A collection of digital wonders and some other stuff
I’m super excited about the new Star Trek. I love all of the surprises that come at the end of this trailer. I never got into Voyager so I’m not super into the backstory of Seven of Nine but I’m guessing Picard won’t be either. I was however, super into TNG and Picard centred episodes were my favourite. Here’s the trailer if you haven’t already watched it multiple times yet:
With today being the 50th Anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the moon, I bring you this little classic reverse speech from the first words spoken on the surface of the moon which, when reversed, sound like “man will spacewalk”.
Forward:’a small step for a man’
Reverse: ‘Man will spacewalk.’
Also of interest, on this anniversary of scientific achievement, NASA has released a collection of 45 panoramic photos from the surface of the moon based on images stitched together from the various Apollo missions.
(Previously, on Jeffmilner.com.)
Now don’t get me wrong, I love Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. But as great as they and the other female candidates are, I think Democrats should be focusing more on a sure-fire nominee who can beat Trump. Electability should be our number one priority, and I’m just not sure if America is ready to embrace a female candidate yet — especially considering that Hillary Clinton only got three million more votes than Donald Trump in 2016.
Last week, we welcomed new baby boy, Ian, to our family. His stats: 9lbs (4.1 kg) and 20 1/2 inches (52cm). He likes snuggling, eating, sleeping, and processing food. Both mom and baby are doing great — most importantly… he’s a sweetheart.
The Hustle: “Even with a running time of 93 minutes, The Hustle felt about an hour too long.” — Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times
Dumbo: “I felt warmly toward Dumbo, but not ‘Dumbo.'” — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Little: “Little is no Big.” — Max Weiss, Baltimore Magazine
The Intruder: “If the protagonists in this film were any more dense, they would only exist as a thick fog.” — Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
Nice piece by former World Champion of chess, Garry Kasparov about 8-year-old chess prodigy Tanitoluwa Adewumi and how to create more chess champions.
Yesterday I started at my new position in Barnwell. There’s not a lot to say, other than things have been working out pretty well and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. Grade five has a lot of interesting things to relearn before I teach it to my new students. For example, I learned today that Socrates was put to death by a jury of his peers for his anti-democratic opinions. He thought that the smartest people should lead in government, rather than the lottery system that was customary at the time. Smart guy, that Socrates.
I’m lucky enough to be married to an extremely observant woman. While we were touristing around downtown Lahaina, Maui, my wife saw a poster for David Sedaris doing a show at the Maui Arts Center in just a few days. She knows I’m a fan and asked if I wanted to go. I was hesitant to put up the money just to hear an author read — but who am I kidding, I love David Sedaris and have since the first time I heard him on This American Life so many years ago.
It turns out, it was money well spent, because Mr. Sedaris didn’t take long before he was sharing his list of money making ideas.
I was in my Sussex kitchen not long ago squinting at what was either a pheasant or an armless troll racing across the road in front of the house when I got the idea for prescription windows.
It would be perfect for people like me who don’t want to wear glasses indoors and so I mentioned it to my friend Ingrid who said, “Oh, that’s brilliant.” She’s one of those women who will support you in just about anything you do. Slap some cheese between two slices of bread and it’s “My God, you’re amazing!” Calm down I sometimes want to say. I didn’t invent the sandwich — I just did what other before me have. This time though, I felt the praise was justified. And so, I put prescription windows on my list of million dollar ideas, realizing hours later that what works for me would not work for Hugh, or any of our frequent house guests who have different prescription problems or none at all. Still they might be good for a near-sighted loner who never has any company so I left them on the list. Right below cigarette butts with seeds in them.
And after a brief segue from some other million dollar ideas into stories about how cheap some people can be, he finished with a short digression about how his husband doesn’t like to admit how much he appreciates their wealth but that when it comes to million dollar ideas maybe his husband could give it a try. It was a brilliant story.
After the applause began to wane he slyly added, “You never want to say this before you read something… I wrote that today!”
Brilliant.
I’m closing out the year with my annual One Second Everyday video (see below). Lots of exciting things for us this year — especially wonderful was the arrival of our little baby girl, Nesslin. Astute viewers will see foreshadowing that 2019 is also looking to be a great year.
Venom: “Michelle Williams, near the very end, [says what] feels like the most sincere heartfelt thing anyone says in the entire movie: ‘I’m sorry about Venom.'” — Bob Chipman, Geek
The Grinch: “It accomplishes nothing more than what the 1966 adaptation accomplished, despite taking more than three times longer to do it. In short: You’re an unnecessary one, Mr. Grinch.” — Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
The Girl in the Spider’s Web: “Salander is still typing furiously and retains a taste for black clothes and vengeance, but her running and gunning now suggest a Goth cosplaying James Bond.” — Manohla Dargis, New York Times
Nutcracker and the Four Realms: “The only thing that younger and older audience members will be able to share here is a sense of boredom.” — Joey Magidson, Hollywood News
Nobody’s Fool: “I’m getting a headache from this movie.” — Korey Coleman, Double Toasted