Monday, June 12, 2006

Gyorgi Ligeti Has Died 2001: A Space Odyssey Composer Gyorgi Ligeti Dies, AP "Composer Gyorgy Ligeti, who fled Hungary after the 1956 revolution and gained fame for his opera "Le Grand Macabre" and his work on the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," died Monday. He was 83." (Via NASA Watch.) 11:04:12 PM    comment []

Another Majestic Image from Saturn A Sight to Behold - Saturn and Titan "Cassini's "eyes" -- its powerful imaging cameras -- bear witness to the majestic and spectacular sights of the Saturn system, as this views attests. Here, the probe gazes upon Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) in the distance beyond Saturn and its dark and graceful rings. This view was taken from above the ringplane and looks toward the unlit side of the rings." (Via NASA Watch.) 11:03:24 PM    comment []

Deadwood Season Three kicks off with score of 1.96 FPM Deadwood kicked off season three with 102 "fucks" in the first episode, scoring a stellar 1.96 fucks per minute, which brings the entire series to a spectacular 2032 fucks and a 1.50 FPM rating. Keep up with the tally and also get some stats on the number of cocksuckers per episode and the all-important fucks to cocksuckers ratio here. Every episode this year is going to be a mixed blessing: the wonders of the amazing writing and acting, balanced against the knowledge that it's coming to an end. Deadwood is as good a drama as I've ever seen, and last night's episode started the final season off very well. I have a feeling it's going to reach some heights this year. (Via YesButNoButYes.) 11:00:09 PM    comment []

The Asian Giant Hornet The species Vespa mandarinia is a very large-sized wasp with a Body length 27 - 45 mm; unbelievable, the queens reach 5.5 cms in length! (Via Cynical-C Blog.) 10:57:37 PM    comment []

Modern Times So it looks like the rumors are true, and we get a new Bob Dylan album on August 29. Called, alas, "Modern Times," it sounds like it'll bear a strong resemblance to the last one, "Love and Theft" (and no, I won't get into the debates about the quotes), which is pretty good news. There are 6 confirmed track titles: Neddy Moore When The Deal Goes Down Workingman's Blues Spirit On The Water Thunder On The Mountain Ain't Talkin' My guess is the similarity in titles of some of those songs to others by Merle Haggard and The Grateful Dead is, if definitely not a coincidence, does not mean he's covering those songs. Expecting Rain and The Dylan Pool are good places to keep up with the news. Hang in there, Mike, you gotta hear this one!!! 10:51:50 PM    comment []

Vox Verax: Stupid Tom DeLay Quotes So since he's gone, and while we're waiting to see him in jail, Vox Verax gives us some of Tom DeLay's greatest quotes. My two faves: "So many minority youths had volunteered%u2026that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself." --Tom DeLay, explaining at the 1988 GOP convention why he and vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle did not fight in the Vietnam War "Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills." 7:59:29 PM    comment []

The Hugo nominees, 2006 Excellent, useful roundup of reviews of the 2006 Hugo Nominees. I've read only 2 of the books. 8:52:40 AM    comment []

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