The Obama Administration’s proposed budget would decimate the Mars Program and planetary science, canceling the planned missions for 2016 and 2018. Late last week, Congressman Adam Schiff, whose district includes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, grilled the head of NASA about it in an effort to grab some attention and maintain funding.
Schiff posted a bit about this on his Facebook wall, including a link to the hearing, and I was pleased to see he mostly got a lot of support. He also got at least one response of the sort I’ve come to expect:
“I don’t understand you. The USA has NO MONEY. Mars has been there for millions of years and we be there for millions more. What on earth is so important that you totally bankrupt the country right now? You need to wake up sir. Stop spending money you don’t have and quit gutting the constitution. I know its late in the game, but when you begin to be responsible? When will you start representing the voice of your district?”
Given that the response was overwhelmingly positive, and given the makeup of his district (a lot of scientists and tech people), I think he IS representing the voice of his district.
There are many reasons to support the space program, but here are just a few: it creates jobs, it creates new technologies that create new jobs, it furthers interest in science and math education, it dovetails with our history as a nation of explorers, and it’s the right thing to do. And then there are always all those unforeseen benefits. Here’s just one example, of how space research actually led to improvements in firefighting technology. And here’s another — and take it for what you will — without the development of technologies necessary to send people to the moon, we wouldn’t have personal computers or miniaturized computing, and you wouldn’t be reading this blog right now. So think about it this way: When you support space funding, you’re indirectly paying for this blog. Thanks!
For a quarter century now, I’ve been listening to Scott Shaw! say that line at the San Diego Comic Con during his Oddball Comics presentation. A few years ago, he brought his hilarious slideshow of the strangest, most offbeat comics ever made, to a theatre in Hollywood — and next month it comes back. (Same town, different theatre.) Here’s where to get more information, and here’s a sample of what you’ll see.
“Teaching to the test,” i.e., “educating” students to pass government-mandated tests in place of teaching them anything actually illuminating, such as critical thinking, is a perfidious rot on our culture. Rather than teach kids how to think and how to judge, we’re too often teaching them rote memorization of inane facts because someone somewhere in government decided that that was a better way to go. This piece from a teacher who has taught in upstate New York schools for 29 years gives us a window into what’s wrong with these tests and advises them to, well, proudly fail. Given the thoughtful answers she quotes her students as having given — completely counter to the expectations of these tests — I’d say they’re lucky to have her.
I’m seeing Waiting for Godot tonight at the Mark Taper Forum.
Just recently, I was telling the playwrights in my workshop that I would not being seeing this, given how many productions I’ve seen of this play. Just off the top of my head, here are some of them:
a college production in 198x starring my friend Joe Stafford. (Still probably the best Pozzo I’ve seen. Joe had a commanding and imperious presence, leavened by an impish humor.)
the filmed version with Burgess Meredith and Zero Mostel
as much of the staged version with Robin Williams and Steve Martin as I was able to stand
a production in… was it 1989? At the Taper, Too. (Now known as [Inside] the Ford.)
a production at the Matrix starring Robin Gammell and David Dukes. They were superb. Dukes may have been the best Vladimir I’ve seen — you really felt his pain when Godot didn’t show up, and his desperate desire for the man to make an appearance, for God’s sake
a production by the Dublin Gate Theatre in 2006 at UCLA Live that, despite its acclaim, I didn’t like at all because it was so meaningful. “Godot” is much better when played as vaudeville; Robin Gammell (above) was an excellent clown. The play is intended to be played that way — one stage direction has a character “scratching his head like Stan Laurel.” When it’s filled with portent, it’s a drag. And that’s what this production was like.
I’m sure I’m leaving out four other productions. Minimum.
And yet, I’m going again. Why? Top-notch cast, including Alan Mandell (who is now 84 and unlikely to be doing this sort of thing much longer; sorry, Alan), and featuring two actors who knew and worked with Beckett himself (Alan, and Barry McGovern); a video clip (above) from the production that, just in this excerpt, shows that the approach is right; it’s one of the most important plays of the 20th century and one I find deeply effecting; and, well, my friend Dorinne had an extra ticket and invited me.
The Onion is moving its editorial offices from Chicago to New York. As they peel away for another city, much of the editorial staff is staying behind, and they’ve been in skirmishes with ownership about benefits, going so far as to try to find a new buyer. That’s all according to this piece in The Atlantic. I love the sharp-witted satire of The Onion — it’s one of the few sites I consistently repost on my Facebook page. I hope this move and change in staff doesn’t leave a lot of Onion fans crying.
I’ve met Mel Brooks three times, and he’s been kind, warm-hearted, and funny all three times. Almost 20 years ago, I attended Buster Keaton’s 100th birthday party at Silent Movie. (Buster, being dead, wasn’t there.) Before the screening, I got into a nice conversation with my seat mate — Eleanor Keaton — and then afterward did the same with three other fans who turned out: Mel Brooks, Ann Bancroft, and Dom DeLuise. Mel was especially effusive about Buster, and I had the advantage of having seen not only all of Buster’s silents, but also “Silent Movie,” so I had a lot to contribute to the conversation.
This terrific interview with Mel Brooks, which I just found online today, shows just how great an influence Keaton was on him. I think Mel is absolutely right about Keaton: that he was an astonishing performer, and that even if he were starting out today, he’d be a sensation.
