Eight Below

Eight Below is a movie about the honoring of an ancient alliance.

I didn’t expect much from Disney, but I liked this movie. I was a bit of a tear jerker for me.

(I would totally go back to the Antarctic to rescue my kitties, whom I love, but fortunately for us. We aren’t polar explorers.)

From a film making point of view, I liked that the humans looked different and wore different Artic gear. I liked that we were introduced to each of the dogs twice, and the dogs looked different. Things like that help me, cuz sometimes I can’t tell peoples apart.

I’ll give it an A-.

I can change

Hey sports fans, long time no see.

Quote of the day is from Francis Bacon, “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion … draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises … in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination the authority of its former conclusions may remain inviolate.” – Novum Organum, 1620

from an interesting article in Scientific American.

Basically the article says that people generally stick to their opinions even in the face of contrary evidence.

Which got me thinking?
Have I been wrong?
Yeah. You know it. Ha! Take that Francis! You’re wrong! I can change my mind.

Here are a few examples.

I used to use the fact that America has a worse infant mortality rate than, say Cuba, to mean that we don’t have the best health care system in the world.
Then I heard that our rate is low because there are premature babies USA medicine tries to save, that other, better ranked countries, would simply call a miscarriage.
Can anyone back me up on this? Does America try to do more?
So now, I don’t use infant mortality as a piece of evidence of the weaknesses of American health care.

I used to use as proof of human evolution the evidence of mitochondrial DNA being solely derived maternally. Upon further investigation, I see that there are instances where mitochondrial DNA is paternal. I need to look more at the implications of this.

Hmm…the more I think of the above, me being wrong, the more I see that I haven’t changed the basic opinions I had a year ago. (American health care system not best in world, and humans evolve.) I just don’t use some of the facts that I used to.
Maybe Francis was right.
How about you? Have you been wrong? How do you go about changing your mind?

So, I don’t know what song to cue up now…either

V.Mars season 2

alright sports fans, you know the drill, if ya ain’t seen Veronica Mars, the coolest show on The TV these days, then don’t read anymore until you’ve seen the first two seasons of Veronica Mars.

the wilson weave

back in the day, I ran cross country. There was this course, at Wilson highschool, and since they didn’t want to send us off campus, that had to make up for distance by us running 10 meter “W”s in the brush on the hill. Terrible course. A friend sprained his ankle, because there was a 90 degree turn, behind a muddy backstop, 25 meters from the finish. Hated that course.

Well sport’s fans…I thought alot about the Wilson Weave this morning as while SnarkyKat was trying to kill me in a half-marathon. The course sucked. There was a lot of going out, switch back, and go out again. A couple of times, I was up on a hill, and looked down, and saw the course – two parts, people going both directions. I know, logistically it is much easier to organize a race with few streets needing to be closed.

Well, SK didn’t kill me. (As you pro’lly figured out, y’all are smart like that.)

My time, about 2.5 hrs. Not really happy with it. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve trained better had my stoopid knees not given me trouble recently.

Buffy vs. Veronica

(now with corrections)
Since Sleater-Kinney is calling it quits, I need a new pop culture infusion of grrl power. My boss suggested Veronica Mars. Currently I’m watching the second season.

V-Mars is working off the old standard “high school is hell for former popular blonde who now fights evil” template. Kinda like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

So which do I prefer?
[warning: argh, there be spoilers ahead, matey]