Friday, July 8, 2011

Friday Bits of Tid - End of the Shuttle Era Edition

It's about three hours until liftoff as I type this and I have the NASA channel on in the background. Shuttle launches are always interesting for a space geek like me, but this one is sad as it's the last Shuttle flight ever. Living where I do, I can walk out the front door and see it live. But it's really cloudy, so I might not be able to see today's launch.

It's unfortunate that what was once a vital area of federally funded research and development has been fundamentally transformed into something far less than it was originally intended. It's one of the few government programs that has earned its keep, so to speak, as the tax money that was generated from the spinoffs paid for the costs many times over. Also sad is that the agency which once pursued the best and brightest engineers and technicians in America has been reduced to a muslim outreach agency by this most anti-American administration.

So much for dancing on my soapbox this morning. I wish the crew Godspeed and His Protection.

Someone remind me to recall for you my adolescence spent in Huntsville, AL and later working at Marshall Space Flight Center. Good geeky times.

Oh, well, it's time for some Low Earth Orbit tidding.

While we're on the subject of flight, this is a welcome development. It's about time we finally got our flying car after all these years. Dear Santa, I've been a really good Boy this year...

And on the other end of the technological spectrum, there's this: Mother Nature's lawnmowers.

Halt! Or I'll shoot a fade shot over these trees and onto the fairway.

A boob on wheels. And, no, it's not the guy behind you in traffic.

Duckling tape.

From David Thompson comes this fascinating video. I hope your computer has the display capacity to enjoy all the high definition goodness. The music is also pretty cool.


Team Ghost - High Hopes from 16ar on Vimeo.


David's Friday Ephemera is full of interesting links, from which I filched these also...

Who knew Marlon Brando was a conga player and also worked on a unique way to tune the head?

So this is what happens when I hit my cymbals, huh?



And this is what happens when I play my bass...

And finally, here's Halo, the pool playing dog.



Now go fetch me a beer. Good dog!

Y'all have a good weekend, y'all.

1 comment:

Ima Wurdibitsch said...

This is getting to be seriously one of those "it's a small world" kind of things. I used to work at MSFC. I taught at the HOSC.