Mike Rowe : King of Discovery Networks

I spent the day watching The Discovery Channel and The Science Channel. First, Wild Pacific, then Human Planet, and then How the Universe Works. All Three of these shows were narrated by Mike Rowe. Now if you add these to the shows that made him famous, Deadliest Catch and Dirty Jobs, along with Ghost Hunters, Ghost Lab, and Ultimate Fighter you can catch Mike Rowe, or his voice anyway, any time of day. It seems gone are the days of watching shows narrated by Enterprise crew members.

Reflection: The Tale of No Tails

I had and interesting though the other night. I had just watched a documentary about Stephen Hawking, where he re-evaluated his theory on black holes. Then I watched I, Predator about the biomechanics of a cheetah on the hunt. I, Predator explained how the cheetah uses its long tail as a rudder to help it make high speed turns while chasing an antelope. I briefly though about how much brain power must be devoted to controlling its long tail. This reminded me of a diagram I saw in a science book once. The diagram showed the human brain and sectioned off each part that was devoted to different parts of the body. The section for arms and legs was tiny. Feet, a little bigger. The hands were very big. And the eyes were huge. I thought of other mammals and how they use there tails. Kangaroos use them for balance while hopping, and as a tripod when sitting. They even stand on them when they use their legs to kick with. Squirrels use them to balance when they are climbing a tree. And monkeys use them for balance when climbing out onto a tree branch. They can even use them as an extra appendage to grasp with. So monkeys must be using a huge part of their brains, just for their tails. Great apes don’t have external tails, so all that brain space that their primate cousins the monkeys need is left free for other things. Later that night I was lifting weights and as I worked though each repetition I reminded myself to focus on the muscle group. This got me thinking of the brain diagram again, and how by focusing on the muscle group I was focusing on a specific portion of my brain. For a brief second I though, “if I didn’t have to devote so much of my brain to my body, I would have a lot more brain left free for other things.” And this brought me back to Stephen Hawking and eureka! That’s when I though, “no wonder Stephen Hawking has such a remarkable brain. He doesn’t devote any of his brain to controlling his body and the trade off in mobility has paid off in cognitive power.”

Rant, Raves, Reviews, and REFLECTIONS

I'm adding an unofficial category to my blog title. Since rants are usually angry in nature, and I have a lot of random thoughts running through my head that don't technically count as a rant, I will occasionally have Reflections.

Welcome Back

So I've decided to dust off this old blog and start it up again. As the title states, this will be a place for my personal Rants, Raves, & Reviews.

Review: Revenge of the Sith

Ok, I know this is a little late, but I thought I should start my Blog off right The first reel (as we call it in the Biz) or the first 20 minutes, was non stop action. I thought parts were a little corny, cheesy, etc. The fight with Dooku was way too fast, but it got to the point. And I screamed out loud (more aggressively then I thought possible) when Anakin (Spoiler) cut off Dooku's hands. YEAH! The crash landing. Umm why would there be a big landing strip on the city planet when every one has VTOL (vertical take of and landing). Oh, “for the big ships,” you might say. Isn’t that what shuttle craft are for? Big ships built in space stay in space. Still it was a cool scene. Then it slows down to exposition... in other words "every one talks about the plot and tells the audience what is going on. A bit Dialogue heavy but a lot of good scenes with important info, and yes I actually felt sympathetic for Anakin this time... I loved how every one was pushing and pulling him in different directions. And I actually felt a connection between Ani and Padme. About frikkin time. Yeah, Natalie was really good in this one. There were many times I wanted to cry along with her (seeing Jedi temple burning and knowing her friends were there) I could imagine people all over the world that have felt that way when war comes to their back yard. I started to get stirred up even before she turned to the camera and started crying. On a side note, she did a lot of crying in this movie, and not much else. Why did it seem like she was just stuck in the middle of this movie to cut away to every time we needed an emotional moment? “The Jedi Purge”. Hmmm? "Vader helped HUNT down and kill the last of the Jedi" Oh, you mean the clone/storm troopers killed the Jedi, and Vader killed a bunch of kids that were hiding in the temple.... the first place you would go to kill Jedi... not much hunting. Well, we do have 20 more years for him to do that... and I'm glad there was a set up that not all the Jedi were killed. Poor Aylla, she will be missed. As a film maker, I know certain things must happen to satisfy the story.... (but in this case maybe not the Mythos) 1. Yoda fights Palpatine, who didn't see that coming? necessary for film but not really for overall story. Why fight him and run way... was it a distraction? "Timing critical for our plan to work." He didn't seem in too bad of shape when he left the fight, either. 2. Padme shows up on Mustifar. (that felt a bit forced, but when he runs to her, that really gets the emotions going, and to have Obi-Wan stowed away, that was really a slap in the face. 3. Chewbacca. 'nuff said. A cameo to please the fans of all ages, but he did nothing. In fact I've come to get sick of the background action of the prequels. It's fun to spot all the inside jokes, friends of the family, and characters out of costume and make-up, but it also gets distracting. This movie felt like a great epic, like “Gladiator” or “Gone With the Wind” or something. This was the best of the trilogy. (almost as good as Return of the Jedi, my favorite) If the whole saga was like this, whoa... But then things seemed rushed. The battle of Kashyyyk, The Dooku fight. and the mother of all RUSHED events... LORD VADER... "What have I done? (beat) I'll do anything you ask master" “Ok you’re my new apprentice...” "Ok sure that sounds cool, just save Padme....." 20 min later. “Padme, I'm gonna crush your throat.” I think the events should have been reversed. Dooku Fight- Anakin lets Dooku live "It's not the Jedi way." Then he has to fight Windu "He's to dangerous to leave alive" cuts off Mace’s head, then as the body falls out the window, Anakin falls to his knees "What have I done". As is stands, sorry to say Mr. Jackson, but Windu went out like a Punk. And the ending was way too much of a rush to sweep up all the dangling plot treads that we need for "A New Hope". Leia- " my mother died when I was very young. I remember she was very sad" Wow you remember something that happened like 15 seconds after you were born? The force is strong with you. Or do you mean your adopted mother? I always thought Padme married Organa? What’s going on here. And the Frankenstein ending. Can that boy ever act? "All you have to do is stumble, Palpatine catches you and says, “You killed her” (best line of movie) then “ARRHH,” smash and break stuff. Crush stuff with force." Why must Lucas ruin the best scene of the saga by trying to be cute? There were numerous light saber duels , and limbs falling off everywhere. Though still not up to kinetic power of the Darth Maul fight. These all took place in enclosed spaces and tight shots that never let us see the action. But Mustifar was quite a scene. There could have been some more dialogue during fight, more anger. But still good. That ending was so tragic it was a little hard to watch. Not quite the finish I had envisioned, though. I had always imagined that Obi-Wan was out matched and had to Force pushed Anakin into the lava. That would explain the “more machine now then man” part as most of his body would be burned away as he crawled back to the shore and burned in front of Obi-Wan. That would have been great. And a slight adjustment to the final scene would have made it perfect and tie Episode III to Episode IV. On Tatooine when “Ben” Kenobi hands Luke over to Owen and Beru, he says "Anakin’s gone. His son will need a good home, and I’ve got his fathers light saber for when he’s old enough." Owen replies, "I won’t hear of it. This boy will have a good life and grow up to be a farmer. No Jedi adventures for him, now go away you old wizard" (Hey wait, didn't that seem a bit like Merlin and King Arthur?) I've got this sword that is the boy's legacy. Aside from stomping all over the back-story that was set up in the originals, and having 22 years to imagine my own vision of what should or could happen, I am still pleased by the outcome. It was an emotional journey, and I am sad that this was the last, first viewing of a star wars movie.