There are any number of ways to write memorials, and I can certainly take the time reminisce about where I was and how I remember hearing about the Challenger exploding... twenty-two years ago.
However, I am blessed to have a friend... she's been a good friend for well over a year now. And, of note to me... she was the voice of NASA that morning.
So, I'm going to link to her memory of that day.
Lest we forget... progress is never without a price. And the lessons of safety are always written in blood.
29 January 2008
27 January 2008
Ad Astra per Aspera
On 27 January 1967, America lost its first astronauts in a spacecraft. In a test. There was supposed to be no risk - there wasn't even fuel in the rocket!
And yet, in less than fifteen seconds, a violent fire snuffed out some of America's brave explorers - Gus Grissom, Ed White (first American spacewalker), and Roger Chaffee.
I think it's important that we remember a quote from Gus Grissom, "If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
And yet, in less than fifteen seconds, a violent fire snuffed out some of America's brave explorers - Gus Grissom, Ed White (first American spacewalker), and Roger Chaffee.
I think it's important that we remember a quote from Gus Grissom, "If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
26 January 2008
Crazy Highway Planning in North Carolina
While driving through North Carolina, I observed a highway design unlike any I'd seen before.
I'm familiar with the standard right-hand merge and the right-hand exit. I'm also familiar with the rare left-hand exit. Sometimes, it's just necessary.
What I've never seen before, and am flabbergasted that I saw at all, is the left-hand MERGE.
Who's bright idea is this?! Merging is the process of building up the speed of traffic joining the flow of the interstate. Common sense dictates bringing this slower traffic into the slower lanes - traditionally the right lanes.
The left lanes are for the fastest moving traffic So, who I the genius who thought that merging slow traffic into the fastest moving flow would be a safe, and wise, idea?
Just curious...
I'm familiar with the standard right-hand merge and the right-hand exit. I'm also familiar with the rare left-hand exit. Sometimes, it's just necessary.
What I've never seen before, and am flabbergasted that I saw at all, is the left-hand MERGE.
Who's bright idea is this?! Merging is the process of building up the speed of traffic joining the flow of the interstate. Common sense dictates bringing this slower traffic into the slower lanes - traditionally the right lanes.
The left lanes are for the fastest moving traffic So, who I the genius who thought that merging slow traffic into the fastest moving flow would be a safe, and wise, idea?
Just curious...
23 January 2008
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007
I'm torn.
There are two bills before Congress, a House of Representatives version and a Senate version, titled the "Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007.
Essentially, and to spare you the legalese in the bills (though I always encourage you to read the bills - unlike our actual lawmakers), it mandates that patients not be sent home from the hospital less than forty-eight hours after a mastectomy is performed.
I remember with Ellicia how happy we were that the Germans held her for quite a few days to ensure everything worked out ok... Mastectomies are MAJOR surgery.
Easy vote. Of course, patients shouldn't be sent home and it's sad that they are.
And I wish, really wish, that such a vote wasn't necessary.
Why am I torn? Because it goes against my beliefs of having the government tell the private sector (and insurance companies are private companies whom we hire to provide a service to us - namely, insurance) how their business should be run.
It's against my core beliefs.
Sigh.
What I feel, essentially, becomes a classic Liberal versus Conservative argument. On the Liberal side, I feel that it should be voted for. These women NEED to stay longer in the hospital to ensure their surgeries go well.
On the Conservative side, I don't want government meddling and mandating the business rules.
So, let's draw a compromise here. Attention insurance companies - here is a MARKET OPPORTUNITY. Differentiate yourself from your competitors by offering better mastectomy care. Customers, especially women at risk, and those who love them, will flock to your company.
Don't make government legislate the morality of good care. Do it on your own.
(Sad note - one of the House bills - HR 119 - was introduced by Rep. Jo Ann Davis, of the 1st Congressional District of Virginia. She passed away last year - from cancer.)
There are two bills before Congress, a House of Representatives version and a Senate version, titled the "Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007.
Essentially, and to spare you the legalese in the bills (though I always encourage you to read the bills - unlike our actual lawmakers), it mandates that patients not be sent home from the hospital less than forty-eight hours after a mastectomy is performed.
I remember with Ellicia how happy we were that the Germans held her for quite a few days to ensure everything worked out ok... Mastectomies are MAJOR surgery.
Easy vote. Of course, patients shouldn't be sent home and it's sad that they are.
And I wish, really wish, that such a vote wasn't necessary.
Why am I torn? Because it goes against my beliefs of having the government tell the private sector (and insurance companies are private companies whom we hire to provide a service to us - namely, insurance) how their business should be run.
It's against my core beliefs.
Sigh.
What I feel, essentially, becomes a classic Liberal versus Conservative argument. On the Liberal side, I feel that it should be voted for. These women NEED to stay longer in the hospital to ensure their surgeries go well.
On the Conservative side, I don't want government meddling and mandating the business rules.
So, let's draw a compromise here. Attention insurance companies - here is a MARKET OPPORTUNITY. Differentiate yourself from your competitors by offering better mastectomy care. Customers, especially women at risk, and those who love them, will flock to your company.
Don't make government legislate the morality of good care. Do it on your own.
(Sad note - one of the House bills - HR 119 - was introduced by Rep. Jo Ann Davis, of the 1st Congressional District of Virginia. She passed away last year - from cancer.)
21 January 2008
A Christmas Present
As some of you may know, I am a huge Star Trek fan.
For any number of reasons, Star Trek has always excited me. It's vision of the future, not to mention the technical qualities - the writing, the music, the acting - even Shatner's overacting defines Kirk, and the depth of the story lines.
And do you want to know my favorite character? The one whom every time she (there's a hint) appears onscreen, makes my heart race into an excited pitter-patter?
The USS Enterprise. She is a beauty of a ship, with some of the finest lines I can imagine, and am quite pleased that some forty plus years ago, someone did.
After a bit of a drought, there is a new Star Trek movie coming out. Christmas Day of this year.
The studio is scrapping the Next Generation plot lines, and returning to the beginning - well, not the full beginning, but the beginning of the Kirk, Spock, et al, saga.
Watch the trailer, below. If you'd like to see a really great high-definition version, you can go to this website. Click on "Watch in HD".
You've seen my other posts, and know what stirs me... so, imagine this video with the Enterprise being built... and we start with the narratives of America's first forays into space... and then Leonard Nimoy comes in with the famous words...
Oh my.
Oh my, oh my.
Santa's bringing a very special present this year.
For any number of reasons, Star Trek has always excited me. It's vision of the future, not to mention the technical qualities - the writing, the music, the acting - even Shatner's overacting defines Kirk, and the depth of the story lines.
And do you want to know my favorite character? The one whom every time she (there's a hint) appears onscreen, makes my heart race into an excited pitter-patter?
The USS Enterprise. She is a beauty of a ship, with some of the finest lines I can imagine, and am quite pleased that some forty plus years ago, someone did.
After a bit of a drought, there is a new Star Trek movie coming out. Christmas Day of this year.
The studio is scrapping the Next Generation plot lines, and returning to the beginning - well, not the full beginning, but the beginning of the Kirk, Spock, et al, saga.
Watch the trailer, below. If you'd like to see a really great high-definition version, you can go to this website. Click on "Watch in HD".
You've seen my other posts, and know what stirs me... so, imagine this video with the Enterprise being built... and we start with the narratives of America's first forays into space... and then Leonard Nimoy comes in with the famous words...
Oh my.
Oh my, oh my.
Santa's bringing a very special present this year.
18 January 2008
New Commercial for the United States Marine Corps
This is for the Marines (I'm looking at you, David). The branch of the military that not only has one of the largest collective egos, but the capability and reputation to back it up is the United States Marine Corps.
They also have, hands down, the best dress uniform for the enlisted. Why, oh WHY, the Army still can't figure ours out is beyond me.
Anywho, they just produced a new commercial. We've seen some good and... well, some not so good ones over the years, but this one... it's impressive like the "Army Strong" series.
Take a look:
They also have, hands down, the best dress uniform for the enlisted. Why, oh WHY, the Army still can't figure ours out is beyond me.
Anywho, they just produced a new commercial. We've seen some good and... well, some not so good ones over the years, but this one... it's impressive like the "Army Strong" series.
Take a look:
Beautiful - What We Don't See
(h/t to M*A, but more ultimately, to A)
Lyrics:
The imagery is intense and poetic. The lyrics, well, they say it well. So, I think I'll just end here.
Lyrics:
Everybody knows we live in a world
Where they give bad names to beautiful things
Everybody knows we live in a world
Where we don't give beautiful things a second glance
Heaven only knows we live in a world
Where what we call beautiful is just something on sale
People laughing behind their hands
As the fragile and the sensitive are given no chance
And the leaves turn from red to brown
To be trodden down
To be trodden down
And the leaves turn from red to brown
Fall to the ground
Fall to the ground
We don't have to live in a world
Where we give bad names to beautiful things
We should live in a beautiful world
We should give beautiful a second chance
And the leaves fall from red to brown
To be trodden down
Trodden down
And the leaves turn green to red to brown
Fall to the ground
And get kicked around
You strong enough to be
Have you the courage to be
Have you the faith to be
Honest enough to stay
Don't have to be the same
Don't have to be this way
C'mon and sign your name
You wild enough to remain beautiful?
Beautiful
And the leaves turn from red to brown
To be trodden down
Trodden down
And we fall green to red to brown
Fall to the ground
But we can turn it around
You strong enough to be
Why don't you stand up and say
Give yourself a break
They'll laugh at you anyway
So why don't you stand up and be
Beautiful
Black, white, red, gold, and brown
We're stuck in this world
Nowhere to go
Turnin' around
What are you so afraid of?
Show us what you're made of
Be yourself and be beautiful
Beautiful
The imagery is intense and poetic. The lyrics, well, they say it well. So, I think I'll just end here.
When the Flag Goes Down
(h/t to M*A, who h/t'ed Tanker Brothers, who h/t'ed Blackfive. A few more, and we'll almost be six degrees from Kevin Bacon!)
I just wrote about my experience when the flag went down on Langley AFB. Here's another perspective:
Robin Williams was recently in the Middle East. He's doing his act, entertaining the troops...
And then, RETREAT sounds... (no, it's not what the Democrats and liberals would like us to do. Retreat is the end of the day bugle call which lets us know that it's time for the flag to come down.
Watch the Soldiers. And Robin Williams... who's thrown a little for a loop (I'm not sure if he's truly unaware of what's going on... think he's a little wiser and in the know than most people give credit) is very respectful.
Thought I'd share.
I just wrote about my experience when the flag went down on Langley AFB. Here's another perspective:
Robin Williams was recently in the Middle East. He's doing his act, entertaining the troops...
And then, RETREAT sounds... (no, it's not what the Democrats and liberals would like us to do. Retreat is the end of the day bugle call which lets us know that it's time for the flag to come down.
Watch the Soldiers. And Robin Williams... who's thrown a little for a loop (I'm not sure if he's truly unaware of what's going on... think he's a little wiser and in the know than most people give credit) is very respectful.
Thought I'd share.
Refreshing experience
Took my still unsold Explorer to Langley AFB today to let it sit on their Lemon Lot... Unfortunately, God having only blessed me with one body, I needed a cab back to my van.
Tried calling cab company I know, but they're not allowed on the base. Fine, I'll meet them at the gate... Only about a 2 mile walk. I'm tired, but... Army Strong! Hooah!
Start walking. I don't wear a watch, so I'm oblivious to the time. Am walking on a sidewalk alongside the VERY busy main boulevard off base.
Then I catch it... Barely. Bugle. Quick check of the cell phone clock... 1700 (Angela, you can do it!)... Flag!
Quickly come to a halt. Assume position of attention. About face. Wait. Bugle ends. I am facing 50 plus cars in front of me, staring at them. They've all just seen a Soldier stop cold, and turn around to face the flagpole... Even if their radios are thumpa-thumpin, they know... Flag!
They all come to a stop. I can sense a line behind me, as well, of the cars in the other direction. No movement.
The sun is setting directly behind me, and I am the lone person visibly standing outside...
It gets quiet as car motors turn off.
Then, I hear it... First note of "The Star-Spangled Banner". In my mind, I *hear* the command, "Present, arms!"
I salute... And hold it.
Through the whole song... Though there are times the wind carries the notes away from me, in my head, I'm singing along... So I keep my place.
One car can't hear at all.. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him start to creep, but then looks at me and sees I haven't moved a muscle.
"...and the home of the brave!" I hear the last notes. I think. Leave it to the Zoomies to through a flourish on the end.
Silence.
"Order, Arms!" goes the voice in my head... I return to attention. About face.
And I continue walking out to the gate.
2... Maybe 3 minutes out of the day but quite refreshing.
Some days, I LOVE being in uniform.
Tried calling cab company I know, but they're not allowed on the base. Fine, I'll meet them at the gate... Only about a 2 mile walk. I'm tired, but... Army Strong! Hooah!
Start walking. I don't wear a watch, so I'm oblivious to the time. Am walking on a sidewalk alongside the VERY busy main boulevard off base.
Then I catch it... Barely. Bugle. Quick check of the cell phone clock... 1700 (Angela, you can do it!)... Flag!
Quickly come to a halt. Assume position of attention. About face. Wait. Bugle ends. I am facing 50 plus cars in front of me, staring at them. They've all just seen a Soldier stop cold, and turn around to face the flagpole... Even if their radios are thumpa-thumpin, they know... Flag!
They all come to a stop. I can sense a line behind me, as well, of the cars in the other direction. No movement.
The sun is setting directly behind me, and I am the lone person visibly standing outside...
It gets quiet as car motors turn off.
Then, I hear it... First note of "The Star-Spangled Banner". In my mind, I *hear* the command, "Present, arms!"
I salute... And hold it.
Through the whole song... Though there are times the wind carries the notes away from me, in my head, I'm singing along... So I keep my place.
One car can't hear at all.. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him start to creep, but then looks at me and sees I haven't moved a muscle.
"...and the home of the brave!" I hear the last notes. I think. Leave it to the Zoomies to through a flourish on the end.
Silence.
"Order, Arms!" goes the voice in my head... I return to attention. About face.
And I continue walking out to the gate.
2... Maybe 3 minutes out of the day but quite refreshing.
Some days, I LOVE being in uniform.
07 January 2008
What a Difference a Doc Makes
We always wonder... What If?
I, and E, definitely wonder(ed) What If?
And then I read how it could have gone... I can only dream... of what might have been.
From Punk Rock Mommy:
My prayers to Andrea and her family - if I know the types of folks out there, I suspect her family has grown quite large.
I, and E, definitely wonder(ed) What If?
And then I read how it could have gone... I can only dream... of what might have been.
From Punk Rock Mommy:
People ask me to describe how I found out that I have this rare cancer. I have read awful stories on the Internet where doctors and women ignored the symptoms of IBC until it was too late. In my case I am not sure when I started to have symptoms. I feel like it may have begun during my pregnancy with Clayton. At first I noticed swelling in my left breast-actually my whole left side. It went away after Clay was born but when he was three months old I noticed the left breast was bigger, had a lot of lumps, and felt hot. I thought that all of these were symptoms of an ordinary breast infection not unlike one that any nursing mom might experience. So I used hot compresses,cabbage leaves, motrin, and eventually antibiotics. None of these relieved my symptoms which kept getting worse. I went to the E.R. at Pennsylvania Hospital on May 5th. They thought I had mastitis as well, but recommended I get an ultrasound of the breast to rule out abscesses. I took my last two finals ever on Monday6th and Tuesday7th. I felt free to focus on my health for the first time in months. I was happy and confident when I went for my ultrasound. When the Dr. remarked that he could find no abscesses, just a thickening of the breast tissue, and that he thought I should go see the breast surgeon, I knew. I asked,” Do I have cancer?”. He said,” I don’t know, but I think we should try to find out right away.” I changed back into my clothing while he made an immediate appointment for me across the street with the breast surgeon. While in the waiting room I noticed a pamphlet on Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I picked it up and read through the symptoms..doing a mental checklist…I have that, I have that, Oh man I have that too! I walked up to the Doctor and said,” I have this.” He said,” oh good you got the pamphlet.” “No, I have this cancer.” He was less convinced than me. I paced the hall for what seemed like hours but was probably more like 30 minutes. I prayed. I called my husband. I read the words..fatal,aggressive,etc. I held in my tears. I met with the surgeon. A wonderful older gentlemen. I told him that I had breast cancer. Deadly bad breast cancer. He said , “Andrea we don’t know that yet.” I said ,”I know. Well at least now I don’t have to pay back my student loans.” He laughed. From that point on I got an immediate biopsy and mammogram. All on the same day. I loved everyone I met. I decided to be nice and try to just laugh about it. Its not that I didn’t feel sad. I did to be sure. But mostly I just thought it was so cliche’. Very Lifetime television. Mom of six finally graduated from college finds out she has deadly cancer the NEXT day? Implausible. I made up a top ten list ala David Letterman. Top ten reasons its good that I have cancer. Some of them are very funny. I let myself cry only a little. I pray. And although I know that the next world is more wonderful than this one, I will hold on dearly and pray for God to let me remain here with my lovely children and wonderful husband. But I won’t be angry or bitter. Life is too short. Especially mine.
My prayers to Andrea and her family - if I know the types of folks out there, I suspect her family has grown quite large.
An Eerily Familiar Story
My mother-in-law called me tonight. She's mailing me an article she read in the local paper.
She read it to me over the telephone.
It felt like I'd heard it ALL before.
Much of it sounded as if I'd written it.
From the article in the Charleston Post & Courier:
The last line of the article struck home (as if the rest had not):
Please... I remember how uplifting E & I found all of your comments during our darkest, and not quite so dark, days. Perhaps, you can stop by and say hi to Andrea. She, like another I once knew, is a woman of indominitable spirit and charm.
Click here to zip on over.
She read it to me over the telephone.
It felt like I'd heard it ALL before.
Much of it sounded as if I'd written it.
From the article in the Charleston Post & Courier:
At her home in Fishtown, Pa., Andrea Collins Smith, inveterate hipster, South Street fixture and "Punk Rock Mommy" of the blogosphere, is speaking quickly, racing ahead like the fast-spreading cancer that will take her life.
Smith, 37, the raison d'etre for a New Year's Eve day benefit concert organized by Philadelphia's Paul Green School of Rock to raise money for her care and her family's support, has a rare and virulent form of the disease.
In May, two days after graduating with a psychology degree from Temple University and two days before Mother's Day, the mother of six, whose tattoos and piercings are too numerous to count, learned she has inflammatory breast cancer.
Stage 4. Incurable, her doctors said.
Two weeks later, she started chemotherapy: Six rounds of caustic chemicals pumped into her body, three weeks apart.
Oct. 20: Radical surgery to remove both breasts and underarm lymph nodes.
Nov. 20: The start of radiation treatments.
This month, more trouble: A CT scan revealed cancer in two vertebrae.
It wasn't there in September's tests.
"That's how fast my cancer spreads," Smith said. "That's how aggressive this cancer is."
The last line of the article struck home (as if the rest had not):
Because there is no history of cancer in Smith's family, and her strain of the disease usually hits without early warning signs, she titled her blog "Andrea Collins Smith and the Great Cancer Swindle."
Please... I remember how uplifting E & I found all of your comments during our darkest, and not quite so dark, days. Perhaps, you can stop by and say hi to Andrea. She, like another I once knew, is a woman of indominitable spirit and charm.
Click here to zip on over.
06 January 2008
Have We Lost Our Imagination?
When was the last time we had an endeavor that captured our attention?
Truthfully, less than a month ago. The New England Patriots (a professional football team in the NFL, for those not familiar) had the first undefeated season in NFL history.
Ok, it wasn't the first. It was the second. The first being the 1972 Miami Dolphins (who coincidentally came very close to having an unvictorious season this year). The Patriots were notable because this was the first sixteen game undefeated season. The 1972 Dolphins having not played sixteen games in their regular season, but fourteen. Of course, there were also two playoff games, and the Super Bowl... giving them seventeen winning games. Which, as you can see, is different than the sixteen games... or something like that.
Anywho, it was a big deal. The game was broadcast on three different networks. This was to ensure that everyone in America would have the opportunity to witness history being made.
So... before that?
Olympics?
World Cup?
America's Cup?
Presidential Elections? Nah, those sadly define apathy.
Surely there's been something...
Anyone?
Perhaps it's our quest to cure Cancer. AIDS? World Hunger? (Nope, those concerts quickly came and went in the eighties.)
Would you believe that what seems to capture our attention these days isn't success? It's failure.
Britney Spears is losing her mind, career, kids... tune in now to watch the latest. Baseball's steroid scandal. The failing of our schools. The salivating of the continuous death count of the Iraq Theater. Murders. Abductions. Virginia Tech. Even the fallacy (yes, I wrote fallacy) of Global
Warming predicates itself upon the humans failure by destroying the world, environment, children's self-esteem, and ________ insert your own item there.
What do we have to enlighten and motivate our youth?
What can we do to excite them?
Where can we find Hope for their future?
Something... um... dare I dream... positive?
In the 1960s, there was the Space Race. Space has now become a mundanity that excites few. And who can blame them? The Space Shuttle, which we are risk averse to launch after two losses over a seventeen year period, has the perception of being no more than a high-tech pick-up truck. We have the International Space Station, where a continuous human presence has been maintained for over seven years, is quickly becoming an irrelavancy to be checked off of the checklist than to be exalted. We'd once dreamed of it having seven (or more) scientists living and working aboard it using many different laboratories. It's reduced to three with fewer labs, and having taken forever to complete. It's final assembly will be the satisfaction of just finally finishing the race, not by trying to win it.
Our space program is quickly stalling out... the Shuttle is already doomed to no more flights after 2010, whether the replacement program - Constellation - is ready or not. And that continues to be scaled back, redesigned, and set up for failure much in the way the Shuttle was prior to its launch in 1981 (yes, folks, twenty-SIX years ago).
This nation... we need to find a focus. A Positive focus.
Yes, personally, I would like it to be a space focus. A new, fruitful expedition of meaningfulness.
However, we need something. Something that will light the fire of the mind of our next generations.
What do you suggest?
And just a thought, but what do our leaders suggest? Or, our potential future leaders?
Don't know? Let's ask them. And not take a shrug, or a nice form letter, as an answer.
There is more to LIFE than just marking time and waiting for the next event to come to us. It's to be savored, and to be created - We can do it. If we want to, that is.
It's time to lead us to our future, it's waiting for us.
Truthfully, less than a month ago. The New England Patriots (a professional football team in the NFL, for those not familiar) had the first undefeated season in NFL history.
Ok, it wasn't the first. It was the second. The first being the 1972 Miami Dolphins (who coincidentally came very close to having an unvictorious season this year). The Patriots were notable because this was the first sixteen game undefeated season. The 1972 Dolphins having not played sixteen games in their regular season, but fourteen. Of course, there were also two playoff games, and the Super Bowl... giving them seventeen winning games. Which, as you can see, is different than the sixteen games... or something like that.
Anywho, it was a big deal. The game was broadcast on three different networks. This was to ensure that everyone in America would have the opportunity to witness history being made.
So... before that?
Olympics?
World Cup?
America's Cup?
Presidential Elections? Nah, those sadly define apathy.
Surely there's been something...
Anyone?
Perhaps it's our quest to cure Cancer. AIDS? World Hunger? (Nope, those concerts quickly came and went in the eighties.)
Would you believe that what seems to capture our attention these days isn't success? It's failure.
Britney Spears is losing her mind, career, kids... tune in now to watch the latest. Baseball's steroid scandal. The failing of our schools. The salivating of the continuous death count of the Iraq Theater. Murders. Abductions. Virginia Tech. Even the fallacy (yes, I wrote fallacy) of Global
Warming predicates itself upon the humans failure by destroying the world, environment, children's self-esteem, and ________ insert your own item there.
What do we have to enlighten and motivate our youth?
What can we do to excite them?
Where can we find Hope for their future?
Something... um... dare I dream... positive?
In the 1960s, there was the Space Race. Space has now become a mundanity that excites few. And who can blame them? The Space Shuttle, which we are risk averse to launch after two losses over a seventeen year period, has the perception of being no more than a high-tech pick-up truck. We have the International Space Station, where a continuous human presence has been maintained for over seven years, is quickly becoming an irrelavancy to be checked off of the checklist than to be exalted. We'd once dreamed of it having seven (or more) scientists living and working aboard it using many different laboratories. It's reduced to three with fewer labs, and having taken forever to complete. It's final assembly will be the satisfaction of just finally finishing the race, not by trying to win it.
Our space program is quickly stalling out... the Shuttle is already doomed to no more flights after 2010, whether the replacement program - Constellation - is ready or not. And that continues to be scaled back, redesigned, and set up for failure much in the way the Shuttle was prior to its launch in 1981 (yes, folks, twenty-SIX years ago).
This nation... we need to find a focus. A Positive focus.
Yes, personally, I would like it to be a space focus. A new, fruitful expedition of meaningfulness.
However, we need something. Something that will light the fire of the mind of our next generations.
What do you suggest?
And just a thought, but what do our leaders suggest? Or, our potential future leaders?
Don't know? Let's ask them. And not take a shrug, or a nice form letter, as an answer.
There is more to LIFE than just marking time and waiting for the next event to come to us. It's to be savored, and to be created - We can do it. If we want to, that is.
It's time to lead us to our future, it's waiting for us.
05 January 2008
More Than Just Rocks
One thing I've often heard about the Apollo Moon Expeditions is "Well, all they did was bring back a bunch of rocks."
I'm going to avoid going into that discussion about "just rocks".
I would like to share one of the more memorable moments, though.
It proved, after hundreds of years, in a way that could not be done on Earth, that Galileo was right - that his foresight and knowledge were on target.
Dave Scott from Apollo 15:
I'm going to avoid going into that discussion about "just rocks".
I would like to share one of the more memorable moments, though.
It proved, after hundreds of years, in a way that could not be done on Earth, that Galileo was right - that his foresight and knowledge were on target.
Dave Scott from Apollo 15:
Bringing History to Life
It is true. One of my absolute passions is flying. And one of the pinnacles of that has been mankind's journey into the vastness of space.
Star Trek's immortal mantra had it right: "Space, the Final Frontier..."
In the 1960's, our technology, our abilities... our imagination made "giant leaps" forward - accelerating our knowledge, our understanding... of both ourselves, our home, and our universe.
We are rapidly approaching that time being a half a century ago. Already, we've passed the fifty year mark for the launch of Sputnik, the first object to orbit the Earth.
And with the passage of Time, the nuances of history begin to fade to dust. The STORY gets shorter and shorter until it will finally be just a paragraph (or Less!) in a history book.
But it's the STORY that makes the adventure so compelling. It's the STORY that makes the experience, the why we did what we did... and why we must continue.
I am voraciously aborbing as many texts that tell the nuances of the story. Whether it's Andrew Chaikin's A Man On the Moon, Gene Kranz's Failure is Not An Option, Jim Lovell's, Lost Moon, and innumerable more..., the story is compelling.
And I am happy for Tom Hanks. He saw that the story needed to be told. And he backed a project that stepped away from the headlines, and told the story... the texture that makes it interesting. That which makes the story compelling. As we would have once gathered around the campfire, mesmerized by tales of might and wonder... so are we compelled to gather again.
I encourage you to seek out and find (alright, I'd buy it - as you should have a copy) of "From the Earth to the Moon" (available at Amazon.com, and other fine retailers).
This twelve part miniseries from HBO is of impeccable quality, and attention to detail; it seeks to tell The Story.
To give you a taste, here is the opening sequence.
You'll note the music from an earlier post... It's stirring, and moving... and my Heart quivers whenever I hear it.
(If you're a space buff, see how many of the images you can identify.)
Star Trek's immortal mantra had it right: "Space, the Final Frontier..."
In the 1960's, our technology, our abilities... our imagination made "giant leaps" forward - accelerating our knowledge, our understanding... of both ourselves, our home, and our universe.
We are rapidly approaching that time being a half a century ago. Already, we've passed the fifty year mark for the launch of Sputnik, the first object to orbit the Earth.
And with the passage of Time, the nuances of history begin to fade to dust. The STORY gets shorter and shorter until it will finally be just a paragraph (or Less!) in a history book.
But it's the STORY that makes the adventure so compelling. It's the STORY that makes the experience, the why we did what we did... and why we must continue.
I am voraciously aborbing as many texts that tell the nuances of the story. Whether it's Andrew Chaikin's A Man On the Moon, Gene Kranz's Failure is Not An Option, Jim Lovell's, Lost Moon, and innumerable more..., the story is compelling.
And I am happy for Tom Hanks. He saw that the story needed to be told. And he backed a project that stepped away from the headlines, and told the story... the texture that makes it interesting. That which makes the story compelling. As we would have once gathered around the campfire, mesmerized by tales of might and wonder... so are we compelled to gather again.
I encourage you to seek out and find (alright, I'd buy it - as you should have a copy) of "From the Earth to the Moon" (available at Amazon.com, and other fine retailers).
This twelve part miniseries from HBO is of impeccable quality, and attention to detail; it seeks to tell The Story.
To give you a taste, here is the opening sequence.
You'll note the music from an earlier post... It's stirring, and moving... and my Heart quivers whenever I hear it.
(If you're a space buff, see how many of the images you can identify.)
An Amazing Motivational Speech
In 1962, at a speech at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech which is a stunning example of motivation, and oratory.
I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
(At the end of the clip...)
I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
(At the end of the clip...)
There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
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