And on a more serious note...

Two great tragedies have I observed in life: unrequited love and unrequited repentance.

I harbor no doubt as to which is the more miserable, if also the less celebrated.

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First photo from the set of THE THING prequel

The guys at /Film have come through with the first pic of the set for the as-yet-untitled prequel to The Thing: John Carpenter's classic 1982 science-fiction horror movie...

That's the Antarctic research camp that the SwedesNorwegians have, before they make their icy discovery and all hell breaks loose. The prequel (scripted by Ronald D. Moore, the mastermind behind the revamped Battlestar Galactica) is gonna show us what happened at the SwedishNorwegian base that made it as bad as MacReady and Copper found it (i.e. mass suicide, burnt corpses, etc.)

As John Carpenter's The Thing is on my personal short list of all-time greatest movies I am going to remain cautiously optimistic about this prequel project, but optimistic all the same. I trust Ronald D. Moore and his respect for the material, I like how the CGI is going to be kept to a minimum and I very much appreciate how they're getting authentic SwedesNorwegians for most of the roles. And now looking at this photo, my hopes have gone up even more.

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Report: U.S. Navy sub crashed 'cuz navigator was listening to iPod

Awright, let's be clear about something: the navigator was not listening to his iPod while at his station. But he was in his cabin listening to his iPod when he was supposed to have been at his station. Which in some ways is indicative of plenty more that was wrong on this sub.

"iPranged a submarine" screams the The Sun in the United Kingdom (gotta love those wacky British headlines). It's now come to light that the collision between the United States Navy's nuclear submarine USS Hartford and the transport ship USS New Orleans in the Persian Gulf a year ago was caused by the Hartford's navigational officer off on his own "revising for an exam" while listening to tunes from his iPod when he should have been uhhh... navigating.

But wait, that's not all! Crewmen had also set up loudspeakers so that they could listen to music (presumably from their iPods) while on duty! Which as anyone who has even seen The Hunt for Red October (or better yet read the original novel) could tell you, is an act of insanity aboard a submarine dependent on multi-million dollar sonar arrays that can pick out opera singing from clear across the Pacific Ocean. The report also said that "sonar operators and radio men were missing from their posts. Others drove the attack sub while 'with one hand on the controls and their shoes off'". The Hartford's captain, Commander Ryan Brookhart, has now been relieved of duty after investigators cited more than 30 infractions which led to "an informal atmosphere" and "a weak command".

Anyone else hearing the Village People singing "In The Navy" after reading this story?

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New hope for cancer patients: Drug chokes off energy to tumors

On the medical side of things, researchers at Ohio State University have hit upon a promising new lead in the fight against cancer: an experimental drug that kills cancerous cells by cutting off their supply of sugar.

From the article at the university's website...

Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute have designed an experimental drug that chokes off that sugar supply, causing the cells to self destruct.

The agent, called OSU-CG12, is an example of a new class of anticancer drugs called energy-restriction mimetic agents. It is described in a paper published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

"Energy restriction may offer a powerful new strategy for treating cancer because it targets a survival mechanism used by many types of cancer," says principal investigator Ching-Shih Chen, professor of medicinal chemistry, of internal medicine and of urology.

"Our study proves that this new agent kills cancer cells through energy restriction. This is important because it shows that it is possible to design drugs that target energy restriction, and it is exciting because energy-restricting mimetic agents may also be useful for other diseases, including metabolic syndromes, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity," Chen adds.

Energy-restricting mimetic agents cause changes in cancer cells that are similar to those that occur in cancer cells deprived of their main energy source, the sugar glucose.

Plenty more info at the link above for those of you technically-minded, or otherwise have a strong interest in this sort of thing.

I tend to no longer be the sort that jumps headfirst with enthusiasm at news of this nature. But the fact is there's been lots of new research getting published lately from the realm of biochemistry holding the potential for great strides against cancer, with much of it having to do with selectively targeting cancerous cells while leaving the healthy tissue untouched.

The day that Lord willing we get to say that we have got cancer licked, I for one am going to go positivalutely bonkers with celebration. Mayhap that day not be too far off after all...

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Saturn's weird hexagon replicated in a lab

Here's something that's intrigued me for quite a few years. Saturn - the second biggest planet in the solar system - has an odd feature and it ain't them purty rings: there's a huuuuuge hexagon-shaped cloud formation, thousands of miles to a side, surrounding its north pole. It's a persistent phenomenon that has mystified astronomers ever since it was first discovered.

So if you've been baffled about Saturn's mystery hexagon, be bebaffled no further 'cuz Ana Claudia Barbosa Aguiar and Peter Read of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom have recreated the mechanism in their lab with little more than a bucket of water and some green dye, and set it a'spinning on a variable-speed turntable. And fun was had by all!

From the article at ScienceNow...

The faster the ring rotated, the less circular the green jet stream became. Small eddies formed along its edges, which slowly became larger and stronger and forced the fluid within the ring into the shape of a polygon. By altering the rate at which the ring spun, the scientists could generate various shapes. "We could create ovals, triangles, squares, almost anything you like," says Read. The bigger the difference in the rotation between the planet and the jet steam—that is the cylinder and the ring—the fewer sides the polygon had, the team reports in this month's issue of Icarus. Barbosa Aguiar and Read suggest that Saturn’s north polar jet stream spins at a rate relative to the rest of the atmosphere that favors a six-sided figure, hence the hexagon.

I bet some entrepreneur could make a tidy sum selling this thing as a science project to middle-school students :-)

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Tiger Woods! Sarah Palin! Barack Obama! Jesse James! iPad!

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz...

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GEARS OF WAR 3: Video gaming's worst-kept secret EVER!

If you can't hear the hair-rending going on right now at Epic Games' studios in Cary not far away from here, I'd bet good money that Cliff Bleszinski's Twitter feed is about to go pure apoplectic.

For more than a week Bleszinski - the creator of Epic's Gears of War series - had been hinting heavily that his appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show on NBC late night would herald the announcement of Gears of War 3. That was supposed to have been last night, but something got messed up behind the scenes and Bleszinski's appearance was postponed.

Unfortunately nobody got around to telling the management of Microsoft's Xbox Live service about it. Here's what greeted Xbox 360 players this morning when their consoles logged in...

Personally, I'd be sweating bullets right now. I mean, it can't possibly pay to honk off a man who's wedded a chainsaw to an assault rifle.

Still, good to know that Gears of War 3 is on its way (as if we already weren't expecting it :-)

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The temporal battle of Want vs. Need

Lindsey Nobles - Christian blogger extraordinaire - has posted some thoughts on her struggle with her wants and her needs as part of her ongoing series on life goals and motivations...

I grew up surrounded by affluence. I grew up in a community where success was too often measured by the title on your business card, the size of your bank account, the car you drove, the places you had traveled, and the street you lived on. And oh, how I loved love the privilege that came comes with my affluence.

Truth be told, I am a spoiled brat by all practical standards. I have a hard time differentiating between want and need. I have a hard time understanding how much is enough. I have a hard time giving extravagantly because I am too busy living extravagantly.

Don't get me wrong... I give. I sponsor two children. I tithe. I step out in faith (or in reasonable faith) when my pastor asks us to think about how we can help expand the vision of our church.

But what I still haven't managed to do, with any success, is sacrifice. I haven't managed to stop indulging in my long list of wants – eating out, extravagant vacations, a new pair of shoes. I haven't realized that just because I WANT something doesn't mean that I NEED it.

That Lindsey is asking this of herself - indeed, that that anyone would ask this of himself or herself - demonstrates that she is far more along on the path of wisdom than most people ever get to appreciate.

Want vs. Need. It seems like it should be all too easy to decide that one is good and one is bad... but it's never going to be a cut and dried issue which can be resolved in terms of black and white. It is a contest we are bound to fight for as long as we are in this world.

However, within that battle there is the potential for massive personal and spiritual growth.

I realized years ago that before addressing whether I "want" a thing or "need" it, or even what God would have me to do, I ask: "What did God MAKE of me? What is my identity? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? How would a thing change me?"

Because most people seek what they "want" without even trying to understand what it entails to them as a person. And as a result, more often than not, a person will ask for something that they want but in the end will corrupt and destroy them. It might not do it immediately, but over time it will wear them down and utterly corrupt them.

The wise person however knows and asks for what they NEED. Realizing that they can ask and seek for something that will make them stronger, wiser, and better equipped to handle the life and challenges that God has presented before them. They they know how to steer clear of that which would ruin them.

I'm not saying there is something inherently "evil" with the concept of want. There are many things that I want also. But I've also learned (sometimes very painfully) that I should never ask for them on my own terms. Instead it is better to ask God to prepare me with what I need, and having faith that in time He will give me those things that I want... and that He will do so when I am at last prepared for them as He understands me, not as Chris understands me (because Chris messes up a lot ...)

So then Dear Readers, the moral of the story is: Ask to know what you need. And He will give you what you want :-)

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I love rain

Especially when it washed away all of this pollen that has plagued too many of us this week.

I've also a newfound appreciation for Zyrtec (thanks to longtime friend Kelly Hart for suggesting it, and your results may vary).

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I hate pollen

Couldn't God in His infinite wisdom have come up with a better way for plants and trees to have sex?

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Lucasfilm developing animated Star Wars sitcom

Yes, April Fools Day was a week ago. But no, it's not a joke.

A quarter century ago, on Saturday morning cartoons gone far, far away...

That's the title sequence from the short-lived Star Wars: Droids animated series on ABC. The theme song "In Trouble Again" was co-written and performed by Stewart Copeland of The Police. Anthony Daniels again provided the voice of C-3PO.

Twenty-five years later and with Star Wars: Clone Wars a certifiable success for Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network, an animated Star Wars situation comedy is now in the works. Among those involved with the project are Seth Green and Matthew Senreich: the creators and executive producers of Robot Chicken (which has a long history of lampooning the saga).

Ehhhhh... hmmm... don't know what exactly to say about this one. I knew that Lucasfilm was working on an animated Star Was series aimed at pre-schoolers and for most of the week I thought people were referring to that show. I now stand corrected (and befuddled).

Star Wars and comedy. Well, I guess it could work. We've already seen Star Wars do blood-curdling horror recently (the novel Death Troopers). And Kevin J. Anderson's book Darksaber was in my opinion slapstick humor (Darksaber is also in my opinion Anderson's best work of Star Wars narrative, make of that what you will). I suppose this might be something worth taking a stab at.

But what's this show going to be called? Two and a Half Jawas? The Fresh Prince of Cloud City? Sithfeld? Cantina (filmed before a live studio audience)? Everybody Loves Jar-Jar? R*A*S*H (short for Rebel Army Surgical Hospital)? Tatooine Junction?

Or how about the show focuses on Luke Skywalker and his kinfolk? It could be called All In The Family.

Okay, I'm stopping while I'm ahead...

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LOST Season 5 soundtrack CD gets a release date!

A little more than a month from now on May 11th, you and me and all the other Lost fanatics will finally get to buy the soundtrack from Season 5. Click here to pre-order it from Amazon. It'll street for $17.98 but you're likely to find it for less depending on where you look.

Lost is the only television series that I've ever gone to the trouble of buying the soundtrack CDs, and I'm looking forward to putting more of Michael Giacchino's beautiful work on my iPod. And Season 5 had some of the best music of the show's run. What I'm eager for most: getting that theme that we first heard during the Lamppost scene in "The Lie", and what most fans are calling "Jacob's Theme" that was introduced in "The Incident, Part 1".

(Incidentally Mr. Giacchino, if you ever read this: I would love to have a bunch of the score from "Happily Ever After" on the Season 6 soundtrack when it comes out next year. Especially everything from Desmond and Daniel's dialogue on through the end when Desmond asks for the manifest :-)

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First animals discovered that live without oxygen

Meet Loricifera, a group of tiny aquatic multi-cellular animals. And they are now the first form of animal found to be completely absent of the need for oxygen for its metabolism.

Quite exotic and interesting, yes? Perhaps this means that other, maybe even more complex, organisms might be found in other environments that do no require oxygen.

More info at the link.

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My DVR has gone mentyl

If this is a technical issue, it's darn just about the weirdest one that I've ever seen in a lifetime filled with playing with gadgets.

And I'm also reminded of Auric Goldfinger's classic line to James Bond: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." If this happens a third time, I'm going to have the whole thing stripped down and examined, psychoanalyzed and possibly exorcised. Or perhaps it's some subliminal cue from my own superego that is trying to tell me something?

This morning while rewatching last night's episode of Lost from my DVR, I did a search back through previous recordings from the past weekend, 'cuz there were a bunch of good movies that I wanted to catch for the first time.

Somehow, my DVR also recorded a movie that I have seen before, but didn't have schedule to record.

The really crazy thing is, this has happened before. And involving to the exact same movie.

So for the second time my DVR, without me asking it to, has caught Yentl: the 1983 film directed, co-written by and starring Barbra Streisand.

If you've never seen it before, Yentl is about a Jewish girl living in Poland at the turn of the twentieth century who more than anything else in life wants an education in Talmudic law. But alas! This is a time and place where only men are allowed to study such things. So after her father (a respected rabbi who has been teaching her in secret) died, Yentl disguises herself as a man and as "Anshel" goes off to study in a yeshiva. As usually happens in this kind of story, complications ensue: namely when Yentl - as Anshel - winds up engaged to the former fiancee of her/his friend Avigdor (played by Mandy Patinkin, in what might be his finest role alongside that of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride).

Now, I have absolutely nothing at all against Yentl. It's a delightful little movie and rather different from typical film fare. It's a drama with music, not really a traditional "musical" since Yentl is the only one singing in it and it's more of an "empathic device" to convey Yentl's inner turmoils. The story, based on a play by Isaac Bashevis Singer, is a clever one and the cinematography (Yentl was filmed partly in Prague and Liverpool) is gorgeous.

I'd just like to know WHY THE HECK IS MY DVR BOUND AND DETERMINED TO RECORD YENTL!!!

I said it the last time my DVR did this and I'll say it again: Oy vey!

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"Happily Ever After": Post-episode reaction to this week's LOST

Before uttering a word about Lost, I just wanna say that Buzz Aldrin was all kinds of kewlness on Dancing With The Stars and even though he's gone from competition, his was a presence that truly moonwalked on the dance floor. Looked like he had a heck of a fun time!

Now, on to "Happily Ever After"...

The episodes of Lost that center on Desmond Hume have been some of the very best of the show's entire run: witness "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant". "Happily Ever After" is likely the last time we'll see an entire episode devoted to Desmond and the Lost showrunners went all out to make this an electrifying episode (yes I'm being quite punny tonight :-).

(Part of me wants to say that maybe this episodes should have been titled "Flashes Between Your Eyes", in keeping with the names of some of this season's episodes and how they're a play on words of past seasons' episodes. 'Twould make heaps o' sense, but at this late in the game I can understand it.)

So apart from the prologue (featuring Desmond breaking bad on Charles Widmore's ass and didn't EVERYONE holler "GO DESMOND!!" when we saw that?) and the extreme beginning and end of the episode, "Flashes Before Your Eyes" was all about Desmond in the flashsideways timeline: a universe where he's seemingly a happy globetrotter who gets treated at last to Charles Widmore's 'spensive bottle of booze. As such the more longstanding mysteries of Lost were barely addressed at all, which with seven hours left for this show to wrap up everything is ordinarily a bit troubling. But "Happily Ever After" did give us hard answers at last to this season's biggest quirk: the flashsideways-es showing us what the world would have been like had Oceanic 815 landed in Los Angeles.

I thought this was a brilliant episode. And it would be destined to be a fan favorite even if it hadn't seen the return of so many familiar faces, like Charlie Pace and Daniel and Eloise (who just as in the regular timeline apparently knows more than most) and even George Minkowski. And then there's Penny: anyone else catch how without stating as much, that she is Desmond's constant even here in the alternate reality? Is that related in some way to why Widmore had Desmond brought back to the Island?

Can you tell I've watched this episode a few more times since it aired yesterday evening? :-)

I'm gonna say that "Happily Ever After", when all is said and done, is going to prove to be one of the most pivotal episodes of Lost's entire run. And for that alone, it gets the full 10 out of 10 from this viewer.

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A libertarian thought for a Tuesday morning

To live for the satisfaction of a government of men is the most seductive and evil slavery of all.

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