#david went astronomically

[hella1975]

ive looped yerushalayim by the miami boys choir and im FINALLY finishing unpacking my room this is a very very niche vibe but im enjoying it

[evignonita]

Random headcanons: Curious-Hogleg siblings ver. 💥💥

Names:

-Jenny's full name is Jenny Mary (Smith) Curious Hogleg, common ass name for a queen, she didn't want to burn her neurons by choosing her name.

-Pascal's full name is Pascal Galileo Curious Hogleg, he chose his name himself because 🏳️‍⚧️ and I feel that Pascal loves the names of famous astronomers and scientists in general, that's why Tycho is called Tycho, for Tycho Brahe.

-Vidcund's full name is Vidcund Charles Curious Hogleg because of Charles Darwin... Glarn named him.

-Lazlo's full name is Lazlo Johannes Curious Hogleg because I don't remember why, I think I read it somewhere and I liked it. Kitty named him.

Height (cm):

Jenny is 176 cm tall; Pascal is 163 cm tall; Vidcund is 178 cm tall; Lazlo is 175 cm tall. The shorty siblings

Age (2004) and birthdays:

-Jenny is 43 years old, she was born on May 16, 1961, Twinbrook, Simnation. (*)

-Pascal is 30 years old, he was born on October 30, 1974, Strangetown, Simnation.

-Vidcund is 29 years old, he was born on November 3, 1975, Strangetown, Simnation.

-Lazlo is 23 years old, he was born on December 11, 1981, Strangetown, Simnation.

(*) I'm not entirely sure about Jenny's age.

Sexual orientation and identity:

-Jenny is a pansexual panromantic trans woman.

-Pascal is an asexual biromantic trans man.

-Vidcund is a demisexual biromantic cis man.

-Lazlo is a bisexual biromantic cis man.

Personality (MBTI and enneagram):

-Jenny: ESFJ 2w3

-Pascal: INTP 5w4

-Vidcund: ISTJ 8w7

-Lazlo: ENFP 4w3

Random data:

-Jenny loves listening to the Backstreet Boys, when she lived with her brothers she always listened to them; Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo pretended to hate the musical group, but occasionally hummed their songs.

-Jenny distanced herself from her siblings and family in general because Glarn did not accept her relationship with Pol Smith, she never understood why (and that's why the Curious brothers and her don't have such a high relationship).

-Jenny taught Vidcund about botany.

-Pascal knows how to play piano (basic), write and draw, when he doesn't do anything, he feels stressed. He is a bit pretentious, but because he was only flattered as a child for his achievements, as he grew up he learned to be calmer and control his ego.

-Pascal was Glarn's golden child.

-Pascal wanted to study psychology, but he knew that he was going to excel more in physics.

-Pascal wears retainers for his teeth at night.

-Vidcund wore braces throughout his childhood and teen ages, he used orthodontics until adulthood, and he had to use them again because he never used his retainers and his teeth returned to how they were before.

-Vidcund bleaches his hair, eyebrows and beard, his natural hair color is black.

-Vidcund went unnoticed by his parents (the curse of the middle child).

-Lazlo loves monkeys because he and Kitty watched Animal Planet together, also because Kitty was a biologist and brought pictures with images of chimpanzees and monkeys just for Lazlo.

-Lazlo has a good relationship with Sinjin because Sinjin took care of him as a child when Glarn and Kitty asked him to (Sinjin and Jenny are the same age).

-Jenny, Pascal and Vidcund can speak Tagalog, Lazlo never learned the language and sometimes his siblings use it to their advantage.

Songs that give me vibes to them:

-Jenny: Cementerio Club - Pescado Rabioso (because of the green color of the album cover); Estación - Sui Generis; Lovesong - The Cure.

-Pascal: Lago en el Cielo - Gustavo Cerati; Mil Horas - Los abuelos de la Nada; Starman - David Bowie.

-Vidcund: Devuélveme a mi chica - Hombres G; A estos hombres tristes - Almendra; Smells like teen spirit - Nirvana; Heart of Glass - Blondie.

-Lazlo: Salir de la Melancolía - Serú Girán; Lobo hombre en París - La Unión; Blue - Eiffel 65.

I would like to add more things but😏🛌💤

[cazzyf1]

Some of my favourite quotes from David Benson's 'Hunt v Lauda'

'He was nursing a toy yellow-eyed gorilla which made alarming noises and clapped a pair of cymbals attached to its hand.

"Whats with the gorilla?"

James looked tired. "It's called smiler. Alistair and Teddy gave it to me to celebrate my championship."

Teddy smiled benignly: "The gorilla was not very popular in first-class lounge I'm afraid."

"No," said James, "and they wouldn't let me blow my whistle either." He produced a police whistle and blew it.' - p7

"When we boarded the plane, he (James Hunt) insisted on joining mechanics in touring class until the lights were turned down for passengers to sleep." - p8

"Niki had always wanted to marry Mariella but she had refused to do so until he had become world champion." - p21

"The unsuspecting young actress Marlene Knaus was going to endure a trial that few women, even with a tremendously experienced and well-founded background, could have endured." - p21

"I telephoned James Hunt in Johannesburg where he is preparing for the South African Grand Prix. He told me, "I have been in daily contact with Susy and am fully informed about what is going on. I wouldn't stop her getting a divorce. I am trying to help her as much as I can so that she makes the right decisions. Obviously if she wanted to come back to me, I would help her do that." - p40

"I walked out of the dinning-room to an annexe alongside it, and sitting in the corner with a lady I didn't know was Niki Lauda; he smiled and asked a Carol and me to join him for a cup of coffee. He introduced the girl alongside him very simply, "This is my lady," She was, of course, Marlene Knaus, a very beautiful girl, with her hair in a rather severe style, brushed back, and a bun on the top of her head. We had a long chat about seat belts - both were empathetically in favour (that evening the house of commons in the UK were debating on making seatbelts in cars compulsory) - but the important thing was that I established a friendly relationship with Marlene when other people on the racing circuit cold-shouldered her, thinking she was merely some local pick-up. In fact, she and Niki were planning to get married as soon as they flew back from South Africa." - p44

"The main topic of conversation was the break-up of the long relationship between Niki Lauda and Mariella. Helen (Stewart) offered, with the best possible intentions, to get in touch with both Mariella and Niki is necessary to heal the breach. Having seen how close Niki and Marlene were in South Africa, I doubted if this were possible. As it turned out, a day after we had our discussion in Nina's home, Niki went quietly to a register office near Vienna and married Marlene." - p47

"He tried awfully hard not to hurt me." - (Susy about James) - p58

"James was standing right alongside me. Tears welling in his eyes. "It's stupid," he said, "It does not affect the performance of the car or make it any faster. Not even the Ferrari team protested and they were the ones who have the most to win..." - p62

"It was in triumph, therefore, that Hunt, six weeks before his 29th birthday, left for Britain in preparation for the John Player Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. With good humour and in high spirits, he took part in an event before the race and revealed another facet in his talents. It was at the Albert Hall at the Grand Prix Night of the Stars, a concert in aid of the Graham Hill Memorial Fund. The hall was packed with evening-suited celebrities who had paid up to £500 for a private box. Hunt was introduced by astronomer Patrick Moore who had just done a soft-shoe shuffle. Suddenly, Moore reached for a trumpet left behind on the bandstand by Chris Barber, who had done an earlier turn. "You're supposed to be good at blowing your own trumpet," he said, "so try this one." The audience dutifully laughed expecting a knockabout comedy turn. But Hunt took the trumpet, the studio band started to play and Hunt's clear, clean notes echoed through the vast auditorium. It was a memorable moment. When the audience realised that Hunt was playing for real, they roared their approval and then sat in silence as James plaved like a professional. Hunt's brother, Peter told me later: "I had a hell of a job convincing the BBC, who were recording the show, that James really was a good enough trumpet player to perform on TV. He learned to play at about 12 or 13 when he was at Wellington. He was in the school orchestra and the school band and played solo at concerts. Stuart Turner, Public Affairs Director of Ford of Britain, had a box at the Albert Hall. He turned to me after Hunt had finished his solo and said: "Now I have seen everything: James Hunt playing the trumpet at the Albert Hall we'll have Niki Lauda doing a comedy act next." - p73-4

"Niki himself, having almost killed himself in a first-lap accident there in 1974, has always campaigned against the Nurenburgring. He argued that the 1976 German Grand Prix should be switched to the Hockenheim Ring, a purpose-built circuit with outstanding safety facilities installed after the death there of Jim Clark in 1968. But Lauda was reviled by the Germans for his attempt. In practise at Nürburgring spectators displayed a huge poster of Lauda and his car. Across it was written, 'Lauda 20 kilometres per hour. Aus.' Ring bystanders are hard on anyone threatening the thrill of the race." - p80

"Sunday's race day was altogether depressing from the start. The young American driver Brett Lunger had heard the night before that his father had died unexpectedly in the United States and Brett decided to stay and go on with the race before returning home. It was to be a vital decision in the saving of Niki Lauda's life." - p81

"Jackie had a remarkable story to tell that Niki's agents had telephoned him soon after the crash and asked him to appear at a promotion for a new line of jeans which were being marketed in Niki's name. Jackie refused, saying he would only appear with Niki's permission. Niki was telephoned and they were told that he was determined to be there himself." - p86-7

"What would the situation be if Niki was fit to drive and Ferrari still wouldn't come to the track?" I asked Alastair, without hesitation he replied: "We will lend him a car so he and James can fight it out." - p89

"Then Niki arrived in his Jaguar with Marlene and Willi Dungl, his masseur/confidant, the man responsible for building Niki up physically in preparation for the race. There was a last-minute panic when it was discovered that Dungl had left his passport back at the house but he had an identity card and Niki knew that with Ferrari influence we would have no trouble getting Willi into Italy. Niki insisted on carrying out all the check-out procedures himself and we made a beautiful take off from Salzburg Airport." - p95

"At one point I was asked if I wanted to see a priest. So I said: "OK." He came in, and gave me my last rites - crossed my shoulder - and said "Goodbye My friend". I nearly had a heart attack! I wanted someone to help me live in this world, and not pass into the next." - p98

"I was watching his wife Marlene's eyes as she protectively, solicitously, studied her husband. She seemed almost proud of his scarred features." - p101

"A beautiful elegant grey/green-eyed young woman by the name of Marlene Knaus enjoyed life of a promising screen actress and model. A member of one of the most respected families in Austria she fitted easily into the jet set world of show business. She moved easily too in the rarefield world of medicine in which her grandfather was a renowned gynaecologist and in the artistic circles into which she was born as the daughter of a famous painter." - p101

"I used to smoke maybe one or two cigarettes a day, but from the time of the accident I have become a chain smoker. I know that this is not good for my health but it helps me through the crisis." Niki does not smoke and he says that this fact helped him recover from his lung injuries, but he does not reprove Marlene for smoking." - p102

"Marlene is a delightfully warm person. Her handshake is firm. Her eyes are steady and constant. They are the eyes of a woman who could inspire a man to great things, and she likes to touch the person that she is talking to. She looks at her husbands scarred face and gently strokes it." - p103

"Hunt, who had trotted through the driving rain along the length of the pits to salute the supreme courage of his world title rival Niki Lauda." - p104

"I just wish there bad been no accident, no disqualifications, no aggrevation, and Niki and I were fighting it out fair and square on the track. After what Niki has achieved, he deserves that at least. What Ferrari have done is to devalue the world championship and to cloud Niki's brave recovery. His recovery is absolutely amazing and he really is fit again." - p125

"His wife Marlene was happy with his decision. She had said earlier; "When he got into the car and drove away, I wanted to throw myself in front of it and stop him." - p140

"All Hunt knew was that he had to pass everything in sight. It took him two laps to catch and pass Alan Jones in the Surtees. Now he was fourth. Almost on the same bend he came upon Regazzoni in the Ferrari. Would the Swiss Italian let him through or hold him back? Ostentatiously Rega moved over and waved Hunt through ar a point where the Ferrari pit could clearly see his manoeuvre. As Rega passed his pit he gave them the two finger sign to show his disapproval that he had been dropped from the team for 1977." - p142

[scotianostra]

On June 13th 1831 James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh.

It’s difficult to understand why this guy is still hardly known by ordinary Scots, but is one of the most influential scientists of all time. Albert Einstein acknowledged that the origins of the special theory of relativity lay in Clerk Maxwell’s theories, saying “The work of James Clerk Maxwell changed the world forever”.

Now I don’t pretend to know about science, the calculations involve make my head hurt, but I do know that James deserves his place at the top table of scientists past and present, and probably the future too. The praise heaped on him from many of the most eminent scholars is phenomenal.

Nicknamed “daftie” by his fellow pupils at Edinburgh Academy, earned by wearing home-made shoes on his first day, he went on to predict the existence of radio waves in 1865, and is considered by many to be the father of the science of electronics, he also found time to teach, and if you recall he taught yesterdays birthday boy astronomer, David Gill.

Born in Edinburgh in 1831 he attended school in the city and later studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. He was a very curious child, and this might amaze you, but he wrote his first scientific paper at the age of just 14, at the age of 25 he became Professor of Physics at Aberdeen University’s Marischal College.

Clerk Maxwell’s research into electromagnetic radiation brought about many of the things we know today like television, mobile phones, radios and infra-red telescopes. The largest astronomical telescope in the world, at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, is named in his honour, this is an indication of his standing to this day as a scientist.

In 1873 he created the four Maxwell equations. They are very complicated and you would have to be a scientist to figure them out. But these four theories played a very important role in Albert Einstein’s work on the special theory of relativity. Einstein praised him and said, “The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell Equations of the electromagnetic field.” Clerk Maxwell’s discovery of the nature of electromagnetic waves forms the basis for much of the modern technological society we take for granted. Radio, television, satellite communications and the mobile phone have their origins in his work.

In 1879, James Clerk Maxwell’s health began to fail. Following a summer visit to the family estate in Kirkcudbrightshire, he returned to Cambridge where he died on 5th November that year.

[toxicanonymity]

Tox! Are you an exorcist fan at all? I just saw the trailer for the new one and it has Reagan’s mom from the original 1973 version in it! The woman is 90!!!! But the movie looks cool I’m hoping a certain dilf will take me to see it LOL

I am a David Gordon Green fan first and foremost. As for the original Exorcist, I like the idea of the movie a lot more than I like watching it lol. My expectations for DGG's take on this are SKY HIGH, LIKE ASTRONOMICAL. AND GOD I HOPE A CERTAIN DILF TAKES YOU. I NEED EVERY SINGLE DETAIL.

OH!!! And this is the movie stepdad!Joel and reader went to "see" in Fandango after Thanksgiving meal 😭 Excuse me while I reminisce about what a menace Joel is about it in when he meets her tinder date.

"Oh yeah, we both love horror movies," Jacques says.  "Nice," Joel nods. "She tell ya we went to see the new Exorcist?"  "Um, yeah. She mentioned it was good."  Joel chuckles, then looks at you. "It was good, huh? You'll have to catch me up before the next one, sweetheart."

[ufonaut]

get into it tell me why/how robinson ruined ted knight i live for this comic characterization comparison please

james robinson's ted knight is an inventor and a genius, an innovator fondly remembered in the future as having changed the course of history (according to ferris knight in starman #1,000,000 anyways), he's had his struggle with guilt and anxiety after his involvement in the manhattan project but that was a phase he'd gone through and he'd emerged all better. he's an absent father but a good man, a heroic man.

and that's all well and good for the elseworlds the golden age 1993 had been but as actual canon characterisation? oh, man, i can tell robinson's primary exposure to starman had been the jla/jsa team ups in justice league of america 1960 (which gave no individual character any chance to shine on a personal level) and that's about it. i mean, my god, the character ted knight had been in the 1940s is so sincerely unique and so unbelievably compelling.

ted knight of adventure comics 1938 was a hypochondriac (an "imaginary invalid") with a thoroughly astounding number of stays in sanitariums to his name, he was a coward who fainted at the first sign of an evening about to go wrong and his exasperated fiance often went as far as to call him a 'sissy' and complain about how she was more nurse than lover. more than that, he was not an inventor of any kind and his health allowed him very few interests -- in fact, astronomy is something he takes up in the last five or six issues of his original run and he's very explicitly an 'amateur astronomer' at that.

and okay, you may be thinking, 'hey, this is just the regular secret identity shtick, clark kent wrote the book on it' but the thing is... ted knight was the real deal. the persona he inhabited as starman gave him confidence, and it gave him a real reason to get up in the morning, but it never overtook the reality of who ted knight was and whatever his illness might've been.

(ac #61)

(ac #62)

(ac #65)

(ac #69)

(ac #70)

(ac #83)

i don't know what to tell you, part time sick society boy part time hero is just immensely fascinating to me! starman as a way to inspire himself, to outgrow his self imposed limitations, to model himself after what he perceives to be a real man (so to speak)... well, that's something too! i simply feel that more of his original characterisation could've been kept and it wouldn't have made him any better of a father to jack & david but his illness could've contributed to his complicated relationship with the boys and it would've made him a far more interesting character than the typical renaissance man type hero. imo!

[thecunnydiaries]

19th Tuesday

Fine. Went onshore with the Doctor Bird-Nesting: caught some young Albatross on thier nest: had some good sport. Houses finished onshore.

Christmas Harbour, from Ross, Voyage, I. Frontispiece.

Campbell's notes:

Doctor Bird-Nesting, presumably the ship’s surgeon Jno [sic] Robertson, although it might have been the assistant surgeon David Lyall. McCormick, the surgeon of Erebus, was ashore this day but records a very different excursion. McCormick, Voyages, I. pp. 51–3

Ross, Voyage, I. p. 90. ‘The level beach at the head of the harbour afforded us convenient sites for our observatories, which were immediately erected; that for magnetic purposes being placed at the north extreme, under the protection of the hill to the north, which effectually prevented the sun's rays deranging the temperature, and within a few feet of high-water mark; that for astronomical and pendulum observations on nearly the same level, at more than a hundred yards distant from it towards the centre of the beach; and close by this two small huts were erected for the convenience of the officers and men employed at the observatories.’

[xumoonhao]

what i read in april 2023 💖

(entries marked with an * indicate favourites!)

ONLINE ARTICLES:

*My Decade of Temporary Homes by Rachel Heng | Esquire

Calvinism and the American Conception of Evil by Douglas Giles, PhD | Medium

*How Snails Cross Vast Oceans by Thom van Dooren | Nautilus

J. Crew and the Paradoxes of Prep by Hua Hsu | The New Yorker

*Inside the Secret Working Group That Helped Push Anti-Trans Laws Across the Country by Madison Pauly | Mother Jones

*‘iPhones are made in hell’: 3 months inside China’s iPhone city by Viola Zhou | Rest Of World

The Giant Arcs That May Dwarf Everything In the Cosmos by Jasmin Fox-Skelly | BBC

The Unbelievable Zombie Comeback of Analog Computing by Charles Platt | WIRED

Astronomers Dig Up the Stars That Birthed the Milky Way by Lyndie Chiou | Nautilus

How a Chicago Dive Bar Exposed Corruption and Changed Journalism by Paula Mejia | Atlas Obscura

A Brief (But Complicated) History of Coffee and Tea by Michele Debczak | Mental Floss

Why the Animal Kingdom Is Full of Con Artists by Elizabeth Kolbert | The New Yorker

The Novelist Whose Inventions Went Too Far by D. T. Max | The New Yorker

America Doesn’t Know Tofu by George Stiffman | Asterisk Mag

He Spent 25 Years Infiltrating Nazis, the Klan, and Biker Gangs by Paul Solotaroff | Rolling Stone

The Pirate Radio Broadcaster Who Occupied Alcatraz and Terrified the FBI by Jacob Pagano | Narratively

The Thoughts of a Spiderweb by Joshua Sokol | Quanta Magazine

The Gambler Who Beat Roulette by By Kit Chellel | Bloomberg

How Susan Kare Designed User-Friendly Icons for the First Macintosh by David Kindy | Smithsonian Mag

A Turkish Bookshop's New Chapter On a Remote Island by Alexandra De Cramer | Courier

BOOKS:

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (2009)

*Beautiful Country: A Memoir of an Undocumented Childhood by Qian Julie Wang (2021)

*When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016)

[fox-under-the-willow-tree]

Top 15 Books of 2022

Another year has gone by and me, despite stress, work and studies managed to read 51 books this year, finishing the last one exactly on the 31st of December. Here is my Top 15 Recommendations for 2022. Why 15? Because I read more nice books than I expected and I couldn't narrow it down to just 10.

15. Three Body Problem Series - Liu Cixin

Now I know what you're thinking. This sci-fi masterpiece only made it to number 15? But let me explain, the problem is not the book, but me. In the Three Body Problem (book 1) Earth is threatened by a realistic depiction of an alien invasion set in motion by a misanthropic astronomer, which leads to a grand narrative, bigger than I can fit in a single Tumblr post. In book 2, The Dark Forest, Liu Cixin continues the story as humanity prepares itself for the invasion. Book 3, Death's End, which is by many considered the best and in which science fiction and fantasy start to overlap, big questions about the meaning of existence are speculated by the author in a magnificent, incomprehensible ending, which transcends my understanding of the series. The series is excellent, but the reason why I ranked it lower than other novels, is because I simply struggled to understand the many scientific concepts which we being discussed and the elaborate scenes which connected to the next books. For lovers of hard sci-fi, who have a better understanding of physics than me, I'd highly recommend it. I feel I need to properly sit and take notes to fully understand the series and maybe even do research on many topics before I fully capture its brilliance. I might give it another shot in the future.

14. I'm Going to Live - Lale Gul

This is an autobiography written by a Turkish woman who grew up in a conservative Muslim household and her experiences with her surroundings. The novel has been highly controversial in the Netherlands and the author even doubts whether she wants translations to be made, as her life is being threatened sharing her experiences. Because of this, I recommend reading it. It showcases the hardships she went through in an immigrant household, in which she felt she did belong in anywhere. Major respect for her writing such a poignant biography about her struggles.

13. The Secret History - Donna Tart

This has been the dark academia book we've all been recommended by Tiktok and yes, it is amazing, it is dark, it is gothic, it is dramatic. And yet, it did not leave me fully satisfied at the end. I loved the premise, I loved the characters, I loved the idea behind the book and I'd say the book accomplished most of its goals, but there were other moments where it fall flat. The role of their Greek professor, the underdeveloped personality of the protagonist, the long drawn out scenes of them simply sitting and smoking or drinking. Yeah, if Tart had cut down the book to 250 pages, it would've been probably my favorite book of the year, but it dragged on a bit too much. Still, can't deny the talent of the author and her excellent prose.

12. Why Fish Don't Exist - Lulu Miller

Sometimes it's not about whether the book is right, but whether you found it at the right time. If you're in your 20s, struggling with your job or studies, feeling alone and isolated, this book feels like a warm blanket. It's a semi-biography of the biologist David Starr Jordan and the ways in which the author intertwines her own experiences with her fascination for this person. It's a simple read, comforting read, which confronts you with some ugly truths, but ultimately, tries to make you stand stronger in the face of hardship.

11. Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan

Wanna know what would happen if Sex and the City took place in Singapore, except even more crazy and rich? Then this is the novel for you. A hilarious, dramatic and exciting story about several rich Chinese Singaporean elites and their daily lives, qualms and love lives. Finished it in one go and had several moments where I laughed out loud. Definitely a fun read! (By the way, the movie doesn't do the book enough justice. Read the book!)

10. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saénz

A coming of age story of two Latin-American teenagers who slowly start to develop feelings for each other. It explores themes of queerness and homosexuality in the Latin community. A brilliant depiction of gay love from a talented writer.

9. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It's amazing how many metaphors about love, loss, life and the art of never growing up Saint-Exupéry managed to fit into this tiny novel. It even moved me to get a tattoo of the fox and the little prince as a reminder to appreciate those around you and to never grow old and bitter.

8. I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jenette McCurdy

Remember the girl from iCarly? She wrote a bestseller which skyrocketed her as an author. The novel is a autobiography about the life of Jenette McCurdy as she grew up trying to make it in the show business, mostly to please her obsessive and authoritative mother. It discusses self harm, depression, loneliness, alienation, body dysphoria, the need to succeed and much more. In this novel McCurdy showed that she is not only a talented actress, but an even more brilliant author. At the end of the novel, even I have to admit I was glad her mom died.

7. Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner

Another biography by a well known artist. This time the singer of the indie band Japanese Breakfast. The story is about Michelle's upbringing as someone who had a Korean mother and an American father. Most of the first half of the story is about the frustrations she had with her mother who didn't understand her and the way they slowly drifted apart. The second half is a deep psychological analysis of herself and the way she dealt with unmet expectations from her mother, her grief over losing her and finding comfort in the Korean dishes they used to eat together at H Mart. A bitter sweet tale about a first and second generation Koreans clashing and the way that shaped Michelle Zauner as a artist, but even more, as a person.

6. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

I've only seen the movie in 2014 and all I remembered was the song at the end of the credits by Charli XCX, so you can say I'm late to the party by picking this book up in 2022, but damn. I know there's been some severe criticism of this book, but there's one thing the book really excelled at: the romance. I rarely enjoy reading romantic stories, because they tend to be repetitive in tropes and themes and, from what I've heard, this book has its own unrealistic depictions of romance. But... I don't know, but somehow the novel just got under my skin. I loved the dynamics between Hazel and Augustus and cried at the end. It's one of those books you never forget.

5. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

As someone experiencing alienation and status anxiety in the modern times, I felt it was time to reread this English classic to see if it held up as well as when I read it in my teenage years. And boy, it did not only hold up, but it blew me away. The philosophical discussion about choosing between freedom and a life of conformity is more relevant than ever and my guess is, that it will stay relevant for a long time. After reading it, it kept me thinking about where we're heading in our current society. Are we even free? Or is it good enough to make people think they are? And if we become fully free, is a life as a Savage desirable? Excellent choice to keep you awake at night and ponder the political climate of our times.

4. Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen

One of the front runners of the 'unhinged woman' trend that we're seeing in modern literature. (Think 'Bunny' by Mona Awad or 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh.) Except for Susanna, her autobiography isn't a trend; it's a description of the hardships she endured in a mental ward for women during the '60s. It's a book you can finish in a single sitting and which reminds you not so long ago we treated our mentally ill as the clinically insane.

3. Flowers in the Attic - V.C. Andrews

Once again, I'm late to the party. I've seen many posts of girls who secretly read this scandalous novel in middle school, their parents unaware of the insane story V.C. Andrews had crafted. And yes, the story is insane. It's about four children, an older brother and sister and their twin siblings, who lose their father and whose mother decides she will take them to her rich family to demand her part of the inheritance. All sounds well, except that upon arrival the children are all locked up in the attic, until the mother deems the coast to be clear. What follows is a shocking and outrageous story of survival in the attic, in which the older brother and sister start to act like parents to their younger siblings in more ways than one...

2. Circe - Madeline Miller

I've reread this book again and it was my number one favorite book of 2020. And, what can I say? It has witchcraft, feminism, magic, Greek mythology, descriptive colorful prose, revenge, love, regret and drama. A cocktail which seemed to be measured to the millimeter to satisfy my personal thirst for a great literary fiction. It has everything I love and didn't even know I loved. I can't recommend it enough. I've heard Madeline Miller is currently working on her third novel, a story about Hades and Persephone and I'll be the first in line to get it from my local library.

1. My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell

Boy, what an unexpected way to end 2022. Just as I thought the year was nearing, I found my favorite book mere days before the fireworks would be launched and I literally devoured it. The story is about a 15 year old girl named Vanessa who gets accepted in a prestigious high school and subsequently is groomed by her English teacher. The book references 'Lolita' by Nabokov several times and the intertextuality it conveys is eery to say the least. This book takes Nabokov's work and completely flips it on its head, showing the tragic effects the sexual relationship, which Vanessa desperately romanticizes as a way to justify it (by, for example, drawing parallels between herself and the singer Fiona Apple), has on the life of single individual. The novel jumps back and forth between Vanessa as a teenager and Vanessa as an adult and how one man has the capability to completely take over and destroy the life of lonely, insecure girl. What makes the book even more tragic is that Vanessa denies being abused until the very end, despite the reader obviously seeing how the teacher has changed her future for the worst. It's not for the faint of heart and it's definitely not meant to be seen as a love story. It's a tragic tale of losing yourself in another without the support of anyone to guide you. It's my absolute favorite book of 2022 and it haunts me even days after finishing it.

[dfroza]

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures

for the 23rd of September 2024 with a paired chapter from each Testament (the First & the New Covenant) of the Bible

[The Book of Matthew, Chapter 1 • The Book of Joshua, Chapter 18]

along with Today’s reading from the ancient books of Proverbs and Psalms with Proverbs 23 and Psalm 23 coinciding with the day of the month, accompanied by Psalm 2 for the 2nd day of Astronomical Autumn, and Psalm 117 for day 267 of the year (with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

A post by John Parsons:

In our first Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Nitzavim), Moses formally gathered the people of Israel together to ratify their covenant with the LORD. Moses then pled with the people "bacharta ba'chayim" - to "choose life" by pursuing the path of obedience to the Torah and its commandments. If the Israelites would do so, they would be blessed and prosper as God’s chosen nation; but if not, they would be subjected to hard exile, persecution, and the threat of utter destruction.

In our second reading (i.e., parashat Vayeilech), Moses announced his impending death and transferred the leadership of the Jewish nation to Joshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ), a type of Messiah who would bring Israel into the promised land. Moses continued his speech but foresaw that despite his appeals, the people would turn away from the covenant, which would cause God’s face to turn away: "And hiding I will hide My face (הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי) on that day, because of all the evil they have committed" (Deut. 31:18). The sages note this verse is grammatically unusual because of the double use of the word "hide." If you do not know that God is "hiding," you will not seek for Him; but if you sense within your heart that God is hiding, you are invited to return to Him, as King David said, "When you said to my heart, 'Seek my face;' my heart said to You, 'Your face, LORD, will I seek' (Psalm 27:8).

In this connection we note that Yeshua often spoke in the form of a parable (παραβολή) to "code" his meaning, to make it accessible only to those who were genuinely willing to make comparisons, to reason analogically, and so on (Isa. 1:18; 1 Cor. 2:13). He used "indirection," allusion, allegory, and "figures of speech" (παροιμία, lit. "[speech] beyond the usual way"), in order to provoke people to explore and ask the hard questions about life... "Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior" (Isa. 45:15).

"For God so loved the world" that He disguised himself as a bondservant to die in shame upon a cross; "God so loved the world" that he became entirely unesteemed -- "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). Yet even Moses foresaw the stupor of the people in relation to the truth of God (Deut. 29:4). Regarding the "hiding of face," in His sovereign judgment God decreed: "They know not, nor do they discern, for he has smeared their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand" (Isa. 44:18). God "gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own devices" (Psalm 81:12; Rom. 1:24); they went "backward and not forward" (Jer. 7:24). This was not a blindness induced by the "god of this world" as much as it was a darkness induced by the flesh and its apathy toward God. The mind became dull and sleepy because it ceased to believe in the miracle - and to realize that God's truth is always something extraordinary, spectacular, and wonderful...

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

Psalm 27:8 Hebrew reading:

Hebrew page (pdf):

Shavuah Tov podcast:

­9.23.24 • Facebook

from Today’s email by Israel365

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

[sciencestyled]

When the Universe Decides to Paint: Bob Ross Meets the Big Bang on Canvas

Alright class, settle down—yes, you in the back with the galaxy leggings, we get it, you're cosmically quirky. Welcome to "Astronomical Landscapes: When Artists Play God and the Universe Just Sighs." Today, we're diving into how some clever humans have managed to take the most overwhelming, brain-melting visuals the cosmos has to offer and turned them into what we like to call "art." Spoiler alert: it's like giving a kindergartener a canvas and telling them to paint infinity. The results? Sometimes mind-blowing, sometimes... well, let's just say even the universe has its off days.

Now, don’t get me wrong—I love space art as much as the next wannabe Neil deGrasse Tyson. But the sheer hubris! Imagine staring at a swirling, impossibly vast nebula—basically the universe’s version of a lava lamp on psychedelics—and thinking, “You know, I could totally capture that on a 24x36 canvas, no problem.” It’s almost laughable, but hey, that’s the beauty of human arrogance.

Speaking of which, let’s start with the big thing artists love about space: its overwhelming, soul-crushing vastness. The endless stretches of blackness dotted with stars that look like someone went to town with a glitter gun on a black turtleneck. And yet, for centuries, artists have been like, “Yeah, I got this. Hand me my brush. Let me tackle the incomprehensible scale of the universe.”

The word we're going for here is "sublime," which is an artsy way of saying, “I feel small, insignificant, and slightly terrified, but in a cool, Instagrammable way.” Romantic artists back in the day loved that kind of stuff—think Caspar David Friedrich standing on a mountain, gazing into the fog like he’s just realized his WiFi signal’s gone out. Nowadays, though, artists aren’t just painting foggy cliffs; they're staring at the swirling gases of the Horsehead Nebula like it’s the last drop of pumpkin spice syrup at Starbucks. The universe is no longer just vast; it's emotionally unhinged.

But hold on to your overpriced coffee cups, because it gets better.

Let’s talk about how astronomical phenomena—like nebulae, black holes, and galaxies—are becoming the Kardashians of the art world. They're everywhere. I mean, have you seen a supernova? It’s like the universe decided to stage its own Fourth of July, but instead of fireworks, it used the death of a star to show off. And of course, some artist thought, “You know what this looks like? My feelings.”

Now, these cosmic explosions and stellar light shows aren’t just making their way into paintings. Oh no. They've infiltrated digital art, because apparently paintbrushes are just so last century. Nowadays, artists wield Photoshop like Thor’s hammer, crafting entire galaxies with the click of a mouse. Heck, some digital artists are creating entire space scenes so detailed you'd think NASA was hiring them on the side to render space travel promo posters. And if that’s not a gig I want in on, I don’t know what is.

Imagine an artist, sitting in front of their MacBook Pro, a soy latte to the left, a Pinterest mood board to the right. They click away, creating nebulae that’ll probably end up as some tech bro’s desktop wallpaper, all while mumbling, “This one really captures the essence of a collapsing star. Very deep.” Their digital art is so photorealistic, you'd swear you’re looking at the Hubble telescope’s highlight reel, only to realize it’s actually the cover of their indie sci-fi album on SoundCloud. Because yes, in the realm of astronomical landscapes, even space gets a soundtrack.

And if we’re talking realism, let’s not forget the classic debate that makes art critics' monocles fall into their champagne: realism versus abstraction. Realism in astronomical art is like trying to perfectly recreate the Milky Way galaxy down to the last twinkling star. You know, for all the nerds who love their science videos and need accuracy, because apparently if one star in a painting is in the wrong place, the entire painting becomes invalid. It's a little obsessive, but hey, who am I to question someone who’s memorized star charts like they're binge-watching Stranger Things?

Then there’s the abstract side of things. These artists look at a photo of a galaxy and think, “Sure, I could paint this exactly as it looks... but what if I just made everything blue and threw in some triangles for good measure?” It’s like Picasso dropped acid, stared at a telescope, and said, “You know what? Let’s make space weird.” And thus, abstract space art was born—because apparently the vastness of the universe isn’t already disorienting enough without throwing in geometric shapes and color schemes that look like someone’s Snapchat filter exploded.

But let’s pause for a second and talk about the underlying message here, kids. Yes, even the abstract weirdness has something to say. These artists aren’t just throwing paint (or pixels) at a canvas; they’re interpreting the universe as they see fit. You know, kind of like how The Mandalorian reimagined Star Wars into a spaghetti Western but with baby Yoda, except instead of baby Yoda, it’s supermassive black holes and rogue planets.

And don't even get me started on how these artists think they can "capture" the Big Bang. The sheer audacity. If the Big Bang were a person, it’d be the equivalent of Kanye West walking into a room and demanding everyone acknowledge its genius. Yet here come the artists, with their “interpretations” of what the universe looked like when it was nothing but a molten soup of chaos, throwing a little red here, a splash of white there, and calling it a masterpiece. Sure, Jan.

Now, let’s wrap this cosmic trip up with a peek into the future. What will astronomical landscapes look like in the coming years? Probably even more outlandish and pretentious. I mean, if we’ve learned anything from watching Black Mirror, it's that technology will likely reach a point where you can upload your consciousness into a virtual universe and paint your own galaxies in real time. Because why just observe the universe when you can manipulate it for your latest virtual art show on TikTok?

In the end, though, what all these artistic interpretations of space boil down to is this: the universe, in all its terrifying glory, makes for some really pretty pictures. Artists, whether digital or traditional, realistic or abstract, are essentially just trying to say what we're all thinking when we stare at the night sky—“Man, that’s cool. I wonder if I could make it trend on Instagram.”

And with that, class dismissed. Feel free to grab your lattes on the way out and remember—just because you can paint the universe doesn’t mean the universe cares. But hey, at least it’ll look good on your portfolio.

[ramrodd]

What are the implications of rewriting history classes to adhere to right-wing mythologies?

Re-writing history to fit a new mythology is where Marx went wront and what Hitler and Trumpers have in common.

COMMENTARY:

It’s a typical Fascist waste of time based on the same Libertarian logic that inspired Thomas Jefferson to waste his time going through the Bible cutting out the references to God and//or Jesus.

Ayn Rand’s Virtue of Selfishness is the classic case study in Jefferson Davis’s State’s Rights theory of property, labor and the means of production. It’s the logic of the Lost Cause and the January 6 rebellion. The Jesus Seminar or organized by the same conceits. If you cut Jesus out of the Gospels, the ethic of Jesus conveys, partially, through the theology of Paul. From that point, it is easy to re=arrange the historic timeline of the Gospel of Mark, the first published account of the events leading up to Resurrection as a military ghost story that actually happened, is somehow derivative of Paul’s Epistels.

Christianity began as a Roman Secret Society , the Italian Cohort of the Praetorian Guard, from the get-go because of the hostility of the allies of Sejanus to all things Tiberius. Historically, from astronomical records, it has been established that Jesus was crucified in 33 CE., April 4th or 6th, I forget. The thing is. the historicity of the actual day and hour of the events of Mark 15 are pretty well nailed down. In the Acts of the Apostles, everything that happens after Acts 10 operates on Roman Standard Time. Everything that happens after Acts 17 is real time journalism of a medical professional trained in the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath is an ethical bench mark that is equivalent to Romans 13:1 - 7 as the basis of the oath of office of the Speaker of the House, twice removed. Romans 13:1 - 7 is not the basis for treason. Romans 13:1 - 7 is the ethical link between the 2nd Amendment and the Congressional Medal of Honor, Romans 13:1 - 7 is the basis of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

In any event, the Romans didn’t see Resurrection coming and the Messianic Secret was that the Roman centurions were already doing for Rome what Jesus was training his disciples to act as the servant-leaders of Judaism. Nobody in the Roman bureaucracy in Caesarea knew shit about any of this stuff we can now identify in Jesus’s methods, but Pilatesent a report up his chain of command to Tiberius that was the highest priority routing, Euangelion, or “Tidings of Joy” for the eyes of the Emperor immediately under the iRoman intelligence case file entitle “Christians” that compelled Tiberius to propose adopting this divine sanction for the Republic, that got voted down by an angry Senate which immediately tarred Christians with their visceral hatred of Tiberius.

Everybody in the Roman legions knew about Jesus by the time Tiberius introduced “Christians” to Roman society. The new covenant was between God and the centurions as a divine structure in human governance based on Romans 13:1 - 7.

The thing is that Fascism is always very complicated and complex, Marxism being the obvious extreme. Re-writing history is the sort of waste of time Fascist thinking requires to sustain the illusion of rational integrity,

The ethic of Jesus is based on the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. In Mark 12: 29 - 31,he enlarges the Shema to include Plato, abrogates the 613 Laws of the Babylon inspired Talmud with the Socrates

s clause, Love our neighbor, the Free Will absolution of Christian atheism. Like David Hume.

The line of demarcation between mythology and history isn’t nearly as distinct as historians like to believe. History is a sub-genre of literature and literature is the captured narrative of the mind of humanity as a life-style choice. Among other things, Jesus is the divine endorsement of Socrates’s example of civic duty as the submission to the secular rule of law as the bases of a democratic society. The cup of hemlock is a symbolic parameter of Romans 13:1 - 7. and the cross and the cup of hemlock are morally equivalent instruments of Romans 13:1 - 7 and the secular rule of law.

Jesus was a secular humanist. MAGA Christians like MAGA Mike Johnson are anti-secular humanist in the same way Td Cruz is anti-woke.

Think about all the time that being anti-woke reprsents. Being woke is learning from history and not wasting time re-writing it. Everything about the January 6 rebellion is like Gym Jordan: a gigantic waste of time.

Now, as an exercise in critical thinking, taking a class in re=writing history as creative writing would be intellectually enriching, as long as you don’t base your social engineering on the new version instead of the gestalt of the old and the new.

[teenmomcentral]

Jenelle Evans is demanding police tell her where her son Jace is.

The fired Teen Mom 2 star called 911 on Wednesday night trying to find out the 14-year-old’s location. The Sun reported that Jenelle placed the call to 911 and asked authorities to search the home of her mother, Barbara Evans, because she believed Babs was hiding Jace at her home. 

The Ashley can confirm this call did happen, and that police went to Barbara’s home and searched for Jace, but did not find him.

The Ashley’s source tells her that this is not the only call to 911 Jenelle has made over the last week in regard to Jace’s whereabouts. The Ashley broke the news that Jenelle called 911 last Thursday night demanding cops search Barb’s house for Jace. (They did a search and found nothing.)

“Jenelle has called [911 and police] several more times since then,” the source tells The Ashley. 

As The Ashley previously reported, Jace was admitted into the hospital last Friday. Barbara told police that Jace claimed Jenelle’s husband David Eason assaulted him last Thursday night. 

Jenelle and David have denied that the assault happened. On Wednesday— the same day she made the 911 call asking cops to look for Jace at Barb’s home— Jenelle took to TikTok to insist she has Jace.

“My son was never taken from my custody. My son is still in my custody,” Jenelle continued. “I still have primary custody. I don’t know where there’s rumors are circulating…they’ve done this to me my entire life…I am not commenting on my son’s whereabouts because it’s no one’s business where my children are. 

“It’s no one’s business of my children’s location,” she added in her signature “Jenelle Speak” fashion.

On Friday, David took to Facebook to blast the “Satanic” media.

“The media blows things completely out of proportion and use each other’s lies as if they are factual,” he wrote. “Just keep watching and you will see the truth come out. I hope everyone is happy with themselves thinking such horrible things about me over the years. The difference between the truth and what you’ve heard about me is astronomical. I’m happy with playing the bad guy or taking the fall for my family. It’s a whole other story when major news outlets tell complete lies in order to smear my name.

“The money they gain from using my name will never do them any good, its money made in vain from pure lie and deceit, it’s Satan’s work, it’s evil but it doesn’t scare me.”

Naturally, he also used the situation to plug his new “song.” 

“Oh yea and don’t forget to download my song everywhere, follow me on Spotify and Pandora or whatever you listen to, link in bio!” David wrote.

As The Ashley previously told you, Jenelle and David are currently under investigation.

UPDATE! The Brunswick County Sherriff’s Department PIO has confirmed to The Ashley that audio of Jenelle’s 911 call does exist; however, due to it containing medical information regarding a minor, it is not public record. 

[scotianostra]

Balfour Stewart, the Scottish meteorologist and geophysicist was born on November 1st 1828 in Edinburgh.

Described as  “an intellectually precocious child”, Stewart entered St-Andrews University at age thirteen, before transferring to the University of Edinburgh to study natural philosophy.  Bending to parental pressures, upon graduating he embarked on business, which he however abandoned and return to the University of Edinburgh in 1853 as an assistant to the noted  physicist and glaciologist Professor  James David Forbes.

In 1859 he became Director of Kew Observatory, where he remained until 1870, and finished his career as Professor of Physics at Owens College in Manchester. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1862, awarded their Rumford Medal in 1868, and was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1867. Stewart published The Unseen Universe jointly with his friend and colleague, physicist Peter Guthrie Tait, arguing that science was not incompatible with religious doctrines, such was the sensitivity of such writing, and careful not to bring the wrath of the church upon them, the work was initially published anonymously, but  was warmly received, the duo added their names in it’s third edition, it went on to be republished 12 times in total.

Stewart went on to become more interested in the the compatibility between science and religion, and also launched himself into the scientific study of psychic phenomena. 

His interests in this field in particular, drew very mixed reviews, to the point that the aforementioned Peter Guthrie Tait , wrote in an obituary  in memory of Stewart,  that he was  “one of the most loveable of men, modest and unassuming, but full of the most weird and grotesque ideas”

Balfour Stewart was severely wounded in 1870 in a train crash from which he never fully recovered, he died on 18 December 1887.

There is much more on the man, including his Orcadian connections here https://www.aboutorkney.com/biography/balfour-stewart-m-a-ll-d-f-r-s/

[brn1029]

On this date in music. Leaning heavily toward Classic Rock…

April 12th

2016 - Led Zeppelin

A US court ruled that Led Zeppelin founders Robert Plant and Jimmy Page must face trial in a copyright row over the song 'Stairway to Heaven'. The copyright infringement action had been brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s, and claimed he should be given a writing credit on the track.

2000 - Metallica

Metallica filed a suit against Napster, Yale University, The University of Southern California and Indiana University for copyright infringement.

1990 - The Beatles

The Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre announced that Asteroids 4147-4150, would be named Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr after the four members of The Beatles.

1975 - David Bowie

During an interview with Playboy Magazine David Bowie announced his second career retirement, saying, 'I've rocked my roll. It's a boring dead end, there will be no more rock 'n' roll records from me. The last thing I want to be is some useless f—ing rock singer.'

1969 - 5th Dimension

The 5th Dimension started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In', a No.11 hit in the UK.

1968 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd released their fourth UK single 'It Would Be So Nice', written by Richard Wright with Roger Waters' 'Julia Dream' on the B-side. Pink Floyd were on tour in Europe on this day, and played their second night at the Piper Club, in Rome, Italy.

1967 - Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger was punched in the face by an airport official during a row at Le Bourget Airport in France. Jagger lost his temper after The Rolling Stones were being searched for drugs resulting in them missing their flight.

1966 - Jan Berry

Jan Berry (Jan and Dean) was almost killed when he crashed his car into a parked truck a short distance from Dead Man's Curve in Los Angeles. Berry was partially paralysed and suffered brain damage. Berry was able to walk again after extensive therapy.

1963 - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan performed his first major solo concert at the Town Hall in New York City. Dylan played a 24 song set including 'Blowin' In The Wind', 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall', 'Highway 51' and 'Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie'.

1957 - Lonnie Donegan

The 'King of Skiffle' Lonnie Donegan was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Cumberland Gap.' The Scottish musician was a former member of Chris Barber's Jazz Band.

1954 - Bill Haley

Bill Haley recorded 'Rock Around the Clock' at Pythian Temple studios in New York City. Considered by many to be the song that put rock and roll on the map around the world. The song was used over the opening titles for the film 'Blackboard Jungle', and went on to be a world-wide No.1 and the biggest selling pop single with sales over 25 million. Written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers, 'Rock Around The Clock' was first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae and His Knights.

[stargazerlillian]

TIL that all the audio and visuals put onto the Voyager probes’ legendary golden records weren’t made readily available until 2017. That’s just barely over half a decade ago.

For context, the probes and their copies of the record were launched into space in 1977.

And the really sad part is that Carl Sagan, the astronomer and genius behind the Voyager project actually wanted there to be a mass release of the record after the probes were launched, but ultimately couldn’t because of massive copyright issues. The music rights were owned by several different record labels who were hesitant to share the bill, so ultimately, his plan never went through.

That is, until his dear friend Timothy Ferris (who was tasked with the technical aspects of getting the various media onto the physical LP) teamed up with research director David Pescovitz and record store manager Tim Daly to make Carl’s dream of sharing the sounds of the Golden Record with an earthbound audience a reality.

They located the master tapes at Sony's Battery Studios in New York City, and for the first time ever, the sounds of Solomon Islands pan pipes, Bach, Chuck Berry, and the blues filled their ears, along with greetings in 55 languages and ambience from various natural environments. It was a moment that none of them would ever forget.

With the tapes now in hand, they remastered and converted them and put them all into a luxuriant box set designed by graphic designer Lawrence Azerrad, complete with a coffee table book containing all of the photographs on the record and, of course, fittingly gold tinted vinyl.

The project was then put on Kickstarter, with everyone involved only expecting vinyl collectors, astronomy fans and audiophiles to want it. Little did they know that this project would wind up being the most successful musical Kickstarter campaign ever. 

They blew past their initial funding goal in only two days, eventually raising more than $1.3 million dollars. And among the initial 11,000 contributors were family members of NASA's original Voyager mission team.

Timothy Ferris believes with all his heart that Carl Sagan would have loved what they done. "I think this record exceeds Carl's — not only his expectations, but probably his highest hopes for a release of the Voyager record. I'm glad these folks were finally able to make it happen."

With all that said, a heartfelt congratulations to these fine gentlemen for bringing what many consider the soundtrack of humanity to the masses. The Golden Record is without a doubt one of the most important contributions to astronomical research and human history, and to finally know what tracks and images were carefully picked to be on it is a treasure in own right.

After 40 long years, the people of Earth can finally listen to the music of Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” and be reminded that our home planet is far more than it appears.