Shouting Into Space

I happened to look at my Amazon.com account to track an order I recently placed. I also checked on one I'd placed months ago.


Hmmm... Well, quite obviously that's an error since FFVII - Advent Children is really due out in March. Still, seeing this certainly mirrored what the waiting has felt like.

My local indoor shooting range renovated their "long" (25 yard) bay recently. I've been shooting there every week for over 3 years and it was high time the did something to fix up that bay. They decided that now it'll be designated a "long range" only bay. Their intent is to have no targets closer than 15 yards. They've enforced this limit by leaving lights out in the area from the firing line to the the 15 yard line; making it very hard to see your target at that those closer distances.

Every week, I shoot in the "long" bay because it is the nicest one of the three at this establishment. It also offers a greater distance for small caliber rifles when I must be indoors. Typically when shooting pistols however, I kept my target in the 10 to 12 yard range. This distance suited me perfectly since it allowed me a challenge without making good groupings and impossiblity.

Unfortuantely with the new limitation imposed by the management, I've found it much harder to be as accurate as I once was! It is a wonder what an effect a few yards has had on my groupings!

Although annoying, I'm looking on this situation as a positive experience. That is, there can be no growth without challenge, and I certainly have felt myself on a plateau for quite a while now. Next week, I'll start keeping track of my progress to see if I'm getting better under the new conditions.

Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette's comedy documentary "The Aristocrats" has been out on DVD for four days now. Even though, on the surface, it's pretty much all about a very dirty joke told between comedians, it is about much more than that.

Firstly it is about exercising the first amendment. While the language in Aristocrats is worse than a pirate's, it exists and is publicly available because it is protected by the first amendment. I'm sure that in this atmosphere of rampant political correctness, there will be many people that think this movie should not even be available for rental or purchase. Unfortunately, the first amendment allows our freedom of speech and that goes for speech we agree and speech we disagree with.

Secondly, it is about the nature of comedy; why comedy is funny. At it's core, comedy is a reflection of a society's morals and values. Every joke is based in reality and then taken that one step further to to making shocking, ridiculous, unbelievable and funny. The Aristocrats shows, in a behind the scenes manner, how comedians keep their "razor edge of funny" sharp. The Aristocrats joke itself is like a whetstone for a comedian.

Finally, the Aristocrats is about a ridiculous, funny, and downright disgusting, dirty joke. It is a piece of adult humor that has its roots in Vaudeville and carries with it a long history of tradition. It is toilet humor stretched to a feature length and it truly is a funny movie.

If you get a chance to watch the Aristocrats, make sure you do. When you're done watching, check out the Aristocrats Wikipedia page to learn even more about the Aristocrats. Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette have done such an honor to comedy in their homage to the comedian and the dirtiest joke in his (or her) arsenal. We honor them by watching (and enjoying).

My father's going to The Amaz!ng Meeting 4. When he first told me about it I wasn't really paying attention. While I heard what he was saying, I didn't really think about what he was saying.

I decided to check out the TAM4 website and I was surprised at how cool this meeting sounds. First off, there are a few of my favorite debunkers: MythBusters, Penn & Teller (of magic and Bullshit! fame), and of course the host James Randi. Secondly, all of these critical thinkers are getting together to discuss and debunk the misinformation we hear every day. What could be cooler than that. I mean, a whole group of people gathering just to think for themselves and search for the truth behind the bs. This truly is an amazing meeting.

One of my biggest complaints about people and information these days is the surprising amount of imprecise, incomplete, and just downright wrong information that is being spit out all over the place. It looks like this meeting is a crusade against the trend. Hooray for them!

The more I learn about TAM4, the more it sounds pretty damn cool. I kind wish I was the one attending. I guess I'll have to pick his brain a bit when he gets back. Maybe he'll let me watch the DVD. I hope he has fun.

I'm totally impressed and happy that NASA's Stardust mission was a success. The little capsule that was designed to catch bits of "dust" from the tail of comet Wild 2, was launched seven years ago. Finally, five days ago it returned to earth with its payload intact!

The spacecraft "Stardust" traveled 3 billion miles during it's trip with an average speed of 48,000 mph. The craft captured less than one-thousandth of an ounce of dust that consists of leftover materials that formed the planets over 4.5 billion years ago (or 6000 years ago if you take the Christian Bible literally).

One of the really amazing things about the spacecraft "Stardust" is that it is the fastest recoverable spacecraft reentry. "Stardust" reentered the Earth's atmosphere at 28,000 mph.

Yesterday (Jan 19, 2006), NASA scientists confirmed that thousands of particles were returned by the spacecraft "Stardust" and Dr. Donald Brownlee said "The collection of cometary particles has exceeded our expectations."

Congratulations to NASA on this successful mission. I'm eager to hear about what they learned from the dust samples.