maybe on my death bed I'll admit it.

Prior to the start of Japanese Monsters class today the topic was adult swim, its deterioration, etc.  Elizabeth and John were reminiscing about the good old days of adult swim, listing off the shows on it.  John said, "Cowboy Bebop, Home Movies..." and Elizabeth said, "Dragonball Z."  Instantly, giggles from others - not mean giggles, but you know.  And so Elizabeth said, "Hey.  I used to love those shows.  Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing... my brother and I would spend so much time watching Digimon..."  And people sort of nodded meekly to themselves.  

I spent the rest of class thinking, "You should have said 'me too!' You should have said, 'Why, I own every single episode!'  Why didn't you say something?  Why?!!  Damn your cowardice!"  I tried to make up for it by saying I had seen Gozu when Elizabeth brought that up, but ah, damn.  

That was probably my one chance, too.  In my entire college career. 

I can't of course because I can't just shrug it off like most people.  I mean, I'll freely admit to having been a fan of Power Rangers, for example.  Or Xena.  Because if it no longer matters, then who the hell cares?  

this made me irrationally sad.

I hate it when people anthropomorphize machines.  It never ends well.

AP/NYT: Mars Lander Succumbs to Winter

"The Phoenix Mars lander is dead.

Mission managers said Monday that they had not heard from the NASA spacecraft for a week and that they thought it had likely fallen quiet for good.

“At this time, we’re pretty convinced the vehicle is no longer available for us to use,” said Barry Goldstein, the project manager.

With the onset of winter and declining power generated by the Phoenix’s solar panels, managers knew the lander would succumb soon, but had hoped to squeeze out a few more weeks of weather data.

But on Oct. 27, just after Phoenix finished its last major experiment analyzing Martian soil, a dust storm hit. The batteries, already depleted from the experiment, ran out of energy.

The spacecraft first put itself into a low-energy “safe mode,” then fell silent. It revived itself on Oct. 30, but was never able to fully recharge its batteries. Each day, the solar panels would generate enough electricity for the spacecraft to wake up, but then the batteries drained again.

The last communication came on Nov. 2. Mr. Goldstein said the orbiting spacecraft would continue to listen for a few more weeks on the faint chance that the Phoenix defies their expectations.

The Phoenix landed in May to examine the northern arctic plains, and the mission, originally scheduled to last three months, was extended twice."

Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.

This is the most awesome thing ever.  Of course the obvious answer is take it all down; but secretly I think it would be amazing if Pleasant Grove, Utah, had a Summum monument. 

NYT: From Tiny Sect, a Weighty Issue for Justices

Across the street from City Hall here sits a small park with about a dozen donated buildings and objects — a wishing well, a millstone from the city’s first flour mill and an imposing red granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

Thirty miles to the north, in Salt Lake City, adherents of a religion called Summum gather in a wood and metal pyramid hard by Interstate 15 to meditate on their Seven Aphorisms, fortified by an alcoholic sacramental nectar they produce and surrounded by mummified animals.

In 2003, the president of the Summum church wrote to the mayor here with a proposal: the church wanted to erect a monument inscribed with the Seven Aphorisms in the city park, “similar in size and nature” to the one devoted to the Ten Commandments.

The city declined, a lawsuit followed and a federal appeals court ruled that the First Amendment required the city to display the Summum monument. The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments in the case, which could produce the most important free speech decision of the term.