Drumming & Science; And Who Cares?

We'll make great pets --I don't know if this is science/philosophy or rock/poet speak. It doesn't really matter. In a hundred years who will care? (It was a Sinatra song lyric. No credit here.) Yes, the milkshake is a uni-tasker, not a multi-tasker. Some of you old-schoolers, who go back to the 'Insider' days know this already. But I though I'd combine geek science with some rock tonight. So sue me! This is just so cool I had to post it. It's the voyager I and II ships on the outer fringes of our solar system. (Apologies for being such a small photo. Go to jpl to find a bigger image. Scroll down blog for 'Cool Sites' on right side of blog.) Voyager One and Two both carry the golden record which is sort of a travel brochure for aliens who might find the ships in a million years. The Voyager ships are in the bow shock region of the solar system. Do you know what that is? No matter. They are a long damn way away. They are really far, far away. Probably lonely out there but they carry our humanity with them. So I guess we got that going for us--which is, you know, nice! Here is a close-up of what Voyager looks like out there approaching interstellar space: So think of Voyager One and Two once in awhile. They are the first piece of humanity to leave the solar system and truly go where no man (or woman) has gone before. (stole that from Star Trek. Again, no credit here.) Also note: the photos are courtesy of JPL laboratories in Pasadena. (For the third time, no credit taken by the milkshake. I am largely a fake aren't I?) Just to mount more geeky science blather onto this long post (while the blog bandwidth warning lights and pings are going off), I wanna say that Futurama's double-episode opener went down like gangbusters with a really impressively high fan rating. I gave it high marks myself. Well done to you writers and creatives! Okay, now some rock n roll.... For the love of god turn this sucker up to 11. The Ventures riff their rear-ends off on House of the Rising Sun. What really caught my attention was Mel on drums. This is the guy I learned drums from. Jeez this took me back to the fall and winter of 1977 and my drum teacher and all those Mel Taylor drum studies "ah-one-ee-and-ah-two-ee" and I forevermore say it when I hear drums and it is the truth. He is my drum god. Listen to the master. Mel is the truth. I tried piano for awhile. Then drums for a year and then started a band for one summer after that-1978, my rock summer. Thank you Mel for giving me rock n roll. Then again, a 100 years from now, who will really care?

Good News Nobody!

The hours are melting away as futurama approaches. Tune in Wednesday night as the whole cast returns once again for the summer-long blast of lovable furistic nonsense. Link below at Got Futurama if you want to bask in it. Twenty milkshake-lovin bloggers weighed in on the adventures of our wayward doggie pal Spirit. Thanks for the "woofin" sweet emails and virtual tail-wagging high-fives of approval over the howlin-good material. Blog comments-be-damned! We know you're out there!

what were you doing with your retro ass?

Remember those saturday nights in the late 70s and early 80s .....let the ramones bring you back and punk your ass out baby--rock n raw.

....and the beat goes on

We must support new talent. These guys are channeling the mersey sound of the '60s in their send-up of Judy is a Punk by The Ramones.

Master Of His Own Domain

Well you've waited for days to hear the outcome of the dog story. I have looked for him to reappear along Sheridan road around Loyola Park all week but there has been no sign. However, while I've been scouting for him, I've been thinking maybe he should have a name. He needs a good solid name; he's a good spirited animal. I'm thinking of calling him 'Spirit' because it fits him so well. Before I tell you the outcome of his story, let me say that only one brave soul blogged a guess this past week--venturing a guess as to what he did. To that one blogger I want to extend a heartfelt thanks for your boldness to go on the record like you did. Also I did receive a few emails from other bloggers and I received one text. So thank you one and all for stepping up in those various formats as well. Now as to what Spirit did when he approached the corner..... Nobody guessed that he did something completely unpredictable. How could anyone know? After all, IT WAS UNPREDICTABLE! But that is what he did. Here's what happened, god's honest truth: Spirit reached the corner and without any hesitation whatsoever, turned sharply right, edged close to the brick building, stopped at the entrance door to the apartment, reared up on his hind legs (so he was, in effect, 'standing' for a moment) leaned forward, and pushed against the door with his front paws at about human chest height. The door, which must have not been too heavy, apparently left unlocked, gave way and swung open he slid down to the ground and slipped inside in one smooth motion as if he owned the place. He disappeared into the dark alcove and it slammed shut quickly, all in the span of about two seconds, and all happening as I cruised past in my car. No lie! Spirit baby! I'm gonna watch for this dog all summer. I'm gonna report on his doings if I see him. You'll hear more. I'm gonna keep a lookout for this wonder dog--this cool dude that takes himself for walks. Wears no collar, no tags. Has no leash. Has no master. Answers to no one. Knows where he is going. And lets himself back in when he decides to come home. Goddamn it! I love this hound! That's why his name is Spirit!

You're Dogged

Driving up Sheridan today I saw this dog approaching the corner from the east. No leash. No collar. All alone. He wasn't a cur. He was a short-haired something-or-other, a firm 60 pounds, clean, sleek, brown, probably some kind of pointer. He looked like he knew where he was going. He really caught my eye. He wasn't hurrying but he wasn't dawdling either and there was no owner in sight. He veered away from people strolling, not in a weird way, he just had places to go. His head was up and his eyes were straight ahead. He reached the corner where there sat a brownstone building at this busy intersection in Chicago near Roger's Park and the lakefront. Now can you guess what he did next? This won't be a multiple choice or anything like that. Just blog your guesses in the comments below and I'll get back to you with another post at the end of the week. Do you think when he reached the corner he turned up the sidewalk and went on his way? Or do you think he reached the corner and decided to pull an about-face and go back east toward the lake looking maybe for his owner? Or maybe he simply sat down at the corner and waited for the stoplight to change so he could cross with the light? Or maybe he didn't wait for the light to change at all and instead boldly risked everything with a charge! Or did he, instead, do something completely unpredictable? (And no, he didn't go to the bathroom.) Ok, this is a multiple-choice after all, but it's summer and we do start to free-wheel it don't we? Maybe he did the incredible, and defied gravity and unrolled his ears to ten-times their length and flapped until he lifted off into the sky? Take your best guess in the comments below and I'll report back probably around Friday or Saturday. Heads up on upcoming topics I'm going to blog about soon: Futurama Returns for a New Season June 20th. Will include: Pics, quotes, schedules, yada-yada. Geekometers go off the scale: bloggers chalk-talk science/nature nerdoromics. Cal-Tech, JPL, Stardust. Gaming On-line? Where are you hanging out this summer? Share it for other Gamers. And lets not forget our namesake....any new Milkshake places to talk about? Let us all in on it.

Endlessly

I went in and fixed some sort of background glitch affecting how the blog looked for laptop users. Apologies. The pics should be solid and the background should be better. That Capitol Records official vid was awful so I've swapped it with a first-rate fan-made vid. Rock on Beach Boys! Summer is 'you-know-what' in their hands, once again.

autotrophs began to drool

Never before (at least not since Seinfeld) has the milkshake been so shaken by an offering from LA. But thus has it happened. (Wasn't it bound to?) Milkshake meet The Big Bang Theory. Somewhere during the past few years one does recall catching glimpses of the program and enjoying those moment but never connecting.......until just this past season....when the show began to intrigue....and now....just this past weekend....our host went on a television version of a bender, pounding down 'sode after 'sode until we were silly drunk on the world of these nerds and their nerdettes. Awesome doesn't adequately capture this bit of stone cold genius. I hereby invite Milkshake guests to enjoy someone's fan vid, set to the show's great theme, courtesy of barenaked ladies, just to whet your taste. Enjoy. And for those who don't know the show, get caught up this summer via youtube clips and the U reruns so you are prepped for the fall. For those who do know the show I have but one word for you.............Bazinga! Comment! Comment if you dare! PS You can hear the ocean in a seashell. You can hear the howl of a mastadon in a shell oil gas pump.

Meercoolkat summer is on

These two dudes are ready to welcome summertime. They are stars of Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. We saw them a few weeks ago and hung out with them at their straw "egg" and they were very cool guys as you can see. Happy summer fellas. Keep rockin' little dudes!