Zuzu, Pepik, my show that almost no one else seems to remember is Fantastic Journey, from 1977. Atlanteans/alien hybrids, Ike Eisenmann (my pre-teen crush), scientists from the future - and the past - lost together and slipping between dimensions trying to find their way home... what's not to love?

I'll always be grateful to my parents for their assumption that I could take care of myself. My brother (6) and I (12) were at Heathrow airport in London with my dad back in the mid 70s, waiting in line hours ahead of our flight to get seats on the upper deck of a 747 (a charter flight, so no first class). He was indulging us, that's for sure (totally worth it, and very cool).

We got bored with waiting, and so my dad said we could go back to the hotel. So I took my brother and went and found the appropriate shuttle bus, went back to the hotel, hung around there for a while, collected my mother and went back to the airport in time for the flight.

I should point out that I'm from Canada, and this was my first time in London.

My dad still likes to tell the story about how the older woman in line in front of him gave him hell for sending us off on our own...

Since then, I've never thought twice about finding my way around anywhere that I go.

I got this passed around in an e-mail some time in late 2007. It really is an inspiring look at the scale of things.

My only real quibble is that it's not the Vertical Assembly Building, it's the Vehicle Assembly Building. Where they are assembled vertically, though...

For a proper examination of physics in movies, you all need to visit intuitor.com's Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics page. Now that's the way to analyze movies.

I use it all the time with my physics classes. Now all my students are a real pain to watch movies with...

This is somewhat serendipitous. Just a couple of days ago I was linked to a 4-part BBC documentary fom 2002 called "The Century of the Self" that detailed how Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays used Freud's techniques of psychoanalysis on crowds, creating the whole idea of public relations.

In part 2, we see how it was Bernays who decided that the theme of the 1939 World's Fair should be focused on corporations in order to link consumption with people's unconscious desires, to help create a materialist, consuming culture - dumb and happy. Of course, it was all done in the interest of controlling the public's dangerous inner drives (because they couldn't possibly be trusted to make rational, intelligent decisions regarding politics). For their own good, of course...

He also played a part in helping the CIA overthrow the government of Guatemala (in support of the American company United Fruit Growers) when the newly-elected president wanted to take back land that UFG owned. Bernays helped spin the perception of the president as a communist sympathizer, and Guatemala as a menace only a few hundred miles away.

It's fascinating, and definitely worth your time. Background info on the series from the BBC website here, and the link to the first part on Google video here.