Saw PotC: AWE last night. I went into it with no expectations - I had a pass for a free movie that expired today, so I figured that however bad it might be it would be worth the cost of popcorn.
Now, it wasn't as good as the first one. But I've seen pretty much nothing but negative reviews of this movie (or lukewarm reviews at best), and I don't understand why. It was, I thought, a pretty good movie. The five-way standoff on the deck of the Black Pearl alone makes it better than the second movie, and that was one scene! Everyone was back, everyone was in good form, and we got Chow Yun Fat as a pirate to boot.
If you see it, watch for two of the secondary characters, near the end, to prove that they're not nearly as stupid as they look. :-)
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
I see hyperactivity in your future
Saturday night I had my fortune read in coffee grounds.
I got a cup of greek coffee at a restaurant - normally I don't drink coffee, but if it is strong enough and sweet enough I have a cup now and then. This is the type with the grounds left in - you let them settle to the bottom and sip from the top. When you're done, of course, you have a sludge at the bottom.
As directed by my dinner companions, I turned the cup over in the saucer, turned it in a circle, and let it drain. The cup was then flipped right-side up again and the tracks the grounds left on the sides examined.
Things that both I and others saw included a scottie dog, a rose, a chinese-style dragon, and a lion rampant. Others also said they saw a phoenix, a castle on fire, halley's comet (just repeating what was said...), an arrow (pointing up, I sortof saw that one), and a large letter "s". It was proposed that the "s" might stand for either sex or superman. I declined to comment on that point.
The symbolism of the rose is probably obvious, a chinese dragon usually indicates good luck, and the scottie dog is the unofficial mascot of C-MU. A lion rampant appears on the arms of An Tir, the SCA kingdom I live in. I really wish I had been able to make out the phoenix - that's a creature with some special meaning for me.
All in all, I don't think I have much of a future in divination.
And I really didn't think of the pun when I wrote that last sentance.
I got a cup of greek coffee at a restaurant - normally I don't drink coffee, but if it is strong enough and sweet enough I have a cup now and then. This is the type with the grounds left in - you let them settle to the bottom and sip from the top. When you're done, of course, you have a sludge at the bottom.
As directed by my dinner companions, I turned the cup over in the saucer, turned it in a circle, and let it drain. The cup was then flipped right-side up again and the tracks the grounds left on the sides examined.
Things that both I and others saw included a scottie dog, a rose, a chinese-style dragon, and a lion rampant. Others also said they saw a phoenix, a castle on fire, halley's comet (just repeating what was said...), an arrow (pointing up, I sortof saw that one), and a large letter "s". It was proposed that the "s" might stand for either sex or superman. I declined to comment on that point.
The symbolism of the rose is probably obvious, a chinese dragon usually indicates good luck, and the scottie dog is the unofficial mascot of C-MU. A lion rampant appears on the arms of An Tir, the SCA kingdom I live in. I really wish I had been able to make out the phoenix - that's a creature with some special meaning for me.
All in all, I don't think I have much of a future in divination.
And I really didn't think of the pun when I wrote that last sentance.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Seeing is believing
Today I walked over and looked at 787 Line Number 1 - the first 787 Dreamliner (the plane I'm working on), for those of you not familiar with my work.
I really, really like being able to go see what it is I (and many others) are actually trying to DO. So much of the time it seems that my job is nothing but paperwork and manipulating electrons. I didn't become an engineer to fill out forms, nor to attempt to instill common sense into the M&PT group, nor for the occaisional satisfaction of outsmarting my group lead. I became an engineer to make things. Right now, that means airplanes.
We've got the entire fuselage together and the engines hung, although the engines are still exposed. The landing gear is attached - I hadn't noticed but it appears that the nose gear retracts up and forward, instead of up and aft as I normally think of nose gear. It isn't painted yet - the much-publicized "roll out" on July 8th, 2007 (7/8/07 for those who didn't spot it right away) is actually a "roll in" from the paint hanger. The windows don't look all that much bigger, but perception at that level of detail isn't my strong suit. The nose is distinct from most of the other planes we build - the radome almost seems to be drooping.
I can't wait to see this bird fly.
I really, really like being able to go see what it is I (and many others) are actually trying to DO. So much of the time it seems that my job is nothing but paperwork and manipulating electrons. I didn't become an engineer to fill out forms, nor to attempt to instill common sense into the M&PT group, nor for the occaisional satisfaction of outsmarting my group lead. I became an engineer to make things. Right now, that means airplanes.
We've got the entire fuselage together and the engines hung, although the engines are still exposed. The landing gear is attached - I hadn't noticed but it appears that the nose gear retracts up and forward, instead of up and aft as I normally think of nose gear. It isn't painted yet - the much-publicized "roll out" on July 8th, 2007 (7/8/07 for those who didn't spot it right away) is actually a "roll in" from the paint hanger. The windows don't look all that much bigger, but perception at that level of detail isn't my strong suit. The nose is distinct from most of the other planes we build - the radome almost seems to be drooping.
I can't wait to see this bird fly.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Does this count as long term employment?
The European Space Agency is looking for people to take a simulated trip to Mars. They want a six-man crew to live in a simulated spacecraft/hab module for 520 days.
They comment that the individuals will experience "extreme isolation." I don't see why - the comm lag is less than an hour. :-)
I can't wait until they ask for volunteers for a trip to heliopause...
They comment that the individuals will experience "extreme isolation." I don't see why - the comm lag is less than an hour. :-)
I can't wait until they ask for volunteers for a trip to heliopause...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Do you believe in God?
I believe that there is an entity or group in the universe that is more powerful than humans. I believe that this entity or group has interacted with humans in the past, and continues to do so to a lesser extent in the present. I believe that this entity (or group) is not completely subject to the laws of physics as we presently understand them. I believe this based on experiances I have had and have heard about from others; things I can't explain within the limits of human capability and the physical laws we accept.
Does that mean I belive in God? Gods? Goddess?
I don't believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent being. I'll accept any two out of three for the sake of arguement, but I can't reconcile an entity that is all three of these with the world as I see it. Yes, I've heard the 'free will' arguement, but IMO it fails to explain a great deal.
I'm not an atheist. I DO believe there is some higher power, and calling it 'god' doesn't bother me. Sadly, I can't define what I AM. I'm not Christian. I'm not Muslim. I'm not... many things. But what AM I?
Does that mean I belive in God? Gods? Goddess?
I don't believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent being. I'll accept any two out of three for the sake of arguement, but I can't reconcile an entity that is all three of these with the world as I see it. Yes, I've heard the 'free will' arguement, but IMO it fails to explain a great deal.
I'm not an atheist. I DO believe there is some higher power, and calling it 'god' doesn't bother me. Sadly, I can't define what I AM. I'm not Christian. I'm not Muslim. I'm not... many things. But what AM I?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Rome
I've been watching the HBO miniseries "Rome" on DVD.
Ancient Rome (especially the middle and late republic) has been an interest of mine for most of my life. Up until now, though, I've always thought of it as history - I never thought about what it would be like to live there. I never thought about the social attitudes, and whether they would be a better match for how I see the world than the present.
OK, they had slavery, the plumbing was terrible, the religious fanatacism was if anything worse and more dangerous than it is today, you were better off without medical care than using what was available in most cases, but while I'm sure much of that shaped the social attitudes, were they necessary to them?
To what extent do circumstances drive attitudes? It seems to be generally accepted that democracy can only work in a population that is literate and has access to non-government news. It is generally accepted that slavery discourages technological innovation for labor-saving devices.
And yet Rome was the closest thing to a democracy the world saw for millenia (yes, the greeks "invented" it, but we owe far more to the SPQR than to the greeks). Its level of technology, especially civil engineering, was unmatched for centuries after the 'fall of Rome'. The aqueducts, the baths, the roads - infrastructure that benefited the commoners just as much as the wealthy.
What will history think of our attitudes? That we reached the moon first will never be forgotten, but will they laugh at our quiant ideas and wonder how we could have possibly achieved so much when we were socially so handicapped?
Ancient Rome (especially the middle and late republic) has been an interest of mine for most of my life. Up until now, though, I've always thought of it as history - I never thought about what it would be like to live there. I never thought about the social attitudes, and whether they would be a better match for how I see the world than the present.
OK, they had slavery, the plumbing was terrible, the religious fanatacism was if anything worse and more dangerous than it is today, you were better off without medical care than using what was available in most cases, but while I'm sure much of that shaped the social attitudes, were they necessary to them?
To what extent do circumstances drive attitudes? It seems to be generally accepted that democracy can only work in a population that is literate and has access to non-government news. It is generally accepted that slavery discourages technological innovation for labor-saving devices.
And yet Rome was the closest thing to a democracy the world saw for millenia (yes, the greeks "invented" it, but we owe far more to the SPQR than to the greeks). Its level of technology, especially civil engineering, was unmatched for centuries after the 'fall of Rome'. The aqueducts, the baths, the roads - infrastructure that benefited the commoners just as much as the wealthy.
What will history think of our attitudes? That we reached the moon first will never be forgotten, but will they laugh at our quiant ideas and wonder how we could have possibly achieved so much when we were socially so handicapped?
Friday, June 15, 2007
As soon as we reach cruising altitude...
... our Flight Attendants will be coming through the cabin with a selection of emergency equipment.
Today I took a class for my Flight Test Clearance - basically what I need to know to be an engineer on a test flight.
Most of it was pretty straightforward - here's how to use the interphone, the TD does this and the Analysis Engineer does that, the Command Pilot is God (unless the FAA is aboard, in which case he's demoted slightly), signs and symptoms of hypoxia, .... and then they took us over and showed us the emergency gear.
Oh, Zarth, Azel, and all their minions...
Lifejackets, OK. Plenty of planes overshoot the runway a little and land in the drink. You want to make the escape slide double as a raft? Well, the design isn't really that far off to begin with, now is it. Fire extinguishers? Oxygen? Good things to have aboard. Crash axe? Kindof traditional, and potentially useful. But then:
"Right, now here's the sea anchor for the liferaft..." "This is a water-powered flashlight..." "This is the handpump for the liferaft..." "This signaling mirror can be used..." "Now, if your raft has a leak this patch kit..." "The desalination tablets will each produce..." "This type of emergency ration has been described as having all the flavor and texture of dry cardboard." Kindof like the rest of airline food. I wonder if the flight attendants charge you $5 for it?
Excuse me, has ANYONE ever survived the crash of a commercial widebody in deep water? Do we really need to carry a sea anchor for the liferaft? I mean, weight is everything in this business. We'll spend a confidential but significant amount of money to take a single pound of weight off an airplane.
I think it was the sponges for mopping up the water in the liferafts that really blew my mind. I mean, if your plane goes down in the middle of the ocean and you somehow get both yourself and a liferaft out the door before it sinks is a little water really going to bother you? Even if you get it dry, is it going to stay dry? I won't even get started on the knife they include because you've got to tie the raft to the plane so it won't sink before it inflates, but then you've got to cut it loose before the PLANE sinks.
After the guy got done with his presentation I overheard one of my class mates ask "But what if you crash on a mountain?"
Today I took a class for my Flight Test Clearance - basically what I need to know to be an engineer on a test flight.
Most of it was pretty straightforward - here's how to use the interphone, the TD does this and the Analysis Engineer does that, the Command Pilot is God (unless the FAA is aboard, in which case he's demoted slightly), signs and symptoms of hypoxia, .... and then they took us over and showed us the emergency gear.
Oh, Zarth, Azel, and all their minions...
Lifejackets, OK. Plenty of planes overshoot the runway a little and land in the drink. You want to make the escape slide double as a raft? Well, the design isn't really that far off to begin with, now is it. Fire extinguishers? Oxygen? Good things to have aboard. Crash axe? Kindof traditional, and potentially useful. But then:
"Right, now here's the sea anchor for the liferaft..." "This is a water-powered flashlight..." "This is the handpump for the liferaft..." "This signaling mirror can be used..." "Now, if your raft has a leak this patch kit..." "The desalination tablets will each produce..." "This type of emergency ration has been described as having all the flavor and texture of dry cardboard." Kindof like the rest of airline food. I wonder if the flight attendants charge you $5 for it?
Excuse me, has ANYONE ever survived the crash of a commercial widebody in deep water? Do we really need to carry a sea anchor for the liferaft? I mean, weight is everything in this business. We'll spend a confidential but significant amount of money to take a single pound of weight off an airplane.
I think it was the sponges for mopping up the water in the liferafts that really blew my mind. I mean, if your plane goes down in the middle of the ocean and you somehow get both yourself and a liferaft out the door before it sinks is a little water really going to bother you? Even if you get it dry, is it going to stay dry? I won't even get started on the knife they include because you've got to tie the raft to the plane so it won't sink before it inflates, but then you've got to cut it loose before the PLANE sinks.
After the guy got done with his presentation I overheard one of my class mates ask "But what if you crash on a mountain?"
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Many questions
Inspired by a post on another blog.
Am I an idiot when it comes to cars, or just unlucky?
Is it really better to light a candle than to curse the darkness?
Why can't I sleep through the night even when I'm exhuasted?
Do I think about sex too much?
Is it possible to be in Love with more than one person at the same time?
Am I early or is everyone else late?
Will I ever be a good fencer?
Will I ever be a good swordsman?
Will I ever be a good father?
How do you stay in touch with someone?
How do you tell if they don't want to stay in touch with you?
Is it true that "no one is alone"?
If I feel alone is it because something is wrong with me?
Is buying a house the right thing to do?
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
Am I drinking too little water, or too much?
Is air conditioning a luxury, or is it worth it?
How do you get manage when your car is in the shop, rent a car, hitch a ride with friends, bike?
Will I ever go to Pennsic?
Do I deserve good things?
Is there a god?
Is there more than one god?
How do you know when you've put more into something than it is worth?
Will I get on a 787 flight test?
Will I get a promotion?
Is it enough to work harder than the majority of your coworkers, or do you owe the company your total effort?
How much am I responsible to tell other people about their mistakes when they don't ask for my help?
Why don't people open up to me the way they used to?
Is the past gone forever?
Am I John Adams, Casandra, or James Wilson?
Will humans ever go into space to live?
Why are we here?
Is it better to dream the impossible dream or work to make life a little better in the few ways you can?
Do I push my body too hard, or not hard enough?
Why do the best TV shows almost always get cancelled?
Are people fundamentally good, or evil?
What is the greatest threat to the Constitution of the United States of America?
Will the internet be the downfall of the human race, or its salvation?
Really, do I think about sex too much?
Is my death fixed, or do I have the power to change it?
Is there really free will, or does the universe put us where it wants us?
Does everyone look back on their past and think almost entirely about their regrets, the paths not taken?
Am I blessed with the spark of creativity, or cursed by the distractions to never be able to finish what I start?
Who reads this blog?
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?
Am I an idiot when it comes to cars, or just unlucky?
Is it really better to light a candle than to curse the darkness?
Why can't I sleep through the night even when I'm exhuasted?
Do I think about sex too much?
Is it possible to be in Love with more than one person at the same time?
Am I early or is everyone else late?
Will I ever be a good fencer?
Will I ever be a good swordsman?
Will I ever be a good father?
How do you stay in touch with someone?
How do you tell if they don't want to stay in touch with you?
Is it true that "no one is alone"?
If I feel alone is it because something is wrong with me?
Is buying a house the right thing to do?
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
Am I drinking too little water, or too much?
Is air conditioning a luxury, or is it worth it?
How do you get manage when your car is in the shop, rent a car, hitch a ride with friends, bike?
Will I ever go to Pennsic?
Do I deserve good things?
Is there a god?
Is there more than one god?
How do you know when you've put more into something than it is worth?
Will I get on a 787 flight test?
Will I get a promotion?
Is it enough to work harder than the majority of your coworkers, or do you owe the company your total effort?
How much am I responsible to tell other people about their mistakes when they don't ask for my help?
Why don't people open up to me the way they used to?
Is the past gone forever?
Am I John Adams, Casandra, or James Wilson?
Will humans ever go into space to live?
Why are we here?
Is it better to dream the impossible dream or work to make life a little better in the few ways you can?
Do I push my body too hard, or not hard enough?
Why do the best TV shows almost always get cancelled?
Are people fundamentally good, or evil?
What is the greatest threat to the Constitution of the United States of America?
Will the internet be the downfall of the human race, or its salvation?
Really, do I think about sex too much?
Is my death fixed, or do I have the power to change it?
Is there really free will, or does the universe put us where it wants us?
Does everyone look back on their past and think almost entirely about their regrets, the paths not taken?
Am I blessed with the spark of creativity, or cursed by the distractions to never be able to finish what I start?
Who reads this blog?
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Dwelling in the past
Do you spend a lot of time mentally going back in time and imagining how things would have been different if you had done or said something differently?
There are a LOT of things in my past that I regret. A lot of bad memories, a lot of bad decisions. Some of them I knew were bad at the time, but I made them anyway. Some of them there was no way I could know.
If you could go back in time, in your own life, to some point in your past, armed with your memories and experiances but nothing more otherwise than what you had then, would you? And when would you go back to?
Would you go back even if you couldn't bring your memories with you, and trust to luck? Rely on Chaos Theory to make things turn out differently anyway?
I know I'd go back if I could bring my memories. I have debts to pay, and that would let me try to pay them. I might fail anyway, of course, but I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't try.
There are a LOT of things in my past that I regret. A lot of bad memories, a lot of bad decisions. Some of them I knew were bad at the time, but I made them anyway. Some of them there was no way I could know.
If you could go back in time, in your own life, to some point in your past, armed with your memories and experiances but nothing more otherwise than what you had then, would you? And when would you go back to?
Would you go back even if you couldn't bring your memories with you, and trust to luck? Rely on Chaos Theory to make things turn out differently anyway?
I know I'd go back if I could bring my memories. I have debts to pay, and that would let me try to pay them. I might fail anyway, of course, but I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't try.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Hi, Max!
On May 26th I attended an SCA event where I took several classes. One of these was on the evolution of arms and armor; the instructor had a period suit of Maximilian Armor (among a wide variety of implements of protection and destruction including a selection of pole arms, swords, maile, a shield, helms, etc.). Here's a couple of shots of me preparing to receive cavalry. :-)
Sleepless nights and sleepy meetings
Does anyone out there often find themselves falling asleep during meetings? I know I'm way, way behind on sleep, have been for years, but is that the reason?
Monday, June 4, 2007
"Upgraded"
I had a unique experiance this weekend - I got upgraded and downgraded at the exact same time.
I had arranged to rent a car from Budget while in Pittsburgh. As I normally do, I went for a nice cheap compact car, figuring that for two days that would be fine. On arrival at the counter in Pittsburgh, however, they told me they were out not just of compacts, but of everything up to SUVs. So, they were giving me a free upgrade to an SUV. I was somewhat disturbed by this, but figured "oh, how bad can it be?"
Well, I learned. I got a recent model Ford Explorer. After driving from the airport to my destination that night, I'd concluded that it had less acceleration, less braking, less stability, poorer gas milage (a guess, but confirmed later), less comfort, and far worse controls than my twelve year old station wagon. We'll ignore the giant blind spot off my left rear corner and the awkwardness in parking.
I have resolved that next time I'm told they're giving me an SUV I shall walk to the next counter and say "Hi, can I rent a car?"
In the spirit of the title of this blog, I shall end with a question. Why do people buy SUVs?
I had arranged to rent a car from Budget while in Pittsburgh. As I normally do, I went for a nice cheap compact car, figuring that for two days that would be fine. On arrival at the counter in Pittsburgh, however, they told me they were out not just of compacts, but of everything up to SUVs. So, they were giving me a free upgrade to an SUV. I was somewhat disturbed by this, but figured "oh, how bad can it be?"
Well, I learned. I got a recent model Ford Explorer. After driving from the airport to my destination that night, I'd concluded that it had less acceleration, less braking, less stability, poorer gas milage (a guess, but confirmed later), less comfort, and far worse controls than my twelve year old station wagon. We'll ignore the giant blind spot off my left rear corner and the awkwardness in parking.
I have resolved that next time I'm told they're giving me an SUV I shall walk to the next counter and say "Hi, can I rent a car?"
In the spirit of the title of this blog, I shall end with a question. Why do people buy SUVs?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
