Songs

Near Miss

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Hot on the heels of the Holiday of Closeness, an apartment building-sized asteroid called 2012 DA 14 will make a pass at us and it has already got our attention. The experts assure us there will be no impact, which is good news since the archeological record suggests that a small rock going very fast can have a lasting effect on living things when it hits.

Today’s near miss is the closest encounter ever detected with a space object this size. For some reason the unusual proximity of this rock has me thinking about a favorite old song.

If a boulder from outer space
drew a bead on your place
You’d avoid an asteroid
close to you

If a chunk fell out of the sky
would you stop to ask why?
You’d avoid an asteroid
close to you

One thing about asteroids that’s very disconcerting,
And the dinosaurs found out that this is true.
If a rock from space collides with Earth
there isn’t very much that you can do!

That is why, when some space debris
vaporizes the seas
‘Cest la vie. That’s when I’ll be
toast to you.

So far, our scientific advances have done little more than improve the chances that we’ll know about the next asteroid impact at least a few days ahead – just enough time to panic, say goodbye, or organize a sing-a-long.

What songs are in your asteroid apocalypse playlist?

83 thoughts on “Near Miss”

  4. And this one. After I bought the CD I figured out that in normal traffic, I would play this 2.75 times between my house and my office in the morning. Of course, this means that for several days I sat in the parking lot once I got to work, so I could hear that last .25!

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  5. Good morning. The first song that pops into my mind is Just a Closer Walk With Thee which is an old spiritual that I have heard played in the style of early jazz bands from New Orleans. I really like the song although I am not a believer. I don’t know why it popped into my mind. I can see a jazz band marching down the street playing this with a crowd following them as the astroid plunges to earth.

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  6. I am weak but Thou art strong
    Jesus keep me from all wrong
    I’ll be satisfied as long
    As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

    Chorus:
    Just a closer walk with Thee
    Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
    Daily walking close to Thee
    Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

    When my feeble life is o’er
    Time for me shall be no more
    Guide me gently, safely o’er
    To Thy kingdom’s shore, to Thy shore.

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    1. you can put your insomnia to good use and call him at 1 am his time to let him get the feel for it.
      i missed this story last night. what a world to have a meteor hit and have multiple live video of it coming through the sky, the windows on buildings shattering, the classroom in the town whereit hit when the class heard it hit. what an outstanding documentation. i have never seen anything like it. it is so common to have the recording somewhere going on that you can access it. remarkable.

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        1. Thanks I saw that this morning and was amazed athow many cameras are on in the new world of cell phones and Internet. This is in bum fork Russia. Unbelievable!!

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    1. Back when I was in college, I worked in an art supply store. One of the items we sold was balsa wood in various dimensions for architecture students to use in model building. Whenever a customer complained that we were out of a particular dimension, I would apologize, but explain that balsa was increasingly hard to get since the fire. They would ask, “What fire?” And I would reply, “Haven’t you heard about the Great Balsa Fire?”
      They were not usually amused, but I thought it was hilarious.

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    1. CG, I hadn’t refreshed my computer before I popped in the Skeeter Davis link. Imagine my surprise to see your entry! It’s pure synchronicity.

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      1. i would have had to look it up without your double post i love skeeters version and yet i would never have remembered who sang it. thanks to both you syncronitious baboons

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  22. So much good music today! I could spend the whole day watching videos.
    Good work everyone.
    I’ll offer this, but it’s kinda depressing…

    This one is more fun:

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    2. Thank you for this Lisa. It’s one of my favorite orchestral pieces. I would love to play it someday. Here is my favorite piece of all time – and one I’ve had the honor to play 🙂

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    1. Great choice, Nan. One of the all time great songs, and K.D. Lang’s version, one of the best, and that’s saying something, there are so many wonderful renditions of this song.

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