Leroy Troy – Ghost Chickens In The Sky
An evening pause: Hat tip Thomas Biggar.
Category: The Evening Pause
A nightly pause from the news to give the reader/viewer a bit of classic entertainment.
Dylan Elise – Drum solo
An evening pause: Stay with it. The first half is good, but it is merely an appetizer for the second half.
Hat tip Rex Ridenoure from Ecliptic Enterprises, who says of this clip, “This video went viral, and he’s now the drummer for the Blood, Sweat and Tears band and seeing the world.”
Anastasia Tyurina – Valenki
An evening pause: She was seven when this was performed live in Moscow on September 13, 2018.
Hat tip Thomas Biggar.
Lang Lang & Mark Guiliana – Why Bartók Rocks
An evening pause: They also do a Prokofiev piece.
Hat tip Diane Wilson.
Jim Radford – The Shores of Normandy
An evening pause: I know this is late for the anniversary of D-Day, but I think it actually expresses well the same determination that made it possible for Americans to go to the Moon. Those men at Normandy, as well as in Apollo, stood for freedom, to paraphrase John Kennedy. And they were willing to die to make sure their friends, families, and nation remained free.
What do you stand for?
Hat tip commodude.
Max Vandervorst & Marc Hérouet – Music for abandoned objects
An evening pause: The first is amazingly beautiful, the last especially silly.
Hat tip Diane Wilson.
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – Fly Me Off the Händel
An evening pause: It’s been awhile since this group has been an evening pause. And here they do it all, at once.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
Smarter Every Day – Where does NASA keep the Moon Rocks?
An evening pause: On the way home from the Moon.
Hat tip Wayne DeVette.
July 24, 1969: Apollo 11 splashdown
An evening pause: “…and returning him safely to Earth.”
Splashdown from the perspective of the frogmen. Stay with it, as they show every detail, including the recovery of the capsule after the astronauts are already on board the aircraft carrier.
July 20, 1969: “We came in peace for all mankind.”
An evening pause: In honor of the fiftieth anniversary.
The astronauts plant the American flag, after they had unveiled a plaque on the lunar module with the words, “We came in peace for all mankind.”
This was an American achievement, accomplished because our free and competitive society gave us the resources and trained talent to make it happen. We did it for all mankind, in good will, but we did it, no one else.
It is time that we as well as everyone else do it again.
July 20, 1969: “One small step…”
An evening pause: In honor of the fiftieth anniversary.
Neil Armstrong takes the first steps on the Moon. Note his focus is almost entirely on describing what he sees and experiences. He is doing this for two reasons, first to provide knowledge of the Moon to the world, and second to provide engineers as much information as possible for future missions.
This focus explains why the first thing he does is to get a contingency rock sample, just in case they need to leave the Moon quickly.
Note also that when Buzz Aldrin joins Armstrong on the surface, he is as professional and calm, proving that the way he has been portrayed by some recent movies as as undisciplined jerk is simply a slander. He would not have been picked for this mission if he really behaved that way.
He wanted to be the first, and lobbied to get that chance. After the decision was made he got down to work to make the mission a success.
For a different view of these same events, watch this video.
July 20, 1969: “The Eagle has landed”
An evening pause: In honor of the fiftieth anniversary.
Note the calm tone in all the voices, even when something is not quite right. To do really great things, one must not let one’s emotions run the show. You need to be cool-headed and focused on the task at at hand. If only today’s adult generation, especially in the world of politics, would do the same.
Just before Armstrong brings Eagle down, you will hear a voice say “60 seconds,” then “30 seconds.” That is mission control telling him how much time they estimate he has before he runs out of fuel.
Below the fold is the same last few minutes of the landing, produced by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) science team using its high resolution images to recreate a simulation of what Armstrong saw in his window. Remember, the view in the original 16mm film was out Aldrin’s window.