[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/MAR07/Lain.flv 400 300]
At the recommendation of son Eric, we’re watching Serial Experiments: Lain, a 1998 Animé series. I can see how one might wonder if the concept behind it had some influence on the The Matrix.
The character design for Lain was done by Yoshitoshi ABe, who also came up with the design for the previously-mentioned Niea 7. ABe self-published a manga called Haibane Renmei, which he later animated.
The latest update to the Netflix Watch Now player seems to have fixed a problem it was having with correctly determining the available space on my C: drive. Of course, what it should really have is the ability to look for other drives. It would find my D: drive much more spacious.
Netflix has added episodes of Red Dwarf, a British sci-fi TV series my brother-in-law Jim turned me onto years ago. If Black Adder shows up online, then I’ll really be happy!
My sister Jean directed me to this BBC story, about the possibility of caves on Mars. Maybe they’ll find Commander Christopher Draper in one of them!
Spam comments have been flooding in lately, a dozen per whack, four or five times daily. It’s possible, while keeping up with them, I’ve accidentally deleted a comment or two. So I’ve enabled a very aggressive, intelligent spam filtering service. Experienced, sophisticated WordPress users praise this spam-stopper highly, so I’m hoping it kills all the bad stuff and leaves the good stuff.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/MAR07/CraigVenter.flv 400 300]
Friday’s News Hour on PBS had a fascinating segment on some oceanic research that was conducted by scientist J. Craig Venter. He’s one person whose motives I don’t feel the need to question. Although it should be noted that Venter is controversial because he competed against, rather than cooperated with, the federal government’s Human Genome project.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/MAR07/ValeriePlame.flv 400 300]
Valerie Plame Wilson gave sworn testimony yesterday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. This should answer any lingering questions about Plame’s status as a former covert CIA operative. She is no longer a covert CIA operative, of course, only because her cover was blown by people with security clearance.
I didn’t bother editing this video clip, so it starts and ends somewhat abruptly. I included Georgia Republican Representative Lynn Westmoreland because it’s funny to see that he appears to be a bit smitten by Plame, and also because he made a memorable appearance on The Colbert Report last year.
