I’m not a big fan of Pixar’s work. I admire their emphasis on story, but I just can’t stand to look at the animation. Everything seems to have the same texture – it looks like cheap Chinese plastic.
That said, Tam has a link to a nifty Disney film of the type you don’t see these days. It kind of makes me wonder what contemporary Army training films would look like if Pixar was doing them.
MattG over at Better and Better (which I shamefully have not added to my blogroll previously) has a nifty post up about his field trip to the Hornady plant.
In addition to making me want to schedule a road trip (and, hey, I can stop on the way at the SAC Museum! Don’t tell me the SAC Museum isn’t on the way; if I’m going to Nebraska, it’s on the way.) Matt’s post reminds me of something we’ve lost along the way.
Back when I was a child and we took family vacations by car, one of the things we’d do is stop at the obscure (and not so obscure) little museums along the way, and take the corporate tours at manufacturing plants as well. The corporate tour that stands out most vividly in my mind was the one of the Daisy factory in Rogers, Arkansas. I can’t tell if Daisy even offers those tours any longer, or if they’ve been replaced by the Daisy museum; but as good as the Daisy museum might be, the factory tour was at least one of the things that made me a lifelong gunnie.
One of my favorite things in Boston was the observation deck at the John Hancock building. I remember thinking it was one of the best thought out spaces I’d seen in a long time. There was a huge diorama of the battle of Bunker Hill. The observation deck overlooked the approach path to Logan, so they had a section set up where you could listen to ATC traffic. They had telescopes. They had little kiosks where you could print directions to other Boston landmarks (this was in the pre-Mapquest/Google Maps days). The operative word there is “had”. They closed the observation deck after September 11th, ostensibly for “security reasons”.
Goodyear used to have the “World of Rubber” museum. They let that fall into disrepair, and closed it down last year.
I never got to take the Kellogg’s factory tour, but they apparently stopped doing that due to “corporate espionage” concerns (“Oh my God! Someone might steal the trade secret for Fruit Loops!” Here’s a hint; the trade secret is “sugar”!), and replaced it with a badly thought out “attraction” called “Cereal City USA” that closed in 2007.
I understand some of the reasons these things are going away. Cheap air travel means that families fly more, instead of driving, so you’re unlikely to make the “World of Rubber” a destination unless you’re flying into Akron. As manufacturing moves offshore, and we stop building s–t in this country, it becomes more difficult to schedule a factory tour in China. I know that security and liability are concerns, too.
But what are the long term benefits? How many kids toured GM when they were little, and grew up to buy Corvettes? How many gunnies came out of Daisy or Smith and Wesson factory tours? (Yes, you can tour the Smith and Wesson factory, but you should really call ahead to get information first.) And how many kids took factory tours when they were young and came out inspired to build stuff?
Are these cutbacks short-sighted? Are we killing off the inventors of tomorrow? And is the demise of the factory tour one of the reasons for growing anti-corporate sentiment? Can you really think GM is evil if you toured the Corvette plant as a little kid? (Note: sadly, this author has never toured the Corvette plant. At least, not as of yet.)
It seems that as we lose these things, we’re also losing a part of our national soul, and that makes me sad. I don’t know what to do about it, except to suggest that we support companies like Hornady that keep their doors open and the lights on for the passing public.
We were unlucky this week. More on this when TMQ posts.
In the meantime, does Wade Phillips go today, or does he last until Tuesday?
NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:
Buffalo
Carolina
San Francisco
…in this, the year of Our Lord 2010, it seems somehow fitting to embed this:
The idea of linking to “Powers of Ten” on October 10th isn’t original to me; as I recall, I got the idea from the great Laurence Simon (praise be unto him).
We haven’t checked in with our old friend, Austin police chief Art Acevedo, recently. What’s he been up to?
Oh, look, he’s been down at the Capitol, pushing for new legislation. What’s on Art’s mind?
Yes. Our chief of police is unhappy that DWI arrests have dropped (6,963 in 2008 to 6,166 in 2009, according to the Statesman) even though enforcement has been stepped up, and wants to create a brand new offense that the APD can charge folks with.
In addition…
Question: is there any evidence that a large number of accidents are caused by people who are at or above a 0.05 BAC, but below a 0.08 BAC?
Question: doesn’t Texas state law allow the police to arrest drivers who show evidence of impairment, no matter what their BAC is?
And here’s an interesting pull quote:
So, basically, we’re not even effectively prosecuting many of the people we do arrest, and the answer is to create a brand new category of offense that we can prosecute even more people for?
Because there’s nothing like a giant marble sculpture of a hand with an upraised middle finger.
Unless, of course, we’re talking about a statue of Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite.
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller was awarded the Medal of Honor on Wednesday.
Sgt. Miller’s unit was ambushed by a group of about 100 insurgents in the Gowardesh Valley of Afghanistan on January 25, 2008. Miller’s unit was pinned down and exposed to devastating fire.
By the way, the award was posthumous; Sgt. Miller was killed in the firefight.
New York City’s MCC Theater is planning a “revival” of “Carrie”.
I put “revival” in quotes because…
and
What figure recently in the news:
(Previously.)
Let’s just jump right into this week’s column again, shall we?
Something something pink. Something something Bill Belichick. Something something special teams. (Not in TMQ’s column, but WCD notes that the Dolphins fired their special teams coach this morning.)
Recruiting violations continue. The solution? Buy the ESPN Rise Recruiting Guide, with an introduction by TMQ himself, for only $4.95. You could also read TMQ’s “Thousand Word Guide to College Recruiting” for free.
WCD was initially tempted not to even comment on the thousand word guide. Then we were tempted to snark on it. But after reading it, we find that much of the advice is actually excellent; not just for high school athletes who might be recruited to play college sports, but for high school students period.
Okay, Gregg. Heather C. is a good choice.
Sweet and sour plays: St. Louis – Seattle, Chicago – Giants, San Francisco – Atlanta.
Creep. Easterbrook moves closer to dropping Christmas Creep.
TMQ remains the only sports column, to the best of our knowledge, that’s willing to talk about Gliese 581g.
If Jimi Heselden had been walking, he’d be president alive today. “The Segway is the SUV of the sidewalk.”
Offensive linesmen throwing passes and taking handoffs.
Christine O’Donnell is not a witch. We would, however, pay money to see her turn Gregg Easterbrook into a newt.
Jerry Rice, a great football player, or the greatest of all time?
Is ESPN getting better about reporting concussions?
“I prefer my salads defused.”
Jacksonville fooled Indy into thinking they were just going to run out the clock and go into overtime. Indeed, Jacksonville may have fooled themselves into thinking that as well, until Indy called a late timeout.
Consider the case of Larry Coker, fired from Miami because he wasn’t winning by large enough margins. Now he’s building a new program at the University of Texas – San Antonio, and already has teams lining up to schedule his program as a cupcake.
Wacky disclaimer: “The Last Airbender”.
“Trailing Washington 17-6 with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Eagles punted on fourth-and-5 from the Redskins’ 44. TMQ wrote the words ‘game over’ in our notebook.” WCD is amused by this statement, as we were also watching the game at that time, saw that punt, and wrote in our notebook, “TMQ wrote the words ‘game over’ in his notebook.”
TMQ meta-analyzes the NYT analysis of the Baltimore Ravens’ opposition to changing the overtime rules.
Eschewing the punt; how’s that working for you? Plus more on the 3-4 fad.
Texas Lutheran 28, Sul Ross State 11. Saint Scholastica 41, Crown 21.
Reader comments: police escorts, stupid targeted advertising for services you already subscribe to, great nicknames, “this is Tuesday Morning Quarterback, I don’t need a reason”, under-12 tackle football, machismo as a factor in head injuries, trick plays, and the Trojans play in the Coliseum.
The “Single Worst Play of the Season – So Far” returns, with the Lions punting on 4th and 9 from Green Bay’s 37, down by two points late in the 4th quarter. It figures that this would be a preposterous punt.
If TMQ did bring up the O.J. situation with Ralph Wilson, he does not discuss their conversation in this week’s column.
Tune in next week when, if we’re unlucky, Gregg Easterbrook will drag out his autotext about the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
“Top 10 New Foods at the 2010 State Fairs“, by way of No Silence Here.
I confess, the deep-fried cheddar-bacon mashed potatoes on a stick actually look pretty good to me.
On the other hand, the original tornado potato doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but this year’s modification sounds awful. When I think of great tastes that taste great together, my list does not include “potato” and “chocolate”.
And then, of course, there’s the number 1 item on the list, which you may remember from our previous coverage.
Breakdown of the list: two items from the Texas State Fair, three items from the Minnesota State Fair, two from the San Diego County Fair, one from the “San Diego State Fair” (could this be a typo? The link to “My Burning Kitchen” indicates yes), and one each from the Indiana and Wisconsin State Fairs.
Edited to add: Speaking of “My Burning Kitchen”, “deep-fried butter in both garlic and cinnamon sugar flavor“? So not only does deep-fried butter actually exist, it comes in flavors?
“What flavor is it?” “It’s butter, innit. It’s bloody butter, it’s not any bloody flavor!”
