I think I speak for everyone who might read this when I say “GO GO GO”!

I remember watching Shuttle launches when I was little with much awe and splendor. Well I’m happy to say my wife is right, I haven’t changed much as I’ve gotten older. I’m still in awe of launches like this, they truly are amazing. I was home from school the day Challenger exploded and saw it live on TV. While that was a horrible tragedy it’s so wonderful to see us back in space. The astronauts know how dangerous this is but I’m sure they run, not walk to get on board (that is if they didn’t have to look good for the cameras)!

Watching the Shuttle go up is truly an amazing event and I sincerely hope to one day see it in person. What a sight that might be. While I’m bummed that I don’t get HDNet (Comcast doesn’t carry it), meaning I didn’t get to see the launch in HD, it was still amazing looking on ABC, the channel I happened to choose…

Anyone that thinks this kind of things is a waste of resources just doesn’t get it. Anyone who thinks we won’t get to Mars and beyond just doesn’t get it. Remember when the Earth was flat? Remember when we couldn’t go faster than sound? Remember when we couldn’t compute 2+2 on a machine? Remember when we couldn’t travel faster than light (ok we haven’t gotten that one just yet have we…) The point is of course we’ll get there. That’s what humans do, we figure out things that we shouldn’t be able to figure out. We go places we aren’t supposed to go. One of my main hopes in life is that we discover life outside of Earth before I die. I’m not looking for E.T., just for some form of life outside of Earth. I really hope I get to see that…

In short a HUGE congrats to everyone at Nasa for a job incredibly well done!

This weekend we finally got to see Million Dollar Baby starring Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank (winner of best actress), and Morgan Freeman (winner of best supporting actor). IT WAS AMAZING.

This is one of those films that really sticks with you long after you see it. It reminded me a lot of The Shawshank Redemption (another of my all-time favorite movies). It’s similar in feel mainly due to Morgan Freeman’s narration during most of the film and just the general type of movie (an outstanding drama).

I really didn’t know what it was about other than female boxing, and boy is that NOT what it’s about. Warning, if you don’t know what it’s about don’t keep reading, I don’t want to spoil it for you…

Yes, it’s about boxing, but it’s really about Hillary Swank’s character breaking free of her past, breaking away from her terrible mother and family (expertly played by Margo Martindale). She connects with Eastwood and finally talks him into training her. They form a very tight bond as he takes her through the boxing ranks.

So you know that Hillary Swank is going to be good. She won best actress right? You don’t realize how good she is until you see the movie. The training she did for the film must have been amazingly hard as she is totally convincing as a boxer (and man is she huge!). But when you finally find out what the film is really about, you really get why she won. In what becomes her last fight her neck is broken after a sucker punch after the bell. This leads to the second half of the movie, dealing with the aftermath and her complete and total paralysis.

Once she realizes there is no going back, no way to repair the damage done she decides she wants to die. Here in lies the controversy. Should someone in that position be allowed to decide when they die? I’m not about to try to answer that (if you know me you probably know what I think). It’s a hugely polarizing issue and I don’t want to start a flame war. Needless to say the way Eastwood deals with it is very powerful.

In short this is one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Ever. I’d easily put it in my top 25 movies of all time list, if you haven’t seen it yet RENT IT. You’ll love it!

Everyone,

After discussing this with Apple I have decided to take this information down. Apple’s position is that this is a violation of their NDA so to respect that I have removed the information. It truly was never my intention to violate their NDA in the first place.

Thanks to everyone who submitted comments. Please do not submit any further comments or ask any further questions about this issue as I will respect the agreement I have with Apple and keep all future information confidential. Please also do not flame Apple as they were very professional.