The Logical Choice?

Fascinating.
Can we all now live long and prosper?

More Sparrow

A couple of my favorite quotes from The Sparrow.

"He felt as though he were a prism, gathering up God's love like white light and scattering it in all directions..."
----
"The Jewish sages tell us that the whole of the Torah, the entirety of the first five books of the Bible, is the name of God. With such a name, they ask, how much more is God?"
----
"He found the life of Jesus profoundly moving; the miracles, on the other hand, seemed a barrier to faith, and he tended to explain them to himself in rational terms. It was as though there were only seven loaves and seven fishes. Maybe the miracle was that the people shared what they had with strangers."

TV Barn

When I first started using the internet, way back in, oh 1996 or so, I stumbled across what we would now term a blog called TV Barn. It was run by a fellow named Aaron Barnhart, tv critic of the Kansas City Star newspaper. He began by doing a regular email list about late night tv and wound up getting a gig with the paper, while still maintaining his website. I bookmarked it back then and I've visited it nearly every day since then, lo these ten plus years later. He's changed the look and feel of the site many times over the years (and even fought off leukemia at one point) and the balance he's got now is just great.

He covers tv related news and such in some well written and thought-out articles, but has also added a "what's working for me/what's not" featurette that's a great added bonus. And one of the star attractions remains his ticker, a running list of tv related news items. Now I'm not the biggest tv watcher by any stretch, but I've consistently enjoyed TV Barn and highly recommend you check it out.

Sparrow

So I recently finished reading The Sparrow a novel by Mary Doria Russell. I saw it mentioned a couple of times on Scalzi's blog and finally got a copy. The novel follows a Jesuit priest who, after we receive radio signals from another planet, decides that God is calling him to lead the first expedition to a new world. We jump back and forth in time as we find out what happened to the team and why only our priest protagonist survived. I've long pondered on what impact evidence of life elsewhere would have on religious thought here, and this novel took a look a this question. As it went on, I got more and more drawn in until I found myself wanting to read it all the time. Now I have to decide whether I should take a look at the sequel.

The Amazing Color Changing Card Trick

Movie Moments in Real Life

Remember that scene early on in The Road Warrior when Mad Max sticks pots and pans under a wrecked vehicle to collect the dripping gasoline, then goes over the road with a rag to make sure he sops up every last drop?

Nowadays, I think about that scene every time I fill up my tank.

They Tried To Kill Me With A Fork Lift

Frank's Greatest Album

Frank Jr. once said that this album should be available only by prescription, it's that powerful. He said it's full of suicide songs.

Well, I don't know about that, but Julie and Stephen once came home to find me lying on the floor in the dark listening to this album. It's really an emotional ride if you're suffering from heartbreak. If you're in a good place emotionally, it can still really pack a punch, reminding you of old heartaches. But it's exquisitely beautiful, gorgeously sung and contains many of Frank's all time greatest inspired interpretations of saloon songs ever.

Angel Eyes. One For My Baby. What's New.

It's Sinatra's greatest album ever. Period.


Amazon.com Widgets

We Have A Winner

I'm so pleased that my daughter is going to grow up in a world where this is normal.

Indy racing is the one sport I've always enjoyed. I have vivid memories of watching the Indy 500 with my dad, and cheering the Unser boys and wearing an AJ Foyt T-shirt. It's the one sports event I try to watch every year, and Emma and I had fun watching it last year when another woman driver, Milka, crashed. Emma was rooting for Milka and later that same day, she crashed on her tricycle and excitedly cried that she was now just like Milka!

We'll be cheering for Danica this year. Emma sang a song this morning that went something like this: "I love Danica, she won a trophy just like me!" Emma got a trophy for her ballet recital yesterday, so she and Danica have something in common, you see. And Emma declared that she wants to dress up like Danica for Halloween. Better start shopping for a jumpsuit and helmet. Maybe Shaw can be Emma's pit crew.

Finally -- A Jet Pack?

Check out FusionMan!

Is my dream of owning a jet pack coming closer to a reality...?

Ten Years Later, We Still Miss You

Are You Ready, Boots?

Yippee Ki Yay, Melon Farmer

Watching Die Hard movies on commercial television can be a jarring experience. The Yippee Ki Yay is typically cut off right after Yippee Ki Yay. And other "colorful metaphors" are dubbed. My favorite, by far, occurred in Die Hard 3 when Samuel L. Jackson calls Bruce WIllis a "racist melon farmer." Melon farmer? The best faux expletive ever.

So now here's a clip of Die Hard 2 dubbed for tv. Listen for the expertly done voice that, oddly, sounds absolutely nothing like Bruce Willis.

Exchange Student

Back in high school we had one exchange student each year, My senior year, our school hosted Silvia Callirgos from Peru. I wondered if, through the miracle of the internet, I could find out what she's up to these days. Well, who knew she'd be on YouTube? She shows up most prominently about 3:30 into the piece.

Now if I could just get hold of Russ Siders to translate for me...

Taxi

Okay.

It's easy to rip on Shatner and make fun of his "singing" style. But this clip actually really nails what he's going for. Watch it with an open mind (and just ignore his collar) and you'll actually see a brilliant performance, a monologue-like interpretation of the Harry Chapin song, Taxi.



No, I'm serious.

Sinatra + Jobim = Magic

One of my all-time favorite Frank Sinatra records is his collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim.

It's an inspired combination, and here's a medley that gives you a taste of it.



I wish they'd done more than just the one album together.

Shatner Sings The Hits From Camelot

All hail his glorious toupee and bow to the will of the One True Shatner's sage words of advice.

justiceplanes: A Celebration

Here's a tribute to my favorite band, which also happens to be my wife's band. So here's Jennifer, Suzanne, Mark and Brent: justiceplanes.

Retro Fashion

Back in the late seventies, I was a regular subscriber to Starlog, the only magazine that kept me up to date with Star Trek, Star Wars and the other science fiction-y things that so enthralled me. After Battlestar Galactica arrived on the scene, this ad began appearing in the magazine. Cleverly called the Warrior's Battle Jacket, note how it never actually mentions the TV show. But it does let you know how great you'll look in the disco!

I wanted one. Man, did I want one. But they cost a bundle (in 1979 dollars). And since they only ever had this little illustration, never any actual photos of the jacket, I never knew what it would really look like. Would it have that suede look of the ones in the actual series? There was just no way to know.

Until now.

Yes, thanks to the mighty power of the internet, I've managed to find a photo of one of those jackets. So someone out there actually was able to convince his (and, yes, I definitely mean "his" since there's no way any woman would be seen dead in one of these) parents to fork out the dough. And he kept it through the years and eventually posted a photo on the blessed internet.

So here it is, courtesy of ketzer.com.

So it looks a little thin, but I would have worn it to my local disco (if we'd had a disco in our small Iowa farm town).

And here's a more contemporary recreation of the jacket available for purchase.

Looks a little more authentic, I guess. Still would look great at the disco. You can buy one for me, if you'd like. Size large.

Gary Cooper vs the RoboCowboys