Heh. The first one in that list is imprinted on my brain as the Hamm's commercial.

We haven't had a good beer commercial in a while.  Here's another classic from Carlton.

I'm a lover, not a hunter.

That being said, one of my favourite return-home activities is shooting cans off fenceposts in the back field with my dad's small arsenal.  There's always a new addition in the collection to try out.

(Our family home is rural, but it ain't in the middle of nowhere.  I always wonder if the neighbours will call the cops, especially when we start shooting the Dirty Harry special.  But it hasn't happened yet.)

Quote from: DuffMan on May 25, 2026, 06:51:48 PMDemo Derbies--in high school, a few friends and I built and entered a car in the derby at the Benton County Fair.  It was a ton of fun.  Our driver, Josh Fiedler, has since passed on but was a Johnnie.  RIP Josh.

Ah, to be in the derby.  Now that would have been fun.

As an aside, Australians pronounce derby like the English.  Darby.  It still grates on my ear.  Makes me feel like I should drink tea with my pinky finger in the air every time I say it that way.

Quote from: art76 on May 24, 2026, 09:44:56 PM

Quote from: OzJohnnie on May 24, 2026, 07:37:48 PMAny motorheads here?  Anyone who cares about Formula 1?  It's very popular in Australia.  I've tried to pretend I care, but I've never been into motorsports any deeper than the demolition derby at the Itasca fairgrounds.

18436572

Grok to the rescue. I am still stunned at how good of a search engine it is:

It's the firing order for a classic Chevy (GM) small-block or big-block V8 engine (and many other American V8s like certain Mopars).

The sequence 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 tells you the order in which the cylinders fire in the engine. It's a very well-known "secret handshake" among car enthusiasts, mechanics, and gearheads—especially those who've worked on Chevy 350s and similar engines. You'll see it printed on intake manifolds, T-shirts, mugs, etc., as an inside joke: "If you know, you know."

Any motorheads here?  Anyone who cares about Formula 1?  It's very popular in Australia.  I've tried to pretend I care, but I've never been into motorsports any deeper than the demolition derby at the Itasca fairgrounds.

Art, a hydraulic pin on the launch tower arm failed this morning, delaying the Starship test for a day.  Hot tip for your rocket club members when they are building spaceships themselves: even if you test your hydraulic pins 1,000 times, test them just once more.

So... Art starts asking me about the Hawks, and they have three off weeks in a row, resulting in two losses and a draw.  Jinxed the whole damned operation.

Quote from: art76 on May 14, 2026, 10:16:33 AM

Quote from: OzJohnnie on May 14, 2026, 05:51:02 AMIn case you're looking for a new project idea, Art:

https://x.com/om_patel5/status/2054775403605086403

Ha! Love it! FWIW, that Pi is similar (newer) than the one I flew on my Level 3 Certification flight last year that went over 13,000 feet. Handy little computers.

I loved the comments.  There are two types: enthusiasts for the project, and some really sour people who seem to despise anyone trying to do any sort of clever skunk work.

Quote from: art76 on May 12, 2026, 04:43:37 PMSome non-football rocket news - here's the latest link about the contest if you want to follow along, or come out and watch us fly: https://www.mnspacegrant.org/high-power-rocketry-competition-set-for-may-16-17-2026/

In case you're looking for a new project idea, Art:

https://x.com/om_patel5/status/2054775403605086403

Quote from: sjusection105 on May 01, 2026, 12:29:01 PMYou probably already knew this but I was doing some research and found this interesting. Since the beginning of the NIL/Transfer Portal era, roughly 40% of Division 1 football players find themselves without another team every year. Some drop a division and/or go the walk on route at another school without a scholarship.Some willing enter the Portal because of coaching changes etc.and others are told they will be losing their scholarship because their coach is looking to target certain players entering the Portal. It's kind of like the real world, don't quit a job unless you already have another one secured.

I guess a rather heartless positive view could be it accelerates the failure point of those who go to school for football over learning. The football dream closes sooner, giving the person more time to find a different path.

The cynical view would be that it clearly exposes what has been argued for a long time, that many schools are more about the football mission than the education mission.

So NIL brings quick clarity?

Quote from: art76 on April 28, 2026, 09:40:32 PM

Quote from: OzJohnnie on April 22, 2026, 08:50:01 PM

Quote from: art76 on April 22, 2026, 03:46:17 PMOz, haven't heard from you in a spell - checked out the Hawks and they held on this past week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J1OpmFNQ8

Yeah, the Hawks are going well.  They are 5-1 and have knocked off three competition leaders already - Sydney, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.  They play a fourth top team this weekend, the Gold Coast Suns, and are eight-point favourites in that game, too.  Let's hope the Suns don't put in a Herculean effort as Port did on the weekend.

They never trailed against the Suns and looked pretty good to this American who only watches the highlights occasionally...

The Hawks are definitely flying. The team plays extremely well-structured football. And better still, they are very mature. Good decision making and they adjust the playing style on the field to counter opposition changes without coaching instructions. It's the result of three years of effort under club legend Sam Mitchell's coaching leadership.  Assuming they can maintain the concentration and effort it takes to be loyal to their schemes, they will go very deep this year.

They play Collingwood at the MCG on Thursday night. It should be a huge crowd. If we get through that game then it's off to Western Australia to play Fremantle who are also on just one loss. That will be a real marker of the big dogs this year.

Quote from: art76 on April 22, 2026, 03:46:17 PMOz, haven't heard from you in a spell - checked out the Hawks and they held on this past week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J1OpmFNQ8

Yeah, the Hawks are going well.  They are 5-1 and have knocked off three competition leaders already - Sydney, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.  They play a fourth top team this weekend, the Gold Coast Suns, and are eight-point favourites in that game, too.  Let's hope the Suns don't put in a Herculean effort as Port did on the weekend.

AFL is a funny game as it constantly swings for dominance on two axes.  One between individual superstars carrying a game and team structure controlling matches.  The other is between defensive lockdown and free-flowing offensive firepower.  Team structure and offensive firepower are on the rise right now, which is fortunate for the Hawks.  We've got both the second-rated offence and defence at the moment, with only four players rated in the top 100 statistically, and none in the top 50.   The Hawks are very structure-oriented.

Quote from: Retired Old Rat on April 22, 2026, 04:00:42 PMThis you?
https://radiotapes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/KQRS-FM_The_Chucker_Rob_Schneider.mp3

Ha!  I was laughing like a maniacal killer in the office.  I went from thinking the Chucker was an utter moron to a complete genius.  Thanks for that.

Yesterday witnessed the greatest Easter Monday classic ever played. The whole family was there for this one, including my parents who are down for a visit. The 85k fans were so loud that the TV camera shook on the final siren.

And the final two minutes.