Pete Fanning's Blog

Variety announced this past weekend that Keanu Reeves will play “Klaatu” in the remake of the classic sci-fi movie, “The Day The Earth Stood Still“, to begin production in 2008. The role was made famous by British Actor Michael Rennie. The film also starred Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe and Hugh Marlowe.

But everyone knows the REAL star was Gort, the menacing-looking robot suited up by actor Lock Martin. The most famous line in the movie was uttered by Patricial Neal’s character to the robot, when trying to calm the robot down after Klaatu had been gunned down by the Army….”Gort, Klaatu barada nikto….”….I’ve seen that phrase on posters, bumper stickers down through the years….

I don’t know what to make of the remake….my gut tells me just look back at Spielberg’s War of the Worlds…..it was OKAY, but not good…..I’m just VERY WORRIED.

Right now my gut just says leave this one alone…the original stands alone just fine on it’s own two feet.

UPDATE 1: I JUST HAVE to point to this EXCELLENT blog post by Nick, a commenter to my post (on my blog) on this topic.  It is a very well-laid out explanation as to why he believes  Keanu Reeves is NOT a good choice to play Klaatu….well done Nick….

Crossposted from PeteRepublic.org 

Is it too early to dub the new Marquette Interchange Milwaukee’s version of the “Spaghetti Bowl”?

As some of you know, I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and one of the trademark thoroughfares there is the soup where I-65 and I-70 criss-cross and intersect, more commonly known as Indianapolis’ “Spaghetti Bowl”.

With the Marquette Interchange going up and the overhead ramps now taking shape, one could easily make a distant observation coming into the city from the south or from the east and west that, once completed, “This sure does look like a spaghetti bowl!”.

Other cities have “Spaghetti Bowls” too….according to roadfan.com…here’s a list…..

Spaghetti Bowl: I-15 @ I-515, Las Vegas
Spaghetti Bowl: I-80 @ US 395, Reno
Spaghetti Bowl: I-10 @ I-110, El Paso
Spaghetti Bowl: I-30 @ I-35, Dallas
Spaghetti Bowl: I-64 @ I-264, Metro Norfolk
Spaghetti Bowl: I-65 @ I-70 (N), Indianapolis
Spaghetti Bowl: I-80 @ US 46 @ NJ 23, Wayne

NOTE: I lived in Norfolk for a number of years and don’t recall that area referred to as a “Spaghetti Bowl”, but then again, I haven’t been there since ‘92, so a lot may have changed.

So…..may I be the Milwaukee Area Blogger who aptly dubs the new Marquette Interchange, “Milwaukee’s Spaghetti Bowl”?

This morning at the close of their Early Spin Radio Show on NewsTalk 1130 WISN, Dan Deibert announced that both his and Nicole Devin's contracts had NOT been renewed.

If you are a fan of the early morning radio program, I urge you to contact the station, in particular the program director Jerry Bott. His email address is available from the station's contact page (as well as direct phone numbers):

WISN Contact Page

Dan and Nicole brought a fresh new voice to morning radio and woke us up for the last two years.....

Crossposted from PeteRepublic.org 

As usual, Captain Ed does a great job fisking the NY Times “expose” on Fred Thompson’s “lobbying” for the NFPRHA….

Much ado about nothing……some folks should take note…..

UPDATE 1: John at Powerline agrees it’s “Much ado about nothing….“

A Politics Section at Fox 6...GREAT!

And just in time too...

For all you Fred Thompson fans out there, I have a Fred Thompson A/V page with links to some Fred Thompson material at my website.....

Fred Thompson A/V Page

I know at this juncture many Fred Thompson backers are getting antsy out there, but it's coming soon.

The Iowa Straw polls are coming up in early August, and I may make a journey there myself to assist in getting the word out about my favorite candidate.

Crossposted from PeteRepublic.org 

H/T: Althouse

I just HAVE to add my two cents to these…..thanks to Ann for pointing this article out….

The Army Times came out with their list of the top 10 Best Military Movies of all time, complaining that once again these movies got “the shaft” on AFI’s top 100.

I will list these great movies, as they did, in descending order with my own comments….

10. A Bridge Too Far (1977) - Only saw it once, but was blown away by it….still have to add it to my DVD collection…..I remember being awed by both Hackman and Caan….

9. The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Arguably one of THE BEST military movies of all time in my book…I didn’t know it had won FOUR OSCARS….

8. The Great Escape (1963) - Again, one of THE BEST, and ONE OF MY FAVORITES….I not only own it, I have the Soundtrack CD…..a prized possession…one of Steve McQueen’s greatest performances….

7. Top Gun (1986) - Don’t know if I agree with this choice on the list, but I WILL say, this film made a GREAT recruiting tool for the Navy that year….I was already in the Navy by that time, stationed in Newport News bringing my own Aircraft Carrier to life in new construction (the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)), and I remember going to the theater MULTIPLE times to see this flick it was so energizing….

6. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) - Hands Down the best movie on the list. I thought it was THAT GOOD. Clint, you did a fine job here…..one of your best movies, if not THE BEST.

5. The Caine Mutiny (1954) - Oh, man, who can forget those balls that Lt. Cmdr. Queeg kept rattling around! This is right up there with Letters from Iwo Jima as THE BEST….Again, I own this movie, and watch it frequently….

4. Glory (1989) - Watched it twice….thought it was ok, but really think Letters and Caine are better movies….

3. Black Hawk Down (2001) - Oh man…this movie was INTENSE….I JUST bought the DVD not too long ago…..it left me speechless…but I still think Letters and Caine are better….

2. Patton (1970) - Oh…ok….Patton is better..:) I agree with the Army Times…if you’ve never seen Patton, you shouldn’t even be reading this list :) I don’t believe there isn’t a soul alive who hasn’t read or heard a quote from George C. Scott portraying General Patton from this movie….it was just astounding….and I own it on DVD and watch it whenever I can…

1. Full Metal Jacket (1987) - #1???? What? Patton, Letters, and Caine have this one beat!!! But who can forget Gunnery Sargent Hartman! Yes, it belongs on the list, maybe at 5 or 6, but NOT number 1…..no….

Final comment…where the HECK is “The Final Countdown“!!!!! With Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen!!!!!! That was the movie that got ME to join the Navy in the FIRST PLACE!!!!!

So…those are my comments….and that’s all I’ve got to say about that….

UPDATE 1: Oh my Lord…HOW COULD THEY FORGET (AND ME FOR THAT MATTER!) Twelve O’Clock High with Gregory Peck!!!!!! That movie was mandatory viewing at my Leadership and Management training in the Navy….. it was awesome…..

UPDATE 2: I keep adding to this list! Add “Midway” and “Tora, Tora, Tora” to my list….aside from “Midway’s” little love story angle, it was a solid movie….loved Henry Fonda as Chester Nimitz…..these and “Twelve O’Clock High alone should knock “Top Gun”, “Glory”, and in my opinion, “Full Metal Jacket” off the Army Times list.

UPDATE 3: John McAdams gets a H/T for pointing out the OBVIOUS….”Saving Private Ryan“, which should be in the top 5 somewhere….not only because it’s a great movie, but it has a wonderful soundtrack…..and a gut wrenching ending at Arlington National Cemetery.

Author NOTE: Please feel free to visit the PeteRepublic.org post's comment section for some ADDITIONAL suggestions for the list.... 

Crossposted from PeteRepublic.org

U.S. Warships are in the Russian Port of Vladivostok for a couple of reasons, one, to help celebrate the 147th anniversary of that city, and two, to mark the memory of the sailors of the Russian L-19 submarine and the U.S. submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238), both WW II era submarines that were thought to have been sunk by the Japanese near the end of WWII.

The USS Frank Cable (AS-40) (submarine tender) and the USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) (guided missile destroyer) both are currently on station on Vladivostok.

According to this article:

USS Wahoo, a Gato-Class Submarine, distinguished itself during World War II (WWII) by sinking 27 enemy ships, totaling 119,100 tons. During her WWII service, Wahoo received the Presidential Unit Citation for action. The ill-fated sub departed Pearl Harbor on Sept. 9, 1943 for patrols in the Sea of Japan.

According to the Naval Historical Center in Washington, DC, Wahoo was sunk Oct. 11, 1943 from a Japanese aerial and surface attack in the vicinity of La Perouse Strait, which is north of Hokkaido, Japan.

First, I’m PROUD of our Navy heading over there to honor our, and their fallen heroes.

Second, it’s nice to see our Navy spreading good cheer in the heart of what was once the Soviet Union. Speaking STRICTLY as a sailor, I can see our sailors slugging down a few cold ones side by side with those guys just as easy…after all, we are ALL men of the sea when it comes right down to it…..

Cross-posted from PeteRepublic.org 

To show NASCAR I'm fed up with it's stupid irregularity in how it deals with penalties, I'm boycotting this weekend's race at Pocono. I won't watch a single minute of coverage. Zilp, Zilch, Nada. Nothing.

What Kurt Busch did in the pits to Tony Stewart and more importantly, to his pit crew last Monday at Dover was reckless, and the penalty handed down was embarrassing. Busch should have gotten nothing less than a suspension for endangering the safety of Stewart's pit crew during the race.

Yes, Busch was docked 100 points. Yes he was hit with a $100,000 fine and put on probation. Where is the suspension? The points and the fine are nothing to him. Nothing. Sitting him down will really hurt him and maybe will teach the man that you can't just recklessly endanger the safety of a pit crew like that and get away with it.

Cross-posted from PeteRepublic.org

According to today's Sentinal/Journal (and yesterday's NewsWatch item).....enterprising young Cedarburg students obtained sensitive data from the high school's computer network "that had not been properly secured".

According to the district's Information Technology Literacy Plan:

"The district uses Novell Netware 6.0 as the network operating system. All connections from workstations to file servers are 100 MB."

Furthermore....

"All staff and students have user accounts for the network. Students K-12 log on to the network and save to their personal home directories. Staff user accounts are created when they are hired and staff are encouraged to save to their personal network directories."

This is MERE speculation on my part, but since I have EXTENSIVE experience with Novell Networking, and especially Novell Network security and know that if you set it up right, it is a EXTREMELY secure operating system, I can only surmise that what we have here is a case of perhaps a staff member possibly leaving a workstation logged in inadvertently and unattended.

If that isn't the case, then perhaps the data WAS placed in a Novell Volume/Directory that did not have secure filesystem rights. But in that case, enterprising students either would already have to know where that data was located and then MANUALLY map a drive to it, or already have had to have a drive mapping (via login script) to that data location on the workstation they are logged in to.

Key in the Sentinal/Journal's article, however is this statement:

"Students do not have access to that area, and it was unknown how they obtained access, he said."

This tends to lend more credence to my theory that someone (a staff member) left their workstation logged in.

Here's the kicker.....Novell NetWare doesn't really have any real auditing out of the box. nSure Audit is a separate product that allows you to keep track of what is going on on your Novell Network, but at an added cost. There is a demo version of it I believe, but limited, and most administrators never bother with it. Other, 3rd party products exist that allow you to track login/logouts and such...but no details....

It will be interesting to see how the School District handles this in light of the recent Zellner incident.......will they be able to determine what workstation was involved in the mining of the data? Who sits at that workstation normally? Was it a lab workstation or was it a staff workstation?

Cross posted on PeteRepublic.org

Ok. I just read the Sentinal/Journal Newswatch feed on why they can't get the Image CD and why he may appeal....what stood out to me was THIS PARAGRAPH:

'Jonen contends that Zellner did not intentionally view the images and Web sites that were found on his school computer and are now depicted on the CD. She said he merely viewed photographs that appeared on his computer after he did Google searches for the words "blonde" and "thong."'

Ok folks...if we are to accept the premise as the Zellner camp supposes that he used the Google search terms "blond" and "thong", and these 1,500 images just SUDDENTLY appeared, I don't buy it for a minute. People....BY DEFAULT, Google searches use "Moderate" filtering. In other words, EXPLICIT images are FILTERED BY DEFAULT. What this means is.....A person who wanted to search for explicit images would have to go into Google's search preferences and set the option "Do not filter my search results", i.e. exhibiting intent to search for such images.

AND...after that...you are only given a subset of results...you then have to page through those results to cache them on your computer...why didn't the individual STOP his behavior after say, the first 5 or so images?

Please....I've been in the IT field too long to fall for this one...

This is my mom, 60 years ago this month, being crowned "Miss Speedway" by Tony Hulman, Jr, at the time, Chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Miss Speedway was the prelude to the Indianapolis 500 Festival Queen.

This year marks the 500 Festival's 50th anniversary, according to the festival's website, but I wanted to take this opportunity on Mother's Day to recognize the fact that there WERE queens BEFORE the 500 Festival got off the ground, and my mother was one of them. This photo on May 26, 1947 in the Indianapolis News proves it.

Here is the caption under the photo:

"Miss Speedway -- Anton Hulman, Jr., chairman of the board of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is shown here crowning Luella McCreary, an Arsenal Technical High School freshman, from Keystone Kanteen, Miss Speedway at the 500-mile Teen-Age Frolic Saturday night at the Armory."

Cross posted from PeteRepublic.org

Ok.

First, I misplaced my Pager. Fine....

Then...WHAMMO...I'm in an auto accident...everyone's ok...thank goodness. Car is not doing so well..and I'll probably LOSE my Fred Thompson bumper sticker :( Oh well....maybe I'll be able to get another one!

NOW we come to this morning...I needed shaving cream....so I get it, and throw it in the back seat...until some jerk off stops short in front of me, causing me to hit the brakes and sends the shaving cream flying onto the floor under my passenger seat, and it EXPLODES...sending cream EVERYWHERE....

Cross posted from PeteRepublic.org

H/T: Dean's World

So sayeth Adama himself. In a IF Magazine interview Edward James Olmos says Season 4 will be the LAST for Galactica, and hints as to what we'll expect.

Key point:

"we will be finding Earth this season."

In a separate interview for IESB.net, Olmos confirms again that Season 4 is the LAST for Galactica...

What is interesting is he also indicates that it will be the most "vicious".

UPDATE 1: H/T: Keith.....thanks to his intrepid digging...apparently Galactica David Eick has spoken up on SciFi Channel's website about Olmos' comments:

Flight of Battlestar Continues

Battlestar Galactica's search for Earth continues to be an open-ended adventure, executive producer David Eick said.

Contrary to comments by Edward James Olmos (Adm. Adama) at the Saturn Awards on May10, no end has been announced for the award-winning show. Battlestar Galactica is preparing to film its fourth season, one that will include 22 episodes, rather than the previously announced 13.

"For those of you who have been paying attention over the years, this is not the first time Eddie has made an announcement about the possibility of the show's end," chuckled Eick. "I promise you that when [executiuve producer] Ron [Moore] and I make a decision about Galactica's future, we'll let you know.

Cross posted from PeteRepublic.org

From Jayski.Com

(NOTE: Jayski.com is a GREAT source of news and rumors for NASCAR...I highly suggest you add it to your bookmarks!)

Jayski reports that FOX25 (Boston's FOX affiliate) is reporting that Dale Earnhardt, Jr is going to be racing with Richard Childress under the same legendary #3 and that negotiations were underway and finalized late Thursday evening. FOX25 indicates this is a done deal.

But wait a tick.....FOX8 also says those negotiations were taking place and that Childress would be making the announcement in Darlington on Friday, but that Earnhardt would be racing the #33....so who knows at this point WHAT will be happening....

Let's just wait to see what Richard Childress has to say.....

(I still say it will be a Red Budweiser #3.....but let's wait and see)

UPDATE 1: (7:55am The Richard Childress Racing site is being HAMMERED right now...you can't even get into it....wonder why that is....)

UPDATE 2: Per Jayski.com, Childress this morning is DENYING having signed Earnhardt. Goes to show the Media frenzy that is surrounding Jr.

Cross posted from PeteRepublic.org

Here's something I bet most of you civilians didn't know....

Enlisted personnel in the Navy aren't supposed to socialize or be personally involved with officers. Now I don't know what the other service branch policies are, but I'd imagine they are similar. The Navy just redefined it's fraternization policy so that it includes members of ALL branches of the Armed Forces.

“The fraternization policy was updated to reflect the current operational environment, as Navy forces are operating more frequently in joint, combined operations,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kim Dixon, spokesperson for the Navy’s chief of personnel’s diversity directorate, which issued the change. “The updates specifically dictate that the Navy fraternization policy prohibiting certain types of relationships is applicable to relationships with members of other U.S. armed services and with members of foreign military services.”

“Fraternization is the term traditionally used to identify personal relationships which contravene the customary bounds of acceptable senior-subordinate relationships,” the instruction reads. It goes on to say that relationships between officers and enlisted are what most people equate with fraternization — but the definition does not stop there.

“[It] also includes improper relationships and social interaction between officer members as well as between enlisted members regardless of the service affiliation of the other officer or enlisted member, including members of foreign military services,” the instruction says.

It just wasn't something I ever saw done when I was in the Navy anyway. For the most part, you had enlisted personnel sticking with enlisted personnel socially anyway so it wasn't a problem, but I imagine there was always one or two cases.

The obvious problem here is Military discipline. If an officer (especially in the chain of command) becomes involved with a subordinate enlisted member it can cause a loss of objectivity by the officer and can lead to preferential treatment of the enlisted member. In evaluating that officer who is involved with an enlisted, he/she runs the risk of being stigmatized of a inherent loss of fairness and observed ability to exercise fairness.