First of all, I want to thank everyone for the amazing response I got to my Can I REALLY Just Be Myself?. It took all night (Tuesday into Wednesday) to put that together, but when it came time to “Publish” button I found myself filled with serious reservations about posting it. Thank again, for being so gracious!
Anyway, despite that exhilarating “roller coaster ride” and my severe need for sleep, I still intended to post something about yesterday’s incredible-yet-depressing Washington D.C. Space Shuttle Flyovers. Hell, one of the reasons it was so easy to stay up all night the night before was because I was also waiting for PBS to post their report on it to YouTube!
But then the death of Dick Clark splashed all over the TV news and Internet like a sucker punch from nowhere. Somehow, doing a post about space shuttle flyovers just didn’t feel right. I was, in fact, so deflated that everything I thought of to honor Dick Clark just seemed so… weak. Fortunately, others were able to do him justice. Our friend Pied Type’s Dick Clark was my VJ is an excellent example. I highly recommend it.
Here’s my small contribution:
So, after a day that was already chock full of loss-induced sadness and philosophical debates about world views, I decided that I what I needed most was to just relax and recharge by falling asleep to some good TV. But that isn’t what happened my friends. Oh no, not by a long shot…
Because I ended up watching, for the umpteenth time, the one movie that symbolizes to me, beyond all others, all the emotions of the day about reason, faith, loss, and the highest of human aspirations: Contact! I kind of doubt Mr. Sagan would agree with me, but Jodie Foster’s performance in that movie is like my vision of the ultimate Carl Sagan meets Ayn Rand love child come to life! 
Well, today is a new day, right? Time to get on with it, eh? Well not so fast my friends, because Pied Type has also reminded me of another sad event we should never forget, in her Remembering the Oklahoma City bombing post!
Being late to the job, again, here’s my tiny input:
But, to paraphrase one of my old bosses, “If we waited until everything was perfect, we’d never ship anything!” Well that’s certainly as true for posting blogs as it is for shipping controls systems. So on to the space shuttle flyovers, eh? Well wouldn’t you know it? Pied Type has beat me to the punch again with her Shuttle symbolism post, which, in turn, links us to these awesome videos. Argh! 🙄
But I STILL think the PBS Newshour coverage was the best!
Not enough? Well check out these related links:
Gallery: Discovery Leaves Kennedy Space Center for the Final Time
Shuttle Discovery Flies Over Washington D.C. to New Home
Of course, this awesome imagery, and those still-fresh post-movie emotions, reminds me that I STILL haven’t done a post to induct Sagan’s heir apparent, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, in My Heroes hall of fame!
I want ice water.
More from the My Life volume
I Want Ice Water! 
I’m blushing from all those shout-outs. Thanks. As for Neil DeGrasse Tyson, you’ll have to get in line behind me if you want to consider him a hero or start a fan club. I get goosebumps just hearing his name. He is SO COOL!! (And really easy on the eyes, too. 😉 ) I can’t wait for his new show.
LikeLike
It’s always an honor to link back to a great blog like yours PT. Besides, you really covered my embarrassed little butt with the Dick Clark and OKC Bombing posts. Thank YOU! 😳
As for the great Neil DeGrasse Tyson, I’ve collected a ton of links over the past few months (literally – 20 so far, and everyone keeps beating me to the good stuff!), and I still haven’t figured out how to put it all together in a way that does the man proper justice. And speaking of being beat to the punch, did you say new show?!?! Damn, Google here I come! 😯
LikeLike
I’m sure you’ve found it by now, but if not, you can start here: http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/fox-orders-13-episode-sequel-to-carl-sagans-cosmos-docu-series-to-be-produced-by-seth-macfarlane-for-2013-launch/ (Sorry, I’m too lazy to work out the code for that.)
LikeLike
I did find a lot of references to the new show, and even added yet another bookmark to my collection. I didn’t see this one though, which I is actually more informative, so the one I saved has been replaced. Thanks PT! 😀
LikeLike
It’s fascinating how we can be so mournful of the death of someone we don’t know personally–but we can. I remember when John Denver died–I actually wept. That was the only time I ever wept for the loss of someone I didn’t know personally. RIP Dick Clark.
LikeLike
Oh good lord, John Denver? Hell, I’m such a huge fan that I weep just listening to his music. I wept for days after he died! 😥
Thanks Scott!
LikeLike
I owned every record he ever made, and to say I share your feelings would be an understatement. I haven’t been able to listen to his music since he died.
LikeLike
We’re just a bunch of weepy old fools aren’t we? I know they say misery loves company, but somehow that doesn’t ease the pain. He wasn’t just a great singer and musician, but a genuinely decent human being too. A rare breed that makes his loss all the more tragic. I managed to include one of his songs in my West Virginia post, and I’d like to do more, but it’s hard to try out videos when I can’t stop sobbing while they play! 😕
LikeLike
I thought Dick Clark would live forever. I mean, physically. I hope they induct him into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame…I’m not sure if there is a category for him but they damn well better make one. And I cried when John Denver died. I’m getting a little maudlin but he really was the quintessential happy tune man, his music still touches my heart. I will love him and Dick Clark until I breath my last.
LikeLike
How’s that MZ? Funny, I almost listened to that one last night after my exchange with PiedType. It’s so hard to choose, but that may just be my favorite John Denver song! 😀
BTW, I checked and found that Dick Clark was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1993. Strangely enough however, John Denver hasn’t been! 😕
LikeLike
Oh, I am retarded and I better get back under my rock! And I thought that John was in already, wth? I so had it mixed up…oh the shame…crawling and slithering over to my hidey-hole now..
LikeLike
There there, little lady, don’t get your panties all in a bunch! Sorry, my “country boy” always leaks a little when I hear John Denver. Besides I needed the comic relief to stop the tears… 😳
Actually, I wasn’t sure if I had that little saying right, so I sought out some “expert” advice: 🙄
LikeLike
Just being yourself… has its merits.. :-)… Sorry to hear about the death of this gentleman.. didnt know of him.. but obviously he was very popular..
have your self a good weekend IzaakMak… take it easy out there..~Sue x
LikeLike
Thanks Sue. You have a good one too! 😀
LikeLike
love the shuttle fly by, great coverage and Contact, have soo lost count of how many times I’ve seen that movie…
LikeLike
Thanks my friend. The shuttle flyover was very cool, if a little depressing considering the way our space program seems to have been tossed on the trash heap. I thought Contact being on that night was the perfect capper to the debates in my Can I REALLY Just Be Myself? post. Not only have I seen it many times – and read the book – but the Contact! link I provided is actually to my own post about it! 😀
LikeLike