ORS-3 Launch

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Orbital Sciences launched a Minotaur 1 rocket from Wallops last night, carrying ORS-3: an Air Force satellite, two experimental payloads, and several small cubesats, including TJ3Sat, a small satellite developed by students at a local high school. We went up to the roof to watch the launch from Fairfax.

Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 ORS3 Launch (cropped, enhanced)

I made the mistake of using ISO 400 for a 165 second exposure in moonlit conditions with city glare reflecting off scattered clouds, causing overexposure. Some post-processing brought the rocket’s arc back into view, darker but higher and more rounded than the Minotaur V LADEE launch in September. This was a smaller, less powerful rocket, but still awe-inspiring to see, even from over a hundred miles away.

NASA TV video of the Minotaur 1 launch up close, and more photos of the launch from up and down the East Coast via Capital Weather.

Caturday!

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Here’s what Amelia looked like in bed when I woke up this morning:

Amelia cat sprawled on bed

While Martha was curled into a ball:

Curled up Martha cat

And here’s Amelia again, daintily crossing her paws as she looks out from a bookcase:

Amelia Cat

And both cats taking turns in a grocery store paper bag:

Martha cat in paper bag Amelia cat in paper bag

Recent Reading

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Cinema-related reading (and related media) that has crossed my path in recent months:

Peter Jackson’s Violent Betrayal of Tolkien. Bad enough that they split the story into a triple-segment money-grab, but even worse was altering the Warg/forest chase scene into a trite action movie climax against an archnemesis who was barely even in the book.

Steven Soderbergh on why On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the best Bond film. I’ve also thought OHMSS and George Lazenby’s James Bond were greatly underappreciated, but the film is constantly at war with itself, vacillating between showing a sensitive Bond in a more realistic setting versus the classic 1960s alpha male Bond battling an outlandish supervillain plot. Lazenby quit the role after one film due to contract disputes and directorial conflict.

Jabootu’s Bad Movie Dimension chronicles the descent of the Jaws franchise, from historic cultural touchstone to mediocre sequel to campy SeaWorld 3-D novelty to just plain bad movie.

“It’s a miracle that Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits even got made.” Featuring a cast of little people alongside various Monty Python alumni, a child star, and Sean Connery, this film bothered me as a child just because of how it ended.

“Something Terrible Has Happened Here”: The Crazy Story Of How Clue Went From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph. Flames. On the side of my face.

What Superman III teaches us about computer programming. Apparently the specific command to salami slice a payroll is "CHANNEL HALF CENTS INTO ACCOUNT."

10 remarkable things about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The effects on this film were Super Sentai bad, but even worse was Superman suddenly and inexplicably gaining the power of “Instant Great Wall Repair Vision.”

8 Surprising Details About The Hellish Production Of The Super Mario Bros. Movie / Mario’s Film Folly: The True Story Behind Hollywood’s Biggest Gaming Blunder. I haven’t seen the Super Mario Bros. movie yet but some time I’m going to have to try, just to see how bad it was. (Not to be confused with the >Super Mario Brothers Super Show starring “Captain” Lou Albano.) Also see the coloring book.

Superman at 75, Klingon Rickroll, and Low Gravity Chivalry

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To celebrate 75 years since Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, DC Comics has released an animated short of Superman through the decades. I still mourn the loss of the red underpants.

You all know about Rickrolling, but now theatre group Commedia Beauregard (also known for A Klingon Christmas Carol) takes it into the 23rd Century with Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” translated into Klingon (jIyIntaHvIS not qajegh):

Also here is a game of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare played on a multiplayer server with the gravity set to low. Everyone is screaming all the time.

Cat at Window, Cat on Desk

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Here’s Martha by the window this morning, softly reflected in the glass:

Martha Cat, reflected Martha looks out a window

And here’s Amelia exploring a desk hutch after I had cleared it out for sale on Craigslist:

Amelia explores a desk hutch Amelia explores a desk hutch

Companion Kittens at One

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As of October 1st, our kittens Martha and Amelia are one year old, and are now officially cats. Big cats! Compare the two of them between March and September:

Martha and Amelia Kittens Kittens in bed

And on October 1st:

Amelia and Martha, 1 year old

To celebrate the occasion I have taken every Vine video I’ve recorded of them since their adoption in January, and combined all these six-second clips into a grand chronicle of the Companion Kittens’ First Year. Enjoy.

If you don’t have that much time to watch kittens in six second bursts, here are my personal favorites:

Happy birthday, Martha and Amelia. Now you’re cats, but you’ll always be our Companion Kittens.

Kittens by the window on a snowy morning Kittens by the window
Martha and Amelia on sunny windowsill

(As such, I will continue to tag them as “companion kittens” on Flickr.)