Making It So
[Posted Saturday, October 31, 2026 10/31/26 11:29 am]
It's been a truly devastating week for Star Trek fans with the sad news that Star Trek legends, Sir Patrick Stewart and Walter Koenig have passed away.
The Star Trek world was shocked by the news that Walter Koenig died at the age of 90 on October 25. He was one of the last remaining of the original Star Trek actors, which just leaves William Shatner and George Takei still with us. But then everyone was emotionally shattered with the announcement this week from Patrick Stewart's family that he passed away on October 28 at age 86 after a brief battle with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy body dementia.
 | | Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart |
Both men contributed heavily to Star Trek and sci-fi thanks to their iconic performances. In Star Trek, Koenig portrayed the young Starfleet ensign Pavel Chekov who was the Enterprise's navigator, and quickly gained a big fan following. Meanwhile, Stewart elevated the world of Star Trek with his majestic performance as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, bringing his classical theater training to the role of the Captain of the Enterprise.
Both actors made significant contributions to other popular sci-fi franchises as well. Koenig's best known non-Trek role was as the authoritative psi-cop, Alfred Bester, in the space opera Babylon 5. And Stewart appeared as Charles Xavier/Professor X in the Marvel X-Men films. He reprises the role in the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday, his final on-screen performance.
I personally had the pleasure to meet Walter at a small Star Trek Convention in Washington, DC in the late 70's, he was very friendly and great with the fans.
Koenig and Stewart left their mark and their work will always continue to delight and inspire many fans long after they are gone. It is a legacy to be proud of as the two men take their place among the stars.
Happy birthday, Internet!
[Posted Thursday, October 29, 2026 10/29/26 7:50 am]
On October 29, 1969, a researcher at UCLA first attempted to send a message to a computer at Stanford. The plan was to send the message "login", the system crashed after the first two letters ("lo"). But the very first successful remote communication was established moments later.
Thus, the ARPANET was born, which was the first packet-switching network, and the direct predecessor of today's modern Internet.
And now, 57 years later, you're sitting wherever you're sitting literally anywhere on planet Earth, reading what I typed in Los Angeles, CA. That's pretty amazing.
So much of my life is a part of the internet, it's impossible to imagine what my life would be without it. I've made so many good friends and met so many exciting people as a result of the web pages I've created over the years. Thanks, guys at UCLA!
In Passing: Best news headline of the year
[Posted Saturday, October 24, 2026 10/24/26 6:18 am]
More pickle mysteries
[Posted Saturday, October 17, 2026 10/17/26 8:15 am]
There's a great brand of pickles called Mt. Olive.
I can't stop wondering, why doesn't the Mt. Olive company also sell olives? It would seem like a natural to me, but they don't.
It's not like they're adverse to non-cucumber based products.
They make several different flavors of peppers.
So, fess up, Mt. Olive! What do you have against olives?
This day has Good Vibrations
[Posted Saturday, October 10, 2026 10/10/26 10:10 am]
On October 10, 1966, 60 years ago today, The Beach Boys released the 45 single of Good Vibrations, which has always been one of my favorite Beach Boys tracks.
 | | Good Vibrations picture sleeve |
The instrumental track for the first version of Good Vibrations was recorded on February 17, 1966, during the sessions for Brian Wilson's masterpiece album Pet Sounds, which was released on Capitol Records on May 16, 1966. But although the other Beach Boys expected Good Vibrations to be on the album, Brian held it back because wanted to spend more time on it.
Al Jardine said, "At the time, we all had assumed that Good Vibrations was going to be on the album, but Brian decided to hold it out."
The production of the song spanned seventeen recording sessions at four different recording studios, and used over 90 hours of magnetic recording tape, with an eventual budget of $50,000. According to Brian Wilson, the electro-theremin work itself cost $15,000.
Good Vibrations, and the Pet Sounds album, changed rock n' roll by showing musicians they could be innovative in the studio, and was a major influence on the Beatles in the creation of their Sgt. Pepper's album.
The single sold over 290,000 copies in the first four days of its release, and was officially certified as a Gold Record (1 million copies) on December 21, 1966.
Roman Jailhouse Rock
[Posted Friday, October 2, 2026 10/2/26 8:30 am]
The dashing chiselled features, swept back hair and perky bouffant. Definitely something you'd expect to find at Graceland, right?
Wrong. This carving of Elvis was actually created around 1800 years ago, and is in fact a genuine marble acroterion, an architectural ornament that would have been found decorating the corners of the roof of a structure, possibly a burial tomb, in the 2nd century AD.
It was part of a collection owned by Graham Geddes in Melbourne, and was estimated several years ago to be worth about $60,000 when it went to auction.
Hunka-hunka burnin love not included.
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Adam Forrest: 
