It's always unfortunate when your leave becomes more busy than your work week. So, to everyone I didn't get a chance to get in touch with, or talked to only briefly, I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up.
I am back to the wonderful world which is "the sandbox" and our internet has been down for the last week straight, so I don't know how often I'll get to post. Despite recent guidance, the NIPR computers here still block access to all social networking and blog sites... so I am forced to use the pay-per-minute style ISPs to do much of my research, limiting my time to actually address simple issues like a blog.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
TV Connections
So, much like David Mamet has a pack of actors he likes to draw from, apparently so does Carlton Cuse. I picked up a box set of Brisco County, Jr. at the DVD shop a couple weeks ago, completely unaware that the show was by Carlton Cuse (now famous as one of the producers of Lost). I just remember a friend raving about it back when I was a freshman in college (yeah, that long ago). And since I'm a big Bruce Campbell fan, I figured I'd check it out.
Now, it's a fun show, and the comparisons with Lost are kind of interesting, and have already been made on a number of Lost forums. However, what's interesting to me is to see the awkwardness of Cuse's first attempt at this, compared to the smoothness with which Lost is (usually) written. (We'll ignore Season 3). The biggest funny thing to me, though, is the number of actors that have appeared on both shows:
John Hawkes
M.C. Gainey
Patrick Fischler
Francois Chau
Sam Anderson
Andrew Divoff
Although he wasn't in both shows, Mackenzie Astin was in Lost, and is also the son of John Astin, who was a regular on Brisco County (and Addams Family, of course)
Now, it's a fun show, and the comparisons with Lost are kind of interesting, and have already been made on a number of Lost forums. However, what's interesting to me is to see the awkwardness of Cuse's first attempt at this, compared to the smoothness with which Lost is (usually) written. (We'll ignore Season 3). The biggest funny thing to me, though, is the number of actors that have appeared on both shows:
John Hawkes
M.C. Gainey
Patrick Fischler
Francois Chau
Sam Anderson
Andrew Divoff
Although he wasn't in both shows, Mackenzie Astin was in Lost, and is also the son of John Astin, who was a regular on Brisco County (and Addams Family, of course)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Actors who look like each other, plus!
So, I was watching the most recent episode of Lost last night, and one of the characters reminded me of someone, and I couldn't quite place it. Then I realized that he reminded me of another character on Lost. So much that I actually thought it was the same actor for a moment. Of course, it ended up being a different actor, but the similarity is a bit uncanny. I have commented on the similarities between particular actors previously on this blog, but this one has a little bonus.
The bonus to this particular discovery, is that one of the actors is Arab, and it once again demonstrates a point I make frequently, no matter what you look like, there is someone in the Arab world who looks just like you, only Arab:
The bonus to this particular discovery, is that one of the actors is Arab, and it once again demonstrates a point I make frequently, no matter what you look like, there is someone in the Arab world who looks just like you, only Arab:
Saturday, February 27, 2010
A tale of two earthquakes
So, Chile got hit by a big earthquake today, an 8.8 strength one.
Not exactly news, the largest earthquake ever recorded happened in Chile in 1960.
However, I think it interesting the disparity between the toll in Chile (first reports of 82 dead), and the damage in Haiti (230000 dead). Now, maybe the different between an 8.8 and a 7.0 doesn't seem all that big, but one has to bear in mind that the MMS Scale is a logarithmic scale, so a magnitude 9 earthquake is 31 times stronger than a magnitude 8, and almost ONE THOUSAND times stronger than a magnitude 7.
So, the damage caused by the two earthquakes are the inverse of the power of the earthquake (assuming the death count in Chile tops at around 200). What does this say about the disparate infrastructures, the money invested in earthquake proof architecture and other technology, and the oversight of government in large disasters?
Not exactly news, the largest earthquake ever recorded happened in Chile in 1960.
However, I think it interesting the disparity between the toll in Chile (first reports of 82 dead), and the damage in Haiti (230000 dead). Now, maybe the different between an 8.8 and a 7.0 doesn't seem all that big, but one has to bear in mind that the MMS Scale is a logarithmic scale, so a magnitude 9 earthquake is 31 times stronger than a magnitude 8, and almost ONE THOUSAND times stronger than a magnitude 7.
So, the damage caused by the two earthquakes are the inverse of the power of the earthquake (assuming the death count in Chile tops at around 200). What does this say about the disparate infrastructures, the money invested in earthquake proof architecture and other technology, and the oversight of government in large disasters?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Just waiting for the crazies to ramp up on this one
So, Fox News recently reported a rumor: "The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that soldiers were attempting to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson in South Carolina."
First, the lack of any length or details in this report bothers me. The Army is investigating "allegations," it's not even investigating people at this point, almost two months after the "allegations" were made. Second, the timing of the allegations fits smoothly into the post-Fort Hood timeframe of "We need to start investigating Muslims!" Finally, the fact that it has been picked up only by crazy blogs (read the comments...) and right wing media at this point suggests to me that there isn't much substance to the story.
Thankfully, I also encountered this blog when doing some more research on the story, who helpfully explains the coded language used by the CID representative at Fort Jackson: "If there were substantive leads for an ongoing investigation, he would have said simply that the investigation continues and then said nothing more about it."
But, the story fits so well with the right's attempt to create a narrative that the Obama administration is soft on terror, and the Army is being crippled by its attempts to maintain political correctness. I don't think either is true. Frankly, I even think the Nidal Hasan issues were not related to his religion, except only peripherally (the Army does not have enough Muslim individuals in counseling roles, so even as a subpar performer, he was kept on so that Muslim soldiers would have someone to turn to - they do this with officers from other faiths as well...).
First, the lack of any length or details in this report bothers me. The Army is investigating "allegations," it's not even investigating people at this point, almost two months after the "allegations" were made. Second, the timing of the allegations fits smoothly into the post-Fort Hood timeframe of "We need to start investigating Muslims!" Finally, the fact that it has been picked up only by crazy blogs (read the comments...) and right wing media at this point suggests to me that there isn't much substance to the story.
Thankfully, I also encountered this blog when doing some more research on the story, who helpfully explains the coded language used by the CID representative at Fort Jackson: "If there were substantive leads for an ongoing investigation, he would have said simply that the investigation continues and then said nothing more about it."
But, the story fits so well with the right's attempt to create a narrative that the Obama administration is soft on terror, and the Army is being crippled by its attempts to maintain political correctness. I don't think either is true. Frankly, I even think the Nidal Hasan issues were not related to his religion, except only peripherally (the Army does not have enough Muslim individuals in counseling roles, so even as a subpar performer, he was kept on so that Muslim soldiers would have someone to turn to - they do this with officers from other faiths as well...).
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Music
As I have previously mentioned, there are only three english channels currently available in my area: AFN, BBC, and a third station which seems to change formats about every three months or so
Even when that third station was decent, that meant only two stations playing music for the english speakers at any given time. The interesting (and strangely pleasant) side effect of this was that when driving down the road, if you saw someone singing, the chances were pretty good that they would be singing the same song you were listening to. I maintain that this is one of the main reasons why radio still exists in the United States, despite over a hundred years of personally owned musical listening devices. I still feel better hearing a song I like on the radio than when I play it on a CD, somehow knowing that there are other people out there listening to the same song at the same time gives me a feeeling (real or fake, who cares) of being connected with them - that somehow these people are members of my own little Imagined Community. Knowing this for a fact, by seeing someone singing the song you are listening to, is even better - and so rarely happens in the media heavy world of the United States that it's a pleasant and unexpected perk.
However, given the fact that AFN plays 80% crap, 19% decent, and only 1% good and innovative music means that my own tastes are a bit underrepresented. Luckily, I just discovered that my truck does, indeed, play the mp3 CDs it claims it does, so I can make my own mix CD of my 80 favorite songs to listen to while driving around.
And there's something strangely appropriate to driving around a military base while listening to Honour.
Even when that third station was decent, that meant only two stations playing music for the english speakers at any given time. The interesting (and strangely pleasant) side effect of this was that when driving down the road, if you saw someone singing, the chances were pretty good that they would be singing the same song you were listening to. I maintain that this is one of the main reasons why radio still exists in the United States, despite over a hundred years of personally owned musical listening devices. I still feel better hearing a song I like on the radio than when I play it on a CD, somehow knowing that there are other people out there listening to the same song at the same time gives me a feeeling (real or fake, who cares) of being connected with them - that somehow these people are members of my own little Imagined Community. Knowing this for a fact, by seeing someone singing the song you are listening to, is even better - and so rarely happens in the media heavy world of the United States that it's a pleasant and unexpected perk.
However, given the fact that AFN plays 80% crap, 19% decent, and only 1% good and innovative music means that my own tastes are a bit underrepresented. Luckily, I just discovered that my truck does, indeed, play the mp3 CDs it claims it does, so I can make my own mix CD of my 80 favorite songs to listen to while driving around.
And there's something strangely appropriate to driving around a military base while listening to Honour.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Dick Cheney and homosexual rights
So, a lot has been made of Dick Cheney's recent statement of support for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
Do a google search, and you get dozens of hits on liberal blogs, gay blogs, and just one hit on the first three pages from a conservative blog (this may change in the next couple days as the impact of the statement spreads).
However, I found one part of Cheney's statement very interesting, and it's not one that has anything to do with the policy itself: "Twenty years ago, the military were strong advocates of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' when I was Secretary of Defense," Cheney said.
Ummm... when you were Secretary of Defense, it was still illegal to be homosexual in the Army, Dick...
Maybe it was just a brain fart on Cheney's part, or maybe he was misremembering discussions about the homosexuality policy at the time (they were ongoing for quite some time before 1994). Or maybe the man's being disingenuous and trying to maintain his "what the generals want" position in general.
Do a google search, and you get dozens of hits on liberal blogs, gay blogs, and just one hit on the first three pages from a conservative blog (this may change in the next couple days as the impact of the statement spreads).
However, I found one part of Cheney's statement very interesting, and it's not one that has anything to do with the policy itself: "Twenty years ago, the military were strong advocates of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' when I was Secretary of Defense," Cheney said.
Ummm... when you were Secretary of Defense, it was still illegal to be homosexual in the Army, Dick...
Maybe it was just a brain fart on Cheney's part, or maybe he was misremembering discussions about the homosexuality policy at the time (they were ongoing for quite some time before 1994). Or maybe the man's being disingenuous and trying to maintain his "what the generals want" position in general.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
