Gee Whillickers

This is an amazing accomplishment. The more you understand about what was needed to get that rover down safely, with essentially pinpoint accuracy, from that distance, the more you can't help but be awed and amazed. The engineering expertise, the ingenuity, the understanding of the relative planetary motions to who knows how many decimal places, the careful and absolutely precise teamwork among hundreds or thousands of people from widely different disciplines, is truly awe inspiring. When I first heard about the planned EDL procedure for this lander I laughed. I thought it was crazy. Then, when I realized it was serious, and started to understand the technical issues that led to each of the decisions made that resulted in that particular complex dance of a landing, I worried. Uh-oh, I thought, this is surely going to be yet another of the many failed expensive missions, leading to yet more hand-wringing by short-sighted and history-of-technology bereft government and public wondering why money should be spent on such things. Then it actually worked. I cheered almost as loud as those in the control room. I couldn't believe it actually worked. I love it that we can do such things. I love it that a proto-civilized, warfaring, screeching, jealous, selfish, emotional, hedonistic, self-destructive bunch of primates can prove, once again, that maybe, just maybe, we're a bit more than all that after all. Just look at what we can do! It instills hope. Proof that despite our barbarism, and our flaws, that there's something more. Something that separates us. Will it be enough? Looking at accomplishments like this it's easy to believe that it will be. Congratulations to all involved. The party is just beginning, and the wonders we are about to learn...

Okay folks, just finished watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Since it went long, my durned PVR cut off the last half hour, and I had to watch the end on the web. So, what's your thoughts on the performances, direction, scope, technical aspects, story telling, etc? I quite liked it, though, as often is the case, things did tend to drag at times. Especially the parade of nations. I, like most people who PVR'ed it, probably fast forwarded it a lot until it came to their country and a few other countries I wanted to watch enter. I'm not convinced the whole NHS stuff worked at all.

"Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining American Beauty and Grease. The story should use Arbor Day as a plot device!" That one's almost too easy.

Errr, where exactly would you put a dog collar on Spongebob?!? Hmmm....

Thanks Freethinker, I'll give it a read. I think I may have read chapter one and two already, back when it was first posted.

Camping is something I've been doing since I was a young boy and is something I look forward to doing every year. Being surrounded by awe-inspiring Canadian wilderness makes it almost a crime not to go and enjoy it. From week long backpacking trips in the backcountry to a motorhome plugged into all the utilities, we've pretty much done it all, though these days I tend to lean towards a bit more on the comfort side of things. Still, we're heading out for a few days next week, tent camping, but still nice and comfy on air-beds. There hasn't been a summer we haven't gone out for at least a few days camping for as long as I remember. It's just something we do. This year we'll be camping at a nice sandy beach on a warm lake. There's nothing quite like it, as long as you don't mind being a bit dirty for a few days.

Somehow I find myself completely unsurprised by this.

Yeah, sure Pecman. I believe you. I like Five Guys. Smashburger is good too. The best burger around here though, as typically is the case, is by a local non-franchised place in a lower-rent area run by an older fellow who looks like he's been through a few wars. And probably has been.

I don't mind the one step back bits of history so much as long as we keep making two steps forward in between.

I agree with the last few posts. I don't understand this attempt by news organizations and other people to try and find "meaning" or an "explanation" for what this guy did. He's nuts. There's been nutcases before and there will be again. So what? Prevention should focus on how we can identify such things before people get hurt. Of course, doing so without limiting the privacy and freedoms of all of us is the crux. The debate, as always, will be loudest from the fringes of the two sides. The complete gun control people will say if there were no guns available to anyone then this couldn't have happened. The complete "arm everyone" folks will say the same thing, because as soon as he walked in half the audience would've stopped him with their own guns.

This sounds like it could be good, and this is the first I've heard of it. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's fairly obvious at this point that Earth will no longer happily feed so many billions of us for an indefinite time. We are borrowing from the planet at this point in order to do so. Unfortunately, as always, debts eventually have to be re-paid. This looks really good. I'm going to have to get it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Downloading...Ahem. I mean, legally procuring now.

Yeah, I've heard of these. Apparently the technology isn't quite all the promoters make it out to be. At least not yet. Give it time though, I remember when digital cameras first started out, and everybody "in the know" said to not bother as they'll never take off and never be near as good as film.

Oh, here we go. Do I succumb to temptation and read Chapter One, and subsequent chapters, only to have to wait impatiently for the next one, or do I manage to control my impulse and try to pretend I'm not seeing those chapters being posted up there twice a week until the final one is posted, all so I can read it through with no delay. The eternal Awesomedude dilemma. I'm very much looking forward to reading this. But, at least for the moment, I'll do my best to keep patient and wait.... (yeah, sure)

Lol, this is great! I wonder if they read my story? Those darn candy smugglers, always trying to get their sugary confections across the border. As for the Kinder Eggs, yes, it's a bit of a running joke every Easter that our kids seem to manage just fine but apparently American kids think it's better to breathe the little toys into their lungs rather than assemble the toy. So silly.

So nobody got Hawthorne Road? Hurachi sandals? Mr. Murray? Or.... Hmm, I'm going to have to release a footnoted version, methinks. But I'll wait a bit, see how many references people pick up on.

Bwahahahahhah!!! :biggrin:

That was a great story. Once again, I was caught unaware that it was a Sanitaria Springs story until the street name was mentioned. I loved the tie-in. The emotions of both Art and Ernie were very well played.

My mechanical aptitude is pretty much centred squarely around motorbikes, but there's enough overlap, and thanks to Google, that I hope I didn't mess things up too badly. Yes, well... ahem. I knew the names would get a reaction.

The writing improves as he goes along, too. The first two chapters were a bit rough, lots of typos and spelling mistakes, as well as redundancy and sudden scene-shifting, but it smooths out fast. I'm quite enjoying this story.

I already mentioned this in another topic, but thanks to those of you who responded about enjoying my little story. I literally wrote it in about twenty minutes, with no editing. I read Blue's topic and the urge hit me and away I went. I wrote the thing right in the forum software too, rather than in my usual word processor. I received some nice feedback, including a couple of requests to get it posted, so now it's on the AD story page and about to be on Codey's World too. Most importantly, thanks to Blue for starting the topic. I'm looking forward to seeing if anyone else is going to add to Camy's and my entries.

Thanks Dabeagle, as well as a thank-you to those who already posted their thoughts in Blue's original thread. Also, thanks are due to Blue, who posted the original topic that lead to my story as well as Camy's wonderful entry in the Flash Fiction section.

Very well done and entertaining story. I agree with Blue, about the writing more thing. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Heheheh, not bad. Not bad at all.

That's just great! Very well done little flash!!