The Explorers Club
No. CXXII - The Battle of Peterloo, 16 August 1819.







The Stars My Destination
Home are the heroes: B.B.C.link and N.A.S.A.link. A warm welcome and a hearty "well done" to the brave astronauts of the Discovery. Next up, the Atlantis pays a final visit to one of the greatest scientific achievements of ours or any age, the Hubble Space Telescope: Hubblelink.

By the Great Bird of the Galaxy, I hope President Obama was just blowing smoke when he promised to put an end to American manned spaceflight.





I've finally acquired a new pair of Chuck Taylor All-Stars, the previous pair having served me very well and having only at length gone to join the ranks of its predecessors in Valhalla. Skeeter has long said that my shoes are an affectation, but I've never been certain as to which meaning of affectation she intended. Are my Chuck Taylors an artifice? To what end? Or are they a cornerstone of my personal style, a style marked by an aversion to change? I have worn All-Stars since I was in the ninth grade. I have had the same haircut since the ninth grade (with the additional of sideburns in college). I have worn the same style of sunglasses since high school (though I can't pin down the exact year). Is all of this affect? Is there no Mike Wilson, merely a conglomeration of eccentricities that I have tried desperately to pass off as a personality? Am I a hollow man?

No, that's all hogwash. I just like the shoes, man, I like the way they fit and I love the way they look. I just wish I could wear them all the time like I used to, instead of only in my free time. And here I am torn: I wish, to a degree, to be a bespoke man, to dress as a man used to before our society took informality too far, but I never want to surrender my Chuck Taylors. In due time I shall figure out how to strike the proper balance.

Proud Europa: Italy
Silvio-a-go-go. I know shamefully little about Italian politics, but I do know that Berlusconi's governments have always favored the Messina Straits Bridge, whereas the left-wing Prodi government put the kibosh on the whole thing. And I don't care if the bridge will enrich the Mafia, I want to see that engineering marvel!

Also, even though the Northern League has not joined the Popolo della Liberta alliance and is thus not necessarily germane to this story, please note that the charges of racism and xenophobia lodged against the Northern League are mostly spurious, the kind of pap left-wing parties and their lackeys in the Fourth Estate typically hurl at right-wing parties rather than debate the issues.

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Vampire Weekend, "A-Punk" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Every once in a while, such as today, I am in the mood for "A-Punk," but by and large I am pleased I bought it for a song with an iTunes gift card back around Christmas.

Freitag, 27 März
The Puppini Sisters, "Walk Like an Egyptian" from The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo (T.L.A.M.)

Donnerstag, 26 März
Samiam, "Long Enough to Forget You" from Short Music For Short People (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: "I used all the patience I had left for you when I wrote this down."