Greetings to everyone who I presume is just as amazed as I am that we are already 1/3rd of the way through 2021. To coin a cliché: “Time Flies” — and that fits nicely into this edition’s theme.
Two of the week’s verses quite literally revolve around the idea of the Bernouilli Principle in action, while the other one revolves around the idea of… taking flight from reality.
Wedded Blitz (posted April 25, 2021)
A couple knew it was “God’s plan” for them to be married at a sprawling estate outside of Fort Lauderdale. However, His name wasn’t on the mortgage and neither were the bride’s (Shenita Jones) nor groom’s (Courtney Wilson):
Like a lot of couples, Wilson and Jones posted an online invitation, encouraging friends and family alike to attend the elaborate two-day event at the $5.7 million mansion.
While the couple may believe God granted them permission — though this does seem to fall under the commandment prohibiting stealing — they forgot at least one important detail: make sure the mansion's owner is OK with it, too…
(Owner Nathan) Finkel said he was stunned when Wilson and another individual arrived to set up for the lavish affair.
"I have people trespassing on my property," Finkel told a 911 dispatcher, according to the South Florida SunSentinel. "And they keep harassing me, calling me. They say they're having a wedding here, and it's God's message. I don't know what's going on. All I want is (for) it to stop. And they're sitting at my property right at the front gate right now."
[Read more here: https://bit.ly/3vDAt33]
I mean, most people try to save money on their wedding by hiring a DJ instead of a band, or offering punch rather than liquor. I would love to have seen this couple’s wedding registry…
Blade Stunner (posted April 27, 2021)
That amazing helicopter, Ingenuity, that’s now on the surface of Mars has already made several flights, with another few scheduled. I have been working on a rhyme about this one ever since the Perseverance rover, with copter attached, landed on the Red Planet back in February, but just couldn’t get a coherent approach to come together. It was only after the third flight that I wondered if there was anyone else up there, watching this craft fly over the neighborhood.
The fourth flight, which was scheduled for April 29, initially ran into some technical issues but then went off successfully the next day:
Ingenuity successfully completed its fourth flight today, and we couldn’t be happier. The helicopter took off at 10:49 a.m. EDT (7:49 a.m. PDT, or 12:33 local Mars time), climbing to an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters) before flying south approximately 436 feet (133 meters) and then back, for an 872-foot (266-meter) round trip. In total, we were in the air for 117 seconds. That’s another set of records for the helicopter, even compared to the spectacular third flight.
We also managed to capture lots of images during the flight with the color camera and with Ingenuity’s black-and-white navigation camera, which tracks surface features as it flies. Images from that navigation camera are typically used by Ingenuity’s flight controller and then thrown away unless we specifically tell the helicopter to store them for later use. During this flight, we saved even more images than we did on our previous flights: about 60 total during the last 164 feet (50 meters) before the helicopter returned to its landing site.
[Read more here: https://go.nasa.gov/332wErB]
PS: If you noticed the reference above to “local Mars time” — as compared to the time on Earth — here’s a link to an article that explains how Mars time is calculated, in language that is easily understood by anyone with a Ph.D. in astrophysics: https://www.planetary.org/articles/mars-calendar.
PPS: NASA THROWS AWAY PICTURES TAKEN ON MARS???
Snack Flew-d (posted April 30, 2021)
Among all the challenges we’ve faced with this pandemic, let’s not forget the impact on the annual sale of Girl Scout cookies and other fund-raising/allegedly character-building activities for our youth. I’m used to seeing a table set up in front of the local hardware or grocery store, laden with stacks of the different varieties, attended to by a collection of troop members showing varying degrees of interest in salesmanship.
The latest technological tweak:
The town of Christiansburg (Virginia) has been a testing ground for commercial delivery drones operated by Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s corporate parent Alphabet.
Now the company is adding the iconic boxed cookies to the more mundane drugstore offerings, FedEx packages and locally-made pastries, tacos and cold brew coffees it’s been hauling to a thinly populated area of residential subdivisions since 2019.
Wing said it began talking to local Girl Scout troops because they’ve been having a harder time selling cookies during the pandemic, when fewer people are out and about. The organization jumped on the new twist to its skills-building mission.
“I’m excited that I get to be a part of history,” said 11-year-old Gracie Walker, of the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Troop 224. “People are going to realize and be, like, ‘Hey, this is better for the environment and I can just walk outside in my pajamas and get cookies.’”
[Read more here: https://bit.ly/3vwyYn1]
I don’t think it’s good for *anybody’s* environment for me to walk outside in my pajamas to retrieve boxes of cookies.
It’s A Rap!
Just a reminder that each RFTN post online has an audio version attached, where I read the verse with the clearest diction I can muster. Anthony Hopkins I am not. I’m giving consideration to adding a video component as well but am not entirely convinced that anyone wants to see my punim as I stumble through anapests and spondees. But we’ll see.
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Have a good week, and thanks for continuing to spread the (Rhyme for the) News!
JB