"Jumpin' up, fallin' down / Don't misunderstand me..."

I knew this week was going to be bad.  It's started off even worse.  But I'm getting by. My coping mechanism of the day has been playing this video on a loop.  It's Joe Walsh playing "Funk #49" with Daryl Hall.

Yes, you read that right.  And your brain is short-circuiting at the cognitive dissonance, isn't it?  It's that short-circuit that keeps me from falling into a black hole of depression, because who can not get fired up hearing that guitar riff?

"Here we go marching to Mars / On a rainbow bridge, it don't seem so far..."

Continuing my tradition of talking about events I've gone to days and weeks after the fact, here's what I did last week.

Science Cabaret

Last Friday was apparently Yuri's Night.  I had no idea Yuri's Night is a thing.  Definitely, worthy of a toast.  So, having had a hard day, I had two much-needed pints of Great Lakes Brewing Company's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter at the bar hosting the event, and went to the upper lounge to enjoy a presentation and slideshow from a member of Cornell's Department of Astronomy.

The most interesting parts of the presentation were the more mundane details, like how my phone has a more storage and a more powerful camera than the rovers that went up years ago, or just how ridiculously easy it is to shoot something to Mars and miss it.

When I complain about the cognitive disconnect of working in a place where people are beaming shit to and from Mars while there are spots on campus where I lose cell service, this is what I'm talking about.  Still though, the photos from the show, especially the ones from Mars, are pretty cool.

"I will not forgive you / Nor will I accept the blame..."

It's that time of year once again where I celebrate that one special aspect of my cultural and religious heritage...

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines–Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval.

(link)