Emo or Robo? YOU Decide ‘08…

The worst part about the future is that it usually fails to deliver on its promises.

Flying cars? No.

Five-hour work week? Not for me. (Or you, probably.)

*Alien invasion? Still watching the sky… although John Edwards comes pretty close to what I’d expect to see.

Once in a while though, the future really pays off. Big and awesome-sauce:

Yep, strength-enhancing, robotic exoskeletons are here. Here’s the story (click it or ticket.)

And HERE’S a link to some streaming video of the suit in action.

While not quite to the coolness-level of this…

… or this…

… it IS nice to know that we’re on our way to the future of 1986 that both Daniel and Ripley know and love.

Can you imagine? Taking out the garbage would be FUN again. (Lift the dumpster over your head, walk to the city dump, shooting lasers at hapless passers-by, and BANG, no more sanitation collection fees. And more lasers, or possibly a cheeseburger, on your way home.)

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In sadder news (no sick humor intended, honest,) a report on EMO culture came out in today’s UK paper Daily Mail. It tells the story of a 13-year old named Hannah who took her own life a few months after wrapping herself in Emo. Here’s the link (click).

It’s a sad story, and an eye-opening look for those of us who have little to no inroads into this massive (and arguably unhealthy) cultural phenomenon. I’m not going to go so far as to say that “emo made Hannah kill herself,” (I’ll leave that to the blog pundits), but I have personally known several high-school kids (especially girls) who are into the hairstyles, music, fashion, and self-mutiliation associated with emo.

It’s gotten to the point where I really want to slap the next person who makes a joke about slitting one’s wrists.

PARENTS: Talk to your kids. Now. About lots of things. Often.

* Obviously, I’m not talking about ILLEGAL ALIENS invading. We have plenty of those. Oh look, there goes one now…

The Geico Gecko…

… eats little kids.  It’s true.

He also gets more $^$%& web hits for my blog than any USEFUL thing I’ve ever written.  Stupid gecko.

NEWS FLASH!!

The world is a crappy place.

In other news, things DO tend to get better, given a long enough timeline.

Now go watch Cloverfield. In a dark room. Without people around to spoil it for you.

plate tectonics, and how to spot a kook a mile away

My “unit” on plate tectonics is up.  Just click the “plate tectonics” link right under the banner up there at the top of this page.

I decided that rather than focus on the science involved directly, I would create a critical thinking and evaluation lesson instead.  That way, the students DO pick up a few facts they may not have known about the nutty stuff happening to our planet’s crust, but more importantly (I hope), they learn NOT to take anybody’s word for anything that they themselves don’t understand, ESPECIALLY if it’s some weird cult pseudoscience thing.

Look beyond the fancy formatting, y’all… any bozo can write whatever they want (within reason) on the idiotnet.  And they usually do.

But don’t take my word for it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make like oceanic crust and sink into my bed.  Class is in six hours, argh…

WANT…

Read about this little beauty HERE (click).  Then buy me one out of the sheer goodness of your heart, kthxbb.

For your Absolut viewing pleasure:

Discuss.

“You can’t take the sky from me…”

HERE (click) is a post I wrote over at ScrewAttack about the greatest show you never saw, Firefly.

CLICK HERE to watch the entire series online for free.  (Thanks to Hulu.com.)

It’s all over…

My youth. My free spirit. My wild oats. All of it, irreparably gone:  I’m within spitting distance of making a man a cash offer for a used minivan.

Read more about the 2005 Kia Sedona LX HERE (click).  Pray for me, folks. I’m not sure exactly what for… but PRAY, by all means.

EDIT: We bought the %!# thing. More info, including road test and review, coming soon.

Sadie Elizabeth turns one-week old

She’s beautiful, fussy, and dressed in pink — everything a modern woman SHOULD be.

In related news, caffeine consumption at the Seeking household is at an all-time high.

Playwright David Mamet is “no longer a brain-dead liberal”

This comes to us from a delightful essay in The Village Voice — which should be a shock in and of itself — written by David Mamet, one of my favorite play and screenwriters. While writing a play about a greedy, conservative president and his liberal speech writer, Mamet came to the realization that he was NOT the liberal that he always thought he was:

I found not only that I didn’t trust the current government (that, to me, was no surprise), but that an impartial review revealed that the faults of this president—whom I, a good liberal, considered a monster—were little different from those of a president whom I revered.

Bush got us into Iraq, JFK into Vietnam. Bush stole the election in Florida; Kennedy stole his in Chicago. Bush outed a CIA agent; Kennedy left hundreds of them to die in the surf at the Bay of Pigs. Bush lied about his military service; Kennedy accepted a Pulitzer Prize for a book written by Ted Sorenson. Bush was in bed with the Saudis, Kennedy with the Mafia. Oh.

The full article can be found HERE (click). It’s a medium to long read, and there are a couple of wirty dords, but if you’re a media/political junkie like myself, you should find it immensely insightful and entertaining.

You can see a few of the films Mamet wrote HERE (click). Some of my favorites on the list include Wag the Dog, The Untouchables, The Winslow Boy, The Spanish Prisoner, The Edge, and Ronin.