Celestial Marbles and Floating Sombreros

Internet Archives ^ | 2-4-10 | Stephen Nowlin

[smokingfrog]

Take a break from a hectic day and enjoy the peaceful awe of our universe. “Things That Float” by Stephen Nowlin is the first monthly Guest Showcase in Internet Archive’s collaboration with NASA images.

Mr. Nowlin wrote: “We’re charmed by heavy things that float in thin air, because we’re products of a gravity environment where weight is pinned to the planet’s surface. When something does otherwise, it arouses the pleasure of our curiosity – it’s a spectacle, and inspiring."

All the images are spectacular. I think we often forget the remarkable work that goes into the NASA programs that allows us to see such vivid images of space. It is a wonderful presentation of carefully selected images accompanied by the music of Claude Debussy.

Check out the floating astronaut with jet pack at 2:34, the streaked and speckled moons that look like marbles at 3:57, and at 5:40 all I could say about the celestial sombrero was “what is that?!”

Awesome indeed.

-Jeff Kaplan

[smokingfrog]

Guest Showcase: Stephen Nowlin

[Nateman]

Thanks for posting that. Seeing the wonderful works of God set to that music allows me to believe things will turn out fine.

[mrs. a]

Hey hovering sombrero
Gently waving in the air above the meadow
Softly floating in the sky outside the window
Hovering sombrero don’t be shy

Don’t... don’t be shy
Don’t be... terrified
When you take yourself for granted
Feel rejected and unwanted
Know you’re never just a hat
You’re never only just a hat, you know
Hovering sombrero
Hovering sombrero

Time is flying like an arrow
And the clock hands go so fast they make the wind blow
And it makes the pages of the calender go flying out the window one by one
Til a hundred years are on the front lawn
And the old familiar things are mostly all gone
But the old sombrero just keeps hovering on
Hovering sombrero hover on

Don’t be burdened by regrets
Or make your failures an obsession
Or become embittered or possessed
By ruined hopes remember

When you take yourself for granted
Feel rejected and unwanted
Know you’re never just a hat
You’re never only just a hat, you know
Hovering sombrero
Hovering sombrero

- They Might Be Giants

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks smokingfrog.