James’s Blog

So Andrew Sullivan appears to have incited a furious debate about the merits of 80s pop music, a debate that my sister and I engage in sometimes. The responses are entertaining, but I never could have verbalized my feelings toward Coldplay as well as this guy did:

The horrors of 80’s music pale in comparison to the ennui-sodden banjo playing that has been foisted on us for the last 10 years. The moment I hear “Cold Play” I run screaming for the nearest bottle of antidepressants.

There’s now going to be a Youtube contest of the best and worst of 80s music.

This Scissor Sisters single has been playing in the clubs for the last couple of times I’ve gone out, and it’s growing on me.

Lyrics after the jump.

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Victoria Crater

After almost three years, the Mars Rover Opportunity has driven 9.28 kilometers from where it landed on Mars to the jagged edge of Victoria Crater, which is pictured above by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The rover is visible in the higher resolution version of the picture above, as well as this heavily annotated crop of the shot. On the NASA press release page one can find many more pictures, with varying resolutions. Opportunity took some shots of the local scenary, like this non-trivial bluff named Cape Verde that is about a 6-meter drop into the crater.

Cape Verde

The pictures of the general region and the rock layers are supposed to help us understand the history of the planet Mars, advance science, etc., but I’m impressed by the raw beauty of the pictures. All in all, not too shabby for a rover that was only expected to work for 6 months.