Amazing Video of May 20th's Tornado in Moore, OK

Source

Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012

And the best image I've found..

Via / Image Source: Ben Brockert (Twitter @wikkit) - with permission           Click to enlarge!

Another beautiful one:

Image Source (AP Photo/Odessa American, Albert Cesare)

Some LIVE Videos from the Mass Chaos Tour

Long post - This is an update to my prior post, Godsmack & Staind - Mass Chaos on Saturday, May 5, 2012.

Here is a collection of videos I chose for this post - These were recorded at the Alamodome's Illusion's Theater on May 2, 2012. My wife & I were there, and enjoyed it immensely. You'll see why.

Except for the Halestorm video, all credit goes to Jasonjayeah for these great vids, and what a super job he did!

Halestorm - A Familiar Taste Of Poison

Source

Staind - Spleen


Staind - For You


Staind - Not Again


Godsmack - Intro & Awake


Godsmack - The Enemy


Godsmack - The Oracle


These two were the highlight of the concert for me. The Oracle is an incredible instrumental on the newest album of the same name, and I loved the opportunity to see them perform it live! Then the little medley they played inside Keep Away made for a very unique experience. I know they've put Mistakes at the beginning of other songs before, but although I can't really place what it is they're playing, I know it's definitely theirs. And it's amazing.

Godsmack - Keep Away (with embedded medley jam)


Godsmack - Batalla del los Tambores


I will have the Staind setlist updated at the Godsmack & Staind - Mass Chaos post very shortly!!

Amazing Austin, TX Lightning Photo

Sunday night, May 6, 2012 - Looking south over the Hwy 360 (Pennybacker) bridge, and overlooking Austin Country Club.

Via / Image Source: Marco Gutierrez                                                     Click to enlarge!

Google Maps location..

Staind - It's Been A While (LIVE)

San Antonio's Alamodome Illusions Theater, May 2, 2012. Thanks to nbkyounggun!


Source

We were there, but not as close as he was. Not sure how he got this without all the bass reverb, but kudos to him!

Godsmack & Staind - Mass Chaos

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the Mass Chaos Tour, featuring Godsmack, Staind, Halestorm, and Man Made Machine! We had bought these tickets several months prior, and yeah - we wouldn't miss an event like this. Both Godsmack & Staind are two of our favorite bands. In concert together? You better believe we're there. This would be our 5th time seeing Staind and 4th time for Godsmack.

The San Antonio Spurs playoffs were also going on at the same time, and let me tell you how mad I was when I found out that game-2 against Utah in the first round was scheduled for THIS NIGHT, instead of Tuesday, after game-1 was Sunday. So we got to the Alamodome Illusions Theater, and I was hoping to watch most of game-2 on one of the many screens the Alamodome would have going. But that was not the case. Screwed, I called my Mom a few times, and had to check the game on my dumb smart-phone.

So I was able to see a couple of Man Made Machine's songs. And they're a pretty good band. I also saw most of Halestorm's set. And let me tell you, Lzzy Hale is an incredible front-woman. She can really sing! Her brother is their drummer, and he's a monster at the set. I watched him flip a stick around his neck, and that was something I had never seen. Halestorm deserves a lot of credit - they really have a great sound, and write some great tunes. And yeah, she is hot! I envied the guys who were standing in the general admission area, because although I couldn't see great detail, she wasn't wearing much.

I respect event planners more than most people might. They have a lot to do! After a disaster last week at Siesta Fest for Korn, I was expecting so much better on this night. Our seats were great! Stage-proximity-wise, anyway. We were about the 8th row of seats from the ground-level, and just outside right from the middle. The bad thing is we had seats 16 & 17, and the nearest aisle was 17 seats to our right. So yeah all night we had to crawl through 17 people to get to/from our seats. And by the time Staind took the stage, it was a full house! We had already waited in line for a t-shirt (which we eventually aborted), and I had waited in a beer line for 10 minutes when I heard Staind take the stage 10-minutes early. And I missed almost half of their set waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

Staind

I love Staind and all, but I justified it that I'm here to see Godsmack. This time I bought two beers - I wasn't waiting in line again. Finally making back to Steph, Staind was kicking butt, as usual. So thirty minutes pass.. we're blown away by Staind.. I have to use the restroom, so I leave during Mudshovel - which is always their closer. I got lucky, because they played another one. By this time, there was no one in line for beer, so I took a leak, and bought another one.

Here was Staind's set-list:
1 - Raw
2 - Right Here
3 - Eyes Wide Open
4 - Spleen
5 - Failing
6 - So Far Away
7 - Now
8 - Country Boy (Aaron Lewis song)
9 - For You
10 - Paper Wings
11 - Outside
12 - Not Again
13 - It's Been Awhile
14 - Mudshovel
15 - Something To Remind You

Godsmack

The Godsmack set was perfect! They opened with Awake, and Straight out of Line. Followed that with several from The Oracle, and the highlight of the night was getting to see live "The Oracle", which is an instrumental. I never left my seat again until it was over, but that hour and 15 minutes was absolutely incredible! This was one of the best shows I've seen, and without a doubt, one of the loudest I've ever experienced. The ringing in my ears is just now (more than 48 hours later) back to normal.

Here is the Godsmack set-list (updated):
1 - Awake
2 - Straight Out of Line
3 - The Enemy
4 - Good Day to Die
5 - The Oracle
6 - Cryin' Like a Bitch
7 - Keep Away - (with an incredible medley)
8 - Speak
9 - Love Hate Sex Pain
10 - Voodoo
11 - Batalla de los Tambores & more
12 - Whatever

Encore:
13 - I Stand Alone

We obviously didn't get many good pictures this time. No cameras were allowed. But we had our phones. I have two videos that are terrible, but I may post them. Who knows. It was an incredible concert, and that's all that matters.

Tailgating

Via

U.S. Drought Monitor: May to August

Via - (NSFW)

Well, They Did It!

In reference to this post a few days ago, it appears a few (million) people got what they wanted!


Via


Via Email

Way to go!!

Crickets

Via

Yeah this is the live streaming broadcast of the Family Radio Dot Com rapture coverage, whose site now says "00 days left".

Just crickets now..

May 21, 2011 Billboards

Via

As most of you are probably aware, many billboards across the country are claiming that on May 21, 2011, the rapture will begin. Quoting WeCanKnow.com's Allison Warden of Raleigh, NC: "The Bible teaches that Christ is returning on May 21 and we want to encourage people to go to Scripture and investigate for themselves. All information in the Bible points to this date. God is going to be saving people right up until the last moment." (Source)

Anyway here is a collection of some more of the crazy billboards, and also one truck:






























Via
















Via



















Via
















Via - (NSFW)

Redditor "xtcg123" has proposed the quest for approval of another sign to be posted on May, 22, 2011:


Via

Judgment Day BS

Via - (NSFW)

Actually it is very clearly stated in the Bible that no one will ever know when it is coming. So to err by saying you know when it is is one simple error. But to say the Bible guarantees it is a load of BS!

Unemployment Rates By County By Month, Jan. 2007 - May 2010

Via

¿Huh?

Wait, what was I just doing?

Via

10 Unwritten Baseball Rules You May Not Know

Last month, when A's pitcher Dallas Braden called out Alex Rodriguez for cutting across the Oakland Coliseum mound, the country was informed of a small slice of baseball's Code that had lain mostly dormant in recent memory.

It was only one of a litany of unwritten rules that covers major leaguers' actions, designed essentially to preserve a baseline level of respect between competitors. They constitute the moral fabric of the game.

Image Source

The best known of these rules tells players not to steal a base when their team holds a big lead in the late innings of a game. Others include barring overt displays of exuberance in all but the most extreme circumstances; the hitter who watches his own home runs is the most egregious of violators in this category.

Many fans have heard of these rules (Alex Rodriguez himself was unaware of one). Some sections of the Code, however, fly under the radar (even for baseball insiders, to judge by the number of people within the game who had never heard the rule about restraint from crossing the pitcher's mound).
                                                                                                        Image Source

So, without further delay, here are 10 of baseball's more obscure unwritten rules:

1. Don't swing at the first pitch after back-to-back home runs
This is a matter of courtesy, respect for a pitcher who is clearly struggling, offering just a sliver of daylight with which to regain his senses. When Yankees rookie Chase Wright gave up back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers against Boston in 2007, the guys who hit numbers three and four — Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek — each watched a pitch before taking a cut.

"Let him know, okay, I'm not swinging," said Hal McRae. "I know you're out there trying to do a job, and I have to do a job — but you've just given up back-to-back home runs. So I take the first pitch."

2. Don't work the count when your team is up or down by a lot
This is true for both pitchers and hitters. Nobody wants to see the fifth guy on a bullpen's depth chart nibbling on the corners in the late innings of a blowout. Similarly, hitters are expected to swing at anything close. It's an effort to quickly and efficiently end a lopsided contest.

3. When hit by a pitch, don't rub the mark
This one is all about intimidation or lack thereof. It's a hitter's way of telling the pitcher that his best shot — intentional or otherwise —didn't hurt. Pete Rose made a point of sprinting to first base after being hit, to ensure that he stripped all satisfaction from the pitcher.

"It's a macho thing, like a fighter who gets clocked in the mouth and shakes his head like it didn't hurt him," said Rich Donnelly. "But believe me, it hurts."

Lou Brock was the only hitter Sandy Koufax ever threw at intentionally, and despite the fact that his shoulder was fractured by the pitch, forcing him from the game, never once did he rub the spot. The Washington Post once reported that Don Baylor "was hit by 267 pitches yet never rubbed, even once. Of course, several of the balls had to be hospitalized."

Continue to the rest of the list..

Related article