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About This Site

The BL RAG is dedicated to the idea of free expression, thus we welcome and encourage reader  commentary on current events and issues, music, sports, or other topics of interest, no matter what one's political leanings or worldview.

  

Site Management:

Front Page Section Editors: GrayRider and WesMorgan1

Other Front Page Editors: Bozio and Machiavelli

Smack Talk Editors: kwAwk and Skinnydipinacid

Miscellanea Editors: Kimboskerov, Xanadu, and Zoy Clem

Sports Editors: kwAwk and Skinnydipinacid

Games & Movie Editors: Skinnydipinacid

Poetry Editors: Lenny

Music Editors: Various (see the music schedule below).

***

Site Editors: Skinnydipinacid and Zoy Clem

Maintenance Man: Master Admin Dude

 

Alumni:
Redbeard, Winston, Jimmmco

 

KRAG Music Section Schedule:

Sunday - Zoy Clem

Monday - Xanadu

Tuesday - kwAwk

Wednesday - GrayRider

Thursday - Machiavelli

Friday - Fornax

Saturday - Skinnydipinacid

On-call - Schwabman

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Tuesday
09Feb2010

Crossing the Bridge

After being lost three hours in the jungle,  Marty was relieved to find the path leading back to the village where his tour group was staying. As he struggled through the undergrowth, following the winding course, he came upon two men walking in the opposite direction, who informed him that the village was just around the bend, across the bridge. Relieved to find he was so close to safety, Marty picked up his pace, figuring he'd be back with the tour group in just a couple of minutes...

 

 

Monday
08Feb2010

Century of Scouting

The Boy Scouts of America, incorporated by newspaperman William D. Boyce, celebrates its 100th year today. Founded in 1910 "to teach boys patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred values",  the scouting organization has seen over 110 million American youths serve as members, and counts a little over 2.8 million in its ranks today

 

Monday
08Feb2010

Off to a Bad Start

Due to the heavy snow over the weekend, Clive arose early, knowing he'd have to take some extra time getting the car ready this morning...

 

Sunday
07Feb2010

An Artist's Favorite Number

The golden ratio, an irrational number (approximately 1.6180339887), was said to be employed regularly by the ancient Greek sculptor, Phidias,  when he created his art pieces.

To conclude our walk through the museum this morning, let's examine at this fascinating floating point value:

 

Sunday
07Feb2010

Playing Tourist

While we're here, let's also take a tour of the surrounding area and get a taste of modern Olympia this morning.

 

Sunday
07Feb2010

Famous Lost Works 

One of the greatest of all sculptors in antiquity was the Greek artist, Phidias (480-430 BC), who created the statue of Zeus in Olympia, Greece (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), and the statue of Athena in the Parthenon in Athens.  Most of Phidias' original artworks are now lost, but his workshop was uncovered in AD 1958. We'll take a short walk through it this morning and then examine what is known about his most famous work:

 

Saturday
06Feb2010

Back to the Present

Okay, we've met the commitment with Kirsten, so let's return for another look at this week's film babe, the gorgeous  Phoebe Cates.  She hasn't done much in film since 2001 unfortunately, but that no reason to stop admiring her. This is another collection of scenes from Drop Dead Fred:

 

Saturday
06Feb2010

Film Babe Redux

Last Saturday I mentioned posting another Kirsten Dunst video and then forgot all about it. So, to make up for that inexcusable lapse, here is a brief reprise of last week's film babe:

 

Saturday
06Feb2010

Imaginary Friend

A number of kids have had imaginary friends, but few are as nasty and malevolent as Drop Dead Fred:

This is from the 1991 movie of the same name. We'll see Fred's playmate when she's all grown up this afternoon.

Saturday
06Feb2010

Shrink to Fit

Introducing Round and Oval:

A laundry mishap gets Oval's synapses misfiring, and the germ of an idea blooms and is put to the test when he nabs his friend's pet wombat and attempts to shrink it:

The animation series was crafted by LeniMcP. We'll show part two next week.

Saturday
06Feb2010

Saturday Cartoons

We'll enter into the realm of myth this weekend, and pay a visit to Pan as he charms the fire from the forest in this 1930 Walt Disney animation, titled Playful Pan:

 

Friday
05Feb2010

Film Babe Preview

Phoebe Cates  will be the highlighted film babe this weekend, so we'll be making an effort to see as much of her as we can.  To start the weekend up with that goal in mind,  let's have a look at this scene from the 1982 movie comedy,  Fast Times at Ridgemont High:

 

Friday
05Feb2010

Animated Film Babes

To continue my day off and to stay on a snow theme, let's take a few minutes to listen to a song from the Walt Disney ice princess, Snow White, as she prepares a pie for her favorite dwarf.

Note the name on the pie crust. A real film babe will make an appearance at 6 pm est.

 

Friday
05Feb2010

Digging Out

I'm taking the day off today, but I will be putting up a couple of snow-themed films, starting with this award-winning short feature from 1963, titled Snow, by filmmaker Geoffrey Jones:

 

Friday
05Feb2010

Snow Day

Mick awoke an hour early, determined to show up on time for work this morning, but neglected to check the weather report the preceding evening...

It is a snow day for me,  so I am going to escape the the written word for awhile, and take a break from writing anything today, and instead head over to Test Drive Unlimited for some high speed rest and recreation. I've been writing software documentation all week, and to be honest, I feel a little burnt out. I'll put up a couple of films a little later, and be back with a film babe sometime in the early evening.

 

Thursday
04Feb2010

Twice in One Day

After the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America in the summer of 1788, George Washington was elected by a unanimous electoral vote to serve as the first President of the young nation on this date in 1789, and was again elected unanimously for his second term on the same date in 1792. His first inauguration was in New York City on April 30th, 1789. We'll have a look at a re-enactment this morning:

The scene comes from the HBO series, John Adams.

 

Thursday
04Feb2010

Elements of Fatigue

Carl the pilot was tired, but he didn't realize just how weary he was until midway through his early morning flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles, when he set aside his Jeppesen chart and looked out the cockpit window.

 

Wednesday
03Feb2010

First Soft Landing

The Luna 9 space probe, launched by the Soviet Union, was the first spacecraft to land intact on the Moon on this date in 1966 and was also the first to send photographs from the Moon's surface back to Earth.  For lunch today, let's examine some Moon shots extracted from film footage from the Soviet Lunar program:

Unless you enjoy music that is supposed to sound as if it was composed in the worker's paradise, you might want to turn down the sound.

 

Wednesday
03Feb2010

Economic Flower Power

After being introduced to the tulip near the middle of 16th century by envoys of the old Ottoman Empire, Europeans (and the Dutch in particular) took a strong fancy to the perennials, creating a surge in prices for the flower that peaked in the mid to late 1630s in the Netherlands. Demand for the flower fueled a speculative economic bubble  (referred to as tulip mania)  that had some tulip bulbs selling for close to  $35,000 in today's U.S. dollars.  The market experienced a precipitous drop in prices around this time in 1637,  forcing the Dutch government to step in on this date and release any buyers who had not yet received their bulbs from having to honor more than  10% of the originally contracted price.

It should be noted that there is wide disagreement today in regards to the actual financial impact of this 'bubble'.

 

Tuesday
02Feb2010

Another Old-Timer

If the F-16 is old, then by aircraft standards, the B-52 Stratofortress--which first went into active service  this month in 1955--is elderly.  The huge bomber made its first flight in April of 1952 and will surpass the  Canberra  bomber (used by the British Royal Air Force)  as the oldest aircraft still in use by its original owner (57 years) early this summer.

The video belows shows the B-52 at different times in its history. Note the bubble cockpit used in the early models: