I watched the Duncan Jones movie Moon again this evening. I watched it about a year ago and enjoyed it then, and thought Sam Rockwell did an amazing job. On second viewing it is a little slow in places, but intentionally so I think, as it puts you in the shoes of the mining facility caretaker character isolated on the dark-side of the moon.
I’ve had a recurring futuristic dream that might contain a little of this movie in it. In it I run a mining ship that is harvesting the asteroid belt for whatever I can make enough profit on that will let me afford to go out and do it all again. The ship was built for multiple people — a family — but they died in an accident before we could make the dream a reality. So I have decided to go on alone and do it all myself, accompanied only by a dog who is a clone of a dog that I have had (at the time the dreams are set,) through multiple “generations”. Continue reading Moon Reflections
“If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability.” — Vannevar Bush (engineer, inventor, science administrator 1890-1974)
I wanted to get to Roxborough State Park when it opened at 7am, since it was Memorial Day and I suspected that the park would have a lot of visitors. I didn’t quite make it though as I set off from the car at 7:26am, and it was 7:35 or so until I actually hit the trail head. Despite the fact I left later than planned, mine was one of the few cars in the lots and I initially had the place pretty much to myself. I passed only one couple on the way up and I apparently was the first to hit the peak. Only had it to myself for 5 to 10 minutes though before one person after another began to arrive. The trip down was a more or less continuous stream of hikers, which was a little annoying as you could hear people’s voices ringing out across the valley, where I usually prefer the sound of the wind, birds and such. The parking lots were completely full when I left, and there was a line of 10 to 15 cars waiting to get in the park, so all in all I’m really glad I started when I did.
I went pretty fast on the way up, taking only one “real” break. While the wild flowers were past their prime on the lower trails, the peak trail had a surprising amount. Besides two herds of deer on the drive to the trail head, the only other wildlife I saw today were birds, insects and rodents. Once I hit the peak, and on the way down I took my time and took a bunch of photos. Here’s some of the best:
360 degree panoramic view from the top of Carpenter Peak
Click the panorama thumbnail above to zoom then scroll right to see the whole 360 degrees.
Denver, CO from the top of Carpenter Peak
Visitor Center where I started
For somewhat higher resolution version of any of these photos (except the panorama), see this photo gallery on Picasa.
GoogleMaps display of MyTracks data as gathered from my DroidX smart phone
If you view the large version of the map above and click on the End pin either on the map or in the column to the left you will see all the details on how many miles, how high, and how long it took me. The beginning of the MyTracks data is not very accurate as I didn’t really give my phone a lot of time to narrow its position and I spent some time inside the visitor center w/ no view of the sky before I headed out on the trail. As such this is not quite as accurate as the data from my hand-held GPS, which I will add to this post later.
“Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can’t mind their own buisness, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has.” — William S. Burroughs (novelist, poet, essayist 1914-1997)
We all know that the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything is 42. If only we knew what The Question actually was this answer might make sense. While this cool website won’t provide you with The Question of the Universe, it will show you exactly “how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is.”
Needless to say this Scale of the Universe website is VERY cool! Plan to browse awhile. And “Don’t Panic!”. Peril-sensitive glasses are NOT required to to view safely.
“There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man’s lawful prey.” — John Ruskin (Writer, Critic 1819-1900)
“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (essayist, poet 1803-1882)
So, I go to use the john at a large retailer of Chinese junk. Some guy comes in behind me, and we each go to neighboring stalls to do our business. While he’s about that and making appropriate noises from his back side, it’s clear he has taken out his cell phone and begins to yap while he craps. If that weren’t bad enough, what does he choose to talk about?
Here’s an exact quote:
“Hey, dude. I was wondering how much it would cost for a ‘P’?”
I guess if you have the gall to make a phone call while you’re doing your business, it doesn’t phase you to discuss small-time illegal drug deals while a stranger sits in the next stall. With all the noise he was making from his other end, he even had to raise his voice and repeat his inquiry on the current price of a pound of dope.
The devolution of the species continues at an alarming rate.
Okay, this video only shows just how vain (and geeky) I have become, because the StanBlog segment of this video made me think of this Finious’s Folly / JeffBeaty.com website, which I named after myself, and which has no specific goal. That being the case it is still darn funny.
The Defenders of Stan Episode 17: Oh, (Big) Brother
Found some free Lego-themed link icons that I really like by Sneh Roy. There are icons for several different social websites in her icon pack, but only a couple to sites I use frequently. I’m using the feed and Facebook icons now. I may have to make a couple of my own mimicking her “look” to add icons for Google+ / Picasa or Flickr and maybe Springpad.
I watched the Duncan Jones movie Moon again this evening. I watched it about a year ago and enjoyed it then, and thought Sam Rockwell did an amazing job. On second viewing it is a little slow in places, but intentionally so I think, as it puts you in the shoes of the mining facility caretaker character isolated on the dark-side of the moon.
