All You Never Wanted to Know About My Thoughts on Fish

An English town has banned a popular (and strange-sounding) sport due to it being "disrespectful to dead fish." I can generally appreciate the position of animal rights activists, even if I'm not quite as radical as some of them; after all, I like having my dogs and cats - and llamas, goats, even sometimes the sheep - around. However, it never occurred to me to worry about showing respect to a dead fish. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we managed to place a few of them in that state ourselves, and the added fact that the only burial those poor goldfish got was a quick flushing and a not terribly sorry "bye, Orange." Yes, I'm fairly certain we named one of our fish Orange. There was probably another named Pumpkin. And at some point, my Mom completely gave up on the idea of fish, and we graduated to hamsters. I think we found a friend's backyard to bury those in; they also did us the courtesy of living a full two years give or take. Small animals for a small apartment that we had at the time.

But I'm off my original topic. Fish. They were rather boring to keep. What little kid wants to sit and watch a fish float around when your dream is to be out playing fetch with a dog or cuddling with a cat? I could never hunt, not unless some horrible disaster happened and my life literally depended on it, but I've gone fishing and eaten the fish after. I wouldn't fish without an intent to eat - I don't appreciate thoughtless killing of anything, with a possible exception where mosquitoes and bees are concerned. I rarely fish even with an intent to eat, as the seafood restaurant downtown takes care of that desire rather nicely and much more conveniently.

Of course, it never occurred to me to stand on a wooden block and hit people with fish, either. Had I had the chance, large poles would have seemed much more convenient and less messy. And I suppose if any other, more likeable animal's remains were mutilated somehow after death it would seem a bit disgusting to me, something I could understand people complaining about. Then again, few people seem to have any problem with mounting anything. Despite my laughing at this article, perhaps there is a certain point up to which even an animal's remains ought to be treated respectfully - not, perhaps, with the care given to man, but with whatever might be due one of God's creatures. Whether this line is before or after the point of hitting others with fish I'll leave to someone more qualified to decide.

I Won't Be Looking Back

She stepped out of the building and into the parking lot, feeling waves of heat rolling off pavement baked by a high summer sun and cloudless sky, the sweatshirt she clung to rendered useless by the force of such weather. She reveled in it, head turned up, eyes closed to bask in the natural warmth so contrary to the dreary walls and chilly artificial air of the office. Her car was in the first row, and after reaching it and carefully filling the radiator from an old plastic jug, she turned back to gaze at the row of warehouses. The office door opened, spitting forth one of the few people left inside. Soon every room would be empty and dark. Monday, she knew, they would be full again, the office with people, the garages with humming machinery. She could see the cubes with overflowing papers and people typing at computers, hear the phone conversation of the person across from her, smell the storage areas as in her mind she walked through the warehouse to the break room for coffee. Even as the scent faded from her imagination she grinned; for she alone would not be returning to face the end of the weekend. Her cube was already empty, her desk clean, her computer dark, and freedom rested under the hand she laid on the now closed hood of her car. Old engines tend to make noise, and hers filled the empty parking lot with a quickly increasing roar as the car came to life and gunned for the road. Freedom. She didn’t look back again.

I'm a dork, and yes, fully aware that this story stinks. However, I don't rightly care, as it was never intended to be a real story in the first place - more a celebration. A celebration of the fact that as of 5:30pm today I have broken that hold that the University of Michigan has on so many lower MI residents. The next two weeks will be mine to pack, to prepare, but also to sleep in, eat lunch in my living room, and to spend my days out and about rather than cooped up in a cube. I'm FREE! Here I come, world - unstyled, far from satisfactory writing selections and all. But what better way to proclaim my joy, forced though the style be? My mind, too, expresses its freedom... from any significant thought or forced effort.

I don't blame it at all.

The title, by the way, is taken from a Collin Raye song called Any Old Stretch of Blacktop. He's one of my favorite artists, alongside Martina McBride, Diamond Rio, Lonestar, Garth Brooks, and (dare I admit it?) Billy Ray Cyrus. I am so awesome.

The Steps of Our Fathers

It gives a whole new meaning to "walking in your ancestors' footsteps." A couple years ago an Australian woman came across many sets of preserved tracks likely left by her long-gone ancestors.

My guess is a huge prehistoric carnival, with kangaroo-wrestling, fresh fish at prehistoric stands, and Australia's version of Nessie to set the kids watching for when they got restless.

False Facts

The other day I came across an article which lead to, as its sources, a number of other articles on false memories, whether you're trying to trick other people, you're trying to trick yourself, you've accidentally tricked yourself, or you're trying to un-trick yourself.

The Russians seem to have the largest market in matters of tricking other people. Aside from all sorts of fake merchandise in their shops, there actually is someone selling fake memories - not in the "we'll implant them into your head" sense, but in the sense of fake photos, tickets, and everything else needed to convince other people that you took a vacation that you actually didn't. One man even bought a fake trip to the moon.

At Northwestern, scientists have been studying false memories by examing brain functions during memory recall. They have discovered that different areas of the brain are active depending on whther one is recalling real memories or imagined events. Eventually this sort of research could leads to methords to determine whether a memory is real or not, something particularly critical in certain instances. The two they specifically mention are criminal trials and repressed memories or traumatic events. Obviously the accuracy of a witness' memory during a trial is rather important to the people involved, as it could implicate the wrong person as the criminal. In the same way, verifying accuracy of repressed memories that are returning could keep someone from falsely accusing another of anything, and also help them struggle through questions of "did this really happen?" and throw out anything that didn't - potentially helpful to them and, I imagine, anyone trying to help them.

Of course, the obvious conclusion to this combination of articles is that you can put these two areas together and find a way to create your own false memories of a fake vacation, having not only the fake receipts to convince others but also implanted memories of your own so that you actually "remember" going. Perhaps then I would buy that trip to the moon. Of course, by then, a real trip might cost only $15,000... and why trick myself?

Pointless Yet Pertinent

To facilitate procrastination and time-wasting, I've added a link to eLouai.com on my sidebar. I will admit to having spent some amount of time with it all summer designing various characters; very useful for that. Fun yard designs too (the rooms aren't so great, but what can you do).

Some of the best medicine around for those nothing-goes-right, rainy days involves a stack of movies, and bowl of chocolates, a cup of extra creamy hot chocolate, and fuzzy things - blankets, pillows, animals (real or stuffed), socks, you name it. Even when it's the middle of summer and 72 degrees out. It's a brilliant combination; I have no idea why there aren't books out there about this sort of thing. There probably are, actually. Somewhere under alternative medicine.

And to think, I once claimed I wasn't the least bit girly.

We Went Back to Constantinople

They (that all-encompasing "they") have found an old (aww, I wanted a new one!) Byzantine harbor.

Yes, the sarcasm is aimed at myself, not the article. The whole thing actually sounds very interesting (anyone want to take me there? pleasepleaseplease... aww, it's only halfway around the world..). It's a fairly extensive site, with old buried buildings, a number of sunken ships, and everything else port-related down to that harborside trash that always shows up with so many people walking around and ships coming in. There are so many artifacts that they're going to rebury some of them after cataloging them, along with modern day coins so that future archeologists will know that it isn't a pristine site if it is lost/forgotten and then refound.

I'm getting very clear images of Atlantis from the game Legacy of Time as I think about this, particularly the pottery. Brilliant game; I was always very fascinated by those settings and stories.

Always Knew I Was Strange

Did you know that less than 5% of bloggers use the news as their main source for blogging? There was an article about it in the news the other day.

Just thought I'd mention that.

We've Been to See the Wizard

Today we, meaning Manchester, MI's first community theater group in.. a very long time.., completed our third and final showing of The Wizard of Oz. By "we," I mean that I was included in all of three rehearsals - of one which was the dress rehearsal - sang one song as part of the Rainbow Chorus, and returned for bows at the end of the show. The majority of the time was spent reading old Star Wars books. I did watch most of the show during rehearsals, and the whole thing looked very good. We had a particularly brilliant Lion and Scarecrow.

In case anyone is particularly curious about what a Rainbow Chorus actually looks like or does, here is a fairly good representation of our one part in the show. See the rainbow stole? Okay, so I didn't actually get to rule anyone or live in a tower. It was a nice thought though.

If it were not 12:48am, I would say something about the idea of home, and good versus evil, and what intelligence/love/courage really is, and what after all makes a good theater production anyway, and the difficulties of having eighty munchkins all under the age of eight, and just why there are so many songs about.. oh, sorry, wrong show.

All and all, it was a success. Who'd have thought it of such a small town? And Michigan scores again in the match for best state ever created.

A Picture Worth Not Quite So Many Words

So, this isn't quite how I initially pictured it. I'm not sure how most of this qualifies as cowboy style clothes, and I was thinking more solid brights instead of random splotches of color all over the place. Plus the background was completely NOT my own idea (but I would have added a mallet had one been available.)

Still, in all its bright, overcrowded, far too pink glory, I present some minor semblance of what that character of mine might look like in a different universe.



(If you want to try your own, go to here. Loads of fun.)

Custom-Made Anime Characters, $2.00

I wouldn't normally do this, but, okay, I'll bite this time. Particularly because I already know my answer. AND I know who to blame for this... (I'll get you my pretty! Muahahaha..)

So without further ado: If I Were an Anime Character (Fighting Series) -

1. Appearance: About 5'8" (yes, folks, I'm adding a whole inch), long hair, possibly around knee-length (it would never get in my way of course), of a dark but NOT black-looking shade of brown. Fairly muscular but not, well, huge. Just athletic I suppose.

2. Fight Ability - on a combat scale of 1-10 (1 being an attack of a wet willy, and 10 being destroying a city block.): Generally around a 4 or less. However, if I ever got angry/desperate enough to pick up a non-choice (more damaging) weapon, that could go up to a 9.

3. Weapon of choice: A huge, body-sized shield, curved slightly to easily hide behind, along with something little to throw from far away. Something about the size of a baseball or even as large as a softball, not so heavy/hard, sharp jagged edge but nothing that's going to penetrate far or be highly damaging - though with enough hits (I don't know how many.. lots) it could definitely weaken someone. For up close fighting, when it happens, a small dagger of an equally harmful quality.

4. Clothing: Traditional cowboy (cowgirl?) style, including hat and boots, with a dagger sheath instead of a gun holster, and the exception that the whole outfit is in bright instead of traditional colors. And I do mean bright. And very colorful. Of course, when expecting an attack, armor would be worn over this, which would be a nice camouflage..

5. Weakness: tendency to take too many hits before striking back, slow movement until angered (see question #2), usually willing to back off quickly and give the enemy time to recover and, what, decide not to attack again? Something like that. Also counting on highly un-formed persuasion skills and an overly naive kindness to convince the enemy to reconcile and go out for ice cream instead of fight.

Tagging:
1. Havilah, if she reads this again before this post is buried.
2. Anyone else who reads this,
3. wasn't already tagged,
4. and wants to. Leave me
5. a link to your post, please!

The Genes Made Me Do It!

An article about some of the newer research on nature versus nurture focuses on the aspect genes play in determining the traits a person shows.

And they're actually finding evidence that supports a middle view! Imagine that. Because no one would ever have guessed that both genes and environment affected a person, and that it didn't have to be completely to one extreme or the other. This may be worse than some of the philosophical wars.

Of course there's the scientific process. They had to do studies and find evidence, not just listen to the words of a random girl who's never done a single study on it in her life. So it's good to see that they're getting there, instead of insisting that it's an either/or matter. As the article states, "Genetic predisposition is not destiny."

I still think this issue is something more complicated and want to include a third factor, but without proof or proper ability to explain why, I'll leave it at the fact that they're getting somewhere in this debate and remain happy with that fact for now.

I'm Just a Bit Behind

But driving back Monday, I missed the shuttle landing, and in the strangeness that was last week I missed most of the mission coverage.

So welcome home Discovery!

For anyone else as behind as I am, coverage (and videos!) can be viewed on the shuttle section of NASA's webpage.

On a semi-related note, the Kennedy Space Center has what sounds like an excellent visitor area. Despite being in FL for two semesters I never made it up to watch a launch or see any of the attractions. Particularly interesting is the option to "be an astronaut for a day" including training and a simulated mission at the end. The center in Houston sounds nowhere near as interesting. A "short" trip may be in order some day....

Omaha, NE, USA

Against the Current

Or, my visit to Omaha, NE. The city is named after the Omaha tribe, who would have had to go "against the current," the meaning of "Omaha", when they migrated north (thank you Wikipedia!). I actually spent about two days in Omaha and two days in Lincoln. About, because with only four days total and a ten hour drive either way, a bit of time is taken up in transit. Insane? Yes. Worth it? Definitely.

I want to start out by stating that contrary to popular opinion, Iowa is not a boring drive. I generally prefer more hills (Michigan is nice; mountains are perfect) but I have been in states much flatter. Iowa has a combination of big sky and enough in the way of rolling hills to provide some shape to the land. It alternates between a horizon that falls just over the hill ahead or, when on top of that hill, stretches for miles before you and off to the sides. It's a lot of open fields (and corn) but I've never pretended not to love countryside. And wildflowers! Midwest wildflowers. The kind I'm familiar with at home, which admittedly would have been nicer if I hadn't been home for the past year+, but were still appreciated.

I'm not a fan of big cities. Omaha, with it's overabundance of multi-lane, one way, dead-ending streets, immediately drops quite a bit in my opinion. It's crowded and confusing, not confusing enough to get me lost - that takes some doing - but confusing enough to cause timing problems when I can't find a street that actually goes in the direction I need it to.

Aside from that, however, there are plenty of things I can appreciate about the city. Though I hesitate to say this about any large city (European cities excluded; also, grudgingly, Austin), it's a city I could enjoy wandering around in - in this case especially as I have it on good authority that much of the downtown and park areas can be reached on foot. Their layout of parks, statues, and random monuments is extensive and wanders in a definite pattern through the city. Beautiful fountains, tributes to ancestors and pioneers and what the land previously looked like, rivers and green areas and plenty of picture opportunities together make me a happy tourist. There was a lot of detail and clearly a lot of thought put into the designs, such as birds flying up from a fountain and out across the street and a covered wagon setup (I loved this one) that extended across the better part of a block and looked like they were actually on a trail and going somewhere as when standing before it, you could see neither the beginning or end of the trail. I also stayed in the safest-feeling and cleanest hotel I've found over the course of my last few trips, so props to the city for that one. It's nice to be able to turn the lights off in my room when I want to sleep (and to be able to turn them on when I don't!). As a side note, it was an Econo Lodge. Both hotels I stayed at this trip were Econo Lodges. I chose them because they are both under $50/night not counting taxes, but this time around both gave me unexpected amenities such as a refrigerator. One also gave me a microwave; the other, whether through confusion on the part of the staff or an actual intention due to having a room with two beds, gave me two T.V.s.

I'm not cool enough to remember the name of the restaurant I ate at, nor did I try any local beers, but I did sample their own brand of rootbeer which was sweet and good. I also managed to sample some Omaha steak.. even if it was on top of a pizza. Despite my tourist tendencies the trip involved a decent amount of sitting and wandering and coffee shops and, lest I neglect an all-important detail, finally watching Zathura. It was a fun movie, a good movie to watch with others, though perhaps a tad more amusing to me than it was actually intended to be. That may also have been a reflection of the general exhausted state of my brain at that point. Whether or not that's the case, the original point of this - not the movie, but the general note on wandering - is that Omaha is a good place to just hang out. That's important in a city, especially when you've picked the 90+ degree weekend to see a lot of outdoor attractions. Even the college campus is nice, though they have a distinct lack of available payphones.

Anyway, a few general touristy places I was able to get to:

Henry Doorly Zoo - This zoo is impressive. I've only been to a few (5 or 6 I think), but this is easily the best I've seen. The attention to detail I noted on the statues within the city carries over the the exhibits here. I was looking forward to seeing the new exhibits that had been put up since my visit ten years ago, and despite strangely high expectations to have for a zoo, it met them. A full 8:30-5pm day wasn't quite enough to see everything, though it was close, leaving out only a small mammal exhibit, many of the cats, wild dogs, and a particular set of penguins. Among my favorites for the day were the Lied Jungle, an exhibit that actually looks like walking through the rainforest, and a rope bridge up on the canopy path; the swamp setup in the Kingdoms of the Night which, as far as I could tell, looked very much like walking through a swamp at night, minus fighting with swamp boots but including starting out in a small hut; the small bird exhibit that allowed you to feed them and where I succeeded in finding the one insane bird that tried to eat my finger; and the extremely cute baby gorilla. Oh, and the Okapi!

Old Market District - A fun historic-type area to walk around in, with brick roads and flowers on the overhangs of the buildings. The one real restaurant I ate in was here, as were plenty that I missed, along with an ice cream shop, a candy shop, and carriage rides. There is a nice indoor corridor, not very long but a necessity for stopping in. If you ever go, pay attention to the walls; there are some, how to put it, interesting additions behind gratings in the form of more statues/fountains.

St. Cecilia Cathedral - Inside and outside both beautiful. I spent about half an hour walking around to examine the windows, the designs, the one side chapel, and to for the most part fail in translating the Latin inscriptions with the exception of a word here and there that wasn't very helpful. I did manage to figure out "Cecilia, virgin martyr, pray for us." I went to Mass here on Sunday morning (it was thankfully very easy to find) and, yes, did appreciate the organ, as well as the fact that they had a choir singing.

Heartland of America Park - Worth it for the fountain at night which provides a colored light show, but either way, I appreciate parks and enjoyed this one. There is an option to take a boat ride around the lake (pond-thing anyway; small for a lake) including a gondola ride, and it borders the Missouri river.

Ah, well, and there ends my rambling about Omaha. Shall we try for Lincoln?

Lincoln was nowhere near as touristy, which was perfectly okay as my main activities involved hanging out with my friend's family, playing laser tag, visiting restaurants and coffee shops, and watching and discussing anime. We did visit a Carmelite Monastery in Valparaiso, where we were able to visit the small church open to the public, and I got a glimpse of the capitol building out the car window which supposedly has a statue of a guy planting seeds at the top but, to those of us who know better, he's actually bowling. Also, the glimpse of the Sunken Gardens I got as we passed looked very nice, and next time I am able to venture out that way again I intend to place it on my list of stops.

No Heads to Mount...

..Though I did see lots of creatures.

Very frequent and very bright lightening gives the general effect of a huge strobe light. This is fun to drive in.

In other news, I'm home. And I refuse to be less vague until tomorrow - later today I mean - because I'm tired. And annoying.

I've Escaped!

For a few days, anyway.

I'm tired, having seen more than I'd have liked of last night's passing with rather wide-open eyes. That is what comes of trying to prepare to be away for four days, only to realize that certain things have been neglected over the past days and months. Things such as remembering not to lose your battery recharger. Had I remembered that, I wouldn't have spent two hours looking for it, only to concede that it has won the round and I, alas, will be making a trip to the store on my way out to purchase large quantities of regular batteries. And perhaps a second recharger as well; after all, given the frequency with which I lose the thing, having a backup might not be such a bad idea. At least the one-in-the-morning, "oops, do I have clothes?" was easily resolved; wandering around to look was enough to remind me that no work clothes would be needed, and I'm good at being casual.

Nevertheless, and back to my original point, though tired I am yet leaving, setting forth this night to see what creatures I can encounter, what landscapes enjoy, what mountains of exotic new food and drink discover, and what trouble I might get into, having successfully escaped the clutch of work for an extra two full days.

I will be back late Monday night; expect no new posts until Tuesday, at which point I will supply pictures, reviews, and outright rambling.

More On Health and Societal Connected-ness

This article on how living alone raises the risk of heart attack references a couple other articles I linked to a while back drawing parallels between emotions and health, particularly our heart's health.

This one isn't based on emotions so much as what particular things lead someone living alone to have worse health; things such as being more likely to take up smoking or having less reason for frequent doctor visits. Seen alongside the mention that people with less money and education are also more at risk, this suggests both the underlying emotions and not knowing how to take proper care of oneself affect health later on. I'm sure this is a major revelation to absolutely no one; I mention it because of those earlier articles that caught my attention and my drawn-out assertion that there is something wrong with a society where so few people feel connected.

Ooh, Look, Now I'm In Charge

I get to wear a rainbow stole!

..and then I realized what associations could be made by anyone who hasn't read the books. For all those people - trust me. It's a book.

Only it wasn't actually rainbow, just multi-colored.

Still, costumes can be fun.

Prehistoric Pride

Killer Kangaroo versus Demon Duck of Doom.

So, any bets on who would win?

I'm going to immediately throw my weight behind who would seem to be the underdog, or that poor Duck of Doom, who has to deal with a much larger creature with powerful legs and crushing teeth. They were large birds, so maybe they couldn't fly, but if they could then there's one obvious advantage. If there's water nearby and they were enough like ducks to swim, there's a second advantage.

And if nothing else, a few well-aimed snaps at the kangaroo's legs and Doom Duck could easily put him out of commission.

Dead Man's Chest

Well, I did it again. I read a review before seeing the movie. Four of them, this time. And the difference is, this time it was a good thing.

The reviews were evenly split, two extremely bad, two quite good. Normally it would have been the bad ones I listened to in this case, but due in large part to an oft-misplaced sense of loyalty (what else has me still buying Wheel of Time books?), and in a small part to the good reviews, I decided to head out and see this in the theater for myself instead of waiting for video rental if not longer.

The reviews were a good thing because they told me what to expect. Expect it not to follow the pattern of the first movie; expect no ending; expect the characters to be different. Overall, expect it to be bad. And I did. I would have been very disappointed had I approached it thinking I would get a brilliant sequal to a very funny and entertaining movie. As it was, I expected to hate it, and wound up with something a great deal better than what I bargained for. Had the movie been just a movie, not the sequel to the first Pirates, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jack isn't quite Jack. He's nowhere near as funny. Occasionally, he's even annoying. He was most annoying when I slipped and expected him to be who he was in the first movie; when I was willing to forget his former personallity, I didn't mind him in this, and he made a decent character. That's a horrible thing to have to say about a sequel - but if it hadn't been a sequel, then sure, he's a developed character in a decent movie.

I didn't like Elisabeth. I can't stand how her character changed. It wasn't so noticeable early on, but it gets that way, and it gets bad. I care about her only because I like Will.

Will. Let's talk about Mr. Will Turner for a moment. He's all right in the first movie, certainly, but the character had to grow on me and it took a while - I wouldn't have immediately claimed to really, really like him. No problem with that here. Sure, he makes one really, really stupid move at one point, that left me sitting there screaming you idiot!, but that was all. He's easily my favorite character this time. Also, (spoiler) I liked the fact that his father showed up. I enjoyed seeing that "relationship." There was a connection between them that showed up very soon after they recognized each other, and there's a moment early on when I would have liked to see the two of them together on-screen for a few more minutes - even though it would have changed the movie to be even more unlike the first. And about the only redeeming thing in regards to Will's so very stupid "I'll bet my soul for eternity!" is the fact that his father saves him from it. Even if Will still insists that he would have been fine losing just because he saw the key. Will's not so brilliant here, but he'll get a chance to redeem himself and save his father... next movie. (spoiler over)

And what about that sword fight? That scene was put together very well. I don't have to convince anyone of that, however, so let me gush about a different aspect. That scenery! Oh my gosh. No, not the beaches and palm trees - the ruined church. Someone just drop me off there for a day or a week, preferably with a camera?

I will say this - they haven't lost their creativity. Whatever they did to the characters, that definitely remained. And that lady (who's name I'm so easily forgetting) who helps them out is played extremely well.

Final note - there would have been a bit of confusion on my part if I hadn't had prior warning that the man hunting everyone in the beginning is NOT the commodore. He's someone new to this second movie. So, if anyone hasn't seen it yet... keep that in mind if you didn't watch the first recently.

All in all, I'd not give the movie as bad a grade as others have - I liked it -... nor as good a grade as some. After all, it may have been a fine movie, but it was not a decent sequel.

Some Things Will Never Be The Same Again

I was searching for things to do in Lincoln, Nebraska, on the site http://www.virtualtourist.com. I have found one particular aspect of this site to be very useful; if you do a search by destination for whatever city you happen to be traveling to, you can see comments left by Real People talking about what they did or did not enjoy as well as any helpful hints they've left about the city.

However, that's just slightly off topic. The real topic involves what I found while reading some of the comments about Lincoln. One fellow, who seems to be a local (or else a college student) promoting his town, left a plug for his favorite bar in the area. It sounds decent enough - good drinks, quiet, casual, pool tables, large music selection. The sort of place even I might check out, on occasion, with friends.

Except for one thing. The place's name. I just couldn't keep a straight face while saying that I went out for drinks at WC.

Ender's Game Meets Pac-Man

Warning: serious Ender's Game spoilers are included, with limited warning, in the final paragraphs of this article describing a computer game designed as a graduation project. The game is set up so that instead of going up against computer code, you are actually fighting crickets. The idea is interesting, I'm sure the student knew what he was doing, and I seriously doubt the person who wrote the article has ever read the book.

Sunday With Kids and Cherry Trees

New Planets in the Dark

A large daisy-shaped shade has been suggested as a new means of finding Earth-like planets. It would orbit the system's star, blocking the light so that it does not interfere with our telescopes, and would be followed in orbit by a telescope searching for light reflected from planets.

Those poor aliens who finally got used to their eclipse will have a whole new darkness to fear. Probably an extra hundred alien "women" will be sacrificed to make it leave. Or it will block sunlight on the one day the plants that are their sole source of food flower, and since the plants depend on that sunlight to trigger the flowering, very few plants will flower and become pollinated and there will be mass starvation for the next year. Or perhaps they're a very advanced culture and darkness is seen as an offensive symbol (they don't like nighttime), and so they figure out where the shield came from, decide we intend war, and come in huge numbers with super advanced weapons and begin to destroy our planet until (let's not be totally pessimistic here!) a kid playing with homemade solar shades accidentally reflects sunlight at them, and seeing it as a sign of peace and apology, they all go home again and destroy the shield we sent.

Perhaps they can only live on the side of the planet where it's always day, and the tiny bit of shade coming by sets off a year worth of wild joy and celebration.

Or, y'know, perhaps there's no aliens there at all, and we simply use our technology to find, or not find, other planets. But what fun is that?

Superman Returns

I cared about the movie Superman Returns enough to see it in a regular theater last night, so it only seems fitting that I ought to comment on it somehow.

The question is what to say without giving spoilers. Especially when I made the mistake of reading a review ahead of time and walking into the movie already knowing how certain things would turn out... things I might have guessed anyway, but which, for the sake of enjoying the movie a bit more, might have been better left unrevealed the first time through.

I might also have been better off rewatching the first two Superman movies again instead of relying on a many-year-old memory to fill in the details, for while I always loved those movies, that hasn't led to my watching them since my mid-teenage years or earlier. Let's just say there are things you're expected to remember.

A definitely safe and not particularly enlightening note: the opening credits deserve an IMAX theater and 3D glasses. Not a huge part of the movie, but those were fun.

The first section of the movie - I don't know whether it was the whole first half timing-wise, but the first part - seemed awkward. Not because the situation was but because the movie itself was. This could possibly be because they had to, or at least were, trying to establish a movie based off of something that came out over twenty years ago, and had to jump a bit in order to show all that's happening now. It could be the different take on the movie - but more on that some other time. Or it could even be that I didn't remember as much as I was expected to and it would have seemed less jumpy if I had seen the others more recently.

As much as Superman might be one of my favorite superheros of all time, he succumbed to a typical superhero problem. In other words, I found myself angry at him over his treatment of Lois Lane. He made a decision, and maybe it's because of who he is or "what he's called to do," use the powers he has to protect others, but it's done. The chance is over and she's done her best to move on... so now he's going to walk in and say "I'm back, love me!" And play with her feelings as though she wasn't having enough trouble controlling them without his help, and do so when he couldn't be with her anyway. All it will accomplish is to make him feel good because she still loves him and make her feel rotten because she can't do anything about it. Though to be fair to him, any hero story where there's a love interest encounters the same problem. If there's love, it has to be tragic because it can never be realized. I liked the Incredibles for having a family.

Rant over. Luther makes an excellent bad guy. He's human, in the sense that he actually had certain qualities that could have been endearing, if they weren't all focused on extreme evil. As is, he's frightening, and it works. To an extent. He often seems far too much like a child with a new and exciting toy rather than an adult with an understanding of what he's doing.

There are many more things I enjoyed about the later parts of the movie, including the fact that the relationship cleared up, certain themes were brought out more, and it overall became much more coherent and enjoyable.

Sometime when the movie's been out longer and I've had more time to think about it, I'll go into some of those "certain themes." Just to see what I come up with. Theology major (and almost lit. minor), after all.

Shuttle Launch: Success!

Space Shuttle Discovery Goes Into Orbit

We may have been too quick. They went ahead with it, though, and perhaps it is fitting that the liftoff was today. Let's pray, for the sake of our continuing space program and (more importantly!) for the sake of Discovery's crew, that they have a successful mission and a safe return.

Voted Number One Country Song

Every July 4th weekend my radio station does their Firecracker 500, a top five hundred countdown of the best country songs based on the votes of all the listeners.

The winner this year - The Dance, by Garth Brooks.

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared beneath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Then who's to say? you know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Yes my life, its better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Because it's Garth Brooks, and because I enjoy this song (though I wouldn't have suggested it was the best ever written), it deserves to be mentioned.

Happy Independence Day, USA!

Casualities

Are Flip-Flops Damaging Your Career?

This would be the third place in the last couple weeks that I've come across a discussion in regards to what is appropriate and what is far too casual in clothing. The first was a newspaper article speculating on teenagers, young adults, and technology; the second was the complaining of the host on the radio show I listen to while I drive to work.

The newspaper article was mainly about the use of cell phones and internet among younger people, put together with the fact that many of them have a looser social code than many older adults. Talking on cell phones to people not present leads to ignoring the people who are present. Sharing privite information over phones leads to sharing privite information over cell phones, even in public where anyone can hear. Being either at home or outside of the house with internet access leads to ignoring whoever else is in the room in favor of what you're doing or who you're talking to online. We take less notice of those around us, do our own thing, dress and act more casually. Though I can't remember exactly what was written now, there was a rather large section about clothes. There was some mention of job interviews - younger people showing up far too casually dressed, hair still wet, looking like they'd just come from a beach. They presented this not as either bad or good, but as the way the world was going and something anyone against it just needed to get used to and stop fighting.

I didn't hear the beginning of what the radio host was talking about so am not sure what started his rant, but by the time I tuned in, he was talking about wearing pajamas to places such as the grocery store and to work. His younger (he's maybe 30s or 40s) female assistant, probably around my age or a couple years older, was arguing that it is perfectly acceptable to run out to the store in pajamas. They took callers who were of varying opinions, and whose ages I will not attempt to guess.

The article linked above mentions, aside from possible medical effects, the fact that many young women see flip-flops as a "must" for summer work atire, while companies and some style people disagree, saying they're beach clothes and too casual for the workplace.

Many people would probably say I tend to be too casual. I would never wear sandals to work or pajamas to a store, but I'm so far from the other end of the scale as to hardly even register on it. I dress as casually as I can get away with, and save for extremely rare occasions - certain friends' weddings, one (maybe two) dances - hate dressing up at all. Because there is no one at the office today besides myself and one other person I only saw on my way in, I'm at work today in jeans and tennis shoes. I wouldn't normally wear that to this office (though at my former office, I was told very directly on my first day that it's allowed and almost expected except at meetings, which made the situation different), and even with noone else here, left the "I biked Cades Cove" t-shirt at home in favor of something plain colored and nicer.

If there's any point to this, it's that while I may have less dressy ideas than some people, I do think certain ways of dressing are appropriate for certain places, whether to give the right appearance, show respect, or any other reason. Certain places have definite formal dress codes. Most work places should be, at the least, dressy-casual instead of beach-casual. Even the most casual out-of-home areas should be, well, not pajamas (with the possible exception of campgrounds, certain areas in hotels, and similar).

I have no actual conclusion to come to either. Just an opinion, which I've decided I really feel like sharing this morning. So there you have it.

Look Ma, No Pilot!

In light of the upcoming (we hope) launch, we have a short article mentioning some of the changes and precautions taken this time around.

Surprisingly, it all makes sense. In the sort of "and someone didn't think of this sooner because..?" way. Imagine, in-flight inspections! Although noone will ever think of everything that could go wrong, if only because there are so many unknowns out there still. In the same way there were always unknown dangers for anyone navigating a new land.

I've lived in the wrong time period... I want to go exploring.

Shuttle Launch Take Two

Delayed again, because Florida is still Florida, and still rainy.

Next attempt: Tuesday afternoon, July 4th.

Well, it'll give me something to keep watch on while I'll otherwise be simply sitting at home. Unless I decide to go watch Superman - I could very well be gone from the area before it reaches the dollar theater, making waiting pointless.

Shuttle Launch Delayed

Weather Delays Shuttle Launch Until Sunday

Thunderstorms, of course. It's Florida. It rains. There's a 60 percent chance of storms tomorrow as well, but if those don't materialize, the launch time will be 3:26pm.

If I didn't have to work, I'd have driven down. Never did get up to the Kennedy Space Center when I lived in FL, a situation I will have to remedy at some point in the future.

Hey, We're Related! or What Happens When I Control the World

An interesting article about just how recently generation-wise we are all related to each other.

What I really want is that computer program that they used to demonstrate reproduction and migration rates among populations, turned into a game instead of a simple program, with the ability to control all the little people. Well, not all of them, a few million might be too much to handle. I'm thinking sort of a cross between Sims and AoE where you have the ability to completely rewrite the history of the world. The option to start at particular points in history would be nice as well, so you could have an alternate history stemming from that particular era. And there would have to be a cutting-off point somewhere in the future, though letting run a little into the sci-fi future possibilities would be fun, with the option to branch out and settle planets and create certain technologies that we don't know yet whether we'll actually have.

Then again, the whole thing would take so long I'm not sure anyone would play it through to the end. Possibly by just letting it run in the background and occasionally make changes; that's how I'd do it. And there would have to be some sort of definite ending to come to instead of just, "ooops, we've run out of ideas...." Though the sims don't that I recall. Perhaps just a readout of current population statistics at whatever point you decide to stop. It wouldn't be completely just watching things grow, as you could go in and setup the battles, perhaps even take a first person view of one of the soldiers, or of someone exploring new territory, or similar things. Obviously if there was a certain group of people that you wanted to eventually take control of the world, you could work toward that goal, starting at whatever point in time you wanted.

I'm thinking we'd need better computers to run all of this. Which gives us plenty of time to design the thing while we work on getting more power.