It's time for your morning brew.

The Jeb Corliss American wingsuit flyer amazes the Chinese by flying through a hole in a mountain in Hunan Province, central China.

Mondays, they're like that.

A lifetime of craftsmanship and hard won skill, distilled into one amazing object.

Things I'm liking on a Sunday night.

You might have noticed that there was no blogging from Thursday through Saturday.  That was because I was in L. A., squiring the two daughters to two separate university tours. The oldest is in her last year of high school, and is preparing to make the transition to higher education, and the youngest, a freshman in high school, was along for the adventure and to see what is in store in three short years. 

We went to Loyola Marymount, a Jesuit school, and to UCLA.  I forgot the camera for the LMU tour, but remembered it for UCLA.

Here the girls are posing at the law school, somewhere the oldest may well attend in good time, and assuming the grades are up to par.

 Below is Royce Hall, where the oldest met on Friday with a director of the department where she thinks she wants to study.  Networking!

These were our tour guides, Lenna and Justin, who were immensely enthusiastic and entertaining.  Here Justin gestures to illustrate some entertaining anecdote that the school administration would probably not approve of!  We, however, guffawed with gusto at his wit.

Most of the buildings at the core of the UCLA campus look very Ivy League, so much so in fact that they are often used by Hollywood to represent east coast campuses, like Harvard.

The Powell Library was very impressive, inside and out.  Perhaps because of that, or because of our entertaining guides, or because of the beauty of the campus in general,  the 17 year old has now decided that this is the campus she hopes lets her in.  Best of luck, kid!

The BMW 2002 is one of the classics of automotive design for both clarity of form and simplicity.  I swear, if BMW would build them again, basic model, with updated engines and drivetrains, but no expensive bells and whistles, and aim for the entry level market, they could likely sell bajillions, as long as the price wasn't crazy.  I know that is a big "if," since they would have to satisfy modern safety standards, but why couldn't a light car like this, with a modern motor tuned to efficiency, get great milage, not pollute any more than comparable machines, and thus provide a great transportation value in an awesome retro style to the public?

Here is how I'd drive mine!

It's strange sometimes what enters a culture's consciousness to stay, and the Big Lebowski and its characters seems to be one of those things.  Naturally, everyone relates somehow to "The Dude," and truth to tell, if Ben and Jerry's came out with this flavor, I'd very likely buy it and enjoy it, just cause it's Dude food!  After all, I'm a dude, and I need food, and food should taste good, so let's all eat some.  There should be some rum raisin in there somewhere, though.

As an aficionado of old cameras, I immensely enjoyed finding this photo by chance on the internet.  Those Brownies on the back row of the third shelf from the top make quite a collection.

This one has been making the rounds on the internet, and it is definitely worth an enjoyable few minutes to watch.

Thanks to Legal Insurrection for collecting this kind of stuff, because it shows that people in the coal states have now had enough of our President and his counterproductive economic strategies.  But really, he told us all very clearly that he would destroy energy production in general and coal in particular, so why the surprise?  The folks in these states better remember this in 2012, because another four years of Zero will turn their states into the equivalent of third world hell holes.

Now that's what I would call a striking photoshop.  Those just can't be real, and that's too bad.

Check out these dangerous criminals!  They were popped into the jail house in Kentucky because they refused to pay fines levied for failing to affix an orange reflective triangle to the back of their horse drawn buggies.

As members of the Swartzentruber sect of Amishness, they don't believe in the use of bright colors, because that would be too worldly.  Give them credit, they were willing to do the hard time to stand up for their beliefs.  

Now, a test.  Which one is most likely to be Dwight Schrute's brother/cousin/dad?

Quick, look closely, and see if you can tell why this is the greatest redo of this iconic painting ever.

Thanks

This brings back memories.  Back when I was a kid, I had either this model of toy assault rifle, or one very like it.  It had actual toy bullets you could load up, and there was a spring loaded mechanism in the gun that caused the bullets to shoot out the barrel with significant force when the trigger was pulled.   I could shoot the thing and the "toy" bullet would fly all the way accross the back yard - the long way - and smack the fence with impressive force.

Talk about a non PC toy that the liberals would likely confiscate if they found one these days.

However, it was great fun, and I never put anyone's eye out with it.