The Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness!
Compact Payload Test Range at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) space research and technology center (ESTEC). In this zone of silence metal walls form a ‘Faraday cage’ to block all external signals, isolating the facility from TV and radio broadcasts, aircraft and ship radars, and even mobile calls. EPICALLY AWESOME!!
Also EPICALLY AWESOME…
…This past weekend I was given an EPIC surprise when …things I LOVE! was nominated for the The Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness! And how AWESOME is that?! Well, I’m about to tell ya……
The award, as EPIC as it is in its own right, was made even more AWESOMELY EPICALLY AWESOME because it was presented to me by the AWESOME and brilliantly EPIC photographer, and all-around AWESOME sweetheart, Charlie from the EPIC Charles Schnyder Photography. Thank you VERY much Charlie, and anyone who isn’t familiar with Charlie’s work should definitely head over and check out some of his AWESOME photography in EPIC posts such as Budapest, Potpourri of Zürich, and his most recent Pillow Fight Day Zürich 2013 – which looks like an EPICALLY AWESOME lot of fun!
Now, as with any award, The Epically Awesome Award of Epic Awesomeness does come with rules – and also as with any award I will EPICALLY ignore them. According to Charlie I’m suppose to write 10 AWESOME facts about myself, and also pass the award along to 10 AWESOMELY EPIC blogs….hmmm…
…I’m thinking people want to read 10 AWESOME things about me nearly as much as I want to ‘LIKE’ shit on facebook, which is not at all! So instead, I’ll present 10 things which I think to be AWESOMELY EPIC!
1- APOLLO EPIC!!!!
Today being April 11 (my AWESOME nephew’s birthday!), no post on EPIC AWESOMENESS would be complete if failing to mention Apollo 13. Launched April 11, 1970 Apollo 13, the 7th manned mission of the TRULY EPIC Apollo Program and the third intended lunar landing, was commanded by James A. Lovell, with Jack Swigert as Command Module pilot and Fred W. Haise as Lunar Module pilot. The mission’s lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded crippling the service module upon which the Command Module depended. Despite limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew EPICALLY returned safely to Earth on April 17.
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2 – STELLAR AWESOME!!!
VY Canis Majoris – red hypergiant in the constellation Canis Major – truly EPIC and AWESOME in every sense of BOTH words!
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3 – STELLAR-ENVY EPIC!!!
Proving that size doesn’t matter, our own sun fights back with this EPIC March 21, 2013 M-Class eruption unleashed from Active Region 11692. AND! Our sun has EPICALLY AWESOMELY dramatic back-ground music, and VY Canis Majoris does not!
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4- MORE STELLAR EPICNESS!!!
That’s right, I said MORE STELLAR EPICNESS! On yesterday, April 10th, The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in northern Chile announced that it’s captured what it calls ‘most detailed picture ever taken‘ of the glowing green planetary nebula IC 1295. AWESOME? Without doubt! The image shows the nebula surrounding a dim and dying star located about 3300 light-years away in the constellation of Scutum, and give us an AWESOME glimpse as to what will eventually happen with our own sun. As stars the size of our Sun make the final transition into retirement their atmospheres are blown away into space. For a few tens of thousands of years they are surrounded by spectacular, colorful glowing clouds of ionized gas. EPIC! And thanks to my AWESOME friend, Mark A, in Arizona for bringing this EPICNESS to my attention!
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5 – EPIC NERD AWESOMENESS!!!
The ‘ESTEC Shake’ on an actual electrodynamic shaker which is normally used to test spacecraft. Filmed at the EPIC, and aforementioned, European Space Agency’s (ESA) technical center, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the AWESOME Netherlands. Nerdy as fuck? Absolutely. AWESOME? No Doubt!
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6 – EPIC UAVSAR!!!
On Mar 17, 2013, NASA’s EPIC Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) acquired synthetic aperture radar data over the Napo River in Ecuador and Peru. The image colors indicate a likelihood of flooding beneath the forest canopy, which is difficult to determine using traditional optical sensors. The image is a 8.7-mile-wide by 5.6-mile-long segment of an image measuring more than 124 miles long. Data from UAVSAR helps scientists assess the effectiveness of using synthetic aperture radar data to study the flooding dynamics of rivers around the world. AWESOME? Hell, YES!!
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7 – AWESOME CHANDRA!!!
From EPICALLY AWESOME NASA and its EPIC Chandra X-ray Observatory this video shows a fast moving jet of particles produced by a rapidly rotating neutron star. EPIC! The star of this AWESOME show is the Vela pulsar, a neutron star formed when a massive star collapsed. The Vela pulsar is about 1,000 light years from Earth, spans about 12 miles in diameter, and makes over 11 complete rotations every second. EPIC? Hell, YES!
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8 – EPIC SPACE POOP!!!
The AWESOMELY EPIC International Space Station (ISS) commander and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut EPIC Chris Hadfield giving an AWESOME explanation of how toilets work in space. EPICALLY ewww (TMI!), but AWESOMELY funny.
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9 – AWESOMELY EPIC ALMA!!!
10 – EPIC JOHNSON STYLE!!!
Never to be out-geeked by those guys and gals at the European Space Agency, NASA’s Johnson Space Center turns up the nerd-meter with this EPICALLY AWESOME Gangnam Style parody. Forget K-Pop! We got J-Pop! EPIC!!!
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Well, there you have it – 10 EPICALLY AWESOME things I LOVE, and you have to admit they’re much more AWESOME than me telling you 10 facts about myself such as my irrational dislike of cumquats. And to conclude this post, and because it’s grown to EPIC oh-for-fuck’s-sake massiveness already, I’ll now give my shout-outs to 10 TRULY EPICALLY AWESOME fellow bloggers, in no particular orer –
1 – The AWESOMELY and quite EPIC White Lady In The Hood
2 – The EPICALLY AWESOMELY FUNNY Wrong Hands
3 – The AWESOMELY (INSANELY!) EPIC A Window Into The Woods
4 – The EPIC and massively AWESOME Colline’s Blog
5 – The AWESOME EPICALLY MEGA-EPIC Werner Priller
6 – The EPIC and-not-to-mention AWESOME Science Springs
7 – The AWESOMELY EPICALLY EPIC My Beautiful Things
8 – The EPICALLY (squared!) EPIC Silent Astronomer
9 – The AWESOME EPICALLY AWESOME The Future Is Papier Mache
10 – The EPIC and certainly AWESOME Mathematical Mischief
As always, I mention these fellow bloggers simply because they deserve mention, and my mentioning in no way obligates them to accept or pay it forward. And I may even, at some point, get around to mentioning to them that they have been mentioned. Maybe 
You, however, SHOULD check out their EPIC AWESOMENESS ASAP!!
Once again, EPIC thanks to the AWESOMELY AWESOME CHARLIE!!
(Oh, crap! Do I now have to go back and link all of this!? AND TAG TOO?!!! TOO FREAKING EPIC!)
…things I Loved! Week of Jan 20th – Jan 26th 2013
I first became aware of this stunning image in a Jan 25 post on EarthSky by Deborah Byrd titled Underwater Fish Tornado Off Baja California. The photograph is the work of photographer and marine biologist Octavio Aburto, captured at the Cabo Pulmo National Park in Mexico, in the course of studying the courtship behavior of a species of Jack fish. Mr Aburto’s photograph, aptly titled David and Goliath, captures his friend David Castro’s miniscule size in comparison to the gigantic school. For more of Octavio Aburto’s brilliant marine photography visit his website, which can be found here. Also, check out the video below to learn more about the making of David and Goliath.
WOW! And on the subject of ‘WOW’…..there’s this…
My favorite astronomy image of the week was taken by astro-photographer Luis Argerich of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This image titled, Airglow Above Buenos Aires was featured as Earth Science Picture of the Day for Jan 26. The image is a 360-degree stereographic projection showing the entire night sky near Mr Argerich’s location about 60 miles from Buenos Aires. Airglow is a weak light emission stemming from the chemical reactions involving oxygen, nitrogen, sodium and ozone (chemiluminescence) at altitudes between about 50 to 60 miles above the Earth’s surface. According to Mr Argerich, the green color bands, which are obvious to the camera, were not visible to the naked eye and seem to converge because of perspective. In addition to this awesome image, Mr Argerich was also featured this week as Jan 24′s Astronomy Picture of the Day for his photograph called ISS and the Summer Milky Way, featuring starry clouds and nebulae along the southern hemisphere’s summer Milky Way arc above the horizon, and the orbiting International Space Station tracing a long streak through a single, 5 minute, star-tracking exposure. Be sure to visit Luis Argerich’s site for more of his amazingly beautiful work!
Inside the blogosphere this week there was much to think about, smile about, and out-and-out laugh about. For a brilliant, and hilarious, look at what your brain is doing while you’re at work check out Canadian cartoonist, John Atkinson’s Jan 23rd post on Wrong Hands titled Occupational Preoccupation. While there be sure to check out some of John’s galleries, but be warned, his work is very, VERY, addictive!
Also falling into the category of Things I Love one of my favorite blog writers, White Lady in the Hood, also know as Chica Blanca, treated us this week to a post titled The River Rats. Managing to combine humor and reflectiveness, Chica, has a knack of not only drawing the reader in, but also eerily making us feel as if we are there taking part in the story she’s sharing with us. Her writing is good, very good, but it’s her ability to connect with her readers which shines most brightly. Chica’s an elusive poster, she won’t flood your inbox, but if you enjoy a good read and are anything like me, when you do find one of her posts in your mailbox you’ll be heading right over.
If you haven’t had your mind exercised and excited lately, you might want to pay a visit to Wired Cosmos and check out Jason Carr’s Jan 23 article, Sending Odors and Tastes as an Email Attachment, to read about some of the uses, and potential misuses, of the technology of electronic noses and tongues. Wired Cosmos is a fascinating journal of science, technology, and futurism, and by fascinating I mean mind-blowing. A couple other of Jason’s articles I’ve particularly enjoyed include his Nine Must-Read Dystopian Novels, (Considering I’ve only read 4 of the 9, I’ve some catching up to do! How many have you read?), and his recent emerging technology article Future Computing: Meet the Flexible Paper Computer. Ok, I SO want one of those!
My favorite song of this past week was posted by Xandi from World Music in a post titled, Music from Argentina – Alerta Pachuca, and features the song Nunca Dejes de Bailar (Never Stop Dancing). Alerta Pachuca, formed in 2008, is a Latin fusion group composed of 7 multi-instrumentalists from Buenos Aires. I hope you enjoy!!
Here’s hoping everyone a great week. Keep looking up!!
…things I LOVED! Week of Aug 13th – Aug 19th
The above video, We’re NASA and We Know It, created by Satire hit YouTube on August 15 and as of this morning has received 1,822,175 views …and counting. Way to go viral! I’m sure only about a quarter of those hits are mine! I was introduced to the video earlier this week via Frank of A Frank Angle in his August 16th post title Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 153. Leave it to Frank to find the cool stuff…and find it FAST! Frank is now on a 3 week break from the Blogosphere, and will be missed. If you’re not familiar with Frank (which rock have you been living under?) check him out. You’ll find no shortage of interesting articles to keep you occupied until his return.
Also while on the subject of NASA, one of my favorite subjects, here’s a heads-up that NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) are set to launch two spacecraft aboard a United Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Space Coast on Thursday of this week (23rd). The RBSP spacecraft are designed to fly and operate in the heart of the most hazardous regions of near-Earth space to collect data and help researchers develop an understanding of the Van Allen radiation belts, two rings of very high energy electrons and protons that can pose hazards to human and robotic explorers. This two year mission is part of NASA’s Living With a Star Program to explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system.
Exploring the Van Allen Belts! – Yeah, they’re NASA and they know it! (Image credit: NASA/T. Benesch, J. Carns)
Now back to inside the blogosphere where this past week there was no shortage of good stuff! My absolute favorite cartoonist, John Atkinson, of Wrong Hands provided us with a couple of laughs this week. John’s August 14th His Pet Peeve cartoon is hilarious! John then backed this up on August 17th with Easy Chair ….which may be, in my opinion, one of John’s funniest so far! One of my favorite humor writers, White Lady, aka Chica Blanka, of White Lady in The Hood also kept us amused this week with her August 16th post titled What Women Want. This post was so interesting I couldn’t help but to ‘see’ her post ….and raise her! Well done White Lady!
Not at all to be confused with humor, the hard-hitting journalistic team of Tardsie D Bagg and Smaktakula over at Promethean Times kept us informed and enlightened this past week with a flurry of timely (and freaking brilliant!) posts such as the August 14th edition of Ask Tardsie titled So Ya Like Rocket Ships? In Glorious Hear-O-Vision! Amazing work, guys! Also, on a somber note, on August 15th the boys posted a moving tribute lamenting the passing of TV’s Horshack, Ron Palillo, titled Requiem For a Horshack. Words … cannot … express … my grief. Thank you Promethean Times.
My photography of the week award goes to Mike over at Mike’s Look At Life. The ever prolific Mike clicks far faster than I can keep up with, but I do try …some things are just worth the effort! (Mike also gets the nod for best comment of the week, but that’s more a personal thing!) His August 13th entry titled Creek Bed is absolutely stunning. In addition to some muy interesante y muy Mike-esque photography such as August 18th’s Silo Slice and August’s 17th’s Partial Door, Mike also posted a couple of shots of one of the most unique creatures I’ve ever seen. Don’t take my word for it, check out his August 16th’s Newest Friend. Mike is also taking a short summer break from the Blogosphere, and as with Frank, Mike has plenty archived to keep us amazed during his absence ….this by no way means he should linger any longer than absolutely necessary!
Closing out the past week, with an entry in the ‘Science Is Cool’ department, comes a couple of completely interesting and well written posts from Adam Benton of EvoAnth (that’s the UK’s Adam Benton, not to be confused with the US’s Adam Benton!). Adam’s August 16th post titled How “god” Evolved is extremely fascinating and presents some compelling research concerning the origins of religion, which we still don’t have a complete understanding of, and the concept of a ‘high god’. It also includes a few of Adam’s clever, and signature, charts explaining ‘what he just said’. Adam closed out my week yesterday with his equally interesting follow up titled How “god” evolved #2: the religious revolution. Adam notes that this second post in no way is an attempt to game the popularity of his previous post …which became his most viewed post in just 3 days. No Adam, it’s because they’re that interesting…. well done.
Have a great week, and keep looking up …that’s where we keep the stars! 
What Women Want…or
…what THIS woman wants.
Inspired by a recent post by White Lady In The Hood titled What Women Want I’ve decided to also try my hand at somewhat clearing up the mystery of what a woman REALLY wants in a man. Not that White Lady needs any help, her post is pretty dead-on accurate. However, reading her post did illustrate to me that not all women want the same things. Yes, I know it would be much simpler for you guys if we did, but that’s not happening. Deal with it. However, since I am basically a kind person I’ll use small words to make comprehension a bit easier for you members of the ‘sweatier’ sex.
Since this IS White Lady’s post, and since I am stealing expanding on it, I’ll list her requirements and then add a couple of my own…
White Lady’s List:
Strength: White Lady likes a guy with a bit of brawn, not muscle-bound, but a nice chest and arms. I agree that a nice toned body is great to look at, but I wouldn’t place this at number 1. In fact, it would hardly make my list. Having once been married to an athlete I can honestly say that the whole ‘Me hit ball really hard’ shit gets old…fast! I’m quite capable of moving furniture myself, though I have been known to pretend I can’t.
Physical Attraction: Chemistry, absolutely White Lady! He definitely has to cross all my Ts and dot my Is. Though we may disagree on what is physically attractive, that attraction HAS to be there. For me it’s more about mental attraction than physical.
Date Night: Ok, I’m not sure what Date Night is. Here White Lady simply wrote; ‘You cannot be selfish in bed’. My very dear ‘Chicago Blanca’ what on Earth are you thinking?! We should ALL be selfish in bed…extremely selfish! Any man who doesn’t tend to a woman’s needs in bed isn’t being selfish, he’s just being stupid. Well…either stupid, or he just doesn’t have a very high interest in sex as I can think of no better way to absolutely ensure it won’t be happening.
Funny: Humor. I agree with White Lady completely on this. Not only is it, as she writes, very powerful, it’s also a must. Humor implies intelligence, quickness, playfulness, and a ‘don’t take any of this crap too seriously’ sense of emotional health. It’s dead sexy.
A Smile: Again I agree with White Lady. You guys have no idea how adorable you are when you smile. No matter how pissed off we get, when we think of that smile we absolutely melt. (This is not to imply that us women get pissed off easily or often!) The smile is powerful mojo guys, use it responsibly. We like to think there is a smile reserved only for us, you’ll be amazed at the benefits you’ll garner when you reassure us of this.
Talk To Me: Communication. Bingo! Yes, we want to know every freaking thing about you. The smaller and least significant, the better. Yes, we expect you to tell us these things. Yes, we also expect you to want to know these things about us. Communication = Interest. If you’re not communicating, or making an attempt to, we WILL assume you’ve lost interest. It doesn’t have to be non-stop, but it has to be there. A text takes seconds to send guys…and the impact, whether you send it or not, either way, is MASSIVE.
Age: White Lady likes a guy over 40, I’m definitely more flexible on this issue. Assholes come in all ages. It’s not age, it’s maturity. This said, I can honestly say I’ve never been involved with a man who was older than me. So yeah, that’s interesting. She again makes reference to ‘Date Night’. Is this a euphemism for sex?? If so, it should hardly be regulated to nights…or dates.
Character: Here White Lady references ‘Rules’. I live by very few rules, and the few I have I’m willing to break. What I won’t compromise are standards. I’m not concerned with whichever rules a man might have. I am, however, concerned with his standards.
Trust: I tend to be a trusting person, this is something which worries my mother greatly as she thinks I’m too trusting. She’s also concerned that one day I’ll end up chopped and neatly stacked in someone’s basement. I usually will check to see if a guy actually has a basement before dating him. It’s easy to gain my trust, and I’ll trust until given a reason not to, but once given that reason…holy shit.
Consistent: This one is a bitch guys, and I’m sorry about that. We women want consistency, but we also want spontaneity. Mix it up, keep it constant, we want it all, and we want it all NOW. We love surprises, and we love being able to count on you. Good luck on figuring this one out!
Now for a couple of my own:
Intelligence: This is another must. He doesn’t have to be a ‘rocket scientist’…but Oh…it definitely helps! I love being amazed. Combine intelligence with a sarcastic wit and I’m in love!
Sweetness: Yes, guys, you have to be sweet at times. I’m not big on sensitive. In fact, if a man even has a ‘feminine side’, let alone has been in touch with it, I have little use for him. But sweetness, thoughtfulness, these things count…big time. There is nothing quite so hot as knowing you’re being thought about at the most inappropriate moment.
A Truck: Seriously? Yes, men drive trucks. Maybe it’s a Texas thing….
Much thanks to White Lady, aka Chica Blanca, for her inspiration in writing this. As she so brilliantly points out…it’s ALL about how you make us FEEL! And really…I think it’s the same for you guys…really.
…things I LOVED! Week April 16th through April 22nd
The above video is of Swiss pilot Yves Rossy’s 2011 eight-minute flight over the Grand Canyon. According to his website, Jetman, Rossy is the first, and only man, in the history of aviation to fly with a jet-propelled wing. How exciting! I was introduced to Rossy this past week by a April 19th post on Galicia Futura titled Jetman: el sueño de volar hecho realidad (the dream of flying come true). The post features a breath-taking 4 minute documentary, directed by Evert Cloetens, of Rossy flying over the mountains of Switzerland. If you’re as blown away by Rossy and his jet-propelled wing as I am…check it out! Exciting!
On the subject of EXCITING, there was also no shortage of excitement in the blogosphere this past week! One of the most exciting happenings was Michael Housewright, The Blissful Adventurer, being Freshly Pressed for his April 18th post Hong Kong – Hipstamatic Tour. Congratulations Michael!! It’s always wonderful when one of the nice guys wins, and they come no nicer than Michael. If you haven’t as yet, stop by Michael’s to say hello and check out his work!
Also generating excitement this past week were a few posts I place in the ‘Not only do I LIKE you, I freaking want to BE you!’ category. On Sunday, April 22nd, Spiritual World Traveler helped me to pleasantly close out the week with an amazing photo-essay of her visit to Bran Castle in Romania. Her post, The Enchanting Windows of Count Dracula’s Castle, is indeed enchanting and features some STUNNING window photography taken on an eerily overcast Romanian day. Grab a cup of coffee and join her!
Also, in the ‘I Want To Be You’ category is William Allen of Long Time Spent. William opened the week with China – Part 1 – with supporting holiday snaps in which, through the use of his excellent photography and words, William relates his adventures in China along with his friend Shane. William has the gift with his photography of making one feel as though they are right there along with him. He then closes out the week, along with Shane, in Tian Shan, China. This may seriously be my favorite post of the week. And yes William…I am very, very, envious!
If it weren’t known before that I want to be El Guapo, of Guapola, then let it be known now! Though, technically, Guapo’s adventure began the previous week with his April 15th post titled An Adventure – Learning To Skydive , we all had to wait till his April 18th post, An Adventure – Learning To Skydive Part 2, before learning if Guapo actually survived the adventure! He definitely left us hanging! As always with Guapo…it’s fun, it’s exciting…and it’s hilarious. Of course you don’t have to wait, you can check out both parts of his adventure NOW!
Refusing to be outdone by the travelers and adventures a couple of my favorite writers added to the excitement of the week. White Lady In The Hood easily gets the nod as ‘Most Hilarious Post Of The Week’ with her April 22nd post titled My Skipper. Through her words she completely illustrates the insanity which takes place anytime a man begins a sentence with the words ‘Hold my……’ And no, of course I wont finish it! Go there and find out for yourself!
Another writer which I admire greatly, Richard of The Last Song I Heard, helped to supply me with excellent weekend reading with his April 21st post titled Band Of Brothers Requiem – Michael Kamen. While it’s true I enjoy all of Richard’s work, I liked this one in particular. It contains all of the honesty, elegance, and courage in writing which Richard is building a reputation towards. Check out this post…or really, any of his posts. You’ll be glad you did.
I’ll close out another exciting week with my favorite song of the week…from World Music, of course! This one titled Malaniña from Havana Mambo, an Italian salsa band formed by members from Cuba in 1994. Enjoy!!
Thanks and have a GREAT WEEK!
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