No comment...

"Provocative" news pending ... from Mars

NASA issued a report two days ago confirming earlier speculation about the presence of water on Mars - not hydrated minerals, but true water: "Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples."

But then following that report, this most curious announcement was released:

"The White House has been alerted by NASA about plans to make an announcement soon on major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the "potential for life" on Mars, scientists tell Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Sources say the new data do not indicate the discovery of existing or past life on Mars. Rather the data relate to habitability--the "potential" for Mars to support life--at the Phoenix arctic landing site, sources say.

The other data not discussed openly yet are far more "provocative," Phoenix officials say."

It's not clear why the White House or President Bush need to be briefed before a public announcement is made. The 'net is of course awash with rumors. Stay tuned.

Addendum: And now there are reports of cracks newly appearing in the ice under the Mars lander.

Second addendum: White House now denies receiving any briefing, per Wired.

Great Moments in Presidential Speeches

From the Letterman show back in May. Kennedy, Carter, and Bush featured in this one. If you enjoy this, there are a lot of them accessible here.

The "jump cuts" of "Breathless"

I recently checked the DVD of "Breathless" out of the library. The 1960 film by Jean-Luc Godard is said to be one of the classics of modern cinema. It provided a launching pad for the young Jean-Paul Belmondo and resurrected the career of Jean Seberg, for whom this is often described as the iconic movie.

Many of the cinematic devices, such as the frequent use of a hand-held camera, have been considered innovative and revolutionary, but perhaps the greatest attention was devoted to the technique of "jump cuts" in which the action without segue moves forward in time. Jump cuts are commonly used in modern cinema, especially in horror movies, but before 1960 they had never been intentionally utilized.

Roger Ebert has an excellent review of Breathless. I was particularly amused to read this revelation about Godard's "invention" -

The technique "was a little more accidental than political," writes the Australian critic Jonathan Dawson. The finished film was 30 minutes too long, and "rather than cut out whole scenes or sequences... Godard just went at the film with the scissors, cutting out anything he thought boring."

In my view, he should have kept cutting, because by modern standards it may be iconic, but it's also tedious. The YouTube clip above illustrates the famous "jump cuts" in one minute and will save you the extra ninety minutes of watching the movie.

The travesty of airport body searches

The following from CBS news in Chicago, where there is an equally depressing video of the news report.

In Chicago, people like Robert Perry are subjected to exhaustive security checks. He was patted down, his wheel chair was examined and his hands were swabbed, all in public view in a see-through room at the security checkpoint. Perry, 71, is not alone

"It's humiliation," Perry said.

Perry was also taken to a see-through room by a TSA agent when his artificial knee set off the metal detector.

"He yelled at me to get the belt off. 'I told you to get the belt off.' So I took the belt off. He ran his hands down over and pulled the pants down, they went down around my ankle," Perry said.

At that point, Perry was standing in his underwear in public view. He asked to see a supervisor. That made things worse.

"She was yelling 'I have power, I have power, I have power," Perry said. The power to stop him from flying to Florida with his wife that day to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

"It makes you feel like you have no rights," Perry said.

I suppose there is small consolation in knowing that standing in one's underwear in public in the U.S. is much less humiliating than the strip searches conducted in Israel. Airport security is just too depressing a topic for this blog. I give up. No more rants on this topic.

addendum - the previous rants on this subject are HERE.

Street scene, 1921

Not an "exciting" photo, on the face of it. It's simply a view of Washington D.C. (Pennsylvania Ave. at 14st St. NW) in 1921. But click to open it to wallpaper size, and after admiring the clarity and detail of the image (forgiving the motion effect due to slow film speed of the time), ponder some of the following thoughts:

-- the width of U.S. streets, compared to European counterparts. And not just in more recent cities out west, but here in one of the first cities of this country.

-- ample parking everywhere. Free (no meters). Facilitated by head-in positioning rather than the dreaded "parallel parking," which in turn is possible because of the width of the street, and ...

-- the absence of congestion. Apparently easily managed by the gentleman in the lower foreground with a turnable stop/go sign.

-- priority of place given to mass transit, via the trolley tracks. But still accommodating at least one horse-drawn carriage (upper right).

It must have been a pleasure to drive downtown in that era.

Hypocrisy regarding privacy and security

U.S. lawmakers are threatening China because that country wants to spy on Internet traffic by hotel guests -

"Foreign-owned hotels in China face the prospect of "severe retaliation" if they refuse to install government software that can spy on Internet use by hotel guests coming to watch the summer Olympic games, a U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., produced a translated version of a document from China's Public Security Bureau that requires hotels to use the monitoring equipment. . . . Brownback and other lawmakers have repeatedly denounced China's record of human rights abuses and asked President Bush not to attend the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing."

Compare this, from the Rocky Mountain news this past October -

"The National Security Agency and other government agencies retaliated against Qwest because the Denver telco refused to go along with a phone spying program, documents released Wednesday suggest. . . . USA Today reported in May 2006 that Qwest, unlike AT&T and Verizon, balked at helping the NSA track phone calling patterns that may have indicated terrorist organizational activities..."

Full credit for all of the above to Glenn Greenwald, writing in Salon.

Olympic condom ads

I'm speechless. Not shocked - just speechless. Several others ads are posted at the Sidney Morning Herald - swimming, archery, and cycling. They appear to be necessary, as noted by the Telegraph:

In the Sydney 2000 Games, each competing athlete was given 51 condoms on arrival at the Olympic Village, but another 20,000 had to be shipped in when supplies began to run low.

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"

"While filming the last scene of Monty Python's Life of Brian, the cast were bored and hot sitting up on their crucifixes. So Eric Idle started singing a little ditty. Everyone (but Eric) liked it so much that they decided to use it. It has since become one of their most popular songs.

Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman) has been sentenced to death by crucifixion for his part in a kidnap plot. After a succession of apparent rescue opportunities all come to nothing, a character on a nearby cross (played by Eric Idle) attempts to cheer him up by singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" to him. As the song progresses, many of the other crucifixion victims (140 in all, according to the script, though fewer than that are actually seen on screen) begin to dance in a very limited way and join in with the song's whistled hook.

The song touched a chord with the British trait of stoicism and the 'stiff upper lip' in the face of disaster, and became immensely popular. When the destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet cruise missile on May 4, 1982 in the Falklands War, her crew sang it while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship, as did the crew of HMS Coventry.

"Bright Side of Life" - at Chapman's funeral

"When Graham Chapman died in 1989, the five remaining members of Monty Python reunited at his funeral to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" after John Cleese's eulogy. In 2005, a survey by Music Choice showed that it was the third most popular song Britons would like played at their funerals."

Warning - NSFW language.

"Bright Side of Life" - the coconut version

"In April, 2007, over 4,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London, in a successful attempt to create a new official Guinness world record for the largest number of people playing simultaneously in a coconut orchestra. (i.e. banging coconut shells together in time to the music.) The song used for the record attempt was "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

A book-trading website

I have no personal experience with Bookmooch, but was intrigued by the discussion on Reddit. Apparently you post the books you have that you don't want; when someone asks for it, you mail the book(s) to that person and receive "credits" for doing so. You can then use those credits to obtain a book from someone else.

I was bemused to see the list of "most available" books. The top item is Dan Brown's DaVinci Code (292 copies), followed by Dan Brown's Angels and Demons (289 copies), followed by another Dan Brown, followed by yet another Dan Brown, followed by John Grisham (Pelican Brief), followed by Dan Brown, Dan Brown, John Grisham, Rebecca Wells (Ya-Ya), Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), then five more John Grishams...

I don't say that to diss the site itself - that list is just a reflection of the ultimate fate of popular books. If any TYWKIWDBI visitors have practical experience with the site, please post a comment.

Addendum: In response to Anonymous' fervent comment below, I'll provide a link to the "most wishlisted" books, topped by Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (504 requests), to show what the public is currently seeking. An interesting assemblage of titles...

Name that animal - round 12

The last entry was, indeed, a "rosy-lipped batfish." Image credit to National Geographic; the critter does have modified fins that allow it to "walk" on the seabed. The "lipstick" is said to "enhance species recognition during spawning. Further information here if for some reason you have so much time on your hands that you want to read even more information about batfish. "Cheeky" Pom was correct and wins the kiss (from the batfish).

For round 12 I'll continue to veer as far as possible away from the ever-popular-among-this-crowd "cute and fuzzy" category, and ask not just for the creature's identity, but for a "what in the world is going on here"-type explanation...

Shorts suits?

Gag me with a spoon...

The reason not to order wine by the glass

"Once uncorked, a bottle of wine boards the bullet train to vinegarville. Basically, it is as perishable as a piece of raw fish or meat, freshness-wise, if not as dangerous. But you wouldn't know it by how some restaurants and bars treat their wine, especially in summer, when elevated room temperatures can accelerate the chemical reactions that precipitate its decline.

Curiously, even a restaurant or bar that would not dream of serving day-old buns or rancid bar nuts will generally be happy to sell you stale wine - at a premium to the cost of fresher juice sold by the bottle.

The risk to unsuspecting drinkers is especially acute early in the evening, when half-empty bottles from the previous day's service are circulated for a second go-round, just like Saturday's unsold salmon repurposed as Monday's fish cakes..."