Thursday, May 26, 2005

Death to Zarqawi

A bullet wound to the chest. Taking his last few breaths.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Hopefully all this news is true and this miserable excuse for a human being has been slowly dying for the past month. A nice infection that slowly eats away at his tissues would be the icing on the cake.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

What Will Replace Star Wars?

What will the millions of Star War fans do with themselves now that the prequels have ended?

We are talking about millions of geeks with no outlet for their nerdiness. This is a potential national disaster. Should the National Guard be warned? Will endlessly surfing the web for tidbits and insights about the six movies be enough to maintain order?

I fear not.

Compounding this problem are the hordes of disaffected Star Trek geeks who suffered through the cancellation of Star Trek Enterprise. Luckily for society there is every indication that another series will eventually come down the pike. As long as there is hope, plus Trek conventions, these people will remain passive.

It's the Star Wars crowd that I worry about. They cannot join the Trekkie ranks as the chasm dividing the two camps is every bit as wide as that between the Boston Red Sox and NY Yankees. Being generally uncoordinated these wannabe Jedi's can't handle real outdoor sports nor do they have the right stuff to handle the one thing that keeps all other males on the planet happy. Women.

Perhaps some can jump onto the Harry Potter bandwagon. This serial has everything they need. Upcoming books, movies and if everyone tries real hard they can imagine that the magic wands are really light sabers.

As for those who cannot make the change, I fear a life of unwilling George Lucas to beg him to finish the final three episodes of the Star Wars saga, those originally intended to follow Return of the Jedi. The rest will go back to their cubicles and quietly bang out computer code, write fan fiction and get together in costume at film revivals showing the Star Wars movies.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Star Wars Reality

The New York Times today had an interesting article on an Air Force plan to introduce non-nuclear weapons into Earth orbit.

The weapons range from the the simple, dropping heavy metal rods onto targets, to the complicated, a laser system. What I find even more intriguing is either the Times or the Air Force timed the release of the story with the premier night of the newest installment of the Star Wars saga.

Does the Air Force think it can drum up support from the nerd class for what is bound to be an extrardinarily expensive program or is the Times trying to make the plan look foolish by essentially calling it science fiction?

Either way, I'm all for it. Any strategist knows that the side holding the high ground is likely to win a battle.