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

Team 145, Game 1: Michigan v. Fresno State
Smash Mouth, "Defeat You" from Astro Lounge (Mike Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: Have I mentioned that I hate night games? Because I really hate night games.

Welcome to the Era of Moore. Sherrone Moore enters his first game as head coach of the valiant Wolverines with a 4-0 record as acting head coach in 2023, due to the petty vindictiveness of the B1G Conference & the N.C.A.A., including victories over the ferocious Nittany Lions & the hated Buckeyes.

"Hey, I know where you're from,
It makes it that much nicer to meet you.
Hey, I know what you've done,
It makes it that much better to defeat you!…"

Smash! Go Blue!

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"The Darkness and the Light" (season five, episode eleven; 6 January 1997): Wikipedia-link.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Five Iron Frenzy, "World without End" from All the Hype Money Can Buy (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"In the soundless awe and wonder,
Words fall short to hope again.
How beautiful,
How vast your love is,
New forever,
World without an end!…"

The Explorers' Club, № MXLIV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-41-D (№ 12), Part I
30 August-1 September 1984: The Space Shuttle Discovery OV-103 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C. with CDR Hank Hartsfield, Pilot Mike Coats, M.S.1 Mike Mullane, M.S.2 Steven Hawley, M.S.3 Judy Resnick, & P.S.1 Charlie Walker; the sextet deployed three communications satellites; "blow-by" damage to a Solid Rocket Booster O-ring was first observed (the doom of the Challenger in 1986).

Commentary: S.T.S.-41-D was the first flight of the Discovery OV-103. Confusingly, the Discovery would also fly S.T.S.-41, in 1990.

Discovery suffered a launch abort at T-minus 00:00:06 seconds on 26 June 1984 & was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for de-stacking & to an Orbiter Processing Facility for replacement of a Space Shuttle Main Engine. The subsequent delay resulted in the cancellation of S.T.S.-41-F, with part of that mission's payload reassigned to S.T.S.-41-D.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-41-D
Cliff Eidelman, "Clear All Moorings" from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Past Tense, Part I" (season three, episode eleven; 2 January 1995): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Past Tense" affords us a rare opportunity: To watch episodes of Star Trek on the very days during which they are set. Commander Sisko, Lieutenant Dax, & Doctor Bashir are transported through time due to an anomaly, arriving in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. on Friday, 30 August 2024. I am gratified not to be the only one to note this opportunity, as demonstrated by the above tweet.

Here are some thoughts on "Past Tense's" vision of the 2020s from the 1990s, from earlier in this year's "Section 31" re-watch: Wayback Machine, Part I & Wayback Machine, Part II.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust!

The Aquabats!, "Martian Girl!" from The Return of The Aquabats! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Skammentary!: The Aquabats! titled their debut album, The Return of The Aquabats! Genius!

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"Rapture" (season five, episode ten; 30 December 1996): Wikipedia-link.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "She's Famous Now" from Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Word on the street has always been that "She's Famous Now" is about Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, with whom Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish supposedly had a romance back in the day.

"Well, she's like me,
Just not as ugly!

"She used to be my girl,
But now she's famous,
She's famous now!
She used to be my girl,
But now she's—
She was just so sweet,
She was just so sweet,
She was just so sweet,
Now they're falling at her feet,
Used to be my girl,
But now she's famous now!

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"The Ascent" (season five, episode nine; 25 November 1996): Wikipedia-link.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Saint Michael's Lent

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

MU330, "San Francisco" from MU330 (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Of course, once "San Francisco" was in my head, it couldn't not be the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. sooner or later.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Johnny Socko, "They Know Us at the Spa" from Full Trucker Effect (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: In selecting the R.B.D.S.O.T.D., I considered MU330's "San Francisco," but as soon as the lyrics started to run through my mind, so did the thought, "Why pick a song that mentions Johnny Socko when I could pick Johnny Socko instead?"

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"Things Past" (season five, episode eight; 18 November 1996): Wikipedia-link.

The Explorers' Club, № MXLIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 15
26-28 August 1974: Soyuz 15 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome, with CDR Gennady Sarafanov & F.E. Lev Dyomin aboard a Soyuz 7K-T capsule atop a Soyuz rocket; call sign Dunay ("Danube"); they could not dock with the Saylut 3 space station because the Igla ("Needle") automatic docking system failed & there was no manual backup; the duo landed in the Kazakh S.S.R.

Commentary: After the failed docking, Soviet propaganda claimed Soyuz 15 had never intended to dock with Salyut 3, merely to practice docking manuevers & test an automatic docking system for the future Progress unmanned cargo spacecraft.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Soyuz 15
The Rocksteady Conspiracy, "Oh I Failed" from Rough & Sweet (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Oh, I failed,
But I am not a failure,
Should keep my self esteem,
Next time, it will go better…"

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"Let He Who Is without Sin…" (season five, episode seven; 11 November 1996): Wikipedia-link.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

No Doubt, "Total Hate 95" from The Beacon Street Collection (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: In 1999, all I knew about No Doubt was 1995's Tragic Kingdom, which enjoyed massive commercial success. No Doubt were never really a ska band, especially after founding member Eric Stefani left the band to pursue a career in animation, but they were part of the early '90s Orange County ska scene & the influence of ska & reggae can even be heard on Tragic Kingdom.

"Total Hate 95" is a ska song, replete with toasting & "Pick it ups!"

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"Trials and Tribble-ations" (season five, episode six; 4 November 1996): Wikipedia-link.

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

The Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jim Cowan & Tony Melendez, "This Is Jesus" from The Cup of Life (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"This is Jesus, Emmanuel,
God is with us in this sacrament,
Come receive Him, adore Him,
This is Jesus, our Lord…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "Beer" from Turn the Radio Off (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"She called me late last night to say she loved me so,
It didn't matter anymore.
I say she never cared and that she never will,
I'd do it all again, I guess I'll have to wait until then…

"She called me late last night to say she loved me so,
But I guess you changed her mind.
Well, I should have known it wouldn't be all right,
But I can't live without her so I won't even try!…

"Maybe some day I'll think of what to say.
Maybe next time I'll remember what to do.
She looks like Heaven, maybe this is Hell?
She said she'd do it all again, she'd promise not to tell…"

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

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

Episode o' the Day
"The Assignment" (season five, episode five; 28 October 1996): Wikipedia-link.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Mustard Plug, "Sadie May" from Evildoers Beware! (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: I do not recall precisely when I discovered Michigan's own Mustard Plug, but odds are I was not listening to 1997's Evildoers Beware! in 1999. This SKAugust is not about precisely the ska to which your humble narrator was listening in 1999, but the ska to which a hypothetical rude boy could have been listening in 1999.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Commentary: In the three weeks since our last "Section 31" installment, I binged a pair of birthday gifts: the seventh & final season of The Venture Bros. & both seasons of Gravity Falls.

Episodes o' the Day
"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" (season five, episode three; 14 October 1996): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The Lady Grilka returns, Quark's Klingon ex-wife from "The House of Quark" (season three, episode three). Grilka is on the starbase seeking Quark's help with the financial straits in which the Klingon war against the Federation has placed her house; Quarks lusts for Grilka, but doesn't know how to woo a Klingon lady; Worf is smitten with Grilka, but cannot pursue her because of his formal dishonor. Actor Michael Dorn, who played Worf, suggested adapting Cyrano de Bergerac for Star Trek. Worf & Dax help Quark win Grilka's favor, after which Jadzia throws herself at Worf, who had been too distracted by Grilka to recognize Jadzia's not-so-subtle pursuit of him.

"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" also features an embryonic romance between Major Kira & Chief O'Brien, brought together by Kira carrying the O'Briens' baby & residing in the O'Briens' quarters (since "Body Parts," season four, episode twenty-five). Keiko almost sends Miles & Nerys to one of the most romantic, secluded locations on Bajor, but Miles stays on the starbase & Nerys goes to visit Shakaar, her paramour, instead.

"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" is a very light episode, a bit of relief between the intense war stories in "The Ship" & "…Nor the Battle to the Strong."

&

"…Nor the Battle to the Strong" (season five, episode four; 21 October 1996): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "…Nor the Battle to the Strong" is the Star Trek version of The Red Badge of Courage: Jake Sisko, overconfident from being on Deep Space 9 during multiple assaults, is shocked by the casualties from a Klingon attack on a Federation colony & abandons Doctor Bashir & runs away in a blind panic during an artillery barrage. There is a thoroughgoing exploration of war archetypes: gallows humor from the physicians & nurses, a Starfleet officer who shot himself in the foot with his phaser, a dying Starfleet chief who is disgusted by Jake's cowardice but demands his help to be propped up, so that the chief will die looking up at the sky, not with his face in the mud. Through Jake's writing, & the voiceover narration of such, the episode meditates on the thin line between courage & cowardice in combat.

The title, "…Nor the Battle to the Strong," is drawn from the Bible, the Book of Ecclesiastes, 9:11:

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the men of skill; but time & chance happen to them all.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Bruce Lee Band, "Gerry Is Strong" from The Bruce Lee Band (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: In 1999, romance left us shipwrecked & marooned, but friendship came to the rescue. In the crude parlance of the times, a phrase I never liked but the sentiment of which I always thought was fundamentally correct: Bros before hoes. Yet we'd each abandon our brothers times & time again in pursuit of some cute new doom.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust!

The Aquabats!, "My Skateboard!" from The Fury of The Aquabats! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Skammentary!: In 1999, we knew that romance led only to heartbreak & sadness, yet we all heard the siren song of cute girls & dutifully pursued our own doom.

"It's Friday night, I wanted to go out,
I didn't want to go to no show,
Didn't want to cruise Main Street,
I didn't want to go to no disco, no, no!
I just wanted you to come over,
Sit on my couch, and hold me tight,
But you went out with some dumb jock
And left me alone with my skateboard tonight!…"

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Saint Michael's Lent

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

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

Skammentary:

"…Kristina, Kristina,
You'll never get to know who I am (Your loss!),
This is goodbye; so, please don't cry,
And I'll let you down as softly as I can.
Kristina, Kristina,
Another name to cross off my list,
In another life it could have been nice,
But Kristina, she won't know what she missed!"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Your Horoscope for Today" from Running with Scissors (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Your humble narrator listened to "Your Horoscope for Today" in 1999, without realizing it's a ska song. I've gestured today this cognitive dissonance before, when "Your Horoscope for Today" was part of the SKAfter Party in 2018 & enjoyed the SKApril limelight in 2019, that I listened to Running with Scissors a lot in 1999, but mostly focused on "The Saga Begins" (I saw Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace nineteen times in theaters, including three times within the first twenty-four hours of release, & I regret nothing). I enjoyed "Weird Al" whole catelog for years before realizing that so many of his semingly random songs aren't random at all, they are style parodies—parodies of a whole genre or a particular musician's oeuvre—rather than individual song parodies. "Your Horoscope for Today" is a style parody of third-wave ska-punk, replete with syncopated guitar, toasting, & blaring horns.

The Explorers' Club, № MXLII

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars—Hyperinflation, Epilogue
30 August 1924: The Reichsmark (ℛ︁ℳ︁) was introduced, replacing the Rentenmark (RM) at a ratio of 1:1, retaining the same exchange rate with the United States dollar ($), 4.2:1 ℛ︁ℳ︁ to $; Papiermark (ℳ) were exchangeable until July 1925 at a rate of 1,000,000,000,000:1 ℳ to ℛ︁ℳ︁; thus, Germany returned to the gold standard for the first time since the outbreak of the Weltkrieg in August 1914.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Hyperinflation
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCXXIII: From Goldmark to fiat currency Papiermark (Part I)
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXCII: Printing Papiermark to pay war reparations (Part II)
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXXVI: The French occupy the Ruhr over war reparations (Part III)
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXXXVIII: An attempted French protectorate in the Ruhr (Part IV)
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXCIII: The Rentenmark replaced the hyperinflated Papiermark (Part V)
"The Explorers' Club," № MXL: The Dawes Plan ended the occupation of the Ruhr (Part VI)

Lest we forget.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Potshot, "Radio" from Pots and Shots (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: As the turn of the millennium approached, we discovered more & more bands through Mike Park's Asian Man Records. As recently as the Sunday before last (11 August), an Exodus 90 brother expressed surprise at the phrase "Japanese ska." Yes, brother, the ska is worldwide.

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

The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Audray Assad, "Receive" from the Death, Be Not Proud E.P. (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Faith is making plain the truth beneath the veil,
Faith supplying where our feeble sense fail.

"To the Father, to the Son,
And to the Spirit be
Blessing, honour, glory, power,
Might, and majesty!
It is God who we encounter,
It is God that we receive
From this altar, we do believe…

Word of God in flesh and blood, we're here for You,
Bread of life, the love of God, our heav'nly food…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Less Than Jake, "Dannys Says" from Hello Rockview (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: I turned nineteen years old, the same age as the eponymous Danny, in 1998, the year Hello Rockview debuted. In 1999, I turned twenty. I was, & still am, a late bloomer; so, I experienced much of the typical teenage angst, such as described in "Danny Says," in my twenties.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Someday I Suppose" from the Ska-Core, the Devil, and More E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"There was a girl and I don't know her name either,
She gave me love and I said I'd never leave her,
If I did I'd come back someday and find her,
Maybe I will, I should write down a reminder.

"One day!
One day, who knows?
Someday!
Someday, I suppose.

"There was a verse that I was gonna write,
I haven't yet, but there's still a chance I might,
An open book that I still wanna close,
I'll find the time someday, I suppose.

"A place and time I wanna be and spend
A storyline that's happy in the end,
Plans are made with promises, so certainly uncertain,
I can't wait to set things straight before they close the curtain!

"One day!
One day, who knows?
Someday!
Someday, I suppose.

"The more I sort it out,
The more it gets distorted,
I sort of think I'm better off
Just leaving it unsorted.

"The more I try to change its course
The more off course it goes,
Of course I'll reach my destination
Someday, I suppose…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Royal Oil" from Let's Face It (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Don't do drugs, kids.

"When you smoke or poke the poison,
You lose the chance to be tomorrow (You lose the chance!),
Look out on the horizon (Look out!),
And see the sadness, the pain, and the sorrow.

"I can't say enough about the stuff
Or what it has in store,
When you smoke or poke the poison
You won't be anymore.

"Royal Oil, come on bubble and boil,
Stabs like dagger, make you stagger on a hot tin foil,
Mind your mind or it will surely spoil,
Then you sleep down in the soil,
Nothing comes from nothing, come on,
Royal Oil!…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

RX Bandits, "Gun In Your Hand" from Halway between Here & There (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: The RX Bandits' music had more of a social conscience than most third-wave ska-punk bands, & they didn't sound like anything else I was listening to in 1999. Ska was so new to me then, I didn't really know what "reggae" was. I certainly didn't know anything about the history of reggae growing out of rocksteady which grew out of the original ska.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Rancid, "Time Bomb" from …And Out Come the Wolves (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Your humble narrator wasn't listening to "Time Bomb" in 1999, but I could have, the single being released in 1995. I completely missed "Time Bomb" in the '90s, & in my meager understanding of the music scene at the turn of the millennium, I inappropriately put Rancid in a discrete category: punk band. (They are a punk band, to be sure, but also so much more.)

Operation ÖSTERREICH

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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Chinkees, "Human Race" from The Chinkees… Are Coming! (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Discovering Mike Park's Asian Man Records was huge, opening up vast new frontiers of ska & punk music. I soon learned that Park wasn't just the owner of Asian Man, but also an active musician himself, fronting The Chinkees & the Bruce Lee Band, after his time in Skankin' Pickle; he would also later release solo albums under his own name.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Dance Hall Crashers, "Whiskey & Gin" from Honey, I'm Homely! (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"We sat there quietly, purposely ignoring the room,
He smiled wistfully, his shirt was dirty and torn,
Everlasting glances left open-ended chances,
But he stole my heart when he ordered a double for me.

"In the back room of the bar,
In the back room of the bar,
We made a great couple, me and him,
'Cause I drink whiskey, but he only ever drinks gin,
Well, that's the way it is with him…"

The Explorers' Club, № MXLI

The Space Race—Astronaut Group 3 (the "Fourteen"), Part VIII
Ronnie Walter Cunningham (16 March 1932-3 January 2023), Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve—He flew Apollo 7 (1968), one of two Lunar Module Pilots to fly without a Lunar Module; he was only a dissertation short of earning his doctorate in physics; he served as chief astronaut of the Skylab branch of N.A.S.A.'s Flight Crew Directorate; his astronaut memoir was titled, The All-American Boys.

Commentary: Deke Slayton submitted thirteen names to N.A.S.A. brass for Astronaut Group 3. Max Faget, the designer of the Mercury capsule & Director of Engineering & Development at the Manned Spacecraft Center, objected on the grounds of triskaidekaphobia. Cunningham's name was fourteenth on Slayton's list; Walt was the seventh member of the "Fourteen" to fly in space.

In Apollo 7 pre-flight publicity, CDR Wally Schirra, L.M.P. Walt Cunningham, & C.M.P. Donn Eisele were referred to as "Wally, Walt, & What's His Name."

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: The "Fourteen"—Walt Cunningham
Sufjan Stevens, "Particle Physics" from the Silver & Gold compilation (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Walt Cunningham
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXVI: The 52nd Anniversary of Apollo 7, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXVII: The 52nd Anniversary of Apollo 7, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXVIII: The 52nd Anniversary of Apollo 7, Part III

Requiescat in pace.