Author Archives: Wyrd Smythe

About Wyrd Smythe

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The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.

Amping the Ante

The other evening, I finally went to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. The punch line (and never was the term “punch” more appropriate) is that I have to give it a definite thumbs down. It is, without question, my least favorite Christopher Nolan movie, and that’s saying something, because (unlike some), I quite like Nolan’s work.

I’m a life-long comics fan and a life-long fan of the Batman. I’ve known the worlds of DC and Marvel for over 40 years. For me, Superman has a slight edge, but the Batman has always been a close second. Those two comprise a full quarter to one-third of my comics and gnovels (graphic novels) collection. Frank Miller‘s The Dark Knight Returns is one of two seminal works I hold in the highest esteem. (The other, of course, is Alan Moore‘s Watchmen.)

And, as I mentioned, I’m a fan of Nolan’s work, and I liked both his first two Batman movies. I fully expected to like his latest.

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Beating Swords into Rockets

Saturn V

Kudos and congratulations to Curiosity! The Mars Space Laboratory — the “rover” — is safely down on Mars. Other blogs have covered it in great detail, so I won’t go into it. The Bad Astronomer is a great place to start with anything space-related; here’s a good one, and here’s another. Maki, over at sci-ənce, has a really cute comic. And you can always count on Randall Monroe, over at xkcd, for a good take on it. (And speaking of xkcd and Mars, I’ve always loved this one.)

But I do just want to say, “Wow! This is really cool!”

And isn’t Curiosity an apt name for a mission designed to slake ours.

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Rant: Han Shot First!

In fact I’m actually going to write a rant about two bits from the Lord of the Rings movies, but they’re directly related to the Han Shot First controversy. In both cases, Hollywood seems to be demonstrating a classic far left bias I can only think of as Limp Dick Syndrome.

In the Star Wars case, the bias is so strong it involves revisionism of previously published material!

But let’s first discuss those two bits from Peter Jackson’s film version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. It’s kind of more of the same sort of LDS problem (and I don’t mean Latter Day Somebodies, and I didn’t misspell LSD).

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BB #4: Fugacious Nous

Funny how people use “quantum leap” to mean a large jump. In reality, a quantum leap — a real one, not a Scott Bakula one — is a tiny thing. A very tiny thing. Think decimal point, 33 bagels and a number. Tiny. Tiny beyond belief (or unbelief, for that matter).

And yet…

It does mean jumping to a new level very different from the old.

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Olympic Dreams

So I was watching the Olympics, which is what everyone is doing these days, and we’ll get to that in a moment.

What I was watching is that one gymnastics event… you know the one, where the gymnast hangs from a pair of parallel bars and does her amazing acrobatics while suspended above several horizontal sheets of glass, each separated by about six inches.

Wait… What?!?

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Bang, Bang; You’re Dead!

The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, naturally re-activated the “discussion” of guns and gun control in the blogsphere. As with reproductive rights and gay rights, it’s not really a discussion so much as two sides throwing comments (or worse) at each other.

At least they aren’t throwing bullets (yet?). I guess that’s something.

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Gobsmacked!

So this morning I get up and check my work email. There’s a meeting invite from my boss, posted early this morning, for a 9:30 meeting titled “Re Org Update” and to be held in a conference room (rather than in my boss’s office).

None of that sounded good. Unexpected meeting being held immediately. Odd location. No details. I did a [Reply with Comments] to say, “Oh, oh… this doesn’t sound good,” hoping for a calming reply.

No calming reply.

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2001: A Space Trailer

This is too good not to share:

I was a big fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey when it came out in 1968 (I was in high school at the time). I was already a science fiction fan by then, so it was a dream movie for a guy like me. Later, in college, I majored in film and television, so came to appreciate the artistry of the film on a whole new level: as a visual tone poem by Stanley Kubrick.

It remains one of my favorite films, perhaps more for the memories and early exposure than for it being a great film that stands the test of time (although I rather think it is and does). I still see it as a very beautiful film; the visual poetry remains. The soundtrack also is quite extraordinary, I think.

But I’m still waiting for those commercial TWA flights to the Moon base!

Anyway, enjoy the video. It’s a trailer for 2001 as if it were cut today (making the film a Thriller … in space).

Funniest thing I’ve seen all week, and I’m indebted to the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, for posting it! If you like space or astronomy (or science or cool things), this is a blog site you want to visit daily. One of the best out there, as far as I’m concerned.


Hail, Yes!

Now, this is what I call a hail stone!

I’ve seen pictures of similar spiky monsters, but this is the first time I’ve seen one in person!

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BB #3: Class Warfare

Today a second Brain Bubble; a pair of related BBs fired into the interweb. The first one concerned the “mainstream liberal media” meme. This one concerns another meme we seem to accept as given, but which I think deserves deeper thought. (Of course, I’m prone to thinking most things deserve deeper thought than they get, but that’s another BB… or SB… or full-blown article!)

In any event, this BB concerns the idea of “Class warfare.” It’s a phrase often used by the upper class to describe any sort of perceived “attack” against them. It implies “dirty fighting” and seeks to turn any complaint — no matter how valid — into an ad hominem attack.

Which, of course, would be unfair, right?

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