Watch It Fizz

Recently I found out a local grocery store was now stocking Mexican softdrinks, so I've been trying things like Barralitos sangria, Jarritos tamarind, and Senorial sangria. All interesting, but I think I could happily live without tamarind in my life. Anyway, I was poking around online, as I'm prone to do in times of great boredom, and found Peculiar Pops, which reviews at least one of the softdrinks I mentioned, plus a whole bunch of other ones, many I've never even heard of.

Update: I started a new blog called Watch it Fizz where I review oddball soft drinks.

Things That Go Boom

Modern Firearms & Ammunition is a Russian online encyclopedia of firearms and ammunition of the 20th and 21st centuries. And, lucky for you, it's in English.

Mysterious Innards

For many years I've wondered what's inside of a Leslie cabinet. (And if you don't know what a Leslie cabinet is, you can stop reading now and go to the next pointless entry.) I've even looked online, but without luck. But finally I've found what I was looking for on a page about building a Leslie cabinet. So now the mystery's been solved. On to Bigfoot!

Who Would've Thought?

Everyone and their grandma has a blog these days, even Lizardman.

Mistranslations

Marketing Translation Mistakes: "Also, take these with a grain of salt...They may be contrived and not true, or if true, unrecognizably transformed."

More Colon News

A few weeks ago I posted something about some kind of colon cleansing kit and I quoted something about John Wayne having 40 pounds of crud in is his colon when he died. Well, big surprise, it's nonsense. There's a piece on it at Snopes.

In other news, there's a Bowel Cleanse, Intestinal Cleanse Support Forum. Support forum?

The Fugitive, pt. III

If anyone has any interest at all in what's going on with the whole criminal records mix up thing (and I doubt anyone is), I mailed in my form to the state police today and now I get to wait. I also went and talked to someone at legal aid and I got an appointment to talk to a lawyer for Sept. 13.

Exciting, no? No.

The Fugative, pt. II

So I went to the police station. I'd never been in a police station in my life. I guess I was expecting something a little crazier, a little more like NYPD Blue, but it was far more bureaucratic. The whole time I was there I saw exactly one policeman in uniform. There were few people there at all. I didn't even see the jail.

Anyway, what I have to do to prove I'm not a dangerous criminal is fill out a form, get a notary to sign it (luckily two relatives who live close by are notaries), and then send it with either a certified check or money order to the Virginia State Police. Then I get to wait. Yippee!

Respect Your Elders

Here's a couple of quotes from an email I got from my sister yesterday: "I was out last week at a club listening to really loud music and playing pool with these slightly underaged goth boys and one of them said (very earnestly, like it was something really profound) that I was an 'elder goth'. I don't know whether I was more insulted by the 'elder' or the 'goth'. He said it like it was some term of respect, the dink. I don't want it attached to me, respectfully or not. I mean, can't I go out in thrift store Catholic schoolgirl skirts and combat boots without being called something retarded? Huh? Grrrr!" And then, "Maybe I like wearing Catholic schoolgirl skirts and combat boots. I refuse to get giant pants with the ass-crack showing and pink T-shirts 3 sizes too small with the words 'Porn Star' across the front. I'd rather be mistaken for a goth than a hoochie mama any day."

Mayberry

Last night I dreamed I was watching one of the early 60's episodes of the Andy Griffith Show and Frank Zappa was in it. He had short hair and no moustache. I don't remember much else.

The Fugitive

It doesn't pay to get out of bed. Ever. I've come to the conclusion that I'm cursed. Things happen to me that simply don't happen to other people. Remember back in December when I bought that computer online and they sent me a scooter instead? How many times has that happened to you or anyone you know? Never, right? Well, yesterday was another scooter day.

Since I'm an unemployed bum, I gave in to desperation and went to a local temp agency. I was tested to see what marketable skills I had, etc. Later, the woman interviewing me said, "We were doing the routine state-wide criminal background check and something came up." My mind started going over every possible thing that could turn up in a criminal background check and I couldn't think of anything. I've never even had a parking ticket. She then told me that someone with my name and Social Security Number had been convicted in 1997 of aggravated sexual battery and forcible sodomy. Oh, joy. And the woman wouldn't even give me a copy of the damn criminal record. "We have to pay for this service," she said. I did manage to get her to at least write down a few details about the charges.

So now I have to go to the police department and have them check my non-existent criminal background to prove I'm not this convicted sexual batterer and forcible sodomizer. Once again I'm going to be penalized for someone else's screw-up. Did someone just mess up the records, or have I been the victim of identity theft? My guess was messed up records.

I did some searching online last night for services that would do criminal background checks. There's plenty of them, but the overwhelming majority are charging money. They're searching public records, so there should be some free services out there. I did find one that would do free searches on offenders. I managed to track down the guy with my same incredibly common name. I also ran my own Social Security Number and came up empty-handed. So it would appear that the company that the temp agency hires to do these background check screwed up. Can I sue them, I wonder?

You'd think that the fact that the guy's still in prison would be proof enough, or the fact that on the day this guy was convicted I was working at a girl's school (and I have all of my old paycheck stubs), but it's not apparently.

Do any of you know of good free online services that will do criminal background checks?

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

Anyone even remotely interested in Bob Dylan should check out "It's Not a House, It's a Home" Page. There's lyrics, album and singles lists, bootlegs, etc.

American Music

A German record collector named Stefan Wirz has put up some very extensive websites that deal with things like old folk and blues. There's the aphabetically arranged American Music, Double Neck Guitars on LP/CD Covers, and Resonator Guitars on LP/CD Covers among other things. Be sure not to overlook the odd (and very long) side-scrolling index at the top of the pages.

Eugenics

Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement: "We now invite you to experience the unfiltered story of American eugenics – primarily through materials from the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, which was the center of American eugenics research from 1910-1940. In the Archive you will see numerous reports, articles, charts, and pedigrees that were considered scientific 'facts' in their day. It is important to remind yourself that the vast majority of eugenics work has been completely discredited. In the final analysis, the eugenic description of human life reflected political and social prejudices, rather than scientific facts."

Radios

Sarah's Transistor Radios should give you hours of fascination if you love looking at vintage radios. Of course, if you don't have any interest in looking at vintage radios, then it probably won't hold your interest at all.

Clunky Cameras

I like vintage cameras. I'm particularly fascinated by old Eastern Bloc camera gear because it's so strange and clunky. Communist Cameras, Bruce Feist's Camera Collection, Tiger's Lair, Antique Russian Camera, Comrade Stoisha's Revolutionary Soviet Photography Page, and the excellent Alfred's Camera Page (which I've linked to in the past) are solely, or at least partly, devoted to these wonderfully archaic, oddball cameras.

Trailer Plate Mania!

It's official: the internet has a site for everything. Exhibit A: Michigan Trailer Plates.

Tele-Snaps

From 1947 to 1968, amature photographer John Cura photographed television programs in the UK. The Doctor Who Photonovels are examples of his work. [Link via Metafilter.]

I've linked to the Doctor Who Video and Audio FAQ before, but I think it's relevant to link to it again.

Also relevant is Telesnaps.com and Loose Cannon Productions' Doctor Who fan reconstructions.

More Dead Rock Stars

Last month (on the 29th, I think), I listed several links to lists of dead rock stars and celebrities. Well, I've found a couple more.

The Glam Rock Obituaries is one part of the extensive Glam Rock Files.

And Rock and Roll Heaven "contains artists who had hit records during the classic rock era of 1955 to 1980."

Pop Culture Debris

Pop Culture Debris hasn't been updated in awhile, but there's plenty on the front page to keep you busy if you're into comic books, old movies, animation, etc.