Category: humor

Socality Barbie

socalitybarbie2
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
Thanks to an anonymous wedding photographer from Portland, we have a splendid satirization of Pacific Northwest lifestyles, selfies, Instagram itself and more in Socality Barbie.  Designated targets include That PNW Life | Adventurer | Coffee Drinker | Jesus | Authentic Living | Socality.  Have a look.

(I originally intended just to post this to my photography blog, but I decided it was worthy of expanding the audience and enjoyment.)

P.S. If you want to learn more about the concept and/or movement of socality, try this.

Space

I’ve probably been a bit of a space junkie ever since my initial assignment in 1964 to a review of NASA’s Apollo program and contracts, working at mostly Los Angeles plants of North American Aviation, Grumman Corporation, The Aerospace Corporation and others, including local and regional NASA offices.  Although I got to see and touch space capsules and related stuff up close and talk with many of the program’s movers & shakers, I never saw anything quite like this, said to be from NASA interns:

Quoting directly from NASA’s release:

Published on Dec 11, 2014

“All About That Space” is a volunteer outreach video project created by the Pathways Interns of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. It was created as a parody (to raise interest and excitement for Orion’s first flight) of Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass”. The lyrics and scenes in the video have been re-imagined in order to inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

Learn more about NASA: http://www.nasa.gov
Learn more about Orion: http://www.nasa.gov/orion
Follow the Orion Spacecraft on Twitter: @NASA_Orion
Follow the Orion Spacecraft on Instagram: @explorenasa
Follow NASA’s Orion Spacecraft on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASAOrion

For students interested in NASA Johnson Space Center:
http://pathways.jsc.nasa.gov
https://intern.nasa.gov/
http://www.facebook.com/nasa.jsc.stud…
http://www.twitter.com/nasajscstudents
http://instagram.com/nasajscstudents

Special thanks to: Dylan Mathis, Megan Sumner, Jack Moore, Allison Mcintyre, John Konvicka, Bill Bluethmann, Randy Eckman, and Logan Farrell

Point of Contact: Alex Hoffman
Director: Brianna Bolling
Lyrics: Sarah Schlieder
Video Editing: Avery Bodenstein
Audio Recording/Editing: Lauren Foley, AJ Sauter, Jimmy Garrett
Storyboard and Choreography: Christina Dillon, Brianna Bolling

**For current Pathways Interns looking for information/how to’s/otherwise contact the students who created the video, contact Brianna Bolling using global**

“All About That Space” Lyrics:

Because you know
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel.
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel.
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel.
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space

Yeah, it’s pretty clear, I ain’t commercial crew
But I can launch it, launch it
Like I’m supposed to do
‘Cause I got that boom boom that all the Astros chase
And all the space flight to all the right places

I see Orion crew workin’ that ship nonstop
We know we goin’ far
Now put that LAS on top
If you got boosters boosters, just raise ‘em up
‘Cause every spacecraft needs propulsion
From the bottom to the top

Hey, they’re working so hard, don’t you love these NASA guys?
They will take us so far the first time that Orion flies.
You know we travellin’ to deep destinations ‘fore to long,
So if that’s what you’re into then join in and ride along.

Because you know I’m
All about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space
Hey!

I’m bringing rockets back
Go ahead and tell the whole world that
We’re doing exploration. Come on, board it stat
We’re ready for liftoff
Every spacecraft needs propulsion from the bottom to the top.

Hey they’re working so hard, don’t you love these NASA guys?
They will take us so far the first time that Orion flies.
You know we’re travellin’ to deep destinations ‘fore to long,
So if that’s what you’re into then join in and ride along.
Because you know I’m
All about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space

Because you know I’m
All about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space

Because you know I’m
All about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space, space travel
I’m all about that space
‘Bout that space
‘Bout that space, ‘bout that space
Hey, hey, ooh
You know you love that space.

Once a Farm Boy …

Brother Dennis sends this along, reminding me of how we would bring the cows in from pasture each night after school.  Our usual method would be to stop when we caught sight of them in the distance, then call them until they approached us. Or we might start calling if we couldn’t see them or find them at all.  Failing that, we would have to get behind them and chase them home.  This took place in the late 1940s well into the 1950s, from probably age five or six onward.  Here is a novel approach to this task:

The Wenger Giant

Ever had the notion that all you need to accomplish something daunting is just that right tool? I know that I am always on the lookout for a better camera bag or backpack or photo anything. Certainly Ivi and Kim seem to enjoy surveying the latest in kitchen and garden toolery. I even imagine that I could perform magical feats of auto repair and enhancement with something beyond my current collection. And don’t even get me started with software tools. Enter the Wenger Giant:

wenger_giantThis thing features 141 tools packed into 2 lbs and less than 9 inches of width, all for only $1400. Amazon even gives us a $28 discount on this ultimate Swiss Army Knife, along with some of the most amusing reviews I have ever read on that site. See what I mean here.

So Here’s What Happened …

Remember this?

 

So I went into the office early this morning, right after Ivi asked me in email in our earlier exchanges today about getting pictures of Charlie, found a video clip and posted it to YouTube.  Minutes later, the guys in our office who monitor DMCA violations* started laughing and showed me this:

 
 So we inspected the video, and realized that some music — apparently that copyrighted by WMG (Warner Music Group, one of the “big three” recording companies) — happening to be playing in the background, escaping my notice while I was innocently documenting Ivi and Charlie’s antics.  Minutes later.

*DMCA, by the way, refers to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1996.  We, speaking of my employer, receive DMCA notices regularly, mostly for our subscribers who are caught in the act of downloading mostly movies, and are required to take “appropriate action” (we typically notify the offending customer and warn them that we will suspend or relinquish their Internet access if they do it again, as we as an ISP — Internet Services Provider — may be held liable or could be threatened with direct legal action).  Anyway, the whole office got a great laugh at my expense today.

So — it would seem that NSA has nothing on the reach and view of the recording companies.  Well, on the other hand: