Skylab is one of those well-known programs that got built, a bagrillion photos were released of it showing every angle, but relatively few good diagrams of it were ever released. I have a pile of *really* detailed interior diagrams to stitch together one of these days, but the diagram below – from a Lockheed report describing potential plume interactions from the Apollo CSM thruster quads – is just about the best external diagram I’ve seen… and it’s not really all that good.
A new term for “Aspergers.” Oh, and an entertaining “correction” at the bottom involving My Little Pony.
Quadrantid Meteor Shower, First of 2012, May Dazzle Early Wednesday
My prediction: clouds.
While getting groceries I heard part of a radio interview with comedian Louis CK (who I’ve never paid much attention to) discussing his TV show “Louis” (which I’ve never watched). It was mostly just audio filler until they played a clip from his show, where a traveling companion of his mentions that he’s going to kill himself at the next stop. The suicidal companion is apparently a massive loser and is not a close friend of Louis’, yet Louis tries to talk him out of suicide. The other character comes up with this line:
“Louis, look me in the eye and tell me I’ve got one good reason to live.”
In reality, we all know that there are people who are truly losers, who have screwed up pretty much everything and have nothing to look forward to but misery (and I’m not talking about people with horrible fatal diseases). The sort of people you *don’t* want to ask you what reason they have to live, because you know that you won’t be able to come up with one apart from meaningless platitudes. And yet, you know you don’t want ’em to kill themselves, and you certainly don’t want to tell ’em, “You’re right, you’ve got no reason to go on. Just remember, it’s down the road, not across the street!”
So the response “Louis” came up with here both surprised and impressed me. After several seconds of silence, after being told to come up with a reason for a suicidal loser to keep live, Louis says…
“No.”
And really, that’s a good answer, perhaps the best of ’em. A suicidal person telling *you* to give them a reason to live is basically putting the decision of life and death in your hands, and that’s not only a heavy burden, that’s very likely a massively unwanted one. Especially if the suicidal person is, in fact, a loser. Louis follows up the refusal to play the game with more wisdom:
“I’m not playin’ that. I’m not doin’ it. I mean, f*** you, man. I got my reasons to live, I’ve worked to figure out what they are, and I’m not just handing them over to you. OK, you want a reason to live, have a drink of water and get some sleep , wake up in the morning and try again like everybody else does.”
That is, I think, just about the best *honest* answer to such a situation. I’m sure that there are psychobabble responses that therapists, doctors, priests and whatnot can use that can be very effective in talking people out of offing themselves… but this was a good, all-purpose response. It sums up in a few words, the ridiculousness of a whole lot of politics, religion and philosophy, too… far too many people get their meaning for life out of their faith in Dear Leader, or The Party, or The State, or The Ideology, or The Invisible Sky Buddy Scout Manual, 33rd Revised Edition, 14th Printing. And thus they often not only think that people who believe differently from them have no reason for their lives (or do not understand what the Real Reason is) , if their faith gets shaken their reason for living goes out the window. But the thing is… nobody can tell you what the reason for *your* life is (apart from the obvious: your mother and father made the beast with two backs some time back) other than you. That’s something you have to come up with. And it may be something you have to change.
Or you could simplify it:
Q: So, what was the purpose of life anyway?
A: Who knows? Probably some hogwash about the human spirit.
Europe is about to be destroyed by a volcano! Let the scientifically dubious panic-mongering begin!
Is a super-volcano just 390 miles from London about to erupt?
A sleeping super-volcano in Germany is showing worrying signs of waking up.
It’s lurking just 390 miles away underneath the tranquil Laacher See lake near Bonn and is capable of ejecting billions of tons of magma.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood plans to put treaty with Israel to a referendum
The Muslim Brotherhood, the overwhelming victor in the first round of elections for the Egyptian Parliament, has announced it will not recognize Israel and intends to bring the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty to a referendum.
“We will not recognize Israel under any circumstances; we are talking about an occupation entity and a criminal enemy,” said Dr. Rashad Bayoumi, the deputy head of the Brotherhood.
The next war of extermination is being lined up, it seems. Should be interesting to see what excuses are produced for this. I expect something like “Who cares? Their country. They do what they want.”
Back in October I pointed out that Revell had re-released the old Renwall 1/32 scale Atomic Cannon kit.
It’s already discontinued.
So, if you didn’t get one… you’re not getting one. Except offa ebay for a *slight* increase in cost…
This is what’s *awesome* about capitalism: find an unfulfilled desire and charge to… errrr… fill it.
Sci-Fi Brothel to Open in Nevada
Short form: ninety miles from Las Vegas, a brothel will open soon catering to men looking for Hot Alien Chicks. Interestingly, the notorious Heidi Fleiss will be the “alien design queen,” presumably meanign that she’ll do the costume design and suchforth.
There are two obvious observations: if they employ known Hot Alien Chicks – say, Princess Leia from “Return of the Jedi” (you know what costume I mean), or green Orion slave women from Star Trek, and they do so with proper craftsmanship then the place will, I presume, be overloaded with nerdpervs ready to spend cash. On the other hand, if they employ such character… expect Lucasfilm and paramount to send wave after wave of stormlawyers.
Copyright law is one of those screwy things that keeps changing and basically just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense (see HERE to read my yammerings about the British copyright on the King James version of the Bible). Until 1978, the copyright laws of the United States held a work under copyright for 28 years, with the option to extend for a second 28 years, for a maximum of 56 years. But then it changed, and now copyright is for 70 years after the date of the author’s death (which would mean that APR issue V1N1, which was published in 1999 or so, won’t enter the public domain until *at* *least* 2082, since I ain’t dead yet, and assuming Obamacare spends unlimited taxpayer dollars to stretch my life out for another, oh, sixty years, it won’t become public domain until 2142, meaning V1N1 will have been under copyright for 143 years).
Duke U has published a list of works that, had the law not changed in 1978, would be entering the public domain in 2012. Included here is the Disney movie “Lady and the Tramp,” James Dean’s movie “Rebel Without a Cause,” and Isaac Asimov’s “The End of Eternity” (which, due to the change in the law, now won’t enter the public domain until 2051, since works pubisihed between 1950 and 1963 were, in 1973, retconned to have copyright for 95 years).
Under the pre-1978 copyright law, Duke estimates that 85% of the works published in 1983 would be entering the public domain this year.