Ken Murphy / 3:17 am February 28th, 2011

Christie, Dr. Grant (Ed.)
“New Zealand Astronomical Yearbook 2011″
Stardome Observatory
2011
ISSN: 1171-1108
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 2:05 am February 28th, 2011

Larry, H.I.
“Zac Power Test Drive: Zac’s Moon Trip”
hardie grant EGMONT
2009
ISBN13: 978-1-921-50203-3
Publisher’s Web Site
Zac Power Website

Ken Murphy / 1:59 am February 28th, 2011

Larry, H.I.
“Zac Power Test Drive: Zac’s Space Race”
hardie grant EGMONT
2010
ISBN13: 978-1-921-50218-7
Publisher’s Web Site
Zac Power Website

Ken Murphy / 1:54 am February 28th, 2011

Larry, H.I.
“Zac Power Test Drive: Zac’s Rocket Launch”
hardie grant EGMONT
2009
ISBN13: 978-1-921-50213-2
Publisher’s Web Site
Zac Power Website

Ken Murphy / 1:43 am February 28th, 2011

Montgomery, Scott L.
“Moon: A Tribute to Earth’s Nearest Neighbor”
The Five Mile Press
2008
ISBN13: 978-1-742-11338-6
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 3:12 am February 26th, 2011

Kia Ora, y’all!

Suddenly, writing a debrief of my trip to New Zealand, and the acquisitions for the Lunar Library, has become much more difficult. My heart is rent by the devastation there, a beautiful city I had left not even hours before after a wonderful week.

This was my first real non-space vacation in a long, long time. It was an opportunity to visit the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, and see the country where the Lord of the Rings movie was filmed. How could I pass that up?

With no particular reason to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, I flew out on a new adventure. Rob had recommended that I fly Air New Zealand, but that involved a transfer through Denver, which is always a bit iffy in the depth of winter when you have to book ahead. Qantas was okay, but they seem to have adopted many of the practices of the U.S. airline companies. The A330 I was on was giving me distinct flashbacks to a 767 flight to Paris from a few years ago. Definitely cattle class. Arriving in Auckland on Wednesday I saw numerous Air New Zealand 747s and decided I was definitely going to fly them next time around.

Thursday, W Day - 1, was spent in the central business district in Christchurch. The agenda was the Lunar Library, and acquiring new holdings. I had mapped out a number of bookstores, comic book shops, and other points of potential interest. After Rob dropped me off at the library I hit the streets for a long day of walking and checking out the local architecture. First up was Scorpio Books. This was the first place that at which I heard an oft repeated response to inquiries for science books, particularly space & astronomy - “Oh, we don’t get much demand for that sort of thing down here”. Though I usually was able to find a few things of interest. Smith’s Bookshop down on Manchester was good for some older stuff, and the Children’s Bookshop up on Victoria Street was a bonanza. That’s where I found the board game “Expedition Halley“, which bills itself as “Invest in space companies to make money, buy a space ship, travel to Halley’s Comet and photograph it. If you can!” I also picked up a Sevi Space Shuttle and numerous kid’s books. Definitely a top-notch shop.

There were a number of other small shops tucked in here and there as well, and now I’m wondering how many of them may have survived the last shake. In a sense, I may have saved some of these space books and documents sitting in a big pile next to my desk from destruction, and just in the nick of time. The coolest find was on Saturday, when I returned for a more cultural swing through town. In a small little collectibles shop, somewhere in downtown, I popped in to look at medals and coins and whatnot. After a while of browsing the owner wandered over to see if there was anything in particular for which I was looking. “Space, rockets, astronauts, that sort of thing. Which I understand is a not particularly popular topic in down here, so I’m not expecting to have much luck” I replied. Au contraire, he replied, and recounted how a couple of years ago someone had come to him with a couple boxes of space stuff, for which he had paid a nominal price. Now, two years later, he was basically cleared out of the stuff and for six times his investment. So he wasn’t buying the whole “space isn’t popular in NZ” line. We ended up with a number of postal covers, magazines, and a super-cool sheet of ten hologram astronaut on the Moon stamps. The scan doesn’t do it justice. The hella-coolest find is the “ticket” advertisement from the Regent movie theatre for their screening of the famous 1950 movie “Destination Moon”. Unfortunately, the theatre didn’t do so well this last time around.

W Day: Friday was the wedding, which meant getting everything set up. After working around the house, it was off to the community center to set up tables and chairs and place settings and glasses and nameplates. Unbelievable how many details go into a wedding. It did give me frequent opportunity to use the line “I’m an American and I’m here to help”. Heh, heh.

Rob and Lisa met through science fiction, and so they wanted it to be an important part of their wedding. Thanks to a local sci fi shop they were able to have a TARDIS (time and relative dimensions in space) backdrop. Another friend has a hobby of building replica Daleks. For those who didn’t grow up with Dr. Who, the Daleks are an evil race of robot/bio-organisms who have a genetic superiority complex and intend to rule the galaxy alone in racial purity. Nasty fellows, and the good Doctor can never seem to quite do away with them. The ringbearer, though, was theoretically under robotic control. Theoretically. You know how it usually goes with robots…

Mommy!

Afterwards everyone retired to the community center in Rolleston for fun and festivities. The Three Poplars Riesling was particularly tasty. I don’t much like white wines, except for Pinot Gris, of which I grew quite fond whilst studying at ISU. The Riesling was a notable exception. One gentleman, upon hearing that I’d been to China, asked whether I knew of the Tea Scam. Um, yeah. Then a quick clean-up afterwards and you couldn’t even tell that we’d been there. It was while hanging around afterwards and was checking out the sky (partly cloudy, as usual) that I noticed that the Moon looked wrong. It was different, somehow.

As noted, Saturday was spent on more cultural activities. The morning press was filled with content from the wedding, or at least a quarter of page 4. The last of the Twinkies were devoured for breakfast (the candy corn was much better received). After being dropped off again at the library I did a quick tour of some of the shops for souvenirs. I’d been told to ask in particular for a ‘Willie Warmer’. Mmm…warm fur. The one nephew got a fierce All Blacks rugby shirt that he loves. They also got lambswool slippers that they really liked the feel of. I’d already taken care of the adults at the factory outlet down the road from Rob & Lisa’s place out in the country, Knitworks. For me I got a merino wool/possum fur pullover that is soooo soft and so warm.

I wandered through the Arts Centre, and the open air market is where I first experienced L&P soda, world famous in New Zealand. The L stands for Lemon; the P stands for Paeroa, the town where the drink was conceived. The exact taste is hard to describe, but it is quite tasty. Sort of like a regional variant of Sprite. A few hours were spent in the Canterbury Museum, which has a surprisingly large number of really cool displays. I learned that we’re up to five Rs now. When I was a kid growing up it was all about the 3 Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Now there’s also Refuse (which I’ve been doing for years and years) and Recover. I still have to work a bit on that last one.

The map of aftershocks was a bit intimidating. I knew about the one on Friday morning, the 18th. I didn’t really feel it so much as hear it. The sound is unique. Sort of like a freight train, but not really. Sort of like an extended explosion, but not really. It defies easy comparison.

Afterward was a walk through the Botanic Gardens. I hadn’t enjoyed a walk in the park that much since the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. I made sure to ring the Peace Bell while I was there, which I’ve also seen at UN headquarters in NYC and I’m pretty sure the one in Vienna as well, while I was at the Space Generation Forum.

They roll up the sidewalks early in Christchurch, so it was off to dinner at the Lone Star restaurant at the Papanui location. I decided to play up the part and wore the Beaumont out for an evening on the town. The margaritas needed more tequila. The chicken nachos were good, and I enjoyed my steak. We stayed well into the evening, and I was introduced to the Pav, a dessert invented in NZ.

Sunday was off to a late start for an afternoon luncheon at the relatives, and then the Ko Tane Maori experience at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. Yes, I did dance a haka. To top off the evening I gave my Moon presentation on Rob’s big screen TV.

Monday was nature day. I had indicated an interest in bungee jumping and horseback riding. The bungee jumping turned out to be a mere $190 for a couple minutes of sheer rush, as compared with $75 for an hour and a half of horseback riding up a valley and along a ridge. How hard is the economics of that decision?

We headed out to Hanmer Horses and after fording a couple of cricks in the minivan we arrived at the farmstead. Hand raised sheep greeted us as we walked to the office. There were the usual warnings of risk, although nothing as blatant as the last one I did down in Manor, TX, where the form basically said ‘You can die doing this. We’re not responsible, you are. Sign here.”

I was matched up with Nell, a fine Clydesdale, while the trailmistress took Ben, with whom Nell stabled, and Dan ended up with Shawma, a smaller gray that was a bit piqued at being teamed up with a couple of alpha horses. To my absolute dismay I was not allowed, by NZ law, to wear my much better Sun protection cowboy hat, and had to make due with a girlie helmet. Did I indicate already that I understand that you can die and/or become seriously maimed while horseback riding?

Off we headed up the valley, with the trailmistress in the lead and the more experienced of the two rookies taking up the rear, which suited Shawma fine. I tend to be indulgent with animals, and they all seem to like me, so Nell had pretty free rein most of the way, as long as she stayed in back. I could tell she wanted to run, though. She was just itching for it; I could feel it.

The valley was beautiful, with thickets of wild blackberries lining the way. Aound us steep hills climbed into the sky above the thick trees. After a while it was time to head up for a ride along a ridge, which offered spectacular views of the verdant valley below, until finally we reached the highest point of the ride. It was about that time that I noticed a peculiar effect. A couple of years ago we had a really good health plan at work, and so after over twenty years of patiently nurtured desire I finally got myself a set of prescription Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses, loaded with all the protection. When I tilted my head to the left the sky would go white-blue, and when I tilted my head to the right the sky went blue-blue. So I proceeded to wobble my head back and forth playing with the polarization. It also renewed my annoyance at not being allowed to wear my Beaumont for the ride.

Descending through some gentle hillside pasturage, our trailmistress gave us a chance to run back uphill, but Nell decided she was going downhill, and off we went at a gallop. One thing to note - the saddles didn’t have pommels, so no emergency handhold. Getting to the bottom of the hill I could hear Dan yelling ‘Stop! Stop!’, as his horse had taken off in pursuit and wasn’t responding to Dan’s attempts to rein him in. Good thing too,as Nell was setting herself up for a jump that I wasn’t prepared to let her take, even if it was just a little one. While I had been indulgent with the reins throughout the ride, I had also subtly let her know that I would use them should it be necessary. So stopping wasn’t too tough.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, one that I would happily do again,maybe the 2.5 hour ride next time around. I’m convinced that humanity’s contract with the horses is the second best one we ever did (dogs being the best compact, hands down). I wish I had more time and budget for horseback riding, but such tends to be the case with life’s real pleasures. Dan had a great time, and is thinking about looking into working at a local stable.

It helps to have thermal springs to which to retire afterward, which we did for a few hours. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh…

And just like that, it was all over. Monday night was the final cramming of the souvenirs into the suitcases. Tuesday morning we woke to showers, and I made a comment, that I now regret, that the Maori spirits were crying to see me leave so soon. I was just trying to be a bit poetic, but it also reflects a certain arrogance and assumption that the universe actually cares about my existence. Given what happened less than an hour and a half after I flew out, I feel particularly terrible. The whole thing is only made cosmically weirder by the fact that the fortune cookie that came with the Chinese takeout after I got back said “Luck is with you now. Act upon your instincts.”

Let me just say that flying internationally is still something of a pleasure. Just as on the way out of Texas, I forgot about the soda bottle in the web pouch on the side of the backpack. The security officer saw me notice it just in time and whip it out in preparation for chugging it, and he indicated that it was okay, it could go through. Sweet as. It may have been because it was a bottle of L&P soda - Lemon and Paeroa, world famous in New Zealand. He also commented on the cowboy hat, and I showed the guard on the other side all of the cool pictures in the new passport, including the Moon one.

There were delays in Auckland, but no one was complaining. Everyone seemed to sense the gravity of the situation. It was also announced that much of the air traffic control for this particular section of the globe is run out of Christchurch. During check-in in Auckland the agent was kind enough to move me to a slightly less bad seat, and I ended up sitting next to a young Fireman/EMT from Florida who had just done a turn on the ice down in Antarctica. That’s got to be such a cool experience. I remember a couple of the RAs at the NASA Academy were trying hard to arrange for postings down there. I told him to make sure to watch “Inside Job” during the flight. Afterwards, I told him as pissed off as he was, the documentary only scratches the surface of the shenanigans and chicanery, the pillaging and looting that has been going on over the last couple of decades in the U.S. And isn’t it a pity that you have to go out of the country to see a documentary on all of the rotten stuff that has been going on. I wrote a post about the shenanigans a couple of years ago over at the Selenian Boondocks (you have to read down a bit), but ZeroHedge is a good place to get more current info.

Arriving back in the states was of course a horrific experience in comparison with the international travel. We are not friendly to the people who come to visit us, nor even particularly to our own citizenry. Lines, lines and more lines. The agents weren’t necessarily unfriendly, but nor were they particularly amicable. I had to go through extra bio-screening for my boots since they’d been on a farm the day before, but they didn’t ask any questions about the Manuka honey I’d picked up. According to Rob it has certain beneficial properties, and that some folk soak bandages in the honey to help keep wounds clean. He said they’re trying to figure out a way to develop a coating for mass producing the special bandages.

One of the points that I make in my Moon presentation is the concept of terroir. In the case of Lunar greenhouses, edible plants grown with Lunar regolith are going to have a different flavor to them. In the case of honey, the taste is affected by the types of flowers the bees visit during their work, a fact I learned to appreciate while living in Brooklyn. In this case it’s the flowers in Hanmer Springs, home of the thermal baths. So when I’m traveling I like to keep an eye open for local honey for a unique taste treat. The Manuka honey is pretty tasty, so I don’t think the jar is going to last too long.

I still hate traveling by air domestically, and would really rather not do so. I may not have a choice though, as through some bizarre fluke of fate I’ve been invited to an invite-only Lunar conference at NASA Ames in April, and then there’s the Dennis Tito dinner later in the month in LA. I’m just trying to figure out how to fly in and out the same day. At least I can drive to the ISDC in May.

First though, I’ve got to get through the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair tomorrow morning, bright and early in Fair Park. This will be my fifth year judging in the Physics & Astronomy category, though I don’t know yet if I’m doing Junior High or High School projects, but usually I’m Jr. High. There’re also the NSS of North Texas judges, who will be giving away $350 on behalf of the chapter to the project that best aligns with NSS’s goals of humans living and working in space.

So, overall, a most excellent holiday. I was able to find a sense of karmic peace and relaxation that I’ve found in few other places (Paris & Austin come to mind), but of course it’s back to work. Next time it’s going to have to be for a longer visit, so we can caravan around and Rob & Lisa can show off the rest of the rest of the island. I’m certainly not going to need a wedding to get me back there again.

Ken Murphy / 6:56 pm February 23rd, 2011

Clark, Margaret. Illus. by Tom Jellett
“Aussie Nibbles: Blast Off”
Puffin Books
2006
ISBN13: 978-0-143-30185-1

Ken Murphy / 6:45 pm February 23rd, 2011

Sullivan, Bryan & Jackie French
“To the Moon and Back”
Angus & Robertson
2004
ISBN: 0-207-20009-2
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 6:35 pm February 23rd, 2011

Vujigigi Brothers
“Expedition Halley”
2004
KIWIreviews.co.nz Review

Ken Murphy / 6:27 pm February 23rd, 2011

Space Shuttle with Tanker
Sevi
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 1:07 pm February 23rd, 2011

Mowll, Joshua
“The Great Space Race”
Walker Books
2010
ISBN13: 978-1-406-30937-9
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 3:00 am February 23rd, 2011

Kindberg, Sally & Tracey Turner
“The Comic Strip History of Space”
Bloomsbury
2009
ISBN13: 978-0-747-59432-1
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 2:51 am February 23rd, 2011

McKie, Robin
“Space: The Final Frontier”
Cosmos Magazine
Issue 36
Dec 2010/Jan 2011
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 2:44 am February 23rd, 2011

Gray, Leon
“Moon Landing”
Scholastic Australia
2009
ISBN13: 978-1-741-69414-7

Ken Murphy / 2:37 am February 23rd, 2011

Bishop, Gavin
“Kiwi Moon”
Random House NZ
2005 (2009)
ISBN13: 978-1-869-79074-5
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 2:29 am February 23rd, 2011

Robert, Na’ima B. & Shirin Adl
“Ramadan Moon”
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
2009
ISBN13: 978-1-845-07922-2
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 2:20 am February 23rd, 2011

Callery, Sean & Emil Dacanay
“Moonwalk”
Evans Publishing
2010
ISBN13: 978-0-237-54206-1
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 9:33 pm February 22nd, 2011

Kia Ora, y’all.

I just wanted to give a quick update to those who care that I was not in Christchurch when the quake hit.

My plane left Christchurch at 11:35, Rob & Lisa having dropped me off with plenty of time to spare. Both are alright, as is their family. Things are not so good for others, and I would request that everyone please send whatever well-wishes their particular belief system advocates. There’s a lot of rebuilding to do.

The quake hit at 12:51. My plane landed in Auckland at 12:55. The usually annoying turning-on-of-the-cellphones-as-soon-as-wheels-hit-pavement took on an entirely different tone as text messages rolled in of a major shake on the south island, and requests for updates.

I did experience an aftershock of last September’s quake; more on that anon when I post the full debrief.

P.S. It was a bonanza for the Lunar Library. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff I found there.

Ken Murphy / 6:35 pm February 14th, 2011

Howdy all!

Back when I was a youngster, we would drive every other year from Texas up to Buffalo, NY to visit the grandparents. One of my Dad’s favorite phrases, being a military guy, was that we would be hitting the road at “Oh dark thirty” (and we did). To wake me up at such an unnatural hour he would pop a cassette into my stereo, crank up the volume, and play Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” to wake me up.

This time around I’m traveling to New Zealand. I’m not taking my computer with me, so don’t expect any updates over the next couple of weeks. I’ve got things like horseback riding, bungee jumping and Maori experience on my mind, as well as checking out an entirely new sky’s worth of constellations.

Ken Murphy / 2:34 am February 9th, 2011

While I’m generally loath to bandy about the phrase “NewSpace”, it seems particularly fitting in the context of a just-released video that does a darn fine job of summarizing where we are at this particular moment in time in developing a more commercially-oriented space industry in the U.S.

Were I a couple of decades younger, I might consider the industry a great place to be a part of something new and growing, sort of like how the computer industry was back in the late 70s/early 80s, when I was plugging away on a TI-99/4A and a Kaypro IV at home and TRS-80s, Apple IIcs and IIes in junior high and high school. Even tried to teach myself CP/M. (unsuccessfully)

Thing is, there was a fledgling private space industry back in the 1980s, too. Microgravity science payloads were lining up to fly on the Shuttle (till Challenger), the Conestoga launched from Texas (unsuccessfully), and folks were trying to get a crew-tended space station to orbit, the Industrial Space Facility (unsuccessfully).

There is great promise in the human spaceflight industry, but that promise is fragile. It needs nurturing and careful cultivation if it is to grow to become a significant contributor to U.S. (and global) prosperity. One way that everyone can support the space industry is to join a space society. Doesn’t matter which one - just join one if you haven’t already. Now is the time.

Ken Murphy / 6:04 am February 6th, 2011

Spudis, Dr. Paul D.
“Blogging the Moon: The Once & Future Moon Collection”
Apogee Prime
02/2010
Publisher’s Web Site
The Space Show Interview

Ken Murphy / 5:38 am February 6th, 2011

Dorminey, Bruce
“Secrets Beneath the Moon’s Surface”
Astronomy Magazine
03/2011
Publisher’s Web Site
Web Extra: A giant leap toward understanding the Moon

Ken Murphy / 2:11 am February 6th, 2011

Kou Yaginuma
“Twin Spica, Vol. 5″ (Futatsu no Supika)
Vertical, Inc.
2002 (2010)
ISBN13: 978-1-935-65402-5
Publisher’s Web Site

Ken Murphy / 1:11 am February 1st, 2011

Waaaaah!

About a month and a half ago, I noted that LEGO had a splash page up at www.legospace.com hinting at some new space-themed LEGO sets to come out around the end of January.

Real space stuff, like the sets they had out around the end of the 1990s, not the silly stuff like the Mars or Space Police sets of the last decade, but real rockets and satellites and Moon rovers and astronauts not aliens. What was even cooler was that they were going to be coming out around my birthday, so I could treat myself right and buy myself some nice new space LEGOs for myself. The countdown clock hit zero yesterday, so during lunchtime at work today I jaunted off to the mall to visit the local LEGO store, VIP Card in hand.

Where I found nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

One of the young ladies at the store happens to be a bit of a space geek, and recognized me from prior inquiries. She said she hadn’t seen or heard anything.

What a major bummer! WTF, LEGO? Then I get home from work, check the legospace website linked above, and find that they’ve reset the countdown clock to over a month from now. (and what happens then? It gets reset again?)

Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!

In some respects it shouldn’t surprise me. I’ve alleged previously that space stuff gets short shrift in the marketplace. I’m not saying that this is an intentional example, but by default it gets added with the others.

Part of why this makes me sad is that I have to wait longer to get some for the Lunar Library, but also to donate to NSS of North Texas to use as part of our kids program/activities. We used to have a small tub of space LEGOs from the 1990s sets, including a Saturn V rocket that was built over and over and over in varying configurations by countless kids at our outreach events. Here’s an example from the ‘Festival of Stars’ we helped out with at a community center in South Dallas:

This was of course part of a much larger display that we had:

Most of the places that we work with know that we can set up over 8 tables worth of displays, mainly handouts backed by info boards. We have a new ISS info board that complements the older one you see in the above photo.

Unfortunately, those LEGOs went missing after one of our later events and we’ve never been able to find anything comparable. We have gotten donations of Star Wars LEGO sets, but we usually pass those straight through to our Santa Space Toy Drive. Frankly, they don’t pay us enough to perpetuate the Star Wars mythology in our NSS of North Texas play areas.

What we do provide is a bean bag toss, some non-franchise-specific rocket playsets, coloring pages, inflatable planets, a feltboard, and that sort of thing to occupy the kids with space adventures while we chat with the grown-ups about different space topics in which they might be interested. There is the occasional meltdown as a youngster will vigourously rebel against having to leave their space wonderland in which they are so enthralled, but generally the kids are good about sharing and playing well together, and leaving gracefully when it’s time to go. I can only ponder what happens afterwards, as the child starts dropping hints: Wow, that rocket was sooo cool; you know my birthday/a holiday is coming up; gee whillickers, I really wish I had one of those rockets with which to play; Mom, can I have one of those rockets? Please? ad infinitum

Which is all part of my sinister master plan to promote the purchase by consumers of space toys, with the evil design of convincing retailers to put more space product on their shelves, so that more people with have the opportunity to buy space-related goods, which turnover prompts the production of more space stuff, and thus is a virtuous (evil, I meant evil) cycle born leading to greater prosperity all around as everyone is happy.

Although the more jaded and realistic view is that space people don’t buy much space stuff, so why should anyone else? The only thing that sells and produces profits (mostly) is franchise-related consumer goods, which is why you’ll see gobs and gobs of Star Wars stuff on the shelves, and very little real space stuff like rockets and launch towers. Sad but true.

Look at it from a non-LEGO perspective. What kind of rocket models can you find at your local hobby shop? Two, maybe. A Saturn V and a Shuttle stack. If you’re really lucky you might find a Redstone from the first Mercury flights. Same old, same old. How about new rockets like an Atlas V, or a Delta IV, or a Falcon 9? Maybe with a Dreamchaser on top? You can put together a model of a V-8 engine, the insides of a horse or a person, but how about a model of a rocket motor? I’ll admit that there is an Ariane V model out there, which was kinda fun to put together, but in general you’d be hard-pressed to find it in a shop. Which reminds me - check hobby shops as well as used book stores whilst in New Zealand.

So now apparently we have some new LEGO rockets to look forward too. Here’s an advert from the, I’m guessing, British tele that was posted on YouTube:

Which makes me even less happy about having to wait over a month for what I thought was going to be my birthday present to myself. Total birthday bummer, dude.