Saturday, March 15, 2008

Artificial Intelligence vs. Natural Stupidity

A Weekend Wasted isn’t a Wasted Weekend

Wrath of Basketball Gods: March Madness is a phrase that probably very few jocks or basketball fans know is borrowed from the Bard. That’s Shakespeare’s Hamlet for those of you who were absent that day. Not to be confused with his Julius Caesar who was told to “Beware of the Ides of March.” That refers to March 15, 44 B.C. the date Caesar was murdered. So today is the 2,052nd anniversary of his death. But for fans today is the last day for amateur bracketologists to try to figure out which teams will go to the NCAA Big Dance (college basketball playoffs) and which will stay home. Perhaps the basketball gods were making their preferences known when they huffed and puffed and almost blew down the Atlanta arena that was hosting playoffs.

With friends like this: Now that Albany Whoregate seems to have fizzled out media pundits are searching for new muck to rake. There is probably no truth to the rumor that former VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro who dissed and denied will be the new host of the Imus show. She’s old news too. But Fox News might have caught one that will last more than 72 hours. The Barackster’s minister has made controversial statements. If that is a criterion for being lambasted I’m hoping the media never finds out who my friends are.

Space jockeys work well with Son of HAL: Remember HAL in 2001 Space Odyssey? He was the computer in the space ship who was the lone astronaut’s best friend until they had sort of a lover’s spat. Then HAL proved he had a mind of his own, which led to the end of the mission. Today the space station’s new robot, Dextre, is powered up and operating smoothly. Dextre has its own bed, called a pallet, and now has power. To date everything is working well and no Klingons have been spotted.

Space station – Vegas connection: Speaking of space stations one must include Star Wars in the mix. Star Wars producer George Lucas flew into the Valley of the Dollars for the annual theater owners convention, Showest. He teased the group with clips from the latest Star Wars movie, The Clone Wars, premiering the ides of August. It will be a TV series as well so future astronauts can learn the finer points of surviving when clones go wild. The movie will refresh Obie-wan in the theaters during the time Obie-two is making a run for the presidential nomination. Who says life doesn’t imitate art?

A little blogging music Maestro... a bit of Strauss, “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” also known as the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Dr. Forgot

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