I went to Border’s and picked up the Mars special Astronomy magazine issue, and the Time special Scientific American issue. I was motivated, after the IMAX. Then, I saw that the new Harrison Ford movie, Firewall, had just started. So I went in. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the moment, since the RSA security conference had just ended.

I liked the movie. There were some quaint moments when “security jargon” was used, like when Ford typed in a router command to “black hole” traffic with an IDS pattern that showed him trying to hack the bank. I did like how a bank merger threatened the security he had spent 20 years building for the bank.

I swung (not literally) by McDonald’s and shoved some greasy meat down my gullet before going to see Norm MacDonald. I got to the Improv an hour early, so I ordered a really big beer. There were two good warm-up comedians before Norm. Norm started with his traditional mumbling about this and that, and got into a bit about not wanting to die that became his main theme for another hour, until the management let him know he had to wrap up. I think he could have gone on another hour or two. Anytime he is in the Quad Cities, he’s welcome to come over and have a few beers and hang out and ramble with me. I’ve never been to a comedy club before, and this was a lot of fun.

On the way up in the elevator, I asked about a large group of college kids. I saw some doing Statistical Mechanics the other night. Turns out there is a Black and Hispanic Physics Students meeting at the hotel. I remember reading about that, now that I am reminded. That’s pretty cool. Usually large gatherings of college students is related to some sports event, and there is a tennis open in town – but, these were all physics majors. The girl I met in the elevator was a Physics/Math double-major. Ah, those were the days! (Just ask Ray!)

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