Mars

2003.08.28

I went down to Gary Point park in Richmond last night with my Dad and his telescope to take a look at Mars. Even though the telescope isn't terribly large, we were able to make out slight colour differences on the planet, as well as the southern ice cap.

It's fascinating to think that the last people to see Mars as brightly as it is now were living in caves, barely able to use tools. The next people to see it this way will be living almost three hundred years from now. I'm sure whatever newscasts they have will mention that Mars passed as closely in 2003, and people will be reminded of our time. I hope we've put a person on the surface by then.

Matrix Ping Pong

2003.08.26

Check out this cool video

I thought I had gotten sick of seeing bullet time, but doing it as a live show sure is creative. You just gotta love those crazy Japanese!!!

Boys and Their Toys

2003.08.25

There's something surreal about starring down the barrels of an A-10's Avenger cannon. Just a few months ago this very cannon was probably spinning faster than the eye can see, spewing out six thousand depleted uranium rounds per minute, aimed straight and an Iraqi tank or structure.

Even though I know that fighter and bomber jets are designed to kill people, they're still undeniably cool. Maybe, when I hear that an AC-130 can cover a football field with bullets in just a fraction of a second, it's man's fascination and obsession with power that makes me think "sweet!!!"

Oh well.

Word of Mouth

2003.08.20

Texting blamed for summer movie flops

Here's a new one. Movie studio executives, in their attempt to explain the less than stellar box office performance of this year's big summer movies, have blamed text-messaging teenagers for the shortfall. They say that cell phones and other digital devices are allowing people to get the verdict out on a movie too quickly, completely destroying their opening weekend advertising campaigns. Wow, what an amazing conclusion!

While I personally enjoyed The Hulk and Terminator 3, I must admit that I didn't absolutely love them as I have many other films cut from the same cloth. Could it be that they aren't actually as good? Could it be that people are simply realizing this much quicker than before? No! Impossible!

Here's another possible reason that movies aren't pulling in as much money these days: thirteen dollars and seventy five cents! You can almost buy a DVD for that much money, and this is what they charge to see a movie on any night of the week other than Tuesday. Maybe people have just decided that there's better things to spend their money on?

Paintball

2003.08.18

I went paintballing yesterday with a group from Tong Moo Do, the martial arts school I go to. It was great fun. I was planning on getting some camo gear before going, but never got around to it. Next time I'll have to make sure I do it, since it really does make a huge difference. Blue coveralls just don't blend into a forest very well.

Anyone who's ever played paintball or airsoft before knows that it hurts when you get shot. It hurts a lot. For this reason it makes the experience feel a lot more "real" than playing laser tag or video games. If you're stuck behind a tree, thinking about making a run for the flag, you have to consider the possibility that you may get shot four or five times. No one cares about that in a video game, but getting shot by four or five paintballs isn't the most fun thing in the world.

It really makes me wonder what actual combat must be like. Maybe I should put that a different way: it makes me never want to know what actual combat must be like.

No Morals Without God

2003.08.15

Believe It, or Not

People have noticed this change in America for years now, but it's always interesting to find another article. If this trend continues, America may soon have more in common with the Middle East than Europe's huge Muslim population: a state ruled by religion.

Have a great weekend!

Demo Reel

2003.08.13

I've decided to post my new demo reel, even though it's not 100% complete. There is still one shot which might change, and an interlacing problem on another which needs to be fixed at some point. I figured it was close enough however, since I can't really say that it's ever going to be 100% complete.

Check it out by clicking on the "Demo Reel" section over there on the left. If you don't have Divx 5.0.2, you're going to need that.

Update: Made a couple of changes and additions to the gallery. Check them out if you're interested!

Gaming

2003.08.12

Since I stopped working I've been slipping out of gaming. I suppose it's a good thing, since I've needed to do a lot of work to get my demo reel together, not to mention the rest of the package I need to look for work with. Still, it does feel like I'm falling out of the loop and need to get back in.

I played Super Monkey Ball 2 for a few hours over the past couple of days, since I haven't passed it yet. I've still got three levels left to complete, and they're tough ones. Monkey Ball is a great game to play when you don't want to get sucked into something big. Most games these days require even a modest commitment of regular time, so Monkey Ball fits the bill perfectly for me right now.

I'm looking forward to playing Half-Life 2, as well as the next version of Desert Combat. All of my job hunting stuff will be done by then, so hopefully I'll have the time.

Abbotsford International Airshow 2003

2003.08.11

The alarm went off at 6:30 yesterday morning, and while I was certainly tired, it was airshow day. I had a quick shower, got dressed and jumped in the car. Thankfully I was staying at my girlfriend's place in town, so five minutes later I was at my friend Kyle's to find him waiting outside. Kyle hasn't heard of these new machines called "coffee makers", so we stopped again at Starbucks before heading off to pick up Chris. The sun was starting to poke its way through the clouds to the east, with some questionable looking dark clouds looming in the west. Ten minutes later Chris was in the car and we were off to the show.

The drive was uneventful. We arrived at the airport at 8:30 or 8:45 and parked in the VIP area thanks to two passes that Chris had somehow gotten his hands on. They made Kyle get out of the car however, and weren't even willing to take his $20 admission fee on the spot. I guess they never figured on the possibility of VIP folks and general admission folks arriving in the same vehicle. Once Kyle had made the trek to a ticket booth and back, we headed off to buy some runway seating tickets. We dropped off our bags at the seats and made our way to the static display.

The snow was definitely smaller this year compared with last. I imagine lots of airshows are without F-117 Stealth fighters and B-1 Lancer bombers this year, not to mention the B-2s, since they're probably all busy with actual bomb dropping these days. There was a usual compliment of F-15 Eagles, F-16 Falcons, A-10 Thunderbolts, F-18 Hornets, F-18 Super Hornets, CF-18 Hornets, and EA-6 Prowlers. Many of the American planes, particularly the A-10s, seemed noticeably older this time around. I guess they've been busy, too. There weren't any attack helicopters at the show this year, and there seemed to be less helicopters on display in general. The heavy C-5 Galaxy made a usual appearance along with the brand new model C-130, which has a new and interesting looking propeller design. The Canadian Army guys had their weapons on display, which we missed out on as they seemed to pack up early. We had fun playing with the assault rifles and machine guns last year however, so it wasn't a huge loss.

The flying got started around 10:00 with the radio controlled models. They really need to get a jet powered model out there, or even a helicopter, because those fixed wing props are only interesting for a few minutes. The Canadian Museum of Flight flew their W.W.I era planes as usual, along with a W.W.II era Harvard. They did fewer passes this year, which was very welcome. They're very nice planes guys, but twelve or more flybys is just too much. Next, Bud Grandly made his way to the runway in his Harvard, doing the usual snap roll on takeoff, and pulling into an immediate hammer head. Going vertical caused the oil cap to come off, which led to lots of smoke that wasn't coming from his smoke system, and lots of oil splashed along the side of the plane. He landed right away and made his way back to the hot side to fix the problem. He flew later, obviously managing to escape any engine damage.

The new Cormorant helicopters now used by Canadian search and rescue got to fly for the first time this year. The chopper's computer driven "auto hover" was demonstrated, keeping the huge chopper completely motionless in the air while guys repelled out of it. The lack of movement was actually very strange, since we're so used to seeing helicopters bounce and shift at least a little bit when hovering. There were a couple of civilian aerobatic performers after the Cormorant; fairly standard stuff.

The F-14 Tomcat was the first jet to perform this year, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Almost all of the military demo pilots fly the exact same routine, with slight modifications based on the plane they're flying. The F-14 does a couple of maneuvers which showcase its variable sweep wings, although the plane always looks better with the wings swept back. All of the fighters flew before all of the clouds were gone, but luckily the only time they disappeared from view was during the climbs to 30,000 feet. One drawback of the military demos is the overuse of one particular stat: "The *insert plane here* twin *insert plane's engine name here" generate over *insert thrust stat here* pounds of thrust, more power than the entire starting lineup of the Daytona 500". I know Americans love their stock car racing, but really guys, do you all have to say that? The F-14, the F-15 and the F-18 all generate more power than those cars, we get it! Still, the tight turns, high speed passes and high performance climbs done by the fighters are always fun to watch, year after year.

The rest of the show was fairly standard. There was one interruption when the two water bombers were scrambled to go fight a forest fire. They ended up turning back before taking off, and then finally took off at 5:00 when the show was over. The Blue Angels flew in the middle of the day when there were still some clouds around, so they did the flat show. They flew their show without music, which seemed really strange to me for a military formation team. The show was certainly missing something because of that, even though the Angels themselves were flawless in all but one maneuver. Still, with only 6 planes, there are long periods where nothing's going on.

Fortunately the Snowbirds don't suffer from a 6 plane limitation. While I didn't like their music choice as much as last year, the clouds had cleared by the time 4:30 rolled around, so we got to see our boys fly their high show. It certainly is more fun when you're getting downward bomb bursts, Canada bursts and their new "Centennial burst", celebrating the 100th anniversary of powered flight. The Snowbirds flew a perfect show, with my only complaint being that some of their double loop maneuvers got a little far away from show centre. They're still the best formation team I've ever seen fly, not only because of their skill, but because their show is so slick and entertaining.

Planes started to pack up and leave as soon as the Snowbirds made their final pass. Going to the Abbotsford airshow is one of the signs that summer is drawing to a close. I hope that next year's show is even better. We've had clouds for two years now, so let's have a clear and sunny weekend next year. Someone put in the order!

Snowbirds

2003.08.07

I never get sick of seeing the Snowbirds, even if they're only flying a quarter of a show with only one break of the formation. I went down to English Bay yesterday with my friend and fellow aviation enthusiast, Paul, to watch the team fly hours before the late night fireworks. There's nothing like watching a formation team when you keep losing sight of them behind skyscrapers. They flew an awfully big show, too, since I'm sure they wanted to give everyone at every beach in Vancouver a good look. We got to see a pass of pretty much every nine plane formation that they have, as well as one big loop followed by a upward bomb burst. I can't wait for the airshow this weekend!

I don't usually like liking to other people's daily posts, but my good friend Chris Wren is really on the ball today! Check it out.

Back to Flight

2003.08.06

With the Columbia reports nearly complete, it looks like NASA will start to prepare for a return to flight soon. It would be nice to see the Shuttles back in service by the end of the year, but I'm not sure how likely that is. In any case, there do seem to be more important issues surrounding NASA than just safety.

People don't seem to be addressing the more fundamental problems that NASA is facing, and while it's always good to focus on safety, that sort of focus rarely lasts. The Columbia accident has proven to be the second time that NASA managers ignored internal safety concerns which lead to the loss of a spacecraft. The same thing happened with Challenger. No one at NASA can really say "well we just didn't think it could happen", because people did think it could happen, they just weren't heard.

Anytime you end up with so many managers in so many departments, all reporting to different managers up and down the ladder, you're going to end up with problems. You can't manage a problem into nonexistence, no matter how many independent safety wings you create. It's just not possible. There has got to be a better way. That's what NASA needs more than anything.

The African Problem

2003.08.01

The white man's burden

What to do with Africa? It's such a huge problem that eliminating terrorism almost seems easy by comparison. I seem to remember advocating ignoring them some time ago, and for the most part I still think that way. The only reason I can see to help Africa improve its quality of life is to reduce the chances of the next global plague coming out of that continent.

Mark Steyn is right about Africa being a long-term project. Sending peacekeepers into Liberia for a few months isn't going to stop cannibal warlords from terrorizing populations and governments. Most of the time, they are the government. It's interesting how colonialism has managed to create thriving societies in places like India, without a huge loss of culture, yet almost as soon as the white man left Africa, it started to slide back into a tribal mess.

Solving something like that take more than anything America can offer. The biggest problem is that people just don't care, and I'm not sure that they should.