03 August 2014
TV: "The Great Martian War"
There is a sub-genre of sci-fi called "alternate history". It's usually stories based on ideas like "What if the Roman Empire never fell?" or "What if the south didn't lose the Civil War?". I've seen many alternate history books, but I don't know that I've ever seen a movie or TV show.
"The Great Martian War" is a TV-movie that aired on BBC-America. (It aired on the History channel in the UK & Canada.) It re-imagined the World War I as a war of humans against invading aliens.
It was done in the style of a documentary. It appeared as if they used a mixture of archival footage from the real war, archival footage with aliens CGI-ed in, and CGI footage. They also has "interviews" with "survivors" that were processed to look like they were shot in 50's, 70's, or 90's, depending on the age of the survivor.
All in all, it was quite well done, and much more entertaining than the scifi movies that SyFy airs. Which reinforces my opinion that the best channel for scifi/fantasy is BBC-America.
Labels: history, review: TV, scifi/fantasy
14 June 2014
Quote of the Day: Tumblr
Seen here:
"Today is Copernicus’s 541th birthday. You may remember Copernicus as the man who said 'Hey, what if the Earth went around the sun?' To which the Catholic Church replied 'Hey, what if we set you on fire?'"
"Today is Copernicus’s 541th birthday. You may remember Copernicus as the man who said 'Hey, what if the Earth went around the sun?' To which the Catholic Church replied 'Hey, what if we set you on fire?'"
Labels: history
28 April 2014
Quote of the Day: NPR Internal Memo, 4/28/94
Seen here:
TO: All Staff
RE: Internet at NPR
DATE: April 28, 1994
Internet is coming to NPR! To some, this will be long awaited, good news; to others, it won't mean much. If you want to find out what the Internet is, how and when NPR is going to use it, join us for a presentation and discussion, on Friday, April 29, at noon in the Board Room. If you can't make the seminar, here's the gist of the presentation.
Internet is a collection of computer networks that is connected around the world. It began as a communications link between defense and scientific research institutions, but today is the fastest growing "organization," such that any statistic on the numbers of connected computers and users is obsolete before the numbers are uttered. The term "organization" is used loosely to refer to the Internet, because only the links among computers and users are managed, which is simply for self-preservation/replication. A code of "netiquette" exists among users and within user groups, but otherwise, you pay your money, find your niche and take your chances.
A number of services exist to permit communication among users, to navigate around the various computers on the "net", and to access and use the enormous amounts of available data. The most powerful, EMAIL, is very similar to our own VAXmail, except the addressing scheme is more complex, i.e., person@computer.organization.country. EMAIL services include both public and private mail, news groups and discussion groups. TELNET allows a user to travel to other computers to access data. Friendly software, like GOPHER, VERONICA, WORLD WIDE WEB, MOSAIC and CELLO provide easy access to the data on those other computers.
To ease ourselves onto the Internet securely, NPR has isolated a computer that will serve our communications needs, and we have built a firewall between it and the rest of the NPR computer network. We will offer EMAIL ONLY, at first. Internet EMAIL will provide us the biggest bang for the least impact on the hardware, software and staff support. To get access to EMAIL, an employee must complete a separate Internet Account Application Form (available from CIS) and attend a one hour training session (to be offered at least once a day)
TO: All Staff
RE: Internet at NPR
DATE: April 28, 1994
Internet is coming to NPR! To some, this will be long awaited, good news; to others, it won't mean much. If you want to find out what the Internet is, how and when NPR is going to use it, join us for a presentation and discussion, on Friday, April 29, at noon in the Board Room. If you can't make the seminar, here's the gist of the presentation.
Internet is a collection of computer networks that is connected around the world. It began as a communications link between defense and scientific research institutions, but today is the fastest growing "organization," such that any statistic on the numbers of connected computers and users is obsolete before the numbers are uttered. The term "organization" is used loosely to refer to the Internet, because only the links among computers and users are managed, which is simply for self-preservation/replication. A code of "netiquette" exists among users and within user groups, but otherwise, you pay your money, find your niche and take your chances.
A number of services exist to permit communication among users, to navigate around the various computers on the "net", and to access and use the enormous amounts of available data. The most powerful, EMAIL, is very similar to our own VAXmail, except the addressing scheme is more complex, i.e., person@computer.organization.country. EMAIL services include both public and private mail, news groups and discussion groups. TELNET allows a user to travel to other computers to access data. Friendly software, like GOPHER, VERONICA, WORLD WIDE WEB, MOSAIC and CELLO provide easy access to the data on those other computers.
To ease ourselves onto the Internet securely, NPR has isolated a computer that will serve our communications needs, and we have built a firewall between it and the rest of the NPR computer network. We will offer EMAIL ONLY, at first. Internet EMAIL will provide us the biggest bang for the least impact on the hardware, software and staff support. To get access to EMAIL, an employee must complete a separate Internet Account Application Form (available from CIS) and attend a one hour training session (to be offered at least once a day)
27 March 2014
How Seattle's Neighborhoods Got Their Names
This is neat. Examples:
The Bitter Lake neighborhood in north Seattle is named after the small lake inside of it. That lake itself got its name because of the tannic acid that flowed into the lake from a local sawmill. The lake became so bitter that horses refused to drink from it, leading to the well-known phrase, “You can lead a horse to water, but if it’s in a lake filled with acid then you won’t be able to get it to drink.”
Eastlake is the small neighborhood east of Lake Union. It is not east of Lake Washington. If you go east of Lake Washington, you’re in Bellevue.
Lake City took its name from a sign that someone posted along the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad north of the Sand Point brick factory. The sign, tacked to a shed, said "Lake," in reference to Lake Washington, and the name Lake City eventually stuck.
Montlake, a community that sits in between Capitol Hill and the University District alongside the Lake Washington ship canal, got its name from real estate agents who wanted to evoke the beauty of both mountains and lakes in order to move land. Sorry Montlake, you’re just a marketing term.
Northgate’s name was codified around the development of the Northgate Mall in 1950, which was the first indoor shopping center in America to be called a mall. So, yeah. It’s named after a mall.
This neighborhood [South Lake Union] sits south of Lake Union. It must not be confused with the southern portion of Lake Union itself—much like Amazon.com, which is headquartered in South Lake Union, should not be confused with the Amazon River.
The Bitter Lake neighborhood in north Seattle is named after the small lake inside of it. That lake itself got its name because of the tannic acid that flowed into the lake from a local sawmill. The lake became so bitter that horses refused to drink from it, leading to the well-known phrase, “You can lead a horse to water, but if it’s in a lake filled with acid then you won’t be able to get it to drink.”
Eastlake is the small neighborhood east of Lake Union. It is not east of Lake Washington. If you go east of Lake Washington, you’re in Bellevue.
Lake City took its name from a sign that someone posted along the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad north of the Sand Point brick factory. The sign, tacked to a shed, said "Lake," in reference to Lake Washington, and the name Lake City eventually stuck.
Montlake, a community that sits in between Capitol Hill and the University District alongside the Lake Washington ship canal, got its name from real estate agents who wanted to evoke the beauty of both mountains and lakes in order to move land. Sorry Montlake, you’re just a marketing term.
Northgate’s name was codified around the development of the Northgate Mall in 1950, which was the first indoor shopping center in America to be called a mall. So, yeah. It’s named after a mall.
This neighborhood [South Lake Union] sits south of Lake Union. It must not be confused with the southern portion of Lake Union itself—much like Amazon.com, which is headquartered in South Lake Union, should not be confused with the Amazon River.
Labels: history
21 March 2014
Quote of the Day: National Association OPPOSED to Woman Suffrage
This historical pamphlet is from 1920:
Vote NO on Woman Suffrage
BECAUSE 90% of the women either do not want it, or do not care.
BECAUSE it means competition of women with men instead of co-operation.
BECAUSE 80% of the women eligible to vote are married and can only double or annul their husbands' votes.
BECAUSE it can be of no benefit commensurate with the additional expense involved.
BECAUSE in some States more voting women than voting men will place the Government under petticoat rule.
BECAUSE it is unwise to risk the good we already have for the evil which may occur.
Votes of Women can accomplish no more than votes of Men. Why waste time, energy and money, without result?
Vote NO on Woman Suffrage
BECAUSE 90% of the women either do not want it, or do not care.
BECAUSE it means competition of women with men instead of co-operation.
BECAUSE 80% of the women eligible to vote are married and can only double or annul their husbands' votes.
BECAUSE it can be of no benefit commensurate with the additional expense involved.
BECAUSE in some States more voting women than voting men will place the Government under petticoat rule.
BECAUSE it is unwise to risk the good we already have for the evil which may occur.
Votes of Women can accomplish no more than votes of Men. Why waste time, energy and money, without result?
Labels: history
27 September 2013
Quote of the Day: Rick Mercer
From The Rick Mercer Report:
"I suggest you visit the Government of Canada's website about Parliament. In fact, if you would like to see what websites looked like in 1987 -- in what you would call "the olden days" -- this is the website for you!"
p.s. I'm sooo excited that I convinced my parents to watch The Rick Mercer Report. It's such a great show, but I've never known anyone else who watches it!
"I suggest you visit the Government of Canada's website about Parliament. In fact, if you would like to see what websites looked like in 1987 -- in what you would call "the olden days" -- this is the website for you!"
p.s. I'm sooo excited that I convinced my parents to watch The Rick Mercer Report. It's such a great show, but I've never known anyone else who watches it!
Labels: history
22 August 2013
Quote of the Day: Tumblr
Seen here:
"If you ever think that you’ve made a big mistake, just remember that in 1788 the Austrian army attacked itself and lost 10,000 men."
"If you ever think that you’ve made a big mistake, just remember that in 1788 the Austrian army attacked itself and lost 10,000 men."
Labels: history
09 June 2013
Canadian/US Border
25 March 2013
The End of the Soviet Union
Some cool pictures from the last years of the Soviet Union. I especially liked the first picture -- I went to that McDonald's, when it was still the USSR. The wait was "only" forty-five minutes. If I recall correctly, I had a Big Mac.
29 August 2012
The (Secret) City of London
27 November 2011
Quote of the Day: Cracked
From 5 Soldiers Who Kicked Ass In the Face of Death (and Logic):
"During the War of the Spanish Succession back in 1701, the navies of Britain and France were in the Caribbean duking it out with cannons and broadsides. If you're curious what Britain and France were doing in a war for SPANISH succession, feel free to read up on it. It's complicated."
"During the War of the Spanish Succession back in 1701, the navies of Britain and France were in the Caribbean duking it out with cannons and broadsides. If you're curious what Britain and France were doing in a war for SPANISH succession, feel free to read up on it. It's complicated."
Labels: history
11 September 2011
September 11th
This is the first-hand account that I like to read: For Thou Art With Us.
Related: Operation Find Don, The Kindness of Strangers & the Power of Community: Operation Find Don, and A Rather Befuddled Note From Me To You About September 11 Specials.
Related: Operation Find Don, The Kindness of Strangers & the Power of Community: Operation Find Don, and A Rather Befuddled Note From Me To You About September 11 Specials.
Labels: history
10 March 2011
Old-Timey Clothes
I love me some old-timey clothes. I recently discovered Of Another Fashion, which posts old photographs of women of color. I've been having lots of fun looking at all the pretty pictures.
There's quite a few photographs of women in the Japanese-American internment camps. I'm astounded at how well dressed they were. Look at this nurse. She looks like a movie star. And this photo shows a fashion show (!) at one of the camps.
There's quite a few photographs of women in the Japanese-American internment camps. I'm astounded at how well dressed they were. Look at this nurse. She looks like a movie star. And this photo shows a fashion show (!) at one of the camps.
11 November 2010
Alive
Recently I watched a really interesting documentary on the History Channel called "I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash". It was about the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes in 1972. The survivors were forced to eat the remains of the passengers who died in the crash. It's an amazing story, but unfortunately it made me think of this:
Labels: history, The Kids in the Hall
08 November 2010
Marathons
I'd vaguely heard that the 1984 Olympics was the first time women's marathon was an event, but I didn't realize that women weren't even allowed to run any marathons until ten or so years before that.
Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially register at the Boston Marathon, but according to Wikipedia, Bobbi Gibb had actually run it the year before. She ran it the same year as Kathrine Switzer, too, and finished an hour ahead. Of course, Kathrine Switzer lost some time fighting (yes, really) with an official who tried to pull her off the course.
Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially register at the Boston Marathon, but according to Wikipedia, Bobbi Gibb had actually run it the year before. She ran it the same year as Kathrine Switzer, too, and finished an hour ahead. Of course, Kathrine Switzer lost some time fighting (yes, really) with an official who tried to pull her off the course.
Labels: history, random weirdness
06 May 2010
Quote of the Day: Stephen Fry
From Stephen Fry in America:
I was always a little hazy about the Louisiana Purchase, mistakenly believing that it involved America buying the state of Louisiana. In fact it was the sale, in 1803, by France of its entire Louisiane territory, a massive swathe of mid-western America, including Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas, not to mention a healthy chunk of New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Louisiana. It cost the United States about twenty-three million dollars which added up in the end to about three cents an acre. Something of a bargain for doubling the size of the country. This was land occupied by American Indians. Naturally they were not informed about the sale.
I was always a little hazy about the Louisiana Purchase, mistakenly believing that it involved America buying the state of Louisiana. In fact it was the sale, in 1803, by France of its entire Louisiane territory, a massive swathe of mid-western America, including Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas, not to mention a healthy chunk of New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Louisiana. It cost the United States about twenty-three million dollars which added up in the end to about three cents an acre. Something of a bargain for doubling the size of the country. This was land occupied by American Indians. Naturally they were not informed about the sale.
Labels: history, Stephen Fry
