The kids started building it a few days back, but when we pulled it out today, I was Very Not Happy with the less than perfect assembly methods. I mean, this thing has to roll on MARS. We can't half a$$ it, for Pete's sake!
And so, I made them rip it apart and start over. That's what kind of power you wield when you're mission director. :)
COSMOS WATCH: Last night was the long-awaited premier of the new incarnation of "Cosmos" on prime time television.
We gathered 'round our TV and enjoyed every minute of it.
If you missed the show, you can see a replay here: here: http://www.fox.com/watch/183733315515
During the show, Neil deGrasse Tyson (NdGT) was great about trying to frame things in ways we common folk could remember. For instance, he talked about how Earth was in a solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy, in a local group in the Virgo Super Cluster in the observable universe.
"Mom, write that down!" CJ called from the couch. And because the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, I immediately responded, "I already did!" :)
I found myself getting a bit foggy eyed at the end of the show, when NdGT shared his connection with Carl Sagan. And he declared, "You, me, everyone we are made of star stuff ... we're all descended from astronomers." AMEN!
All in all, "Cosmos" was astounding. We can't wait for next week!! "A community of minds, our journey is just beginning," NdGT promises. We're all in for the journey1
The kids each remarked today how much they enjoyed the show and asked when it would be on again. Yay, science!
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER: "The Music of The Beatles" class we're taking continues to be pure joy.
Lectures we listed to this morning were about The Beatles circa 1967. That year, a double A-side single was released with Paul's "Penny Lane," a main street in Liverpool, where he grew up, and John's "Strawberry Fields Forever" (about a park John used to play in as a child). The cuts originally were going to be part of an album of songs about the groups' childhood memories, but that got shelved and Sgt. Peppers ended up being the next album they produced.
The video for "Strawberry Fields" is like a time capsule. We dug the state-of-the-art special effects employed in it.
While watching it, Annabelle said, "He has Harry Potter glasses," of John. I told her it was the other way around. ;) John had those glasses first.
I asked the kids to write a paragraph about what they thought one line from Strawberry Fields meant: "Living is easy with eyes closed,."
Here was CJ's take: "Living is easy with eyes closed". We've all heard that line, but what does it mean? As far as I know, I think it means that imagination has greater abilities than reality does. Tell me, is it easier to travel to the nearest strawberry field by getting in that auto of yours, or by closing your eyes and imagining the fields there? Exactly. It's easier doing the latter!
Annabelle's interpretation: Living is easy with eyes closed...what does that mean?
I believe it may mean that when you close your eyes, it's easy to imagine that say, your brother is now an octopus. Anything can be anything. A couch can be a book. your headphones, snakes. Nothing limits you. heck, you can even imagine yourself as a dragon! You can be what you want to be. everything around you can be what you want, where you want. You can be Godzilla in Tokyo. or NYC. or Seattle! Anytime. anywhere. anything. that is how "living is easy with eyes closed."
Being my old jaded self, I thought the line to be about how easy it is to go through life being ignorant and not caring to educate oneself, because that's too much work. I think I like the kids' takes better. :)
The Beatles in 1967 were living "The Summer of Love." Ironically, their big hit single that summer was "All You Need is Love." As we listened to it, Annabelle noticed, "They snuck in part of their other song," when "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah," was repeated a couple of times near the end.
The video is great - Beatles in full Sgt. Pepper-era satin jackets, an orchestra, a bunch of flower power people in studio. Imagine our surprise upon spotting a very young Mick Jagger in the group around the 2:40 mark.
Last night, we checked out some of the YouTube videos of our Beatles' class professor's band. Our prof, John Covach, is on guitar, stage right, viewer's left. This cover version of a Yes song is really great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOfExc_2VjE&feature=share&list=PL171303DB77148683
DESCENDING: Early evening, we watched the descent of a Soyuz capsule returning to Earth. The video of the descent of the capsule, Expedition 38 (Mike Hopkins, Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy), from the ISS was remarkable. Gorgeous, GORGEOUS shots of the tiny spacecraft, with three astronauts on board, dropping down toward home.
Here's a horribly blurry screen capture ... doesn't do the video justice. (photos credit: NASA)
At about 8:24 our time, the spacecraft touched down,. and we watched the recovery efforts. They landed safe and sound, in a snowy field.
With your eyes closed you can kid yourself that it is not what it is.
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