We live in a different world today than we did 40 and 50 years ago thanks to the Space Program. There are a multitude of items that are available to us because of the program that have become so common that some people can't imagine a life without them. I am not talking about the big items like the automobile, electric lights, indoor plumbing or those kinds of things that were developed a century or so ago; I'm talking about the common everyday things like freeze-dried food, athletic shoes,Computer Aided Topography (CAT scans), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI scans), 'Tang' the powdered OJ drink, Betadine, to kill germs, suits to keep you warm in the winter, thermal clothing, cordless power tools, self inflating life rafts, eyglasses that are less likely to be scratched, and the list goes on and on. All these items and more were developed by the space engineers to aid the astronauts and allow them to be comfortable on their flights. Life savers in many instances. They have been incorporated into our everyday lives and make life better for all of us.
When a need becomes a problem for the astronauts the engineers strive to solve the problem. Hence, the announcement the other day that they have been able to build a washer/dryer combo machine that can do both operations in one appliance. The astronauts are required to wear the same clothes for the whole mission. Except they do have to change their unders every few days; they remove them and jettison them out into space.It is rather staggering to think of how many tidy whities are orbiting in the outer spaces. This new appliance can wash the clothes, rince and spin out most of the moisture and then switch to a drying cycle and dry the articles.
We earth bound people have faced dilimmas when we are packing for extended trips abroad. You must face the fact that you will spend most of your time in the same clothes. You cannot take changes for every day of your trip because it would encrease the amount of luggage. That is not too hard to deal with, but it does get a little dicey when you try to figure out your ' unders'. You do have some choices, the travel catelogs have disposable underwear , or you can wash your underwear in the hotel room at night and expect them to dry by morning, or you could 'go commando'. When I was traveling in Ireland, one of the women on the tour bus had her 'still damp' underwear hanging in the window of the bus one day.
Now, to get back to the skivvies that the spacemen are throwing over board. I think eventually they will burn up on entering the Earth's atmosphere. It could well be that those shooting stars that fill the skies in August are actually flaming skivvies. Perhaps that star bright, star light, first star I see at night that I wish on, is a pair of size 34 boxer shorts going down in flames.It gives star gazing a whole new perspective,what if, as the song says, "Stars Fell on Alabama" that could make a rather unsavory mess on your front lawn if you lived in Alabama. I, for one, am glad that the new washer was invented! Not a moment too soon!
Now, I wonder how they manage removing their underwear while wearing those bulky space suits, aren't they pressurized or something? Maybe thinking they are wearing plain ol'boxers or the like is way off the mark. Perhaps they wear diaper type garments and have a trap door in the suits. Maybe I'll quit thinking about this and get on with things! Probably a good idea. I'm just sayin'. Caio
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Ite, Missa Est
Today is the second Sunday of Advent. Two weeks in a row we have used the new Litergical changes in the language of the Mass. In the days leading up to the beginning of the changes, I was amused by the media coverage. They interviewed 'the man on the street' and others to see what the reaction was to the changes. If you knew nothing of the nature of the changes you might have been led to think that they were radical and worth being stirred up about. I was surprised by the reactions of some of the people that responded in negative ways.
For the most part, if you go back to some of the missals that were used in the past, you would see the same words used that we are being asked to use today.None of the changes in the language of the Mass in any way change the meaning of the prayers. When the priest says, "The Lord be with you", the response is "and with your Spirit".
They tried to return to the literal translation of the Latin. Any old time Catholic remembers, "Dominus vobiscum" and the responce "Et cum spiritu tuo." (The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit.)Big deal? Hardly.
We are becoming more and more willing to let our language erode in every day life. I am sometimes appalled at the lack of ability to express or use our beautiful language to communicate with others. We are becomming more and more inarticulate. If we took 'Oh my God' out of the language some people would be struck dumb when it comes to expressing feelings and thoughts. Ex."Were you surprized when you felt the earth tremble?" "Oh, my God" " Was your holiday nice?" 'Oh, my God" " Did you like the lunch?""Oh my God."
I saw a snippet of news on TV one day that recorded the meeting between two twins that had been separated at birth by adoption. They were grown up and had just been told that they were actually sisters and they greeted each other by saying over and over, "OH, my God" "Oh, my God". Not once did either one of them express the joy of meeting their blood sister. They were speechless except for the "oh, my Gods".
We speak in sentence fragments at best. Anything beyond that is alian to us. The texting and e-mails are filled with examples of the limited usage of literate speech. When Silicon Valley ushered in the computer chip and the era of technology, our language fell by the wayside. The young teenagers of that area developed a unique way of speaking. We referred to the female teens as 'Valley Girls' At first they were mocked but before too long, more and more kids spoke 'Valley Talk'. The phrase,'you know' and 'like' became standards of expression. Ex. "Ya know, like, my dad was like, really mad when he like,saw the dent, I put in the,like, fender! If one would ask that they speak an entire sentence without using the word 'like' they were unable to speak.
So many people have the habit of using a vulger word in each and every sentence. Conversations are very hard to follow when you mix 'like,' and foul words with 'ya know' thrown in. "Like' the 'friggin' (sic) car was 'like' out of friggin gas, ya know, I was like stranded." A man came up to me and,like, he goes," Can I like, help you?" I go, like, Dude, do you like, have any friggin gas, like ya know, in a friggin can?
Some of the people that were interviewed by the media voiced their concerns about some of the multi-syllabic words that our children would have to deal with in the prayers at Mass. It may well be that Mass will be the only place that they hear conversational English spoken.
(aside)
When I was growing up, all of the prayers at Mass were in Latin. Near the end of the "Lord's Prayer" were the Latin words' Et ne nos inducas in... (pronounced et nay nose in du kas)..the boys in my class would swear up and down that the priest was saying, 'It ain't no sin to cuss..' They considered that their go ahead!
I think the kids are very capable of learning the multisyllabic words and will quickly adapt to them. Much ado about nothing as W.S. would say. I didn't see any people run from the church schreeking at the few changes. Those that expressed so much concern must be 'like' freakin' out 'ya know?'
Dominus vobiscum. Ciao!
For the most part, if you go back to some of the missals that were used in the past, you would see the same words used that we are being asked to use today.None of the changes in the language of the Mass in any way change the meaning of the prayers. When the priest says, "The Lord be with you", the response is "and with your Spirit".
They tried to return to the literal translation of the Latin. Any old time Catholic remembers, "Dominus vobiscum" and the responce "Et cum spiritu tuo." (The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit.)Big deal? Hardly.
We are becoming more and more willing to let our language erode in every day life. I am sometimes appalled at the lack of ability to express or use our beautiful language to communicate with others. We are becomming more and more inarticulate. If we took 'Oh my God' out of the language some people would be struck dumb when it comes to expressing feelings and thoughts. Ex."Were you surprized when you felt the earth tremble?" "Oh, my God" " Was your holiday nice?" 'Oh, my God" " Did you like the lunch?""Oh my God."
I saw a snippet of news on TV one day that recorded the meeting between two twins that had been separated at birth by adoption. They were grown up and had just been told that they were actually sisters and they greeted each other by saying over and over, "OH, my God" "Oh, my God". Not once did either one of them express the joy of meeting their blood sister. They were speechless except for the "oh, my Gods".
We speak in sentence fragments at best. Anything beyond that is alian to us. The texting and e-mails are filled with examples of the limited usage of literate speech. When Silicon Valley ushered in the computer chip and the era of technology, our language fell by the wayside. The young teenagers of that area developed a unique way of speaking. We referred to the female teens as 'Valley Girls' At first they were mocked but before too long, more and more kids spoke 'Valley Talk'. The phrase,'you know' and 'like' became standards of expression. Ex. "Ya know, like, my dad was like, really mad when he like,saw the dent, I put in the,like, fender! If one would ask that they speak an entire sentence without using the word 'like' they were unable to speak.
So many people have the habit of using a vulger word in each and every sentence. Conversations are very hard to follow when you mix 'like,' and foul words with 'ya know' thrown in. "Like' the 'friggin' (sic) car was 'like' out of friggin gas, ya know, I was like stranded." A man came up to me and,like, he goes," Can I like, help you?" I go, like, Dude, do you like, have any friggin gas, like ya know, in a friggin can?
Some of the people that were interviewed by the media voiced their concerns about some of the multi-syllabic words that our children would have to deal with in the prayers at Mass. It may well be that Mass will be the only place that they hear conversational English spoken.
(aside)
When I was growing up, all of the prayers at Mass were in Latin. Near the end of the "Lord's Prayer" were the Latin words' Et ne nos inducas in... (pronounced et nay nose in du kas)..the boys in my class would swear up and down that the priest was saying, 'It ain't no sin to cuss..' They considered that their go ahead!
I think the kids are very capable of learning the multisyllabic words and will quickly adapt to them. Much ado about nothing as W.S. would say. I didn't see any people run from the church schreeking at the few changes. Those that expressed so much concern must be 'like' freakin' out 'ya know?'
Dominus vobiscum. Ciao!
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