EX-TER-MI-NATE!
I watched my very first full episode of Doctor Who last night, "Daleks in Manhattan." I am indebted to my favorite sawbones, Dr. Hee Haw, who made a passing reference to the Daleks in a comment from some months back that served as my introduction to these most fascinating villains. Doc, I thank you. One episode in and I am game for more of The Doctor's adventures, even after the Daleks have exited the stage. Have I discovered a new science fiction love? What I saw last night augurs well for the series, but only the fullness of time shall tell. Bring on more metallic staccato screeching!

The Stars My Destination: The Good
When the space shuttle Endeavour sunders the sky and vaults into the heavens in early August, among the crew will be astronaut Barbara Morgan, who originally joined NASA as Christa McAullife's for the first Teacher in Space flight, a mission that ended in the Challenger disaster. This speaks well of both Ms. Morgan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, that neither will cower in the face of hardship and bitter loss. Fortune favors the bold.

The conquest of outer space requires temerity, not trepidation! There is no risk-free way to travel to space; every step of a celestial voyage places life and limb in tremendous jeopardy. But the rewards of achieving the heavens are well worth the price that has been paid in blood and treasure. From the memorial plaque at the site of the Apollo 1 disaster:

"Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived."

And by Jove, that is precisely what we're doing! The motto of NASA is Ad astra per aspera, usually, and somewhat loosely, translated as "A rough road leads to the stars." From President Kennedy's immortal speech committing America to landing men on the Moon before the end of the 1960s:

"We choose to go to the Moon, we choose to go to the Moon and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Though twenty-one years have past since that fateful day when I sat in my elementary school's library (McAullife's participation was a big deal, especially in the public schools) and watch the destruction of the Challenger live on TV, and though those seven brave souls were sadly not the last lives lost in the exploration of the final frontier, we will live in the shadow of the Challenger disaster as long as her sister shuttles continue to fly. But astronaut Morgan's flight will reaffirm that though a dear price has been paid, we dare not abandon our dreams. Godspeed, Endeavour.

The Stars My Destination: The Bad
For all its lofty ambitions, NASA is still a human enterprise and humans are flawed, terrible, broken creatures: drunklink. I can think of only three responsive measures: roll my eyes, hope against hope that NASA gets its house in order, and post the following cartoon by Michael Ramirez.



The Stars My Destination: The Ugly
Note that I am more likely to use the word "Mankind" when talking up the virtues of manned space flight and "humans" when lamenting the fallen state of Man. What is to follow is not an original thought (so, of course, from whence I am quoting it presently escapes me), but of course we are all aware that we only ever say "You're only human" when an error has been made. We never say, "George Lucas, your films are spectacular and have brought joy to millions. You're only human!" As misanthropic as I strive to be, even I find solace in conforming to the linguistic conventions of my contemporaries.

So, "the Wolverines" win games while "we" loss, and "Mankind" soars while "humans" remain mired in failure.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Reel Big Fish, "Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat?" from Monkeys For Nothin' and the Chimps For Free (T.L.A.M.)

Freitag, 27 Juli
They Might Be Giants, "Don't Let's Start" from Then: The Earlier Years, Disc One (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: You might think it odd to choose as the first Song of the Day from the new RBF album a song that has previously appeared on both Everything Sucks and the Keep Your Receipt EP, but a good song is a good song no matter how many times it has been released and recorded. And the message still resonates, why do even the fairest girls find their comely visage damnably flawed?

For the longest time, I thought the lyrics were, "Do-do-donut star...." Nonsense, certainly, but not outside the realm of possibility for a They Might Be Giants song.