Category: The Evening Pause
A nightly pause from the news to give the reader/viewer a bit of classic entertainment.
Hayseed Dixie: she was skinny When I met her
Classic tribute to Genesis: Afterglow
Kitten massage therapy
An engineer’s guide to cats
A Night to Remember
An evening pause: With the death of film director Roy Ward Baker yesterday, I think it appropriate to watch a clip from one of his classics, A Night to Remember (1958). This understated but frighteningly powerful film captured the reality of the Titanic’s sinking in a style that is unfortunately rare today.
Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Heart like a wheel
An evening pause: A belated memorial to Kate McGarrigle, who passed away from cancer on January 18, 2010. Here she and her sister Anna sing their classic, “Heart like a Wheel”, Cafe Lena 1990.
Engineer spice
Muppets: “I don’t want to live on the Moon”
Sputnik
To duck or not to duck
Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling
Playing catch with a cat
Dancing robots
The Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter
An evening pause: August 2, 2010: The first flight of a human powered ornithopter, an aircraft propelled by flapping wings.
An evening pause: August 2, 2010: The first flight of a human powered ornithopter, an aircraft propelled by flapping wings.
Hand Dance – Up & Over It
Fort Apache (1948)
An evening pause: Henry Fonda and John Wayne in Fort Apache (1948).
“Sergeant, pour me some scripture.”
Stairway to heaven Hawaii
Yankee Doodle Daffy
Slot Canyon
An evening pause: A walk through an unidentified slot canyon somewhere on the Colorado Plateau in the Navaho reservation.
Field of gold played by Sungha Jung
An evening pause: Fields of Gold, played by Sungha Jung. Man, can this kid play the guitar!
Holst’s Jupiter movement from The Planets
An evening pause: Though Gustav Holst entitled the fourth movement of his The Planets suite Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, its sweeping melody has always invoked for me the open and majestic plains and mountains of the American west. Sir Charles Mackerras conducts the BBC Philharmonic orchestra.
Lady of Shalott sung by Loreena McKennitt
A real cat burgler
Rube Goldberg music video
An evening pause: Here’s another Rube Goldberg machine, this time created for a music video from the band OK Go.
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
An evening pause: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain doing the music (with sound effects!) from the film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966).
The day the Constitution was ratified
An evening pause: As today is the day in which our Founding Fathers ratified the Constitution, I thought it might be worthwhile to allow Andrew Klavan the opportunity to give us his “A Young Person’s Guide to the United States Constitution.” To quote: We are going to have a little civics lesson, to make up for what you’ve been learning in school.
Earliest Kodak color tests
An evening pause: Though this sequence of shots from a 1922 Kodak test of Kodachrome film (possibly the earliest in existence) is hardly the stuff of drama, it is fascinating nonetheless, as it gives as an honest glimpse into the culture of its time. As you watch the different women pose for the camera, ask yourself: Has anything changed?
Mirror, Mirror
An evening pause: Though appearing somewhat hokey today, the original Star Trek is still one of the most intelligent television show ever produced, with decent writing that often expressed profound ideas. And it was about space exploration and the future! The clip below, from the episode Mirror, Mirror, illustrates all these things perfectly. And Kirk’s speech to the Spock from the alternative-universe expresses beautifully the significance of each individual’s responsibility to the world.
“One man cannot summon the future,” says the bearded Spock.
“But one man can change the present,” responds Kirk.
Knife’s Edge trail on Mount Katahdin
An evening pause: How about some more hiking on the edge of the world? This is the Knife’s Edge trail on Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Maine.