The weekend was blissfully boring. I saw The Incredibles which was awesome! Highly recommended. And then I saw Alfie - two hours of my life that are now gone forever. I mean, the first hour didn't need a plot, it was worth it just to gawk at Jude Law. However, Alfie's inner monologue was so trite and boring and stupid that by the end, I didn't care how cute he was, I just wanted the movie to end.

Burt Rutan was on 60 Minutes.

"You know, I was wondering what they are feeling, 'they' being that other space agency," Rutan laughs. "And, uh... you know, quite frankly, I think the big guys, the Boeings, the Lockheeds, the nay-say people at Houston, I think they're looking at each other now, and saying, 'We're screwed!' Because, I'll tell you something, I have of a hell a lot bigger goal than they do!"

Sigh. I don't want to be a nay-say person, I just want to have a darned space ship that, you know, flies into space. I want Burt Rutan (or one of the other companies on this route) to hurry up and make something that takes crew to low earth orbit (which is a far more challenging task than what won him the $10M), and we can just buy launch services from them for cheap and move onto bigger and better stuff. I also wish "we" (the Houston nay-sayers...) would get passed the need to let the computer fly everything. Its so much more beautiful (and simple) to let the pilot do his job.


And, today's words of wisdom from our safety and health folks: DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK, YIELD TO A BUCK IN RUT!


And, 50 Jobs Worse than Yours


These "cartograms" that change the size of the state based on its population is a fascinating way to examine the election demographics and red and blue states...