Our Weekend

Hello Troops,
And here we are, Troubadours all, telling our heroic tales and singing our epic ballads for a few silver coins hopefully tossed into our cups by the generous in our villages. I'm at my desk once again. Friday's evening is surrending to Saturday's morning. I hear a few voices in the ships. The boys are settling down to sleep.

McKay just sat the Happy Bucket on the desk to my left. An Odyssey camper had that volcanic feeling earlier in the evening and requested the bucket's collection service. Luckily the bucket wasn't used and waits for me to store away until called for again. I'm starting to wonder if this gray bucket may be an omen. I hope not. I hope Fortuna is mischievously engaged elsewhere. I'm hoping our little corner of the world in Pleasant Grove is overlooked as she scours the land looking for lives to disrupt. Move along Fortuna, move along. There is nothing to see here.


Today's news was full with politics from the G8 in Europe to hopefuls tossing their hats into the 2012 election. The think tanked, focus grouped clap trap that comes out of their mouths is mind numbing. I feel like I'm being managed and manipulated every time one of them speaks. They remind me of television evangelists who offer salvation in the promised land governed by their policies and dictates only if you prove your worth by becoming financial supporters, strictly adhering to their cause and voting as you're told.

Remember, a pig is still a pig, even with lipstick. Don't be fooled by the smoke and mirrors from both parties. Be intelligent, look at the issues, read the arguments from both sides and decide based on your values and vision for the future of this nation.

And Now a Few morsels from the Imaginarium.....

The future represented by this photograph from my childhood didn't come to pass. It was an older generation's imaginations of our life tomorrow. Funny isn't it. I suppose it is true to some degree. Our food today is is removed from the mechanical freezer and nuked in the appliance microwave. I guess machines are feeding us.


This is Rick Rolfs. He consumes a great deal of the Imaginarium's time as our Dream Agents work round the clock to prevent him from carrying out terrible schemes against his sister and neighbors. There is a sub section of the Imaginarium's Ministry of Dreams devoted to children just like Rick who were born with over active imaginations. This Sup Section spends most of its time trying to modify their renegade imaginations by having them imagine the consequences of their actions. So far, no success with Rick Rolfs. More later.

And this tossed in for good measure.

And finally, something for those of you with cell phones surgically attached to your body.

I'm nearly asleep. It is time to call it a night. I'll be making the WalMart Donut run at first light.

Mr. W.

Another Storm Front Crosses into Utah. Nothing the Imaginarium Can't Handle

Hello Troops,
I woke to the sound of another storm front moving into Utah. The deck chairs were moving making that scraping sound of plastic against wood which morphed into a melody of sorts with wind chime accompaniment.

It could be another blah day, but not to worry, there is always the Imaginarium to spice things up, not to mention several missions on the schedule at the Space Center. So, let's get started....

A perfect school year parting gift for that certain teacher whose contorted facial expressions and sharp tongue will never be forgotten.

Again, I'll admit I fast forwarded through the royal wedding. I'm into anything British (serving an LDS mission in the English Midlands kind of does that to you). Of course the British sarcastic sense of humor is my "cup of tea". So this for for all of you that saw that hat and knew it looked vaguely familiar. Mystery Solved. Mr. Bean, you are my hero.....

The Imaginarium hosted a special conference on Teaching with Imagination. The teacher turnout from your school was overwhelming. Something disturbing though and I can't quite put my finger on it.

Now where is this place? I guarantee it isn't Pleasant Grove. This is what I call proper city planning. Come on, see what a little imagination can do.

True, so True

Finally, a thought from your ever present conscious. No you can't stay in bed. No you shouldn't eat that second donut. No you shouldn't ram that curb crawler driving 10 miles an hour below the speed limit. No you shouldn't say what you really think. No you shouldn't be texting while your running a mission. No you shouldn't delay coming into Discovery on the morning of an overnight mission to avoid cot duty. No you shouldn't eat your Chinese dinner in the Briefing Room right under my nose.
No you shouldn't walk away from your simulator leaving it a mess with costumes, uniforms and props scattered here and there. No you shouldn't drink all the chocolate milk on camp breakfasts leaving none for the campers. No you shouldn't lay on the lobby floor claiming you're too tired to move, nobody wants to walk in the school's front door and see you acting as a mop. No you shouldn't wear overly faded jeans with fashion holes to work or volunteer claiming they are the latest fad from the Romulan Empire. No you shouldn't stand within my personal bubble breathing my air - you know how I feel about that!

No, No and double No.

Need I go on?

Now I'm off. There are missions to run, phone calls to return, scores of emails to answer and staff and volunteers to enlighten with sharp wit festooned with effervescent humor.

See you in the Trenches!
Mr. W.

50 Years Ago Today - Kennedy Promises the Moon The President before Congress

The President before Congress.

Has it really been fifty years?

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy arrived at the Capitol to address Congress about the most momentous decision he would make so far in his presidency. Broadcast on television, radio and printed in the newspapers, the president declared in bold terms that we were going to the Moon.

"First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

America was behind in the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The Russians were boldly proclaiming the superiority of their technology and their communist agenda alongside their successes in launching the first satellite, the first dog, and then the first man into space. The Cold War was in full swing and many worried about the advance of communism across the globe. Kennedy felt that America could compete against the Soviets and win the propaganda fight, but he needed a project he felt America could beat them with. The space program became his chosen sword.

Kennedy and Von Braun.

With the recent success of launching Alan Shepard into a 15-minute suborbital flight, Kennedy selected this moment to do something dramatic. His advisors counseled him that because the Russians had a rocket more capable of heavy lift, they would remain in the lead for a time. Kennedy wanted to know how we could beat them. He was advised that nothing would be more dramatic than a man planting the American Flag on the Moon, and we could probably get there before the Soviets. The President made his decision.

"No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more

important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or

expensive to accomplish."

At NASA the administrators, engineers, technicians and astronauts listened to the radio with rapt attention. This was it. The operation was GO. Apollo would be the program to get us there.

We were going to the Moon.

Mark Daymont
Space Center Educator
Magellan Simulator