Rest In Peace Patrick Macnee

I just saw that Patrick Macnee died today.

In his incarnation of John Steed, he was always a hero of mine - he and Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and to a lesser extent Tara King (Linda Thorson).

In our memories, he will live forever.

Terry Pratchett has walked into the Country of the Dawn

Very sad news today....Terry Pratchett has died at aged only 66.

 He had suffered from early onset alzheimers for 8 years... in other words he wasn't even 60 years old when he got Alzheimers... in the same way Pat Summitt, Lady Volunteers basketball coach, also was diagnosed with this awful, awful disease when she was in her late 50s...not even 60 years old.

His obituaries say he died of natural causes, rather than taking his life... I find that difficult to believe as a healthy person (except in mind) could live for 90-years with this awful disease.

I wonder if the media didn't want people to know that Mr. Pratchett took his fate into his own hands and welcomed Death on his own terms, as he'd said he would - and I admire him for it.

If your quality of life is absolutely zero - if you can't read, can't remember how to put on your clothes, etc., why go on living?

He had a fantastic life - touched millions of people.

His work has long been very important to me...

I am sad that he is gone, but glad that he left on his own terms and did not suffer unnecessarily from the indignities of Alzheimer's.

I hope people will continue to contribute to the fight against Alzheimer's so we can find a cure for this awful disease.

Leonard Nimoy has died

Leonard Nimoy, who will always be Mr. Spock to millions of fans, has died at the age of 83, from the effects of COPD, caused by years of smoking (though he had quit 30 years ago, in his fifties)..

I am saddened by this, as the original Star Trek was a big part of my life, guiding my life for over 40 years.

There are many excellent writeups about him in the newspapers.

Here is just one:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/star-trek-star-leonard-nimoy-dies-83/story?id=29274628


Some of the writeups are snarky about his singing, but I rather enjoyed it. His Bilbo Baggins song remains with me to this day, as does his Desiderata.

In fact, I think I first heard Desiderata on that album, as Spock's Thoughts:

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
 If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

“

”

Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata".

Netflix producing four Marvel comics TV series

Daredevil stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock. Although he's blind (in the comic books he was hit by a radioactive cylinder in the face, which gave him his powers - super senses. The "incredible gymnastics and martial arts abilities" were things he earned on his own.) which he uses to protect Hell’s Kitchen, one of the roughest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods of New York.

The cast includes Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk (The Kingpin (and if this is from the comic books, Wilson Fisk, what a prosaic name!), Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Bob Gunton as Leland Owlsely (The Owl), Vondie Curtis Hall as Ben Urich, Toby Leonard Moore as Wesley (Kingpin's minion) and Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk (Kingpin's wife - and that's wrong, in the comic books her name was Vanessa).

Daredevil is the first of four new Marvel/Netflix shows.

Also coming are:

‘AKA Jessica Jones’
Luke Cage’
‘Iron Fist’.

All four will tie together and the heroes will join forces in a follow-up miniseries The Defenders.

Nothing new under the sun

A couple of days ago, AMC showed a movie called It Happened Tomorrow, filmed in 1944 with Dick Powell.

It's the exact same plot of the TV series from a few years ago, Early Edition (1996 - 2000) that starred Kyle Chandler as Gary Hobson, a newspaper guy who always receives a newspaper first thing in the morning, with news of a tragedy in it that he needs to change...

I only watched a few episodes of Early Edition when it was in reruns, and I liked it, but it's funny to realize it was based on a 60 year old movie...I just thought it was a revamp of Quantum Leap with a newspaper replacing Al...and of course sticking to one time period rather than "leaping" all around...

An example of a Doctor Who drabble

I blogged about this a couple of days ago. The URL is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118270389/1-drabble-for-1-dollar

The project is already fully funded. (I only asked for $25 and someone bought 25 Avengers drabbles right out of the gate...) So if you would like to order a drabble or drabbles, you'll receive them immediately!

Here's an example of a Doctor Who drabble:

Engage: Educational resources for photographers, videographers, and other creative arts

Engage is a web-based business that has seminars for art, business, cinematography, crafts, design, music, photography and videography.

If you're based in the UK I think you'll find this Kickstarter campaign of interest

The url for their Kickstarter is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/engagelive/engage-free-live-education-for-creative-entreprene

Their campaign ends on March 20, 2015 and they've already had over 8,000 pounds pledged of their 15,000 pound goal. (Check out the Engage website at www.engagelive.co)

Donal Doherty is the founder of Engage.

From their press release: “We will offer thousands of people around the world a chance to learn from leading educators for free and to interact and shape the learning experience live. People can also apply to be in the in-person studio audience and we’ll have both delegates and trainers flying in from around the world for the courses. To an extent this all rests on the success of our Kickstarter campaign which we hope will fund 16 courses in 2015, with the plan to offer a course each week in 2016. Not only will this help us to create employment in the local economy, but we’re hoping to be part of the sea change of native digital companies accessing global markets.”

If you're interested in the arts, I think these guys are a great resource for you.

One drabble for one dollar

I've decided to launch my first Kickstarter campaign - "one drabble for one dollar."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118270389/1-drabble-for-1-dollar

Since I only need $25 before the project is fully funded, people who want their drabbles are going to get them!

A drabble is a fan-fiction story that is EXACTLY 100 words in length, not including the title.

For fans of science fiction, or any TV show or movie, a drabble is a fun way to expand on a scene, or evoke an emotion.

I specialize in drabbles for The Avengers, Star Trek: TOS and The Octonauts, but I can and will write a drabble for anyone. However, I've also got some other features I offer.

For example, I offer Scrabble drabbles. For anyone who is attempting to enlarge their knowledge of words (it's hard to say, enlarge your "vocabulary" when, IMHO, about a fifth of the Scrabble dictionary features words that no one will ever, ever use - sort of like all the words that little kids are expected to learn for a spelling bee!)

Nevertheless, my unique idea is to put all these words into drabbles as told by a central character (public domain character Sherlock Holmes, to be precise) and tell a connected story over the course of a year, sending two drabbles a day to my subscribers.

Please check it all out at my kickstarter campaign.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118270389/1-drabble-for-1-dollar

Crowdfunding: Smart Back Brace

Occasionally I'll share crowdfunding projects that I think are interesting.

The Smart Back Brace could be a pretty good tool - I know I have pretty poor posture and I think this could help me should it be manufactured.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/smart-back-brace-ssb-posture-correcting-device/x/9376492   
 is the URL for the Smart Back Brace. There are 20 more days left to make pledges.


The campaign video is below:

I won't share the text from the campaign page here - why should I when you can just visit the page and learn all about it? ; )

Then, make a pledge if you'd like to.

1 January 2015: Doctor Who Sticky Notes

I picked up a set of Doctor Who sticky notes at Barnes and Noble a few omonths ago - they're in a hard-backed cover  and have the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) on the cover, pointing his sonic screwdriver out into the viewer.

The sticky notes consist of 4 colors of Daleks (I can see no use for them since they are filled with the dark color, no place to write. They be useful as bookmarks if only the stick-em for all 4 sets were on the base, but 2 are on the head(the sets are arranged with two upside down between two right side up, to fit in the space.

My favorite sticky note is of the Tarfis, then there's a set with "To Do":, Time" and "Dimension", again with the 11th Doctor looking out at you with his sonic screw driver.

I have to admit I haven't watched Doctor Who regularly since Colin Baker was the Doctor... one of my New Year's Resolutions is to watch the entire series - all extant episodes.

Into The Woods advertising

Has it really been over 7 months since I've written in this blog?  Wow, time goes by fast.

Anyway, the ads for the movie *musical* Into the Woods are really annoying me.  Are they trying to make people *go* to this movie, or drive them away?

It's a MUSICAL, for God's sake.  Why not show a musical number, instead of editing things so that there is no singing at all?

I'm also puzzled by the inclusion of Johnny Depp as the Wolf. One of the key parts of the play is that the Wolf and Prince Charming are played by the same actor - because Charming *is* a wolf - going after and seducing every woman he sees.

So it seems like Depp was just cast for "star value" - as if Meryl Streep and Chis Pine weren't good enough for that?

Can we get some non post-apocalyptic TV shows, please?

I'm so tired of the current trend in TV shows  - tweeners who come down from a space station to repopulate the Earth, blah.  Vampire diaries, blah. Under the Dome and The Last ship, blah.

Let's have some cheerfulness, for god's sake!

Beeswax candles....a whimsical notion

I was surfing the web the other day and came across Chris’s Country Essence, a website that offers products made my bees, like beeswax candles and beeswax pillar candles. I have a whimsical nature, so I snapped up a couple of the bear and bee candles. The beeswax pillar candles, as the name implies, are just thick columns, nothing whimsical about them! 

I became interested in bees a few years ago, after seeing Jerry Seinfeld’s animated film The Bee Movie.  I liked the beginning of that movie, but the ending sucked, I have to say! But I decided to do some research into bees after seeing the film and found out that it had played fast and loose with the truth. Male bees – the “pollen jocks” according to the movie, do NOT go out of the hive. They are drones – they serve the queen. It is the female bees who go out and pollinate the plants!

The movie also brought to the forefront the fact that honey bees are dying off in record numbers and no one knows why...that’s still going on today. Kind of scary.

Anyway, if you are interested in beeswax candles or beeswax pillar candles – check out this site. They’ve also got various skin care and bath and body products made from beeswax that you might be interested in.

How can I buy Facebook shares?

I came across that phrase today, when I was doing some research on using Facebook for business. I've got a websites that I want to boost...  It's kind of a misleading phrase if you're not familiar with how Facebook works - you might think people are talking about buying stock market shares in the company. That's not the case. What you're actually buying are likes.

So, if you have ever wondered, "Can I buy Facebook shares," why, yes, you can.

The more Facebook shares your business has, the more people who use Facebook are going to see it and be driven to your site - potentially at least.

To answer the question of Can I buy Facebook shares, check out this site that businesses can use to generate these Facebook shares for their website pages.

Got iPad? Need case!

 I can't believe how many people invest $300 or more on an iPad, and then just carry it around casually in their purse, or just by their hand, and don't even have a cover on it, let alone a case!

Yes, the screen is designed to resist scratching and stuff, but c'mon people, let's get real.

At the very least you need a cover, but an iPad keyboard case or iPad portfolio case are really the ways to go - something that totally surrounds your iPad and prevents it from being damaged - because let's face it, "if something can go wrong, it will."  Better safe than sorry!

Take a look at these cases from icarryalls.

These are some sweet leather cases, and have room for a keyboard as well as the iPad itself. Yu can get an iPad keyboard case  or an iPad portfolio case. (And of course that's not all, browse their entire website to see what else they have on offer.

Godzilla

I don't know if I want to see the new Godzilla movie or not. Frankly, I wish they'd do a movie based in the 1950s, and try to recreate the original!

That would be cool!

As for this Godzilla....no, no, no!

Entered the first Memory Lanes Alzheimer's Bowling Tournament today

I talk about it in my Wyoming in Motion blog.

http://wyominginmotion.com/?p=304

I knew the people in charge of the Alzheimer's First Annual Memory Lanes bowling tournament, but as I explain in the link above I wasn't going to participate in it.

Then, I did.

Read all the news at the link above!

The Space Art of Andrew Stewart

Way back in 2008 I put up a page at The Thunder Child webzine (thethunderchild.com) showcasing the outer space art of Nottingham UK artist Andrew Stewart.

I'm currently going through The Thunder Child and refurbishing all the pages, and I've started with Art and the first article I've done is The Space Art of Andrew Stewart.

Check it out. Lots of strange new worlds to explore there.

Are we ready to talk cell phones?

I don't know that Star Trek can claim to have started the cell phone revolution - Dick Tracy had a wrist communicator in the 1930s comics... - I do know that one reason why I'm reluctant to go from a cell phone to a Smart phone is I've got a Motorola fliptop phone, which I got when I went with the Tracphone no-contract service, and it looks like a Star Trek communicator to me. And if I remember right, it was only $8!

But sooner or later I'm going to have to let nostalgia go and move into the modern world, especially since I've got a boss in Portugal who makes mobile websites and wants me to be able to scope them out on an actual smartphone here in the US.

Anyway, I've been bopping around the internet looking for resources to help people with cell phones, smart phones, carrier issues, all that good stuff, and I've found one at a site called Clear Talking.

Here's the URL:  http://www.cleartalking.com/main/forum/

A lot of their contributors are from overseas and it's interesting how tech works in places like Guatemala, etc. where you don't think of people having access to cell phone service.

So if you're trying to decide between an iPhone or an Android, or a tablet, why not check out those forums and see what they can offer you?

Andrea Barrett’s “Archangel”: historical fiction about science

A book review from:  http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2021613805_andreabarrettarchangelxml.html

Genetics research, early aviation, controversies over Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory, controversies over Albert Einstein’s Relativity Theory, battlefield applications of early X-ray technology...

These aren’t the usual focuses of literary fiction.

But in “Archangel” by National Book Award winner Andrea Barrett (“Ship Fever,” “The Voyage of the Narwhal”), they’re not only addressed but obliquely linked.

“Archangel” consists of five novellas, ranging in time from 1873 to 1939, that might all be described as historical science fiction — that is, historical fiction about science. Each mixes imaginary characters with figures (or scenarios) drawn closely from the historical record.

While the connections between one story and the next aren’t shouted out, they’re there. Curious, troubled 12-year-old Constantine Boyd, a witness to G.H. Curtiss’ early flight successes in upstate New York in 1908, becomes an outraged World War I soldier wondering why he’s stuck fighting the Bolsheviks in 1919 Russia, long after most of his fellow soldiers have gone home.

Another youngster, Sam Cornelius, is glimpsed as a supporting player in a story about his widowed mother, then reappears as a geneticist in a tale that takes the destruction of the Athenia, the first British ship to be sunk by the Nazis during World War II, as its starting point.

Read the full review at the link above.