There Are So Many Reasons...

...why I love science.

I love the simplicity of science. I love the grandeur of the view of the universe we derive from it. I love the way that it shows us that reality both is and is not the way we see it. I love that it explains why things are the way they are. I love that it is humble and not afraid to say "We just don't know" when faced with the yet to be explained. I love the poetry of science.

Poetry of science?

Here's Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson answering a question with that poetry.



So, yeah. The poetry of science.

That Art Stuff

An old canvas I started many, many moons ago. I finally had the urge to pull out the pastels and do something with it.



And, no, I won't be quitting my day job.

Ah, Nostalgia. Actually, Nostalgia Updated.

Posted below is a very cool reimagining of the currently released trailer for this summer's big Marvel geekfest, The Avengers. Leo Curbelo Films recut a bunch of 1960's Marvel cartoons (and used Nick Fury from the 90's Iron Man cartoon since he didn't appear in any of the 60's stuff) into a ditto of it. Just geeky good stuff here.



If you liked it, you might also enjoy this side by side version, just for kicks.



We truly are living in the golden age of geekdom.

I Didn't Know That April Fools' Day Was For Giving!

I'm absolutely breathless with anticipation of Season 2 of Game of Thrones. The first season was amazing television, but suffered a bit from a budgetarily driven smallness at times. The acting and direction largely picked up the slack, but there were some disappointingly small scale to some of what should have been the larger moments. It looks like Season 2 won't suffer the same way. They seem to have upped the "epic" side of things nicely.



Winter is coming.

Oh, baby!

Just A Little Painting

I had the painting bug last night and picked this guy out of my many unpainted miniatures. He was purchased many years ago but only ever got a little primer slapped on him. He's about an inch and a half tall to the tip of his hat and I decided that he looked more like a hedge wizard than a court wizard, so I went with earth browns and leaf greens with a white cloak trimmed with grey fur and instead of the expect grey and white I gave him blonde hair. He's got a blue and gold wand and a blue bag of tricks for some colour "pop". I painted him from start to finish last night using Reaper Miniature Master Series Paints. I love the paint selection from Reaper and the quality is second to none.



He's not perfect by a long stretch, but he's one of my better efforts. I used a wet palette for almost the first time and I gotta say, it's the best method out there for this kind of start to finish work. Being able to go back to paint I put out hours ago and still have it as pliable as when it first came out of the bottle is a huge improvement over a dry palette.

I hope you like him!

This Is SUPER

For those readers unfamiliar with the work, Tim Daly voiced Superman in Superman - The Animated Series for its entire run in the late nineties and has since reprised the role in three of DC's direct to dvd releases, Superman/Batman - Public Enemies, Superman/Batman - Apocalypse and Justice League - Doom. Nathan Fillion played Vigilante in the Justice League Unlimited, Steve Trevor in the direct to DVD animated Wonder Woman and fan pressure (we wanted him to play the live action Lantern) put him behind the microphone as Green Lantern for Green Lantern - Tales of the Corps and Justice League - Doom.

That's the background you need. Not knowing what it would be like not to have a head full of such useless trivia, I assume this wouldn't be funny without it.

Now watch this:


I think I broke my funny.

So PROUD!

Hee hee!

As I write this, Bishop has a mouse cornered! It's her first one. Rook got involved but he doesn't have her patience and has since wandered off.

She actually had it caught, twice. Sadly, she's a little gunshy and I may have to step in (if she can catch it again!) and put it out of its misery before she does something horror movie worthy.

Looks like these furballs might actually earn their keep after all.

Hee hee!

I'm SO Jealous!

This is video of a guy in Saskatchewan who is using remote controlled toys to dig out his basement. The one I've embedded will lead you to about a dozen others if you're interested. Personally, I was giggling all the way through them. What a great way to marry a hobby and a practical project! Granted, it'll take him about a decade or so to finish, but he says he's in no hurry, so good for him!



Awesome!

Ghost Rider 2 - Spirit of Vengeance

I just came back from the opening night of the new Ghost Rider flick.

To say it's better than the first movie is pretty much saying "Hey, the sky is blue." You would have a hard time making a worse movie than the original Ghost Rider, so there's that.

Not having high expectations going in, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was actually enjoying this one. Cage is better in it (somehow, he almost looks younger now!) than the first one, at once more reserved in his character and cutting loose more effectively.

The female lead was palatable (again, out performing Eva Mendes in the first movie is not exactly setting the bar very high - I have mold in my fridge that could deliver a line with more conviction) if nothing special. The kid as well, but I will say I can see him growing into a solid leading actor someday.

The villains are better too, particularly the supporting gopher villain guy. Kinda have to be, since Peter Fonda spent the first movie in something like an emotional coma and the supporting gopher in that film just outright sucked.

The visuals are WAY ahead of the first one. The Rider's charred skull sits atop a visible spine, its halo of flames pumping out black oily smoke all the while, making him ten times more menacing than he was as the the disembodied flaming white skull from the first film. The bike is simply bad-ass, again far more aggressive and dangerous feeling than the bike from the first one. Visually I'd put this up against any action movie out there, it's just nasty good. Well, minus the stupid shakey-cam that makes an occasional appearance.

The story is basically Terminator 2, with the Rider having to save the kid who is the destroyer, not the saviour of mankind. The movie is full of chases and set piece fights that I thought were done very, very well. Sure, the story is a bit predictable, the characters too, but this isn't a movie you go to if you want Oscar quality performances. It's a kablooie-fest.

I was particularly impressed with the quarry battle, 'cuz it brought the BOOM! Some very creative use of heavy machinery and shoulder mounted missles there. Fun stuff all around.

For a straight up action movie I'd give it a B-. I'm still not sold on Cage in the role, the main villain wasn't nearly as menacing as he should be, some of the plot was a bit disjointed, but overall the film worked for me.

Plus, as much as it sucked, I own a copy of Ghost Rider. So what do I know, right?

DC Comics Chess Set News

Hey all.

I was just surfing over at bleedingcool.com as I often do and found an article about a DC Comics chess set offered in Great Britain on a piece by piece basis to those who subscribe to...okay, I admit I didn't get that far before curiosity got the better of me and I clicked the video.

Nice set, good looking pieces. Too bad I ain't British!

Still, what's newsworthy for me is that in the post video youtube gallery there's my little old handpainted DC Comics Chess Set video right next to the one I just watched. Sweet!

So, if any of you are dropping by here as a result of the bleedingcool.com or youtube links, I'd love to hear it!

If you want to see more of what I've done on this front, click here to go to my chess set blog. The top post is a video for my Marvel set, followed by a lengthy post of pictures of the final adjustments made to some of the figures. Below that you'll find video for the DC set and the Star Wars set that I've made. Tons more pix and explanation if you keep on going back in time on the blog.

I hope you enjoy!

It seems that the link has disappeared from bleedingcool while I wrote this. Sigh.

Ten Bucks Well Spent

Back in the summer I was working on one of those great summer days when everybody hauls their junk out of the cellar or the garage, sets up some lawn chairs and hopes that some fool drives by who will buy what they're only going to throw out the next day.

A bit of haggling and ten bucks later, I'm wrestling a drafting table into my work truck.

I like to draw every now and then but without a decent table in the living room (and regular readers know that I can't leave my cats and plants alone in the same room for long) I rarely bother anymore. So these days I have the drafting table set up and handy in the living room for those moments the drawing bug hits.

Voila.



A quick rendering of Jay Garrick, the original Flash from the 40's and 50's. All credit to the original artist that I blatantly ripped off...

Now I Know What I Want For Christmas!

Cute kitty video got nuthin' on baby sloths!

I'd Growl With Rage...

If only it wouldn't make me cry like a baby to do so.

I've been battling (unsuccessfully it would seem) a cold for a week now. It started very mild, continued very mild until today. Now it seems I have developed from cold sufferer to laryngitis sufferer.

When I finished work today, I stopped at the grocery store to stock up on cold stuff. Not cold meds (those I have) but orange juice and soup!

But.

They were OUT of Campbell's Chicken Noodle! How can a store be out of Cambell's Chicken Noodle soup? Arg!

It's my "I have a cold and need something quick, easy, hot and filling" soup!

It's just not fair, I tells ya.

Update - Humanity AND Justice In A Superman Story

It's not often that I get a chance to tell my readers (I think that there might still be a couple of you out there...) about a really happy ending AND a bit of justice served.

A while back, I related a story about Mike Meyer, a mentally disabled man who had his extensive Superman collection plundered by a man he met at a local comic book store. Long story short, the dastardly fink was arrested following another lowlife crime (he assaulted a senior citizen who had hired him to do some work for him) and the collection was largely returned to Meyers. By that time the fanboy community had rallied around Meyers and replaced (and then some) what he had lost.

Great story to that point.

When the collection was returned, Meyers was asked what he'd do with the extra stuff that the comic book community had donated and he said at the time that he'd likely donate it to a children's hospital as a way to repay the generosity of his fellow Superman fans.

To me, that was the point where I realized that the real hero of the piece was Meyer himself. Mentally disabled he may be, victim he may have been, but this man is a super man in the truest sense.

Imagine my delight as I scanned the interwebs today and found these two stories:

From blog.cleveland.com (go there to see a pic of Meyer and the sketch mentioned below)


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In the very room where a young Jerry Siegel created Superman, Mike Meyer sat transfixed Monday as he drew his own sketch of his hero.

Meyer, 48 and mentally disabled, said sitting in that room in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood was a lifelong dream he never thought would come true. Several months ago, a man posing as a friend stole Meyer's comic and Superman memorabilia collection from his Granite City, Ill., home.

John Dudas, owner of Carol and John's Comics in the Kamm's Corner neighborhood, flew Meyer and a friend into Cleveland to see where it all began. They also flew in Keith Howard of Belleville, Ill., who represented the Superfriends of Metropolis group that organized a nationwide effort to replace the stolen items.

Howard has several Superman costumes, but the one he wore Monday is modeled after the uniform Superman wore in his earlier adventure, which is fitting considering the occasion.

Hattie and Jefferson Gray, who own the home where Siegel once lived, were happy for the visit.

"We get people driving by here all the time, some even stopping in and asking if they can see 'the room,' said Jefferson Gray. "But this is special."

Dudas collected 200 pounds of Superman items that he sent to Meyer and was ecstatic when Tracey Kirksey of the Siegel and Shuster Society and the Glenville Development Corp. offered the one present every Superman fans wants: a private tour of the Siegel house.

"I feel like I'm connected with Siegel and Shuster, a piece of history was created here," Meyer said, looking around the living room of 10622 Kimberley Ave. He walked to an old desk in Jerry Siegel's bedroom on the second floor and timidly asked, "Can I sit here?"

"When Jerry lived here this was a very crowded house," explained Jefferson Gray. "He used to write his Superman stories here, on the third floor and even in the basement, wherever he could."

The colorful entourage went upstairs to the tiny third floor room where Jerry did much of his script writing. The room is now full of Superman items that Jefferson has collected over the years -- a Superman record played in the background Monday. Meyer took it all in and then sat down and drew a perfect sketch of his hero with a speed that Joe Shuster would envy. He signed that one and two others he made and presented them to the Grays to be enshrined in the room.

Today, Meyer will visit other Superman Cleveland landmarks, including the site of the old Siegel and Shuster art studio and the building at 750 Huron Road, which is believed to be the model for the Daily Planet.

He will visit shops like Comic Heaven in Willoughby, North Coast Nostalgia in Parma and York Comics in Parma, where he will receive gift certificates. He will also receive a gift certificate to Big Fun on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights.

The whirlwind vacation concludes tonight at 7 p.m. with a party at Carol and John's Comic Shop with local members of the Facebook group, Pop!: The Comic Culture Club, which helped Dudas organize the donation. They will watch classic Superman television and cartoon episodes, a Superman fan's paradise.

And lest anyone feel sorry for Meyer and his lost Superman trove, like the old-fashioned Superman comics, there is a happy ending.

Police arrested the man who talked his way into Meyer's home and stole his valuables. Most have been recovered and returned to Meyer.

But what about the comics and gifts from Superman fans across the nation that were sent to Meyer?

He took a cue from the Man of Steel and donated them to the Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, to inspire sick children.

Because that's what Superman would do.

Yeah, that's awesome. Superman could take lessons in humanity from this humble man.

And finally, from BND.com:

Lex Luthor is behind bars: The man who stole a mentally disabled man's Superman collection will go to prison.
Gerry Armbruster, 37, pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing a massive Superman memorabilia collection from Mike Meyer, a mentally disabled man who works at McDonald's and adores the DC Comics superhero. Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli sentenced Armbruster to six years in prison.

Armbruster had tricked Meyer into showing him the collection and stole it while Meyer was distracted while watching a movie in his Granite City home, police said.

Comic-book fan groups, actors and celebrities associated with the Superman franchise engineered a massive international effort to replace the collection, which was delivered by local Superman fans, some of them in costume.

However, police caught up to Armbruster in September while investigating another crime: he had beaten and robbed a 76-year-old man who was trying to hire him to clean up a vacant business on the block.

Armbruster pleaded guilty to residential burglary and aggravated battery, according to Madison County State's Attorney spokesman Stephanee Smith.

He should be grateful that there weren't any Superman fanboys on the jury or he'd have likely fared a lot worse based on the howls of outrage I read surrounding the story. The range of suggested comic book related punishments for his crime was both imaginative and disturbing. I wonder if he ever imagined that his one claim to fame would be being the most villified man on the planet among comic book geeks?

For the record, I think that's a reasonable sentence. With parole and good behaviour he'll likely be inside for 2 or 3 years. I'd say justice is served.

Okay, Now That Is Just COOL!

Nope, this isn't Lucas's latest CGI-fest. This is time lapse photography taken from the International Space Station with a special low light camera.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

"Mind blowing" is the phrase that comes to mind when viewing the images.

You can read more about the photography at Universe Today.

From The Pen Of Penn

Penn (of Penn and Teller) recently released his new book, God, No. I've said before on the blog that I'd steer clear of religion in general but I think most will agree that this isn't exactly a religious post, nor is it really about atheism. Penn's book is about his own atheism and I haven't read it so I can't comment on it, nor would I do so here.

What this post is about is living. More specifically, it addresses the idea of "rules to live by" for those who don't follow one holy book or another. I've been asked the question "well, if you don't believe in (insert appropriate deity/prophet/messiah here) then where do you get your morality" and my response has always been something like "from my logic, my humanity and our common laws". We could (and I have) argue religious influence on law and such for hours, but I promised that this wouldn't be a religion post.

What I'm going to show you here is Penn's own version of the Ten Commandments. In his case he calls it an Atheist Ten Commandments, but really once you read 'em I think you'll agree that it's really more of a Humanity's Ten Commandments.

1. The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity and love. Respect these above all.

2. Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let's scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra— but when your house is on fire, I'll be there to help.)

3. Say what you mean, even when talking to yourself. (What used to be an oath to (G)od is now quite simply respecting yourself.)

4. Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you're religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you're a Vegas magician, that'll be the day with the lowest grosses.)

5. Be there for your family. Love your parents, your partner, and your children. (Love is deeper than honor, and parents matter, but so do spouse and children.)

6. Respect and protect all human life. (Many believe that "Thou shalt not kill" only refers to people in the same tribe. I say it's all human life.)

7. Keep your promises. (If you can't be sexually exclusive to your spouse, don't make that deal.)

8. Don't steal. (This includes magic tricks and jokes — you know who you are!)

9. Don't lie. (You know, unless you're doing magic tricks and it's part of your job. Does that make it OK for politicians, too?)

10. Don't waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious; it'll make you bugnutty.

I'm no theologian but these 10 make more sense to me than most of the religiously inspired "morality" I've seen and read about in my life. Don't get me wrong, I know full well that religion can and does inspire works of great compassion and charity, I just think that everyone, religious or not, would benefit from reading, thinking about and hopefully trying to live by Penn's more grounded version of those stone carved rules.

That's not to say that he has it perfectly correct, either. There's not really a provision to protect women and children from sexual abuse, not to friviolously litigate and on and on. He does make a good start though and it's worth taking a look at.

A Touch of Cassini

No, this isn't some new art print. It' a picture of four (yes four) of Saturn's moons juxtaposed with a part of the ring system of the planet. Cassini took it as hung around the system on September 17, 2011.


Truly breathtaking.

For more on the image (including where that pesky fourth moon is hiding), click here.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!

Avengers Assemble!

May can't come soon enough!

A Different Kind Of Superman

I've been following a story at Bleedingcool.com for a week or so and it ended so well that I have to share.

It seems that a mentally disabled man named Mike Meyers who had been collecting Superman memorabilia most of his life had his collection stolen by someone who conned his way into the guy's apartment after meeting him at a comic book store.

You can read the original story here.

When Bleeding Cool reported the story, there was a groundswell response from the fanboy community. While calling for the thief's head on a kryptonite platter, the community started sending Mike all sorts of Superman collectibles to replace what had been stolen. That alone was enough to melt even the most cynical heart.

You can read that story here.

Today it was reported that an arrest had been made in the case. Not only that, but the stolen Superman stuff was found and returned to Mike Meyers. Once again, I'm a bit misty over this. Great stuff.

You can read that story here.

Be sure to read that last story all the way to the end. You'll see an update from St. Louis today"

"As for his Superman collection, Meyer now has close to double what he had lost. Smith has about 40 more items ready to be delivered, and dozens more have been promised. Meyer said he wants to take the donations and give them to charity, possibly delivering them to a children’s hospital.

“People were generous to me; this is how I can be generous in return,” he said."

And here I was thinking that the fanboy community was the superhero in this story.

More Superman Stuff!

Below we have one of the first really clear pix of Henry Cavill in his Superman outfit. They've made some changes to the costume (most of which line up with the new version of the iconic Superman suit we'll be seeing this month in DC's relaunch of they're entire comic book line) that work fairly well.

Many in the fanboy community are angry about the lack of red trunks, yellow belt and general brightness in the new costume. I've done a quick colour correct/paint to show the changes that they're clamouring for on the web. To my eye, the difference doesn't warrant all the fuss.























I will admit I miss the red trunks for a sense of symmetry, but it's just not that big a deal. Cavill looks HUGE in the costume and I say he looks more like the Superman I see in my mind than any who have gone before.

If I had had any say in the costume, I might have argued for this, more subtle changed. It gives the impression of a break in the blue bodysuit without the silly underwear on the outside look.

If You Could Get In Your Car...

...and drive straight UP at about 77,600 MILES PER HOUR (My car only goes this fast on the way home if I have hot food in the car) for 20 days or so, then turn around and take a picture, this is what you'd see:



Earth & Moon Portrait -
First Photo transmitted from Jupiter Bound Juno
This image of Earth (on the left) and the moon (on the right) was taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Aug. 26, 2011, when the spacecraft was about 6 million miles (9.66 million kilometers) away. It was taken by the spacecraft's onboard camera, JunoCam. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech



Long time blog readers will know of my reverence for Carl Sagan's impassioned Pale Blue Dot speech, which he wrote in reaction to a similar image of our little planet, suspended in a filament of light that was taken by one of the Voyager spacecraft. I think this image is as important and while I am no scientist or philosopher, I do have some thoughts of my own on it.



Consider these two pinpoints of light. The slightly larger one is us. All of us. Everyone alive right now lives somewhere on that tiny speck of light. Hurricanes, earthquakes, wars and plagues rage violently across its surface. Individuals, families, tribes and countries live and die here every day, but to the universe our home shows only a peaceful glint of pale blue light. Had the spacecraft that imaged this picture turned its lens a few degrees left, right, up or down, our entire existence would literally be out of the picture.

A few degrees.

To us, the world is a huge, all-encompassing place and it comprises everything we are, everything we know, everything we love, everything we hate, everything we ever hope to achieve. Yet viewed from the outside, the Earth is tiny, insignificant, hopelessly lost in the background of the universe. Here we sit, on our speck, supposing ourselves important.

The smaller light is our tiny moon and the distance between the two represents the farthest that mankind has ever travelled. We think of those journeys as milestones in human history, even though a viewer from outside our solar system would categorise our monumental odyssey to the moon as nothing more than a local sightseeing trip. As the universe reckons these things, humanity has had less impact upon its stage than a flea travelling on the back of an elephant has affected all of our planet's history.

So, rejoice in the knowledge that no matter the crisis, no matter the celebration, we live snug on our little mote of light, orbited by an even smaller jot of light, floating in a vast cosmic ocean of planets, stars and other more wondrous objects and events, all of which will continue to dwarf us and our progeny for the next several billion years. Our tiny pinpoints of light are all we have and likely all we'll ever get. Given how well we humans have managed our resources and ourselves thus far, one can imagine that the universe might judge that it is probably just as well that we are so marooned on our tiny, dim archipelago.

Our islands of light are so small, so fragile and we are totally dependent upon them for our survival. It is good to see them for what they really are once in a while.

Pix and Stuff

The other day I had the rare opportunity to photograph a deer. I see them all the time, but by the time I get my camera out, poof.

This was on a back road and I spotted this little lady a ways away and stopped the truck to grab my camera. Fortunately, she didn't spook easily.


So after I got the first pic, I eased the truck forward.


Closer.


And finally I was about 15 or 20 feet from her. She never moved. Until she did.


Poof.

This next one was taken from a bridge. I've tried to get shots of herons before, but like the deer they're usually gone by the time I fumble my camera out of the glove box. This pic was taken at the extreme end of my zoom with the sun behind me, so I was basically shooting blind. Fortunately the camera didn't shake too much.



Rook in the window. Not a bad picture.


I think this one is better though. Sorta greeting card-ish.


That was a lot of work!

Go Ahead. I Dare You.

Try to watch this and not find yourself blinking furiously and wondering if you just saw what you saw. I dare you.

I've posted the checkerboard illusion before (with a really, really complex explanation linked to it) but this demonstrates it brilliantly.



I'm off to buy stock in Tylenol.

The Cape! It's All About The Cape!

Check out these pix of the various dudes who've played Superman. Pay particular attention to the cape, where it fastens to the collar.


This is one of the things that has ALWAYS pissed me off about the various Superman costumes. Superman's cape should look regal, imposing, noble. In every case, it looks like they tucked the damned thing inside his collar and pinned it there, the way my Mom used to do with a towel when I wanted to play superhero as a kid.

This is the classic look, gathered and attached at the collar bone, which means that the cape is WAY wider than the body wearing it, giving it volume and character when Superman moves. Look how much volume there is in the cape, compared to all the towels pinned to all the shirts above.


I have yet to see this on film. They tried something like it in the early days of Lois and Clark, but the result was chunky and comical rather than noble.


After an episode or two, Dean's Mom tucked his cape inside his collar and pinned it there for him.



Today, WB released the first picture of Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel. I am SO happy!


Go here for a bigger version of the picture.

While the blogosphere explodes with fanboys whining that Cavill has too much hair, the shield is too big, or the texture of the suit is distracting (seriously, I've read those three complaints like a dozen different places so far), I for one am STOKED that somebody FINALLY got the damned cape right! The rest looks just fine to me. Cavill has the "I'm a nice guy, but also hold the power of a god in my little finger and you just really, really ticked me off" look down, too!

Can't. Friggin'. WAIT!

Aww...

From bleedingcool.com comes a pic from this year's ComicCon:

“This kid had lost his dad in the crowd, and freaked out until he saw the Flash and Wonder Woman. He went up to the Flash to ask for help, because he knows him.”


Now, that's a sweet story with (I assume) a happy ending.

ComicCon: Taking the creepy out of men in full body spandex, one rescue at a time.

It's Not All That Often...

...that I come up with a new concept. Something that is (to the best of my knowledge) completely my own idea and which covers unbroken ground is a rare and wonderous thing.

So, here is my new meme.

I want you to think about the top 5 stupidest things you've ever seen, heard, thought or done.

Put the list in order, with number one being the very, very, very stupidest thing you know of. It could be something someone did that you witnessed, something someone (or you) said or an idea that you've only heard about. Doesn't matter.

From here on, that's your list. Five things that mark the stupidest low points you know of.

Keep that list in your head, forever.

Now enters my new meme.

If, at any point in the future, you see, hear, think or do anything that supercedes those five things, you have to think of that new thing as:

Proto-stupid.

Proto-stupidity is any concept or action that is so profoundly ridiculous, idiotic or stupid that it actually leaves the average person's scale of dumb and comes before number one on a list of the stupidest ideas or actions know of up to that point.

I submit my thinking about this concept for over a half an hour as a prime candidate.

Well Now, Ain't That Purdy!

These are growing on my side of the fence, but I must confess that they are not my doing. My neighbour has the green thumb. I'm lucky if my weeds don't die.




And no, I don't know what kind of flowers they are beyond "purple and pretty".

"Needst" Is Not A Word...

Okay, so I came within a hair's breadth of growing up to be these guys...



At some point in High School, I discovered that Dungeons and Dragons wasn't quite as cool as Beer and Blunts.

I'm still going to go see this and laugh my ass off.

The Latest From Here And There

This? This is the world's shyest kitty cat. I'm baby-sitting my neighbour's cat, Frannie and this is about all I've seen of her.


I coaxed her out from under the couch with some treats (that's her paw above, slyly pulling the treats under the couch one at a time) but she stuck around for exactly two pix.

She's cute...but elusive.

These are a couple of horses I met in my travels recently. I could only take a few pix, since standing too close meant risking the laces in my boots getting eaten. Very friendly, very, very hungry.

And finally...before...

...and after.

Rook needed a shave and he finally got it today. He's half the man he used to be!

One Small Step For Students...

Well, I suppose it had to happen. I'm still left shaking my head a bit.

From Time.com:


Typing Beats Scribbling: Indiana Schools Can Stop Teaching Cursive


Who still writes in cursive?

That age-old writing method you might never have used since fourth grade will no longer be taught in Indiana schools come fall, thanks to a memo from school officials. Instead, students will be expected to become proficient in keyboard use.

Seems like a smart move as being able to type efficiently is a vital skill in today's world, as opposed to knowing how to write cursive, which — like being able to churn butter and knowing how to hitch a horse to a wagon — is no longer needed.




Click here to read the whole article.

The best part of the article is the idle speculation about how future students will learn to sign their names. Personally, I figure we'll transition to some form of biometrics (retina scan, finger print, etc) by then, leading to a whole new class of crime, known as "Identity Dismemberment".

The comment section stopped me cold.

"Rocky" won the annual "BEST INTERNET COMMENT EVER" contest with:

"Ha! A secret language for us old people that the entitled little punks won't be able to read.
Muahahahahahhaha!"

Kitties!

Dad! Help me out here! I caught this futon for you and it just won't die!


You mean you kilt this futon all by yerself? I can't believe it!

This Is The First Time...

...that I've ever heard of a good reason for a flight delay.

From Cnn.com:

Love is in the air at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. More than 150 turtles crossed over an active runway and disrupted air traffic on Wednesday so that they could continue their mating season.

The diamondback terrapins were trying to get to an ideal location to lay their eggs. That's a sandy area that happens to be across Runway 4, according to Carol Bannerman of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The turtles were primarily female, and the fertilization of their eggs occurs in the water, Bannerman said.

JFK is surrounded by a bay and wetland areas.

Read the whole article here.

I've heard of swimming the deepest ocean and climbing the highest mountain, but I don't think I'd ever cross an airport runway for nookie.

Best Movie Tie-In, EVER

Usually, fast food or retail tie-ins for movies (particularly superhero films) either make me yawn or gag. This one made me cheer.



Oh and note that the dog's name is Stanley. That's just awesome sauce.

Been A While

My roommates haven't put in an appearance around here in a while. Thought they should do their part.

Bishop, sittin' pretty.


Rook, displaying an almost Greybishop-ian love of books...


...and napping.

More Conan, More Gore!

Below you'll find the "Red Band" Trailer for Conan the Barbarian. It's aimed at the 18+ audience that will be legally allowed to see the movie when it hits theaters.

To be honest, I don't see the big deal (no nudity, no language, just blood 'n' guts) that makes it "18+" but I'm not the arbiter of these things.

Please don't click if you're not over 18.



It seems to me that they've incorporated a bit of Jason Momoa's Ronin character from Stargate Atlantis into this. Lines like "How many names do I need?" and "Not bad" seem more Ronin than Conan. I'm on the fence about that, but hopefully the movie as a whole will make them seem a bit less obvious. I'm still more excited about this than I can express! A RESTRICTED (meaning violent in the extreme!) Conan is a dream come true!

I'd Explain Just How Excited I Am About This...

...but then you'd all think I was really, really wierd.

Just watch the new Conan The Barbarian TV spot.



Now watch it again while imagining me squeeling like a girl through the whole thing.

Disturbing, i'n'it?

Geek Guys Identify!

It's so friggin' true.

Aww.

I'm not much of a one for gimmicks and I'm certainly not the authority on relationships and marriage, but if any of my friends ever came to me and asked me to help in producing a flashy marriage proposal, like the done to death Jumbotron at the game proposal or some silly trick proposal at work, I'd do my best to convince them to go with the old down on one knee shtick. Classics are classics for a reason.

Still, this guy deserves a medal for the effort and I gotta say, it made me laugh and I'm certain that she'll never forget it.

You will note that after all the film, sweat and popcorn, he went with the old down on one knee shtick. Classics are classics for a reason.

Frazetta Would Be Flattered (And Maybe Interested In Pursuing Litigation!)

Take the power of this:


The layout of this:


Add the raw energy of this:


Mix 'em all together and you'll get something like:


Of all the movie posters I've ever seen, this one is the most like a live action Frazetta painting. Regardless of how Conan The Barbarian does in 3D, the poster is immortal.

Kepler. The Gift That Keeps On Giving.

Long time blog readers might remember that a couple of years ago people were invited to compose a 500 word message to send into space on a dvd on the Kepler probe. Yours truly is one of the many voices out there in the void. I don't have kids, so that's about as close to immortality as I'll ever come. That's a pretty sweet notion to attach to a piece of hardware floaing in space.

More important, by far, than my little slice of eternity is the reason that Kepler is out there in the first place: Finding earth-like planets that might have a chance of harbouring life. That's a really sweet notion.

And yet, Kepler isn't done giving.

From Time.com:
In the two years since it went into space, the Kepler satellite has revolutionized the search for planets around other stars. Before Kepler went into space, about 500 so-called exoplanets had been found, one by painstaking one over the course of more than a decade. Since then, Kepler has added another 1,200, and that's just a fraction of the planets the probe will ultimately discover. (To be technical, the bodies Kepler finds are known as "candidate planets" that need confirmation, but no one doubts that the vast majority of them are real.)

One reason Kepler has been so wildly successful is that it stares at a huge number of stars — some 150,000 of them, around the clock — looking for tiny dips of light. That change in luminescence indicates that a planet is passing in front of the star. No human could possibly sort through all that data, so the Kepler team has created a kind of sifter software that looks for patterns hinting at orbiting planets.

But while computers are terrific at high-volume data-processing, nothing beats the human eye for pattern-recognition — which is why a project dreamed up by Yale University astronomer Debra Fischer, a veteran planet hunter and Kepler project scientist, has turned out to be so extraordinarily useful. Called Planethunters.org, it lets ordinary folks with no scientific training at all help find planets the Kepler software has missed. It works so well that in just a few short months of operation, the more than 22,000 visitors to the website have found nearly 50 potential planets, which are being sent on to Kepler headquarters at the NASA Ames Research Center in California for followup.

You might think the planethunters team would require people who click on the site to undergo a fair amount of online training before allowing them to look at real data — but you'd be wrong. "We've got all sorts of online tutorials which explain the science," says Fischer. "But people don't have to look at them, and most don't."

Instead, you can cut straight to the real stuff : a simple explanation of what you're supposed to look for (a series of regular dips in a given star's "lightcurve," which is just a graph of its brightness over time) and how use an onscreen box to mark any suspicious spots. That's pretty much it — except that the last screen asks: "Logged in users get to see the best stars and get credit for their work. Would you like to login?" Think many folks say no?

Once they start looking, says Fischer, some people stay only a short while, but others hang in, looking for dips and answering simple online questions about them. "We have people doing 100 [stars], 5,000 — the users created their own 5,000 club — and even 20,000." No one sighting qualifies as a likely detection, but if enough users finger the same star, the scientists take notice.

"It really is the wisdom of the crowd," says Meg Schwamb, a Yale postdoctoral fellow who serves as the lead project scientist. When users prove unusually good at spotting potential planets, says Fischer, "we upgrade them, and weigh their opinions more heavily."

The scientists at Kepler mission headquarters, meanwhile, by no means resent contributions from the untutored masses. Quite the contrary. "It's absolutely no surprise to me that they'd find planet candidates we missed," says Natalie Batalha, Deputy Principal Investigator for the Kepler mission. Software can pick up signals the human eye and brain can't, she says, but it has to account for the fact that individual stars vary in brightness even when they don't have planets. You don't want to mistake a pulsating star for a star that dims because of a planet's shadow. "Our software does a good job of weeding out these stars, but it's not perfect," Batalha concedes.

Indeed, says astronomer Chris Lintott, currently at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, this isn't the first time the untrained human brain has been able to help astronomers out. Back in 2007, Lintott and his grad student Kevin Schawinski were trying to catalog a million galaxies by shape. Schawinski did about 50,000, but balked at looking at the other 950,000. Together, they created something called Galaxy Zoo, which let amateurs do the identifying for them. "Recognizing patterns," says Lintott, "involves exactly the same skills we evolved to hunt and to avoid being hunted."

The project proved so successful that Lintott and Schawanski expanded into other online citizen-science projects under an umbrella they call Zooniverse. And last year, when Schawinski had moved on to Yale, he began talking with Fischer about how the search for planets might be helped by this same kind of vox pop effort.

If the scientists are happy with the help they're getting in processing their data, they're flat-out thrilled that so many outsiders are getting so excited about the science. "I get emails," says Fischer, "or see postings on our message board that say 'wow, I'm going to go back to school to learn more about astronomy,' or 'I can't believe I can get a chance to look at real data and do real planet detection!'"

Adds Batalha: "You've got kids doing this, experiencing the thrill of seeing something for the first time that nobody else has ever seen. It's just fabulous." When some of those kids can say they've helped change the very map of the cosmos, they could be hooked on science for life.

So, folks like us can participate directly in the search for earth-like planets. I plan to take put some time in scouring the data next week. I'll let you know how it goes!

As I get older, I find that the only real regret I have is that I didn't pursue a career in the sciences. In school, I actually hated science classes. Looking back, that failing falls more at the feet of disinterested science teachers than my own enjoyment of the subject. At least, that's how it seems a million years later.

At last I get a chance to translate some of my love of science into a real contribution, however small, to the field.

That's a notion too sweet for words to express.

More Painting

I continue to putter away at my Conan project, aiming to create an homage in miniatures to each of the classic Conan covers from the original run of the paperback releases. I recently learned that there actually is earlier art to go with these books, but to be perfectly honest, it sucks. It all looks like bad romance novel covers with Conan dressed either as a Roman soldier or a gay pirate.

Nothin' beats the Frazetta/Vallejo work that I consider the definitive Conan.

I just finished the first miniature for the homage to Vallejo's Conan the Wanderer cover.


I'm using some new techniques and some new paints. You can't see it, but this figure is lunging foward, thus the poor focus on the head. I guess I need a better camera! This is my take on the villain of the piece, Baal-pteor:

"Slightly taller than Conan and much heavier, Baal-pteor loomed before him, a daunting image of muscular development. His mighty arms were unnaturally long, and his great hands opened and closed, twitching convulsively."

Almost Too Close For Comfort...

From yahoo.ca:

Mark your calendars for an impressive and upcoming flyby of an asteroid that’s one of the larger potentially perilous space rocks in the heavens – in terms of smacking the Earth in the future.

It’s the case of asteroid 2005 YU55, a round mini-world that is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in diameter.

In early November, this asteroid will approach Earth within a scant 0.85 lunar distances.

Due the object’s size and whisking by so close to Earth, an extensive campaign of radar, visual and infrared observations are being planned.

Asteroid 2005 YU55 was discovered by Spacewatch at the University of Arizona, Tucson’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory on Dec. 28, 2005.

En route and headed our way, the cosmic wanderer is another reminder about life here on our sitting duck of a planet.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

If Anyone Ever Wondered...

...what I think of things like homeopathy, aura reading, alternative medicine, speaking with the dead, psychics and such, I think I'll let British comedian Tim Minchin explain.



The key bit is the "I'd spin on a fucking dime" part. If there's ever real evidence of any of this stuff, I promise to put it in banner type here on my blog and tattoo it on my forehead. I have no trouble admitting that I'm wrong when presented with verifiable evidence.

Yet all the folks who think like Storm that I've met in my life...

"...we'd as well be ten minutes back in time for all the chance you'll change your mind."

So true.

Just A Jawdropping, Gobsmacking Image

The image below is simply staggering in its implication.


What you're looking at is a visual representation, to scale, of the stars with "earth like" candidate planets so far found by the Kepler probe. In other words, exo-planets the approximate size of Earth, orbiting their stars at what might be the "Goldilocks zone" where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold, allowing the possibility that liquid water could be found on the surface.

Each star is shown in scale, with Jupiter and Earth transiting Sol by themselves below the first row. You need to view the picture at its original size by clicking here to see the Earth, since the visible dot you're seeing on my blog is Jupiter.

If you scroll down the original image when you get there (and let it load, it's quite large), you'll see that some stars that approximate ours in size do indeed have candidate planets on the order of our Earth. Some stars have more than one candidate planet as well!

Much work is yet to be done to confirm that the planets are indeed rocky type planets that could support liquid water on their surfaces and that they actually fall within the Goldilocks zone, but...just...wow.

For more info on the picture, click here.

Another Chapter

That's right, folks. Chapter 4 of A Big Ball of Dirt is now up for your reading pleasure.

Click here to read.

Please comment here or at the comment section of the new page. I LOVE to get feedback, positive or constructivley critical.

Enjoy!

Someone Wanted To Say "Hello"

Actually, Bishop was rather indifferent to the idea, but she hasn't been seen around here for a while...

What Might Have Been But Never Was

Imagine a world where Jim Henson never did Sesame Street and instead did a muppet version of the popular "Wizard of Id" comic strip. In the late 1960's, as Henson was working up both projects, fate might have gone either way. As it was, Kermit and friends populated Sesame Street and went on to {ahem} greener pastures from there.

Things might have gone very differently...

Is Anybody Buying From These People?

If so, STOP.

My yahoo e-mail address was apparently hijacked overnight by spammers looking to sell my e-mail contacts some cheap viagra or whatever.

As annoying as that is (and it's pretty fucking annoying), I have a deeper question.

Who the hell buys ANYTHING from one of these spamming idiots?

Obviously, someone MUST buy from them at some point or they would simply give up and try to market their crap in some new and doubtless more irritating way. But they don't. They keep spamming.

So who is buying?

Somebody is buying.

I want names.

Captain America!

I gotta say, I was on the fence about Chris Evans as Cap, but this looks pretty damned cool. They've hit all the high notes in the trailer, added a nice tie in to the Iron Man movies in having Tony Stark's Dad be a lab assistant here and they've done just enough to introduce the character to audiences that might not know the Captain America story. If the movie can live up to the promise of the trailer, it's gonna rock!

Look What I Found!

I found it at a ReaperMiniatures.com, bought it, painted it and glued it together.

You didn't think I meant that I found it in my basement, did you? ;o)

It's the center piece of the diorama I'm doing in an homage to the cover of "Conan and the Spider God".



I picked red, orange and black since they're sort of the universal "Oh shit!" colours of the insect/arachnid world, but to my eye this came out more pretty than sinister. Still, I think it'll look pretty cool once I mount it on a base with the other figures.