The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: Go Blue!

Team 147, Game 5: Michigan @ Minnesota
The University of Michgian Marching Band, "Little Brown Jug" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: Today the valiant Wolverines venture outside the friendly confines of "the Big House," for the first road game of the season, against the scrappy Golden Gophers of Minnesota. Michigan & Minnesota play for the Little Brown Jug, the oldest trophy in college football; there was a time in the mid-Twentieth Century when it was the University of Minnesota (the other U. of M.), not an Ohio State University or the University of Notre Dame, that was the University of Michigan's greatest rival in football.

Go Blue!

The Stars My Destination: Crew-13 Launch

The Space Age
1 October 2026: Commander Jessica Watkins (N.A.S.A.), Pilot Luke Delaney (N.A.S.A.), Mission Specialist Joshua Kurtyk (C.S.A.), & Mission Specialist Sergey Teteryatnikov (Roscosmos) lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's SLC-40 aboard the Crew Dragon Grace (C213) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The quartet docked the Grace with the International Space Station only eight hours after liftoff, for an intended six-month mission to the orbital laboratory.

Watkins is a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Crew-4 for Expeditions 67 & 68); Delaney, Kurtyk, & Teteryatnikov are rookies. Crew-13 are serving as members of I.S.S. Expedition 75 & will serve as members of Expedition 76.

Commentary: Watkins is the first N.A.S.A. astronaut to fly twice on a Crew Dragon, following currently on orbit cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (Crew-6 & Crew-12) & private astronauts Jared Isaacman (Inspiration4 & Polaris Dawn, & the current N.A.S.A. Administrator), Michael López-Alegría (Ax-1 & Ax-3), & Peggy Whitson (Ax-2 & Ax-4). Kurtyk is the first Canadian astronaut to fly on a Crew Dragon.

Crew-13 is the second flight of the Grace C213.

Commentary: I'm very glad there is a Crew-13. Back in the Space Shuttle days, the main reason why S.T.S.-9 (Columbia, 1983) was followed by S.T.S.-41-B (Challenger, 1984) was to avoid the prospect of an S.T.S.-13. Childish superstition has no place in spaceflight, an inherently hazardous venture.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Crew-13 & the Grace
Bob & Doug McKenzie featuring Geddy Lee, "Take Off" from Great White North (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Launch America
2020
Demo-2 Launch
Demo-2 Splashdown
Crew-1 Launch
2021
Crew-1 Relocation
Crew-2 Launch
Crew-1 Splashdown
Inspiration4 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-2 Splashdown
Crew-3 Launch
2022
Ax-1 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-4 Launch
Crew-3 Splashdown
Crew-5 Launch
Crew-4 Splashdown
2023
Crew-6 Scrub
Crew-6 Launch
Crew-5 Splashdown
Ax-2 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Launch
Crew-6 Splashdown
2024
Ax-3 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Splashdown
Crew-8 Launch & Splashdown
Boe-C.F.T. Launch & Landing
Polaris Dawn Launch & Splashdown
Crew-9 Launch & Splashdown
2025
Crew-10 Launch & Splashdown
Fram2 Launch & Splashdown
Ax-4 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-11 Launch & Splashdown
2026
Crew-12 Launch

Godspeed, Crew-13!

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"An Evening with Mr. Yang" (season three, episode sixteen; 20 February 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "An Evening with Mr. Yang" sets a new bar for an episode of Psych; it forms, with the following season's "Mr. Yin Presents…" (season four, episode sixteen) the dramatic height of Psych, a magnificent duology. The Yin-Yang Killer legacy would continue in "Yang 3in 2D" (season five, episode sixteen) & "Psych: The Musical" (season seven, episodes fifteen & sixteen), though neither rises to the heights of "An Evening with Mr. Yang" & "Mr. Yin Presents…."

"An Evening with Mr. Yang" is an almost straight dramatic episode, with Shawn begging Gus to act out inappropriately goofy shenanigans to keep Shawn from being overwhelmed by the pressure of playing the Mr. Yang's sick game.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The Allstonians, "Allston, Mass." from the Mash It Up, Vol. 3 compilation (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: The greatness of America is in the universality of this massive, continent-spanning country & the specificity of individual towns, even neighborhoods, & the dynamic tension betwixt those currents.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Tuesday the 17th" (season three, episode fifteen; 13 February 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Tuesday the 17th" is epic. Directed by James Roday Rodriguez & written by Rodriguez & series creator Steve Franks, it's actually two distinct episodes in one. The A plot is the source of the title, an allusion to the feature film Friday the 13th, with mysteries within mysteries & a chilling twist. The B plot is the polar opposite, a small, personal story: Lassie meets with his estranged wife, Victoria (played by Justine Bateman), hoping to reconcile & ends up signing divorce papers.

Ten out of ten. No notes. Chef's kiss.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Big D and the Kids Table, "Chicago" from How It Goes (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXIII

Destination Moon—Astronaut Group 5 (the "Original Nineteen"), Part VIII
Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II (17 March 1936-31 October 2023), Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy—He flew as Command Module Pilot on Apollo 16 (Casper & Orion, 1972), Commander on S.T.S.-4 (Columbia, 1982), & CDR on S.T.S.-51-C (Discovery, 1985); he was replaced as C.M.P. on Apollo 13 just three days before launch due to the risk of measles; post-N.A.S.A. & the Navy, he helped develop the X-33.

Commentary: We regret not marking Rear Admiral Mattingly's death when it occurred, one month shy of three years hence (31 October 2023), especially since we did note Frank Borman's death, one week later (7 November 2023). In October 2023, "The Explorers' Club" observed the sixtieth anniversary of the selection of Astronaut Group 3.

In the feature film Apollo 13 (1995), Mattingly was played by Gary Sinise.

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: The Original Nineteen—Ken Mattingly
Go Sailor, "Fine Day for Sailing" from Go Sailor (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Ken Mattingly
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXXVIII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 16, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXXIX: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 16, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXXX: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 16, Part III
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXXXIX: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-4, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXCI: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-4, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXX: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-C, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXI: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-C, Part II

Requiescat in pace.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Truer Lies" (season three, episode fourteen; 6 February 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Jonathan Silverman is perfectly cast as "Lyin' Ryan" Bainsworth. For no discernable reason, I have curiously strong memories of Silverman's short-lived, not particularly good sitcom from the 1990s, The Single Guy.

Operation ÖSTERREICH

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

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Less Than Jake, "Gainesville Rock City" from Borders & Boundaries (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

60 Years of Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-2026)

Operation AXIOM: Episode o' the Week
"The Naked Time" (season one, episode four; production code: 07; 29 September 1966): Wikipedia-link.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "They Came to Boston" from More Noise and Other Disturbances (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Skammentary: "They Came to Boston" is a complaint about tourists & students compromising the quality of life of Beantown natives. I've only ever been to Boston as a tourist, once to attend a college graduation; so, I guess the song is complaining about me.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Any Given Friday Night at 10 P.M., 9 P.M. Central" (season three, episode thirteen; 30 January 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The episode is set around professional football (Any Given Sunday), not high school football (Friday Night Lights). On the one hand, I don't find it credible that Shaw would be a football fan. He seems too cynical, the kind of person who in these latter days would talk derisively about "sportsball." On the other hand, lots of persons one might otherwise not suspect are big fans of both professional & college (which is now also professional) football. I very much enjoy that the fictional Los Angeles Thunderbirds' stadium is called the Thunder Dome.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Reel Big Fish, "New York, New York" from Cheer Up! (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: This was always a strange song for the Reel Big Fish: An a capella version of a Liza Minnelli & Frank Sinatra standard, about N.Y.C. when R.B.F. is an L.B.C.* band. Apparently, they recorded it for a Sinatra tribute album, but the album's producers didn't accept it because they'd invited Reel Big Fish specifically to make a ska-punk version. (Why else ask a ska-punk band to contribute?)

*O.K., technically Huntington Beach in Orange County not Long Beach in Los Angeles County, but close enough.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Earth, Wind and… Wait for It" (season three, episode twelve; 23 January 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The firefighting episode, guest-starring Bruce McGill, Richard Riehle (who in my head I sometimes mistake for Brian Doyle Murray), & Milena Govich. Everything Shawn knows about firefighting & arson he learned from the Backdraft attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood & he responds, "Wait, there's a movie?"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the XXVI Sunday in O.T.

The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Audrey Assad featuring Fernando Ortega, "Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" from Inheritance (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: If you are working in the vineyard of the Lord, keep at it; be not discouraged. If you are not working in the vineyard of the Lord, it's not yet too late, not as long as you still draw breath. He's calling you. He's waiting for you. He loves you.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing" (season three, episode eleven; 16 January 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Yep.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: Go Blue!

Team 147, Game 4: (№ 18) Michigan v. (№ 17) Iowa
John Linnell, "Iowa" from State Songs (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: The only saving grace of today's B1G opener is that the game is being played in Michigan Stadium, not in Iowa's Kinnick Stadium. Spooky things happen in Kinnick, especially during night games.

"Iowa is a witch,
She's a witch,
She's a witch,
She's a witch!…"

Go Blue!

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Six Feet Under the Sea" (season three, episode ten; 9 January 2009): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Ted McGinley! Plus, the role reversal of Gus tricking an outraged Shawn into attending a funeral for a sea lion—Shawn being the straight man & Gus being seriosu about silliness—is magnificent.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The Mowgli's, "San Francisco" from the San Francisco single (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: A Free Single of the Week from back when Apple Music was still iTunes.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Christmas Joy" (season three, episode nine; 28 November 2008): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Directed by John Landis (The Blues Brothers, Michael Jackon's "Thriller," etc.)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Superchunk, "Detroit Has a Skyline" from Here's Where the Strings Come In (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXII

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars—The Orteig Prize, Part I
23 September 1926: The Sikorsky S-35 of pilot René Fonck, copilot Lawrence Curtin, radio operator Charles Clavier, & mechanic Jacob Islamoff crashed while attempting to take off from Roosevelt Field; the S-35 was severely overloaded, carrying both a sofa & a refrigerator, & plunged down a slope at the end of the runway; Fonck & Curtin escaped uninjured, while both Clavier & Islamoff were killed.

Commentary: The Orteig Prize was offered in 1919 by Franco-American hotelier Raymond Orteig: $25,000 to the first Entente pilot(s) to fly non-stop from New York to Paris or from Paris to New York. John Alcock & Arthur Brown had collected the earlier Daily Mail prize of £10,000 for the first non-stop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland ("The Explorers' Club," № DCXCIII).

Semper exploro.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Gus Walks into a Bank" (season three, episode eight; 12 September 2008): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I very much enjoy the title, a play on words on the classic joke set up, "guy walks into a bank." This is the bank robbery/hostage episode of Psych, the instance of which I suspect is more common on television than in real life. Guest star Alan Ruck is somewhat wasted in the role of bank robber & inadvertant hostage-taker Phil Stubbins. Guest star Gary Cole is perfectly cast as the S.W.A.T. commander/hostage negotiator, Cameron Lutz.

The discordant element in "Gus Walks into a Bank" is Juliet's romance with Lutz, which is a whiplash-inducing change since the sweet couple's skate with Shawn just one week earlier, at the end of "Talk Derby to Me."

Operation ÖSTERREICH

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

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Nirvana, "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" from In Utero (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: I claim no expertise on the strange case of Frances Farmer, & I don't have a dog in that fight, but, honestly, whom amongst has not wanted at some point to take revenge on Seattle?

60 Years of Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-2026)

Operation AXIOM: Episode o' the Week
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" (season one, episode three; production code: 02; 22 September 1966): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I am a continuity junkie, but I have to be flexible when watching The Original Series, especially these very early episodes. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot for Star Trek, after the rejection of "The Cage," & features different uniforms & equipment than seen in the rest of the series. Mr. Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy, R.I.P.) is the only character to carry over from "The Cage;" Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner), Scotty (played by James Doohan, R.I.P.), & Sulu (played by George Takei) debut here.

There were three ideas considered for the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," & what became "Mudd's Women" (season one, episode six) & "The Omega Glory" (season two, episode twenty-three). "Mudd's Women" is an O.K. epsiode, but features even less action than "The Cage," one of the criticisms of the original pilot. "The Omega Glory" is hot garbage, in the running for the worst episode of the series; if that had been the second pilot, there would have been no more Star Trek, & deservedly so.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" has a big science fiction idea, humans with above average E.S.P. potential being bumped up to godlike powers of telepathy & telekenesis, with egomania to match, by encountering the "barrier" at the edge of the galaxy. (The feature film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier [1989], placed a similar "barrier" around the Galactic Center.) It also features the requested level of action, with Kirk's tunic being ripped in his first appearance. The essential decency of Jim Kirk is also on display; after he is forced to kill his friend & Enterprise helsman, Gart Mitchell, who had gone mad with the power, Kirk insists Mitchell be remembered as a good officier who died in the performance of his duties, not as a megalomaniacal esper: "He didn't ask for what happened to him."

Fun Fact: Mitchell conjures a tombstone for Kirk, emblazoned "James R. Kirk." We know from later episodes that the captain's name is James T. Kirk, T. for Tiberius as established in the feature film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the First Day o' Autumn

"The cruel, hot summer
led into the long, hard fall,
becoming the dark, killing winter
until spring replenished us all."
—Bill Willingham, Fables

The Autumnal Equinox
Ian Whitcomb, "Songe D'Automne (Dream of an Autumn)" from Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage (Mike Papa Whiskey)

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Talk Derby to Me" (season three, episode seven; 5 September 2008): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: One of the most iconic episodes of the whole series. It's a shame, in my eyes, that they used roller derby as a gimmick of the week. It would have been interesting if O'Hara had continued as "Maniac," or adopted a different moniker on a less felonious team.

My heart melts when Shawn & Juliet enjoy their couples skate at the end of "Talk Derby to Me."

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Last Day o' Summer!

The Aquabats!, "Hot Summer Nights (Won't Last Forever)!" from Charge!! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Commentary!: Summer is the only season the end of which is ever marked musically, in years past with a series of songs. Why? I suppose because summer is culturally distinct from the other seasons, being the time away from school & work for vacations. Also, the hot weather is my least favorite & I long to see its end, though of course I bow to the infinitely superior wisdom of the Almighty in ordaining the times & seasons.

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXXI

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Surveyor 2
20-23 September 1966: The Surveyor 2 probe lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station atop an Atlas-Centaur rocket; Surveyor 2 was bound for the Sinus Medii, the closest point of the Moon to the Earth; a thruster failed during a mid-course correction burn & the uneven thrust sent the probe tumbling out of control; contact was lost & Surveyor 2 crashed near the Copernicus Crater.

Commentary: Back in the 2010s, "The Explorers' Club" was consumed with chronicling the centenary of the First World War (1914-1918). The decision to fête the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 2019 was a result of cultural Zeitgeist, not conscious planning. We only decided to similarly cover the other Apollo Moon landings &, retroactively, all Apollo flights, when the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 12 rolled around in November. We completely missed the robotic preparations for the manned Moon landings, the Ranger, Surveyor, & Lunar Orbiter programs (1961-1967). That's what we're doing now, building toward the sixieth anniversaries of the Apollo landings (2029-2032), by which it is hoped that Artemis astronauts will have set foot on the Moon, this time coming to stay. Apollo didn't have in a vacuum. Many of our robotic servants paved the way to the "one giant leap for Mankind."

Ad astra per aspera.

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"There Might Be Blood" (season three, episode six; 22 August 2008): Wikipedia-link.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the XXV Sunday in O.T.

The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matt Maher, "Every Little Prison (Deliver Me)" from The Love In Between (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: I fear for my mom & everyone else who hates this parable, denouncing the Lord as "unfair." Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do!

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Disco Didn't Die. It Was Murdered!" (season three, episode four; 15 August 2008): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: A great episode paying tribute to detective shows of the '70s, with Shawn, Gus, & Henry wearing vintage clothes as disguises & tooling around in a period automobile instead of the Blueberry. Interestingly, the Weather Underground analog in the episode is the Soldiers against Government, S.A.G., the same acronym as the Screen Actors' Guild.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: Go Blue!

Team 147, Game 3: (№ 19) Michigan v. U.T.E.P.
Lee Dorsey, "Working in the Coal Mine" from the The Oldie Hits, Vol. 2 compilation (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: U.T.E.P., the University of Texas at El Paso, was originally the State School of Mines & Metallurgy, & the athletics teams are still the epithetless Miners. Note, that's the University of Texas at El Paso, stylistically different from the University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.).

Go Blue!

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"The Great Adventure in the History of Basic Cable" (season three, episode four; 8 August 2008): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Shawn's uncle Jack (played by Steven Weber), Henry's ne'er-do-well younger brother, comes to town & leads our heroes on a rollicking treasure hunt. Jack Spencer never recurred as a character, but I look at "The Great Adventure in the History of Basic Cable" as a prototype for the later episodes with the gentleman thief Pierre Despereaux (played by Cary Elwes).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
MxPx, "Move to Bremerton" from Life in General (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Move to Bermerton, we'll hang out,
"Move to Bermerton, we'll go all out,
"Move to Bermerton, will you be mine?…"

20 Years of Psych (2006-2026)

Episode o' the Day
"Daredevils!" (season three, episode three; 1 August 2008): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Shawn's impassioned speech to "Dutch the Clutch" before the final stunt is a rare moment of seriousness on Psych. Bonus: Not seen on screen as Shawn walks away down the stadium tunnel, Dutch chooses the good.

Perchance to Dream

My new mattress & "foundation" (apparently, box springs are now called foundations) arrived on 29 August. In general, I feel better, more rested & with less stiffness in the morning. I don't know if this means I'm sleeping better or sleeping worse, or signifies neither outcome, but I've been recalling far more of my dreams with the new modern mattress.

In my dream, I found myself standing face to face with an acquaintance from my parish, a young-to-middle aged wife & mother. She's cute in real life, a mousy librarian type, but I've never found myself particularly allured by her. Back in the dream, she told me to call her "Lily," which isn't her name. Lily was modestly dressed, but in the way you know things in dreams, I knew the situation was sexually charged. She asked me to talk dirty to her, entreating me to explain to her that Nabokov was a Nazi. I understood this to mean the Russo-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), most famous for Lolita (1955), who, to the best of my knowledge, was not a Nazi. (The internet agrees, for what that's worth.) That's when I woke up, as perplexed in real life as I'd been in the dream.

Bonus! Song o' the Day
The Cranberries, "Dreams" from Everyboy Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The Ataris, "So Long, Astoria" from So Long, Astoria (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary:

"So long, Astoria,
I found a map to buried treasure,
Even if we come home empty-handed
We'll still have our stories
Of battle scars, pirate ships, and wounded hearts,
Broken bones, and all the best of friendships,
And when this hourglass has filtered out its final grain of sand,
I'll raise my glass to the memories we own…"

The R.B.D. Song o' the Independence Day of Mexico

Potshot, "Mexico" from Pots and Shots (Miguel Papa Whiskey)