues were a regular and much-loathed feature of daily life until the fall of the country's communist regime in 1989, because of endless shortages of even the most basic goods.

Jabczynski said TP was pleased with the results of the launch but declined to reveal any figures.

"We couldn't have expected the same kind of fever as in the United States given that Apple's products aren't that well-known in Poland and in central Europe in general," he said.

"A total of 38,000 people signed up on our website to be kept up to date about the iPhone before the launch," he said. "Interest for Apple's phone is growing all the time."

The iPhone was also launched on Friday in Poland by one of the country's other four mobile operators, Era, which is controlled by Deutsche Telekom.

This is some incredible bullshit. Not the fake enthusiasm necessarily but the people in line offering their spots for money.

If you try to trick me into bribing someone extra to buy your stupid-ass product I guarantee I’d tell all my friends to stay away from your company.

Which I just did.

FU Telekomunikacja Polska.

FU running.

although you've now warned me against ever standing in line for any product for any reason so serdecznie dziękuję for that.

Bedeviled by Bevels

Kelli likes crosses and she likes green (and her mom gave me lots of green glass) so I decided to surprise her with a stained glass cross. I picked a Celtic cross because it goes with the whole green theme plus I'm a fan of the Celts (the Irish ones not the Bostonians although, so long as Kobe Bryant is a Laker, them too I guess – but I digress).

It started with that bevel in the middle. See it? It's not elliptical, it's an oval. Although not idea I was working with what I had on hand.

What I didn’t expect was that I was going to screw it up so bad. Usually I solder the pieces upside down so that the front lines are cleaner. I didn't figure out that with the height of the bevel I couldn’t go that route until after I had tried to tack-solder the whole thing.

Crap. It was a mess. I had to rip it all apart and, much like a petulant child, I figured I was done with glass for today and maybe with this piece altogether since it would require unfoiling all the pieces then re-washing and drying and then refoiling to get it right. Blah!

After walking the dog, who reminded me I was ignoring her, I decided to put on my big girl's pants (or something much more masculine) and just start again.

Taking all the foil off is a big pain in the ass since you have to remove all of the old adhesive so that the new foil will stick properly. This is a time consuming, tedious deal. Did I mention that it's a pain in the ass?

After it was over I had a very dull Xacto blade which was replaced just the day before but the pieces were back to where I needed them.

The reason I like all these crafty hobbies is that they teach me patience and force me to slow down. This piece certainly has lived up to that expectation.

Incidentally this is a pretty big piece for a sun-catcher (9 1/2 inches) and with all the small interior pieces couldn’t possibly support its own weight so I got to solder support wire on the back of a piece for the first time.

Fun stuff.

Commissioned Work

I cannot promise I'll ever actual do them but if you email me a picture of what you'd like I'd love to give the stained glass design a shot. Where it goes from there depends on whether I'll actually be able to do it.

SugarBaby Stained Glass

It started with a picture of our dog as a puppy


Then, using Photoshop, I made a stained glass design (all rights reserved, thank you)

then I numbered the pieces (total pieces 57)



And traced it onto mylar



Then cut the mylar into pattern pieces



then I glued the pattern pieces to the glass as a guide to cutting the pieces (this is the way my mother in law works, I know other folks trace directly onto the glass using a lightbox or whatever but I'm new so I'm just doing what I know will work)



then cut and grind, cut and grind. I'm getting better at cutting so I don't have to grind nearly as much.
then foil all the pieces and assemble upside down


and then after soldering (inexpertly still, sigh) , washing, adding patina, then washing again


Next... The Who ?

we'll see