saganappreciationsociety.org

Being a member of the SAS has its benefits.  Send an email to SaganGathering (at) yahoo.com with the subject "Sagan Appreciation Society News Dispatch" to join.

So what are some of those benefits?

You get to see things way ahead of the rest if the internet, like MelodySheep's latest addition to his Symphony Of Science project.

Richard Dawkins fans will be very happy. He gets what are perhaps the most melodic parts of this song.  Michio Kaku also appears. Our man in corduroy is there too, of course. It makes you ask "Why haven't science and art come together like this before?"

Let me know what you think.  Right-click here to download and save the sneak preview of John Boswell's latest music video. Most users can view the video below (scroll down to the player panel, let it buffer a reasonable amount and then press play). Please note that this is an advance peek, not to be re-uploaded anywhere. Further changes may take place before final release.

Personal note to Richard, who is said to be on his way here: Regarding a public statement I saw you make (I'm still trying to re-find that video on YouTube), I think its important for several reasons to clarify that Hitler was not a vegetarian. This is one of the most enduring urban legends that persists despite many assorted and vetted sources debunking it or citing his personal chef and people around him. A quick Google search for Hitler and Squab will start to dispel this myth. Or, if you prefer more on this and other urban legends see the book "Hitler Was a Vegetarian And Other Tales" by Ron Ferguson (ISBN-10: 0905489713, ISBN-13: 978-0905489711) or Rynn Berry's book "Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover" (ISBN-10: 0962616966, ISBN-13: 978-0962616969). The repetition of this urban legend is troubling on at least two or three levels, and it seems to demonstrate the human tendency to repeat colorful, amusingly-convenient or outlandish claims. The more shocking and incongruous the "fact" the more the myth seems likely to propagate.

If, somehow, you've missed John Boswell's other breakout science music-video hits, see them here: A Glorious Dawn - COSMOS Remixed and We Are All Connected. The awe and wonder of nature-as-revealed-by-science becomes even more powerful through song.

Ann Druyan and Nick Sagan were interviewed on the Galactic WaterCooler. The show runs 123 minutes long, so you might want to skip past the banter of the hosts where possible. There's unneccessary music added to the background in places, but the portion with Ann and Nick is worth listening to. Here's where the Sagan-oriented talk begins:

20:40 Talk of Carl's movie and book "Contact".
24:40 Ann Druyan with some history on the COSMOS series.  You get to hear a little on the background of how Cosmos started and behind the scenes details like how Ann got them to change the name from "Man and the Cosmos" to COSMOS. Later around 46:00 we hear how Annie got the Library of Alexandria inserted into COSMOS. They eventually transition to speaking with Nick.

A Glorious Dawn is mentioned at about 40:28 and 55:10.  Download the show as an mp3 file here.  Incidentally, Annie Druyan begins her podcast the week of Nov. 16th November 23rd.

Caleb Pennypacker has come through again. This time, one of the pumpkins looks a little like one of our concept stamps for the campaign.

Here's the genesis of the Sagan pumpkins from Caleb Pennypacker:

On Halloween afternoon of last year, I found myself sitting around doing nothing due to a particularly miserable cold. After wondering what I could do to make the evening more enjoyable, I settled on carving a pumpkin.  I hadn't done it in a few years and decided it was time to step it up a notch and try a relief carving.  After purchasing a couple of pumpkins at the last minute, I took them home and looked through my folder of "cool images" to create a stencil from.  In the folder, however, was a stencil someone had already made of Carl I had saved earlier.  I knew right away that I had to carve this into my pumpkin.

Carl had always been the vehicle for my great fascination of space and hope in the role of the human species in the universe. Since his death, I felt horrible that I had never met him to express my gratitude for all he did for me.  So as an artist, I felt that it would be most appropriate to create a piece of artwork as an homage to him.  I knew he would like it if he were around to see it.  It ended up being the best pumpkin I ever carved, beating my 2004 John Kerry pumpkin by a mile.

Sharing the Gift of Carl Sagan

Caleb has kindly provided the Sagan Appreciation Society with three stencils so you too can display your own Sagan-themed jack o'lantern. We have an elder Sagan, the Sagan image from Caleb's first pumpkin in 2008, and one inspired in part by that COSMOS scene in John Boswell's "A Glorious Dawn". The white areas are to be fully carved though. The black areas are untouched pumpkin. The orange areas are thinned pumpkin surface where only some light gets through. Right-click on image to save the stencil in it's full 723x723 form. Print it to take up a full sheet of paper and you're ready to carve.

File under: street art, street team, pop culture.

This interesting image was spotted, apparently, in Edinburgh, Scottland.  Those of you who get the connection should email me.  Those of you who give up should do likewise.   I'm just curious who among you gets this image.  Seems we might want make a contest of this or something.  Prize is... to be determined.  I had to resist lacing this entry with all kinds of puns, or even references to this pairing, and what it alludes to.  The only clue you'll get is in the title.  It's a phrase used by both Carl and Ann, but it has another reference here.  It's such a clever pairing too.