Urania » Astronomy Humor http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania A blog named for the muse of Astronomy containing musings by an astronomer Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:44:27 +0000 en hourly 1 Why I live in Minnesota http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2009/06/17/why-i-live-in-minnesota/ http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2009/06/17/why-i-live-in-minnesota/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:58:50 +0000 admin http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/?p=359 I often have to tell people I live in “Fargo-Moorhead” before they have a clue where I live. But then they think I live in North Dakota. This is why I live on the Minnesota side of the Red River.

]]> http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2009/06/17/why-i-live-in-minnesota/feed/ 0 Irony of Ironies http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2008/01/16/irony-of-ironies/ http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2008/01/16/irony-of-ironies/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:59:47 +0000 Juan http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2008/01/16/irony-of-ironies/ Check out this link to the The Astrological Magazine and tell me this isn’t a wee bit ironic (and maybe smelling of a hoax).

]]> http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2008/01/16/irony-of-ironies/feed/ 0 The Hotel Mauna Kea http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2007/12/11/the-hotel-mauna-kea/ http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2007/12/11/the-hotel-mauna-kea/#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:18:52 +0000 Juan http://iparrizar.mnstate.edu/~juan/urania/2007/12/11/the-hotel-mauna-kea/ If you can get through the slowish, stylish first minute, this is one of the better parody videos I have seen recently. It describes the travails of planetary astronomers working at the IRTF (Infra-Red Telescope Facility) at the 14,000 foot high Mauna Kea observatories. To paraphrase the YouTube description:
Experience the plight of astronomers at the 14,000-foot summit of Mauna Kea! Veteran observers John Annen, Juan Delgado (flamenco guitar), Kelly Fast (vocals and 12-string guitar), Ted Kostiuk, and Tim Livengood took the HIPWAC spectrometer to the IRTF observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii and were inspired to write the lyrics to “Hotel Mauna Kea”. Here, Juan, Kelly and Ted perform the song and all co-investigators star in this above-the-clouds music video. “Hotel Mauna Kea” is a parody of The Eagles’ “Hotel California” by Felder, Henley, and Frey.



While I have never observed at Mauna Kea, this video brought back some memories of observing at remote locations like CTIO and Mount Hopkins. Thanks to Jeff Larsen for letting me know about this video.

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