Yay for Technology

I am in my backyard watching a butterfly nurse from a honeysuckle as Coltrane plays lightly in the background. These are the reasons why laptops were invented. I can sit here and blog about the world as the sun gently warms my skin while I see two hummingbirds play a version of king of the mountain on my honeysuckle bush.

Last night I went to see a special event . It was an event that could awaken the inner nerd in even the dumbest of jocks. Conductor Emil De Cou and the NSO hosted an event called "To Boldly Go": a musical journey through science fiction and astrology. The first half featured the scores from the most popular sci-fi films and TV shows, not limited to Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Twilight Zone. There is nothing like hearing and seeing a live orchestra. The sound is so perfect and so powerful, it shivers your spine for you.

The evening also featured two special guests. During the first half of the show, we were introduced to Carl Walz, a NASA astronaut who holds the record for most consecutive days spent in outer space.

The second half was an audio-visual presentation of Gustav Holt's "The Planets," featuring live narration by none other than Leonard Nimoy. There are few men remaining in this world who are as articulate and debonair as the 75-year-old Nimoy. He delivered a whimsical anecdote for each movement of the piece with grace and austerity. After each anecdote, the music played as NASA images of the planets where shown on a big screen. Some of these images had never been shown to the public before. We had lawn seats, so we nestled back and let the music and images take us away. Whilst the first half shock my spine and boiled my blood, the second half calmed my nerves and stilled my heart.

Tonight I am going to see Pirates of the Caribbean. Tomorrow is preparation for an event on Monday: my first interview for this job hunt season.