Jul 282021
 

The WTFery continues, this time with a trailer for a stop-motion movie that Phil Tippet began working on before Jurassic Park. Say what you will about the trailer… it’s not one of those where the trailer basically lays out the whole plot, where you come away thinking that there’s no point in actually watching the movie because you’ve already got it all.

 

 Posted by at 9:42 am
Jul 272021
 

Huh.

 

Note:

US Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick died of strokes the day after riot, medical examiner rules

So he starts off by saying something manifestly untrue. Who would give any credence to anything else he has to say?

 Posted by at 10:20 pm
Jul 272021
 

A PDF catalog of the various rocket motors produced by Northrop-Grumman. This includes the Orion, castor, GEM, STAR, ASAS, RSRM and others.

https://www.northropgrumman.com/wp-content/uploads/NG-Propulsion-Products-Catalog.pdf

Includes basic data (including thrust/time curves) and illustrations. Curiously absent are prices and whether or not they take PayPal or Bitcoin. And what’s the shipping cost of, say, a dozen SLS boosters to my island volcano lair?

 Posted by at 2:30 pm
Jul 272021
 

Rising shipping costs leading to a large increase in prices, delays on many toys

The summary here is that shipping costs are higher, leading to an increase in the cost and decrease in the availability of toys, just in time for Christmas. How much of a change are we dealing with? Wellllll…

On July 1, the Drewry World Container Index reported the average price for shipping a 40-foot container of cargo by sea costs about $8,400, up 346% compared to this time last year.

Shipping a container from Shanghai to Los Angeles costs more than $9,100, a change of more than 272% from last year.

Gosh, that’s too bad. Cheap crap that enriches the Chinese Communist Party is getting more expensive? Whatever shall we do?

Hey, here’s a thought: maybe the United States could, and I’m just spitballing here… actually MAKE STUFF AGAIN?

It’s not just an idea for toys. We rely *far* too much on China for prit near everything. When the Chinese decide to conquer Taiwan and trans-Pacific comes to a grinding halt, it won’t just be Pokemon cards and model kits that we’ll run short of, it’ll be tools and computers and medicine.

 Posted by at 1:48 pm