That... Does Not Happen in My Neighborhood

So the noteworthy news of the day-

Apparently in Colorado, the day before yesterday, a small aircraft flying a banner crashed into a house in the suburbs.

The notable part of the story - The pilot of the plane was also a local firefighter who immediately started to put the fire out with a garden hose.*

*Original reports had him parachuting out of the plane and then fighting the fire, which would have been more awesome, but like most awesome things has turned out to not be true.

So, what happened was that a firefighter, who was also a pilot, walked away from crashing his plane (into a house that he used to own, just to up the WTF meter) and immediately turned back into a firefighter and started... you know... fighting the fire.  I'm assuming that he immediately stripped off his fuel soaked clothes and fought the fire nude while whistling 'Fire in Cairo' by The Cure.

You know what this means.

Suck it, Canada.

You can read the entire story here.

Some of your less successful pickup lines

I was musing earlier (because Vizslas love a good muse.  Especially Calliope.*) about Chris Hadfield.

*Incredibly geeky joke which I am going to decline to explain.

Chris Hadfield, for those who don't immediately recognize the name, is this guy-

He's a Canadian astronaut who was the Commander of a mission to the International Space Station who not only spent some quality time performing science experiments suggested by kids for them to watch, but also took a moment to record a cover of Space Oddity before he left the ISS to return to Earth.

Which pretty much means that until some Firefighter figures out a way to record Fire in Cairo by the Cure while rescuing an infant from a burning airplane, he pretty much owns us all.

I mean, let's be honest.  'Why Yes, I am the astronaut that recorded a Bowie cover on the International Space Station' is pretty hard to beat as a pickup line.*

*Yes, I am aware that he's married.  My point still stands

You know who Chris Hadfield is having sex with right now?  Anyone he wants to, that's who.

But on the other end of the spectrum, there are some pickup lines that even Chris couldn't pull off.

Here are a few-

"Hey, did you just come from Glamor Shots?"

-Glamor shots, for those fortunate enough not to know, is a company that- for a modest fee - will plaster you with enough makeup to allow you to successfully sell yourself on the streets of Phuket and take some terribly dramatically lit headshots.  Their big selling point at one point was 'Have your picture taken by a professional photographer!' which really just means that they're paying the guy (or gal) who's pressing the 'Take Picture' button.  (Which I suppose is at least comforting for the photographer.) 

"You must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that"

-I honestly have no idea what that even means.  I do suspect that commenting on someone's jiggling parts is probably unlikely to get you anywhere.

"You'll do."

-This one will probably get you maced

"You must be tired, because I've been watching you on your treadmill through binoculars for the last half hour"

-If you can pull this one off you totally take the kingship over from Chris.  It's more likely to get you tased however.

Of course, that doesn't account for Laika...

A couple of days ago, global improv-queen Jill Bernard brought to my attention a website that lists everyone currently in space.  It's called - appropriately enough-

 

www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/

 

 

We should note that this site appears to only account for humans, as it clearly does not mention The Doctor.  (And has completely missed Clara Oswin Oswald - but that could be a result of her only quasi-existing along someone else's timestream for the moment... must check back on November 24th...)

 

 

We should also remember that in a matter of a year or so this app will also list Sarah Brightman, as she is apparently being shipped to the International Space Station - True Story - One assumes that Andrew Lloyd Weber bought her the ticket.  What's less clear is what she plans to do during her several month stay.  If she plans on being the first person to record a cover of Space Oddity from actual space she has totally missed her chance.

 

Suck it, Brightman

 



 

The takeaway from this is obviously - Canadians are pretty awesome.

 

 





"Tonight... When you make love to your woman... She will be dreaming of me."

 



But I've strayed from my point.

 

There are - as I type this - 6 Human Beings in space.  Floating above our heads.

 

And as a counterpoint - all of the amazing stars and byproducts of hydrogenbeing converted to helium that they are currently witnessing?  We pretty much can't see it anymore because of light pollution (as well as pollution of other varieties)

 

And here's the thing that really keeps a Vizsla up at night (Just kidding, nothing can physically keep a Vizsla awake...)

 

The technology that got those 6 people up in space (not The Doctor, obviously.) could not have happened without all of the technology that produced the pollution (light and otherwise).

 

It would not be possible for us to physically go out among the stars if we were still able to see them.

 

And I'm starting to think that maybe that's always the way things work.

 

You have to be willing to lose sight of things if you want to actually get to them.

 

These are the things Vizlsas think about