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John Denver, John Glenn and Aliens

The Earth — Up and Down and All Around

Some fun and interesting links this week — including a beautiful song never recorded (for an album) by John Denver. It had just one live performance. Remember that if you find an interesting link, I’m always glad to add contributions here.

Healing Time on Earth
Most people over 40 know of John Denver, the ’70s pop singer with a bit of a country sound to his earthy songs. His career continued through the 1990s releasing about 300 songs with about 200 he composed. He died tragically at the age of 53 while piloting a small experimental aircraft in 1997. In 1995 he performed this beautiful song called “Healing Time on Earth” one time live.

Aliens
Though we’re still waiting for that “first contact” (hopefully NOT like it’s shown in so many movies), there continues to be stories about aliens and lots of “proof.” Whether you believe in this or not, it certainly is almost always interesting and/or entertaining. Here’s a link to yet another alien.

Trek Radio
Many people in radio… and radio engineering … are also sci-fi geeks (myself included). I stumbled across something called Trek Radio and it sure caught my attention! Here’s a link to an online Star Trek-themed radio station. It’s called Trek Radio and the logo (which is cool) resembles the Enterprise. I’ve listened and it’s an interesting station. There are some soundbites from actors from Star Trek and a lot of pop music and even a little “space music.”

Movie Props & Memorabilia
Though this video just touches upon a few items, it’s interesting to see things from movies long after the movie hit the silver screen. For those who attended the NAB convention in Vegas in the past, you might have paid a visit to the former tourist attraction “The Star Trek Experience” at the former Las Vegas Hilton. Unfortunately it (and the cool Quark’s space bar) are now one of the many, many past memories of Vegas. This video is five stories of lost, then rediscovered, iconic movie props and memorabilia.

The Power of Positive Sci-Fi
I’ve become a fan of WNYC(FM), New York Public Radio. Some great talent and production comes out of their studios! Here’s an interesting short podcast from WNYC called “The Power of Positive Sci-Fi.”

Bobby McFerrin as a Cello?
Great things come from New York radio, and from WQXR, New York City’s only classical music radio station comes this story and accompanying video of a Vivaldi double cello concert which has the extremely talented McFerrin using his voice as one of the two cellos. It’s very cool!

Titanic … NOT Like the Movie
Most of us remember Leonardo DiCaprio shouting out “I’m the king of the world!” from the blockbuster movie “Titanic,” but the real-life story and facts of the Titanic don’t really line up with the fictional account. I think the real facts about the ship, the crew, and what occurred are far more interesting. Here’s a link to 36 facts you might not have known about the ship and what happened.

Speaking of Cool
We lost Marine, astronaut, engineer, Senator, and all-round “good guy” John Glenn in 2016. Glenn was a distinguished fighter pilot in World War II and Korea and received six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 18 Air Medals. He was one of the Mercury Seven test pilots and one “cool cat.” Oh, also a fellow Ohioan! This link shows one reason why John Glenn was sooo cool! In the ’60s, astronauts were at the height of cool. They drove sports cars (Corvettes were known to be one of their “trophy cars”), but Glenn was so cool he didn’t need a sports car. Check out John Glenn’s cool ride! (You KNOW you’re cool when you can drive this and STILL be cool!)

And finally …
Have you ever wondered why barns are red? Smithsonian.com tells us why … and it’s because of dying stars!(Really!)

If you stumble across a good or unusual web site that might be of interest, please don’t hesitate to send me the link and any info you might have about it. My email address is dan_slentz@yahoo.com.

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