Ray Kurzweil Defies Mortality

Acclaimed inventor and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil, 60, is taking more than 180 vitamin and mineral supplements a day to stay alive until the singularity, when, he believes, computers will be conscious and human beings will no longer need their bodies to survive.

Check out this feature about him by Wired magazine's Gary Wolf.

(Photo: Rennio Maifredi of Wired magazine)

Delicious Satire from the Onion

I had to share this after seeing it on the Onion, a quality source for satirical news.

'Wheel Of Fortune' Contestants Hit Hard As Vowel Prices Skyrocket

May 22, 2008 | Issue 44•21

LOS ANGELES—Contestants on the television game show Wheel Of Fortune have been hit especially hard at the podiums in recent months due to skyrocketing vowel prices, which reached a record $600 last week. "I remember a time when you could get an 'e' for $250," 46-year-old contestant Samantha Means said after a Wednesday taping. "But as Wheel contestants, we've become so dependent on vowels to solve puzzles that the producers can get away with jacking up prices because they know we'll pay them. We need a legitimate vowel alternative, but I don't think we're ready for that. I know I'm not." According to Wheel Of Fortune show runner Charlie Clark, vowel prices are not likely to come down anytime soon unless America improves its standing in the Middle East.

Extramartial Relations

A few months ago, I began receiving e-mail news alerts from Military.com after signing up for the listserv for a research assignment. I usually delete the alerts, but the subject line caught my eye this morning: “Ban on Sex for Soldiers in Afghanistan Lifted ... Sort Of.”

The article contains no graphic descriptions, but I will not excerpt it here because I promised to preserve my blog's PG rating. Nonetheless, I think it will be interesting for those of you willing to take the laborious step of clicking on the article link.

My stance: Let there be fireworks in the barracks of Afghanistan this Memorial Day weekend. Those willing to risk their lives to find bin Laden deserve the comfort of intimacy (so long as they respect the other person).

Sometimes a Name Change is All It Takes

I apologize for the month-long post hiatus. My addiction to school work got a little out of hand, but I'm better now. I promise.

Seriously.

Anyway, on to the post.

Some still call it a lengthy comic book published under a more nerd-friendly name, but the graphic novel genre is finally getting the respect it deserves.

A group of 16 students at Stanford University recently completed "Shake Girl," a class project and full-length graphic novel based on the true story of Tat Marina, a Cambodian karaoke singer who was doused with acid as punishment for her affair with a married man.

Administrators at Ivy League universities like Stanford and Columbia have begun to realize the graphic novel's unique contribution to our storytelling tradition, and in recognition of that contribution, they have added graphic novels to the library stacks and classes to the curriculum.

For that I salute them.

They're getting behind the increasingly popular genre for good reason. Graphic novels are not just drawn-out comic strips limited to trivialities like Garfield's addiction to lasagna (although many graphic novels show us trivial situations from a fresh perspective). Our best graphic novelists have addressed some of humanity's most enduring and important themes in their work: the existence of prejudice and evil; the meaning of life, love and death; and the difficult task of defining what it means to be human in a world dependent on technology. I promise you the graphic novel is a genre worth your time.

You can read more about the "Shake Girl" project and the Ivy League's acceptance of the graphic novel in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article.

"Shake Girl" is available online via the Stanford University Web site.

If you're new to graphic novels, I highly recommend the following selections:
Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn (now a writer for the TV series "Lost") and Pia Guerra

I also recommend checking out Whitney Matheson's picks on USA Today's Pop Candy blog. She never steers me wrong.

Image: Stanford University