Hans Cathcart’s Homepage

From time to time my brain wanders and I think about Pay It Forward, the Catherine Ryan Hyde novel which was turned into a film staring Haley Joel Osment. The story left an indelible impression on me, no doubt because of Osment’s remarkable performance. So when I stumbled upon Tom Kyzivat’s Helium animation on Adobe’s Flash On showcase site, the story reminded me of the novel again. Tom is a remarkably talented young artist, and I’m sure we’ll see much of him as his career develops. Helium is sweet and fabulous, and SnowMitch vs SlushMel has a pretty amusing commentary on movie fight scenes.

I’m finally back in the Bay Area again for a well-deserved vacation, and am looking forward to catching up with all my good friends. I already almost shot Fiid out of the sky, but he managed to maneuver his plane out of the path of my missiles. While over at Jamie and Kim’s place I got into deep philosophical discussions again about technology and the world in general. Kim turned me onto this remarkable book called “Material World: A Global Family Portrait” which contrasts the life-styles of peoples from around the world. Captivating book.

If you could, what superhero power would you like to have? Given my proclivity towards aviation you can probably guess may answer. But, after reading Daniel Gilbert’s “Stumbling on Happiness” and listening to his talk at TED, I wouldn’t choose flying any longer. I’d choose something no superhero or normal person has ever asked for, but after considering the facts you might choose “being able to better control what you think about” yourself. I’ve lost you haven’t I. Gilbert, a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, together with another colleague conveys some really interesting thoughts on what our brains are doing when we’re doing nothing or when we’re thinking about the future. I just finished reading Gilbert’s book and it really does add an interesting spin on a lot of the things I’ve been thinking about over the past two years. If you had already read the book you’d be saying to yourself that you should really trust my advice over your own.