A reason to visit South Africa

Ever wanted to fly, or jump off a mountain without dying? Now you can.



I am so there.

The real thing

To this day, only two college classes have really educated me, and in both cases the instructors were adjunct -- meaning only part-time, taking a break from their day jobs to share their real world experiences with students. Timothy P Werhner, an astronomer teaching astronomy, was one, and Carol Chiodini, a director and screenwriter teaching screenwriting, was the other. While Werhner has fallen off my map (not surprising, as I recall him missing our first week of class due to being stranded at the South Pole!) I found a nice clip that one of Chiodini's students put up on You Tube. It briefly and accurately sums up what she's all about, and I think it is worth sharing.


I've sat through so many different classes with instructors who barely even hide the fact that they are only there for the paycheck, who don't care about your grade or what becomes of you after you leave the class. After great classes like Werhner's and Chiodini's, instructors who merely go through the motions stand out horribly. It almost feels like being taken backwards.

We desparately need more Timothy Werhners and Carol Chiodinis. I may not even write another screenplay, I'm more of a novel guy, but Carol's passion is something that has and will continue to inspire me to work hard at what I love to do because, like she said, if you don't you will never make it: The most important lesson I've learned to thus far, and a lesson that most of those other instructors are probably learning too late.

Radio done right

It started out as something called The Music Genome Project: a collection of self-proclaimed "music-loving technologists" who wanted to find a way to link different types of sounds together in an effort to help people more efficiently discover the music they love. I can't speak for the whole project, but for me it has become the go-to place for letting good new music find me. Now known as Pandora Radio, this is the easiest, best, most diverse and non-corporate radio station I've ever heard. There are no commercials, no fees; you don't even have to download a player. You just go to the site, it asks what your favorite band is, and within seconds it is playing high-quality music not just by your favorite band, but also by other bands that have a similar sound. The more bands you enter in your favorites category, the more diversity you will find in the music being played.

My favorite part, and what makes this unique from any other radio program, is that if you hate the song playing you can give it a "thumbs down." The music stops instantly, the program recognizes that you don't want to hear that type of sound ever again, and it immediately fetches another song closely tied to your favorites. In this way it is truly your radio station.

Now if they would just realize what an awesome thing they have on their hands and find a way to bring this to satellite radio, they would find themselves at least one willing subscriber in myself.

You can thank me later. For now just have some fun and check it out.