The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

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

Skammentary:

"Said she likes my band, but I don't even like my band,
I love her and she loves everyone!…"

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"The Way of the Warrior" (season four, episodes one & two; 2 October 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture

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

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

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

The Explorers' Club, № CMLXXV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-8, Part I
30-31 August 1983: The Space Shuttle Challenger OV-099 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C., the first Space Shuttle night launch, with CDR Dick Truly, Pilot Dan Brandenstein, M.S.1 Guy Bluford, M.S.2 Dale Gardner, & M.S.3 Bill Thornton; Bluford was America's first black astronaut; the quintet deployed the INSAT-1B satellite & conducted shakedown tests of T.D.R.S.-1 ahead of its vital role in S.T.S.-9.

Commentary: S.T.S.-8 was the third flight of the Challenger OV-099.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-8
Caro Emerald, "A Night Like This" from Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor (Space Cadet Mike Pape Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"The Adversary" (season three, episode twenty-six; 19 June 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture

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

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

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Saint Michael's Lent

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

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 349.4 lbs. (Wednesday, 9 August 2023)

Bonus! Lied von ÖSTERREICH
John Williams, "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace (Mike Papa Wookie)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Hell of a Hat" from Question the Answers (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"The gear you wear seems complete,
Why you got to pack the heat?

"We question one accessory,
Don't think the piece is necessary,
We agree you're dressed to kill,
We wonder if you will…

"The clothes you wear are stylin', son,
Why you got to wear the gun?

"We question one accessory,
Don't think the piece is necessary,
We agree you're dressed to kill,
We wonder if you will…"

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"Facets" (season three, episode twenty-five; 12 June 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture

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

The Popish Plot
"Happy Year 7"

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist (circa 1 B.C.-A.D. 30), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius by the client Galilean "king" Herod Antipas.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Catch 22, "Keasbey Nights" from Keasbey Nights (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish (featuring Monique Powell), "She Has a Girlfriend Now" from Turn the Radio Off (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Boys dating girls who prefer girls to boys was a recurrent theme in ska-punk in the 1990s. Part two of a two-part series that commenced yesterday.

"She said she found someone who's gonna hold her hand,
She said she found someone who's gonna understand,
She don't need nobody to be her man,
She don't need nobody to be her man!…"

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"Shakaar" (season three, episode twenty-four; 22 May 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture

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

The Popish Plot
"Year 6 in Review"

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop & Doctor of the Church (354-430, of Hippo; A.K.A. Aurelius Augustinus), fifth (V) Bishop of Hippo Regius (395-430), also a Father of the Church, & author of the Confessions.

Commentary: Wayback Machine '21 & Wayback Machine '20. Son of Saint Monica [27 August].

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

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Late have I loved You, O beauty ever ancient & ever new!"
—Saint Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church (354-430, feast: 28 August)

The Explorers' Club, № CMLXXIV

The Space Race—Astronaut Group 2 (the "New Nine"), Part IX
Neil Alden Armstrong (5 August 1930-25 August 2012), Lieutenant (junior grade), U.S. Navy—He flew Gemini VIII (1966) & Apollo 11 (Columbia & Eagle, 1969), commanding both flights; he was the last member of Astronaut Group 2 to fly, but the first of the twelve Moonwalkers; he joined the N.A.C.A, N.A.S.A.'s predecessor agency, as a civilian test pilot in 1955 & flew the X-1B & X-15 rocketplanes.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: The New Nine—Neil Armstrong
Common Kings featuring Landon McNamara, "Neil Armstrong" from the Neil Armstrong single (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Neil Armstrong
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCIV: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VIII
"The Explorers' Club," № DCXCVIII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCXCIX: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № DCC: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part III
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part IV

Commentary: The above meme is based on one of the most famous photographs in history, of Buzz Aldrin standing on the surface of the Moon, taken by Neil Armstrong. Note that Armstrong is visible, the small figure reflected in Aldrin's visor.

Requiescat in pace.

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"Family Business" (season three, episode twenty-three; 15 May 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture: XXI Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

'Tis the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine '21 & Wayback Machine '20.

Saints of the Day
Otherwise, 27 August would be the festival of Saint Monica (circa 322-387, of Hippo).

Commentary: Mother of the bishop & Doctor of the Church St. Augustine of Hippo [28 August].

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Nothing is far from God."
—Saint Monica (322-387, feast: 27 August)

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

The Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Letters to Cleo, "St. Peter" from Whole Meats and Fish (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Planet Smashers, "Romeo" from Attack of The Planet Smashers (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Boys dating girls who prefer girls to boys was a recurrent theme in ska-punk in the 1990s. Part one of a two-part series to be concluded tomorrow.

"My girlfriend is a lesbian,
Not even bi-sexual,
Am I just a thespian,
Acting out Romeo?…"

The Stars My Destination: Crew-7 Launch

The Space Age
In the wee hours of this morning, 26 August 2023, Spacecraft Commander Jasmin Moghbeli (N.A.S.A.), Pilot Andreas Mogensen (E.S.A.), Mission Specialist 1 Satoshi Furukawa (J.A.X.A.), & Mission Specialist 2 Konstantin Borisov (Roscosmos) lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A aboard the Crew Dragon Endurance (Dragon C210) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The quartet are expected to dock with the International Space Station tomorrow, Sunday, 27 August, to begin their six-month mission to the orbital laboratory.

Furukawa is a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Soyuz TMA-02M & Expeditions 28/29, 2011), as is Mogensen (ascent Soyuz TMA-18M/descent Soyuz TMA-16M & ten days aboard the I.S.S., 2015); Moghbeli & Borisov are rookies.

Crew-7 is the third flight of the Endurance.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Crew-7 & the Endurance
They Might Be Giants, "Seven" from Here Comes the 123s (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"We want cake!
Where's our cake?…"

The Wayback Machine Tour of Launch America
2020
Demo-2 Launch & Demo-2 Splashdown
Crew-1 Launch, Crew-1 Relocation, & Crew-1 Splashdown
2021
Crew-2 Launch & Crew-2 Splashdown
Inspiration4 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-3 Launch & Crew-3 Splashdown
2022
Ax-1 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-4 Launch & Crew-4 Splashdown
Crew-5 Launch & Crew-5 Splashdown
2023
Crew-6 Scrub & Crew-6 Launch

Godspeed, Crew-7!

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"Explorers" (season three, episode twenty-two; 8 May 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture

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

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today: SKAugust

Samstag, 26. August
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "The Rascal King" from Let's Face It (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday: SKAugust

Freitag, 25. August
Rancid, "Time Bomb" from …And Out Came the Wolves (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"The Die Is Cast" (season three, episode twenty-one; 1 May 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture

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

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Louis (1214-1270, A.K.A. King Louis IX of France), leader of the Seventh Crusade (1248-1254) & the Eighth Crusade (1270), & builder of the Sainte-Chapelle (1248, "Holy Chapel").

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the Optional Memorial of Saint Joseph Calasanz, Priest, Sch.P. (1557-1648, A.K.A. Josephus a Mater Dei ["Joseph of the Mother of God"]), founder of the Piarists (Sch.P.), formally the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, A.K.A. the Scolopi.

'Tis the Friday of the Twentieth Weekend in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

The Explorers' Club, № CMLXXIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 3, Part III
24 August 1973: Garriott & Lousma conducted an E.V.A. to exchange Apollo Telescope Mount film canisters & to disconnect malfunctioning external gyroscopes (replaced with internal gyroscopes); the trio all flew the developmental Astronaut Maneuvering Unit jetpack within Skylab; the spiders Anita & Arabella spun webs in microgravity, a student experiment, though both died before returning to Earth.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Skylab 3
No Doubt, "Spiderwebs" from Tragic Kingdom (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Semper exploro.

30 Years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2023)

Episode of the Day
"Improbable Cause" (season three, episode twenty; 24 April 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Saints + Scripture: Feast of Saint Bartholomew

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

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle (first century, A.K.A. Nathanael).

Commentary: Wayback Machine '21 & Wayback Machine '20.