:: 7/18/2006 5:55:05 AM http://www.lightsideup.com/ You've heard of people putting furniture on a ceiling to make it look like a roomis upside down... well this is a dorm room that was taken to the extreme!
The shuttle landed today with no problems at all, in fact it was almost anti-climactic. I watched from the confines of my office on my Slingbox. Marvelous bit of kit that thing is I love it! I was watching the NASA channel and at one point they showed the pilots view including the Heads Up Display. It was overlaying the runway through the clouds and it was damn cool! makes me proud to be a citizen of this country at times like this!
Garter belts and Guitars
What the hell? Is it really Monday?! This weekend went by way way to fast. Friday started poorly with me being sick, then a little work on the theater and went to dinner with the family. I also began setting up my Dad's new Dell.
Saturday brought forth a full day. My good friend E was in town for a wedding. He is has been playing guitar for quite a few years now and I have decided that Dade and I are going to learn guitar. Well we needed instruments and I don't know anything about guitars... E was very generous with his time. We spent half the day going about looking for guitars. First we went to Rockin Robin. Good place but kinda expensive. We ended up at Guitar Center. Dade was trying out every guitar he could lay his hands on must have tried out 100... well he finally settle on a black Squier(Fender) Stratocaster with a mirrored pick gaurd. I could not find one I liked in my budget. So I was about to go away without a guitar, but... there was one that I absolutely loved ... it was calling me... This guitar looks very much like another prized possession. So much so that it must be the influence of the guitar. Anyway it was out of my budget and it was already on sale. So I am buying all of the other gear and looking at that guitar which is right next to the checkout and the salesman says how about I make a deal on the guitar... I said it better be a hell of deal. It was. It's mine now. I think that guitar picked me! ...see for yourself.
Later on Saturday we went the wedding of 2 friends of ours. J and A. they were/are high school sweethearts and are a great match for each other. The wedding was beautiful! The reception was great as well! They had something I had not seen before, the groom had a chocolate fountain instead of a cake, really a cool idea. I saw quite a few friends there. Some I don't get to see that often and as a real treat for me got to sit between my old neighbors E and J v.cool! My family and I had a great time!
Sunday was well... Sunday lunch at mom's, delvier dad's new Dell, a little theater work, a little computer work, play with the new guitar for 10 minutes and fall asleep on the couch. weekend over!
If you had not figured it out yet I am geeked over the Shuttle and really all things space. The deal is that I believe that challenging ourselves to go to the moon was one of if not the single biggest boost to innovation in the country. The challenge of doing something that seems impossible brings out the best in people. At any rate keep at it NASA... on a lighter note most of you know I married an Aggie. She sent me this yesterday. I have to admit it's very cool!
reblog...what does a scanner see?
...does it see into me, clearly or darkly?
NOTE: I just found ou that this release has been pushed yet again... new opening date of July 28th...sgm
This weekend a new movie called A Scanner Darkly is coming out that I have been dieing to see. The book A Scanner Darkly was written by Philip K. Dick. He is famous for the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and later the books made into movies: Minority Report, Total Recall, Paycheck and Blade Runner! His short story Second Variety appears to have been the basis for The Terminator as well. In short this guy tells good stories. Now couple that with a very cool way of filmmaking and you might have a hidden gem here. I have not seen the movie yet, but I know it's not getting any press... at all! I recently read the book and it's a bleak view of near future society. It should be a very thought provoking movie. The early reviews were all positive so this might be the sleeper of the summer.
Want to see more... Official Site
There was a contest to "remix" the trailer... the winners are here
i.am.samu
:: 7/13/2006 12:23:31 PM http://blog.wired.com/music/#1520340 Verizon... you deceptive little bugger... crippling those Razr phones like that, shame shame shame!
Did you take 3 minutes out of your life to go and see the ISS/Shuttle? Dallas, your turn is tonight! Angie,Janet,Dade and I went out a little early not sure what we were going to see... I remember as a kid laying in my driveway and seeing a satelite flying overhead, it looked like a fast moving star. At 8:50 it was still a bit of blue in the sky, and after a few "is that it"'s a very bright star rose right where we were looking! It was moving boy howdy fast, straight up and overhead brighter than any star in the sky. The reality is it was nothing more than a speck of light, but when you stop and think about what you were seeing you get that sense of awe. You could see the wonder in Dade's eyes just filling up and he was impossibly excited after that. So for about 5 minutes we stood outside, necks craned back staring up. I guess that's 5 whole minutes of TV I'll never get back...and I am gratefull for the opportunity.
Dead men tell no tales...
On another note we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest this weekend. First it's been getting some not so hot reviews... I do not know why?! To many movie reviewers go looking for the next movie full of symbolism and deep meaning. They are missing the point! Movies are about entertainment! The story does not have to be layered and deep it has to be entertaining. 30 minutes in my son leans over and says "wow this is really good!" and it was! It was Disney! It was Swiss Family Robinson Disney, it was fun fun fun! Yes there were special effects no it did not ruin the movie. Hey there were lot's of effects int he first one too! I loved it! Is it the greatest movie ever ... nope, will I watch it again and again yes! Did I hate the ending... yes. Well I guess I will have to reserve judgement until I see the ending in the next movie, they pulled a cliffhanger on us. Get yourself a bucket of popcorn, sit back and enjoy it for what it is! They say the plot is to twisted to follow... well my 8 year old handled it just fine.
Interesting thing about the title, "Dead Man's Chest". The title is a line from a poem in the book "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. According to the Wiki the poem was expanded and there is some history that it may be based on. As legend has it Blackbeard the pirate thwarted a mutiny and marooned the mutinous crew on a deserted island called "Dead Man's Chest" each of the men was given a sword and a bottle of rum... yo ho ho! Blackbeard came back a month later and 15 men(on a dead man's chest) had survived the druken brawls that had insued.
If you have the NASA channel you should be watching it right now!!!! Live video of the spacewalk super.cool!
If you want to see the ISS and Shuttle with the naked eye Sunday and Monday just before 9p is your best time. Go to Nasa's Sat Tracking Page to see when any satelite will be visible. Just punch in your zip and go. When you hit the skytrack button it will show a map of the sky. The orange line is the horizon. V.cool this is! Weather permitting we will go and watch it Sunday and Monday.
:: 7/18/2006 5:31:49 AM
