Distracted Lately

 I've been highly distracted lately by hurricane season and a handful of other items.  I'll be around, sporadically.

Is it October with a nice cool front yet?

Even More Horrifying

 But fortunately it's all narrated.  Enjoy.

This is Horrifying

 

Huh.  Always wondered what made those sounds in movies.  You can read more about the waterphone at wikipedia.

NPR's Sci-Fi & Fantasy "Best in Last Decade" Poll Results

 I'd noted the call a couple of months ago, and now here are the results.

No huge surprises, but quite a number of the books and even authors I'd never heard of.  As expected, the authors of the books behind several of the past decade's big movies made the list: Andy "The Martian" Weir, Ted "Arrival" Chiang, and Jeff "Annihilation" Vandermeer were all there.  After that, there are plenty of surprises to unwrap.  Enjoy.

Thought for Today

 The Stockdale Paradox, linked to Wikipedia.

Apply to the current situation as you see fit.

I have no idea.

 Evidently, neither do the various hurricane modelers.  I guess someone between Panama and Greenland had better start boarding up.

Pfft, I've made worse model predictions.  At least they got the right ocean basin.

Perseids this Week

 Read up on how to watch at Bad Astronomy.  I have nothing to add, beyond this one from APOD: