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Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger and its seven-astronaut crew.
As a sophomore at the high school where Christa McAuliffe taught social studies as well as an aficionado of the space program, I formed a lot of memories of this event and its aftermath–in terms of both the Concord community and NASA–in the days, weeks, months, and years that followed. Two years ago I expanded on these in a series of five posts on this blog, and last year on this date underwent a surprising experience related to the disaster. Links to all six entries are below. |
Into the distance, a ribbon of black
“A major malfunction” turns 21
Life in a Northern Town
STS-51-L: what went wrong
The galactic price of organizational arrogance
Reflecting on a retrospective–with a jolt
docbushwell
jim
kemibe
#1 by Lofcaudio on January 28, 2009 - 2:21 pm
Kevin, where oh where can I find a list of your top 50 favorite songs of all time? Since we are close in age, I’d love to see what songs you were digging back in the 80s.
#2 by Kevin Beck on January 28, 2009 - 2:56 pm
Right here.
The page takes a while to load because there are roughly 50 YouTube videos included, including a few I had to create myself just for the occasion.
#3 by Jim Fiore on January 28, 2009 - 3:45 pm
I cannot even imagine trying to make an ordered list of my top 50 favorite tunes. It would be like asking which are my favorites molecules of oxygen to breathe. Not that I’m undiscerning, but there is so much out there that I find compelling. King Crimson, Zappa, Gabriel, Sting, Steely Dan, Gentle Giant, Henry Cow, Renaissance, National Health, yeow it just doesn’t stop, and that doesn’t even touch jazz or classical. I’d have a hard time with 50 Zappa tunes alone.
I do think I could make a list of the top 50 songs I wish would never be played again. It would include Free Bird, Stairway to Heaven and anything that involved either Paul Rodgers (Bad Company) or Bob Seeger.
Back to the original post, I remember clearly that I was standing in the doorway of lab when one of my students came by and told me what had just happened. At first I thought she was joking but it became apparent that she wasn’t.
#4 by Lofcaudio on January 28, 2009 - 4:20 pm
Great stuff Kevin! What’s hilarious is that I just listened to Mr. Roboto (#50) this morning as I spun Styx’s Greatest Hits (1995) CD during my first hour of work. Not only that, I got a steady dose of Mr. Gabriel as I also took in Genesis’ complete The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway this afternoon. Great great stuff!
Jim, my taste in music runs along the same lines as you as I consider King Crimson (Wetton era especially) and Gentle Giant as two of my favorites. And I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments regarding Bob Seger. I was listening to the radio the other day and admiring the run of songs that the station was playing. They had just played five great songs in a row but then ruined it by playing “Night Moves”. I was quickly able to switch stations before completely throwing up. (Of late, I have turned into a bit of a prog-snob when it comes to music.)
#5 by Jim Fiore on January 29, 2009 - 11:27 am
Not to steal the thread, but I recently picked up two old Jean Luc Ponty albums on CD (Enigmatic Ocean and Cosmic Messenger) plus Porcupine Tree’s Fear of a Blank Planet (primarily for Gavin Harrison’s drumming). Two of the best (new) CDs I’ve picked up in the past ten years would be Dirk Campbell’s Music From a Round Tower and Sean Malone/Gordian Knot’s Emergent.
I also grabbed Harrison’s book Rhythmic Illusions and will probably post something about it under “Pattern Juggling” once I get through it (not for a while due to other things pending).
#6 by Kevin Beck on January 29, 2009 - 1:17 pm
I hope that the explicit mention of “Mr. Roboto” and a link to my schlock-ridden song list doesn’t constitute a sacrilege. Oh well; Christa probably listened to all the same crap when she was training for the launch.
I do often reflect on pre-Gabriel vs. post-Gabriel Genesis.
#7 by Kevin Beck on January 29, 2009 - 1:17 pm
I hope that the explicit mention of “Mr. Roboto” and a link to my schlock-ridden song list doesn’t constitute a sacrilege. Oh well; Christa probably listened to all the same crap when she was training for the launch.
I do often reflect on pre-Gabriel vs. post-Gabriel Genesis.