The sky was clear, the night air was crisp and the moon was waxing just past half. So my daughter and I jumped in the car and headed to college. Sort of like a father - daughter date night under the stars.
The university folks had three telescopes set up for us and we got to see the Pillars Nebula (seen here from the Hubble telescope), and up close and personal looks at the moon. We also were treated to viewing Jupiter and could clearly see her and four of her moons. And lastly, they slewed the scope over to let us look at a binary star system. We could clearly see those two little suns twinkling at us. No sign of Tatooine though (but maybe it was there).
Anyway, that is how the theme for this weeks Music for Mondays segment came about. Space, the final frontier.
The theme to Star Trek. How's this for a mood setter?
But this, The Known Universe, is even better. One of the research assistants and I were talking about the new planet that was "found" recently that could possibly be supportive of life. You may have seen the story about this planet the size of Jupiter 20 light-years away where, "this planet doesn't have days and nights. Wherever you are on this planet, the sun is in the same position all the time." But I'll need to sleep! The more we look, the more we learn. And the more we learn, the more it seems we already live on the Goldilocks planet, where everything is "just right." And as it happens, everything has to be just right, as God intended it.
Next up, David Bowie's Space Oddity. This is from a 1970 television appearance, and before the Ziggy Stardust era. Confession time: I've always loved this song and I sang it to every one of my children when they were babies. Really. I even sang it to the neighbor's boys when I would play with the kids out on the swing set. You know, for astronaut training purposes.
The Police, Walking on the Moon. Remember this from 1979, on the leading edge of the early 80's? The album title? Regatta de Blanc. This from a live concert in 1983.
Well, now that the moon is on my mind, how about something apocalyptic and classic too? Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bad Moon Rising should do nicely.
I know I played this already recently in my "To Anne Rice, with Love" segment, but this is a must for any space segment. Elton John's Rocket Man. Sing along while you enjoy this classic footage.
Neil Young fleeing Mother Earth? Something like that, in After the Goldrush, with silver spaceships and such.
What better visuals for a space segment than black holes? And what better music for that subject than Pink Floyd? This from the instrumental version of Shine on You Crazy Diamond.
Space and Pink Floyd go together like peas and carrots, wouldn't you agree? One of These Days, is the tune. And this montage of a scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey fits well too.
It was enjoyable spending time with my daughter, admiring Our Lord's handiwork. Afterwards, we went and had some frozen yogurt at a shop next to the campus. I blinked a little when I considered that in six short years, my 6th grader may be doing this again with an actual date. Gulp!
See ya'll next week!
