For those who've missed this, Randy Pausch was a Professor at Carnegie Melon University (CMU) who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the summer of 2006.  I say "was" a Professor because Randy finally succumbed to his illness on Friday, dying at the age of 47.

However, none of this is what makes him special.  What makes him special is the way he dealt with this diagnosis, and a prognosis of certain death.  Randy did what we all like to believe we'd do, but I for one am not sure I'm strong enough to do.  He dealt with it head on.  He didn't shut down, withdraw, and just fade away.  He accepted his fate, understood it, and then proceeded to continue living. 

This is epitomized in his amazing Last Lecture. 

You see, it turns out that CMU has (or I guess had) a lecture series called the Last Lecture.  It's purpose was for professor's to deliver a lecture that would be what they'd want to say if they could only give one last lecture.  Well, for Randy, it really was his last lecture.  And it's great.  It's long (over an hour), and if you think you don't have the time to watch it, trust me, you are wrong.

He truly did leave an enduring legacy.  I just hope I don't forget it too quickly.  Especially the part about being meeting Captain Kirk.  :-)

RIP

I need to start taking notes about how movies end up in my Netflix queue.  Sadly, I have no idea how Safe House got there, but man, what a waste of two hours.  The only good thing I have to say about the movie is that I'm glad I finished it, because somehow it moved from abysmal to passable by the end.  What was Patrick Stewart thinking?  And would it have been too much to as to see Kimberly Williams naked?  But no, they couldn't possibly wreck the integrity of this film by doing that.

Thank goodness for my PS3 which allows me to watch movies at 1.5x speed while still hearing the audio.  I would not have made it through without this feature.

When The Office first came on, I have to admit, I didn't get it.  All of my friends loved the show, but I just didn't understand it.  This happens often to me, btw.  I'm a bright guy, but I often puzzle over what makes some art work, though eventually I usually figure it out.

Such is the case with The Office.  But after much prodding, I finally rented the first season on DVD, powered through it, and it's now one of my favorite shows, right up there with Arrested Development.

Anyhow, with the summer lull, I decided to rent the UK version, to see where the show came from, etc.  I was surprised to find that a) it only ran for two seasons in the UK, and that b) each season was only 6 episodes.  I'm not sure if this is standard on the UK or not, and I'm way to lazy to do the research, but I find that number very strange.  Either way, it's just not enough episodes for such a great show.

Yes, that's right, I got this one right from the start (though I'm sure the US version helped prime my art-getting pump).  The first season was hilarious, and the second season was hands down the funniest television I've ever seen.  Pure genius!  I still have the post series specials on DVD at home, and I can't wait to see what they did with those.

My only lament is that I think maybe watching the UK version will damage my love for the US version.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the crazy crew at Dunder Mifflin.  However, some of the crazy things they pulled off in season two over there are topics they'd never cover like that over here.  Especially some of the racial and sexual antics.  It'd be nice to see that here, on NBC, but sadly there's no way that's happening outside of HBO.

Gotta love UK TV.

That's it brother.  Now I've heard everything.

Blame climate change for ... kidney stones?

Yeah, sure, why not.

So, I just got back from a trip to the head.  While peeing, I hear a cell phone buzzing.  Turns out it belongs to one of the guys seated in a stall, taking care of business.  Surely he's not going to answer it.

Of course, I'm wrong.  He answers it!  Now, it didn't particularly offend me, per se, as a fellow user of the bathroom.  I don't demand any particular quiet while I'm in there peeing.

However, I have friends like this (one in particular) who answer their phones no matter what!  But trust me, whatever I'm calling you about can wait.  That's what voice mail is for.  I do not need to hear you grunting on the can.  I'll be happy to talk to you once you've zipped up your pants and washed your grimy hands.

You are NOT THAT IMPORTANT!  Do not answer your damn phone!

End of rant.

The NYT Magazine has a pretty interesting peice on Rush Limbaugh this week, on the heels of his new multi-million dollar deal.  I'd paste a few quotes in here, but you really should just read the entire peice.

Zev Chafets does a very nice job.

A good friend of mine is in a Rolling Stones tribute band called The Midnight Ramblers.  I hadn't had a chance to see them perform before, so she invited me out to a show they were playing last night at the House of Blues in San Diego.  In fact, it was a collection of tribute bands, so it sounded like fun.  Plus, she gave me 4 free tickets, so what the heck.  :-)

I got there a little late, but in time to see most of the second band perform.  They were called the Sun Kings, and were a Cult tribute band, and they were pretty darned good.  I can't find them on the web anyplace, but I'd love to see them again.

Next came the Ramblers, and I was very pleasantly surprised.  Yes, I know someone in the band, but they really are very good.  In fact, between the Sun Kings and the Midnight Ramblers, the crowd went from about 40-50 people to over 150, and everyone was dancing and singing along.  It was a really great time.

Anyway, they wrapped their set, and the MC announced that the next band would be a Duran Duran cover band named Rio.  As a child of the 80's, I was very excited.  If they were half as good as the other two bands, it was going to be a great night!

Well, they weren't.  I am seriously not kidding when I say that they were the WORST BAND I have EVER HEARD play a professional gig.  I mean, c'mon.  Most of Duran Duran is freaking keyboard sequencing, and they couldn't even get any of that right.  On top of that they all sang WAY OUT OF TUNE.  I'm talking not even close.  It really sounded like they were trying to sing the songs in another key, only they couldn't agree on which one. 

And by the time they were into their third song, they had practically cleared out the joint.  If there were 40 people there at the end, I would be completely amazed.  It was so bad that I half-joked afterward that I need to spend a day or so listening to nothing but Duran Duran so that I can repair the damage they did to the songs I had to sit through.  I'm not sure I can describe how bad it was.

Sadly, I think the band knows how much they suck too, because if you go to the MySpace link I pasted in above, the don't have a single sample song, which is entirely the point of having a MySpace account for your band.  So sad.

I've tried for a few hours now to figure out how to frame this.  I can't, except to say that it touches me, and I hope that we all never forget the sacrifices made by others far more brave and courageous than I could ever hope to be.

George Will: The Knock on the Door.

Lt. Col. Jim Walton, West Point Class of 1989 - RIP