Jules Verne was a genius.

He really was. I just finished watching From The Earth To The Moon. It's really amazing that he could forsee something as accurately as he did so long before it actually happened. After all, he wrote it in 1865 - 104 years before the Apollo 11 flight in 1969, and still nearly a century before the Vostok 1 flight that carried Yuri Gagarin int o orbit and the history books as the first manned spaceflight in 1961.

Because I watched the RKO Radio Pictures version, which was made in 1958, I checked out Wikipedia to see what similarities Verne had with the real thing. IT was quite remarkeable -

Most interestingly, his estimate of the cost of the project in 1865 dollars is near the cost of the Apollo 11 flight in 1969 dollars. The story bears further similarities to the real-life Apollo program:

• Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad; the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia.
• The spacecraft crew consisted of three persons in each case.
• Verne's voyage blasted off from Florida, as did all Apollo missions.
• Verne's astronauts splashed down in the ocean, at a spot close to where Apollo 11 also did.

Apparently, the only significant error was his use of a cannon to launch the capsule into space -

The story is also notable in that Verne attempted to do some rough calculations as to the requirements for the cannon and, considering the total lack of any data on the subject at the time, some of his figures are surprisingly close to reality. However, his scenario turned out to be impossible (for example, a cannon capable of firing a projectile out of the atmosphere would have to be very long or kill the passengers by acceleration alone).

Of course, we can forgive Verne that small oversight as he was still writing 92 years before the first space-faring rocket carried Sputnik-1 into orbit. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that in the movie, the "projectile" was indeed powered by rockets having been filmed the year after Sputnik-1 was launched.

Anyway, it's time for bed. G'night.

A repost...

In light of last night events in Iraq, I thought I would repost and old email I shared almost exactly a year ago. Number 10 in the relevant one now.

Historically acceptable uses of the F-word

There are only ten times in history when the F-word has been considered acceptable for use. They are as follows:

1. "What the @#$% do you mean, we're sinking?"
-- Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912

2. "What the @#$% was that?"
-- Mayor Of Hiroshima, 1945

3. "Where did all those @#$%ing Indians come from?"
-- Custer, 1877

4. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that."
-- Einstein, 1938

5. "It does so @#$%ing look like her!"
-- Picasso, 1926

6. "How the @#$% did you work that out?"
-- Pythagoras, 126 B.C.

7. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling?"
-- Michelangelo, 1566

8. "Where the @#$% am I?"
-- Amelia Earhart, 1937

9. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!"
-- Noah, 4314 B.C.

10. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this @%#*^ing mad."
-- Saddam Hussein, 2003

The Principles of Witchcraft

That I am a child of the Mother Goddess and Father God.
That male cannot exist without female and female without male.
That the love I share will come back to me threefold.
That the hate I share will come back to me threefold.
That energy around me can be manipulated.
That all things can be mine, both good and bane.
That on one's death, you cross into a beautiful land and are with the ones you love. Forever, if you so choose to stay. If not, you may come back as you see fit.
That we are all here to evolve and to grow, and that the ultimate gift of that evolution is God/Goddess-hood.
That we are always loved by the God and Goddess.
That positive is not possible without negative and negative without positive

That we are responsible for our own lives and nothing happens as a result of "bad luck".
That there is no such thing as an all-white or all-black Witch.
That there is no such thing as ultimate evil or ultimate good. Nothing can be 100% one way or the other.
That I am solely responsible for my evolution as a being, not a minister, therapist, political figure or the like.
That I may call upon the God and Goddess in their infinite aspects/personages whenever and wherever I so choose.
That I should thank the God and Goddess for every day and every night in my life, and everything in it.
That my life is sacred and precious.
That all life is sacred and precious.
That I must HARM NONE, the oldest and most sacred law of Witchcraft and Wicca.
That I must strive to love all and to understand.

That I must learn to accept all, for we are all children of the God and Goddess.
That the Earth is our Mother and our womb, and she is to be cherished and respected.
That a person that is gay or bi-sexual is not evil or abnormal.
That there is No Hell! Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.
That everyone deserves to procreate if they so choose.
That if someone cannot procreate, they should be allowed to adopt freely and without bias.
That we must accept full-responsibility for those that we bring into this world or take-on as a parent or guardian with no exceptions.
That the idea that suffering in this life with the thought that everything will be better in heaven is both irresponsible and incorrect. The God and Goddess has given us everything we need here and now, not given with the idea of "later."

That love is the greatest blessing and the greatest gift.
That perfect love is one of the most important lessons we are here to learn.

That the God and Goddess are and express perfect love to us all.
That each being has the right to freely choose his/her path in life without the fear of guilt or shame.
That all experiences, both good and bad are to teach us what we need to learn and evolve in our lives.
That dwelling in the past or by being obsessive about the future is a waste of time. Be here and now first, and most importantly.
That to abuse or use anyone or anything for personal gain or otherwise is a very serious offense to yourself and the God and Goddess.
That no other person or being of any kind is either superior or inferior than you or I.

That each of us has our own unique set of skills, talents, and abilities in this incarnation We must discover what we have and use them to grow and evolve.
That we must learn and respect each other for his own unique set of skills, talents, and abilities.
That everyone deserves the same rights and dignities as everyone else.
That everyone is here for each other as well as for ourselves. We are all in this together.

Another one I wish I could take credit for, but can't.

Ben

I know everything I need. I know nothing.

I've been on a philosophy kick recently. OK, more like a year, but it's still a pretty new thing.

Anyway, I read Sun Tzu's The Art of War this summer and realized that to really understand a lot of what he was talking about I need to study the whole Taoist philosophy. That means reading both the I, Ching and the Tao Teh Ching. I've been meaning to pick them up for awhile, and today I was in Indigo for some Christmas shopping. BTW, if you have books on the Christmas list you gave me, I only bought one book as a present, and 4 pepole that would appreciate them, so what do you think of your chances? Anyway, I figured now would me as good a time as any, so I got them both. I started reading the Tao Teh Ching first, and that's where the headline came from.

Léon: The Proffesional

Man, I love that movie! If you don't know what movie I'm talking about, read the IMDB entry on it. Better yet, rent it. I guarantee you'll like it. It's on TV right now. I always forget how much I enjoy it. I really owe Dave big for introducing it to me. Natalie Portman may have only been 12 or 13 when she made this one, but she's her usual amazing self, somehow she manages to walk the fine line between deranged hitman-in-training and hurt little girl/innocent victim. Her co-star - Jean Reno. He's one of those guys that never really stars in movies, but somehow always seems to be one of the most memorable characters. I was looking over his entry in IMDB just now, I think this must have been one of only two big movies he starred in. He was the bad guy in Mission Impossible as well.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this...

Facelift

Well, in case you haven't noticed, I've given my blog a facelift. Part of it was prompted by Blogger's offer to port over to a new version. I had been a bit leery of it since I first heard about it, but I wound up using it for the PSA Blog, and really liked it.

Oh well, time to head off to bed...

An Apology

Well, It's been more than 6 months since I posted on here... I'm sorry. I keep starting posts, get sidetracked and forget about them.

I've been making a lot of changes since Samhain. Nothing really noticeable, more mental and habitual. One of those changes is a resolution to start keeping the blog again. I know a while ago I said I was just going to use it as a forum to present my ponderings, written meditations etc., but I'm just not writing enough. So - back to a journal it is. That might not be an all bad thing.

I guess if I'm going to make this a journal, it might be a good idea to give a quick highlight of what I've been up to these last months, so here goes.

I've moved out of Ken and Brenda's. I'm living just off Whyte Ave. now. (Well actually I'm halfway between Whyte and Argyll Rd., but I go up to Whyte more than I go to Argyll.) It's been 7 months now and I'm almost unpacked and cleaned up enough that I won't be embarrassed to have people come over.

This year was a really good year for summer racing - even if it was busy. Between the roadcourse in Calgary, the Champ Car Grand Prix of Edmonton, the National Go-Karting Championships in Fort Saskatchewan, the annual Namao Roadcourse race, and the 4(?) autocrosses I was involved with this year, I did pretty much nothing but race and work all summer. I wanted to help out with a rally or two this summer, but it didn't happen. Sometimes there was another race I was already committed to, others I just didn't have the money to travel that far at the time.

Speaking of racing, I got invited to the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in Montréal for 2007. YAY! I just hope I can afford it. I've got a good chunk of change set aside for it, but I have some other things I want to spend it on too. The RX-7 is being WAY too expensive to keep in race-ready condition, not to mention the fuel efficiency SUCKS. I need to find something else to drive on a regular basis.

Ok, Enough about racing...

Sex life - still nonexistent, but I'm getting out of the house a fair bit, so hope isn't lost...

Work. Well, I'm not sure what to put here. Everything is going pretty well at work. I love the night shift. I like the 4 day weeks even more. Problem is, I found out that a union first year apprentice makes about $1.50 more than I do as lead hand. Add to that the fact that we were talking about money one day when I was in for overtime, and I make now what people expect in that department after 5-10 years. I think I need to find somewhere I can get my apprenticeship. Oh well, I have a WHOLE SHWACK of paid time off over christmas, which will be nice and another big factor that I'll go into later where stability and predictability are more important than money.

OK, maybe not as later as I thought. I'm almost out of stuff to catch up with. It's bad news. Gramma (Mom's Mother) has been diagnosed with terminal Pancreatic(?) Cancer. Apparently it's started to spread to her liver already. I'll have to see how she's doing at Christmas before I decide whether I start looking for an apprenticeship in the new year.

Well, that wasn't as long as I expected. Good. I'll be back in a day or two. PROMISE!

Ben