High Flight

by | Aug 1, 2022 | Open Post | 98 comments

As I pine for the end of darkness, 

Then day comes too soon,

The light that glows, 

Beyond our ability,

 

Sleep comes too early,

And sleep comes too late,

Yet we awake,

To our daily nightmares,

 

The foe that is life,

We can never outrun,

Who robs us of joy,

And all of our fun,

 

We could be better served,

By our masters,

Pale, cold and dank,

But we choose to thrive,

Beyond this inability,

 

Sequestered slaves, doomed to die,

As we make our loan payments,

Life continues as it ever was,

After a time it all becomes

meaningless,

 

And now something beautiful that makes sense,

 

John G. Magee 

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds,-and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of-wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air….

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark nor ever eagle flew-

And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God

This was the poem recited at the end of the TV broadcast day, back when there was such a thing,

Open Post!

 

About The Author

Yusef drives a Kia

Yusef drives a Kia

Punctually illiterate But never late

98 Comments

  1. rhywun

    Needs moar commas 😉

    • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

      I never said I could write

      • rhywun

        You can write, bud. It’s appreciated.

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        Ty 😌

      • hayeksplosives

        Seconded.

    • hayeksplosives

      That is some emerald green!! Very pretty.

      Today was a work-from-home day because several major roads had flash flooding; more is possible tonight. It’s nuts.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Welcome to the party. It has been about 8 years since our last good summer monsoon.

      • dbleagle

        Get your favorite beer (or drink), some good chips, and quality salsa. Set up a chair under the porch and watch the show.

        Do have creosote around? When the humidity goes up right before the rain, you’ll smell the creosote. The Papago tribe around Tucson have a saying, “The desert smells like rain.” and the creosote smell is what they are referring to.

      • Ownbestenemy

        We have been. My wife has one of those “this day 8 years ago” was us on our condo porch watching lightning dance across the sky. This time, its from our backyard and the same thing.

        We have a bit of reprieve but more storms are predicted later in the week. Of course, anyone that has lived in a desert know that t-storms can develop even on the clearest of days.

    • DEG

      Nice

  2. hayeksplosives

    I fondly recall the nightly PBS signoff reading of “High Flight”. It’s still poignant to reflect on the fact that its author, RAF officer Magee, wrote it just a couple of months before he died in a midair collision.

    And about 45 years later, Ronald Reagan cites a couple of its lines in his address to the nation following the Challenger crash,.

    https://history.nasa.gov/reagan12886.html

    • Sensei

      OT that BofA report.

      I wrote and read a ton of those. It’s contextual and results to the cost of labor as results to the economic results of labor and capital.

      In economic costs it just means labor is cheaper and more flexible compared to where it was roughly a quarter ago. A recession is likely to accomplish this.

      It probably could have been worded better but this a tempest in a teapot. This particular guy isn’t calling for the serfs to be unemployed.

      But that doesn’t make headlines.

      • hayeksplosives

        I know that business success requires application of the harsh truth; even I have to evaluate “acceptable’ levels of risk in engineering. And “Safety First” is not a realistic goal.

        BUT I know enough to write my emails and evaluations carefully because anything written down can become public, even if it is not meant to.

        The BoA guys could use a course in tactful writing.

      • Sensei

        That actually was meant to be public in the sense sent to clients. . An editor should have caught it.

        That said for its intended audience we won’t bat an eye. Think about two doctors talking to each other about a poor prognosis. It’s not the way you’d talk to a family member, but it’s not unprofessional.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I recognized that just from the excerpt.

        But it pleases me for BoA to take shit, so…

      • Sensei

        Goldman is my preferred victim. I call them NY Yankees circa early 2000 of Wall St.

        Followed, by JPM, but I have more friends there so I try to be nice.

      • Fourscore

        What BoA report are we talking about? I missed something

      • Fourscore

        Very interesting, Thanks Sensei. Of course the excess green paper floating around has nothing to do with inflation.

    • Ted S.

      Just before signoff here, they’d play pervy Jack Horkheimer’s Star Hustler, with its memorable theme

    • Ownbestenemy

      We went from

      And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.

      To

      “Its too hard”

      • Lackadaisical

        What a different time.

  3. MikeS

    On topic:

    *snaps fingers

    Thanks for the poetry Disc Gandolf

      • MikeS

        That’s really cool. Is it setup for night play all the time, or was that a tourney?

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        We do it weekly, we gave some big lights coming in for next week, planning an article

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        Have some big lights

      • hayeksplosives

        It’s cool how colored LED “puck” lights with remote controls and programmable color changes are cheap and waterproof now.

        Allows for some neat effects for backyards, parks, etc.

        Lighting up a night disc golf course could be lots of fun!

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        Ha! I have 8 of exactly those for the baskets,

      • MikeS

        Cool. Can’t wait to read it.

      • DEG

        Nice

  4. DEG

    This was the poem recited at the end of the TV broadcast day, back when there was such a thing,

    I remember when TV had its end of broadcast, but I don’t remember ever staying up late enough to see the signoff of any of the Philly area stations.

    • The Hyperbole

      I remember the national anthem being played at end of broadcast, can still picture the grainy image of the waving flag then the test pattern or whatever you called it.

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        With the Indian in the center?

      • Fourscore

        We didn’t have TV when I was a 1/2 score but later I think all 3 black and white networks shut down from about midnight ’til 5 AM. All used the national anthem. I rarely stayed up that late, had to go to work in the mornings.

      • Grumbletarian

        As a kid I would wake up before the broadcasts began, and would have the TV on for the anthem in the mornings before Mighty Mouse.

      • DrOtto

        The local rock station used to play Hendix’s national anthem at their signoff every night.

    • Don escaped Texas

      that’s flyover stuff: out in the cornfields, the small market TV VHF stations would be drawing in the sidewalks at 10:30 in the seventies

      by the eighties, 12:30 seemed normal

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        La back in the 60s

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        Los Angle eez,

      • rhywun

        I remember when I was little how exciting it was to find a TV station airing stuff all night long.

    • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

      Clouds, we always have clouds

      • hayeksplosives

        Yeah, that can be an issue.

        In 2003 (IIRC) we had phenomenal auroras one night even as far south as Blaine Minnesota, where there is certainly light pollution from the cities.

        But it was so strong and so beautiful, neighbors were knocking on each other’s doors to make sure they had a chance for that once-in-a-lifetime show. I’m glad my neighbors pounded on the door!

      • Fourscore

        I haven’t seen the Northern Lights for a number of years. Some in the past though were absolutely spectacular. No light pollution here.

      • hayeksplosives

        I hope you have favorable conditions Wednesday night!!

  5. Gustave Lytton

    https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/08/19-year-old-portland-man-killed-in-old-town-shooting-feared-for-his-life-court-records-show.html

    Maxine Bernstein is a lying hack pushing agendas. As if he was living in an unsafe neighborhood or merely worried about crime. Was it really was was his justification for illegal possession and illegal concealed carry of a firearm (SLD). Nor was he acting as if he was truly concerned about his safety, like staying home at night. Unsaid, the guy was a criminal involved in criminal activity.

    Link in the body to another story about the murder of his uncle, also likely the result of criminal involvement, which brings in proud boys to denounce them as causing safety issues (in reality, they were guilty of self defense after being pursued by antifa, with the DA only prosecuting one side).

  6. Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

    Women, sigh,

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks for this Yusef.

      • Yusef, the Gandalf of disc golf

        You are welcome Sir

  7. hayeksplosives

    My goofy cat has caught a young cottontail bunny a few times in the past couple of days.

    He catches the bunny and gingerly picks it up by the scruff of its neck and tries to bring it inside the house.

    Both of those creatures are oddballs.

    • one true athena

      Does your cat think the bunny is just a lost kitten? “Here mom, this dumb kitten keeps wandering in here. He needs some help and maybe a bath, cuz he smells like a rabbit.”

      or is it more like putting lunch in the fridge? lol

      • Mojeaux

        That’s kind of what it sounds like to me.

      • hayeksplosives

        I think he just gets bored and wants a playmate. The bunny seems to have no wounds at all, and runs away very capably when I get Felix to drop him.

  8. CPRM

    I got some some stories for the Wednesday zoom. See you there.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Tease

  9. Gustave Lytton

    Good lord did indeed fuck up their website. Modern web design- we fucking hate you and it shows.

    When does the glib redesign come out?

  10. Gustave Lytton

    I saw a bicyclist wear his helmet into a quickie mart. What a moron. People are broken.

    • slumbrew

      I see that a lot around here – not just “I’m running into the store for 2 minutes and I’ll just leave it on” but “I’m going to hang out in the playground with my child for an hour but just leave my helmet on”

      WTF?

      • dbleagle

        In the “pre days” In NYC I saw parents insist their kids wear helmets in the playground. WTF people?

      • Gender Traitor

        Maybe all these helmet-wearers are really headbangers (and not the rock-‘n’-roll kind.)

      • Lackadaisical

        Outside of special needs I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. A lot more kids here with a bit of freedom too. Kids need it.

        My son was being a pain so we left him home while we went for a walk. A wasp got in- he ‘escaped’ out the back door and ran around to the front and then waited ofr us. Pretty good for his age group. I was happy.

  11. CPRM

    Meeting Lee was pretty great.

    • Gustave Lytton

      How the fuck does a CA sheriff deputy have any lawful power to request or execute a search warrant in Indiana? The local law enforcement should have had those knuckleheads proned out. Of course nothing will happen personally to any of the deputies who were just following ze orderz!

    • Plinker762

      That is a pretty lame flame thrower.

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘batman always stood with the law’

      Eh, this guy needs a lesson anyway. Batman was a vigilant who the cops wanted to get rid of (maybe not in early batmans?).

      • The Hyperbole

        He’s talking about the Adam West Batman who did work closely with the popo.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, that is what I started to figure at the end of my comment. I guess this is the wakeup call you get when basing your life off a kid’s show from the 60’s.

  12. DEG

    Mornin’ all.

    Time for the gym.

  13. Gender Traitor

    Good morning, DEG, Teh Hype, and Lack! I assume all other of the most recent commenters are long since asleep.

    First day back at work yesterday was even more hectic than I’d expected, with unforeseen stuff thrown in with everything else I KNEW was going to have me swamped. Got another name change question: gal I’d only just found out (right before my vacation) had divorced asked what she needed to provide to facilitate said name change. I assume she’s going back to her maiden name. I tell her our payroll processor will need a copy of her updated SS card. Divorcee says she doesn’t have it yet. “Will a marriage license work?” I ask, “Do you mean a divorce decree or dissolution agreement?” Nope. She got married again (not to the same guy) last Friday. All righty then! 🙄

    • Lackadaisical

      Morning GT.

      She works fast (or… well).

      Been mulling over installing arabesque tile for my backsplash, only now realizing how difficult it is going to be to cut and level everything, x.x

      • Gender Traitor

        ::looks up “arabesque tile”:: Oh, my! Most of the examples pictured are decidedly NOT rectangular, nor even parallelograms of any sort. ::salutes:: Good luck, brave soldier!

      • Lackadaisical

        Debating whether to go tile saw or tile breaker on this project, either way I would need to acquire it. I have a grinder that I have used to cut floor tiles, but I was able to hide lines that weren’t straight very easily with that.

    • UnCivilServant

      Morning, GT.

      I answered your email with the information requested.

      I have to assume that name change gal’s divorce was to facilitate the new marraige, and the union had been planned before filing. I am, however not ruling out impulsive matrimony as the cause of the events.

      • Gender Traitor

        Good morning, U! Thank you!

        I think I kinda don’t want to know any more about the circumstances of name change gal’s life-changing events. She’s a co-worker I’ve actually known pretty well (at least I thought) for quite a while. The news was…quite a surprise to me.

  14. Grosspatzer

    Mornin’, reprobates!

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, ‘patzie! How are you this fine day?

      • Grosspatzer

        Meh. Got a real puzzler at work, after 3 days still don’t have an answer, and it’s blocking some other things. I woke up with an idea (not a euphemism), crossing my fingers.

        Got the estimate for upcoming dental work. Big time sticker shock, need to explore some other options.

      • Gender Traitor

        I hope your idea leads to the solution, and I definitely hope you can find a dental solution that’s neither physically nor financially painful!

      • Fourscore

        The missus just got some implants (teeth). Took nearly a year from the first opinion to the final result. She’s happy so I’m happy. Things money can buy. Wasn’t cheap but at this point in our lives, what difference does it make?

      • Grosspatzer

        Good to hear. I’ll likely bite the bullet, so to speak. Hope my kids are paying attention, proper brushing and flossing would have been a better idea.

  15. Gender Traitor

    Pulling up a local TV station’s news website, I was reminded that we actually have another primary election today, thanks to a months-long battle over redistricting maps for state House and Senate districts. The only contested race on the R ballot for my precinct is “Member of State Central Committee, Woman.” Yes, there are separate “offices” for a male and a female.

    I think I’ll go to the Y after work instead.

    • Grosspatzer

      “Member of State Central Committee, Woman.”

      That can’t be real, can it? Some dude should run for that office, it would be hilarious to watch the attempts to “verify” the sex gender preferred pronouns of the candidate.

      • Gender Traitor

        It’s all too true. “Member of State Central Committee, Man” is also on the ballot, but uncontested. I dread the day they add all the other “categories” to the mix – “Member of State Central Committee, Non-binary,” etc. ::shudders::

    • rhywun

      We have one in a couple weeks for the same reason. I can’t vote in primaries anyway.

      “Member of State Central Committee, Woman.”

      Choose wisely, comrade.