ultrasupergenius’ journal

Newest addition… Roofus!

Originally uploaded by ultrasupergenius.

There’s a new critter in my house… He is cute and blue and red and metalic aqua and his name is Roofus and I think he is great. He is a Beta fish, and even though they really don’t need a lot of space, I got him a pretty mack-daddy aquarium for him to chill in… It is not huge or anything, but it is quite a step up from the little bowl that he was in before. He likes to stay right by my computer so that he can watch me work and do all my gooky stuff. I hope you all join me in welcoming Roofus to the neighborhood, and if you like I can give Roofus a treat for you - just let me know!

It’s been a while since I have mentioned Google on these hallowed pages - due in large part to the fact that they have not done much to grab my attention. This morning’s moon map is a nice touch, although I am kinda wierded out about how similiar the moon seems to be left to right… and I am starting to think that there could not possibly have been that many landing places for each of the vessels. I keep scrolling to the left, and I keep finding more and more landing places. I am up to 123… and counting. Methinks Nasa could have changed it up a bit if they were going to land in so many different spots, why not send different crafts to different areas. Always that tight cluster of landing spots. Oh well, I guess that is why I am not a scientist. They like things to be able to be repeatable. But back to Google - good job on the moon map. It is neat to be able to zoom in so close to the surface of the moon.

DSCN1548

Originally uploaded by ultrasupergenius.

It is with great pride that I announce that Friday, July 15th, at 7:43am my Brother Mike and his wife Karyn gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Benjamin Garrett Hobson. He is a cute little guy - looks a lot like both Karyn and Mike (so he is a handsome little guy to boot).
I went crazy on teh uncle thing, taking tons of pictures yesterday - and I have set up a little Baby Benjamin Web Gallery, if anyone would be interested in seeing it.
Oh - I am calling him “monkey” by the way - so that I can be an official Monkey’s Uncle. (I did wait until I saw him to see if the name fit… and I think it does.) Is that bad? Is he going to hate the name when he grows older?

Lotus Flower

Originally uploaded by ultrasupergenius.

I went to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens with the Northern Virginia Photo Society on Sunday morning. The lotuses have just come into bloom. It is absolutely amazing. There is some information on the gardens on the NVPS website. If anyone is a fan of lotus flowers, I would really suggest getting out there pretty soon. Amazing. Lotuses everywhere in these man-made but naturally set ponds… Lots of neat pond life going on there - little fish, insects, dragonflies. Worth the trip!

Click map for a larger view

The Sierra Club is proposing a new metro line… the purple line. Frankly, I cannot believe that this is the first time that I have heard of this proposition… Not the specific ‘purple line’, but a metro line that mirrors the beltway. It seems like a really simple concept. Any long-time residents aware of this being proposed before? Any thoughts as to whether this is a good idea vs. a bad idea?

My gut feeling is that this is a very good idea - it just seems so simple. It seems to make sense. I like things that seem simple, and I like things that seem to make sense. I am not willing to endorse it - not without taking in a lot more information about it… I would love to hear from the readers of this blog. Viable? Needed? Worthwhile? Am I just a lemming? Would anyone consider the ‘Paisley Line’ as a name instead?

This movie should have been titled “If Aliens Attack, You Should Be Tom Cruise”… Or maybe even “Watch Tom Cruise - the Alien Episode”. They could start a whole series of movies on that theme… and they could all suck just as bad as this one did - if they included Tom Cruise.
How could Steven Speilberg be so off? It seems that his intent in this movie was to explore humanity - and how humanity would react in the face of such a crisis. In just about every scene, you can feel the director stretching things out to try and convey this thick, dripping sense of humanity. And in every scene - it is dead wrong. Completely wrong. Pathetically wrong. Not even so much from bad acting - the culprit here is bad bad bad writing, and bad bad bad bad bad bad directing - and pathetic storytelling. Just miserably done.
The whole time you are watching the movie, you are aware of Tom Cruise, aware of where Tom Cruise is, of what Tom Cruise is doing, of how slick and cool and smart and witty Tom Cruise is - and most importantly that nothing bad is going to happen to Tom Cruise. Running through a department store, an alien beam of ‘turn people into dust but not their clothes’ that is shot from above happens to hit eight people standing in a circle around Tom cruise - but Tom Cruise doesn’t get hit. Good thing he’s Tom Cruise. The aliens are all about shooting people with their ‘turn people into dust but not their clothes’ ray guns, until finally Tom Cruise turns and stands face to face with one of the machines. The aliens abruptly change tactics and decide that they should now just start taking people alive (especially Tom Cruise) and hold them captive. Good thing he’s Tom Cruise. In a scene where 100s of people are running down a hill to get away from machines that are shooting them - only Tom Cruise notices a farm house on the hill, with a farmer shouting out “Over Here - Over Here”. Only Tom Cruise, out of all those people getting shot at, thinks that taking cover in the house is a good idea. And as soon as Tom Cruise goes into the house, the farmer who was shouting walks in and shuts the door… Which makes you wonder - what was he doing shouting in the first place? Apparently, he was just shouting for Tom Cruise. Once Tom Cruise got there - there was no need to shout to anyone else… He just wanted Tom Cruise to come over to the house. Good thing he’s Tom Cruise. Really pathetic - and it is ever-present throughout the movie.

Okay - time to come up with a good aspect of the film to share with y’all. Something that I liked about it. Hmmm… [Thinking]… They did show the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory preview. That was about the best thing in the whole experience of seeing this Tom Cruise movie.