Commercialization of Superman

On June 15^th, I saw Man of Steel on its opening weekend. This is an uncommon occurrence for me. I rarely see a movie the first or second day it hits the theaters. Honestly, I usually wait until a movie is out in Redbox because I don’t think most movies are worth $10 to $14. The only other movies I have seen opening weekend are the two rebooted Star Trek flicks, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Courtesy Google Images

I enjoyed the Superman reboot. I think director Zack Snyder did a credible job recreating the mythos that is the Man of Steel I remember from my childhood. This is probably because he has been a Superman fan for a number of years. According to Kryptonsite.com, Snyder is a fan of the series, Smallville which ran on the WB from 2001 through 2011. “Smallville, by itself, quietly has kept Superman in the consciousness …” states Snyder.

Courtesy Google Images

The movie is good; the villain is General Zod … and judging from the fight scenes, which are … epic, it’s obvious we live in a video game era. They are hectic, building razing, no way you are going to pick up everything in single viewing, affairs. It’s funny, though; I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening to all the people who lived and worked in the buildings that were being trashed. I know, suspend belief.

What I can’t believe is the number of products that are woven into this flick. According to Businessweek.com, over 100 companies paid a total of almost $160 million for embedded products.

I know product placement is not a new concept. Mirriad.com reports that in 1896, directors Auguste and Louis Lumière inserted the logo of Sunlight Soap into their movie, Parade of the 8^th Battalion, in exchange for publicity and distribution help.

Courtesy Google Images

But, there are scenes in  Superman when I felt the selling of products interfered with the viewing. In the first two mega-fight scenes, I saw obvious pimping of IHOP and Sears. The second fight ended with Superman standing amidst huge piles of rubble, and the background exhibits the perfectly preserved marque of Sears. Hell, I was in Sears this past Sunday and noted their Sears’ special edition Superman comic book.

As I mentioned earlier, I did like the movie and I understand the importance of product placement, but when does it take precedence over the film?

Does anyone else share my distaste for the blatant insertion of commercials into movies?

Buzz Aldrin – Mars Advocate

In my blog, Mars or Bust, I discuss Mars One Project’s plan to establish a Mars colony by 2023 and in that blog I mention that Neil Armstrong is the first person to walk on the moon.

Courtesy Google

Armstrong may have been the first but Dr. Buzz Aldrin was a close second. Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon’s surface fifteen minutes after Neil Armstrong.

Buzz Aldrin’s contribution to the United States space program is noteworthy. According to biography.com, Aldrin earned his Ph. D in aeronautics and astronautics. His thesis subject, “Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous” is the study of bringing piloted spacecraft into close proximity to one another. As a result, when he joined NASA he was put in charge of creating docking procedures for spacecraft.

Courtesy Google Images

After retiring from the role of active NASA astronaut, Buzz Aldrin continued to be a proponent of the space program. According to damninterest.com, in 1985 Aldrin reasoned there must be trajectories that swing by Earth and Mars every twenty-six months or so. Consequently, physicists discovered an orbit that behaved as Aldrin predicted. It was named the Aldrin Cycler.

Courtesy Google Images

National Geographic reports that in Aldrin’s latest book, Mission to Mars (2013 National Geographic Society), he details a plan that would lead to a permanent settlement on Mars. He advocates for an international coalition similar to that which built the International Space Station so that the costs would be spread among international teammates.

Aldrin’s plan calls for permanent settlers on Mars. According to National Geographic, he believes that establishing a permanent settlement on Mars will be incentive to build a cycling system so that the settlers are not abandoned.

Once the cycling system is complete, we will have the ability to efficiently ferry people and supplies to Mars.

I wonder if Aldrin has been in contact with the Mars One Project people. It would seem that his knowledge could greatly enhance the chances of success for that program.

What do you think? Would an international entity be our best shot at getting to Mars?

Courtesy Google Images

NEWS

6/17/13: According to ABC News, NASA selects eight new astronauts. ABC News states, “NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said these new candidates will help lead the first human mission to an asteroid in the 2020s, and then Mars …”

6/18/13: On this date in 1983, thirty years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.

Sally Ride
Courtesy Google Images

Mars or Bust

I’m old enough to remember July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon. It was the greatest trip anyone had ever taken.

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Bas Lansdorp and Arno A. Wielders are co-founders of the nonprofit Mars One Project. These men have a vision that the next greatest trip ever taken will be to Mars.

The Mars One Project is soliciting volunteers for a one-way trip to the red planet. Their goal is to have four people travel to Mars and establish a base by 2023.

These four intrepid souls would be followed every two years by more colonists bringing supplies.

Courtesy Google Images

According to the Mars One Project’s website, the plan is built upon existing technologies available from proven suppliers. The roadmap is:

1. Send supplies to the general location of a settlement site
2. Send a rover to scout a permanent settlement site
3. Send living and life support units and a second rover
4. Send the settlers

It’s a lofty endeavor and there are detractors. According to The Register, the Chinese government, via its state run media, has raised concerns. They are branding the Mars One Project a hoax, claiming that BasLansdorp has admitted that a Mars landing in 2023 is unlikely. BBC News reports that Dr. Veronica Bray, from the University of Arizona's Lunar and PlanetaryLaboratory, says, “I have no doubt that we could physically place a human being on Mars. Whether they'd be able to survive for an extended period of time is much more doubtful.”

More than 80,000 people have submitted video applications. 80,000 plus people are willing to risk their lives in an attempt to be the first humans to set foot on Mars.

Even if I was in my twenties and craved excitement, I wouldn’t volunteer …it’s a one way trip! And talk about high risk? The Marstronauts are going to be on their own. There won’t be any rescue … once they are there, they are there...Forever! Think about it … no physicians. If their food and water supplies are contaminated, there’s no ready replacement. If the life support were to fail …

Nope, I think I’ll stay right here on Earth.

However, I’m glad there are people willing to take risks like this. It’s daring people like the Marstronauts that blaze a path to discovery. And, I have to admit … how cool would it be to colonize Mars?

I know I have no desire to leave this planet, but would you volunteer for a trip to Mars? Why or why not? Leave a comment below.

Robot Doctor

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, an avatar is an icon, graphic, or other image by which a person represents himself or herself on a communications network or in a virtual community. It’s common knowledge that people create avatars for use in role playing games, such as World of Warcraft.

Courtesy Google Images

iRobot, a Bedford, Massachusetts company, develops robots for mundane tasks such as vacuuming and the not-so-mundane, such as bomb disposal. They have partnered with InTouch Health and created a robot avatar, RP-Vita. The RP-Vita is about 5’ 4” tall and according to InTouch Health was designed “to transform the delivery of acute care by expanding the use of remote consults and increasing the workflow efficiency.”

Courtesy Google Images

Basically, a screen is mounted atop a mobile base. This screen allows a doctor to interact, remotely, with a patient. According to DVICE, medical professionals will be able to control the unit with iPads and monitor patients with two-way cameras. They’ll be able to perform exams and diagnose anything from a melanoma to dilated pupils. Seven hospitals in North America have started using the RP-Vita.

I don’t like it. If a patient’s condition required a consult from some expert who was half a world away or if patient’s were in quarantine, I could understand the need for the RP-Vita . But it seems like the vision is for medical professionals to conduct the bulk of their examinations remotely.

If I were lying in a hospital bed and a machination rolled in and started to examine me I think I’d find that disconcerting. What the hell, my doctor can’t even see me in person? It seems like this is a step toward removing personal contact between physician and patient. I don’t like it.

Is anyone concerned that the future of medicine could be getting too impersonal?

Cool Cars

I’m not a car guy; never have been, probably never will be. I know squat about cars other than where to put the gas, how to change a battery, a tire and various light bulbs, and how to refill the washer fluid. Thirty years ago, I used to change my own oil but it’s so much easier to have someone else do that.

1955 Chevy Courtesy Google Images

You can count on one hand the number of classic car shows I’ve been to and I couldn’t tell the difference between a ’55 or a ’57 Chevy. At the risk of having my man-card revoked, I’ll admit I find car shows … boring.

1957 Chevy Courtesy Google Images

However, as with many things in life, you do not have to be an enthusiast to appreciate something awesome.

And awesome describes the Terrafugia TF-X™ flying car and the Egoista from Lamborghini.

Terrafugia’s website says they intend to catalyze a revolution in personal mobility. According to Terrafugia the commercial aviation industry has an impressive safety record but flying can be a hassle. They state the average commuter spends nearly five hours a week stuck in traffic, and globally, more than one million people die in car crashes each year. It is their desire to combine the safety of flight with the convenience of the automobile.

Courtesy Google Images

Terrafugia’s website says they intend to catalyze a revolution in personal mobility. According to Terrafugia, the commercial aviation industry has an impressive safety record but flying can be a hassle. They state the average commuter spends nearly five hours a week stuck in traffic, and globally, more than one million people die in car crashes each year. It is their desire to combine the safety of flight with the convenience of the automobile.

Terrafugia envisions the TF-X™ as a street legal, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that will fit in a standard one-car garage and carry four people. EXTREMETECH reports that the TF-X™ is based on proven technology – the Marine Corps V-22 Osprey. It’s about a decade away from being available to the public and will probably cost close to $500,000.

Courtesy Google Images

Then there’s the Egoista. I like this car is it reminds me of the Batmobile. According to the Daily News, the Egoista has a single seat, boasts a 600 horsepower, V-10 engine (even I know that’s big) and has active aerodynamic aids that include a variety of flaps that open and close “depending on the driving conditions.”

Egoista is Italian for selfish and I think that is what Lamborghini is … selfish. The company does not plan to go into production with the Egoista. Not that it would matter to me … the estimated cost of the Egoista would be in the millions.

If I was a car enthusiast, and money were no object, I could be swayed to ooh and aah over these two driving machines. Anyone care to take a spin around the block in one of these concept cars?

Time to Clean Out

My mom passed on Feb 2^nd of this year. I can’t believe it’s been more than three months. She passed quietly but her passing did not go unnoticed. She had a boatload of friends and family who still mourn her passing.

After her passing there were a host of things we had to do, starting with the memorial service. (The burial will come later this year or next year. She donated her remains to the UMASS Medical School in Worcester,MA. Once the school is through with her remains, they will cremate her and return her ashes to us.)

Mom’s memorial service in February coincided with the big snow storm. As a result, the service was not as well attended as she deserved. We had people in from out of town so rescheduling wasn’t really an option. But we worked through it. Them we worked through all the financial and insurance paperwork/issues. Presently, we are in the cleanup/cleanout phase.

Since 2001, Mom lived with my family. She had a very large bedroom with her own full bathroom. One would not have thought she could have accumulated that much stuff … one would have thought wrong.

Courtesy Google Images

Mom was a big fan of carousels. When the merry-go-round at Heritage State Park in Holyoke, MA reopened in 1993, Mom was there to take a spin. Everyone knew that Mom would appreciate gifts relating to carousels … and she got a lot of them. By the mid 2000s, she cried “Uncle” and asked that folks stop giving her carousels as she had no more space.

So what do you get a woman in her late 80’s that doesn’t need anything? VCR tapes … CDs … DVDs … cloths … all that and more.

Thus far, we’ve worked our way through her bathroom and most of her bedroom. There are so many unopened items.

VCR packs – the 30^th anniversary edition of My Fair Lady, for example.  In case you are wondering, in 2014 we will be celebrating the 50^th anniversary of My Fair Lady. There were sweaters, sweatshirts, blouses and pants with the tags still on them, baubles still in the original packaging, colognes, body washes and lotions unopened.

Apparently, you can give the woman who has everything, something … you just cannot make her use it.

But you know what? That was Mom. She’d smile, say thank you and you went away happy.

Anyone else have a cleanup tale they’d like to share?

Home Fire Safety

Home fire safety, also known as fire prevention, is a topic that should get a lot of attention – no matter the time of year. It seems as if every morning the local news is detailing another house or apartment fire.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,389,500 fires in 2011. These fires resulted in 3,005 civilian fire fatalities, 17,500 civilian fire injuries and an estimated $11,659,000,000 in direct property loss.

A few “no-brainer” fire prevention tips are:

·         Don’t leave a stove unattended

·         Make certain your smoke detectors are in good working order

·         Don’t smoke in bed

·         Make certain that electrical appliances and cords are in good working order

·         Have an escape plan (in our house, we have a two-story fire escape ladder)

But I think the biggest tip is … vigilance. One misstep can lead to a disaster.

Many years ago, I was apartment sitting. The first time I entered the apartment, I noted an acrid smell. My friends had left a light on and their cat knocked the lamp onto a knit blanket. I arrived when the blanket was just beginning to smolder.

Whew! Close call!

A couple weeks ago my wife and I were visiting friends for an overnight. They set us up in their guest bedroom. We needed pillows so our friends informed us that there were a bunch in the bedroom closet. I reached for the topmost one but it wouldn’t budge. How does a pillow get stuck in a closet, I wondered.

Apparently, fairly easy … if the light is left on and the pillow rests against the light for any length of time. I have no idea how long that pillow had been in that position, but the pillow completely enveloped the bulb that burned through it.

I shudder to think about the “what ifs.”

• What if our friends had gone out and the light was left on?
• Would they have a place to come home to?
• What if the light had been left on overnight? That scenario is even scarier.

Thankfully, none of us became part of a statistic. I implore everyone to do an assessment to determine potential fire hazards in your living spaces. The benefits far outweigh the time taken.

Do you have a fire story to share? What do you do to prevent fires in your home?