Symphony of Science 5: The Poetry of Reality

The fifth installment of this wonderful series was just released today:

"New Symphony of Science Music Video

Bonjour Symphony of Science fans!

I am pleased to announce the release of a new Symphony of Science music video today. It's titled "The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)", and it features 12 different scientific thinkers, promoting science through words of wisdom. Keep reading for more.

"The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)" is the fifth video in the Symphony of Science series. This new video differs slightly from previous ones, in that it features many more scientific thinkers than usual. It includes (in order) Michael Shermer, Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, Jill Tarter, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynman, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Carolyn Porco, and PZ Meyers, all contributing their personal views on what science means to them and how important it is in our daily lives.

You can find the video on the website, http://symphonyofscience.com, or on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cd36WJ79z4. The new song is also downloadable on the website in MP3 format.

Special thanks are due to The Sagan Appreciation Society (http://www.youtube.com/user/SaganAppreciationSoc) and Connie Barlow (http://www.youtube.com/user/ghostsofevolution) for their huge help in finding source materials. Check out their Youtube pages! Thanks also to all of you who suggested footage that I have not mentioned, I really appreciate it.

In addition to the new music video, there are also new remixes available on the website in the downloads section.

I hope you enjoy this new video as much as I did making it. If you have any feedback to give I would love to hear it. Thanks for listening, and cheers!

John Boswell
john@symphonyofscience.com
symphonyofscience.com

Click here to see our web site"

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas NV

Took some time today and made the loop around Red Rock. I was born, have lived and visit Vegas often and I always try to get to Red Rock when I'm here. Having the Raptor made this trip all too sweet.

This isn't an offroad park. In fact there's barely any offroading at all, with the exception of Oak Creek Canyon; its a group of roads/trails that runs from the back of the canyon out to Pahrump. These "roads" are what I would call a "fire trail plus", meaning there are spots that are tight and technical, and you'll definitely need a lifted offroader like the Raptor go get over the boulders that dot the route. And when its icy you really need to be careful, as there are some dramatic dropoffs within a foot of the trail. But none the less there's a few ways to go back in there and have some relaxed and causal offroad fun for a few hours. If you're ever in the area, check it out.

Here's a handful of shots from the lower, smoother wide open Red Rock side of the route:

Anza Borrego & Ocotillo Wells, CA

I just spent the whole day out at Anza Borrego and Ocotillo Wells behind the wheel of this monster. There are only two words I can think of to describe this truck:

IN.SANE.

Here's the breadcrumb trail from my GPS:

Tons of soft powdery sand. Tons of mud. Tons of rocks and boulders. Tons of climbs. Tons of descents. This truck handled them in stride. LadyNilla and I just giggled the whole day. This thing took everything we threw at it, and threw it back at us with a scoff.

Here's some pics from the day:
Never send a Chevy to do a Raptor's job (he didn't make it even after several attempts

Here's a three pic sequence of one of the (8 total) Raptor's that made it out today. We all got thru this with no problems.

The aftermath:

That last one was a little embarrassing. We thrashed through some mud (guys told me I was throwing 20ft roostertails) and, of course, I forgot to close the moonroof :duh:

Maybe the most impressive thing of the day was the response we got. We couldn't get by a group of bikes or ATVs without snapping a few necks, and answering a few "Is that a Raptor? Is it everything they say it is?"

Nope... its more.