Captain Tripps and the Pirates of Penzance

In the last two days, I've had two major accomplishments. On Wednesday, I saw my first opera. On Thursday, I finally finished "The Stand".

I've been a growing fan of the opera for the last couple of years. I'm not really sure why I like it so much- probably because it's so gosh-darn fun to sing along with when I'm alone in the car. (And I'm learning Italian!) Luckily I have good-natured friends and family who will go along with whatever odd thing I happen to be into. For Valentine's Day, my mom took me to see the Carl Rosa production of "The Pirates of Penzance" (second-row!). It was amazing. I love pirates, I love opera- so of course, I love them together! It was really cool to see such a highly-accomplished British cast perform a British opera. Rosemary Ashe and Steven Page completely stole the show as Ruth and the Pirate King. Now I just have to see Carmen and La Traviata and life will be complete.

Finishing "The Stand" doesn't seem like such a big accomplishment comparatively, does it? Well, I have a really nasty habit of getting halfway through a book, putting it down, and then never picking it back up again. I originally started reading it last summer- I read somewhere that the creators of LOST based some of the concept of the show on it. I got about a third of the way through... and started reading something else. Two weeks ago, I picked it up again. I can see where the most basic elements of LOST are similar. If the ending is the same, things are not going to turn out well for our poor lostaways... and I wanted Desmond to get home to Penny so badly...

Of course, my whole Star Wars theory is proving to be correct- they aren't even trying to hide it anymore. Using the old wookie-prisoner gag? And then CALLING it the "old wookie-prisoner gag"? Ha. Sawyer IS Han Solo. :)

Updates.

Ok, so I need to make two little updates to my raptures over the Wii.

One, though Nintendo announced that it will be selling games from older systems online, there aren't very darn many there yet. I'm sure they will show up eventually, but I was disappointed in the limited selection (so far).

Two, I am in really bad shape. I have a very sore arm from playing WiiSports too vigorously the last few days.

In other news, my mommy bought me the Hallmark Josh Groban CD as a valentine. I've been listening to the title song, "With You" over and over and over and over...

It almost makes me miss the days of driving Chris crazy with my "Drowning" marathons. :) Awhh, those were the good old days.

Oh, and tomorrow, I'm going to see my first opera! Second row tickets, baby!! I get to cross two things off of my life list!

Wii Will Rock You!

I was always a loyal Nintendo player... that is, until the Playstation 2 came along. It had better games... it was backwards compatible... and seven years ago, it was by far the most advanced gaming system out there. Despite my love for Nintendo systems, I chose the PS2 over the Game Cube. And I wasn't alone. As the PS2 and X-Box grew in popularity, Nintendo's market share began a plummet into oblivion. I never expected them to make a recovery, let alone a comeback- I never expected the Wii!

First of all, the price won me over. I'm a hard-core gamer, but I can't justify spending $400-$600 for a new system. Wii underbids both the PS3 and XBox 360 at a reasonable $250. Second, the Wii-mote is both novel and user-friendly. I had some concerns about how the remote-style controller would work in normal game play... I guess I'd forgotten that I've been uselessly swinging my controllers around for years. Nothing could feel more natural. Finally, it's backwards-compatible to the extreme. Folks, we can trash our cartridges and roms- every game ever made by Nintendo can be purchased online and downloaded. I can't wait to play my old favorites with a proper controller instead of a keyboard! (Chrono Trigger, I've missed you!)

I also highly recommend Zelda: Twilight Princess, if only for the fact that I'm having a hell of a good time swinging my sword around. I was concerned when Link first showed up in sandals... but it's all good now. :)

Full Of Grace

I heard this song for the first time last night, and it was perfect:

The winter here’s cold, and bitter
It’s chilled us to the bone
We haven’t seen the sun for weeks
To long, too far from home
I feel just like I’m sinking
And I claw for solid ground
I’m pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
Oh darkness I feel like letting go

If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
Full of grace
Full of grace
My love

So it’s better this way, I said
Having seen this place before
Where everything we say and do
Hurts us all the more
Its just that we stayed too long
In the same old sickly skin
I’m pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
Oh darkness I feel like letting go

If all of the strength
And all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
Full of grace

I know I could love you much better than this
It's better this way

Welcome to the Dark Ages

I've never believed that global climate changes are man-made. First of all, there's the fact that volcanic and solar activity are a much more probable explanation. Second, making assertions about a 4.5 billion year process based on only 100 years of data is flat-out bad science. In no circumstance would 0.00000002% be considered a large enough sample size. To put that in perspective, let's apply the same proportion to the population of the Earth- 6/3.5 billion people. Could a drug company get a medicine approved after testing it on only 6 people? Heck no. And yet we are being asked to do essentially the same thing- to spend billions of dollars and drastically change our way of life based on results reached on far too little data.

Let me say right now that I do agree that the climate is changing. The climate is always changing- always has, always will. I also agree that we should reduce our use of fossil fuels. Above all, I believe that we should treat the Earth with respect.

I'm just annoyed with society putting more faith in the opinions of politicians and celebrities than real scientists. Al Gore made a movie, so it must all be true, right?

Most recently, I heard a report on the news about a statement made in a blog by the Weather Channel's climate expert, Heidi Cullen, in which she says that meteorologists who do not believe global warming is man-made should have their AMS certification revoked. "If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval." (You can read the whole thing here: http://climate.weather.com/blog/9_11396.html)

It brings Galileo to mind, put under house-arrest for suggesting that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe. I thought we were past that kind of censorship in the science community, at least. Apparently not.