Rough Draft

Jan accidentally bumped my hand and triggered some weird feature in my Paint program that in a single keystroke rendered James Mason into Dr. Manhattan.

Luke

It turns out the final test Luke has to pass to become a Jedi is to defeat Darth Vader, the most powerful Jedi in the universe, which kind of seems like a huge leap in difficulty after his one-day training session. That'd be like if the final stage of your driving test was to win the Indy 500.   

-Daragh McGarrigle

NBNW

"She really got under your skin, didn't she, Mr. Kaplan?"

Shocked

Sherlock: Why have I got this blanket-they keep putting this blanket on me.

Lestrade: Yes, it's for shock…

Sherlock: I'm not *in* shock!

Lestrade: Yeah, well some of the guys might want to take photographs.

Sherlock: So the shooter…no sign?

Lestrade: Cleared off before we got here. But a guy like that would have had enemies, I suppose. One of them could have been following him. But we haven't got anything to go on.

Sherlock: Oh I wouldn't say that

Lestrade: (Sighs) OK, give me.

Sherlock: The bullet they just dug out of the wall is from a hand gun. A kill shot over that distance from that kind of a weapon, that's a crack shot you're looking for, but not just a marksman. A fighter. His hands couldn't haven't shaken at all so clearly he's acclimatized to violence. He didn't fire till I was in immediate danger, though, so strong moral principle. You're looking for a man probably with a history of military service, nerves of steel….

(Looks over at John Watson)

Actually, you know what, ignore me. Ignore all of that, it's just, uh, the shock talking. 

Lestrade: Where are you going?

Sherlock: I just need to talk about the…thing. 

Lestrade: I've still got questions for you!

Sherlock: Not now! I'm in shock. Look, I've got a blanket!

Evolution Smevolution

I realized from yesterday's post that people might get the mistaken impression that I am an evolution advocate. I think all the dinosaur bones and monkeys and carbon dating and stuff are stumbling blocks to throw us off. For the test to be fair,  we had to have some chance to experience semi-plausible doubt.

To have to rely on faith, we have to be deprived of (most) physical proof. If archaeologists could just dig up Zarahemla tomorrow and find a thousand plates in a temple there that completely corroborate the Book of Mormon, well, you just kind of blew the entire test. "Ah, got it. Indisputable proof that the BoM is real and therefore the First Vision happened and all the rest is true." Kind of ruins the entire point. 

Why do you need faith? Because "We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." It's always funny to me when Saints get asked about stuff like that and kind of dodge it with 'well, that hasn't been revealed yet." Sure, it has. Are you paying attention? Maybe not word for word, but the truth is plain for those with an eye to see...

Does it mean dinosaurs didn't really exist? No, not necessarily. They could just be bones, they could have been creatures that walked the earth, they could be something else. If the Master can create a planet and fill it with life, He can create some dinosaurs and have them exist in some manner that makes them appear ancient. And on this point, the  standard trope is exactly right: "it doesn't really matter. We have the fullness of the gospel." True that-it doesn't matter. But it is kind of interesting to think about, and there's the important lesson about faith to be learned there.

Android cont'd

I know everyone is dying for another Android post, but I couldn't sleep soundly tonight without righting a terrible wrong. I left of one of the very major advantages Android has over iPhones: Adobe Flash support. It's the thing that makes the entire internet be multimedia rather than flat pictures. The iPhone and iPad don't support Flash; Android products do.

And what a difference it makes. You open a web page on an iPhone and you either get a stripped down mobile version of it, or you get a little 'plugin needed' icon. You open a webpage in Android and the whole thing works. Animations happen, videos happen, sound files play, transitions occur. You get the full web 2.0 experience.

Another cool feature: the entire screen turns into landscape mode if you tilt it. Now, iPhones have some apps that can turn into landscape mode if you want them to, but it's limited. Things like web pages and books and games and YouTube. But like, the main screen would never do that. Android does. You can turn it on its side and all the icons fall into line and all of the sudden you've got a PS Vista.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my phone?

And yes, I have my animated fish swimming in the air over a spooky night scene. Why? BECAUSE I CAN.