Mermaid's Purse » Geek stuff

I just saw the Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) tonight from Mt Eden!

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

I was so gutted when a friend asked me if I had seen the comet last Thursday night – I had heard something about a comet coming, but did not know the when, where or how long…

Apparently Comet McNaught was discovered by an Australian in August of last year.

I determined to see it one of the following nights, the bad news was that Auckland (surprise surprise) would be cloudy for the next week or so! Took the chance when I went for a walk, and sat atop Mt Eden in the hopes it would clear in time and it did!

The comet was just beautiful, and worth freezing in the wind. Apparently although comets may not be so predictable, you should be able to see it in the south-west night sky for another week.

Below are a few news links and a link for some photographs taken over the past week or so.

From Scoop….

Photos from Spaceweather….

From the NZ Herald….

Charts and things from the Carter Observatory….

Tags: Events, Geek stuff, News, Science
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Dune, 1984

Sunday, January 7th, 2007

Having recently come out as a sci-fi lover (having been addicted to classic science fiction novels and of course Gene Roddenberrys’ original Startrek for sometime now) it is only fair that I be up to speed on David Lynch’s contribution to the genre…

I while back I watched Dune, it’s an early David Lynch film and, I think, the first big one for Kyle MacLachlan, you’ll know him as the detective Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, and Jeffrey Beaumont from Blue Velvet. The plot seemed fairly complex (but aren’t they all when you’re living in 10191 and people are living on planets covered in sand where there has been no rainfall for generations..?) pretty early in the piece the protagonist, Paul Usul Muad’Dib Atreides (MacLachlan) is manifest as a chosen one… I loved the aesthetic, the characters and the special effects are also pretty cool for the 80s, although the riding the worm scene is not so convincing. Another must see, I’m still to check out the mini series, the Children of Dune, but I’m not holding out much hope they’ll live up to the feature film.

I was also pleased to discover that I am actually from Dune…

Tags: Films, Geek stuff
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Films, films, films

Sunday, January 7th, 2007

What with xmas and all that time off (haha) over the summer period, I went to the library on a mission, I picked up a very comprehensive book on cinema, 1880s through to 2001. Not exactly bedtime reading (size-wise) but as Rob is off in beautiful San Fransico for two weeks at the MacWorld Geek Conference, I decided to spend some time catching up on a few of those ‘must sees’ that slipped under the radar, or happened all those years before I was born.

Suffice to say I now have several pages of films to work through – not that I want to see them all – who has that kind of time?! I also decided to write about those movies I do see but don’t like, they are definitely out there, no matter how picky you are and how determined you are to avoid them… so over the next few days I will work through those drafts I have sitting waiting to be published and hopefully get some of those must and must-not sees out there.

Check out the Internet Movie Database…

Tags: Films, Geek stuff
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Imaginary Worlds… I’m from Dune, apparently

Wednesday, December 20th, 2006

Here’s what they had to say…

Dune

Your world is 72% Sophisticated, 68% Unconventional, and 33% Intense!You live in the worlds of Dune. Preferably the last two books in the series, in terms of timeline, as that’s when things are genuinely intelligent, probable, and weird as hell… but not too intense. Not intense, I should add, because you’re probably a Bene Gesserit or trained by one, which means you’ve learned to take anything and everything in stride. You can probably move faster than we can see, comprehend a complex obstacle and the potential solutions at a glance, and stop your heart with a thought. But you also probably won’t ever fall in love, listen to music, or do anything else which will evoke too much of that inconvenient thing called emotion. But hey! To you it’s probably worth it to be able to move any muscle in your body at will or traverse the collected memories of your ancestors.

Find out where you are from here.

Tags: Geek stuff, Random
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Shell club at the Museum

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

This was so exciting! Our shell club had the opportunity to view part of the Auckland Museum’s marine collection last night. The collection is estimated to contain approximately 500,000 specimens and includes both wet and dry specimens.

I made a special request to see echinoderms (urchins and starfish) as I have been very interested in the structure of these animals, they are composed of five sections – a pattern that has been emerging in my crochet.

Here are few photos…

..a freaky sea urchin

..another urchin

..a brittle star

Tags: Geek stuff, Science, Shells
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Wordplay, 2006.

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

I went back to work late last night to watch this film – and it was cool!

Following a handful of individuals as they prepare to compete in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, we were given insight into the personalities of some unique and eccentric puzzlers.

Irritatingly American-centric at times, the film also touches on the history of the development of the crossword puzzle and its place in the New York Times, and includes a brief mention of Margaret Farrar, the first crossword editor for the New York Times.

http://www.wordplaythemovie.com/