A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part photo essay, one, two). That wasn't the only photo essay either: Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy friends and Star Trek actors all joined in at the Writers Strike and KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas brought two nights of amazing bands that included Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park (Part I), Modest Mouse, Muse, Spoon and The Killers (Part II). Not only is L.A. a great music town, it has just been named the best city for bookish types. For those who are looking for something a little more active, American Gladiators are back (yes!) and if that's not enough, how about a Christmas gift of action and adventure?
Results tagged “startrek”
"No, the punching happened at a Boston Pops concert," we told everyone who wished us a fistfight on Thursday. "The audience was riled up by that popular music. This is the Boston Symphony Orchestra. There's a difference." This Bostonist is a savage who can't articulate that difference, but we tricked a musically-literate friend who was under the impression that we were taking her out for her birthday—let's call her Fancy McCulture-Pants—to accompany us to the BSO's all-Ravel opening night program. We, on the other hand, felt qualified to bask in the anthropological joys of the cocktail reception: bow ties, shawls, reluctant children, hors d’œuvres scooped up in little endive shovels, morsels of conversation ("We live in Nantucket now, just across the pond"). A bar on the mezzanine supplied us with a lovely Manhattan, and we escorted it down the grand stair.
The one-legged Hopper was ideal for studying dynamic balance because it could not stand still, but had to keep moving to stay upright. "The Raibert Hopper was the visionary effort that set the entire field of robotic locomotion in motion," Mason [director of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute] said. The lessons learned with the Hopper proved central for biped, quadruped and even hexapod running. Raibert is now president of the robotics firm he founded, Boston Dynamics."The original 3D One-Leg Hopper led to a quadruped and bipedal version, demonstrating one, two, and four legged versions were all possible. CNET features all three in their photo gallery of the Robot Hall of Fame inductees. The MIT Leg Laboratory has a whole host of examples of the progression over time of the different technologies. We're looking at Raibert as the head of Boston Dynamics for sweet innovations in robotics – last year they released a video of "Big Dog" a pack mule type of robot that is advanced enough to react when it's kicked. Check out the video demonstration of Big Dog below – at 35 seconds in you'll see the slow-mo replay of the kick.
The Brattle is screening Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan at 5:00, 7:30, and 10:00 tonight. It's one of the Brattle's 2007 staff picks, and the choice proves the Brattle's impeccable taste in cult classics. How can you possibly resist this sci-fi treat with the Dream Team of William Shatner and Ricardo Montalban?
Houstonist reports on cross-dressing thieves and undressing educators this week. A Peeping Tom defends himself with a papaya and an outraged onlooker asks Ken Lay, "TATER TOTS OR FRIES?" Also, FEMA wants its money back.
Obviously the $250 ticket option is a stretch for Bostonist and friends, but we're sure some of you who have been pining for years over the whole "how did Darth Vader become a bad guy?" will get your answer one week before the rest of the galaxy on the 17th.