Geek-in-Chief

As you and most of the free world have probably heard by now, President Obama will appear on an upcoming episode of MythBusters. At first I wondered why. What is his hidden purpose? Then I heard the details. The arch-liberal has ordered Adam and Jamie to retest the Archimedes death ray. Clearly this is all part of a plan to replace our nuclear weapons with a solar powered alternative. Well that didn't work when Jimmy Carter tried it, and it won't work now!

I wonder if we can get people to start spreading that around the interwebs as a serious conspiracy theory? That'd be cool.

As soon as I heard that the president would be on MythBusters I knew we'd start seeing the Obama-haters making the usual idiotic comment about “more important things to do.” What some so-called patriots don't understand about the American system of government is that the president has two constitutional roles. He is the head of government and the head of state. In most of the world's nations these roles are separated. In the UK the head of government is the prime minister, the head of state is the monarch. In Germany the head of government is the chancellor, the head of state is the president. In Finland the head of government is prime minister, the head of state is the president. In America both jobs go to one person. As head of government he does important stuff like propose legislation, veto bills, run the executive branch, and command the armed forces. As head of state he is the embodiment of our national spirit. Like a walking, talking flag, he is the symbol of what we think of as American virtues. He hands out awards to writers and artists. He poses for pictures with Boy Scouts and astronauts. He calls the winner of the Superbowl and meets the World Series champions in the Rose Garden. And this president encourages math and science.

According to what I've read, the announcement occurred during the first ever meeting of a president with science fair winners. If that is so I am astounded. It seems the most reasonable thing in the world that the president would boost American science education in this way. If Mr. Obama is the first to do this then he deserves high praise for this wise and proper exercise of his office. And what better way to get lots of young people excited about science than to appear on the most popular of science popularizing TV shows, MythBusters?

Will a pro-science president encourage learning and lead to a generation of more educated Americans? It's plausible. And if things work out, we might even end up with a solar powered death ray.

Political What If . . .?

Marvel Comics used to publish an occasional comic book in which they posed “what if” question and told a story that was strictly outside of the “canon.” What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four? What if Dr. Doom became a hero? What if Invisible Girl married the Sub-Mariner? (Ew, ick on that last one)

I like to play political what if. For example, the people of California are going to vote in a referendum next month in which they may decide to decriminalize and regulate marijuana use and growth. Far out, huh? Okay, just for fun, what if John McCain had won and he was our president now?

I'll just bet that he would have his Attorney General tell the Californians that it didn't matter what they wanted, the feds would continue to prosecute recreational and medical users. The 10th Amendment can be ignored by Presidents, the Commerce Clause allows Washington to override all state laws, and the will of the people be damned. The President would insist that the demon weed be destroyed wherever it is found to prevent the scourge of reefer madness.

Whew. Scary story. Fortunately, it is only a “what if.” Good thing we voted for change.

John

As just about everyone has pointed out by now, John should have been 70 today.

As the Blogoshere Turns

Another light week of monitoring the great blogophere brings us the Picture(s) O' the Week.  Love these takes on Starry Night from Popped Culture.  Go forth and be enlightened.

Glenn's Book of Quotes Number 24

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." -- H.P. Lovecraft

Fear of the unknown is primal. The unknown, after all, is where the monsters of our imagination live. Fear teaches us caution, which keeps us alive to cower another day, but, conversely, it is also fear that drives us forward, into the unknown. We are driven to explore, to find out what lives behind the mountains, what is inside the old house, the isolated town, the forbidden tome. We defeat the unknown, again and again, and keep fear at bay.

Of course, if you're writing weird fiction, you're going to want to fill that unknown with hideous, horrible, unspeakable creatures of eldritch power, unimaginable age, and a physical presence that calls reality itself into question. And maybe some tentacles.

I Have Great Taste In Music

You'll be singing it all day. Or not.

It's More Than a Game

With the Ken Burns Baseball series now in its tenth inning, my mind turned back to an earlier time. A time when compelling documentaries were shown on PBS, and snarky public radio guys made fun of it. Here is a broadcast of NPR's Only a Game from many years ago. You can listen to the whole thing if you like, but I'd skip ahead to minute 43:20 to hear the compelling story of . . . Candlepin.

This, by the way, may only be amusing to people from New England and the Maritimes, where we play a regional variant of bowling that is, frankly, more fun.

Mr. Monk and My Mental Vacation

I just took a little business trip. It involved four flights and lots of time sitting in airports, so I figured I'd need to bring an extra book. It needed to be small and I wanted something not too challenging. That would usually mean an old Star Trek novel, but this time I grabbed a Monk mystery.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse was kind of fun. It is the first in the series by Monk writer Lee Goldberg. The troubled detective and Natalie, his Dr. Watson, investigate the murder of a firefighter's dog. If you are familiar with the Monk TV series you can probably guess that Monk is, coincidentally, called in to investigate an unrelated murder that is, in fact, related. Then, through a series of remarkable observations, leaps in logic, and what seem to be lucky guesses, Monk solves the crime.

The Monk mysteries aren't the kind where you are intrigued by the puzzle. They are the kind where you enjoy seeing the engaging characters overcome a problem. And the characters are engaging, but only if you've seen the TV series and have a fondness for it. As a stand-alone novel this is pretty weak stuff. Not that Goldberg doesn't try. He works to flesh out the characters and does a nice job, but the fun of something like this is that you already know the characters.

A book like this doesn't really want a review. It is light, simple reading for people who enjoyed the series; pleasant, if you don't let yourself think too much about it. Good for planes, trains, and those days you want to give your brain a vacation.

Shine On Harvest Moon

Stan and Babe in a tribute to tonight's Harvest Moon.

As the Blogoshere Turns

A short spin of the Blogosphere this week as we focus on the Cats O' the Week. Jaquandor warns of of the impending danger of Laser Cats!

Yesterday my mother told me that my niece is going to play laser tag. I told her what that meant and spent the next five minutes assuring her that no one would lose their eyesight.

Cats would be awesome at laser tag.

OK Woof

OK Go has a new video, with doggie goodness. You know you want to watch it.

As the Blogoshere Turns

I've had a pretty full week and haven't had a whole lot of time to myself, but I did run across some good stuff that I thought I'd share with you.  Once again, if I can't produce a good blog myself, the least I can do is point out some that you should be following.

Our Video O' the Week is from Popped Culture, with an important message for the god in your life.

Our Picture O' the Week is from the Gunslinger.  Yvonne Craig.  Bikini.  And I just lost half my readers.

For the rest of you, check out the overall Post O' the Week.  It is from 27b/6 and is the most fun that a blogger can have with a troll.

A Little Family Update From Afghanistan

I just wanted to share this picture of my cousin, Sgt. Hughes, at Forward Operating Base Gardez. Her husband is also serving in Afghanistan, as is her brother. Recent news from that front in the Global War on Terror Overseas Contingency Operation leads me to be both cautiously optimistic and increasingly concerned.

I am proud to be associated with such people.

Tribbles!

I just love everything about this poster.  Via

Work Work Work Work, Hello Boys, Have a Good Night's Rest?

My time is consumed by work lately.  I won't be back here for a few days at least. 

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Answer Fourteen – The Shipless Trek

An official Hoot to Jaquandor who correctly answered our last trivial question. Skilled craftsmen have carefully inscribed his name on our illustrious honor roll of Steely-Eyed Missile Men.

The only episode of Star Trek that did not show the interior of the Enterprise was, as Jaquandor told us, “All Our Yesterdays.” It began with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beaming into the library and meeting Mr. Atoz. It ended back in the library.  Scotty was only heard on the communicator and never seen.

This episode was also memorable for featuring Mariette Hartley as the scantily clad Zarabeth. Spock was quite taken with the temporally exiled beauty and they engaged in some highly illogical canoodling in the cave. According to the novel Yesterday's Son, this resulted in a Spock's son, Zar. The Trek Trinity met him by taking a little trip through their old friend, the Guardian of Forever.

One more fun fact about “All Our Yesterdays;” it was the third and final episode directed my Marvin Chomsky. Mr. Chomsky, who also directed “And the Children Shall Lead” and “Day of the Dove,” has a famous cousin -- a guy from MIT named Noam. Marvin has three Emmys. Noam, none.

Secret Knowledge About Books

Facts about books that they (you know, them) wouldn't tell you.



It's true, you know, about where blogs come from. But it isn't pretty to watch. No, not at all.

Via: PWxyz

GTA Amherst

Video games can't be art, huh?



XKCD just makes the world a better place.

As the Blogoshere Turns

Greetings fellow travelers in Blogistan. Since this blog is fairly dull I consider it a public service to point out blogs that are fairly interesting. Here are this week's clever bits.

Our Picture 'O the Week comes from the Gunslinger and is memory of the good old days when the future was cool and belonged to us.

Kudos to Calvin, he of the Canadian Cave of Cool, for finding this charming moment that is The Video 'O the Week. It represents everything that is good and right about sports, so it is a pretty rare site these days.

The overall Post 'O the Week is to be found on the Back of the Cereal Box. It's all about when nature goes horribly wrong! No, not really, but it is quite interesting.

August 32 Again

Yesterday's annual celebration of Mootday went off without a hitch, as usual. Breakfast was eaten at around breakfast time. Crossword puzzles were completed in short order and we all gathered at the diner to discuss the Mootday Parade. With budgets tight this year it was decided that we would only have local high school bands perform, and that was pretty much okay with everybody except for Ed Brickellhause, who lobbied hard for the inclusion of an Irish bagpipe band that he quite liked. Martha Little said the thing could be classed up by including a string quartet on the back of a flatbed and everybody said that it would be very nice. As a twist on the usual acrobats and such we all agreed that shooting a guy out of a cannon would be swell. As always clowns of all sorts, including whiteface, auguste, tramp, rodeo, harlequin, mime, jester, and politician, would be strictly prohibited.

This supremely unimportant discussion complete, lunch was eaten, with many cheeseburgers, clam plates, grilled cheese sandwiches, and hot dogs consumed. Mac and cheese was also a popular choice. Pies included apple, blueberry, lemon meringue, and strawberry-rhubarb. After this some chose to walk in the park while others retired to front porches. The breeze was shot.

In the evening fireworks were discussed. This went on until we all ran out of beer at which point we all went on up to bed.