Easter

A ghost of a mist was on the field
The grey and the green together
The noise of a distant farm machine
Out of the first light came

A tattered necklace of hedge end trees
On the southern side of the hill
Betrays where the border runs between
Where Mary Dunoon's boy fell

Easter here again, a time for the blind to see
Easter, surely now can all of your hearts be free?

Out of the port of Liverpool
Bound for the North of Ireland
The wash of the spray and horsetail waves
The roll of the sea below

And Easter here again, a time for the blind to see
Easter, surely now can all of your hearts be free?

What will you do?
Make a stone of your heart?
Will you set things right?
When you tear them apart?
Will you sleep at night?
With the plough and the stars alight?

Hey! What will you do?
With the wire and the gun?
That'll set things right
When it's said and done?
Will you sleep at night?
Is there so much love to hide?

Forgive...
Forget...
Sing "Never again."

-Marillion

Rest

Scene: a small bar somewhere in Southeast Asia. It burgeons with more patrons then it has seen in years. The Man in Black detaches himself from the crowd for a moment to get a drink.

"Good heavens. Who are all these people, Mr Sons?" asks the bartender.

"Friends of mine, Jimmy." replies the Man in Black. They wanted a little r&r. Away from the maddening din of conflict, if you know what I mean."

Jimmy clapped excitedly. "Well, any friends of yours are friends of mine, Mr. Sons! They are welcome here any time as long as they behave themselves. Otherwise Goro will have words with them."

In the corner of the bar stood something that resembled a shaved gorilla in a tuxedo. It cracked its knuckes and grinned evilly at the Man in Black.

"Ulp! No, I think everyone will behave themselves."

Jimmy beamed. "Excellent. Scotch on the rocks, sir?"

"Yeah, make it a double..."

Astronomy Domine

Time for your amateur astronomy lesson for the week, dear children.

That groovy galaxy I've come to be associated with is none other than M101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. It's a very large spiral galaxy, twice as wide as the Milky Way. Its a relatively close at about 22 million light years away. It resides in the constellation of Ursa Major or the Big Dipper.

I have a personal affinity for the Big Dipper. It's the first constellation I ever learned. I loved the stars even as a kid, but didn't know from constellations. I remember my grandfather taking me outside one summer night. "Here's an easy one to find," he said. "Look up there, over the trees. See those stars? Thats the Big Dipper. Over there, those stars that look like a big 'W'? Thats Cassiopeia..."

Since then, I've learned lots of constellations. But I always come back to the Big Dipper, my first constellation. Where my galaxy and my heart call home...out amongst the stars.



Atlas Image courtesy of 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF.

No myth

"Sometime from now you'll bow to pressure
some things in life you cannot measure by degrees.
I'm between the poles and the equator
don't send no private investigator to find me please
'less he speaks Chinese
and can dance like Astaire overseas..."

-Michael Penn