RIP Myron Cope, legendary Pittsburgh broadcaster and creator of the Terrible Towel. The Towel came into being in 1975, the same year (and city) I was born in and it was a working class symbol of a working class team. My family moved to San Jose the next year, so I don't remember anything about Pittsburgh, but I've always identified myself with it, and I've always been a Steelers fan. We had a Terrible Towel purchased in Three Rivers Stadium which doesn't even exist anymore. I'm old.
Ballooning always seemed like it would be pretty fun, but the standard rainbow balloon designs are a little bit femme for my tastes. Now this is how you design a balloon. Imagine the terror your presense could inspire if someone's lack of faith disturbs you!
I've recently begun "mentoring" the Willow Glen High School robotics team. I use the quotes because I'm the one who's been learning the most so far. The kids don't get any school credit and they show up on their own time (on weekends!) to participate in the First Robotics League.
When I first heard they had a team I thought maybe the store could sponsor them a little, since I know that robotics gets expensive. It turns out they already had a few sponsors, but if I had time to help they needed hands more than money. So now the list of sponsors for the team reads:
Up and coming comics superstar (and Hijinx regular) Mike Choi is a swell guy. He was kind enough to slip in not only a shoutout to Hijinx, but to also to add a picture of a certain devestatingly handsome bald man into page 20 of the flagship X comic Uncanny X-Men #495! I've greyed out the less interesting parts of the panel so you can concentrate on the good stuff. This is sure to be a highly prized collectible in the future, as it is my first appearance in a Marvel comic. Get yours today!
Just in case you're not depressed enough, Warren Ellis linked to a blog where the blogger in question logs every animal euthanized by a compassionate veterinarian. Sad but somewhat uplifting at the same time as many of the animals were in great pain before they were put down.
Check out this ornate mech-spider that is somehow controlled using only 2 servo motors. I can't really tell, but it looks like one servo is set up for continuous rotation to provide locomotion, and the other somehow switches gears to steer the thing. This is an object of love!
