Month: February 2003 (Page 5 of 6)

Since the administration doesn’t think we’re off-balance enough, they’ve decided to tell us there’s another credible terrorist threat. Or at least lots of “chatter” on all the tapped phone lines from those thousands of terrorists they can spy on but not apprehend. On the national TV news tonight, they said, the terrorists could be targeting Wall Street, the Capitol, the Pentagon, or other nationally-significant targets. Or, possibly, “shopping malls, hotels, or apartment buildings.”

After all, not everyone lives in the Pentagon.

Still playing around with Celestia. It’s easy to get lost in this stuff. You can turn on planet orbits, which helps in getting oriented. You can zoom in on objects like the International Space Station (above) and track their movements. You can turn on constellation outlines. You can make time go 100,000 times faster than normal. And on and on. Unbelievable for a free program.

Sometimes I just zoom in on the space station and keep the program running in the background, watching as the station inches across the sky.

The Recruit

Do you ever wish movies were just a little smarter? I’ve said this before, but when was the last time a movie really surprised you? “The Recruit” is an entertaining experience, with good performances by Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. It’s never boring. But when you figure things out in the first half hour, it’s a little hard to maintain the same interest in a movie that’s supposed to be about secrets and hidden agendas.

The best thing about the movie is it never gets too big for its britches – it’s a modest spy thriller and knows it. This is leagues better than overblown crapfests like “Mission Impossible” and “Minority Report,” movies that reach for the sky and end up looking foolish. I just wish Hollywood scripts these days tried a little harder not to give us the same old thing.

Caught a couple minutes of Colin Powell’s speech to the U.N. today. I noticed right away that he says “nu-klee-ur,” *not* “nu-kyu-lur” like the Commander in Chief. I also noticed he says “SOD-um,” not “Sa-DAHM,” similar to how the previous President Bush said the evil one’s name. I always thought Bush Sr. did it to remind people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now that I think about it, I don’t know how GWB pronouces Saddam. But I’ll be listening for it.

Anyone who is at all interested in space should check out Celestia, the free universe simulator (not to be confused with the Anne Heche alter-ego of the same name). You can visit just about any location in the known universe with an almost magical “you are there” feeling. Cool stuff.

The rich are different

Interesting flying lesson today. Dean arrived at the house as arranged, but after I did my pre-checks, the chopper wouldn’t start. Dead battery! Pretty funny to see us out there, my gardener drove the Audi up to the plane, we hooked up the jumper cables and voila!

-Adam Curry, on his weblog

I know very little about comic books. But in thinking about the upcoming “Daredevil,” something occurs to me. Jennifer Garner plays Elektra Natchios, whose superhero alter ego name is…”Elektra.” I mean, she does have a cool name and all, but won’t it be easy for people to figure out who she is? Isn’t that sort of like Clark Kent’s alter ego being “Clark”?

Just wondering.

Organization tip

(This is so off-topic for this site. But there’s nothing wrong with mixing things up a little, right?)

When going from one room to another in your house, look around for something in Room 1 that belongs in Room 2. Pick it up and take it there and put it away properly. Do this often enough, make it a habit, and you’ll thank me. Really. Unless your living space is just always clean and tidy and organized, in which case I hate you.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Not exactly a comedy, farce, cautionary tale, spy movie, straight biography, history lesson or any of the other genres it flirts with, “Confessions” is nothing so much as a fun, engaging ride. By his own account a schlock TV producer and host by day, CIA contract killer by night, Chuck Barris ushered in just about every “reality” and “talent” program cluttering up the airwaves 30 years later. One of the film’s many pleasures is seeing parallels between “The Gong Show” and, say, “American Idol.”

But there are many other pleasures to be had. Sam Rockwell is fantastic as Barris, and Drew Barrymore is in full “quirky lovable” mode as his long-suffering girlfriend. George Clooney, in his directorial debut, does hip-cool stuff with the camera without it becoming annoying. And I liked that the spy stuff is played (relatively) straight – whether it’s true or not is beside the point.

Not going to be everyone’s speed, but recommended.

“You’re an interesting species – an interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams – and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost – so cut off – so alone. Only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing that we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable…is each other.”

-Ted Arroway (David Morse), “Contact”

When “Contact” came out, I was fond of asking my friends who had seen it whether they would be willing to step into that contraption that sent Ellie Arroway to…well, wherever she went to. The question was, would you be willing to sit in that chair, having no idea what would happen? You could die, you could travel to some other galaxy – no one knew.

For me, the answer was simple: I would get into the chair. The risks would be worth it.

Who’s with me?