Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Yo-Yo Ma, musician extraordinaire

Yo-Yo Ma, born October 7, 1955 in Paris, France to Chinese parents, is a renowned solo cellist who has performed with orchestras around the world.  He has recorded over 90 albums and has won 19 Grammy Awards. 

He began playing cello at age four with his father.  He was seven years old when he and his parents moved to Boston and then New York City.  He continued to study at Julliard School before transferring to Harvard University for a liberal arts education. 

He has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006.  Ma has received the National Medal of Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Kennedy Center Honors.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Joe Gandara, recipient of Medal of Honor

Joe Gandara, born April 25, 1924 in Santa Monica, California to Mexican immigrants, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2014.  He joined the army in February 1943.  In June 1944, Private Gandara and his detachment came under fire in Amfreville, France, from a German force, and were pinned down for four hours.  Private Gandara volunteered to advance solo toward the enemy's position.  He fired his machine gun from the hip and destroyed three hostile machine guns before he was killed.  

He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a March 18, 2014 ceremony as part of a review through the Defense Authorization Act which called for a review of Jewish American and Hispanic American veterans from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to ensure no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor.

Bion 10 (Kosmos 2229) launched 1992

 

Bion 10, or Kosmos 2229, a Russian spacecraft as part of a multinational effort, was launched December 29, 1992.  It carried two monkeys, plants, cell cultures, insects, and amphibians. The Rhesus monkeys were trained to activate food and juice dispensers, to operate a foot pedal to study muscles responses, and to make hand and head movements in response to visual stimuli.

The countries involved were Canada, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, China, Russia, Ukraine, US, Uzbekistan, and the European Space Agency.

The spacecraft orbited Earth for almost 12 days, before landing successfully on January 10, 1993.

Billy Joel releases the single "The Stranger" 1978

Billy Joel released the title track from his album The Stranger as a single May 21, 1978 in Japan.  It peaked at #2 on the Oricon chart, which is kind of a Japanese version of our Billboard charts.  It also made the top 10 in New Zealand.  It charted in Australia and France.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haignere!

Jean-Pierre Haignere, born May 19, 1948 in Paris, France, has been in space twice as an astronaut for France's National Centre for Space Studies.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-17 to the space station Mir, launched July 1, 1993.  He returned to Earth July 22 aboard Soyuz TM-16.

His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-29 to Mir in February 1999.  He participated in Mir EO-27 and stayed aboard  for almost 189 days before returning to Earth in August 1999.

"La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon" first motion picture debut 1895

The first motion picture to be shown on a screen to a paying audience, La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon (Leaving the Factory) was shown March 22, 1895.  It was presented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere, who filmed workers leaving their own factory in Lyon for lunch.  

Louis Le Prince recorded the oldest film in existence, Roundhay Garden Scene in October 1888.

"Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" released 2006

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, released January 5, 2006, is a classic movie, set in 18th century France is an intoxicating movie about a man with an uncanny sense of smell.  Ben Whishaw plays the major role of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who is in search of the perfect scent.

It was based upon Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume, published in 1985.  It also starred Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman. 

It was nominated for five Saturn Awards.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet!

Thomas Pesquet, born February 27, 1978 in Rouen, France, is an astronaut for the European Space Agency.  He went into space aboard Soyuz MS-03 in November 2016 to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 50.  He also participated in Expedition 51 before returning to Earth in June 2017.

Celebrating Black History Month: Eugene Bullard, first African-American military pilot

Eugene Bullard, born October 9, 1895 in Columbus, Georgia, was the first African-American pilot, who flew for France during World War I.  When he was a teenager, he stowed away on a German freighter to Aberdeen, Scotland.  He was serving in the 170th French Infantry Regiment, he was wounded in March 1916 during the Battle of Verdun.  He volunteered for the French Air Service, receiving his pilot license in May 1917.

He was promoted to corporal in June, and between September and November 1917, he flew in over twenty combat missions.  When the U.S. entered the war, Bullard tried to join the American forces but was turned down because he was black. He was not discharged until October 1919, after the war had ended.

For his service in the war, France awarded him several medals and military decorations including the Croix de guerre.

Bullard passed away from stomach cancer in October 1961 and is buried in the French War Veteran's section of Flushing Cemetery in Queens, New York.

Félicette, first cat in space, 1963

Felicette, the first cat in space, blasted off October 18, 1963 from France's launch pad in Algeria.  Her flight lasted 13 minutes and she experienced five minutes of weightlessness.  She was recovered safely, but two months later, Felicette was euthanized so scientists could examine her brain.

Deep Space 1 encounters Comet 19P/Borrelly 2001

Deep Space 1, a NASA probe launched October 1998, made a close encounter of Comet 19P/Borrelly September 22, 2001.  The spacecraft's main purpose was a flyby of asteroid 9969 Braille, which it completed in July 1999.

The original mission was to visit comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura and asteroid 3352 McAuliffe, but its launch was delayed so its targets were changed to Braille and comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington.  Due to a malfunction with Deep Space 1's star tracker, the encounter with Wilson-Harrington was  cancelled and set to rendezvous with Comet Borrelly.

The comet was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly in December 1904 from Marseilles, France during a routine search for comets.  Deep Space 1 discovered its nucleus to be shaped like a bowling pin.

Soyuz Т-6 launched 1982

Soyuz T-6 (L-R): Aleksandr Ivanchenkov, Jean-Loup Chretien, Vladimir Dzhanibekov

Mission patch

Soyuz T-6, launched June 24, 1982, carried the first French astronaut into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Ivanchenkov and Jean-Loup Chretien.

They docked manually with Salyut 7 after problems with the Soyuz space capsule's automatic docking system arose. They completed experiments with the crew of Soyuz T-5, the resident crew of Salyut 7.

They returned to Earth on July 2.

Book review - "The Canterbury Papers" by Judith Koll Healey

It is not easy to keep reading a book when you don’t like the main character.  That’s the conundrum I had with The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey.  The novel follows Alais, daughter of a king, sister to a second king, former betrothed to a third king and mistress to a fourth.  Girl gets around.  But soon the reader finds out that not only is she stupid (she realizes her room at an inn has been broken into but decides to ignore it), she is also a mean girl.  After finding this out, I had to make a decision to finish the book or stop because I no longer cared what happened to the Princesse Alais.

I chose to press on.  The story is centered around Eleanor of Aquitaine, demanding that Alais travel from Paris (again?) to Canterbury in England to retrieve some hidden letters that would be extremely awkward to the Queen mum if they were ever made public.  In return, Eleanor promises information about the son Alais believed had died shortly after she gave birth to him.  She feels she has no choice but to do the queen mum’s bidding.

When Alais arrives at Canterbury, she comes face to face with the man whom she and her royal siblings tormented as a boy, because he was smarter than they were.  William has grown into a formidable man and Alais discovers there is much more to him that meets the eye. 

The issue with the letters is a little anticlimactic since Alais learns their existence and content are the worst-kept secrets in England and France.  

Despite that the book was well-written with few head-hops, but had great details of thirteenth century England and France without all the data dumps.  The kidnapping scene, which opens the book, isn't suspenseful after the first chapter.  

Three ♕ out of five.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-François Clervoy!

Jean-Francois Clervoy, born November 19, 1958 in France, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  He has represented both the European Space Agency and the National Centre for Space Studies (French space agency). 

His first mission into space was as mission specialist on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.  The mission studied the Antarctic Zone Hole while it was diminishing to study its possible effects on mid-latitudes.

His next flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) to the space station Mir in May 1997.  He flew with birthday twin and fellow astronaut Eileen Collins.

Clervoy's third and last mission was on Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999.  It was a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the last solo flight of Discovery.

Book review - Death of a Musketeer by Sarah D'Almeida

The dust jacket of Death of a Musketeer boasts a quote from Margaret Frazer: “A fun read.”  I’m not sure I agree with s. Frazer, because although a good book, I did not find it to be a fun read.  I would describe more as ‘put-downable’. It has a great setting using Alexander Dumas’ characters from his Three Musketeers to solve a murder.

The story opens just as D’Artagnan has challenged Athos to a duel.  Porthos and Aramis are nearby when the four of them are attacked by the Cardinal’s men.  The musketeers fend off the attackers and then go off to celebrate.  Their drinking lasts until way into the night.  As they leave the last pub, they encounter another musketeer, who has been murdered, and they discover it is a woman in disguise.  Naturally, the musketeers take it upon themselves to solve the murder of this woman who has a remarkable resemblance to the Queen.

Most of the antics of the story take place during night times, and it seems that no one in France sleeps at night.  It doesn’t matter what hour it is, everyone seems to be awake, and the musketeers seem surprised to realize they have awakened someone. 

D’Almeida keeps true to the spirit of the Three Musketeers but it seems odd to have them try to solve a mystery, using their heads instead of their swords.  The story involves a plot to discredit the Queen using the Duke of Buckingham, which we’ve seen before in Dumas’ work. There are times when D’Almeida has a character reminisce or goes off on a tangent to describe the surroundings.    Okay, you’re an expert on 17^th century Paris. We get it. 

Other readers might find this one more satisfying than I did. This is the first one of a series, but I'm not interested in reading anymore.

I give it one musketeer out of three.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Michel Tognini!

Michel Tognini, born September 30, 1949 in Vincennes, France, has gone into space on Soyuz and space shuttle missions.  He was selected by France's space agency, the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), in July 1986. 

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-15 in July 1992 to the space station Mir.  He stayed on board for about two weeks before returning on Soyuz TM-14.

His second and final mission in space was aboard Columbia (STS-93) as mission specialist in July 1999.  The mission lasted just under 5 days.

Happy birthday, French cosmonaut Jean Loup Chretien!

Jean-Loup Chretien, born August 20, 1938, is a French cosmonaut who has flown two Soyuz missions and one Space Shuttle flight.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz T-6 in June 1982 to Salyut 7.  It was the first time a Frenchman had flown in space.  He spent about a week in space before returning to Earth in early June.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz TM-7 in November 1988 to Mir.  He conducted an EVA with fellow cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, which lasted almost 6 hours.  He is the first non-American, non-Russian to walk in space.  He returned 24 days later aboard Soyuz TM-6.

His third and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) as mission specialist to Mir in September-October 1997.

Soyuz TM-24 launched 1996

Soyuz TM-24 crew (L-R): Claudie Andre-Deshays, Valery Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-24, launched August 17, 1996, was the 27th expedition to Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Valery Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri and Claudie Andre-Deshays, first French woman in space.

Andre-Deshays spent 16 days on Mir conducting biological and medical experiments before returning to Earth on Soyuz TM-23 in September 1996.

Korzun and Kaleri stayed for over 196 days and returned to Earth in March 1997.

Soyuz TM-15 launched 1992

Soyuz TM-15 crew (L-R): Michel Tognini, Anatoly Solovyev, Sergei Avdeyev

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-15, launched July 27, 1992, was the fifteenth mission to the Mir space station.  Its crew consisted of  Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Sergei Avdeyev and Michel Tognini (CNES). 

Tognini is a National Center for Space Studies astronaut and took part in the mission as a joint project between Russia and France.

Soyuz TM-29 launched 1999

Crew of Soyuz TM-29

Mission logo

Soyuz TM-29, launched February 20, 1999, was the 38th mission to Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afanasyev, Flight Engineer Jean-Pierre Haignere (France), and Research Cosmonaut Ivan Bella (Slovakia).   Bella is the first Slovak citizen to go into space.  He stayed on Mir for about a week and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-28.

Afanasyev and Haignere remained on board until August 28 and returned with fellow cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev.

I could not find a video of Soyuz TM-29 anywhere.