Happy Friday!
I’ve joined the Dark Side.
The PowerPoint clicker (and laser pointer) arrived yesterday.
My speaking style is influenced by Stewart Lee. He’s aware that he’s a comedian. He flits in and out of the role. Can this be done with slides? Oh, that’s what everyone hopes when they start out. But we’ll see…
(In case you haven’t seen Mr. Lee, and could use a laugh)…(Fair warning: not entirely suitable for the young fry.)
Please Mr. Postman!
The mail arrived yesterday, and along with it, the October issue of Sky and Telescope. There it was, in black, white, and blue…my essay!
It’s not “link-able”, but it’s on newsstands everywhere! This one is a real tickle…it’s the…the…man, the neighbor had a great country phrase for it the other day, but that’s vanished into the caffeinated either.
Long story short: a good friend of mine at the nursing home had died. After his funeral, I went stargazing, and wrote the essay afterwards, just because. Submitting it on a whim, it was the first thing that I’ve gotten published by a big magazine. It was the spark of an idea - maybe I could do some writing, and maybe some folks would enjoy it. The book I’m working on now features a story of the same friend. He’s really the reason for all of this.
Friday Gems
The mountains are calling! It’s off to Big Meadows in a bit. I’ll be throwing a home-built/restored/vintage hipster scope in the car, and heading up to alpine sights, and an evening talk on the stars. The clouds will probably be waiting in ambush, but remember, I’ve got a PowerPoint clicker. All that’s needed is a good jam, and that will be Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, “the Pastoral.”
When I was hosting a weekly radio show on WDCE Richmond, it was a tickle to showcase gems - things that made life on Earth a cut above residing on Mars, for example. And, use it or lose it. If the Great Works of the past stay in the record crate, do they even exist?
Through the radio days, I was able to spin all of Beethoven’s symphonies, piano concertos, and start on other major works (Greig’s Piano Concerto in A minor, etc.)
Why not do that here? Let’s start a new Friday tradition, and showcase some culture. May this sublime composition awaken “cheerful feelings” in you, too, if you’re arriving in the countryside, or just duking it out with your email in Suburbia.
(Check it - the first movement is “awaking of cheerful feelings on arriving in the countryside.” Hear it?)
Have a snazzy weekend!
Josh