The Fredösphere

Thanks to Alan for sending me a link that leaves be utterly disoriented.  Really, it defies description -- although I am sure "innocent" is one thing it ain't.

Years ago read about a cool contraption in a WSJ center column article.  Many times I have tried to google it, to no avail.  Yesterday my all-knowing buddy Paul gave me the key words:  "unpowered exoskeleton."  Could one of you rich people please buy me this thing?

Those aliens from Planet Japan sure are strange:

Aquarion takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where two-thirds of the human population has perished from a catastrophic incident that took place 11 years before the game's story. Mankind is now facing a new challenge, as mysterious winged beings called the Datenshi-zoku (the Fallen Angels) have appeared out of the melting ice in the South Pole. The Datenshi-zoku capture people and feed on their life energy, but civilization counters with three fighter jets called the Vector Machines, which supposedly defeated the Datenshi-zoku in a battle 12,000 years ago. The Vector Machines can transform into robots named Aquarion, but they require youths with innocent souls and extraordinary senses as their pilots. Aquarion's story rotates around the youngsters that have been recruited to fly the machines in order to save mankind.

Whoooooa ... you had me until you got to the save mankind bit.  Now that's stretching my credulity too far!

Lansing, Michigan, an hour north of here, is not typically thought of as a cultural powerhouse, but its orchestra and children's chorus will get to host a very interesting premiere by Canadian composer John Burge this weekend.  I wish I could go.

Mixolydian Mode has thrown down the gauntlet.  Well, it's not a real gauntlet, it's a MIDI realization of a gauntlet.  Anyway, he wants me to play one of those blogömeme games I usually avoid.  Here are my answers to his questions, provided in the form of Freudian free association, i.e., without deliberation or editing:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
Ayn Rand's Anthem.  I would be short and I would have fanatical devotees, which would improve my chances for survival.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I really don't remember that ever happening.  I do recall hero-worshiping those cool, omni-competent Hardy boys.  I remember examining closely maps of east-coast states in the hope (which I knew was vain) that Bayport would prove to exist and I could go there and help them solve crimes.

The last book you bought was...?
Virginia Postrel's The Substance of Style, Donald Norman's Emotional Design, and John Summerson's The Classical Language of Architecture, all in one amazon.com purchase.

The last book you read was...?
Victor Davis Hanson's Who Killed Homer?  Coming soon, on the topic of classical education, I'll have a big thoughtful blog.  [Noooooo!  Not another big, thoughtful blog!!!!!!!  Sssssttttttooooooop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

What are you currently reading?
John Scalzi's Old Man's War, because Instapundit said I should.

Five books you would take to a desert island...
Frank D. K. Ching's Architecture: Form, Space, and Order
The three books I just bought but haven't read yet.
A big ol' NIV study Bible (for reading, and repelling drivers who run through red lights)

What three people are you passing this stick on to and why?
No one.  I prefer cults with religious content.

This was supposed to be a short blog today.  I don't know what came over me.