Wow, two in a row here, sorry about that. Yet another icon has died, this time George Carlin. Here's a link to his wikipedia page.
Carlin was in my opinion one of the funniest and most insightful people I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. I actually saw him live a couple years ago right here in Northampton, and it was an awesome show.
I don't want to get too morbid here, but I'll bet his funeral will be one to remember. He was certainly an unbeliever, and probably has it somewhere in his will that he not be buried in a cemetery. I'd say he wants people to laugh about his life - I think I'll find some youtube videos to watch to commemorate this genius of comedy!
Perfect! Here's a short 10 minute video of the man himself talking about death. I think this is the way he'd want everyone to remember him!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A Sad Day
Stan Winston, special effects master, died on Sunday. His work is one of the main reasons that today I love movies, computer animation, and special effects so much!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Drumming
Last Friday night we went to a party up in Goshen at probably the most amazing back yard I've ever had the pleasure to explore. There were stone walkways, iron and glass sculptures, a trickling stream with a little waterfall, a fish pond, and a big stone tower about 10 feet tall, among many other amazing sights. They had a large dragon head sticking straight up into the air with a place for a fire underneath, so when a fire was raging smoke would come out of the dragon's mouth.
I ate, I drank, and I had a really great time. At one point I joined a bunch of people playing drums, and I didn't stop for about two hours! I realized that I loved drumming. I used my hands, and when they hurt from too much rhythm, I asked for a drum stick, and used that.
I found that I have a very good ear for patterns and drum-slapping, and it is such a satisfying feeling to drum along with a whole group of other people. One guy, who happened to be really tall, actually came out in front of us and the fire and just made up words and sung a song as we played.
Then we moved over to another area that was larger so people could dance to our drum and cowbell playing. It was so amazing to watch people dance and move to the sounds that I was a part of creating! Then, it got really crazy - a couple people came out with these ball and chain things, but the balls were on fire. Their balls were burning, as it were! They swung them and looped them around like a battle straight from the middle ages.
The highlight of this time of the evening I'd say was when a woman came out with a hula hoop that had attachments along the outside that were on fire. Here I was, drumming loudly with a bunch of other people, to the sights of this woman using a flaming hula hoop. I'll never forget it!
I ate, I drank, and I had a really great time. At one point I joined a bunch of people playing drums, and I didn't stop for about two hours! I realized that I loved drumming. I used my hands, and when they hurt from too much rhythm, I asked for a drum stick, and used that.
I found that I have a very good ear for patterns and drum-slapping, and it is such a satisfying feeling to drum along with a whole group of other people. One guy, who happened to be really tall, actually came out in front of us and the fire and just made up words and sung a song as we played.
Then we moved over to another area that was larger so people could dance to our drum and cowbell playing. It was so amazing to watch people dance and move to the sounds that I was a part of creating! Then, it got really crazy - a couple people came out with these ball and chain things, but the balls were on fire. Their balls were burning, as it were! They swung them and looped them around like a battle straight from the middle ages.
The highlight of this time of the evening I'd say was when a woman came out with a hula hoop that had attachments along the outside that were on fire. Here I was, drumming loudly with a bunch of other people, to the sights of this woman using a flaming hula hoop. I'll never forget it!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Grad Class #2
Well, my second-ever grad course has started. I did incredibly well on the first one, and I'm really looking forward to this course, called Appropriate Web Technologies. You too can see my progress on this course - some work will be on display on my WPI webspace at http://www.wpi.edu/~damo/awt/
This course is online-only, so I won't have to drive to Worcester or Westborough every week. It's the first time I've ever taken a completely online course, though I certainly have tons of experience with online education thanks to my job. Judging from the course description and schedule, I'm going to be very busy in the next two months! I'll be learning a ton, and quite a bit of it will be stuff I've been wanting to learn for a long time (Ruby on Rails, more Javascript, etc.).
Here's to a great class!
This course is online-only, so I won't have to drive to Worcester or Westborough every week. It's the first time I've ever taken a completely online course, though I certainly have tons of experience with online education thanks to my job. Judging from the course description and schedule, I'm going to be very busy in the next two months! I'll be learning a ton, and quite a bit of it will be stuff I've been wanting to learn for a long time (Ruby on Rails, more Javascript, etc.).
Here's to a great class!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Snake with Legs!
Not that I need any convincing for myself about the truth of evolution, but there was recently an article at the BBC about a fossil snake found with two vestigial legs.
It seems snakes evolved from more "normal" four legged reptiles, and then following evolution, lost the legs slowly over the course of millions of years. I think (I could be wrong) you can even see some species of snakes alive today with the remnants of legs.
In the very, very loosely reminiscent words of Carl Sagan, "science and reality are far more amazing than fiction!"
It seems snakes evolved from more "normal" four legged reptiles, and then following evolution, lost the legs slowly over the course of millions of years. I think (I could be wrong) you can even see some species of snakes alive today with the remnants of legs.
In the very, very loosely reminiscent words of Carl Sagan, "science and reality are far more amazing than fiction!"
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Doing My Part
Maybe you've heard of it, maybe not: there's a new documentary coming out in a couple weeks called Expelled. It is hosted by none other than Ben Stein. This is a propaganda film through-and-through for intelligent design - they attack biology, evolution, and true science every chance they get. Full disclosure: I haven't seen it yet. All I mention here can be read online or heard on podcasts.
Some of the actual scientists interviewed were lied to about what the documentary would be about, and some have been barred from screenings at theaters (in one case the person kicked out was actually in it!). Talk about expelled!
In my mind, the most egregious fallacy purported by this movie is their claim that evolution = atheism = Hitler and the Nazis. Huh?
I will do my part to spread the truth about this film by linking to Expelled Exposed. Read and enjoy!
Some of the actual scientists interviewed were lied to about what the documentary would be about, and some have been barred from screenings at theaters (in one case the person kicked out was actually in it!). Talk about expelled!
In my mind, the most egregious fallacy purported by this movie is their claim that evolution = atheism = Hitler and the Nazis. Huh?
I will do my part to spread the truth about this film by linking to Expelled Exposed. Read and enjoy!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Underway
Well, my class in software engineering is well underway, and it's going great. My group did a presentation a couple weeks ago, and we did a great job I thought. It's a lot of reading and a bunch of homework, but I've been able to keep up. The stuff I learn in this class will really help me when I make my games, and also even in my job for the next larger-sized programming project (whatever it may be).
I've thought of a couple more very stand-out games from the past:
The Dig (PC) - an incredible adventure game from the likes of LucasArts. This game was awesome, I mean, Steven Spielberg was involved! I remember purchasing this one by scraping together quarters, dimes, and nickels - that's how much I wanted to play it.
Command and Conquer (PC) - This game (like The Dig) started out for me with a demo. I played the demo level of this one more times than I care to mention. In my mind, this is THE real-time strategy game. It's what started me on that entire genre of video game.
Ahh video games. I am determined to show people that video games are not just for kids - they are for us older citizens ("adults" if you will) as well. Even more, I'm going to use them in the classroom.
I've thought of a couple more very stand-out games from the past:
The Dig (PC) - an incredible adventure game from the likes of LucasArts. This game was awesome, I mean, Steven Spielberg was involved! I remember purchasing this one by scraping together quarters, dimes, and nickels - that's how much I wanted to play it.
Command and Conquer (PC) - This game (like The Dig) started out for me with a demo. I played the demo level of this one more times than I care to mention. In my mind, this is THE real-time strategy game. It's what started me on that entire genre of video game.
Ahh video games. I am determined to show people that video games are not just for kids - they are for us older citizens ("adults" if you will) as well. Even more, I'm going to use them in the classroom.
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