Category Archives: Web Related

George Takei Remembers Hiroshima

Today is the 69th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan in the waning days of World War 2. In 2004, Daniel and I visited the city of Hiroshima, Japan as part of our March 2004 trip to the country. I wished we had more time to visit the city, but due to our incident in the train station that morning, we were left with only a few hours in the town. We made it to the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and I wish we had more time to really experience the town and its people.

George Takei (as many know one of my favorites from Star Trek) produced a video of him with his husband visiting Hiroshima. George’s personal story has always moved me. As a child he was locked in an internment camp in the desert just because he is Japanese. It’s hard to imagine from my perspective here in 2014 that the US actually did something like that. Heck, even when I was in high school back in the 1980’s it was hard to believe that it happened. George does a lot for gay rights as well as just being an internet superstar. I’m glad I got to meet him and get this photo.

Go At Throttle Up

YouTube user lunarmodule5 has painstakingly put together a compilation of all 135 shuttle mission launches that takes the viewer through a 1 hour 44 minute odyssey that features every shuttle, every mission from countdown to liftoff to Rocket Booster separation. It’s fascinating to watch how things evolved over the years of the shuttle missions.

via Gizmodo

Figueroa Street Tunnels

Two-way traffic once ran through the Figueroa Street Tunnels, now part of the Arroyo Seco Parkway. Courtesy of the USC Libraries - Dick Whittington Photography Collection.

Two-way traffic once ran through the Figueroa Street Tunnels, now part of the Arroyo Seco Parkway. Courtesy of the USC Libraries – Dick Whittington Photography Collection.


I am such a freeway nerd, so I cannot resist good articles on Los Angeles freeway history. One of my new favorite blogs, LA As a Subject, has a great article on the history of the Figueroa Street Tunnels.

You may recognize them as the Pasadena Freeway tunnels, and I remember them most from the Universal Studios Tour back in the early 1980s when they would get volunteers from the audience to come on stage and bounce on a bicycle in front of a green screen and they made it look like you were riding down the freeway. I love the look of the tunnels and the other LA bridges that architect Merrill Butler designed in the 30s. It’s almost like the LA River bridges and the tunnels are Art Deco bookends for the city.

Check out the article for some great photos of the tunnels under construction and in use as a road before being upgraded for freeway traffic.

Making Futbol/Soccer More Fun

I’ll admit it, I am not a big fan of Futbol (or as us wierdos in the US refer to it – Soccer), but in my never ending quest to at least be familiar with big sporting events, I have been following this year’s World Cup in Brazil. Soccer is an interesting game with all sorts of amazing athleticism as well as some great flopping dramatics and the occasional bite, but alas I have never really gotten into it. After watching a few periods of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Hockey, Soccer seems to be much slower. The more games I have watched, the more interesting it has become. I was a bit disappointed that the US soccer team gave up that goal at the last minute in their match against Portugal, but still glad they made it to the next sudden death round. I love baseball and maybe since it is similarly slow paced I could see it becoming a favorite. If I had the time. If MLS was a bit more visable..

At any rate, I came across this post by Jason the other day and I thought, “Wow, this would make the World Cup waay more interesting!” In the video below, two Japanese players try and score against first 33 kids and then 55 kids:

After giggling a bit, I noticed in the sidebar a link to an even better video. The Real Madrid Futbol team vs. 109 kids in China:

Imagine a World Cup where the teams faced off against kids from different countries?? Maybe the only way to advance out of Group Play is to beat some kids. You can’t beat the kids? Then you don’t get to play anymore.. Maybe the kids could even win the World Cup. Not sure how the logistics would work, but pretty amusing to myself at least..

D-Day – 70 Years Later

It blows my mind that it has been 70 years since Allied troops invaded Normandy in a quest to liberate Europe. I totally remember when it was the 50th anniversary and thinking man, that was a long time ago! Doing some mental math, its weird to think there was less time between the end of World War II and the opening of Disneyland in 1955 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks and today.

There are a lot of great tributes to those who fought and those who sacrificed their lives in the hopes of making the world a better place.

Just a couple to get you started:

The Army Site
Scenes from D-Day – Then and Now on the In Focus Blog

As yesterday’s photo showed, I’ve made it to the coast of France near Mont Saint-Michel, but I do hope one day to visit the beaches of Normandy to pay my respects in person.

Let me add my small voice to the millions who say Thank You to the veterans of this and all wars for their service to this country and the countries of our allies.

It’s Memorial Day

Apparently, I am not the only one that has noticed that people get confused as to what we honor on Memorial Day and what we honor on Veteran’s Day. Most people just wave the flag and say thank you to our Armed Forces and have some burgers or ribs.

Now thanks to the Washington Post, you can actually know what it is all about.

Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. While those who died are also remembered, Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor ALL those who served honorably in the military – in wartime or peacetime. In fact, Veterans Day is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served – not only those who died – have sacrificed and done their duty.

Memorial Day dates back to 1868 and Veteran’s Day dates back to the end of World War 1.

Read the whole story over at the Washington Post.