“The sky was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel” – William Gibson, Neuromancer – So it was a bright blue sky, right?
What other ways did technology change stuff authors did not (could not, maybe) anticipate?
Wow. Just, wow.
•July 4, 2009 • 6 Comments“But wait, there’s more! Do you like breasts? For only 9.95 you can get to see the breasts of our favorite 50 girls for free with Girls Gone Wild! You get to see them naked! We’ve seen millions of breastss, and these are our favorite!”
You have to admit, it does get right to the point. “Do you like breasts?” pretty much lays it right out there. So, [+] for “Do you like breasts?” and a [-] for “you get to see them naked!” cause it’s 2009 and there is not a soul in this world who could see that stupid commercial and not know that naked chicks play a prominent role in their “production”.
Yes, it is 3:30 am.
So, the next Solar Eclipse to pass over the U.S. will be in 2017.
•June 29, 2009 • 8 CommentsApparently, it’ll hit a wide swath of “the heartland.”
You with me?
Jury announces that Steorn can’t make free energy
•June 29, 2009 • 2 CommentsThe Steorn steory (hehe) is finally over. The independent jury of scientists that Steorn asked to review its technology (reputed to create “free energy”) has come back after two years and said that they’ve produced no credible evidence that it works (see this statement by the chairman of the jury.).
There were three possibilities – Either they were right, they were a fraud, or they were mistaken and delusional. The last option seems to be the case.
R.I.P. Steorn. Perpetual motion is debunked for the thousandth time.
Protected: Let’s talk travel
•June 28, 2009 • Enter your password to view comments.•June 26, 2009 • 1 Comment
We’re having a good time on our trip across the wilds of Ohio this week. We started at Lucy’s parents’, watching Star Trek with her sister (second time for both of us, but worth it). Afterward, I let Lucy in on a few secrets, like the Red Shirt thing, the Dilithium Crystals thing, and the “Bones means doctor” thing, which isn’t really so much a Star Trek thing as an English thing.
We went to Lucy’s 5-year reunion for college, which is like an “All-years renion with 5-year highlights”. We slept in dorms, which was as dormtastic as you expect, with drunk 25-year-olds leaving messes on the lawn and everything. We ate fantastically with Vanessa and Ryan (alum) as well, and took a 3 mile trek through the forest next to their Field Station… which turned out better than I thought it would. See, I thought I might die, and I did not!
We left Cleveland for Anne’s, and toured their used book store while we waited for her to get out of work. We left with no less than a dozen books, including Larklight, a young adult steampunk novel that I’ve been interested in for a long time. I also picked up a paperback copy of my first chapter book ever, Under Plum Lake, so I can give a copy away. :) I wish I had more copies, heh.
Let me just say that this is the warmest and dampest vacation we’ve ever taken. The book store was the worst – our will to live was crushed by having to wade through the humid heat.
We ate at The Winds, one of those swanky restaurants that serves arugula, and hung out with Anne for the rest of the evening. After sending Anne off to the airport the next morning, we headed to Cincinnati and Vanessa and Brian.
We stopped at the Air Force museum and marveled at some of the first airplanes to fight in war. As always, I was way more interested in the torpedoes, rockets and space ships. We picked up Chocolate-chocolate chip Astronaut Ice cream, which was way more delicious than flavored melty styrofoam has a right to be.
Our time here in Cinci has been full of games and merriment. We exposed Lucy to Grosse Pointe Blank, Tremors and Star Trek II: Khaaaaaaan! V & B bought an air conditioner for our room this weekend, which was so sweet and, as it happens, a lifesaver in this heat.
The room that we’re in is fairly large, with immense windows all around. That means that when the intense lightning storm struck, Lucy was instantly downstairs. I felt like I was in an observation bubble as rapid lightning rolls lit up the sky and my room.
I got to sleep anyway, though, and Lucy eventually came back upstairs so that, at 7 am, we could enjoy together the sounds of construction workers scraping an immense garbage trailer against the concrete outside. While they finished that at 8 am, we could not sleep through the direct striking of the sun upon our faces, which was much like an instant sun tan.
So we’re up! And that’s our week so far. We’ll be headed back to Cleveland early tomorrow, where her parents are holding an engagement party for us. My mom is coming up, and so are three of my favorite chikas (my side of the wedding party!), so I am geeked. :)
Thanks for reading!
•June 25, 2009 • Comments Off on
If you’re looking for the picture from my previous post, it’s here:
Teresa Maxson is missing
•June 25, 2009 • 1 CommentA friend of mine from Lansing is missing, and I’m concerned, like everyone else (please see my next LJ post for photo).
If you’ve seen her since 6:30pm on Tuesday, please contact the Lansing Police.
Meanwhile, I’m in Cinci, played Wii Rock Band 2 with Lucy’s friends Vanessa and Bryan. He’s playing a funky anime combat game on his new PS3 while we’re chilling before bed.
This week has been nice for me, without any major requirements on our time. I will be sad to see it go, even though I’m anxious to get back into the new studio at work.
•June 18, 2009 • Comments Off on
At karaoke. Got a message indicating I removed someone from lj. I assure you, I haven’t! Ill investigate when I get home.
Words!
•June 18, 2009 • 16 CommentsOkay, as usual I will mutate this meme to my satisfaction.
Reply with 5 words that remind you of me. I will reply with A) my thoughts on what those 5 words mean to me and B) 5 words for you.
You can then either reply in my journal with what those words mean to you, OR you can post them in your own journal and perpetuate the wordity.
My words came from (a slightly different meme by) greybeta:
1. Photography
2. Michigan
3. Role-playing
4. Engagement
5. Focus
1. The moment I picked up a camera, I found myself passionate about it. After getting over some creative jitters (“am I hip enough for this? am I allowed to try this?”), I started taking photos of gatherings and, eventually, models. My best advice is to take as many photos as humanly possible and to read, watch, compare and experiment. Not having a digital camera at the moment, I take an order of magnitude less photos than I used to. Perhaps I should pull out grandma’s 35mm (one of my favorites).
Anyone interested in videography as a profession should also spend some time doing photography. Everything you learn will be useful, and there is much more room for patience and repetition.
2. Oh boy, what does Michigan mean to me? On the one hand, 90% of my favorite people are here. We have real seasons with amazing leaves, tons of trees, great fruit, lots of lakes. We are generally amiable, and we’re known for getting our asses on the dance floor. We have an exploding film industry. On the other, soul-crushing joblessness, disappearing social services, frustrating voting record, newly draconian border-crossing rules …
3. Now that’s an interesting one. As a teen, I went for D&D and the White Wolf series of games, though I tried out a bunch more. I play WoW and Fallout 3 and other adventures. I would say that I am in love with the intersection of storytelling and gaming.
4. Lucykins! My sweetie and I will be spending a week together shortly, which will be nice – half the time lately, we’re both too tired to even chat about our day. As for our wedding, I’m focused on trying to be down-to-earth about it – formal tradition means much less to me than whether it means something to each of us, and to our audience of friends and family.
5. Focus. I wonder how that was meant, but I shall put it in my own terms. I think one of my best traits is that I really, really want to understand, to learn, to adapt – for the pleasure of it. I am almost never too tired to put in that kind of effort, because it makes me happy. If I could bestow that pleasure from effort on other people, I think it would be the greatest gift I could offer. Even though some people find it annoying as all hell. ;)
Your turn!