Operation ÖSTERREICH: Post Pentecost Edition

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 337.0 lbs (Wednesday, 29 March)

Bonus! Lied von ÖSTERREICH
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Inactive" from Mandatory Fun (Mike Papa Waiter)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

The Ska Vengers, "Kick Up a Rumpus" from XX (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today: SKAfter Party

Dientag, 30. Mai
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Simmer Down" from the Ska-Core, the Devil, and More E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: It's hot out there, rude boys & rude girls, both physically (the temperature) & psychologically (the vibe). Let's not anybody lose his or her head.

Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Saints of the Day
'Tis the festival of Saint Joan of Arc, Virgin & Martyr (circa 1412-1431, the "Maid of Orléans"), martyred in the reign of the English king Henry VI.

Saint Quote o' the Day

"I am not afraid. I was born to do this."
—Saint Joan of Arc (circa 1412-1431, feast: 30 May)

Bonus! Song o' Yesterday: SKAfter Party

Montag, 29. Mai
Save Ferris, "Come On Eileen" from It Means Everything (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: I do enjoy Nineties ska covers of Eighties pop songs.

Bonus! Song o' Yesterday: SKAfter Party

Sonntag, 28. Mai
Reel Big Fish, "Take on Me" from BASEketball: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Memorial Day (observed)

The Abyssinian Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" from The Civil War: Original Sountrack Recording (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
Our God is marching on!…"

Operation AXIOM: Decoration Day
From 1868 through 1970, Decoration Day was observed on 30 May. Effective 1971, the Congress mandated that Memorial Day be observed on the last Monday in May, creating a three-day weekend that is widely regarded as the unofficial start of summer. This move, eminently practical, has been deliterious to the observance, stripping Memorial Day of its patriotic & spiritual dimension. Every Armistice Day, I quote a line by the writer Kurt Vonnegut, from his novel Breakfast of Champions:

"Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not."

Allow me to paraphrase Vonnegut:

Decoration Day has become Memorial Day. Decoration Day was sacred. Memorial Day is not.

The Explorers' Club, № CMLIII

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
26-27 May 1923: The inaugural running of the 24 Heures du Mans—Thirty-three cars took the start & an astonishing thirty finished; all the cars were French except for one British Bentley & two Belgian Excelsiors; the winning 3.0 Litre Chenard-Walcker completed one hundred twenty-eight laps, driven by André Lagache & René Léonard; the race was the first leg of the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup.

Commentary: Much is being made of the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans being the centenary of the great race. The centenary, not the one hundredth running; the race was cancelled in 1936 due to a general strike in France & from 1940-1948 due to the Second World War.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Le Mans
Michel Legrand, "Le Mans: The Race, First Laps" from Le Mans/The Hunter: Bandes originalas de films (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Pentecost

The Solemnity of Pentecost
Francesca Battistelli, "Holy Spirit" from If We're Honest (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Kalles Kaviar, "Bag a Boo" from Volume 6 (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Melbourne Ska Orchestra, "Time to Wake Up" from Melbourne Ska Orchestra (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Stars My Destination: Skylab

I'm working out in real time how to explore the fiftieth anniversaries of the three manned Skylab missions through "The Explorers' Club." The Apollo missions are our template—each of the eleven "Destination Moon" missions was chronicled across three episodes, roughly equating to launch, lunar activity, & splashdown—yet the Skylab flights will differ in two key aspects: timescale & sex appeal.

Timescale: The longest Apollo Moon missions (Apollo 15 & Apollo 17, 1971 & 1972) lasted twelve days; the shortest Apollo Skylab mission (Skylab 2, 1973) lasted twenty-eight days. Prior to Skylab 2, the longest duration American spaceflight was Gemini VII (1965), at just under fourteen days. The subsequent Skylab missions were even longer: Skylab 3 (1973) lasted fifty-nine days while Skylab 4 (1973-1974) lasted eighty-four days!

Sex appeal: I'm going to dedicate multiple episodes of "The Explorers' Club" to each Skylab mission, & I'm fascinated by America's first space station, but the simple fact is that low Earth orbit (L.E.O.) missions just aren't as exciting as Moon landings. Between Apollo 17 in December 1972 & Artemis I in November 2022, no human-rated spacecraft ventured beyond L.E.O. Skylab was the beginning of those fifty years of L.E.O. only spaceflight. We had seen the lights of gay Paris; how could we be satisfied going back to the farm?

The immediately visible effect of these two factors is that I will not be posting a Bonus! Space Race Song of the Day for each day of the Skylab flights, as I did for the Gemini & Apollo flights. This is consistent with how we are exploring the fortieth anniversary of the Space Shuttle missions.

The Explorers' Club, № CMLII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 2, Part I
25-26 May 1973: Skylab 2 lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, with CDR Pete Conrad, Science Pilot Joe Kerwin, & Pilot Paul Weitz aboard an unnamed Apollo C.S.M. atop a Saturn IB rocket; Weitz conducted a standup E.V.A., but could not cut free the ensnared solar wing; the trio docked & deployed a telescoping parasol through a small scientific airlock, to shade & cool Skylab.

Commentary: Throughout Skylab, Saturn IB ("One-B") launch vehicles rested atop a structure known as the "Milkstool," so that the crews entered their Command & Service Modules from the same "white room" used for C.S.M. atop the taller Saturn V launch vehicle.

The parasol lowered the temperature inside Skylab's Workshop from +130° F to around 80° F, allowing Conrad, Kerwin, & Weitz to inhabit the space station & begin their mission proper.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Skylab 2
They Might Be Giants, "Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" (live) from Severe Tire Damage (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary: No, your eyes do not deceive you, dear reader, the Skylab 2 mission patch is emblazoned with the crew's names & "Skylab I." Miscommunication within N.A.S.A. meant that the three manned missions were officially designated Skylab 2, Skylab 3, & Skylab 4, while the crew patches read "Skylab I," "Skylab II," & "Skylab 3." (Yes, "Skylab 3," not "Skylab III," inconsistent with the other two patches.)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party!

M.C. Lars featuring The M.C. Bat Commander & Suburban Legends, "This Gigantic Robot Kills" from This Gigantic Robot Kills (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Skammentary!: Third-wave ska-punk bands namechecked in "This Gigantic Robot Kills" include Gwen Stefani (No Doubt), Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less Than Jake, The Aquabats!, Save Ferris, Sublime, & The O.C. Supertones, all of whom have basked in the SKApril limelight.

"Let's party like it's Ninety-six
And bring the horn section back!…"

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Easter Feaster Edition

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 337.0 lbs (Wednesday, 29 March)

Bonus! Lied von ÖSTERREICH
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Albuquerque" from Running with Scissors (Mike Papa Waiter)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "All Things Considered" from Pay Attention (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"The truth is what he's been through
And what he's had to do
And what he's seen
And what he's done,
All things considered,
What he's telling us isn't hurting anyone.
All things considered,
He's not bitter
He's not mean
And he's not done,
All things considered,
What he's telling us isn't hurting anyone…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "The Horse Shoe and the Rabbit's Foot" from The Magic of Youth (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Why actor Timothy Omundson? Why not actor Timothy Omundson?

Narwhal Day XXIII

After another year of sympathizing & preparing, 'tis Narwhal Day once again! Yes, Narwhal Day, that great & glorious day when all & sundry reflect on & sympathize with the narwhal, the very oddest of whales, far-famed for its curious "horn" (in actuality a tusk) that in times past was oft displayed as a unicorn's horn in cabinets of curiosity (Wunderkammer). The existence & persistence of the narwhal remains transcendent proof that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

The Ancient & Proper Observance of Narwhal Day
First, the wearing of gray attire;
Second, the hearing of "Sympathy for the Narwhal" by D.J. Seaghost, an ally of The Aquabats!;
Third, the swearing of "The Oath of Narwhal Day."

The ancient & proper observance need not be observed in any particular order, though it is probably advisable to don gray attire so as not to observe the ancient & proper observance naked. The wearing of gray is an invitation to others to experience their own sympathy for the narwhal.

The hearing of "Sympathy for the Narwhal" is a communal act, for Narwhal Day is as much a day of celebration as it is as day of sympathizing; the narwhal will frolic & so should we. Via the YouTubes, "Sympathy for the Narwhal" is now available to everyone reading this.

The swearing of the oath is a highly personal act, though it can be done in community; one swears the oath as a jest or a lark only at one's own peril, for one is only as good as one's word. It is in sympathizing with the narwhal that Narwhal Day finds its highest purpose.

The Oath of Narwhal Day
The narwhal is a noble, pitiable creature,
A magnificent, monstrous visage.
An asymmetrical tooth for a horn,
Or sometimes two, or sometimes none,
Half again as long as the beast.

I swear my sympathy for the narwhal.
I will not lie and convince it all is well,
But I will be a friend to the narwhal.
The mocking dolphins and the snobby manatees
Will get their well-earned comeuppance,
And the narwhal will frolic all day.

I dream this dream of the narwhal
And celebrate it in all its oddball, improbable glory,
On this the twenty-second Narwhal Day.


the Narwhal (Monodon Monoceros)—also narwal or narwhale

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Narwhal Day!
D.J. Seaghost, "Sympathy for the Narwhal" from The Aquabats! and Horchata Records Present Rice Capades Music Sampler, Vol. 1 (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Commentary: "Sympathy for the Narwhal" via the YouTubes: Seaghost-link.

Also, a pair of videos from the children's television series The Octonauts & Friends: "Episode 20: The Narwhal" (uploaded on 26 May 2021, three days after the last Narwhal Day) & "Creature Report".

The Wayback Machine Tour of Narwhal Day
Narwhal Day '22 / Narwhal Day '21 / Narwhal Day '20
Narwhal Day '19 / Narwhal Day '18 / Narwhal Day '17
Narwhal Day '16 / Narwhal Day '15 / Narwhal Day '14
Narwhal Day '13 / Narwhal Day '12 / Narwhal Day '11
Narwhal Day '10 / Narwhal Day '09 / Narwhal Day '08
Narwhal Day '07a & Narwhal Day '07b / Narwhal Day '06
Narwhal Day '05 / Narwhal Day '04 / Narwhal Day '03

The Explorers' Club, № CMLI

Operation AXIOM: The Submarines of 1968, Part IV
22 May 1968: The Wreck of the U.S.S. Scorpion SSN-589—The American submarine Scorpion disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean, with ninety-nine souls aboard; search & rescue efforts were not launched until she was overdue at her home port on 27 May; the wreck was located in October 1968; the Scorpion had been overhauled in 1967, but had not been brought into SUBSAFE compliance.

Commentary: The Scorpion was the fourth submarine, from four different nations, to disappear mysteriously during a four-month span in 1968, following the Israeli Dakar (25 January), the French Minerve (27 January), & the Soviet K-129 (8 March).

Requiescat in pace.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Save Ferris, "The World Is New" from It Means Everything (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Ascension of the Lord

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Duvall, "Jesus Never Leaves Me" from Volume & Density (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father not so that He could be away from us, but so that He could be with us always & everywhere.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Reel Big Fish, "Scott's a Dork" from Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Here we have a perfect example of why SKApril has the rules it has. Why Do They Rock So Hard? is a great album full of great songs, & according to the Reel Big Fish themselves, it is their best album. Why Do They Rock So Hard? has thus far furnished four song to this year SKAfter Party. Four out of twenty-one. Every one of them has ben a worthy R.B.D.S.O.T.D., but without the strict rules of SKApril in place, this is what happens, a laser focus on one band or even one album.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Reel Big Fish, "Down in Flames" from Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: The Reel Big Fish hide their hearts & their brains behind fathomless snark & a wink, but "Down in Flames" is a serious meditation on the toxicity of celebrity culture & sanctimonious subcultures.

"You don't know me,
But here I am in your living room,
You don't own me,
But you paid and that means a lot to you.

"Well, you never listened,
But I know that's what you think that you do,
(That you do).
And everybody wants a change,
But this time it will be the same,
Watch us go down in flames!

"It's alright, it's O.K.,
It was gonna happen anyway,
We had our chance, we made our point,
And you're not gonna take that!

"Radio commercials,
T.V. shows and front-page ads,
Photos and interviews,
Well, they'll make sure it's the latest fad.

"Well, pay attention,
Cause you know you'll have to pay either way,
(Either way).
They'll tell you that it's the new thing,
But we know that it hasn't changed,
Watch us go down in flames!

"It's alright, it's O.K.,
It was gonna happen anyway,
We had our chance, we made our point,
And you're not gonna take that—
Away!
Away!
Away!
Away!

"When this blows over
And the mainstream coughs up another shell,
Will you let us back in your underground?
Well, I guess that's a no and it's just as well!

"'Cause you never supported us,
All you wanted was to see us fail!
(See us fail!)
They tell me that it's the new thing,
So I better get out of the way,
Watch us go down in flames!

"It's alright, it's O.K.,
It was gonna happen anyway,
We had our chance, we made our point,
But you're not gonna take that—
'Cause it's alright, it's O.K.,
It was gonna happen anyway,
We had our chance, we made our point,
But you're not gonna take that—
Away!
(You're not gonna take that) Away!
(You're not gonna take that) Away!
(You're not gonna take that) Away!"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Hans Gruber and the Die Hards, "We're All Gonna Die" from Hans Gruber and the Die Hards (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: "We're All Gonna Die" enjoyed the SKApril limelight not so long ago, in SKApril 2022.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Eric Christian Olsen, "Some Worries" from Community: Music from the Original Television Series (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: I've belatedly commenced by Easter project, a re-watch of Community, including a first watch of the Yahoo! seasons.

"This cool island breeze blows a little too cool,
This righteous, tasty bud makes me act like a fool,
Sand on my bottom at the end of the day.
The words to pretty girl that I just didn't say—

"I got some worries,
Some worries,
I got some worries,
Some worries…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day

Everclear, "Santa Monica" from Sparkle and Fade (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"We can live beside the ocean,
Leave the fire behind,
Swim out past the breakers
And watch the world die…"

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Easter Feaster Edition

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 337.0 lbs (Wednesday, 29 March)

Bonus! Lied von ÖSTERREICH
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Jackson Park Express" from Mandatory Fun (Mike Papa Waiter)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Your Horoscope for Today" from Running with Scissors (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Showing the breadth of SKApril & the widespread though fleeting popularity of ska in the 1990s, "Your Horoscope for Today" enjoyed the SKApril limelight in 2019.

Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAfter Party

Reel Big Fish, "Brand New Song" from Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"I've got a brand new girlfriend,
She is so lovely, lovely!
I've got a new ex-girlfriend,
She is so fat and ugly!

"Oh, not you again!
It gets worse every time…

"I'm not sorry about the things I do…"

The Explorers' Club Special

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 9
15-16 May 1963: Mercury 9 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, with Gordon Cooper aboard the Mercury capsule Faith 7 atop an Atlas rocket; the twenty-two-orbit flight exceeded all previous American spaceflights, combined, & was the first to send back T.V.; the Faith 7 splashed down in the Pacific, Mercury's most accurate splashdown, & was recovered by the U.S.S. Kearsarge.

Wayback Machine: № DCCCLXXXIII, "The Space Race—The 59th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 9"

Commentary: Mercury-Atlas 9 was the sixth & final manned flight of Project Mercury. There was a push for Alan Shepard to fly a second time, an orbital mission to exceed M.A.-9 in duration, but the Faith 7's flight pushed the Mercury hardware to its limits, demonstrating the necessity to move on to the more advanced Gemini & Apollo spacecraft. Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final Mercury flight, but we're not yet ready for the Wayback Tour of Project Mercury as we are still circling back to cover the unmanned test flights we have previously missed due to confusion over the Mercury-Redstone 4 to Mercury-Atlas 5 sequence.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today: SKAfter Party

Montag, 15. Mai
The Suicide Machines, "New Girl" from Destruction by Definition (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: "New Girl" is less about the protagonist's success new romance than his wanting to use that romance for revenge, to humuilate his previous paramour. In third-wave ska-punk, romance gone wrong is the only romance on offer.

Bonus! Song o' Yesterday: SKAfter Party

Sonntag, 14. Mai
Bombskare, "Raise the Black Flag" from the Monsters E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Monsters is Bomskare's, Scotland's ska juggernaut, latest release, from 2022.

"Sooner or later we'll have to
Raise the black flag,
Turn the tables and we'll
Take the world back,
Sooner or later we'll have to
Raise the black flag
And start slitting throats…"

The Explorers' Club, № CML

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 1, Part I
14 May 1973: The Skylab space station lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center atop a Saturn V rocket; aerodynamic forces during ascent sheared off Skylab's exterior micrometeoroid shield/sun shade & one of two solar arrays; debris ensnared the other solar "wing," crippling Skylab; the crewed launch of Skylab 2 scheduled for 15 May was postponed while N.A.S.A. devised how to save Skylab.

Commentary: Skylab 1 was the thirteenth & final flight of the mighty Saturn V rocket. The crewed Skylab expeditions would fly aboard Saturn IB rockets, last seen during Apollo 7 (October 1968).

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Skylab 1
They Might Be Giants, "Severe Tire Damage Theme" from Severe Tire Damage (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Semper exploro.