3rd Rock

Yesterday's puzzle featured the names of the first few planets in our solar system. I couldn't think of anyone named after Uranus, though, so I had to quit after about 8 AU from the sun.

Still, it's fun to think about how stuff that's so incredibly far away influences us. No, I'm not talking about astrology, but about how we are driven to explore, learn, and strive to understand our universe.

It makes me happy to know that there's an American-built machine that's been flying for 9 years just to briefly analyze an object that nobody even knew existed 100 years ago. I hope they find Gorns or Hortas or something looking up from Pluto's surface and smiling for the cameras. (Well, OK, those guys aren't particularly known for smiling, but you know what I mean.)



Panel 1 is Mike Mercury, the driver that Jason Statham's "Transporter" character was modeled from. He was the star of the "Supercar" series, and an all-around good guy (for a puppet). Panel 2 is Venus Williams, who, as far as I know, is no relation to the guy who played Lando Calrisian, but gains space cred by being an out-of-this-world athlete.

Panel 3 is Eartha Kitt, who is responsible for the sexiest Christmas song of all time. She may be known to younger readers as Madam Zeroni in the film "Holes." Panel 4 is actor Kenneth Mars, shown here as the local gendarme in "Young Frankenstein." He was also in "What's Up Doc," "The Producers", "Butch Cassidy," the TV series "He and She", and even "Deep Space Nine." Funny guy.

The last panel features the Jupiter II, the (extremely) mobile home of the Space Family Robinson. Perhaps one day they'll do a reboot movie where the robot will warn Will Robinson about the danger of a mutated New Horizons craft zipping through their local quadrant (a la "Veeger.") [Personal opinion: If a rogue spacecraft ever needs a good candidate to sterilize!, I would heartily recommend Dr. Smith.]

Not to change the subject or anything, but I wanted to congratulate the amazing Reynold Kalstrom on his recent age-group victory in the Boise 70.3 race. This qualifies him for the World Championships later this summer. (I guess that means I need to start designing some tougher swim workouts to get him ready for that.)

In the meantime, you can expect some historical reminiscences (if that is a word) over the coming weeks. I have undertaken a massive photo-archival process that involves scanning all my photo albums from the pre-digital age. My most recent batch included pictures from Boy Scout campouts, and you may find some of them interesting. There were also photos from the KU Relays marathons I did back in the Nixon era...but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to share those with you. We'll see.

In any case, I am sure I'll run across some archival stuff you may find interesting, so please continue to visit. And have a great day!