Well they finally made a good Terminator sequel! Granted, the first one is a modern classic and a very tough act to follow. There is also that sequels are almost always necessarily warmed up left-overs, but this franchise has been noted for being especially disappointing. (I know I saw #5, but it left absolutely no impression, and #4 was dismal and awful.)
I’m definitely more of a Terminator fan than a Star Wars fan. That’s even more true when it comes to Star Trek. I’m willing to at least see the Star Wars movies, but I gave up on Trek ever since J.J. Abrams took over (although it had already gotten moribund).
For my money, Terminator: Dark Fate is a nice return to form and a pretty good action movie in its own right.
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20 Comments | tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, science fiction, science fiction movies, SF, SF Movies, Tim Miller | posted in Movies, Sci-Fi Saturday
There are many science-minded authors and working physicists who write popular science books. While there aren’t as many math-minded authors or working mathematicians writing popular math books, it’s not a null set. I’ve explored two such authors recently: mathematician Steven Strogatz and author David Berlinski.
Strogatz wrote The Joy of X (2012), which was based on his New York Times columns popularizing mathematics. I would call that a must-read for anyone with a general interest in mathematics. I just finished his most recent, Infinite Powers (2019), and liked it even more.
Berlinski, on the other hand, I wouldn’t grant space on my bookshelf.
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11 Comments | tags: calculus, David Berlinski, derivatives, fun with numbers, integrals, numbers, Steven Strogatz, The Joy of X | posted in Books, Math
There is real joy and happiness in the world.
Ten Years
Whatever else is going on, however dark it seems, this is something to smile about. Something to be truly thankful for.
Stay safe, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.
∇
4 Comments | tags: Randall Munroe, xkcd | posted in Life
One of the ways I’ve coped during this insanest of years is by escaping into fiction, and it’s hard to beat the sheer escapism of a good murder mystery. Science fiction, my other favorite escapist drug, particularly the good stuff, is often parable, prophecy, or pointed social examination, but a murder mystery is typically just a rippin’ good yarn.
The older classics especially, for instance Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe (two favorites of mine), when you come down to it, are utterly preposterous. Fairy tales staring a fussy Belgian with his mustaches or a corpulent epicurean who never leaves his house, both brilliant and eccentric, both prone to that final scene, everyone gathered, for the denouement, “J’accuse!”
Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series is a very different kind of yarn.
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3 Comments | tags: Angie Harmon, Jane Rizzoli, Maura Isles, Rizzoli & Isles, Sasha Alexander, Tess Gerritsen | posted in Books, Mystery Monday
I keep thinking about the 71+ million Americans who voted against nearly everything American has stood for until the last few years. Our Continental Divide may be beautiful to behold, but our National Divide is an ugly disgrace to normative values.
At least they have been our values until now.
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22 Comments | tags: conservative, Democrat, Democratic Party, election 2020, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Never Trump, progressive, Republican, Republican Party | posted in Politics, Society
And congrats to the First Dogs (elect), Very Good Boys Champ and Major.
How great to have four-legged furry friends back in the White House! (I’ve long thought a love of dogs and a good character are correlated. Guess which POTUS hates dogs.)
Stay with dogs, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.
∇
3 Comments | tags: dogs, Joe Biden | posted in Politics
Fell asleep reading a Nero Wolfe novel and woke up to a new world. Pennsylvania and Nevada called, Arizona still breaking for Biden/Harris…
Pretty nice thing to wake up to!
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41 Comments | tags: election 2020, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris | posted in Politics
Well, we kinda knew this was going to happen, but it’s still a pretty damn dark day for Our Democracy.
There seems reason for optimism, but in these crazy times, who knows how this all shakes out.
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8 Comments | tags: election 2020, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Never Trump | posted in Politics
It’s official: Based on available data, the resolution to the Fermi Paradox is simply that intelligent life does not exist in the universe at this time.
Life that thinks it’s intelligent does, though. But based on our observations, it has a long way to go. The universe can relax; Earthlings aren’t likely to be a problem to anyone but themselves.
13 Comments | tags: election 2020, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Never Trump | posted in Life, Politics
Well, here we go on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I’ve said it many times: That this is even a contest says a great deal about the changes in our society in the last score or two of years. I think it’s tragic, but obviously (yet astonishingly) mileage varies.
Funny how so many of us already have. My vote’s been in for weeks.
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13 Comments | tags: Dell Computers, Dell XPS 15, election 2020, election day, I voted, Never Trump, vote | posted in Politics
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