And in this case, that's a literal description (hmmmm, where have I heard that phrase before...). The sculpture consists of 21 interlocking pieces made of brass, copper, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, cast iron, magnesium, titanium, tungsten, aluminum bronze and bearing bronze. Hidden inside is a one inch cube of solid silver or gold.

When fully assembled, this sculpture forms a beautiful three inch cube with softly rounded edges. It weighs 7-9 pounds depending on the metal composition.

Price is ~2k dollars, more if you want the gold ingot inside. I could never afford it, but I still think it's beautiful.

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It's not all rainbows and puppies here at Rocket Jones, and even though I don't often delve into deep subjects (this is my happy place dammit!), that doesn't mean that I'm not out there reading and listening and contemplating. No, really.

A couple of recent posts have given me grist for the ol' mental mill.

Debeye describes herself as "A Fierce American in Toronto, Ontario". I'll go further and say she shares some valuable insights about our northern neighbors from the American point of view. She's not all about putting down the Canadians, but she calls it like she sees it.

Her post titled "Events Catch Up To Pretensions" is one of the best explanations I've ever read for the Canadian attitudes about themselves and towards the US. Even then, that itself is just a small part of what she touches on.

There are so many passages I'd like to quote for you, but I'll settle for the following about the Iraqi elections, and urge you to go read it all for yourself.

As for some others up here ... If they're examining their souls and wondering how they could have so misjudged the situation in Iraq then I'd advise them not to waste too much time on guilt or shame but pledge only to open their minds to the possibilility that if a stopped clock can be right twice a day, then Americans too might occasionally be right.

On a deeper philosophical note, Daniel Moore offers up his thoughts on transhumanism, which has been discussed recently on both Instapundit and Transterrestrial Musings (Daniel has the links).

He quotes Leon Kass, but here's the opening teaser:

Nothing humanly fine, let alone great, will come out of a society that is willing to sacrifice all other goods to keep the present generation alive and intact.

That single provocative statement leads down some interesting paths of reasoning. Daniel touches on a couple, and I'm enjoying some quiet time chewing through the implications myself.

Next up on Rocket Jones: Perky Puppy meets Princess of the Rainbow Kingdom!

Starring Bela Lugosi. Heh.

Posted by: Ted at 10:34 AM | category: Links
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1 Glad to provide the food for thought, Ted.

Posted by: Daniel at February 07, 2005 03:25 PM (Oc6V9)

2 Thanks for the link and kind words, Ted.

It just struck me - your site is my happy place too!

Posted by: Debbye at February 07, 2005 07:17 PM (gXuNX)

3 *aw shucks*

Posted by: Ted at February 08, 2005 09:40 AM (blNMI)

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An image archive site for all things Dr. Who. Lots there besides pictures too.

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Gertrude Walton has been named as the sole defendant in a lawsuit filed by the music industry in their latest shot in the battle against music piracy. The lawsuit claims that Walton, under the screen name smittenedkitten, made available over 700 rock, pop and rap songs for sharing.

Couple of problems with that. According to her daughter, her mother objected to having a computer in the house.

"My mother was computer illiterate. She hated a computer," Chianumba said. "My mother wouldn't know how to turn on a computer."

Another problem is that Gertrude Walton died a month ago, at age 83.

"I believe that if music companies are going to set examples they need to do it to appropriate people and not dead people," Chianumba said. "I am pretty sure she is not going to leave Greenwood Memorial Park (where she is buried) to attend the hearing."

An RIAA spokeman said that obviously, the lawsuit would be dismissed.

That *pop* sound you hear is someone pulling their head out of their ass.

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First up, Cindy promises pictures of a new exhibit in New York's Central Park, called Gates. Brought to life by the artist who wrapped the German Reichstag in fabric and planted thousands of umbrellas in California and Japan, this new work has taken many years to arrange.

...7,500 gates that will frame the pathways of Central Park for sixteen days. Each of the gates is sixteen feet high, secured to a heavy metal base and trailing a swath of bright saffron-colored fabric, all of which, together in the wind, will create a shimmering river of color.

A lot of folks deride these types of works, but for the most part I think they're imaginative and exhilarating. He finances them himself too, no public funding is used.

Next, Fred at The Eternal Golden Braid gives the heads up to a new dinosaur exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History, also in New York. This sounds wicked cool.

A major highlight of the exhibition will be an enormous, 700-square-foot walk-through diorama of China's Jehol Forest—the most detailed re-creation of a prehistoric environment ever attempted. Visitors will get a chance to stroll back in time through the forest as it existed 130 million years ago during the Mesozoic era and come face to face with the creatures that lived there. Considered one of the most important fossil areas in the world, the Jehol Forest, which existed in northeast China's Liaoning Province, has yielded an abundance of new discoveries, revealing a rich diversity of specimens that have been exceptionally well-preserved.

For the Jehol Forest diorama, the Museum is creating multiple scientifically accurate, fleshed-out, life-size models of more than 35 different species of dinosaurs, reptiles, early birds, insects, and plants, including several species never before reconstructed, ranging from a pigeon-sized feathered Confuciusornis to a formidable six-foot-tall feathered Beipiaosaurus. The Museum is also developing several interactive computer simulations and animations, as well as a number of videos offering behind-the-scenes glimpses of fieldwork as well as a series of discussions among leading scientists currently investigating the mysteries of dinosaur biology.

After it's run in NYC, the exhibit will be appearing at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (July 2006); the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco (October 2006); The Field Museum, Chicago (May 2007); and the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh (December 2007).

Posted by: Ted at 07:44 AM | category: Links
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Then again, maybe it is.

The Top 50 Wide Receivers in Pro Football History. Computed all scientifical and stuff too. Let the indignation and outrage commence!

Thanks to Off Wing Opinion for the pointer.

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Jay Currie has a blog devoted to Library Internet Filters, and he performed a simple experiment.

How Ugly is Sonic Wall

This ugly:
I went to InstaPundit, and, starting at the bottom, clicked on his links and wrote down which ones were blocked by SonicWALL. Here, then, is the list, along with a few more I was able to find by clicking around from other blogs.

Two things jumped right out at me. First, that I'm linked to by Instapundit. Second, that Rocket Jones is in that list with many other well-known blogs.

Farther down, Jay explains why:

I am sure this changes from day to day, depending on what you have posted about. The problem is, dumb software like this does not distinguish between discussion of something and advocacy of it. So, if you merely talk about cults, guns, nudity, racism, gambling, pornography, weapons, or drugs, your blog will be censored.

Damn, what's left?

It's an interesting site, and well worth a look. He describes his motivation thusly:

Frankly, I think the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Children's Internet Protection Act case was wrong.
It is virtually always wrong to censor information, especially in a library. But that is how the law in the United States stands at the moment and if a library accepts federal funding it must install internet filtering technology on all of its internet enabled computers.

He also provides links to more information about Internet Filters.

Gotta run, I'm working on a new series of posts about a fun-loving but misunderstood cult of nude gamblers who decide that guns are the only way to deal with a group of racist drug lords. Oh yeah, it's gonna have pornographic illustrations too, if I can draw the stick figures sexy enough.

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1 Can I get an autographed copy?

Posted by: Susie at February 04, 2005 11:42 PM (MYr06)

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There was a time when people were eccentric. Nowadays there's a term for every little quirk in one's personality, and if it can be described medically, then someone somewhere is going to figure out how to use that to sue someone else for money.

Direct from California -- the state that in 1986 created a task-force to promote self esteem -- comes Winokur's "Encyclopedia Neurotica," an irreverent guide to the world of neuroses, phobias and a slew of other conditions just waiting to be chronicled in the next best-selling "addiction memoir."

I don't need a book to tell me what my major malfunction is. I'm a grouch. Just ask my family.

By the way, the link on the book title goes to the Amazon page, but if you do a search there of "neurotica", the results are some rather disturbing offerings. Good thing there's a word for those folks, just so we can keep an eye on them.

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 AM | category: Links
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1 I don't need a book to tell me what my major malfunction is. I'm a grouch. Just ask my family.

Here here.

Posted by: Mookie at February 03, 2005 06:04 PM (ZjSa7)

2 Totally unrelated to the post...Dad, I got a valentine's date, too bad he likes my roomie and wants to ask her out...

as for the medical thing...I am just constantly annoyed with idiots

Posted by: Robyn at February 04, 2005 12:51 AM (Afi47)

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I've had an eternal fascination for all things Stonehenge (talked about it here and here - links and more), and now Alan has come up with what might be the perfect explanation for Silbury Hill on the Salisbury Plain.

It was obvious to a Surveying Engineer that to lay out Stonehenge accurately required at least 3 observation points on the horizon. Now Salisbury Plain, where Stonehenge is located, has some good sites, high ground near the horizon, except in one direction: that of Avebury.

So you need a hill, just high enough to be visible on the horizon from Stonehenge, in the close vicinity of Avebury. Finding just such a man-made hill, made as a Ziggurat from easily workeable earth, and exactly the right height, would seem to be more than just a coincidence.

Go. Read. It's cool and isn't even the main point of his post, that being archeology and ancient astronomy and history and other things I love so much. Despite what my kids say, I have no first-hand experience of those days, and 'elder statesman' only takes you so far back.

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In other words, "getting things done".

annika is holding another haiku contest, this time inviting one and all to come and wax lyrical about the music group KISS. There are some strong entries there, go on and give it a go.

On the other side of the world, Simon announces that the New Blog Showcase is turning itself into a Carnival. I've already applied for the job of sideshow geek (and sent in a video of me biting the head off of a live chicken). Seriously though, this is an excellent way to discover some great new blogs that are just starting out.

Posted by: Ted at 07:21 AM | category: Links
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Buy stock in Rolaids, because I have a feeling there's gonna be some bile rising on Oscar night!

Citizens United thanks Hollywood for inadvertently helping to reelect President Bush with billboard advertisements.

The advertisements feature the faces of liberal Hollywood icons Ben Affleck, Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, and Barbara Streisand. There are two versions of the billboards "4 more years" and "W. Still President."

According to Human Events, Citizens United has purchased the use of three billboards near the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards.

Go see California Yankee for pictures of the actual billboards. LMAO.

Chris Hall is, among other things, an avid motorcyclist. Were I a biker as well (sorry, I expended my mid-life crises on crack and hookers - that's a joke for anyone at work who's reading this), I'd want to join Chris on some of his rides. Check out this article he's posted for his motorcycle club.

Kin is playing host to this week's Carnival of the Recipes. If you haven't seen this one, it's worth a perusal if'n you're gastronomically inclined. In related news, Rocket Jones will be hosting the Carnival in the near future.

We've all been there. You have a question that's just burning a hole in your mind, but dammit, there's never a negro around to ask when you need one. Glen sees a need, and fills it with his charm and good humor. That last bit is funny if you know Glen. Anyway, head on over and ask your question. G'wan, you know you wanna.

Courtesy of Matt, we get a link to a great flash animation poking fun at mustache-muffin Martha Stewart. After watching it (and catching my breath when it was over), I've decided that I might just have to watch her TV show when she gets out, just to see how prison affected her technique.

AnalogKid continues his series on self-reliance and preparations before an emergency hits. This isn't survivalist hokum, this is common sense planning that's applicable to extreme weather conditions or any other situation where the only thing you can count on is yourself. Highly recommended.

Two final quickies. No links, you can see it in the news or google it up yourself, it's all over the place.

First, the terrorists in Iraq used a young man with Down's Syndrome as a suicide bomber during the elections. The terrorists are members of Saddam's regime who've gone underground with the goal of reestablishing the old government. Anyone who thinks that America and her allies were wrong to have gone in and removed Saddam has a fucked up sense of values. Those assholes aren't insurgents or freedom fighters or resistance forces, they're terrorists who will strap explosives to a mentally handicapped child and send him off to certain death, probably assuring same by giving him a ride to the right spot, pointing out where he should go, and then remotely triggering the explosives from a safe distance away.

Second story: Girl and guy in big city get held up. Mugger has a gun. Lady gets smart-mouthed with the mugger. Mugger shoots smart-ass lady. Lady dies. Who's fault is it?

IT'S THE MUGGERS FAULT DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lady was stupid, but that doesn't make it her fault. The gun seller, gun manufacturer and ammunition maker aren't at fault, and in fact are required to jump through massive numbers of regulatory hoops already. The mugger had a gun, but NYC has massive restrictions on guns already in place and it didn't help her. The mugger had the illegal gun. The mugger was robbing the couple. The mugger aimed his gun at the lady and pulled the trigger. More anti-gun laws doesn't make you safer, because the bad guys don't follow the law anyways! And if you think that anti-gun laws make it harder to get your hands on a handgun, you're only half right. It makes it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain a handgun (I won't even get into the 2A issues here). If you think it makes it harder for a criminal to get a gun, then you are naive and not thinking it through, because I promise you that a vanishingly small percentage of criminals purchase their gun through normal, legal channels.

Aiiieeeee!!!! My head is going to explode from the stupidity of some people.

Coming soon: Ted's remake of the SciFi classic Scanners.

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