". . . like trying to lift water with a knife."

October 31, 2004

Sunday Aircraft Cheesecake (DH-4)

This week we feature yet another De Havilland aircraft, the DH-4.

I saw a plane very similar to this one, the Boeing 40B-2, at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry last week. The exhibit was accompanied by the following letter from Leonard B. Hyde-Pearson, an airmail pilot who died in a plane crash in a De Havilland mail plane on March 7, 1924:

"To Be Opened Only After My Death:
Capt. Leonard Brooke Hyde-Pearson, USAMS
"My Beloved Brother Pilots and Pals"
I go west, but with cheerful heart.
I hope whatever small sacrifice I have made
May be of some use to the cause.
When we fly we are fools, they say.
When we are dead, weren't half-bad fellows.
But everyone in this wonderful aviation service
Is doing the world far more good than the public can appreciate.
We risk our necks; we give our lives;
We perfect a service for the benefit of the world at large.
They, mind you, are the ones who call us fools.
But stick to it, boys. I'm still very much with you all.
See you all again.

It's always risky to open a new frontier. The next time you buckle into a commercial jetliner, remember these words of Captain Hyde-Pearson, since you owe safe, routine, air travel in large part to pioneers like him.

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October 30, 2004

The Al-Corbomite Maneuver

Is Osama's latest video a surrender proposal?

A threat to President Bush? An endorsement of Senator Kerry?

I don't know, but watching it I kept wondering whether Ron Howard's half-naked little brother would invite us back to drink some Tranya:

Update: Looks like Rusty had a similar idea.

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October 28, 2004

SF Babes Poll Number 7

Well, I see from last week's results that the "soft" Leia in a metal bikini made just as strong an impression on my fellow geeks as she did on me. She claimed 50% of the popular vote. Not sure if either major party candidate will do that this year...

Politics aside, this week's poll celebrates the distinctive beauty of five passengers/crewmembers on Jean Wuss Picard's Enterprise: Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), and Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett, for any of you milf types out there).

Vote often and early. I hope that we will know the final results of our presidential election by the time we know the results of this poll next week. Enjoy!

Results (Posted 4 November 2004):

SF Babes - Star Trek:TNG

	Dr. Beverly Crusher 22 votes 27%
	Deanna Troi 41 votes 49%
	Tasha Yar 19 votes 23%
	Guinan 1 vote 1%
	Lwaxana Troi 0 votes 0%

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Back in Town

I got back safely last night, but lacked the time and energy to post my usual humble brilliance.

I had given Rob the Llamabutcher the key to the place for about a day, but unfortunately Munuviana crashed during his window of opportunity to leave Llama droppings here. Look back later today for the new SF Babe poll, along with the final results of the Leia/Padme contest.

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October 25, 2004

Slow Posting Ahead

I find myself out of town in Chicago for the next few days for a continuing legal education conference. Unfortunately, I only have dialup access and find it frustrating to surf or blog, so expect limited-to-no posting until Wednesday evening.

I'll have a belated aircraft cheesecake posting ready by then. I got some ideas at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry yesterday.

As additional away-from-home sightseeing, I caught Team America: World Police at the theater last night. This is a must-see, especially for the supposedly "open-minded" leftists who like cutting-edge humor. It is the antidote to Fahrenheit 911: rather than taking down Fahrenheit 911's lies point-by-point, it undermines the whole self-loathing, defeatist premise of that movie and the laughable self-importance of the media elite. America! F*** Yeah!

Update: Instapundit is traveling, too. I wish I could call on some quality writing talent (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) to fill in the blanks here while I'm gone.

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October 21, 2004

SF Babes Poll Number 6

This week's entry pits mother against daughter. Padme (Amidala) against Princess Leia Organa.

But this week, there's a new twist: both of our candidates display both a soft, stereotypically feminine side and an assertive, commanding, warrior side. You get to choose not only between the two women, but also between their personas.

Enjoy!

Results (Posted 28 October 2004):

SF Babes - Star Wars
	"Soft" Leia 35 Votes 50%
	"Soft" Padme 15 Votes 21%
	"Warrior" Leia 5 Votes 7%
	"Warrior" Padme 15 Votes 21%

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October 20, 2004

Required Reading

If you haven't read any Neal Stephenson, you must at least read Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.

I know, I know. Cryptonomicon is a BIG book, as are the recent Baroque Cycle works. If you haven't time or inclination to read those, then at least read this great interview on Slashdot, which I found via SFSignal.

Aside from the hilarious [fictional] anecdotes of Neal's epic battles with William Gibson, there's some real gold here. For example, this nugget about Blue Origin:

As for my visions of future private space flight: here I have to remind you of something, which is that, up to this point in the interview, I have been wearing my novelist hat, meaning that I talk freely about whatever I please. But private space flight is an area where I wear a different hat (or helmet). I do not freely disseminate my thoughts on this one topic because I have agreed to sell those thoughts to Blue Origin. Admittedly, this feels a little strange to a novelist who is accustomed to running his mouth whenever he feels like it. But it is a small price to pay for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a minor character in a Robert Heinlein novel.

I like the sound of that: a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a minor character in a Robert Heinlein novel." Unfortunately Blue Origin doesn't seem to be looking for an in-house lawyer at this time.

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"Edwards to Fabulous, Come in Fabulous..."

Best assessment yet of the candid John "Breck Girl" Edwards primping clip:

Getting prepped for the harsh blare of TV lights is a peculiar experience, and you learn to sit still and think of England. So no, the clip isnÂ’t particularly unusual.
Until he whips out Â– well, youÂ’ll see. ItÂ’s like Captain Kirk whipping out his communicator to contact the USS Fabulous. Set phasers on stunning!

My not-so-inner geek loves that.

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October 19, 2004

Geek Quiz

In case it's not already abundantly clear, I am, in fact, a geek.

And proud of it.

Moreover, I am a Level 3 geek.

Take this quiz, and figure out your own geek quotient. (My score was 575).

Enjoy.

Update: Not just a geek. A geek that can't read the instructions. I missed the two-year time frame on the first part of the quiz.

Retaking with that timeframe, my raw score was 590, less 350 for the "anti-geek" points, yields a revised score of 240, or Level 0 Wannabe.

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D&D Babes Video

This video is especially suited for Rob (to show him what he missed out on) and Ace (to relive past dork glories).

Via BoingBoing.

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Into Africa

Donzilla is traveling in Africa.

The world being what it is, I'm more likely to pay to go to space than to Africa during my lifetime. Thank goodness someone else can travel there and allow me to travel vicariously with them.

Don has some nice pics up. Check it out.

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October 18, 2004

P.E.A.R.T. Drums

This is just too cool. Figures that Jeff at Gravity Lens would beat me to it.

As any good Rush fan will be happy to tell you (at great length if you allow them), Neil Peart is a drum god. It's therefore fitting that these students would name their drum-playing robot after Peart (Pneumatic and Electronic Actuated RoboT).

The site has a definite DIY feel to it, with an outline of how the robot works, a nice collection of assembly pictures, and some videos of the robot in action.

Enjoy.

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October 17, 2004

Sunday Aircraft Cheesecake (Mosquito)

With thanks to Your Maximum Leader for the recommendation, I present another De Havilland airplane this week, the Mosquito:

Quite an incredible aircraft. As a result of its molded plywood and balsa wood construction, this twin-engine plane, which was originally specified as a bomber, became one of the fastest, longest-range multirole fighters of World War II.

It packed quite a punch: in its typical night-fighter package, it carried four 20mm cannon in a belly mount and four .303 machine guns in the nose.

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October 15, 2004

Another 80s Playlist

Random Penseur in comments to this post mentioned some more stereotypically "80s" groups than the rock groups I listed.

I couldn't find my 80s "pop" mix in the car, but poking around in iTunes, I put together as much of the mix as possible from memory:

1. Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer
2. Call Me - Blondie
3. Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles
4. The One Thing - INXS
5. Fascination - Human League
6. Obsession - Animotion
7. Cars - Gary Numan
8. Doctor Doctor - Thompson Twins
9. Metro - Berlin
10. On the Loose - Saga
11. Red Skies at Night - The Fixx
12. I Ran - A Flock of Seagulls
13. Beverly Hills Cop Theme - Harold Faltermeyer
14. Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
15. Airlane - Gary Numan
16. Whip It - Devo
17. She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby
18. Don't Change - INXS
19. Astradyne - Ultravox

I just burned it and now have a replacement disc!

Most people have probably heard of many of these but probably not all. Airlane and Astradyne in particular are two obscure but great synthesizer-based instrumentals that perfectly capture the peak of the analog synth sound before "digital" became the next big thing.

Update: I should note again that Ace set this meme in motion with his pop quiz the other day.

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Revanchist Red Refuses Recognition

Tovarisch Kommissar holds show trial number 13.

Links post exploiting TexasBestGrok content, but refuses to recognize TexasBestGrok.

Makes Kommissar running-dog exploiter, nyet? All talkski no walkski.

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October 14, 2004

SF Babes Poll Number 5

I refuse to concede last week's results. I demand a recount. Where's Richard Daley???

In the meantime, I present you with our fifth poll in the series: the lovely ladies of Space:1999: Dr. Helena Russell (Barbara Bain), Sandra Benes (Zienia Merton), Maya (Catherine Schell), Yasko (Yasuko Nagazumi), Tanya Alexandria (Suzanne Roquette), and Kate (Sarah Bullen).

Vote early and often, and ignore those wooly-headed butchers over there this week.

Results (Posted 21 October 2004):

SF Babes - Space 1999
	Dr. Helena Russell 4 Votes 6%
	Sahn/Sandra Benes 6 Votes 9%
	Maya 12 Votes 17%
	Yasko 25 Votes 36%
	Tanya Alexandria 14 Votes 20%
	Kate 8 Votes 12%

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80s Pop Culture Sample

Ace put up a pop-culture quiz yesterday (I'm not telling my score, except to say that even though the questions <whiny teen voice>weren't fair</whiny teen voice>, I did much better than Robert).

This isn't a quiz, but more of a music sampler. I put together a road-trip CD earlier this year when I took my sons to the USS Lexington. It's simply entitled "80s Rock." Kind of a dream mix of the rock songs of my youth to make a 9-hour drive go more quickly (and many of these weren't necessarily my favorites back then). This isn't 80s pop, a separate CD of which I burned, but rock.

What would be your "road trip" mix of 80s rock? Let me know.

Open the extended entry to view the song list. more...

Posted by: JohnL at 08:29 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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1 I don't know that it's not fair, but since I can never remember 2-bit actor names I couldn't do very well. Going to have to think about the aliens/predator/terminator one. Like your mix.

Posted by: owlish at October 14, 2004 09:55 AM (6zSGH)

2 I was just adopting a whiny teenage persona, since that's what many teens do when confronted with something they don't like. (And I was a teen in the 80s).

Posted by: JohnL at October 14, 2004 10:39 AM (Hs4rn)

3 Eh. Bragging about doing better than me on a pop culture quiz is rather like bragging about having a better army than the French.

Posted by: Robert the Llama Butcher at October 14, 2004 12:58 PM (IkTb7)

4 Well then, what would be your dream mix of classical works? Would it include any organ works? Which ones?

Posted by: JohnL at October 14, 2004 01:27 PM (Hs4rn)

5 If it's '80's rock you want, I can't help you. I listened mainly to classical music then. Would you settle for a '70's mostly-progressive rock list? As for the pop culture quiz: I did a little better than Robert the LB but still poorly. Given the nature of '80's culture, I'm not the least bit embarrassed by my score.

Posted by: Donald McClane at October 14, 2004 03:13 PM (MiD5J)

6 Don, Keep it to 80 minutes or less in length, and you've got yourself a deal. The problem I'd see with a prog rock mix CD is that you'd need multiple CDs to fit a really representative sampling of the material. My current favorite 70's prog rock driving CD is WBMFTTSTNE, Ladies and Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (especially the disc with Tarkus on it). The Aquatarkus movement in particular is great at top volume, although it can induce highway hypnosis with Palmer's trance-inducing rhythms. (Rob, have you heard any Emerson, Lake, and Palmer? If you like classical and jazz, this is a rock group you will either love or hate -- I've known "serious" music fans to go both ways on this).

Posted by: JohnL at October 14, 2004 03:37 PM (Hs4rn)

7 Re EL&P, I don't know if I have or not. Favorite organ piece: Handel's Cuckoo & Nightengale. But I'm not a huge fan of the organ in and of itself. I think I can put together an 80's play list. I'll give it a try.

Posted by: Robert the LB at October 14, 2004 04:39 PM (IkTb7)

8 Robert, Do you like Jazz organ trios (Hammond, Bass, Drums)? ELP are like that - but on speed and through a stack of Marshall Amps. Aaron Copland gave Keith Emerson his stamp of approval on Emerson's version of Fanfare for the Common Man, as did Alberto Ginastera of Emerson's arrangement of Ginastera's 1st Piano Concerto, Fourth Movement ("Toccata"). At the height of their career in 1977, this three-piece band played with a 65-piece orchestra before a sold-out Montreal Olympic stadium (70,000 or so). If you are truly a Tory, you may be offended by some of their reworkings of the classics (Emerson loves to drop classical quotes in his improvs) but you should give them a try. Truly unlike just about any other "rock" group you'll ever hear.

Posted by: JohnL at October 14, 2004 11:34 PM (gplif)

9 How about an on-topic response to your question? It lacks: Talking Heads; Video Killed the Radio Star; Golden Earing; the Clash; English Beat; and the list just goes on and on. For what it is, though, I like your choices a lot.

Posted by: RP at October 15, 2004 02:47 PM (LlPKh)

10 Ahhhh, RP, your comment inspires a near-future post (probably tonight or this weekend) on my 80s new wave mix CD, which includes Video Killed the Radio Star, Gary Numan's Cars, et al. I never got into the Clash or English Beat, but did like Gary Numan, Ultravox, Bauhaus, Talking Heads, Human League, the Fixx, etc. etc.

Posted by: JohnL at October 15, 2004 03:29 PM (Hs4rn)

11 I await with great anticipation that New Wave post. Can anyone say, Devo? Culture Club? I bet you can.

Posted by: RP at October 15, 2004 04:18 PM (LlPKh)

12 Cool list . . . The best part about hearing "Children of the Sun" now is realizing Lenny Kravitz stole a section and made it into a song called "Gotta Get Away" or something. The guitar riff in "Children" is followed by "Children of the sun, children of the sun" while Lenny made a whole song out of it.

Posted by: Uncle Mikey at October 18, 2004 02:47 PM (kqBJN)

13 Like your list...i would have to add Rock and Roll Fantasy by Bad Co. though..

Posted by: Shawn at May 23, 2005 03:06 PM (3tfs7)

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October 13, 2004

Good News for Richard Branson

Assuming the lawmakers and regulators don't strangle the baby in the cradle, there appears to be quite a bit of pent-up demand to pay $200,000 for a flight into space (even if there are only 5-10 minutes of weightlessness).

If I had the means, I know I certainly would, risks be damned.

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October 12, 2004

Web Design 101

In all seriousness, the Flying Space Monkey (whose blog layout gripes I illustrated below) mentions several things that frustrate me as well.

I suppose the one gripe of his that I routinely violate is in making this site more graphics-intensive than it used to be. I do try to reduce the size and quality of photos I post here to minimize Pixy's bandwidth charges and my readers' load times. Otherwise I try to avoid the many other design flaws pointed out by the Soaring Celestial Simian.

One additional hint: if you have a third-party script in your template (such as a stat meter or the TTLB Ecosystem script) put it toward the end of your HTML so that it does not prevent your content from loading if there is an error with the script. I had a lot of trouble reading several of my favorite sites last week when the Ecosystem was experiencing some growing pains.

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My Dog Jake's First Posting

Hi everyone! My name is Jake. I am John's pet dog. This is the first time I have ever posted to my owner's weblog. He's got some really cool stuff here, but I think I can make it look better.