شیراز

Been listening to a lot of Ali's stuff of late.  This one is I think my absolute favorite: the visual and auditory beauty is so great that I can't even get mad that it's shot in portrait.

Apropos of this recent news item:

Iranian musician Ali Ghamsari has been performing outside the Damavand power station— which supplies a significant share of Tehran’s electricity — in a symbolic protest against US threats to civilian and energy infrastructure.

A few years back:

After the Iranian authorities banned musician Ali Ghamsari from performing “until further notice” for refusing to remove a female singer from his most recent concert in Tehran, he announced on his Instagram page that he “wasn’t sorry at all.”

I fervently hope he and his people can continue making music.

ξένος

The Stranger:

Moonlight cold

and untouchable

like mercury

cascades through

an open window 

to the mirror.

Who is staring at me

in the glass

with my own eyes?

How many years

I evaded

their gaze

favoring the darkest,

obscurest waters,

rain-muddled rivers,

the cracking

windowpanes

of fractured sleep.

I heard my footsteps 

as though they were 

another’s

haunting me no end

in dreams

where I’m lost

in a labyrinth,

chased through sleep

in frenzied circles.

Now the moon wells up—

silvery rivulets

in the mirror.

The stranger emerges

over and over

out of the glass.

Melissánthi.

Overview Effect

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. Image Credit: NASA

We sure can do great, illuminating things when we put our minds to it.  Costs for the SLS and Orion, et al, are higher than I would like, but much better spent this way than on blowing up people and things in Iran (and Venezuela, and...).

Godspeed, crew of Artemis II.

Selah.

I'm not a human, I am a dove

I'm your conscience, I am love.

Ἄρτεμι, καὶ χαρίεν φῶς ἑὸν ἀνδρὶ δίδου

Prayer to Artemis:

Goddess of culverts and lighthouses, goddess

                     of burrows and coves and safety in narrow escapes,

stand where you stand and shine

                     like kindness on our children.

From you they learn right and wrong, and how to wear capes

                     for hunting or self-concealment, how to find

a turtle’s egg-cache, or a rabbit warren,

                     how to distinguish a dangerous

impulse from a lovely whim,

                     when to keep a flower or a friend,

and where it’s safe to swim.

                     It’s hard work, I know, to shine all the time,

but it’s never pointless.

                     Sometimes it’s divine.

Diotimus.

I'm Not Crying, You Are

A newly found bright spot on the moon has been named Carroll by the Artemis II crew.

This is named after astronaut Reid Wiseman's late wife. pic.twitter.com/KqN0cruBFO

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 6, 2026

You spell that "C-A-R-R-O-L-L."

Godspeed, crew of Artemis II and your astronaut family.

So fast, shooting off into space

You turn my life upside down.

Keep a Close Eye Out for the Bunny Girl

Easter Absolutes:

Disaster lurks in Easter absolutes,
The sun is straining blood through time,
Heaven, is innocence so far away?
Hell, are you gaping in your fury? 

To think, to feel, to see, to be
Control confusion and force dispute
Cringing before the cold, glad Easter
Where dwell the ruthless relatives. 

Heavens of contemplation, and first
Belief, that runs lamb-like here,
Give me the order of the soul's sway
And harmony that teaches mastery. 

Christ now come from out the tomb,
None other, and walk upon the ruined meadows,
Dream-like vision, powerful beyond reality,
Where the spirit is jocund, where it would go. 

Richard Eberhart. 

I Got Hustle in My Blood

NASA update:

The morning opened to the beat of “Working Class Heroes (Work)” by CeeLo Green as the Artemis II crew, now flying about 65,235 miles from the Moon, began preparations for their first test objective of the day: an evaluation of the Orion Crew Survival System suit. The crew also heard a special message from Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke.

John Young and I landed on the Moon in 1972 in a lunar module we named Orion. I’m glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the Moon as America charts the course to the lunar surface. Below you on the Moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we and America and all of the world are cheering you on.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will conduct a full sequence of suit operations, including putting on and pressurizing their suits, performing leak checks, simulating seat entry, and assessing mobility and their ability to eat and drink. 

The suits are designed to protect astronauts during dynamic phases of flight, provide life support in the event of cabin depressurization, and support survival operations after splashdown. The demonstration offers insight into how the suit performs during extended wear in microgravity and how its enhanced mobility, thermal management, and communication systems support crew operations during Artemis missions. 

The kids have consumed a good bit of Easter sugar today, whereas I've gotten my high from doing a bunch of vibe coding¹, watching women's hoops, and streaming NASA's live feed (as I have been doing each and every day).  Yes, all at the same time.

I am so thrilled that we get a 24/7 look at Artemis II!  Even mundane plumbing repairs and suit operations are really cool to watch, and only serve to increase that anticipation ahead of their lunar flyby tomorrow.

Charlie Duke, BTW, was the CAPCOM when the Eagle landed:

Roger, Twan—Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.

An excitable boy, just like your space-obsessed blogger.  I hope that you find peace and joy in whatever you are doing on this day.

1 - Went through a number of iterations of a custom tool specifically to evaluate overfitting of models that I've been training for my demos/labs.  Developing new curriculum for a pilot I'm kicking off in a few weeks, which is necessarily leading with all things AI, so I must buildbuildbuild whilst biting off rabbit ears. 

We Must Now Show the World Our Moral Power

68% of Americans are against sending ground troops into Iran, while Pete Hegseth is sitting at a 65% disapproval rating.pic.twitter.com/EP5lunAloA

— WarMonitor (@TheWarMonitor) April 4, 2026

As I mentioned yesterday, I watched the Apollo 8 episode of FTETTM.  Interspersed between space stuff, it features clips and audio from the period to set context, including something Senator John Stennis said.  It's actually anachronistic (May of '67, not '68), but still a good backdrop for what was going down during a tumultuous epoch:

We simply cannot afford to stop in the midst of a shooting war and take time out to debate whether we have been wise or unwise and whether our past actions were sound or unsound. At this critical time, we need unity and a sense of national purpose not disunity and divisive- ness. Our brave fighting men have the right to expect this and more; we can afford to give them no less. 

It is not my purpose, Mr. President, to criticize or to deny anyone's right to constructive dissent. My purpose instead is to support and uphold our country and its flag, and those men in uniform who defend them so bravely. I fear that even more trying days lie ahead. Recent events clearly indicate an intensification of the war in scale and Violence. More American blood will be shed. All Americans should face these hard realities squarely. 

In view of the fact that our flag and national honor and integrity have now been committed, I believe that we must be firm and resolute and meet increased force with increased force. I shall continue to give support both to our efforts to achieve an honorable settlement and to our resolution to stand firm and per- severe if that proves to be unattainable, I hope my fellow Americans will follow the same course. 

Let there be no mistake in the minds of our adversaries that they think America is divided. America is not divided. Our people are not divided. We are united. We will remain that way. 

According to Gallup¹, in the spring of 1967, 37% of Americans thought the war in Vietnam was a mistake, while 50% disagreed (13% had no opinion).  Around the time of Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 (end of 1968), a majority said it was a mistake.

Around that time when the war was more popular, Dr King said:

Let us save our national honor — STOP THE BOMBING.

Let us save American lives and Vietnamese lives — STOP THE BOMBING.

Let us take a single instantaneous step to the peace table — STOP THE BOMBING.

Let us put an honorable peace on the agenda before another day passes — STOP THE BOMBING.

Let us be able to face the world with a concrete deed of genuine peace — STOP THE BOMBING.

Let our voices ring out across the land to say the American people are not vainglorious conquerors — STOP THE BOMBING.

Yea, verily, amen.

1 - Also check out which age cohort broke the code first.

He Is Risen!

Happy Easter, I guess? pic.twitter.com/dWrAe7aa7G

— celia (@_celia_bedelia_) April 5, 2026

Jesus fucking christ.

No, it's not 25th Amendment time.  It's impeach, convict, remove, disqualify, and throw into the deepest pits of Hell time.

It's time for Congress to rise, Inshallah.  And I'll retire to Bedlam.

Steal away

There are shadows at play.

Let Me Sing Forever More

Sonnet To The Moon:

Now every leaf, though colorless, burns bright
With disembodied and celestial light,
And drops without a movement or a sound
A pillar of darkness to the shifting ground.

The lucent, thin, and alcoholic flame
Runs in the stubble with a nervous aim,
But, when the eye pursues, will point with fire
Each single stubble-tip and strain no higher.

O triple goddess! Contemplate my plight!
Opacity, my fate! Change, my delight!
The yellow tom-cat, sunk in shifting fur,
Changes and dreams, a phosphorescent blur.

Sullen I wait, but still the vision shun.
Bodiless thoughts and thoughtless bodies run.

Yvor Winters.

The Earth Was Without Form, and Void

I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.

Take a moment and listen to this 81 second response from Victor Glover after being asked if he had any thoughts leading up to Easter.

I don’t quite think it can be overstated how perfect this crew is for the job. pic.twitter.com/5tc9v3NkaL

— 📸🔭Brandon Berkoff🚀✨ (@spacebrandonb) April 4, 2026

The parallels with Apollo 8 continue.  Big difference - I mean, besides free return trajectory vs going into lunar orbit and whatnot - is that Madalyn Murray O'Hair ain't around to sue NASA this time (sorrynotsorry for being a little pithy and petty today).

Anyway, from the crew of Esoterikos Daimonas, we close with good night, good luck, a Happy Easter, and G-D bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth...

PS - Having finished re-watching First Man, now I've got the 1968 episode of From the Earth to the Moon on, which reminds me that Apollo 6 was launched on this same day that Dr King was assassinated.

PPS - It's kinda surreal having the live NASA feed on my laptop whilst entertainment from 28 years ago about a flight that happened 30 years prior to the show is on my teevee.  Integrity is currently over 306,000 km from Earth, and is giving us this lovely view (notice the moon is slightly larger than it was in the previous post):

PPPS - toilet's still on the fritz.