Lenny Kravitz fans and old movie aficionados shouldn't have any problem recognizing the potential in this concept (WARNING -- not a family-friendly link).

Glenn Reynolds, from whom I first learned the term "robosexual," reveals another new coinage -- "prosthetute" in this TCS article about robots and unemployment. He also links to this excellent, if not a little creepy, Salon article that made him aware of Real Dolls.

Gene Expression picked up this theme today (linked article has a moderately racy picture!) reviewing the Salon article and then running with the concept (linking to sites covering all the tech needed to create a Stepford Wife). It's neat that the good SF seems to come true around us all the time, but if we get the personal communicators, world-wide-web, and nanobots, then we should also expect to get some of the tech envisioned in the B-movies.

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Back on October 28, I linked to a site devoted to awful plastic surgery.

Of course, the self-styled king of pop makes quite an awful appearance on the site (and see this, which is linked from there).

All this is a setup for this image of what Michael Jackson would possibly look like today, had he foregone all the surgeries (using forensic age projection from a picture of a younger, unmodified Michael).

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One of the cool things about the Internet is the discovery that out there is at least one other person as interested as I am in Legos, pictures of Mars, building models, and space. He has lots of good stuff up today, but, as usual, the Blogspot archive links are all screwy, so you'll have to find your own way.

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Lots of good stuff percolating in the blogosphere about "reusable" launch vehicles these days.

Rocket Man starts out with a 1500+ word essay asking after the whereabouts of RLVs. Read the whole thing and follow his links. It may be rocket science, but he is optimistic (like I) that a healthy suborbital RLV industry will lead to a healthy orbital RLV industry, incrementally instead of in one great leap. While he touches on the X-15 and Shuttle, He surprisingly doesn't touch on the US's aborted attempt to build a true rocketship, the Delta Clipper, as an RLV format. But others are filling the gaps, with Clark Lindsay at Hobbyspace covering the Japanese attempt to continue the concept with their RVT program (which I briefly wrote about back on October 24) If that link doesn't work, please scroll down in the archives.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Jerry Pournelle has a running commentary, including much debate about SSTOs here. He is the one from whom I cribbed the title of this post (in regards to rocketships that take off and land on their tails).

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Growing up in Texas, I remember real blue laws, which forbade sales of anything other than basic foodstuffs on Sundays. Thank the maker those were repealed several years ago so that I can now buy batteries or paper or hardware on Sundays. But our alcohol laws continue to reflect early-twentieth-century sensibilities, and efforts to change them usually arouse quite a bit of controversy.

The city I live in, Plano, allows sales of beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores 7 days a week (you have to wait until after noon on Sundays). Still, to buy anything else (port, sake, tequila), I need to drive 20 minutes or so to a "wet" area of Dallas. Many towns around here (including many areas of Dallas proper) are completely dry. This article and this one nicely summarize the situation in Plano (free registration required to read the Dallas Morning News article).

So I could really appreciate Mike Alissi's report at Reason's Hit and Run blog about some surprising bedfellows in Connecticut who would like to keep Sundays dry there.

Here's the money 'graph:

"Bottoms up to the bizarro world of booze politics where liquor store owners team up with MADD to keep Sundays dry, and proponents of allowing retailers to serve customers whenever they want are considered enemies of free enterprise."

Read the whole thing.

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144 individual servings of it, to be exact.

(Thanks to The Eternal Golden Braid for the link).

To be fair, some of these line items appear innocent enough (say, #103, 105, or 144) but most are just complete oinkers.

Finagle forgive me for saying so, but where is Proxmire and his golden fleece when you need him?

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Another link (via the Volokh conspiracy) to an Internet slacker game: Mr. Piccasohead.

Enjoy.

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If you missed it last week, Stephen Green put up a list of things he is thankful for.

I'm willing to bet that most males would concur.

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"When we grew up and went to school, there were certain teachers who would hurt the children anyway they could. . ."

I don't always agree with the ACLU, but am awfully glad they are around when they take on a case like this one.

Be sure to read the little boy's own account of what he did "wrong." He said "bad" words?????

You don't have to be a radical gay activist to see that what the Louisiana school did to this 7-year-old was simply wrong. This, speaking as a father of three, two of whom are old enough to have brought home "problem solving sheets" that look much like this one. Feh.

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In commenting on one of Rand Simberg's posts, I ran across this review of this book by Stephen Ambrose covering the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad(s). I'll have to get this, as it seems somewhat relevant in the current debate over what role, if any, government should play in opening the space frontier.

My wish list has grown long over the last year or two, but I'm hoping it will be a few items shorter after Christmas.

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Are molecular assemblers feasible? As I pointed out here, an Israeli team has reportedly used a DNA molecule to assemble a transistor.

Yesterday, Glenn Reynolds posted a wealth of links on the debate over the feasibility of nanotech molecular assemblers. I like how he works Clarke's first law
into his commentary, too: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

Lots of good stuff there, so read the whole thing, along with the linked articles.

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Time flies when you're having fun.

And we had quite a bit over the Thanksgiving holiday. We stayed in town, enjoying dinner at my parents' house. Played football in the backyard with my sons while my daughter collected colored leaves. Ate too much, but what kind of holiday would it be without the gluttony? My Cowboys lost, but the Longhorns won. Now I find myself in the unsavory position of being an Oklahoma fan for one weekend, in the hopes that UT can secure a bid to a BCS bowl (likely the Fiesta). However, I missed the Longhorn game as I was enjoying a Friday
afternoon showing of Elf. If you haven't seen this movie yet, go see it. Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. The entire movie is good-hearted and the last 10 minutes or so will rekindle your belief in Santa Claus in much the same way as other Holiday classics such as Miracle on 34th Street (the original) and The Polar Express.

P.S. Good news on the pet front. . . our toad still lives, although the blue neon tetra met his maker a couple of days ago (predicted here).

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