Author: Adam (Page 91 of 224)

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?

Figured out from my log files that a lot of people were finding my site using the search phrase “birthdaycard” with no space. They were getting the image of the birthday card my father sent to me one year, with his signature artwork and sense of humor. Not a bad way to enter the site, I think. So I just added a link to the main site on the page, something those other gallery pages don’t have. I hope some of those search engine people are taking a look at the other Bob Blust images I posted. He was an extraordinary man.

Disaster

My father and I used to have heated debates about the space program. He felt strongly that the money used to fund NASA should be used for social programs. “We have enough problems here at home,” he would say. I tried to argue that stopping space exploration would not increase funding to help disadvantaged people – it would just go to other pork barrel projects. Plus, that budget was miniscule compared to, say, the defense industry.

But he and I were both stubborn, so neither influenced the other very much. My father continued to believe, as I used to joke with him, that “all the shuttles and rockets and space stations should be melted down to make soup cans for the poor.”

My focus then, as now, is that we must continue to reach for the stars, both literally and figuratively. As a society, as a people, if we stop exploring, stop reaching out for things beyond our grasp, we die. I believe that’s a crucial part of what makes us human.

If we let what happened today slow the pace of progress, we’re not only going in the wrong direction – we’re doing a disservice to the memory of the people on the shuttle, who dedicated themselves to looking ahead, and up.

Have a great weekend

In my post-State-of-the-Union hangover, anything that equates GWB with oral surgery has got my vote.

(Be sure to click on some other cartoons while you’re there. Wonderful stuff.)

Watched “Friends” for the first time in probably a whole season this week. (I’m not sure why. I haven’t been really entertained by the show in three years.) I was surprised at how old they all look, sort of like the college kids who hang out at the high school during breaks so they can relive their glory days.

The (freaky) exception was Courteney Cox, who seemed to have had some disturbing plastic surgery – or maybe it was just one too many chemical peels. She had this strange death’s-head sort of look about her, punctuated with giant protruding teeth. I was somewhat frightened – I’m sure not the reaction she was going for.