Mostly about my amusement

Author: Jan Dembowski (page 29 of 96)

1/1 scale Hoi Hoi-san model

All done.

This one was good, but the hair ruins the balance of the whole model. Also I may glue some of the hair pieces. They fall off if you look at it too closely.

I’m not sure which model I’ll pickup next. It’s a toss-up between the heavy arms version or another Gundam model.

Hoi Hoi San WIP

Not my usual type of model.

This is the work in progress picture for the 1/1 scale Hoi Hoi-san model. It’s for my 6 year old girl. To make sure that it all works out, I’m gluing the pieces together when appropriate. The head will have interchangeable faces so I need to remember to NOT glue those parts together.

Google Voice on the iPhone is slick

After I read this article on Gizmodo  (helpfully called “How To: Jailbreak Any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad”) I figured what the heck and did the deed.

The Spirit Jailbreak Tool is as fire and forget as it gets. I backed up my iPhone, made sure I could restore it to its pristine Apple condition and pushed the button. It was so easy that I wonder what the catch is. A few minutes later and GV Mobile was installed on my phone.

I can see why Apple and/or AT&T blocked this app in the iTunes store. The integration is so flawless that I’m not sure why I would go back and use the Apple dialer. It’s like the Apple phone app but integrated with Google Voice. I get my downloaded voicemail as well as the transcribed email.

It’s a shame that Apple does not let Google get this onto the app store, it’s a good quality program.

Completed MG Gundam Exia

Gundam RX-78-2? Meet Gundam Exia.

That was a tough model to assemble. I started this model August 23rd and I just couldn’t really make the time to put it together. When I assembled the MG Char’s Zaku 2.0 I had less trouble.

The MG Exia is finicky and it’s flexibility is what makes it tough to keep in a pose. Now that it’s completed, I need to spray it with air and get off all the plastic dust. I was thinking of gluing the hip/leg ball joint (it comes apart if you move it around) but I’ll probably clean off the model and put it on the shelf.

For my next couple of kits I’ll be building HG Gundam 00 1/144 models. That’ll give me a break while reducing my Gunpla stash.

Arizona, where fear lives and becomes law

I’ve never been to Arizona and thanks to their new law, odds are I will never go. Yesterday Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a federal immigration bill to make it illegal for immigrants to not carry their papers. Yes, the states think they can pass federal immigration policy law and I guess they can.

From the New York Times article:

The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

My wife is a naturalized citizen and many of my friends are too. Unless you have American Indian blood in you, odds are you are from a family of immigrants. Many people in the United States speak with an accent from being fluent in a foreign language.

In about 90 days that accent can cause a police office in Arizona to demand to see your papers. If you don’t have them or don’t produce them, then you can go to jail for being a suspected illegal immigrant. My wife is Asian but hey, the supporters of this bill claim that racial profiling will not be used so we’re all suspect and will need to carry our papers.

Not producing your papers will be a crime in Arizona. Do you think the people of Arizona really had this in mind when they were called a “Red State”?

This new law is firmly based in fear. Arizona is on the border of Mexico and they 100% do have a problem with illegal immigration. Innocent ranchers have been murdered and the killers are suspected to illegal immigrants from Mexico. Even that Anti-Maverick Senator McCain is spewing fear based rumors. No surprise there, since his time is almost up and he’ll spout whatever lies he needs to get re-elected.

Illegal immigrants are blamed for insurance fraud (thanks Senator!), lack of health care coverage, the current condition of schools, and sometimes even spreading leprosy. The bad economy? It’s the illegal immigrants fault.

That’s a nice bogey man to have and I can’t wait for the “Stop Illegal Immigrants” propaganda posters. I’m not really surprised: Arizona also has a bill on the table that is aimed at denying that President Obama is an American citizen, and they lie about that too.

This is not the solution. If the Federal Government can’t protect the border then bring back the National Guard and solve the problem. It won’t do anything to reduce the murders or save the state economy but at least it will get the border protected.

In the United States we have protests, we disagree publicly and loudly, we go where we want, read what we want, and we never ever show our papers. Or if we don’t show our papers, we don’t go to jail for that reason. Some other excuse is used.

But soon if you don’t show your papers in Arizona you’ll go to jail. Thanks Arizona, but I’m not willing to bring my family to a state like that.