I only watched Dr Who for a couple of seasons on the local PBS affiliate back in the mid-1980s. Tom Baker is the only doctor I ever saw, and I remember well the episode where he picked up Leela (Louise Jameson) as his sidekick. After doing some research, I'm not sure how best to screen out the contestants for the Dr Who babe poll, so I will leave it to you, dear readers, to help me with nominations.

Here are the rules:

1. This will be a four-way poll.

2. Please submit your top four picks to be included in the poll via comments or email. They must be female (sorry, ladies and differently-inclined gentlemen). If you can remember a particular companion, wonderful. Otherwise, have a browse through this page. I will take the top two vote-getters that are neither Leela nor Rose Tyler (see rule number 3).

3. I will be including Leela and the Doctor's new companion, Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper), in the final poll notwithstanding stronger showings by other reader-nominated candidates. Sorry, but it's my poll and this is not a true democracy!

4. Nominations will close 12:00 noon Central Standard Time (GMT -6) on Monday, January 24, 2005.

We'll be extending the Spock's Girlfriends poll for another week to allow plenty of time for nominations.

I'm looking forward to reading your suggestions. Thanks!

Posted by: JohnL at 09:29 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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At 9:30 this morning, I received my 30,000th visitor (IP address 209.247.222.#) to this blog. Appropriately enough, they entered the page via a Google search for "Markie Post" and exited from the SF Babe category archive.

Other interesting applications of the number 30,000:

Lightning-bolt current averages 30,000 amps

The view from 30,000 feet.

Another view from 30,000 feet.

Yet another view from 30,000 feet.

Still another view from 30,000 feet (my favorite view, by the way).

When I started blogging almost a year and a half ago, I wasn't sure how this would turn out. After the first few months, I never dreamed I would attract more than 100 readers a day. Passing this milestone is a real treat. Even more gratifying has been getting to know my small but regular group of return readers. Thank you all for coming by!

Posted by: JohnL at 08:57 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Check out the Tupolev Tu-20 "Bear" strategic bomber (sometimes designated Tu-95). Note the four massive turboprop engines, each driving two counter-rotating propellers.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It looks like the Huygens probe may have landed on or near a beach on Saturn's frigid moon Titan, based on these initial raw images.

I look forward to seeing the rest of the images, especially after they have been processed.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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RP's girl child just celebrated her fourth birthday. To celebrate, she has moved out of diapers. RP found this milestone a poignant occasion. RP, as she's your first child, you need to know that this is just the beginning of many poignant moments. As you know, we have three kids, and our youngest is a year-and-a-half older than your girl child.

Diapers are nothin'. In fact, we were doing backflips when our youngest was finally out of diapers/pull-ups. Instead, just wait to experience going through the Hefty bag full of stuffed animals collected by all your kids over the years, deciding which ones go to Goodwill, and which ones get to stay in the attic for future grandkids. You'll watch that scene in Toy Story 2 where Jessie gets dropped off by her girl with a whole new perspective.

Or wait until your child starts getting uncomfortable being seen with you in public (my oldest followed me at a distance of 10 feet through Fry's Electronics a couple of months ago). Sure, it's a necessary part of maturing, starting to establish one's independence, but it's tough.

My middle child, an 8-year-old boy (all boy!) reached up to hold my hand tonight in the parking lot as we walked into the grocery store. He still does that every now and then. And every time he does it, I wonder is this the last time??

Two weeks ago my little girl asked me to take her training wheels off so she can learn to ride a "2-wheeler," as our kids put it. She'll be the third child I've taught (and she's learning much faster than the two boys ahead of her did). As I was running backwards down the sidewalk with my hands positioned under her handlebars helping steady her when she needed it, I realized this is the last time I'll be teaching one of my children to do this.

It hit me really hard -- She's my baby, but she's not talking like one any more. She's growing up into a graceful, beautiful, smart, charming girl. Watching her play soccer for the first time this year made me realize just how big she's gotten. When did that happen??! When did her brothers get so tall? If the oldest is approaching the teen years, that means middle age is close behind for me, and after that ... ? -- Not ready to go there yet.

I can understand why only children get so easily spoiled, as every moment becomes a potential poignant moment. But when you have more than one, you kind of get spoiled yourself knowing there'll be another chance, another way to relive the moment. But after you've lived the moment with the last one, what next?

Driving lessons, I suppose, coming up in five years for the oldest child (which is about how long ago he was learning to ride the bike without training wheels).

It always seems lowbrow to quote rock lyrics to make a point, but there was a Rush song I didn't like very much when it came out, but now I completely identify with it. Focus especially on the last two verses:

Time Stand Still

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath,
Before I start off again
Driven on,
Without a moment to spend
To pass an evening
With a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
IÂ’d like to pause,
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim --
Who learns to transcend --
Learns to live
As if each step was the end

Time stand still --
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Experience slips away...

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes,
Let my defences down --
All those wounds
That I can't get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause --
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain,
Whose ship runs aground --
I can wait until the tide
Comes around

Make each impression
A little bit stronger
Freeze this motion
A little bit longer
The innocence slips away...

Summer's going fast --
Nights growing colder
Children growing up --
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away...

I think I'll excuse myself to go get a beer and read a book now, if you don't mind...

Posted by: JohnL at 10:41 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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This guy has done what I (and probably every other guy in my high school chemistry class) wanted to do when we learned about elemental Sodium's behavior when it comes into contact with water.

The site has multiple videos of the various explosions these guys created with three and a half pounds of the metal, but this one's my favorite (4.7MB).

Enjoy.

(Via BoingBoing)

Posted by: JohnL at 10:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I saw this slogan on the bumper of a car this morning: Some Things Exist Whether Or Not You Believe In Them. It was black with an eldritch white script. Made me think of something a neo-pagan or wiccan would sport.

I usually don't parse bumper stickers too closely, but this one really got the neuronic flywheel spinning. I'm sure it was meant to assert a reality beyond this one, whether or not you believe in it. But if you take it literally, it really describes nothing mystical at all.

I mean, the Internet exists, whether or not I believe in it.

And that table exists, whether or not I believe in it.

Her car exists, whether or not I believe in it.

You get the idea. I guess you could just say that existence exists, whether or not you believe in it.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's a meme that's infected Munuviana big time (I traced it back to here). Simply list the first line from the first post of each month of 2004. I'm introducing a mutation here, since some of these make no sense unless the post title is included. Titles in italics, first sentences plaintext: January: Happy New Year - I have been enjoying time off with my family*. February: Just Say No - Strategy Page has a video demonstrating the effects of LSD on British troops in a test that appears to have been conducted in the early 1960s.* March: Sad News - Lawyer, historian, and former librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin passed away on Sunday at the age of 89 from pneumonia. * April: Ia! Ia! Sanrio Fhtagn! - Hello Cthulu, via Ambient Irony. * May: Bob Moog Documentary - Here's a DVD I'll be looking forward to later this year. * June: Sleestak Art - I loved the old (70s) Land of the Lost show. * July: Life's Highway - I've recently gotten off the highway (from Breckenridge, Colorado to Plano, Texas) so I think it appropriate to kick off blogging again with this puzzling little diversion found at the Llama Butchers: * August: My Ten Books - Got this idea from Chan, who read about it at normblog. * September: I'm a Liberal Democrat. . . -. . . In Australia, that is, according to this quiz. * October: Debate Wrapup - Lileks is on fire this morning. * November: Endorsement and Prediction - For what it's worth, I am endorsing President Bush and the Republican Party this year. * December: Awful Cosmetic Makeover - Via Naked Villainy, a frightening picture of Paris Hilton at The Mirthful Ones. *

Posted by: JohnL at 08:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I swung by the Corner tonight, not a typical surfing destination for me. I found a couple of really good posts, though:

First, I am not a John Derbyshire fan, as he [usually] perfectly embodies the stereotype of the pessimistic, luddite conservative. However, you have to give him credit for this brilliant posting on the "Intelligent Design" movement.

Then, there's a link to this story that makes me ashamed to be a lawyer.

(While we're on this topic, here's one of my favorite lawyer jokes:

Q: Do you know the problem with lawyer jokes?
A: Lawyers don't think they're funny and no-one else thinks they're jokes).

Posted by: JohnL at 11:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK. I have a couple of regular features now: the Sunday Aircraft Cheesecake postings and the Weekly SF Babe Poll.

I originally got into this blogging thing to stretch my authorial (writerly?) muscles, but I haven't done nearly as much original writing as I had planned. I've heard that any writer needs to write a million words of crap (MWOC) before getting published.

Now, I'm in a good position in my legal career, and I'm not really looking to change anything. However, I would love to write something other than contracts and get paid for it someday.

Query: should the words on this blog count toward the proverbial MWOC? I'm thinking about yet another feature: the MWOC feature, which would contain my fictional offering with a word count and a running tally of the number of words written (with a countdown from the million-word goal).

What do you think? Little Miss Attila and Pixy have talked about maybe having a Munuvian writers' group. I wonder if this would be a way to kick that idea off.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:06 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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When I saw President Clinton hold up a mock "Health Security" card during his 1995 State of the Union address, I had what I thought was a brilliant flash for a science fiction story of some kind. I imagined a future in which the Health Security card became a regular part of commercial life in the same way that our Social Security numbers have become a part of our everyday credit approval process. Since it was described as a "smart card" with medical records embedded on it, I imagined a world in which people weren't allowed to buy ice cream, butter, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. because their card indicated they were a health risk to the cash register.

Well, it looks like someone else has had a similar idea, even though a different political party is now in power.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today's Geekpress contained a link to this fascinating article explaining how to write English like Chinese (Hanzi or Kanji).

I've been beating my head against Kanji and the Kana alphabets of Japan for the past few years. This article really enlightened me on the radical-root system for listing Chinese characters. Check it out.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Via the Llamabutchers:

1. Go To Mapquest.com.
2. Click on "Directions."
3. Enter your current address and the address of your childhood home (or at least the town if you don't remember the exact address).
4. Put the time and distance in a post like this.
5. Repost the instructions to the meme in your own blog.

Here are my results:

Total Est. Time: 24 minutes Total Est. Distance: 16.77 miles

Posted by: JohnL at 11:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This week's poll returns us to the universe of the original Star Trek series, featuring two repeat candidates -- T'Pring and Nurse Chapel -- along with three new contenders. All of these ladies had some sort of romantic encounter (even if rebuffed in a couple of instances) with Commender Spock at some point during the three-season run of the original series.

First up, the Romulan Commander (portrayed by Joanne Linville) from The Enterprise Incident:

T'Pring (portrayed by Arlene Martel) in Amok Time:

Nurse Chapel (portrayed by Majel Barrett) in The Naked Time:

Zarabeth (portrayed by Mariette Hartley) in All Our Yesterdays:

Leila Kolomi (portrayed by Jill Ireland), from This Side of Paradise:

Be sure to check out the Gallery for last week's winner.

Results (Posted 25 January 2005):

Romulan Commander - 11 of 86 votes (13%)
T'Pring - 13 of 86 votes (15%)
Nurse Chapel - 3 of 86 votes (3%)
Zarabeth - 30 of 86 votes (35%) (WINNER)
Leila Kolomi - 29 of 86 votes (34%)

Posted by: JohnL at 09:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Chan and Don are doing it, so I might as well throw my hat in the ring, too, on the top-ten greatest rock/pop songs of all time. I toyed with the idea of listing my 10 subjective favorites and then offering an objective list, but soon realized the "objective" list would be nothing more than a lawyered-up subjective list with appeals to authority.

Without further ado, and in order of preference:

1. The Ocean, Led Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy). Most such lists include Stairway to Heaven, but this song completely blows just about every other Zeppelin song away. Killer riff rock with a nod to doo-wop at the end. How much better can rock get?

2. Tom Sawyer, Rush (Moving Pictures). A defining moment: the 70s are over. Welcome to the 80s. Searing synthesizer filter-sweep destined for future sampling. Great lines: "Though his mind is not for rent/To any god or government/Always hopeful yet discontent/He knows changes aren't permanent/But change is."

3. Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix (Are You Experienced?). Like "The Ocean," the opening riff of this song is simply legendary.

4. A Day in the Life, The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). Incredible orchestration for a pop song. The E-chord on the three grand pianos at the end is but the cherry on this mega-ice-cream sundae.

5. South Side of the Sky, Yes (Fragile). This song doesn't merely kick in after the soft, melodic interlude -- it kicks ass.

6. Tarkus, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (Tarkus). The apotheosis of prog rock. The best version of this is the live one on Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends, Ladies and Gentlemen... A 20-minute-long SF-flavored epic with killer keyboards and drums.

7. Nights in White Satin, The Moody Blues (Days of Future Passed). Was ever a better make-out song written?

8. Back in Black, AC/DC (Back in Black). No comment necessary. Really.

9. Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty (City to City). Everyone knows the sax riff, and I bet most everyone plays "air guitar" during the sweet guitar solo.

10. Plush, Stone Temple Pilots (Core). One test of a great rock song is how good it sounds "unplugged." This song passes that test, and nicely represents the sound of the early 90s.

Update: This meme originated (this time around, at least) with Norman Geras, whom both Chan and Don cited. Submit your choices to Norman by January 16.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:35 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm reading Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein. This little exchange between a ship's commanding officer (Brisby) and his paymaster/legal officer ("Pay") reminded me of some clients I've had:

Brisby scowled. "Pay, you aren't working for me to tell me I can't do things."

"Yes, sir."

"You're here to tell me how I can do what I'm going to do anyhow. So start digging through your books and find out how. Legally. And free."

"Aye aye, sir."

I'm sure most of my lawyer readers can relate.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:18 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This week's cheesecake is a bit of an ugly duckling. Perhaps one of the most asymmetrical military aircraft ever flown, the Blohm und Voss B.V. 141:

Posted by: JohnL at 09:23 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Cheesecake, electric organs -- what more could you ask for? All this and more from this great gallery of album covers (mostly from the late-50s to early 60s, judging by their look). It doesn't have Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's Whipped Cream and Other Delights, which was the raciest-looking album in my parents' collection, but I won't hold that against them.

(Via J-Walk, via RocketJones).

Posted by: JohnL at 09:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of my favorite libertarian bloggers, Stephen Green, is back. He took an extended vacation from blogging over the holidays.

I wouldn't have posted much, either, if I had been assembling an Imperial Star Destroyer out of more than 3000 LEGOs.

He fisks Krugman a new one, too.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Rob the Llamabutcher tries to figure out whether Tolkien is the property of liberals or conservatives. Certainly a lot of hippies and counterculture types usually thought of as "liberals" loved Tolkien's fantasies. Conservatives love the struggle (and triumph) of good over evil.

I posted a lengthy comment there, and reproduce it below the fold: more...

Posted by: JohnL at 10:48 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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