The Stars My Destination: The Soyuz 1 Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 59th Anniversary of Soyuz 1
Fifty-nine years ago to the day, 24 April 1967, Pilot Vladimir Komarov perished when his Soyuz 1 capsule crashed into the Earth's surface after its parachutes failed to deploy during atmospheric re-entry, the first man to die during a spaceflight.

Three cosmonauts were meant to launch aboard Soyuz 2, equipped with the same flawed parachute-deployment system, & rendezvous in orbit with Komarov aboard Soyuz 1. The Soyuz 2 launch was called off due to thunderstorms near the launch site; otherwise, they would have perished, too. After the tragedy, the Soyuz program was delayed for eighteen months while the parachute system was redesigned, amidst other refinements.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Soyuz 1
The Explorers' Club, № DCCCLXXVII

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: In Memoriam
The Phenomenauts, "Heroes" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Requiescat in pace.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Friday, 24 April 2015
Magic!, "Rude" from Don't Kill the Magic (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine. We have always taken a very liberal attitude toward ska during SKApril, encompassing the successor genres (subgenres?) rocksteady & reggae, as well as ska- or reggae-influenced rock & pop songs. We intend always to maintain that very liberal attitude.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Five Iron Frenzy, "Plan B" from Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: We welcome back Five Iron Frenzy, who were part of that first SKApril way back in 2011, but have not enjoyed the SKApril limelight since the annus horribilis 2020, when we were all encouraged—in many cases, required—to give up on life & just lay about the house all day.

"Fell asleep with my clothes on,
Dropped my keys on the front lawn,
Waking up, I watch the drool a-gleaming
From my mouth to the carpet, it is streaming.

"Giving up
Never felt so good,
Welcome to plan B! (Welcome to plan B!)

"I'll eat some moldy bread,
Then I'm going back to bed,
I know how this day will crescendo:
I'll fall asleep while I play Nintendo.

"Giving up
Never felt so good,
Welcome to plan B! (Welcome to plan B!)
Giving up,
What is the likelihood
Life could be so free? (Life could be so free?)…"

As was so well stated in The Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living or get busy dying."

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Sunday, 23 April 2023
Kemuri, "Go! Go! Go! Go! Glow!" from Freedomosh (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine. In a world full of doomsayers & "blackpilling," be a rebel. Have a Positive Mental Attitude.

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"Elaan of Troyius" (season three, episode thirteen; production code: 057; 20 December 1968): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The title is a reference the mythological Helen of Troy, but the plot is based on the Bard's The Taming of the Shrew. (As modern adaptations of The Taming of the Shrew go, I prefer the 1999 feature film 10 Things I Hate about You.) This episode would have been more successful if it had been more comedic, a farce instead of a melodrama.

The most enduring legacy of "Elaan of Troyius" is the design of the Klingon battlecruiser, which debuted onscreen in "The Enterprise Incident" (season three, episode two), which was produced after "Elaan of Troyius" but broadcast before.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

The Dendrites, "Never Knowingly Serious" from the Fly Casual E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: "Never Knowingly Serious" is an instrumental work, as are most of The Dendrites' songs. The Dendrites are a SKAffirmative Action pick, having not enjoyed the SKApril limelight since SKApril XI in 2021.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Less Than Jake, "Gainesville Rock City" from Borders & Boundaries (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Well, I'm half-awake
And half a world away,
All my past mistakes
And every misspent day,
Proves that I'll never change,
I'll always stay the same,
I wouldn't have it any other way…"

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"Spectre of the Gun" (season three, episode six; production code: 056; 25 October 1968): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Spectre of the Gun" is one of the many episodes of the third season with which I have only a passing familiarity. It's not like "Balance of Terror" (season one, episode fourteen), "The Trouble with Tribbles" (season two, episode fifteen), or "The Doomsday Machine" (season two, episode six), episodes I've seen over & over again.

Upon re-watching the episode, it's interesting to see the strong pacifist streak throughout, a streak at odds with many other episode of The Original Series. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, & Chekov (no disposable "redshirts" this time) are trapped in a surreal representation of the American frontier town of Tombstone on the day of the far-famed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Time and again, our intrepid heroes decline to engage in violence against the Earp brothers & Doc Holliday & are eventually released from the cage when they realize that nothing in it can harm them unless they believe it can. Jim Kirk as a pacifist is an interesting idea to explore, but it is utterly consistent with many other episodes (including, but not limited to, the aforementioned "Balance of Terror" & "The Doomsday Machine"), which is to say it feels too conveniently tailored to this particular episode.

The other odd aspect of the episode is the Enterprise's mission to establish friendly relations against the express wishes of the Melkotians to be left alone. A Melkotian probe intercepts the Enterprise as she approaches the Melkotian plnet & warns them away; Kirk presses on regardless, obedient to his orders. When Kirk & company beam down to the planet, a Melkotian appears & sentences them to death for trespassing. Once they prove themselves non-violent in the weird Tombstone scenario, the Melkotians agree to talk, but should Kirk have even pressed the issue? I'm aware of the Perry Expedition (1852-1855) & the forced opening to trade of Japan by the United States & other Western powers, but is that consistent with Federation ethics?

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Good Friday, 22 April 2011
Five Iron Frenzy, "Far Far Away" from Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Easter Feaster Edition

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Explorers' Club, № MCLI

Cheong Wa Dae (literally, the "Cyan-tile Pavilion," A.K.A. the Blue House), the residence & office of the president of the Republic of Korea (South Korea); a royal villa was constructed on the site as early as 1104; the current Main Building was built in 1991; former President Yoon turned the Blue House into a public park (2022-2025), but since late 2025 it has been restored as the presidential residence.

Semper exploro.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives!

Saturday, 21 April 2012
The Aquabats!, "Aquabat March!" from The Return of The Aquabats! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine. Scroll down to find the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. Back then, I tried to jam as many topics as possible into every single post, the logic of which escapes me now.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Edna's Goldfish, "A Perfect Day" from Before You Knew Better… (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"You're always on my mind and I thought I'd just let you know,
That I'm not crazy, but I'm crazy for you…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Less Than Jake, "9th at Pine" from Losing Streak (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Dan P. & the Bricks, "Kung Fu" from When We Were Fearless (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Dan P. is Dan Potthast, front man of SKAll-Stars MU330. Apart from MU330, he has several solo albums, but Dan P. & the Bricks is the only other ska band of his of which I am aware. Hooray!

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Thursday, 19 April 2018
Edna's Goldfish, "If You Want It" from Before You Knew Better… (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the III Sunday o' Easter

The Third Sunday of Easter
Duvall, "Jesus Never Leaves Me" from Volume & Density (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

The New York Citizens, "The National Front" from the Pounding the Pavement single (Rude Boy Bravo Charlie)

Skammentary: YouTube-link. The N.Y. Citizens are making their SKApril debut courtesy of a nomination from online acquaintance & brother Knight of Columbus Bravo Charlie, who played in Cleveland-basd ska band The Assassinators back in the Nineties, before I had even discovered ska during the Summer of Ska (1997). The N.Y. Citizens, who disbanded in 1994, were pioneers of third-wave ska in New York City ska bands in the late Eighties & early Nineties, alongside The Toasters & The Scofflaws.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Sunday, 18 April 2021
Hepcat, "Hooligans" from Out of Nowhere (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Dance Hall Crashers, "Go" from Lockjaw (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: The Dance Hall Crashers are playing a show tonight in Chicago, with Fishbone at the House of Blues. I would have liked to have gone (I've never seen D.H.C. nor Fishbone in concert), but circumstances conspired against attending.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Thursday, 17 April 2025
Big D and the Kids Table, "Steady Riot" from Strictly Rude (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine. "Steady Riot" was the first song selected from the SKArchives, because it's about what SKApril is all about.

"Music, a steady riot in my soul,
Music, a steady riot in my soul,
Always in me (always in me),
Always in me (always in me),
Always in me (always in me),
Always in me (always in me).

"Right, a steady, a steady riot!"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Mustard Plug, "Bang!" from Can't Contain It (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Mustard Plug are SKApril's homegrown SKAll-Stars, hailing from Grand Rapids, the metropolis of West Michigan. It is becoming a Christmas tradition to see Mustard Plug play a show in Detroit on 26 December, which I did with my pal Red Patton in both 2024 & 2025.

"Bang!" stands in the long tradition of ska songs calling for peace, for an end to the violence in our neighborhoods & on our streets.

"This hasn't happened here before…

"This wasn't going on before…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Mustard Plug, "Miss Michigan" from Evildoers Beware! (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Mad Caddies, "Road Rash" from Duck and Cover (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: The Mad Caddies are beneficiaries of SKAffirmative Action. They enjoyed the SKApril limelight in 2012, only the second SKApril, & in subsequent years, but have not enjoyed that limelight since 2018. "Road Rash" is a worthy song—our charity does not extend so far as to inflict bad songs on our beloved readers—but I don't often listen to Duck and Cover, the only Mad Caddies album in my music library. SKAffirmative Action exists to help SKApril showcase the bredth of ska. Without it, & the other rules around SKApril,I would just replay my favorite songs by my favorite bands over & over again, & that's what the SKAfterParty & SKAugust are for.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

The Scofflaws, "Dr. Ring-A-Ding" from the Freedom Sounds: A Tribute to the Skatalites compilation (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: I'm grateful to the small community of rudies built up around SKApril who have helped me learn more about the East Coast's Third Wave ska scene of the late Eighties & Nineties, so very different from the West Coast ska that dominated my initial exposure to the genre.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Sunday, 15 April 2018
Suburban Legends, "Bright Spring Morning" from Rump Shaker (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Easter Feaster Edition

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Explorers' Club, № MCL

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
7 April 1926: Italian Duce Benito Mussolini was shot in Rome by Violet Gibson, an Anglo-Irishwoman, the first of three assassination attempts in 1926; he had just addressed an international conference of surgeons; the bullet only grazed Mussolini's nose, & he was able to carry on with his itinerary; Italian police saved Gibson from being lynched & she spent the rest of her life in a British insane asylum.

Commentary: In 2022, Dublin, Ireland unveiled a plaque honoring Gibson as a "committed anti-fascist," brushing aside her own Unionist political convictions (born & raised in Dublin, she refused to hold Irish citizenship after the Anglo-Irish War) & the inconvenient fact that her failed assassination boosted Mussolini's popularity, thus aiding the Fascist consolidation of power in Italy.

Lest we forget.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Friday, 14 April 2017
The Chinkees, "Big World" from Peace through Music (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

The Hacklers, "Get Out" from Between the Lines (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Get out, get out, get out of my head,
I can't take this pain…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Ska Cubano, "Jezebel" from ¡Ay Caramba! (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

The Hippos, "The Sand" from Heads Are Gonna Roll (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Every year, I think The Hippos are through as SKAll-Stars—especially since the sixteen years of SKApril have featured every one of the ten songs on their only purely ska-punk album, Forget the World—& every year they manage to hang on. I admire their persistence, which is all the more remarkable since they started to abandon ska on the second of their three albums.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Vostok 1

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 65th Anniversary of Vostok 1
Public Service Broadcasting, "Gagarin" from The Race for Space (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Happy Yuri's Night, space cadets! Hyperlinks: Cosmonautics Day, International Day of Human Space Flight, & Yuri's Night.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Vostok 1
№ DCCCX: The Sixtieth Anniversary of Vostok 1

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Saturday, 12 April 2025
The Rocksteady Conspiracy, "Jerk Chicken" from Rough & Sweet (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Divine Mercy Sunday

The Second Sunday of Easter (The Sunday of Divine Mercy)
Mike Hilliker & Melanie Rea, "Lord, Have Mercy" from the Mercy: Songs for Holy Week (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

Skameleon, "Hot Ska" from Ska Makes Everything Better (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: A ska-punk cover of the Donna Summer song "Hot Stuff." Skameleon are a cover band, musical chameleons who cover songs from across the spectrum of rock & roll, because ska makes everything better.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Reel Big Fish, "Everything Sucks" from Turn the Radio Off (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine.

Bonus! Easter Octave Song o' the Day

Saturday in the Octave of Easter
Sarah Kroger, "O God Beyond All Praising" from Origin: A Beauty Initiative within F.O.C.U.S. (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club Special: April 1916

Operation AXIOM: The World War
In April 1916, the "world blood-pump" at Verdun continued & Irish nationalists rebelled against the British Empire; in the "Chemists' War," offense (poison gas) still held the advantage over defense (gas masks); & the Anglo-Indian force besieged at Kut surrendered to the Ottomans, who treated the defeated commander as a celebrity & let most of his men die of maltreatment.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the World War: April 1916
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXCII: The Battle of Verdun, Part III: "They shall not pass!" (10 April-31 May 1916)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXCIV: The Easter Rising (24-29 April 1916)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXCIII: Poison gas cloud attacks near Hulluch, France (27-29 April 1916)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXCV: The Siege of Kut, Part IV: The British surrendered (29 April 1916)

Lest we forget.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

The Skamotts, "Giant Panda" from Pleasure Isle (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: An instrumental piece.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: From the SKArchives

Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Bombskare, "Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?" from The Day the Earth Stood Stupid (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Wayback Machine. "Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?" was my introduction to Bombskare. If I remember correctly, I found the video for "Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?" on the YouTubes.

Why are we highlighting the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. from 30 April 2019 on 10 April 2026? Because, attentive reader, in 2019 SKApril was postponed by my participation in the Exodus 90 exercise, the disciplines of which forbade listening to music. In subsequent years, the disciplines would be amended to permit music that "lifted the heart & mind to God." SKApril IX began on Easter Sunday, 21 April, & continued for thirty days into May. Even if the total prohibition on music had remained, I would not have obeyed it; I learned the bitter lesson in 2019 that ska lifts my heart & my mind. Curse me as a addict if you wish, but I believe man's musical talents are gifts from God meant to raise out minds, hearts, & spirits. I'm a more joyous, more charitable person when I listen to ska.

Bonus! Easter Octave Song o' the Day

Friday in the Octave of Easter
O.C.P. Session Choir, "O God Beyond All Praising" from Glory & Praise: Third Edition, Vol. 27 (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKApril XVI

RX Bandits, "Now or Never" from Halfway Between Here and There (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Usually, SKApril is planned out methodically, to avoid repeating bands & songs. Today, however, "Now or Never" has been running through my head like any normal R.B.D.S.O.T.D. Neat!

"I can't wait forever,
Maybe I can't wait all night,
Last time that she kissed me,
Her boyfriend blacked my eye…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Go Blue!

Project PUFFIN: Team 104
N.C.A.A. Tournament, Frozen Four
(№ 1) Michigan v. Denver (№ 2)
31-7-1, B1G 20-6-1

The University of Michigan Marching Band, "The Victors" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: I have not watched much of the valiant Wolverines of Team 104, in large measure because there's not much college hockey on television & I have not tried to attend a game at the venerable Yost Ice Arena. (I ought to do that next winter.) The valiant Wolverines are the № 1 overall seed, but have not been able to advance from the Frozen Four to the national championship game in quite a long time. Denver has overtaken Michigan as the most frequent National Champions (ten times); the valiant Wolverines have been stuck on nine since 1998, my freshman year.

Go Blue!