DocMurdock - Technology Tidbits

Dear AT&T,

The thrill of racing is something I've had in my blood since my birth. My father raced motorcycles in England in the late 50's / early 60's where I was born. When I was growing up I was constantly exposed to both cars and motorcycles and the thrill of the sounds, smells and shear excitement of racing.

I became familiar with the relationship/competitiveness of James Hunt and Niki Lauda at a time when my brother and I were competitive swimmers. Hunt and Lauda raced on tracks around the globe while my brother and I represented the USA in swimming outside of the USA.

I was actually expecting this movie to fall flat and be a special effects nightmare, but instead was pleasantly surprised at the very beginning by a number of things. Camera, sound, grain of the picture. Yes GRAIN OF THE PICTURE. Ron Howard seamlessly melded real world footage as well as staged to accomplish a weaving of both in such a way that the transition was difficult to pick up. BRAVO to him and his team for this as it works really well. You're not lost in the effects even though you know they're there.

Transitions from scene to scene are done in such a way that I found myself looking around the theater to see what door James or Niki would come through next. I got caught up and swept into the movie which for me is a big deal. Let me forget that I am in a theater and instead let me feel as if I am a fly on the wall in the actual event.

Rain...a drivers enemy in racing in a big way. So many variables change in the performance of the car, the engine, the drivetrain, the steering characteristics all shift and cause your psyche to be modified to compensate for these. Funny that Lauda blamed Hunt for keeping the race going that injured him, but in reality Lauda could have bailed out of that race and preserved his face for the future. He chose to keep going and well the rest is history. You have to respect the man for what he did, how he came through things and was in fact driven to come back and give the quest to be world champion his all.

I won't spoil things for you, but this is not TITANIC. It's a well made movie that recounts one of the hottest competitions in auto racing HISTORY EVER and it does a damn good job of bringing us into touch with that time. I remember it because I was alive and glued to the TV with my Dad giving commentary for those things I could not understand.

Ron Howard...You've UPPED your game with this film in my humble book. I appreciate your cinematic genius. I hope others will see in this what I have.

Whatever you do this week...if you can get out and see this movie. It's one to be enjoyed. Great soundtrack, great believable characters and if you were alive at this time it will be a great refresher for you of a time in our lives when things were much different and more connected.

@rushthemovie @kimlouise55

#awesome #intense #enjoyable #historical #lauda #hunt #formulaOne

Went to see Mom this morning. I noticed as I walked in that a room in the building wing was being repainted. 

Just a thought here. I went to the local Starbuck's this morning and was greeted by a couple of surprises:

a. banana bread has changed its size, from something flat and manageable to a cute little loaf form. I'm ok with that, although it did not taste as good as the previous type, but it was more moist than the other kind, so we'll see how that goes. So that's not a bad change per se'.

b. ALL PASTRIES are now HEATED! Really? That's a bit too dictatorial for my liking since I never get my chocolate croissant heated EVER. Why? Because the chocolate runs everywhere and I can never recall Howard offering to pay for my $65 slacks that got ruined twice by a leaking croissant. I did get some free coffee, but that's the extent of the help cycle there. So while I can see why they might want to heat things up, customers are more likely to love you if you offer them a choice between HOT and COLD pastries.

c. the pink bags are...really boring and it's almost as if you're in the midst of yet another brand shift and we've finally gotten use to the current one and look for it everywhere. now when we drive down the freeway do we have to guess where the local Starbuck's is by seeking out a PINK SIGN? Or is this limited to the bags only?

Just tossing out some fuel for the fire of discussion out there on the web. Thanks for dropping in and reading.

Michael

I just received this in email and I think it's a nice gesture on behalf of Joe. He's a good guy with a good heart and I think that this should be shared. Many of you may get his emails already, but just in case not, here's one of them.

This was sent to my Dad by a friend of his. Hope it helps many out there save money. So check it out, check into it, and pass it on!!

If that had been my Father calling 2 hours after I'd left him on Superbowl Sunday, that would have been what he'd said. However, it was not him. Instead it was the place where he resides calling and their message was:

@CBSNews really???

and almost immediately after that command acknowledgement it happened. 73 seconds into launch, Challenger was gone.

This day in 1986 time stopped for a lot of us and the space program took a break as Challenger left the launch pad for a date with destiny. President Ronald Reagan spoke to the world that evening, not just to the United States about the State of the Union. We all took a breath, and we all remember where we were the moment Challenger left us. God Speed. I know I'll never forget that day or time.

Here's the speech that we all heard that evening:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But, we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight; we’ve never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the member of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.

I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute. We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved an impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."
----

For any and all who venture skyward, each and every day I pray for your hearts, your souls, your families and all those you touch. I believe in a far greater good and a far greater existence than we have here in this time. I know that we're all here with a mission and we all affect many in our time here. May your time be a gift for many to appreciate and form a deeper bond with themselves and others as a result of your reaching out and touching the light that is theirs.

AMEN

God bless you always,

Michael Murdock