Orestes, A Tragic Romp

Posted on March 4, 2010 - Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment

This was a play at the Folger Theater, in Washington, DC, and one of the best I’ve ever seen.  it’s a Shakespearean type play (actually written by Euripides over 2,000 years ago). When the actors use the typical language of the era, it’s just too hard to understand.

But this play had been updated, so the actors used “normal” language, and even wore conventional clothes. It was kind of shocking to see Mentes, a sea captain, come onto the stage directly off his ship and appear in a suit and tie. But then again, the play was full of surprises.

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Jordan could replace Leno

Posted on February 6, 2010 - Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment

Here are a couple of recent examples:

We’re riding down the road and Jordan asks me if I get the Disney Station on my radio.

Me: No.

Jordan: What? This car sucks.

We’re walking the dog around the high school. I stop for the dog to “go.”

Jordan: Come on, old man.

Reading by cheating–Book TV

Posted on October 20, 2009 - Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment

Every weekend, CSPAN2 turns into Book TV–a channel dedicated to books. Most of the programs are presentations by the author of a book they’ve recently written. It’s a wonderful way to get a quick synopsis of a book without having to read the whole thing. That talks are usually recorded from a book signing event, a university speech, etc.

Here’s an example, from Oct. 11, 2009. It was “Financial Fiasco: How America’s Infatuation with Home Ownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis,” by Johan Norberg, of the Cato Institute.

The author basically showed how the monetary meltdown of 2008-2009 occurred. There were many contributors–the government, home owners, banks, and regulators. And, much as I hate to admit it, the Bush administration was just as guilty as Barney Frank. And the thing that stuck in my mind the most was this–added regulations are not going to help, because there were many watchdogs on guard that completely missed the event while it was happening. How can we trust the same regulators who screwed up the first time to do it right this time?

Anyway, you can see the upcoming schedule at booktv.org. Set an Outlook reminder to check it out on Friday evening or Saturday morning, so you can set your DVR to record an interesting title.

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

Posted on September 29, 2009 - Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment

This is a delicious book–it has it all: intrigue, deception, treachery, violence, wars, and oh yes, a little sex. It takes place in England in the 1600’s, but covers several generations of characters. It’s totally unlike Ken’s usual spy novels, but don’t worry, this is not a failed experiment that he took in trying to cover a different genre. He excels at it, and I got my wish after I finished it–he wrote a sequel. Worlds Without End is just as good, so I recommend both of them.

NASA Tweetup

Posted on September 26, 2009 - Filed Under Family | 4 Comments

I found out about this event through Twitter–I saw a tweet that announced the STS-127 crew was going to meet with the first 190 people that registered at a link they showed. I did, and I was accepted.

So, Cindy Bowers and I headed to downtown DC this last Thursday to NASA headquarters for the tweetup. It turns out that the previous mission had been the debut of an astronaut tweeting from space. Astro-Mike is actually Mike Massimino, and has helped pioneer NASA’s efforts to connect with more of the public through social media like Twitter.

pulansky_20090924This particular mission was also interesting to me, because we saw the ISS go over in July at the Woodlake Skywatch, when this shuttle crew was aboard. We had about 150 people that night, and the pass put on a really good show. It was also the largest crew that had ever been aboard the ISS–13 people.

The crew described their mission, with accompanying video, while live on the NASA TV channel, and then had a Q/A session. I was also able to get a picture with the MD on the crew, Tom Marshburn.

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The audience was definitely full of geeks–most of them were texting and some had PC’s going while the show took place. But then again, I was only there because I’m quite a geek myself.

But, several people asked good questions, like the future of the space program, and the apathy of the public towards space exploration. I also made sure I told the crew I had seen them fly over at a star party.

We got a pretty nice goody bag–a stereoscopic viewer, moon puzzle, X-15 poster, picture of the crew, etc. We got to go up and talk with the crew afterward. And I got a couple of autographs.

This was a very nice program, and I was fascinated, as usual, by being in the presence of real astronauts. One of them, David Wolf, has been up 4 times.

Great hotkey program–Autohotkey

Posted on August 3, 2009 - Filed Under Business, Family, Mainframe | Leave a Comment

I found this through PC Mag about a year ago, and have been using it ever since. Autohotkey is free, and does several great things, which I illustrate here:

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Dexter–best show on TV

Posted on July 28, 2009 - Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment

I actually started watching this accidentally, I’d never heard of the show. But my hot wife and I are both hooked now. At first, I thought it was going to be just another cop drama, and Dexter is a cop, but the situation is unlike anything you could dream up. (more…)

John’s baseball season, 2009

Posted on July 26, 2009 - Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment

Some pictures, showing John’s versatility. And he hit the team’s only home run this year. The team ended up in 2nd place. (more…)

The Queen makes the news

Posted on July 26, 2009 - Filed Under Family | 3 Comments

This is from Kayela’s company newsletter. She also got a $25 gas card.
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The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Posted on July 22, 2009 - Filed Under Family | 1 Comment

The full name of this book is: “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.” It’s quite a mouthful, and it covers an equally complex topic. (more…)

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