Billyuns
Carl Sagan’s Cosmos – on Google Video, and freely downloadable for your desktop computer or in iPod/PSP format.
Yes, he talked funny. Yes, the clothes are so early 80’s. But the man believed that the discoveries and ideals of science were within the reach of anyone who could operate a TV set, rather than the private property of Ph.D.s and research corporations. He spent a great deal of his life backing up his belief with actions.
Though the show is over 20 years old, there’s little that needs to be revised or edited. Though we’ve learned much more about all the subjects he covers, the base concepts are still solid. It’s really worth several hours of your time to watch it, if you haven’t… or to watch it again if it’s been a decade or two. One of my favorite nuggets of information is his observation on organic chemistry: since the birth of the universe produced only hydrogen and perhaps some helium, heavier elements like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen had to be produced in the fiery deaths of the first suns.
You, me, and every human being who ever lived can claim stars as ancestors. 🙂
And for those who like their science a little more ‘splody, free Mythbusters episodes. It’s more propaganda for such a crazy idea: if you’re not sure whether to believe a story, do your own checking!
And then I built another Death Star… it also exploded.
Really, I try to restrain myself from linking to YouTube stuff very often, especially when I don’t have much more content for the post.
But this one, I couldn’t resist: a lightsaber battle in an English forest, long ago…
Cue John Cleese
In WoW, warlocks drain soul energy from their enemies and store it to power their spells. Tuesday night, I drained the soul of a parrot. Hey, it attacked first!
Stacey “Pink Five” is back. Amazing to me how one can start off making a one-camera, one-actress short Star Wars fanfilm and go on to making a 60-minute extravaganza that includes a full-scale X-Wing prop and legal agreements with Lucasfilm. But then, we live in a time where Star Wars fandom gets its own Hasbro action figure.
We started up the grill last Saturday, officially welcoming back Spring!
Ah, the wind in my knees
I wore the Utilikilt to work on Friday. Everyone liked it much, and I got lotsa compliments. The shirt I picked out to wear with it was pretty weak, but then I’m pretty sure no one noticed I was wearing a shirt.
Everyone wanted to know what I was wearing beneath it – I told them it was $5 each to find out. One of my co-workers was visibly tempted by the deal. (Yes, I was clad. I’m not going ‘regimental’ to my workplace, no matter how cool my co-workers are.)
Web video link-of-the-day: A City of Heroes performance troupe in Bobbo Number Five.
That elusive… SPARK!
Getting ready for Technicon! Trying to make sure that outfits are washed, promised digital gifts are completed, and other ducks are in a row. Last night I picked up something I need for one of the panels… heh heh heh.
While I chase my tail, here’s Optimus Prime as a real truck.
I’m pretending I don’t have to leave for work
It’s web video linkage thingy time!
“Cap-tain… Jean-Luc Pi-card… U-S-S… Ent-er-prise!”
How does the average WoW player feel about Murlocs? Approximately how Gimli felt about orcs. Now, here’s a complete Flash Murloc RPG to give you the fish-man perspective.
And Samorost, where I don’t know what’s going on yet ’cause I haven’t played enough. Cool looking, though.
“I yam a jalapeno onna steeek.”
raininva and I went to the Virginia Beach Funny Bone to see Jeff Dunham tonight. Lots of you might have caught part of his act, because he’s been doing it for a while – I swear I saw him on “Solid Gold” once. I haven’t laughed that hard since the first time I saw Eddie Izzard do his act. The tickets were pricier than usual, so it’s good to leave feeling like we got our money’s worth.
Our oil heater, once again, isn’t working right. In what I think is an intentional snub, it’s getting air in the line and failing every time the weather gets cold out. I woke up this morning to a 50-degree house. On the bright side, I got a couple points to spend in “Driver’s Seat Replacement” today and made the skill check just fine. Rain’s Pontiac should be much more comfortable to drive, now.
A few weeks ago, I bought the first book of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy, thinking if the first one was any good, I’d buy the rest. It seems Pullman knew I would do this, because the first book isn’t a bad start at all, but the second two fall apart almost immediately. The books are being marketed to the Harry Potter crowd, but while Rowling does a fair job of writing about adult themes from an adolescent’s viewpoint, Pullman tries to stuff in philosophical observations of the nature of good and evil, the way that people’s souls change over time, and a literal war to destroy Heaven. Throw in a large cast of characters we’re given no reason to care about, and I’m reminded of Steve Martin’s line: “I’ve written a number of children’s books. Not on purpose.”
Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” is a slightly better read, but only if you are willing to assume that everything you saw in the movie (I haven’t read the original books) was a propagandist’s lie. At this point in my reading, the WWW isn’t any more evil than your average misunderstood goth chick, while the Wizard is a fascist dictator bringing all the worst kinds of “progress” to Oz. If the writing wasn’t pretty decent, I think I might have moved on from this one by now… and I can’t imagine this being the Broadway musical that’s it’s been adapted into.
It’ll take a while to load, but you should watch this Flash animation. Any non-geeks on my friends list (are there any?) may understand the rest of us a little better 🙂
Speaking of web video… Rube Goldberg meets Half-Life 2 in the “Doctor Breen Butt-Kicking Machine“.
Oh, and over the course of Thursday and Friday, I put 22 hours in at work. Yeek.
WANDA WANDA
Real post coming later today, or perhaps tomorrow.
For now, 2-D Katamari Damacy.
(In the beginning of the game, you control the King, and the Prince follows him. Don’t let them touch! It’s easiest if you try not to move the mouse outside the play area. And don’t click!)
I’d Be Thinner, I’d be Taller…
This is the second Heineken ad in this campaign that’s tickled me.
I would totally go to this club 🙂
