World's Largest Rube Goldberg Machine

Fairly significant distractions at this end today, but at the very least I have time for some Friday Fun.

Here is the world’s largest Rube Goldberg machine (inexplicably called here “a perpetual motion machine”) from the band OK Go who also brought us the fun-in-its-own-right Treadmill video.

Also, I think friend Eddie may be [...]

Friday Bits

Twitter logo

Here are some of the odds and ends bouncing around here like a fumbled football on an Auburn punt return.

  • Folks are asking if the Tim James gubernatorial campaign has filled the campaign manager slot since Steve Pelham departed. Brett Hall told the Parlor, “We are in the process of reviewing names of people to [...]

The Twenty All-Time Greatest Birmingham Songs

Musical note

Pavo Magazine is doling out, one a day, its list of the twenty all-time greatest Birmingham songs (along with audio). We have only a few more days to go before they finish the list. “Tuxedo Junction,” sure, but how many of the rest do you know?

Fun.

Check it out.

One day on a [...]

Friday Bits

Pirate ship

A few notes…

  • There are those close to the Troy King grand jury who say that it will reconvene on Sept. 22.
  • We hear George Wallace, Jr. declared he was a Republican candidate for state Treasurer last night at a Save Alabama PACT meeting in Auburn.
  • Several readers have commented to the Parlor that there are indicators [...]

Interesting demographic factoid to ponder

According to the Montgomery Advertiser, sales of the beach themed “Sweet Home Alabama” car tag are out selling the “God Bless America” tag by a 3-to-1 margin.

According to polling, this state would be the buckle of the Bible Belt, which makes this interesting or perhaps not so.

Friday Bits

This week has been quite busy for me which means more things have piled up in the notebook.

New Web Tools

Computer Mouse

Bing.com is Microsoft’s new internet search engine. I will be interested to know what strengths you find it has over Google, if any.

WolframAlpha is intriguing. Not really a search engine, it’s billed on its front page as a “computational knowledge engine.” Wired has an article on it here.

Type “population [...]

The House is Ringing Inside the Phone

Cell phone

A pause for Friday frivolity…

Enough of you checked out the Senate Roll Call Vote Ringtone that I put up last month, that I figured why not go ahead and put up its companion: an Alabama State House Roll Call ringtone.

This comes from a roll call of House attendance early in the session. [...]

A brief roundup of election related news

In Monroeville, The Monroe Journal, reports an election contest were an explanation of a dead woman’s vote is sought.

The Gadsden Times tells us of efforts both major parties are taking to secure the election.  A fund raising round to the support the work will no doubt be coming.

In Hamilton Crossroads, the Troy [...]

Time for Some Campaignin’

Screenshot for JibJab video, "It

Have you seen JibJab’s new video? “It’s Time for Some Campaignin’” to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin.’”

Do You View Hulu?

Title shot of TV show

Have you seen Hulu? Watch movies and TV shows on your computer for free.

It’s new to me. I’m impressed.

Friday Fun: Flash Earth

map of Alabama

Flash Earth.

Way fun… Zoom maps in and out, scroll in any direction, rotate maps… Switch maps from Google to Microsoft to Yahoo to Ask.com… Find your house…

This link will get you started looking at Alabama…

Friday Fun – Google Trends

Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

The Iron Bowl is tomorrow, and this felt like a good time to pull out of the closet our use of Google Trends

No telling who will prevail tomorrow, but we can know now who predominates in Google searches. As a general rule, people [...]

Learn About Your Neighbors!

Gladys Kravitz

For the demographic lowdown on any zip code (based on census data), check out Zipskinny.

Really interesting, and you can compare up to 20 zip codes on one page.

Hat tip to A Bama Blog.

Friday Fun: Lawn Mower Pull

Lawn Mower Pull in Oak Grove

If you want Doc and the rest of the back room gang to put down their tools for a moment and maybe even get glassy-eyed, ask them about last week’s lawn mower pull in Oak Grove and what they would do with a lawn mower if they had five or six thousand dollars to [...]

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Legislative Dispatch

Change

I wish my friend Hinton Mitchem godspeed and good luck after his retirement from public service. Hinton, on Monday, announced what many had suspected — he will not seek re-election. I remember meeting Hinton for the first time while I was a student at Auburn University. He served the people of his [...]

Ten Minutes in the House, Senate Moves On

Riley and her friend Caroline joined Julie on the campaign trail in Isabella this past weekend.

Here is a quick preview of the upcoming week in Montgomery. This week will be a standard legislative schedule for the House. We will be in session on Tuesday and Thursday with committee meetings scheduled for Wednesday.
The House will take up a ten minute calendar this week. A ten minute calendar is [...]

Purple Dot Connection

MARCH MADNESS

TOP TEN INDICATIONS OF MARCH MADNESS

10.  Eric Massa inviting us to ask the 10,000 Navy men he served with whether he is gay.

9.  Larry Langford hitting the jackpot 33 times in one day and not remembering it.

8.  Ron Sparks being able to make payments on a $500,000 loan with an income of $80,000.

7.  Artur Davis [...]


Back in the Day...

Tent City at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, ca 1918

Vintage postcard