Content Quality Disclaimer

I suppose that with more important things going on in the world, my SF Babe and Aircraft Cheesecake postings might seem at worst, insensitive; at best, frivolous.
I have not really been plugged into many media as I have been enjoying time off with my family during the holidays. I have tried to post an item at least every other day, and these regular features write themselves, although each one reflects at least 30 minutes of work finding the right pictures and links. So, long story short, if you want the best links to these current stories, go to the main news sites like CNN and Fox, then surf through the blogosphere, where you’ll find the latest at Instapundit and the Command Post.
I am gratified that several people still drop by every day, so I must be doing something right. I do hope to add a few more regular features that will keep me posting on a regular basis in the new year without burning out.

SF Babe Poll (Buck Rogers Guest Stars)

I’m loving my new Christmas present. Cheesy plots, a lot of bad writing, and silly acting, but extremely entertaining nevertheless. My kids have been enjoying it, too (especially my eight-year-old son). One thing that’s been really fun for me is to identify the various guest stars who appeared — Jack Palance and Roddy McDowall, among others.
An early episode featured the lovely Markie Post in one of the first appearances of her career, which led me to go searching through IMDB for other recognizable guest stars. Then I popped the DVDs in for some fresh screen caps and — voila! A new poll for this week (click the thumbs for a full-size image of each candidate):
First up, the aforementioned Markie Post portraying Joella Cameron, in “The Plot to Kill a City,” episodes 1.6 and 1.7:

Next, a young Jamie Lee Curtis portraying Jen Burton in “Unchained Woman,” episode 1.9:

Finally, a more mature candidate, the original Catwoman Julie Newmar portraying the dangerously seductive Zarina in “Flight of the War Witch,” episodes 1.23 and 1.24:

Enjoy! (As always check out the Gallery for previous winners, including last week’s).
Results (Posted 4 January 2005):
Joella (Markie Post) 25 votes (69%) WINNER
Jen Burton (Jamie Lee Curtis) 7 votes (19%)
Zarina (Julie Newmar) 4 votes (11%)
36 votes total

Sunday Aircraft Cheesecake (M-50 Bounder)

Another Russian plane this week, the Myasischev M-50 Bounder:


According to the FAS link above, little is known about this plane’s performance, though one referenced commenter noted that the M-50 was “an outstanding failure which revealed an embarassing lack of understanding of the problems of high-speed flight.”
(Be sure to check out the other exhibits at AXLs Plane Gallery, where I found these images).

Unlucky 61st Birthday

I’ve always proudly claimed the number 13 as my lucky number, as I was born on the 13th day of April in 1968.
But now I read from Alan Brain that my 61st birthday may be a profoundly unlucky day for me (and other Earth residents).
According to NASA’s data, an asteroid (2004 MN4) will pass very close to Earth on April 13, 2029. The asteroid rates a 4 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale and has a Palermo value of 1 (any value greater than zero on the Palermo scale is a cause for concern).
With this much advance notice, I expect we have enough time to determine what, if anything, needs to and can be done to minimize the risk of impact. As Heinlein said, the earth is simply to small and fragile a basket to keep all of our eggs in, so I hope we can move more quickly to expand and disperse to the moon, to Mars, and to orbital habitats.
Glenn Reynolds and Jay Manifold have each provided some commentary on this, too.
Update: It now appears that the risk has been significantly downgraded. Whew!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season, and for those of you so inclined, I hope today was as blessed and merry a Christmas as ours was.
For the first time, we hosted the festivities at our house, celebrating with my wife’s family and breaking out the good china and family-heirloom silver. The food was perfect: my turkey and gravy were just right and my wife made some incredible chocolate-chocolate chip mini-Bundt cakes with hot fudge sauce and raspberries for dessert. (For big occasions, I’m the chef; she’s the baker). The kids behaved well, and we played games most of the afternoon.
Best surprise present? My wife proving to me that she reads this blog. (She got me Lileks’ Interior Desecrations and the complete Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series on DVD).
Feliz Navidad, y’all.

SF Babes (Babylon 5 Supporting Cast)

Well, I think we’ll stick with this theme for another week at least.
Our candidates:
Lise Hampton Edgars (portrayed by Denise Gentile)

Talia Winters (portrayed by Andrea Thompson)

and Number One (portrayed by Marjorie Monaghan)

Results (Posted 28 December 2004):

Spaceship Schematics

It’s been a while since I’ve stolen a link from Gravity Lens.
Check out this very cool collection of starship schematics.
Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and even Star Blazers (i.e., Space Battleship Yamato) are all featured here.
Star Blazers was one of my favorite cartoons back in sixth grade, and I don’t think I ever caught every episode. Fortunately, it looks like all three seasons are now available on DVD. Check out the Yamato webring, too.

Those Lexus Commercials

You know — the ones with the big bows and obnoxious yuppies?
They’re really, really dumb.

Sunday Aircraft Cheesecake (Su-34)

Behold the Sukhoi Su-34 “Fullback:”

Google Filler

My first ever posting of the contents of my referrer logs: the last ten Google searches that led to a site visit here:

rush intermission video
battlestar galactica babes
babes posted
Michelle B
plastic surgery horrors
flying lawnmower
lovely babes
diy railgun
meaning of kommissar
chontosh

Rush, babes, Battlestar Galactica, the Michelle B (an X-prize entrant) — yeah, that’s a pretty fair sampling of my site content…