Lisa Derrick

The strength and beauty and love of life each of these models expressed during their time with us was beyond inspirational, as was their commitment to spreading the word the HIV can happen to anyone no matter what their age, race, socio-economic class, education, sexual orientation or any other demographic.

At some point everyone of a certain age must have dreamed of being an astronaut, of flying into space, boldly going where man had gone before. I grew up with a dad who was a human factor specialist for NASA, basically an on-earth test astronaut. Richard Garriott–one of our guests tonight and the subject of Man on a Mission–is the son of an astronaut, Owen Garriott who rode aboard Skylab 2; he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Fate, and bad eyesight, prevented him from becoming an official astronaut so he set off to make his dreams come true (and along the way, he became the father of a whole generation of computer gamers.)

As my friend Victoria said in email: “Guess we will have to buy extra cookies this year,” a sentiment reflected in many of the comments on Taylor’s video. So support your local troop, Girl Scouts and transgender children by buying Girl Scout cookies.

The world is wacky and zany in GOP politics: Rush Windbag has ordered a fatwa on Newter Gingrich.

You can’t miss the whiff as you drive along the 10 freeway heading to or from Arizona, a strange and horrifying stench, the Salton Sea. Chris Metzler–who visited us last year with “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone”–co-directed “Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea, an occasionally whimsical and deeply sad look at a man-made lake; the hopes, dreams and disasters that sprung from it; and the people who try to stay afloat on its shores.

So Rick Santorum has dug himself in deeper! And also blew it as he was speaking before a crowd of college Republicans in Concord.

Today’s was one of series of rapid-fire, soon-to-be-patented “Santorum boners,” which have slipped from the candidate’s lips.

This whole Maya calendar end of the world whoohaa has reached such a pitch that White House.gov for goodness sakes created a link about the idiocy which sends you/me to the answers.USA.gov site with further links to NASA’s point of view on the subject.

Wow, just wow. The sheer balls of this documentary. Shane Smith and his unseen buddy cameraman Jamie back-doored themselves into North Korea with point-and-shoot cameras, and proceeded to make a very jaw-dropping, ballsy documentary / travelogue that culminates with the Mass Games. The Arirang Festival: 120,000 people in a choreographed show which Smith explains is “The only reason tourists are allowed into North Korea.”

The high point of tomorrow will not be the Rose Parade itself, but rather the after-march (usually the refuge of the religious groups–the parade is secular) when Occupy Los Angeles will prance its 70-person manned puppet, an octopus made from plastic bags, down the parade route.

Mark Belling, sitting in for Rush Limbaugh today, happened to notice that none of the current GOP candidates is worthy of running for the office. Seems they’re either not crazy enough or they support RomneyCare or they’re just wingnuts. Who knew? It’s time for Elmer Fudd to go hunting.