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#tookmeaminute

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See You Again

(A short piece I wrote awhile back.  Because it’s been long enough)

In the streetlight-glow of an otherwise empty road, Dom swung into step next to Brian.  Even though it had been years since the two had met, they walked in tandem, in a comfortable silence.  Some rhythms a person never forgets.  Ahead was the muted sounds of a crowd, of engines, of music-- their street home.   Where they belonged.

Uncharacteristically, it was Dom who broke the silence.  “You think I needed an escort to find this race?”

Brian laughed.  To anyone else it would have been a straight challenge, the assumption of the naked aggression a well-muscled, very large man inspired.  But Brian knew Dom better than that, knew him from a hundred backyard dinners and a thousand engine-filled nights.  He heard the lurking amusement and friendship laying beneath.

“Nah, man, but I called in a few favors to be the one to meet you.  Spend a few minutes here first.” Brian looked sideways then, not bothering to hide the frank appraisal, or the obvious appreciation.  “I've been watching you. Pretty much from then til now.”  

When all he got was a glance, a raised eyebrow and a laconic “Yeah?” he laughed happily.  Same old Dominic Toretto.  Always would be, Brian suspected.

“Good job.”

It was Dom's turn to look over and let his eyes take in Brian's form, lean and young and glowing as the day Mia had told them she was first pregnant.  The only response Brian got to that comment was a low, noncommittal noise, but it seemed to suffice.

The crowd was just around the corner now.  They had cars waiting, and friends, the surety that all their family were safe and loved.  Afterward there would be a gathering at one home or another, full of beer and television and friendly disagreements, and if Dom's body was laying in some far away street, growing cold, pierced with more than one bullet hole, well, it just didn't seem to matter.

Now there was Brian, and a race, and some of those rhythms a person never does forget.

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Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi | Entertainment Weekly stills

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Hot damn

Miss Nora Kerin, edwardian stage actress. 1907

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Except the last one should be bigger...

Damn Straight

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While we’re all waiting for our cephalopod overlords to arrive, a giant steel kraken has taken up residence on the floor of the Caribbean sea. This fantastic 80-foot metal beast is part of a project entitled BVI Art Reef. It was deliberately sunk atop the Kodiak Queen, a decorated WWII fuel barge, in effort to stimulate the development of a new coral ecosystem and, in turn, create a new marine research and education center.

The Kodiak Queen, formerly a Navy fuel barge named the YO-44, was discovered by British photographer Owen Buggy approximately two and a half years ago on the island of Tortola. Instead of letting the historic vessel get picked apart for scrap metal, Buggy approached former boss Sir Richard Branson about collaborating on a restorative art installation. Together with nonprofit Unite B.V.I., artist group Secret Samurai Productions, social justice entrepreneurial group Maverick1000, and ocean education nonprofit Beneath the Waves, the project was established as both an eco-friendly art installation, and a philanthropic measure to rehabilitate native marine species.

Filmmaker Rob Sorrenti is currently creating a documentary about the construction and subsequent sinking of the kraken and the Kodiak Queen. The film is due out ealt next year, but you can watch a clip here:

Head over to Colossal to learn more about this awesome project.

[via Colossal]

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Not too many admin assistants can say "follow up on dead pigs" is on their to do list. #mylifeissoweird

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Best idea since the shuttle Enterprise.

(via NASA channels ‘Stars Wars’ for its 2017 ISS mission patch)

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Finally I understood “Schrödinger’s cat”. 😂

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Camouflage ftw

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Cover art by Shouko Hamada.

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A tiny Castiel is passing through to say hello! Reblog this tiny Cas so he can travel all over

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Dr. Greene gave a free public talk here last week (Burlington, Iowa), as he went to high school here. Given his attitude and excitement, it is absolutely unsurprising he responded to this young man's letter. NASA is still one of the most welcoming and joy filled organizations in America.

Jack, the Guardian of the Galaxy, in his track to NASA. Adorable, isn’t he?

Via NASA Solar System and Beyond

Picture caption: Letters exchanged between NASA and space enthusiast Jack Davis, a fourth-grade student in New Jersey. Credits: NASA

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So much silent commentary