... since I was a young boy with my first telescope I was always fascinated by the stars.....
As a young man, I even learned to [and have a certificate to prove it] navigate by the stars, I never was the next Vasco Da Gama, but I didn't get lost at sea either.....
And so now with the necessary financial means I invested in a moderately priced telescope..... except I haven't had chance to use it yet...not because of the weather but simply with pressure of work eating up my every waking [and sometimes non waking] hours with Rome next on the itinerary.
However, at the weekend I was caught by a TV program about the formation of the universe, and a well made program it is too. Not too heavy but at the same time not treating me like a 5 year old. An informative guide to the mysteries of the universe.
What struck me so profoundly was, the juxtaposition of the daily news in the scheme of the universe.
How big is the universe ? Fucking ginormous .... that's how big.....
How important is man ? who knows.... but in the scheme of the universe quite small I think.....
However, in the news we have yet another example of a child taken from this life, seemingly by someone who is supposed to protect and nurture him...... This list is never ending, whether it be Daniel Pelka or perhaps the Philpott children ~ Jade, John, Jack, Jesse, Jayden, Duwayne...6 of them in one incident for christ's sake....but there are so many more.... baby P - Peter Connelly, or Victoria Climbie or any number of children taken from this life by the parents at war over a messy divorce....
But it's not just children, there is the senseless loss of a life in say Roger Pratt ..... but he is not a lone example......
In the world of these families, events profound beyond words....
It's not just loss of life that makes you question the mysteries of the universe ..... there is Sister Roxana Rodriguez who claims her unexpected child is a gift from god...... ach erm madam I think you will find it is a gift expunged from some blokes knob when he put it in your mary... naming him after a pope will not clear your rap sheet on this one....
Then there is meggings, soon to hit the fashion mainstream..... ach erm..... I've been wearing em for years....they're called long johns ......
What about the world of DLT ? did he think putting hands on boobs sans invite acceptable ? did he put hands on boobs sans invite ? but then thinking about it....what about the Halfords car adverts..... where the customers go over the top to offer thanks for the service.... in one of them, doesn't a male customer smack his lips full on the lips of the male Halfords operative ?..... now call me pedantic but isn't that actually classified as a sexual assault.... [I think Halford's will find that if they look it up, it can be classed as sexual assault.... and when I say look it up, I don't mean ask DLT]
So we take a step back to look at the wider world, then we step back a bit more so on and so forth.... then we look at the stars, then the Milky Way and finally we take a look at the universe.....
Our lives revolve around a very small axis in this planet. Our planet revolves around the sun, but the sun is one of around 300 billion suns in the Milky Way..... it is said that the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy are on a collision course, traveling towards each other at a really really fast speed, but not so fast, in that it will not happen for at least 4 billion years [assuming it does happen, not that I will be around to confirm one way or the other].
In the Andromeda galaxy it is reported there are 1 trillion suns, so already we are hitting some big numbers, but the Milky Way and Andromeda are only small galaxy in a cluster of billions more.... I accept there may be a bit of computer modelling by the boffins, but according to the 3 D model of the universe they have built up, one of the largest clusters of galaxies is measured at 1 billion light years in length..... that figure is quite frankly too big to compute in your head.
What it means is forget how big the Milky Way is, because actually it is tiny, if you could travel at the speed of light to travel from one end of this cluster to the other [and remember this is only one cluster of galaxies] it would take you 1 billion years to complete the journey..... Of course that is assuming you can travel at the speed of light, but if we assume that you reach a reasonable age of say 80 and start a couple of days out the womb.... the truth is, you won't even get out of the starting blocks, let alone complete the journey of more than 1 lifetime.....
I am beginning to think that maybe I'm gunna need a bigger telescope......
So when it comes down to it.... and watching this program, stepping back as far as we can, looking at this 3D model of the universe... not only could I not see the Milky Way, the earth was not even visible in a pixel.... and it makes my world in Suffolk seem quite insignificant indeed..... and me, not even a blink of an eye.....
As for a SoD ? well I was spoilt for choice..... Snow Patrol - 100 million suns , then there is Prefab Sprout - Andromeda Heights - David Bowie - Across the Universe.... the list goes on.... it could be a long list......
As a young man, I even learned to [and have a certificate to prove it] navigate by the stars, I never was the next Vasco Da Gama, but I didn't get lost at sea either.....
And so now with the necessary financial means I invested in a moderately priced telescope..... except I haven't had chance to use it yet...not because of the weather but simply with pressure of work eating up my every waking [and sometimes non waking] hours with Rome next on the itinerary.
However, at the weekend I was caught by a TV program about the formation of the universe, and a well made program it is too. Not too heavy but at the same time not treating me like a 5 year old. An informative guide to the mysteries of the universe.
What struck me so profoundly was, the juxtaposition of the daily news in the scheme of the universe.
How big is the universe ? Fucking ginormous .... that's how big.....
How important is man ? who knows.... but in the scheme of the universe quite small I think.....
However, in the news we have yet another example of a child taken from this life, seemingly by someone who is supposed to protect and nurture him...... This list is never ending, whether it be Daniel Pelka or perhaps the Philpott children ~ Jade, John, Jack, Jesse, Jayden, Duwayne...6 of them in one incident for christ's sake....but there are so many more.... baby P - Peter Connelly, or Victoria Climbie or any number of children taken from this life by the parents at war over a messy divorce....
But it's not just children, there is the senseless loss of a life in say Roger Pratt ..... but he is not a lone example......
In the world of these families, events profound beyond words....
It's not just loss of life that makes you question the mysteries of the universe ..... there is Sister Roxana Rodriguez who claims her unexpected child is a gift from god...... ach erm madam I think you will find it is a gift expunged from some blokes knob when he put it in your mary... naming him after a pope will not clear your rap sheet on this one....
Then there is meggings, soon to hit the fashion mainstream..... ach erm..... I've been wearing em for years....they're called long johns ......
What about the world of DLT ? did he think putting hands on boobs sans invite acceptable ? did he put hands on boobs sans invite ? but then thinking about it....what about the Halfords car adverts..... where the customers go over the top to offer thanks for the service.... in one of them, doesn't a male customer smack his lips full on the lips of the male Halfords operative ?..... now call me pedantic but isn't that actually classified as a sexual assault.... [I think Halford's will find that if they look it up, it can be classed as sexual assault.... and when I say look it up, I don't mean ask DLT]
So we take a step back to look at the wider world, then we step back a bit more so on and so forth.... then we look at the stars, then the Milky Way and finally we take a look at the universe.....
Our lives revolve around a very small axis in this planet. Our planet revolves around the sun, but the sun is one of around 300 billion suns in the Milky Way..... it is said that the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy are on a collision course, traveling towards each other at a really really fast speed, but not so fast, in that it will not happen for at least 4 billion years [assuming it does happen, not that I will be around to confirm one way or the other].
In the Andromeda galaxy it is reported there are 1 trillion suns, so already we are hitting some big numbers, but the Milky Way and Andromeda are only small galaxy in a cluster of billions more.... I accept there may be a bit of computer modelling by the boffins, but according to the 3 D model of the universe they have built up, one of the largest clusters of galaxies is measured at 1 billion light years in length..... that figure is quite frankly too big to compute in your head.
What it means is forget how big the Milky Way is, because actually it is tiny, if you could travel at the speed of light to travel from one end of this cluster to the other [and remember this is only one cluster of galaxies] it would take you 1 billion years to complete the journey..... Of course that is assuming you can travel at the speed of light, but if we assume that you reach a reasonable age of say 80 and start a couple of days out the womb.... the truth is, you won't even get out of the starting blocks, let alone complete the journey of more than 1 lifetime.....
I am beginning to think that maybe I'm gunna need a bigger telescope......
So when it comes down to it.... and watching this program, stepping back as far as we can, looking at this 3D model of the universe... not only could I not see the Milky Way, the earth was not even visible in a pixel.... and it makes my world in Suffolk seem quite insignificant indeed..... and me, not even a blink of an eye.....
As for a SoD ? well I was spoilt for choice..... Snow Patrol - 100 million suns , then there is Prefab Sprout - Andromeda Heights - David Bowie - Across the Universe.... the list goes on.... it could be a long list......
But instead I choose this one
A gentle little ditty
from Glen and Marketa
