Hello and how-do-you-do, dear journal.

Ren-fest is back again.. I’m sort of burned out on ’em. If Doug isn’t performing there, no t going to happen. Not really worth the $18 for the mud show, ren-fairies and a chance to get soup in a bread bowl.

What happened? I used to really dig ’em. Hm, come to think of it, I haven’t had Sugar Smacks…or whatever they’re called now, since sugar is such a bad, bad word. I don’t know why they changed it from Honey Smacks to just ol’ Smacks. MM.. I want a big bowl of SMACKS. Sounds like someone wants a punch in the nose, or three, not a tasty breakfast.

---

Bro called, and I’m still not sure why. he talked about starting his own church so he wouldn’t have to pay taxes… I explained to him that it didn’t quite work that way, and how much effort was involved in doing it legitimately. Who knows, though? Maybe a little morality will splash off on him in the process.

---

I’m not sure what term I like best for where I live. Sanctum? Den? Lair? Nest?

---

A survey by Keebler shows that 61% of men prefer pretzels shaped like circles, while 63% of women prefer pretzel rods.

---

Moment of Lyric –

and i know you know
you touched my life
when you touched my heavy heart
and made it light

---

Most of Saturday was spent sleeping… The only fresh air I got was a trip to the grocery store.

---

~scottobear~

LJ friendsCollage.

Brought to you by pratibha75 and teemus.

Interesting. I see a few distinct themes. Satchel the dog, personal portraits (a lot of photogenic folk, to be sure), some fine art and kitties.

---

Zod on Valentine’s Day

---

Meanie Superman site is now temporarily hosted by National Lampoon (it was bandwidth wiped at the old spot)

---

“Old Tin Can”… Fleischer’s 3D backgrounds and classic animation. Drunks and Graveyards. Hillbillies and cats in top hats. Ghosts in Electric Chairs. Some Moris Tepper music in the background.

---

Elektra Barbie?

---

Unix Command Cheat sheet

---

The Amazing Rusting Aluminum – Rust can hold an airplane together or dissolve it to bits.

Unless you are a representative of a national meteorological bureau licensed to carry a barometer (and odds are you’re not), bringing mercury on board an airplane is strictly forbidden. Why? If it got loose, it could rust the plane to pieces before it had a chance to land. You see, airplanes are made of aluminum, and aluminum is highly unstable.

Wait, isn’t one of the great things about aluminum that, unlike iron, it doesn’t rust? Am I talking about the same aluminum? Yes! Your aluminum pot is made of a highly reactive chemical. It simply has a trick that lets it disguise itself as a corrosion-resistant metal.

When iron rusts, it forms iron oxide — a reddish, powdery substance that quickly flakes off to expose fresh metal, which immediately begins to rust, and so on until your muffler falls off.

But when aluminum rusts, it forms aluminum oxide, an entirely different animal. In crystal form, aluminum oxide is called corundum, sapphire or ruby (depending on the color), and it is among the hardest substances known. If you wanted to design a strong, scratchproof coating to put on a metal, few things other than diamond would be better than aluminum oxide.

By rusting, aluminum is forming a protective coating that’s chemically identical to sapphire — transparent, impervious to air and many chemicals, and able to protect the surface from further rusting: As soon as a microscopically thin layer has formed, the rusting stops. (“Anodized” aluminum has been treated with acid and electricity to force it to grow an extra-thick layer of rust, because the more you have on the surface, the stronger and more scratch-resistant it is.)

This invisible barrier forms so quickly that aluminum seems, even in molten form, to be an inert metal. But this illusion can be shattered with aluminum’s archenemy, mercury.

Applied to aluminum’s surface, mercury will infiltrate the metal and disrupt its protective coating, allowing it to “rust” (in the more destructive sense) continuously by preventing a new layer of oxide from forming. The aluminum I-beam below rusted half away in a few hours, something that would have taken an iron beam years.

I’ve heard that during World War II, commandos were sent deep into German territory to smear mercury paste on aircraft to make them inexplicably fall apart. Whether the story is true or not, the sabotage would have worked. The few-micron-thick layer of aluminum oxide is the only thing holding an airplane together. Think about that the next time you’re flying. Or maybe it’s better if you don’t.

---

If this is true, it’s probably the most disgusting thing a LiveJournal user has ever done * warning for the squeamish * he is allegedly guilty of sexually abusing an infant.

Follow up

His America’s Most Wanted profile

---

1 year ago -Ft13th, urban beasts, photo memes, workers screwing up, Joel Veitch (Elephants, Yeah!), Mage knight with Dave

2 years ago – bro mooching, gas prices (Now: lowest – $1.50⁹, avg – $1.89⁹, highest $2.49⁹), newt’s Problem solving, Nice email, scabby palm pics, space giants, Walter adopted

3 years ago – Alton Brown, Melting pot month, ornj on the mend, talky newt, sleepy day, condiment museum

4 years ago – lost empires, pipe-smoking monkey sings Sanford and son,