Uncle Ralph got his wish.

Years ago my uncle told me that when it comes to the judgment of one's soul, only God can do that. Even for Osama Bin Laden.

And that a sniper should expedite the process

Great News!

With the great news that has happened, I have decided to dig up this old joke.

BIN LADEN IS DEAD!

(For most people that would be enough. However:)

Bin Laden finds himself in a very bright cloud like area. Suddenly he is confronted by George Washington. Who then proceeds to give Bin Laden a boot to the head. Next is Thomas Jefferson, who also gives Bin Laden a boot to the head. Behind him we find: Martha Washington, Martha Jefferson, Henry Clay, Ella Fitzgerald, William H. Harrison, Patrick Henry, Sam Houston, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Meriwether Lewis, James Madison, Dolley Madison, John Marshall, Cyrus Hall McCormick, James Monroe, Elizabeth Monroe, Powhatan, Pocahontas, Walter Reed, George C. Scott, Winfield Scott, John Smith, James Jeb Stuart, Thomas Sumter, Zachary Taylor, John Tyler, Julia Tyler, Letitia Tyler, Nat Turner, John Tyler, Booker T. Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Edith Wilson, and many many more.

In the midst of this bedlam, Bin Laden calls out:

“Allah! Allah! What is this?”

“It is your eternal reward for the life you have led.”

“This! OWWW! (Stop that!) OWWWW!”

“Yes. 72 Virginians!”

Ravy 2011 Pg. 18.

Click Here.

I spent a couple of hours making a new background. Then moronically deleted it and emptied the Recycle Bin. I still have the part that appears in the panel, but not the rest of it. The parts I need to do a camera shift left or right.

I can either spend the time remaking the whole she-bang and having look a bit off kilter from the one before. Or I can just do what I always do: fake it.

Of course that background doesn't appear at all this week, or next, or for several more months. Making this post's jabbering rather silly. Or what I euphemistically call "normal."

(I almost put in that Ricky Martin video. Then a rare fit of sanity hit me.)

Penny for Your Easter.

As if talking insentiently about how long I can hold a button down isn't torture enough for my Facebook friends, I do somewhat irregular cartoon called Penny for Your Thoughts starring Cajun Bon Vivant Penelope Bell.

The usual format I have settle on is a news broadcast with host Ravy as the straight man and Penny as the sidekick wiseacre. Though when I have (steal) a good idea I go outside the norm(?) do a standard(?) Ravy type comic.

For the fan of this blog. Here's a behind the scenes look.

 

You should see the spelling suggestions for Facebook and blog.

All New C64: Is it worth it?

My Mom was the real computer geek until I bought my first $1000 solitaire machine. She actually used the C64 as a computation device. She was on it all the time doing newsletters for the library and going online with Q-Link. She was downloading games and music back in the late '80's early '90's.

Me? I was just playing video games. Some of which were actually better than what was on the NES. Plus Commodore games were a helluva lot cheaper than the NES carts.

When words comes by me that the C64 is making a comeback, memories came flooding back.

Then reality set in. First off one of the major selling points is playing all the old games. Whoopee. You can do that for free now. As buggy as the emulators are, I've managed to get most of the games I want to play. Then reading further it comes with some games. Probably a select few of ones nobody liked and you probably can't add in those downloaded roms.

Then there's the C64 OS. Which is a Linux distro. What we need, another version of Linux. (A friend of mine was complaining about all the variations of Windows. One word: Linux.) On top of that when you order your very own C64, it doesn't come with the C64 OS. It's not ready. Instead you get some weird version of Ubuntu.

Now the coop de gracie: an Atom Processor. You have got to be kidding me? No? You're not? Really? Atom? That has to go. So I look up the motherboard to see what other processors will fit into it. I can't find out. It appears that the CPU is soldered into the motherboard! If I get a new C64, I'm going to have to replace the Motherboard too?

You see, I want the All New C64 not just for the nostalgia or the nerd cred. I need a compact test bed with off the shelf parts. A laptop doesn't fit this because the drivers needed are proprietary. The ones that run the motherboard and video card. I'm currently using a Compaq that I rescued from the trash. I can't get XP drivers for it, and the Win 7 drivers I don't think are working. Vista? They work, weirdly enough.

I need to be able to throw Windows 7 Ultimate 64 on the C64. Can it handle it with an Atom Processor? I'm having enough trouble with an AMD 64 Athlon X2.

Looking at the price guide, I see you can purchase a barebones system for $250. It doesn't come with the motherboard and Atom I was just bitching about. It also doesn't apparently come with a power supply. I can get all that for an additional $350.

While I wouldn't mind buying the fine craftsmanship that went into building the case, this isn't 1982. We expect more for our dollar in today's terms. I just don't know if it is worth it.



(So, how much did I spend on Rosenkreuzstilette again?)