Okay, so I'm thinking of taking a vacation and I'm just a little short of funds. Of course, it's not just any vacation:
You don't have to pack your bags quite yet, but passenger travel to the Moon is on the flight manifest of a space tourist company.
The price per seat will slap your wallet or purse for a swift $100 million - but you'll have to get in line as the first voyage is already booked.
Space Adventures, headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, is in negotiations with the customers who will fly the first private expedition to circumnavigate the Moon.
So, if you have some spare change, could you help a fella out? (h/t Instapundit)
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Hot Stuff
For those of you not in New England, the weather here the last couple of days has been awful. Highs in the mid 90's, lows not cracking 70 and me with no AC. Consequently, my addle pated brain hasn't felt much like blogging. Regular posts will resume when the cool air starts to flow again.
Or if someone wanted to come to Vermont and be my personal fanner (fanny? no, that doesn't sound right), that would be okay, too.
On the plus side, the fireflies are starting to arrive and that's always a sure sign of summer. When we moved east in the early 90's to upstate New York, I used to have a nightly ritual where I'd carry my daughter outside so she could say good night to them. Since coming to Vermont, there seems to have been a blight of sorts, as they haven't been very plentiful.
The last couple of years, however, they seem to be making a comeback, which is nice. There is something very cool about watching them sidle past your window, their little cabooses twinkling in the darkness.
Or if someone wanted to come to Vermont and be my personal fanner (fanny? no, that doesn't sound right), that would be okay, too.
On the plus side, the fireflies are starting to arrive and that's always a sure sign of summer. When we moved east in the early 90's to upstate New York, I used to have a nightly ritual where I'd carry my daughter outside so she could say good night to them. Since coming to Vermont, there seems to have been a blight of sorts, as they haven't been very plentiful.
The last couple of years, however, they seem to be making a comeback, which is nice. There is something very cool about watching them sidle past your window, their little cabooses twinkling in the darkness.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
The Long...
Would you guys make up your minds?
Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world...
Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Good Writing
Scott Adams tells us how to write better:
Write short sentences. Avoid putting multiple thoughts in one sentence. Readers aren’t as smart as you’d think.
Write short sentences. Avoid putting multiple thoughts in one sentence. Readers aren’t as smart as you’d think.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Searching for Otisburg
Lex Luthor: Costa Del Lex. Luthorville. Marina del Lex. Otisburg... Otisburg?
Otis: Miss Tessmacher, she's got her own place.
Lex Luthor: Otisburg?
Otis: It's a little bitty place.
Lex Luthor: [Angrily] Otisburg?
Otis: Okay, I'll just wipe it off, that's all. Just a little town. [Erases Otisburg]
Map courtesy of Stoat Weasel. (h/t Word Around the Net)
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
True Confession
I watched Xanadu last night for the first time in years, and it was as bad as I remembered it. If there's ever a blueprint needed for all that was bad about the 80's, this movie is it.
And yet...I liked it.
The music - some of it, anyway - still holds up. Olivia Newton John remains the definition of White-Bread-Sexiness. The musical interlude in the middle of the film combining 40's swing with 80's synth holds up very well (and any movie with "Fee" Waybill in it deserves some cred).
And, finally, there's Gene Kelly. Yes, he's old and yes, you're wondering why in the world he'd agree to do this film (which was his last), but it doesn't matter. He's Gene Kelly and even in this POS, he's still got it.
All of which reminds me that there are a number of good/bad movies from the era that will probably be the subject of a future post. In the meantime, tell me if you have any movies that - as bad as they are - you can't help but watch them.
And yet...I liked it.
The music - some of it, anyway - still holds up. Olivia Newton John remains the definition of White-Bread-Sexiness. The musical interlude in the middle of the film combining 40's swing with 80's synth holds up very well (and any movie with "Fee" Waybill in it deserves some cred).
And, finally, there's Gene Kelly. Yes, he's old and yes, you're wondering why in the world he'd agree to do this film (which was his last), but it doesn't matter. He's Gene Kelly and even in this POS, he's still got it.
All of which reminds me that there are a number of good/bad movies from the era that will probably be the subject of a future post. In the meantime, tell me if you have any movies that - as bad as they are - you can't help but watch them.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
My Life As a Movie
This sounded like fun, so here goes: (h/t Asymmetrical Information)
Here’s how it works:
1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that’s playing
5. new question– press the next button
6. don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool
Results:
Opening Credits
Here’s how it works:
1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that’s playing
5. new question– press the next button
6. don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool
Results:
Opening Credits
Lay Your Love On Me - Abba
Waking Up
Full Moon - Elvira
First Day at School
Bossa Baroque – Dave Grusin
Falling in Love
Cousin Dupree – Steely Dan
Breaking Up
Your Bright Baby Blues – Jackson Browne
Prom
True Companion – Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons
Life's Okay
Winter Wonderland – Dean Martin
Mental Breakdown
Home – Sheryl Crow
Driving
The Beginning – Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Soundtrack)
Flashback
Bluestreak – Tom Scott and the LA Express
Getting back together
Ring Out Solstice Bells – Jethro Tull
Wedding
Hello Beastie – POTC Dead Man’s Chest (Soundtrack)
Birth of a child
Corey’s Coming – Harry Chapin
Final
Shape of my Heart - Sting
Death Scene
Doctor Finklestein/In the
Funeral Song
You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch – How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Soundtrack)
End Credits
Christmas All Over Again – Home Alone 2 (Soundtrack)
Some of these made me laugh out loud - notably the Marriage and Funeral Song - and some are weirdly appropriate. I could have gamed the results a bit by excluding my soundtracks and jazz cds, plus I've got close to 40 years of music still in album form and I'm still in the process of making them digital (for example, I have only 2 Beatles CDs, but I have every one of their albums on vinyl). So, once I get my music collection complete - or as complete as I can make it - my results my differ quite a bit
Still, this was a fun experiment and one you might want to try yourself.
Monday, June 11, 2007
"Preserving a Teahouse Takes Infinite Patience"
Just in case you were wondering why I don't post every day. (h/t Best of the Web)
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Greetings From the "Switzerland of North America"
My brother wonders if he'll need a passport to visit me:
At Riverwalk Records, the all-vinyl music store just down the street from the state Capitol, the black “US Out of Vt.!” T-shirts are among the hottest sellers. But to some people in Vermont, the idea is bigger than a $20 novelty. They want Vermont to secede from the United States – peacefully, of course.
Disillusioned by what they call an empire about to fall, a small cadre of writers and academics hopes to put the question before citizens in March. Eventually, they want to persuade state lawmakers to declare independence, returning Vermont to the status it held from 1777 to 1791.
*Sigh*
I know, I know. There aren't any more kooks in Vermont than there are anywhere else - they just stand out more. Still, it's just sad, you know? We live in the greatest country in the world, with more freedom and opportunity to live our lives the way we want than any other place you could think of, and these yo-yo's make it seem as though we're living in the last days of Caligula's Rome. Oh, wait. Wasn't that the 90's?
Personally, I loved this bit:
Thomas Naylor, 70, a retired Duke University economics professor and author, wrote the manifesto and founded a secession group called Second Vermont Republic.
His 112-page manifesto contains little explanation of how Vermont would make do without federal aid for security, education and social programs. Some in the movement foresee a Vermont with its own currency and passports, for example, and some form of representative government formed once the secession has taken place.
Yeah, and our currency would look like this:
At Riverwalk Records, the all-vinyl music store just down the street from the state Capitol, the black “US Out of Vt.!” T-shirts are among the hottest sellers. But to some people in Vermont, the idea is bigger than a $20 novelty. They want Vermont to secede from the United States – peacefully, of course.
Disillusioned by what they call an empire about to fall, a small cadre of writers and academics hopes to put the question before citizens in March. Eventually, they want to persuade state lawmakers to declare independence, returning Vermont to the status it held from 1777 to 1791.
*Sigh*
I know, I know. There aren't any more kooks in Vermont than there are anywhere else - they just stand out more. Still, it's just sad, you know? We live in the greatest country in the world, with more freedom and opportunity to live our lives the way we want than any other place you could think of, and these yo-yo's make it seem as though we're living in the last days of Caligula's Rome. Oh, wait. Wasn't that the 90's?
Personally, I loved this bit:
Thomas Naylor, 70, a retired Duke University economics professor and author, wrote the manifesto and founded a secession group called Second Vermont Republic.
His 112-page manifesto contains little explanation of how Vermont would make do without federal aid for security, education and social programs. Some in the movement foresee a Vermont with its own currency and passports, for example, and some form of representative government formed once the secession has taken place.
Yeah, and our currency would look like this:
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
"We're All Phone Ladies in the End"
Once again, Lileks nails it.
As I look back over my life, I've never had a job with any kind of security. Oh, I thought I had, a couple of times. I never thought I'd be unceremoneously dumped when I managed a small furniture store in SoCal for ten years, but I was. I never heard the dot-com bubble pop when I was in the computer biz in the mid-nineties. And I never felt the hot breath of the Federated Grim Reaper on my neck in my last gig at Filacy's.
But as it turned out, I was a phone lady in each case.
I think maybe it's time to talk about what I've been up to for the last several months.
As I look back over my life, I've never had a job with any kind of security. Oh, I thought I had, a couple of times. I never thought I'd be unceremoneously dumped when I managed a small furniture store in SoCal for ten years, but I was. I never heard the dot-com bubble pop when I was in the computer biz in the mid-nineties. And I never felt the hot breath of the Federated Grim Reaper on my neck in my last gig at Filacy's.
But as it turned out, I was a phone lady in each case.
I think maybe it's time to talk about what I've been up to for the last several months.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Show Biz Kids
Via the New York Times, we learn that Internet Porn isn't paying like it used to:
The online availability of free or low-cost photos and videos has begun to take a fierce toll on sales of X-rated DVDs. Inexpensive digital technology has paved the way for aspiring amateur pornographers, who are flooding the market, while everyone in the industry is giving away more material to lure paying customers.
About 90 percent of women actually prefer a wide penis to a long one, according to two studies included in the review. Eighty-five percent of women reported being satisfied with their partner’s penis size, compared to only 55 percent for men.
Okay, so here's my proposal: Would a vidcam showing a decidedly amateurish 53 year-old male with a fat penis attract many viewers? All you men in the audience, put your hands down.
Didn't think so.
The online availability of free or low-cost photos and videos has begun to take a fierce toll on sales of X-rated DVDs. Inexpensive digital technology has paved the way for aspiring amateur pornographers, who are flooding the market, while everyone in the industry is giving away more material to lure paying customers.
And unlike consumers looking for music and other media, viewers of pornography do not seem to mind giving up brand-name producers and performers for anonymous ones, or a well-lighted movie set for a ratty couch at an amateur videographer’s house.
Amateurs flooding the market, eh? Hmmm. And then we came across this:
When it comes to penises, length matters more to men than to women, according to a new study that reviews more than 60 years of research and debunks numerous sex myths.About 90 percent of women actually prefer a wide penis to a long one, according to two studies included in the review. Eighty-five percent of women reported being satisfied with their partner’s penis size, compared to only 55 percent for men.
Okay, so here's my proposal: Would a vidcam showing a decidedly amateurish 53 year-old male with a fat penis attract many viewers? All you men in the audience, put your hands down.
Didn't think so.
When is a Consensus Not a Consensus?
When it doesn't exist: (h/t Instapundit)
Only an insignificant fraction of scientists deny the global warming crisis. The time for debate is over. The science is settled."
So said Al Gore ... in 1992. Amazingly, he made his claims despite much evidence of their falsity. A Gallup poll at the time reported that 53% of scientists actively involved in global climate research did not believe global warming had occurred; 30% weren't sure; and only 17% believed global warming had begun. Even a Greenpeace poll showed 47% of climatologists didn't think a runaway greenhouse effect was imminent; only 36% thought it possible and a mere 13% thought it probable.
Today, Al Gore is making the same claims of a scientific consensus, as do the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and hundreds of government agencies and environmental groups around the world. But the claims of a scientific consensus remain unsubstantiated. They have only become louder and more frequent.
Read the whole thing.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Slang of Ages
Oh. My. God. Words fail me. (h/t Tim Blair - and how cool is it that I, a Vermont resident, hear about this for the first time from an Australian blogger?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
