Apollo 17

Forty years ago this month, NASA launched Apollo 17, its last mission to the moon.  Mission commander Gene Cernan, lunar module pilot Dr. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt and command module pilot Ron Evans lifted off just after 12:30 a.m. on December 7th, 1972.  While Evans performed experiments in lunar orbit, Cernan and Schmitt explored the area of Taurus-Littrow, discovered orange soil, and composed the brief musical parody "I was strolling on the moon one day".  They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 19th.  Previously planned subsequent Apollo missions were cancelled.

Dr. Schmitt remembers the mission vividly.  He remains the only trained geologist to collect rock samples on a world other than earth.  Cernan, who named a large rock after his daughter, remembers the camera he left on the moon.

Go here for a panorama of what the two astronauts saw.  For more on Apollo 17, go to Universe Today, National Journal and Views Of The Solar System, and watch this video:

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Pearl Harbor Day - And Today

December 7th is the anniversary of Japan's attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II.  Here are some facts about the attack on the "date which will live in infamy".

In today's news:

From WRAL, President Obama will attend a performance by South Korean rapper PSY, whose songs (I use the term loosely) include some anti-American lyrics.

From Yahoo News, a cache of gold dust bought for $700,000 last year has disappeared from the Chesterfield, MO laboratory or Pfizer, Inc.

From Citizen Link, the Supreme Court has decided to hear cases about the Defense of Marriage Act, and California's Proposition 8.

From Breitbart's Big Government, guns are being bought at record rates - in California.

From PJ Media, 73% of the jobs created in the last 5 months have been government jobs.

From the Washington Examiner, Michigan's new right-to-work legislation gets an angry reaction from one of the state's biggest residents.

From the Chicago Tribune, that large Michigan resident is not alone.

The Foundry asks why government should get "something for nothing".

And from NBC News, the LAPD has started to ask that age-old question, "What's up, Doc?"

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Protest Like An Egyptian

One Egyptian man gives our president his opinion of their new president.  From Doug Ross @ Journal via Bare Naked Islam and a12iggymom:

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Zimmerman's Lawyers Release Gruesome Picture

A photograph of George Zimmerman, taken by police after his confrontation with Trayvon Martin, has been released by his defense lawyers, showing a bloody face and what looks like an injured nose.  They say that they received the photo on October 29th, over six months after Zimmerman was charged with murder.

I won't post the photo here, but you can see it at Fox News.  A question for the president: If you had a son, would he rearrange someone's face the way Martin apparently rearranged Zimmerman's?

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Music Break

For this month's music break, let's begin with something from the original lineup of Yes.  From their second album Time And A Word, this is No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed, written by Richie Havens.  Some of the instrumental sections, however, were taken from the opening theme from the movie The Big Country.  The original Yes included John Anderson (who later removed the "h" from first name) - lead vocals, Peter Banks - guitar & vocals, Tony Kaye - keyboards, Chris Squire - bass & vocals, and Bill Bruford - drums.  Soon after the album was recorded, Banks left and was replaced by Steve Howe, who appears in the video.  Anderson plays a guitar in the video, but most likely didn't play it on the record.

Here's something I ran across a year ago, and posted on AndRightlySo.  The Peanuts kids in A Charlie Brown Christmas take a cue from Sly and the Family Stone, and Dance To The Music.  The creator of this video did a good job combining cartoon action with the song's lyrics.

In England, the controversial English Defence League occasionally stages anti-sharia demonstrations, and sometimes gets arrested for it.  Whatever you think of them, they still have a catchy punk rock theme song.

The Hollies were a British band popular in the late 60's and early 70's.  Although going through several lineup changes, most of the time their lead singer was Allan Clark.  Original rhythm guitarist Graham Nash, who also occasionally sang lead, left in 1968 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash (& later Young).  In 1973, the Hollies had a minor hit with The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee.

Humble Pie was formed in 1969 by guitarists Steve Marriott (from The Small Faces) and Peter Frampton (from The Herd), bassist Greg Ridley (from Spooky Tooth) and drummer Jerry Shirley.  Marriott, Ridley and Frampton, in that order, share the lead vocals on Big Black Dog, something they commonly did during the band's first two years.  In 1971, Frampton left and was replaced by guitarist Dave "Clem" Clempson, who rarely attempted a lead vocal.  Afterwards, Marriott did most of the lead singing, with some help from Ridley.  The video show us man's best friend, including one who gets some symbolic revenge against a certain quarterback.

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Obama Campaign Still Asking For Money

The election ended almost a month ago, didn't it?  President Obama called it his "last election", didn't he?  Why, then, is his campaign still asking for contributions?  The answer is that he's asking his supporters to fill out a form backing his plan to increase taxes for the "wealthiest Americans"?

Read the story at Politicker.

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I Can't Believe We Made It

A look back on growing up in previous decades and how things were different back then:

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