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I just watched the successful landing of the Perseverance Rover!
Cue the Starfleet March!
Cue the Starfleet March!
E minus 8 Days
Oct. 11th, 2015 03:37 pmOkay.
I voted on Friday night.
Then I went to see Paul Gross's new movie Hyena Road, which was - as expected - disorienting. I don't know that it'll compare to the greats of the genre, but I did get a sense of what the latest Afghan War's been like for Canadians serving in the middle of it. Which, aside from making back the money spent on it, was all that Gross really wants out of it. I figured if I didn't see it ASAP - premiere night, as it turned out - I wasn't going to have much chance beyond that. I've mentioned before that Canadian movies tend to get short attention from our movie theatre chains, and fully expect this to be no different, even though it should be.
Hyena Road, people. If you've got violence-trauma triggers, be warned. The fight scenes are bloody. But I do believe it's worth the time and money to see at least the once.
Come to think of it, not being patient was exactly why I voted at the advance poll on Friday after work too. I just didn't want to cope with any more pressure to vote "strategically". One acquaintance has accused me of maintaining "purity", but I can't trust a party that turns its back on several of its best contributions to Canadian life to avoid the inevitable false accusations of terrorist sympathy. And those accusations were trotted out by the incumbents anyway on other excuses.
Anyway. A more positive note...
Today, I listened to Chris Hadfield's Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can for the first time, having picked up the album at Compact Music yesterday. As you might expect from Hadfield, there's more of a country/folk vibe off the album. You may consider that either ironic or totally expected given that this was the first ever album with the vocals recorded Up There.
There's a certain exceptionalist satisfaction I get from that. Admitted freely. It took a Canadian to do this. No one from anywhere else thought of it.
And now I'm headed off to see the 6 PM showing of The Martian. I bought, read and enjoyed the book after looking at the first trailer. I figure they've got enough good raw material to work with. If my brains are working properly after getting home again, I'll let you know what I got out of it later tonight.
Later, all!
And for the Canadians reading this? Please vote. I don't need to know for whom, I don't need to be able to approve of your choice(s) before or after the fact. Ever.
Just vote.
I voted on Friday night.
Then I went to see Paul Gross's new movie Hyena Road, which was - as expected - disorienting. I don't know that it'll compare to the greats of the genre, but I did get a sense of what the latest Afghan War's been like for Canadians serving in the middle of it. Which, aside from making back the money spent on it, was all that Gross really wants out of it. I figured if I didn't see it ASAP - premiere night, as it turned out - I wasn't going to have much chance beyond that. I've mentioned before that Canadian movies tend to get short attention from our movie theatre chains, and fully expect this to be no different, even though it should be.
Hyena Road, people. If you've got violence-trauma triggers, be warned. The fight scenes are bloody. But I do believe it's worth the time and money to see at least the once.
Come to think of it, not being patient was exactly why I voted at the advance poll on Friday after work too. I just didn't want to cope with any more pressure to vote "strategically". One acquaintance has accused me of maintaining "purity", but I can't trust a party that turns its back on several of its best contributions to Canadian life to avoid the inevitable false accusations of terrorist sympathy. And those accusations were trotted out by the incumbents anyway on other excuses.
Anyway. A more positive note...
Today, I listened to Chris Hadfield's Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can for the first time, having picked up the album at Compact Music yesterday. As you might expect from Hadfield, there's more of a country/folk vibe off the album. You may consider that either ironic or totally expected given that this was the first ever album with the vocals recorded Up There.
There's a certain exceptionalist satisfaction I get from that. Admitted freely. It took a Canadian to do this. No one from anywhere else thought of it.
And now I'm headed off to see the 6 PM showing of The Martian. I bought, read and enjoyed the book after looking at the first trailer. I figure they've got enough good raw material to work with. If my brains are working properly after getting home again, I'll let you know what I got out of it later tonight.
Later, all!
And for the Canadians reading this? Please vote. I don't need to know for whom, I don't need to be able to approve of your choice(s) before or after the fact. Ever.
Just vote.
Things of Interest
Aug. 26th, 2014 11:18 pmJakeet Singh muses about our PM's issue with people who "commit sociology". I would advise against reading the comments on this one. Some of the writers of those would seem to be "astro-turfing".
Some interesting photography from the Curiosity rover on Mars.
Growing eyes? Maybe, maybe not. Might be worth keeping watch on this project, though.
For those of you interested in public transit history in Ottawa: a trip back in time to 1959. They had at least one design to look at on the streets of the day.
The Ottawa Citizen's Kelly Egan comments on what we may be missing when we look at crime stats. There is a certain art as much as science to that work.
Some interesting photography from the Curiosity rover on Mars.
Growing eyes? Maybe, maybe not. Might be worth keeping watch on this project, though.
For those of you interested in public transit history in Ottawa: a trip back in time to 1959. They had at least one design to look at on the streets of the day.
The Ottawa Citizen's Kelly Egan comments on what we may be missing when we look at crime stats. There is a certain art as much as science to that work.
Mike Norton reminded me over on Facebook that we have an anniversary to celebrate in space exploration today: the tenth anniversary of the landing of the rover Spirit on Mars!
Spirit was expected to last six months before shutting down. But as of today, it's still operational. Here's a virtual salute to the team that built that rover (far better than anyone knew, to our continued joy!) and everyone who's worked with it in the years since then!
Curiosity: The view from Gale Crater
Aug. 15th, 2012 08:42 amGo have a look, if you've got the bandwidth.
Saying it again: some forms of progress really are worth the trouble!
Saying it again: some forms of progress really are worth the trouble!
Speaking of celebrations of Schulz Day?
Nov. 26th, 2011 04:00 pm![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
james_nicoll reminded me of the launch of Curiosity this morning.Thinking back to Apollo X and the "Snoopy Visits the Moon" arc in Peanuts back in those days, it's a nice - accidentally timed, but who cares about that detail? - way of paying it forward to future generations of space explorers and cartoonists alike.
Best of luck to the Curiosity team!
Diane Michelangeli - An Unsung Hero
Sep. 8th, 2007 10:40 amIf there's ever a Maple Leaf flag planted on Mars, part of the work that will have made it happen will be that of Diane Michelangeli.
I must admit to not hearing or reading much of her work during her lifetime, and now that life has ended all too soon. According to the CBC reports, it was brain tumours that finally got her. At 45.
45.
As with Mike Wieringo in comic books in recent days, that too is too damned soon.
Ladies, gentlemen and respected others: we have been robbed.
Again.
Dr. Michelangeli, I'm sorry I never got to meet you. It would have been cool.
I must admit to not hearing or reading much of her work during her lifetime, and now that life has ended all too soon. According to the CBC reports, it was brain tumours that finally got her. At 45.
45.
As with Mike Wieringo in comic books in recent days, that too is too damned soon.
Ladies, gentlemen and respected others: we have been robbed.
Again.
Dr. Michelangeli, I'm sorry I never got to meet you. It would have been cool.
