Recent events or stuff that has registered on my patented COOL-o-meter.
I am a childish old man who enjoys the simple things in life… Gaming.
This evening I played a game of cribbage with my patient sister who is in town visiting for a couple of days. Luck of the draw, but I “skunked” her big time. Continue reading Today Skunked Sister, Tomorrow N00b Nephew Pwned
So I’ve been reading the sci-fi novel Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, the sequel to Red Mars. A plot spoiler follows, so if you plan on reading Green Mars, do not read this…
I’ve been reading Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I’m about 1/3 of the way through it and so far it gets about 3.5 out of 5 stars. I’ve always been fascinated by Mars and have fantasized about visiting it.
Anyway, reading the book got me interested in looking up some good images of Mars so I could “see” where some of the events of the book take place. Continue reading Living Mars
As many know, I like classical music, particularly Ludwig von Beethoven.
Well, I recently discovered this little-known German composer:
Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern -schplenden -schlitter -crasscrenbon -fried -digger -dangle -dungle -burstein -von -knacker -thrasher -apple -banger -horowitz -ticolensic -grander -knotty -spelltinkle -grandlich -grumblemeyer -spelterwasser -kürstlich -himbleeisen -bahnwagen -gutenabend -bitte -eine -nürnburger -bratwustle -gerspurten -mit -zweimache -luber -hundsfut -gumberaber -shönendanker -kalbsfleisch -mittler -raucher von Hautkopft of Ulm. Continue reading Johann Gambolputty… …von Hautkopft of Ulm
“Wenn ist das Nunstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!”
“It was actually German gibberish,” Eric Idle explains. “It’s written-down gibberish, because we all had to learn the same thing, yeah, but it’s gibberish! It doesn’t mean a thing at all. At least, I don’t think it does…”
Actually, some of it is legit… Below is my attempt at translation. Continue reading The Funniest Joke In The World
While I probably wouldn’t recommend this dog food, (I am not a dog food expert by any means), I do recommend these commercials. VERY cool. I always watched my dog dreaming and tried to imagine what he was doing in his dreams. I like to think it would be something like what you see in these commercials. My absolute favorite is this first one of these. The last is pretty humorous too. Continue Reading & Watch Some Cool Dog Videos →
I had the movie Spaceballs on as background noise while doing some housework today. Caught a reference I missed the first 300 or so times I’ve seen it.
“Prepare for metamorphosis! Are you ready Kafka?” – Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet, Spaceballs (1987)
By sheer luck, today has been Sherlock Holmes day for me…
First: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes was born on this day in 1854.
Second: I watched the first two episodes of season three of the BBC series Sherlock.
While the new Sherlock episodes were fun and quite good, considering that there are only a total of three episodes in the entire season and I just watched two-thirds of them, where are the MYSTERIES? The mysteries should be the CENTER of any Sherlock Holmes tale. The ones that have appeared so far seem to be like appetizers to a meal that is never provided. I have an idea where they may go with the last episode, but really… So much wasted potential.
Beethoven composed a short (15 minutes long) orchestral work called “Wellington’s Victory” or “The Battle of Vitoria” (Op. 91) in 1813. Wellington’s Victory is now often compared to another famous “battle piece”, namely Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”, as both call for the use of a large “percussion battery” including muskets and artillery, and by opposite “sides” of the orchestra playing the national themes of the opposing armies.
Like a lot of Beethoven’s work it has been called a hodgepodge of styles and an “atrocious potboiler”. I of course love it! You can listen to it here (with full muskets and cannons, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the Herbert Von Karajan,) and judge for yourself.
The reason I bring it up is that I happened to discover a response by Beethoven to similar criticism to this piece that he was receiving in his day. Read on for Beethoven’s Surprising Response→
Just watched The Doctor Who 2013 Christmas Special “The Time of the Doctor”. It wasn’t all I hoped it would be, but it was still a pretty good send off of the most recent Doctor.
Good bye, Mat Smith.
Hello, Peter Capaldi. Looking forward to meeting your “Doctor” soon.
