Are You an Amazon Reviewer? ‘Truths & Lies (etc.)’ is Now on Amazon!

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Even if you’re not a frequent reviewer of things on Amazon, I would be much obliged if any of you who have heard the album would at least consider posting a review of it.


(Image by Paul Cory Photography.)

If you don’t have the time or inclination to review it, that’s okay! You would still have my undying gratitude if you just pointed people to it. Feel free to send the link to any and everyone: Truths and Lies and Make-Believe, on Amazon.

And not to leave out my friends in the United Kingdom: You can also find Truths and Lies and Make-Believe, on Amazon UK.

Tell your friends! Or tell your enemies!

Thanks!

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The Appleseed Collective

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Last week I ventured into downtown Raleigh for an evening of music featuring my nephew, Ben Rolston, and the band he recently joined.


(Four-fifths of The Appleseed Collective, playing at Tir na nOg in Raleigh.)

Raleigh is a far piece from The Appleseed Collective‘s hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, but they had stopped in on the homeward leg of a tour through the southeast. Described as mixing “the Hot Club of Paris with the sweaty soul of Dixieland, a couple blades of bluegrass, a pinch of ragtime beat, and a western swinging swagger,” the band put on a terrific show at Tir na nOg Irish pub.

As their web site notes,

Everybody brings something fresh to the table. Upon returning from a trip to New Orleans, guitarist Andrew Brown had a song in his heart that just wouldn’t quit–when a chance meeting introduced him to Brandon Smith, violinist and improvisation enthusiast, Andrew knew he’d found the Stephane Grapelli to his Django Reinhardt. Vince Russo, percussionist and van-packing expert, speaks freely and cleverly with each clack of the washboard or ding of the short-order cook’s bell. Katie Lee brings a vocal range that is a force to be reckoned with. It’s angelic one moment and powerhouse the next, all complemented by twinkling banjo melodies. And the addition of double bassist Ben Rolston to the mix delivers a level of musicality and jazz sophistication that sends hearts a-flutter.

Here’s a video of them performing one of the songs from their Baby to Beast album:

I got to catch up a little with Ben before the show, and in all had a great time. Check out The Appleseed Collective, or if you prefer more improvisational jazz, check out Ben’s solo album, Fables.

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Space Station Makeover

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Five years ago today — November 15, 2008 — the Space Shuttle Endeavour launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying equipment and materials for the International Space Station.


(View from inside Endeavour of part of an ISS truss solar panel against the backdrop of Earth. Thanksgiving eve, 2008. NASA image.)

The STS-126 crew — Christopher J. Ferguson, Eric A. Boe, Sandra H. Magnus, Stephen G. Bowen, Donald R. Pettit, Robert S. (Shane) Kimbrough and Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper — spent over 2 weeks in space making modifications to the ISS. By the time they undocked to head back to Earth, leaving Magnus on the ISS and bringing Gregory E. Chamitoff home with them, they had installed an additional bathroom and waste processing system in order for the station to support six residents at a time. They also took part in four spacewalks, primarily to repair joints on the ISS solar arrays.

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I Slept Well Last Night (as Orwell said)

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I slept well last night (as Orwell said)
Quite peaceably in my comfortable bed
Knowing my guardians, sturdy and rough
Stood ready to do violence on my behalf.

A Veteran's salute
(“A Veteran’s salute,” by The U.S. Army, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

To all those who served, are serving, and will serve, thank you on this Veterans’ Day. It was a privilege to serve with you in my small way, and it is an honor to live under the peace you secure. I salute you.

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I Won’t Add You to My Mailing List …

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… but I’d like to.

R2D2 Mailbox
(“R2D2 Mailbox,” by JoshBerglund19, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

I’ve been thinking of starting an occasional e-mailout about new stories or songs or other projects I’m working on, conventions I’m heading to, and suchlike miscellanea. If I had such a thing, a newsletter or other semi-regular outreach, would you like to be on the mailing list for it?

If so, let me know. Because I won’t add you to my mailing list, unless you want me to.

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The New Millennium Program Begins

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In a space history anniversary I missed during the first go-round, 15 years ago today — October 24, 1998 — NASA launched its first mission under the New Millennium Program (NMP) from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket.


(Deep Space 1. NASA image.)

This first technology demonstrator under the NMP, Deep Space 1, carried new instruments such as the Miniature Integrated Camera-Spectrometer, built to combine visual images with ultraviolet and infrared spectrometer data. It captured images of 9969 Braille, a near-Earth asteroid, and of comet Borrelly.

The same launch carried the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, or SEDSAT 1, spacecraft to orbit. The SEDSAT mini-satellite was built by University of Alabama students to distribute orbital imagery over the Internet.

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First Indian Lunar Mission

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Five years ago today — October 22, 2008 — the Indian Space Research Organization launched a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, carrying a lunar mapping satellite.


(Technicians prepare Chandrayaan 1 for orbit. Indian Space Research Organization image.)

Chandrayaan 1, or “Moon Craft 1,” was India’s first lunar mission. The spacecraft achieved lunar orbit on November 8, 2008, after a series of orbit-raising maneuvers. It returned images and data — including from a “Moon impact probe” that it released — until contact was lost in August 2009.

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Exploring the Interstellar Boundary

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Five years ago today — October 19, 2008 — a Pegasus-XL rocket lofted a satellite designed to study the edge of the solar system.


(IBEX. NASA image from Wikimedia Commons.)

From its L-1011 cargo plane flying near Kwajalein Island in the Pacific Ocean, the Pegasus carried the IBEX (Interstellar Boundary EXplorer) satellite to orbit. The probe specifically monitors hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the vicinity of the heliosphere where the solar wind interacts with elements in interstellar space.

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‘CD Baby’? Yes, CD, Baby!

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Caution: Shameless Self-Promotion Ahead.


(Album cover by Christopher Rinehart, using photo by Paul Cory Photography.)

What is this ‘CD Baby’ talk? Just pointing out that my CD, Truths and Lies and Make-Believe, is now being distributed through the CD Baby web site and digital distribution program. Folks can purchase a digital version or a physical CD through the site, and additional distribution through iTunes and other outlets should start soon.

For folks who may not have heard about it before, the album has ten original songs:

  • “Steampunk Pirates”
  • “Another Romulan Ale”
  • “The Monster Hunter Ballad”
  • “Dare to Do Great Things”
  • “Mortal Men”
  • “Tauntauns to Glory”
  • “Help My Unbelief”
  • “I Think I’ll Run for Congress”
  • “Day to Day Disguises”
  • “Finding Serenity”

 

Finally, if you’re local or we happen to be in the same place at the same time, I usually have three or four copies close at hand. I’ll happily sell you one!

___
P.S. If you have the chance, tell your friends (or even your enemies) about Truths and Lies and Make-Believe!

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Gov’t Shutdown Doesn’t Stop Space History …

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Someone will need to explain to me why NASA’s websites have to be shut down — did they shut down the power to the server rooms? — but the fact is that the National Space Science Data Center site came up empty today. But this space history item will not be denied!

Five years ago today — October 12, 2008 — a Soyuz-FG rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying mission Soyuz TMA-13 to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke, U.S. space tourist Richard A. Garriott, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri V. Lonchakov.


(The Soyuz rocket carrying TMA-13 being erected on the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad. Image from Wikimedia Commons.)

The Soyuz docked with the Zarya module two days after launch. Garriott spent nine days aboard the ISS and returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-12, along with cosmonauts and ISS residents Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, while the other two TMA-13 passengers stayed aboard the ISS.

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