5 Thoughts for January 19, 2016

1. Electioneering: The GOP are trying to help Bernie Sanders. It's obvious why, the only question is, how naive are Democrats to believe ill-conceived poll results showing that Bernie would beat all GOP candidates by wider margins than Hillary.
2. Rats in the Pearl: I saw more rats in the Pearl District, two nights ago, and by more, I mean a family. They were screaming at each other, which sounds like high pitched squeaks. I'm not going to say what business they were hanging out at, but it's an eatery that had left its food trash in bags, outside on the curb for early Monday morning pickup, and whose spillage has stained the ground around it. Yes, I have the video evidence of these rats, but showing it would reveal the business where these rats were vacationing.
3. 3D Printing: I have ants in my pants, waiting for my latest batch of 3D prints from Shapeways. I ordered them January 9th, but they're not scheduled to ship out until February 5 -- I think it's because I have one print in porcelain, which is a two-step process (that prints a mold) and not direct-fab. Again, if I had all the money in the world, I would buy the most sophisticated 3D printers and open up my own fab shop.
4. SW The Force Awakens: So I saw the movie -- finally -- this past weekend, in 3D, and it was awesome. My only complaint, was that the script had a few too many SW cliche references. Other than that, I have long loved JJ Abrams' work, going all the way back to Alias, especially his ability to leverage emotions and bring reality to sci-fi. So of course, right now I'm listening -- via YouTube -- to a list of the soundtrack, from music posted by Disney's official VEVO, and casting it to my large speakers. John Williams continues his magic.
5. Seattle Seahawks: At the very end of Pete Carroll's season-end press conference, he included a mention about George Farmer. On the same day, Farmer was signed to a future-reserve contract. That he remains a part of the Seahawks future, might have to do with his perseverance through all of the things he's gone through, and his enduring competitive spirit, given the culture that Carroll has established in Seattle. That grit showed through when Seattle refused to give up against Carolina, and nearly came back to tie the game up after going 0-31 at halftime.