One and a half million dead: the one hundredth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

They had been ridiculed and spat upon for hundreds of years.  The ultra-nationalists in power launched dehumanizing propaganda against them.  Their semblance of official protection had been stripped away and made them relegated to a class of life undeserving of life.  Their property was confiscated.  And in the end they were beaten and butchered and starved...

Read More

So, Chris Hardwick featured me on Comedy Central last night...

Not for the first time, not for the last, I am smacked with the realization that the rest of my life is going to be dogged by my being the man who ran for school board by blowing up a little red schoolhouse with the Death Star... Yes, it's true: Chris Hardwick used my school board commercial - the one with the Star Wars theme - on his Comedy Central show @Midnight...

Read More

Human embryos, genetically modified for the first time ever

Isn't this how Khan Noonien Singh came about? "Superior ability breeds superior ambition."...

Read More

Photos from my Florida odyssey

I needed this trip, severely.  Looking in the mirror this morning, I barely recognize the guy who set off eleven days ago on what became over a week in Florida.  It's not the face of the Chris who's spent most of the past several months in grief over the passing of a parent, or in frustration of other things that have tested my perseverance. Sometimes you need to...

Read More

Dear people of Jacksonville, Florida...

Driving south down I-95, your stretch of which must be the most treacherous length of interstate in the continental United States.  The GPS blaring red alerts of "stay in the left lane" practically the entire time from the Georgia border until well past town.  Hopped-up on Dr. Pepper and Lindsey Stirling's "Shatter Me" playing over the car stereo. It was one of the most crazy awesome experiences I've ever had as a driver.  But please......

Read More

Well, here it is: the new trailer for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS!

"Chewie. We're home." I've watched this at least ten times so far and I still can't believe that I'm looking at something this mind-droolingly epic... It's happening. Good lord... this is really happening. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens gets unleashed this Christm...

Read More

Does this drug stop hay fever? You may not want it...

Please note: I am not a physician or a chemist or a pharmacological engineer or anything of that nature.  I'm only your friendly neighborhood blogger who comes across interesting things to share, and more importantly musings and observations from my own peculiar vantage point on the world.  So you know to take what I'm about to say for whatever that's worth. That said, this is by now something worth putting out there.  Maybe others...

Read More

Another work of art from Cameron Hobbs

Last month I was honored to introduce this blog's readers to Cameron Hobbs, a young artist who has come a long way already.  And I've no doubt he's going to go much, much further. Well, Cameron has unleashed another creation upon the world and I'm again honored to publish it.  So without further ado... Letting Go, by Cameron Hobbs, 2015 You can find more of...

Read More

It was a dance for the ages...

 Congratulations Duke and especially Coach K!...

Read More

David Lynch should direct a new Star Wars movie

Just a wild idea that popped into mind while thinking about yesterday's horrid news about the revival of Twin Peaks: If David Lynch won't be returning to helm the new Twin Peaks, then he should be allowed to direct one of the new stand-alone Star Wars movies. I'm serious. It's been thirty years.  He's ready. It almost happened anyway, with Return of the Jedi. ...

Read More

UPDATE! Showtime cancels new TWIN PEAKS

Sorry Laura, but Showtime just made a liar out of you. I guess it was too much to hope for.  Just as it seems that now, as then, this show really is too innovative for any network. News coming out of WonderCon this afternoon, lighting up Twitter like a Christmas tree, is that the new episodes of Twin Peaks have been cancelled by premium cable network Showtime. You...

Read More

I have never understood Easter

Seriously, I haven't. This is the day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of their Lord. If that cannot be celebrated every day of the year, what difference does it make if it's celebrated one day out of that year? Even so, Happy Easter.  He is ris...

Read More

Does this look like Lucille Ball to you?

The people of Celeron, New York are condemning... and that may be too nice a word... a bronze statue of hometown heroine Lucille Ball. Here is said statue: Ye gods, what a monster!!  It looks like something out of The Walking Dead.  Makes me wonder if this is what June Cleaver would be like envisioned by H.P. Lovecraft.  That is nothing like the stunning...

Read More

Got to see Neil deGrasse Tyson this afternoon at Elon

Dr. Tyson's badass jazz-hands Astrophysicist, bestselling author, science education advocate, "some guy from a Fox show" (as we heard one passerby say while we waited in the standby line), advisor to multiple White Houses and general megaboffin Neil deGrasse Tyson came to my alma mater Elon University this afternoon to speak at the school's spring convocation.  This...

Read More

VA forces vet to get x-ray taken... to prove that his leg is missing

Has the caseload down at the VA ever included any paperwork for Captain Obvious? So on the left we have one Chad Fleming, a former soldier who served in the Army Rangers.  And as you can see, he has a prosthetic left leg.  He sought aid from the Department of Veterans Affairs because... well, you know, that's what they do for men and women who have been in the...

Read More

Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Pong, and Donkey Kong... all in one game

Using the paddles from Pong to shuttle Pac-Man back and forth through his maze while dodging the aliens of Space Invaders.  All while Donkey Kong showers the screen with barrels.  This wonderfully schizoid mash-up of four of the most classic video games of all time is called Pacapong and it comes courtesy of a clever lad named Dick Poelen as his contribution to...

Read More

Watch George Lucas photobomb documentary about nuclear waste!

Look!  A wild George Lucas sighting! "Nuclear Waste: Fission Products & Transuranics from Thorium & Uranium" is sincerely fascinating in its own right.  A short documentary about the valuable materials often left in used-up fuel rods from nuclear reactors and how they might be extracted.  Very interesting if you're at all into nuclear engineering and chemistry in general. But let's face it: most people are going to want to...

Read More