Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Morning
As I got out of my car this morning, for the first time this year, Sol was peaking over the mountains. It is nice to see it again but that means that I will be using the AC on my ride to work in a few weeks.
ITAR and Obama
I was just reading this article about Obama's visit to see Musk and the Falcon 9.
"The president spent 15 minutes walking around the pad and rocket asking me questions about it," Musk said. "For a non-engineer, he displayed an impressive understanding."
Musk told Spaceflight Now that Obama specifically asked what modifications are required for the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to be ready for human occupants.
Not to sound all crazy or nothing, but did Musk just violate ITAR?
;-)
Actually, I have to give props to the pres on this one. (even a broken clock...) This should work a lot better then any manned flight NASA has done since Skylab.
"The president spent 15 minutes walking around the pad and rocket asking me questions about it," Musk said. "For a non-engineer, he displayed an impressive understanding."
Musk told Spaceflight Now that Obama specifically asked what modifications are required for the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to be ready for human occupants.
Not to sound all crazy or nothing, but did Musk just violate ITAR?
;-)
Actually, I have to give props to the pres on this one. (even a broken clock...) This should work a lot better then any manned flight NASA has done since Skylab.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
How to train you dragon
Saturday we took the kids to see a movie.
I ripped my pants going under the rope to get to the end of the line quicker.
Not just a little rip either. From the belt line to the crotch just to the aft side of my back pocket. Nice. When I got to the front of the line (flashing the poor guy behind me) they told me it was full so I had to get tickets to the next show. Now what do we do for 45 minutes until then... So we walk around the mall flashing my whitey tighties at anyone that wanted to see.
Aside from the cold right cheek, I did like the movie. Good dialog, Good Story-line (simple but well written), Good development.
But I had a few problems.
1. Voice acting:
- The boy's voice just didn't seem to fit. I can't put my finger on why, but it just seemed "off" (The wife agrees and thinks it was too "mature")
- Since when do Vikings have Scottish accents? I know a Scottish accent is easy to do, and just about nobody will notice the difference, but Scandinavians aren't THAT hard to find.
2. CGI Animation: 10 years ago this would have knocked my socks off. Now it was little better then some of the animation on TV. (Hair had improved but is still a problem). Maybe that doesn't count as much for animation, as long as the writing is good and the "realism" (or lack there of) is kept constant.
3. Pixar would have made it better: Maybe I'm spoiled, but little things that Pixar would have picked up seemed to glare at me. Boy fly's through a fireball, resulting in his hair pushed back and some black smudges on his cheeks. but Pixar would have burnt off some of his eyebrows and given him a "sunburn". (and kept it on him for the next few story days)
All in all I'd give it a solid B and will probably pick it up on DVD.
I ripped my pants going under the rope to get to the end of the line quicker.
Not just a little rip either. From the belt line to the crotch just to the aft side of my back pocket. Nice. When I got to the front of the line (flashing the poor guy behind me) they told me it was full so I had to get tickets to the next show. Now what do we do for 45 minutes until then... So we walk around the mall flashing my whitey tighties at anyone that wanted to see.
Aside from the cold right cheek, I did like the movie. Good dialog, Good Story-line (simple but well written), Good development.
But I had a few problems.
1. Voice acting:
- The boy's voice just didn't seem to fit. I can't put my finger on why, but it just seemed "off" (The wife agrees and thinks it was too "mature")
- Since when do Vikings have Scottish accents? I know a Scottish accent is easy to do, and just about nobody will notice the difference, but Scandinavians aren't THAT hard to find.
2. CGI Animation: 10 years ago this would have knocked my socks off. Now it was little better then some of the animation on TV. (Hair had improved but is still a problem). Maybe that doesn't count as much for animation, as long as the writing is good and the "realism" (or lack there of) is kept constant.
3. Pixar would have made it better: Maybe I'm spoiled, but little things that Pixar would have picked up seemed to glare at me. Boy fly's through a fireball, resulting in his hair pushed back and some black smudges on his cheeks. but Pixar would have burnt off some of his eyebrows and given him a "sunburn". (and kept it on him for the next few story days)
All in all I'd give it a solid B and will probably pick it up on DVD.
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