Author: Tim Morgan

As demonstrated by the “graphical improvement” that my friends and co-workers have orchestrated to this site, today is in fact my 30th birthday. Here’s some things I’ve learned in that time:

• If you ever have the opportunity to teach someone Photoshop. Don’t.
• Change passwords regularly. Hourly, if need be.
• Lock your computer when you’re not using it. In fact, carry it around with you. (Laptop or desktop, it doesn’t matter.) And you probably want to just go ahead and take it home every night.

Thanks, guys!

Tickets to the Van Morrison concert at the Ryman went on sale this morning. (Update: According to Ticketmaster, it’s now sold out.)

I was really excited about this when I heard about the concert, Van Morrison at the Ryman is one of those dream concerts that you never think will happen. The Tennessean even called it a “miracle show.” Such a big name, such an intimate setting.

At any rate, this morning, armed with a cup of coffee and my internet connection, I bought tickets. The sale started at 10:00 am, so I started by making sure that I had the exact, correct time by checking the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s time.gov, the clock by which most computers in this country and around the world set their watch by. (I also do this to check-in 24 hours before any Southwest flight I may be on, so I know exactly for certain that I’m in the A boarding group. Anything less, and I’m inconsolable.)

At 10:00:00, I reloaded the already-loaded-and-logged-in Ticketmaster page. I selected the quantity, 2, “Best Seats Available.” Now I had already seen where there were two prices for tickets, $125 and $85. I already knew that the $85 dollar seats were for the Ryman’s famous “obstructed view” seats, and I knew that I was going to be paying full price anyway to make sure we’ll have a good view. I waited…the page reloaded.

Two seats came up, MF-1, Row S, seats 3-4. I clicked buy, got my confirmation. Then I went to go look at where these seats really were.

“Limited view.” What?

Were those really the “best available seats” at 10:00:05 am this morning? Sure sure, the absolute best seats are always for the VIPs, I know that, I understand. But limited view, right out of the box? Not to be a conspiracy nut, but I’m now convinced they sell the crappy seats first to the people who will just feel lucky to be there.

Like me.

It’s OK, I’m not upset. I don’t want anyone to think I’m complaining. There are no bad seats at the Ryman.

I’m just glad that Van has put some weight on over the years, he’ll be easy to see, even from behind that column.

With the success of the Egg McMuffin maker, I decided to extend my breakfast-making appliance collection to include a single serving coffee maker. I don’t traditionally make lots of coffee, but I figured I might if I wouldn’t have to commit to anything but one cup at a time.

After reading all the reviews at SingleServingCoffee.com, I chose the Simplehuman Pod Brewer.

Of course, I had to alter it to say “Simplehuman Ipod Brewer.”

One of the reasons I chose this one was that it was the only one that I saw that claimed compatibility with most of the available pod coffee products that are out there. (i.e., no DRM.) Of course, I proceeded to buy a crapload of the brand of coffee that comes with the machine.

Operation is pretty simple, you fill the tank with water, turn on the machine, and wait for the water to heat up.

Some people (coffee snobs) would object to buying anything other than coffee beans that you grind yourself. One friend of mine suggested that half the fun is sniffing the coffee before you make a pot.

Of course, you can still get that effect.

So you load the coffee pod into the hatch.

Then just press play. I mean, just hit brew.

Yummy coffee. (Next machine to buy?, I’m thinking waffles.)

Taken at the Town Grill, Cowpens, SC. Looks like someone has a dental appointment.

Holiday cheer can hide a multitude of sins.

Little Richard was on my flight this early morning from Nashville to Atlanta.

That is all. You may return to your lives now.

Another edition of separated at birth: Mel Gibson and Saddam Hussein.

Actually I think I’m being too harsh with this one. I give them both style points, Mel for his conquistador beard and Saddam for his new found love of the Men’s Wearhouse. (I bet he loves the way he looks.)

A few weeks ago I was struck by the fact that I don’t own any Christmas decorations. I saw this last month at BoingBoing, so I decided I had to take the plunge. Tonight on ABC they aired the 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas Special that features the tree that I purchased.

While watching the show, I realized that I had the tools to quantify a question that has puzzled me for ages. Just how big a blockhead is Charlie Brown?

So, I measured the tree:

I took a screenshot from tonight’s airing, and established that the tree measured 2.375″ on the screen, while Charlie Brown’s head measured 1.417″ on the screen. With the knowledge that the the tree is 20″ tall, setting up a ratio I was able to determine that Charlie Brown’s head has a diameter of 11.93″ across.

Then we can determine the radius, 5.966″, then using the basic formula for finding the area of a sphere, I determined that Charlie Brown’s head has a volume of 889 cubic inches, assuming that his head is a perfect sphere.

Using similar calculations, I have estimated that my own head (not a perfect sphere) is roughly 296 cubic inches.

In conclusion, I have mathematically determined that I’m only a third the blockhead that Charlie Brown is. Of course, we are both a sucker for redheads.