All the Little Pieces

I never liked Reese's Pieces.  Ever since I saw them in E.T., though, I wanted to have some.  It's a silly little thing--marketing and branding in movies and television; and yet, it works.  Just last week, after watching an episode of Warehouse 13--the final episode--I had an urge to have some Jolly Ranchers.  And yes, I went and got some Jolly Ranchers.  Still, Eureka's partnership with Degree, while pretty amusing and awesome, never quite sold me on Degree antiperspirant.  Maybe I'm just hardwired for foods-only advertising.

So where am I going with this?

Not really anywhere specific, other than to note that our lives are pretty commercialized--from our e-mails, to our T.V. shows, and even our radio programs.  We live in a world of little pieces of information, jingles, suggestions, and branding.  It's a concept that I hadn't really thought that much about until I read William Gibson's trilogy starting with Pattern Recognition and ending with Zero History.  The books were thought-provoking, and seeing all the research and help he had on them, I admit that I will always be hooked on sci-fi.

Speaking of books...I just finished Butcher's Skin Game.  I love that every time I read one of the Dresden series, I am reminded of all the crazy movies and geek things that I love so much but probably haven't thought about in a while--not to mention how cool it is to see movie quotes used as punctuations to awesomeness.  I had a few jarring moments in the book, and I'm not sure if the idea that makes the story work was done as well as it could have been; but so far I can honestly say that I am never disappointed by Harry Dresden--or Butcher.  He takes some really amazing ideas, turns them upside down, inside out, and then splatters them on the page in such a way that even months and years later (while I'm waiting for his next book) I watch the world with new eyes and marvel at all the amazing things I hadn't thought about, either before or in years.

In that respect, he reminds me a lot of Neil deGrasse Tyson--helping the world to remember, (sometimes reinvent,) and reintroduce the world to science.  Butcher is the reminder, re-inventor, and re-introducer to me of what urban fantasy ought to be.  And I gotta say that both he and Neil rock.

Of course, that reminds me that we watched The Wil Wheaton Project this week, and I think I'm hooked.  Do I watch all the shows mentioned?  Nah.  But the guests he has on the show, the geekiness of it, and the fun poking-fun of those things that I love make the show worth it.  Sadly, I think it's far too short, and I think he should get more time on the air.  Chris Hardwick should get more time on the air, too--just maybe not in the same show.

All right--so now that I've geeked out about all the fun stuff that I saw/read this week, I figure there are a few more things we ought to cover before I let you drive off into the weekend sunset.  So in no particular order, here are some stories, videos, and a comic that I thought were important to mention this week.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki Resigns

Why this is important: The VA has been under fire lately for the way it handles our veterans who are seeking or need medical care.  The system needs to be overhauled, and since this guy has been around for five years and things seemed to go to hell during his tenure (or least during his tenure these issues were finally brought to light), he's leaving in order to not detract from efforts to improve things going forward.  A veteran himself, I find myself dismayed by the fact that he allowed these things to happen on his watch; I imagine he doesn't feel too good about it either.

Some things that annoy me about this: So Congress has been blaming the president for the failure, but a lot of the blame lies with them, as well.  They're the ones that approve funding for things, and guess what wasn't a priority in their budgets?  And guess what sorts of games they played when it came to getting funding passed for this?  A short while ago, a bill came up in the House to help fund these efforts, but instead of it just being a simple bill to do exactly that, Republicans added in a few other little things--like more money for defense spending that had nothing to do with helping our veterans.

For a long time, Congress has been playing games with peoples' lives.  I think it's time they stopped playing politics and started thinking about the people they're supposed to serve--to stop being greedy, and start working together to help the people that have given up their time, and sometimes their lives, for this country.  Some things are more important than getting more money for your political agenda, and veterans are one of those things to me.

So stop screwing around, government, and let's get this done.

Massimo Vignelli Dies

Who?:  So maybe you didn't hear, and maybe the week just passed you by without you learning about this man who has helped to shape and design the world and the brands around us.  Massimo Vignelli was an iconic designer who died at the age of 83 this past Tuesday, but he lives on in the creations he made, the students he inspired, and the people who continue to view his work and remember him.

Virgin Space Flights Cleared for US Take-off

Coming soon to a spaceport near you!--or at least to Spaceport America....

Solar Road Sets Fundraising Record

This is just pure awesomeness, and I hope to one day see the reality of this.

Google Changed Its Logo This Weekend and You Didn't Even Notice

So this was last weekend, but until I read the article, I had a hard time actually noticing the difference.  Still, ...once you realize the problem, it's difficult not to see it.

The Ocean Clean Up Project

A little over a year ago, I caught a TED Talk by a fellow who wanted to clean up our oceans using the oceans themselves.  Although I didn't get a chance to pledge money to his campaign, I did keep up with the project and now on June 3rd, we'll finally be getting some information back about how well it worked.  I'm kind of excited to hear all the details, and if this works, ...imagine how much cleaner our oceans can be!

Beyond Gravity: the complex quest to take out our orbital trash

Speaking of cleaning up things, this article does an amazing job of laying out some of the crucial problems we'll soon be facing because of space junk.  While the clean-up ideas are laid out a little strangely to me (some improbable ideas are laid out as best solutions, and the projects by the U.S. government are solely featured as part of a solution that seems to need some global initiative,) this article clearly spells out an issue that is pretty important for our further explorations into space and beyond.


And now for a few fun videos.  The first is the This Week @NASA mid-year report while the team is off taking a short break, and the second is something I just found today: the White House does a "This Week at the White House" video.  How cool is that?  It's called "West Wing Week", and I think I'll be tuning in and sharing this with you every week I can.




And here's a little something from xkcd (and click on the cartoon to go to the webpage where you can mouse over it....)

And with that, I bid you a lovely weekend, and I'll see you in June!