June 19th 06, 05:23 PM
http://ciclops.org/index.php?flash=0
Carolyn Porco
Cassini Imaging Team Leader
CICLOPS/Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO
June 18, 2006
Today, former Beatle Paul McCartney turns 64, a landmark anniversary
made so by his own special blend of diverse musical creativity and
sunny
disposition captured in the old-fashioned song `When I'm 64', recorded
40 years ago this year.
On this occasion, we stop to celebrate this extraordinary individual
and
the enduring gifts of music, joy and inspiration that he and his
bandmates left to all of us, back in the long-gone heady days of the
1960's.
Much has been said about the 60's, and how the coming of four young men
from provincial northern England to American shores in early 1964
proclaimed the opening of that epochal decade. Much has been written
about the massive influence of these four musicians of enormous charm
and talent on the music, culture, and personality of that era, and
hence
on everything that followed.
But in all those volumes of analyses, what is not mentioned is that the
birth of the Beatles coincided with the opening of the space age. And
that is no accident.
The same post-war optimism that stoked the rich and unrestrained
musical
imaginations of the young Beatles in the late 50's also moved the
pioneers of interplanetary travel to set their sights afar and dream of
adventures to faraway worlds. In 1957, three months before the Soviet
Union deployed the first artificial Earth-orbiting satellite Sputnik 1,
John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a church fest in suburban
Liverpool. The Beatles were germinating while the early space age
architects were laying plans to explore the planets. By the time of the
Beatles' arrival in New York in early 1964, humankind had successfully
reconnoitered the first planet, Venus. And the same
anything-is-possible
spirit, which by the late 60's had brought to full bloom tremendous
societal upheaval but also daring artistic experimentation exemplified
by the art and music of the Beatles, simultaneously propelled us off
the
planet and into space. By the time the Beatles had finished their last
recorded album, Abbey Road, in 1969, humans had walked on the moon. It
was for some of us a provocative and magical time.
In their relentless striving to surpass what they had done before, the
Beatles set standards of musical creativity and excellence that are
still unmatched today. That ceaseless striving for excellence and the
confident pursuit of new frontiers is exactly what has brought us
planetary explorers, 40 years later, to Saturn.
So it is fitting that today, in honor of Paul McCartney's most poignant
birthday, we have taken sixty-four of our most dazzling images, a
kaleidoscope of splendor and spectacle, and put them to motion and
sound
in a cinematic production. Our voyage through the Saturn system,
mystical, psychedelic and the most magnificent there can ever be, is
now
accompanied by the music of the Beatles, the most imaginative,
consistently innovative and visually evocative music there ever was.
Both our journey and their music derive from the same wellspring of joy
and hope. And as you will see and hear, the match is a perfect fit.
[The Sixty-Four Sights from Saturn movie
<ftp://ftp.ciclops.org/pub/Paul64_MacPC_147MB.avi> is a very large AVI
file of 147MBytes and should be downloaded to your computer and played
locally. Expect long download times.]
So, Paul...here is our gift, from us to you. Happy Birthday! And we
hope
you will enjoy the show.
Carolyn Porco
Cassini Imaging Team Leader
CICLOPS/Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO
June 18, 2006
Today, former Beatle Paul McCartney turns 64, a landmark anniversary
made so by his own special blend of diverse musical creativity and
sunny
disposition captured in the old-fashioned song `When I'm 64', recorded
40 years ago this year.
On this occasion, we stop to celebrate this extraordinary individual
and
the enduring gifts of music, joy and inspiration that he and his
bandmates left to all of us, back in the long-gone heady days of the
1960's.
Much has been said about the 60's, and how the coming of four young men
from provincial northern England to American shores in early 1964
proclaimed the opening of that epochal decade. Much has been written
about the massive influence of these four musicians of enormous charm
and talent on the music, culture, and personality of that era, and
hence
on everything that followed.
But in all those volumes of analyses, what is not mentioned is that the
birth of the Beatles coincided with the opening of the space age. And
that is no accident.
The same post-war optimism that stoked the rich and unrestrained
musical
imaginations of the young Beatles in the late 50's also moved the
pioneers of interplanetary travel to set their sights afar and dream of
adventures to faraway worlds. In 1957, three months before the Soviet
Union deployed the first artificial Earth-orbiting satellite Sputnik 1,
John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a church fest in suburban
Liverpool. The Beatles were germinating while the early space age
architects were laying plans to explore the planets. By the time of the
Beatles' arrival in New York in early 1964, humankind had successfully
reconnoitered the first planet, Venus. And the same
anything-is-possible
spirit, which by the late 60's had brought to full bloom tremendous
societal upheaval but also daring artistic experimentation exemplified
by the art and music of the Beatles, simultaneously propelled us off
the
planet and into space. By the time the Beatles had finished their last
recorded album, Abbey Road, in 1969, humans had walked on the moon. It
was for some of us a provocative and magical time.
In their relentless striving to surpass what they had done before, the
Beatles set standards of musical creativity and excellence that are
still unmatched today. That ceaseless striving for excellence and the
confident pursuit of new frontiers is exactly what has brought us
planetary explorers, 40 years later, to Saturn.
So it is fitting that today, in honor of Paul McCartney's most poignant
birthday, we have taken sixty-four of our most dazzling images, a
kaleidoscope of splendor and spectacle, and put them to motion and
sound
in a cinematic production. Our voyage through the Saturn system,
mystical, psychedelic and the most magnificent there can ever be, is
now
accompanied by the music of the Beatles, the most imaginative,
consistently innovative and visually evocative music there ever was.
Both our journey and their music derive from the same wellspring of joy
and hope. And as you will see and hear, the match is a perfect fit.
[The Sixty-Four Sights from Saturn movie
<ftp://ftp.ciclops.org/pub/Paul64_MacPC_147MB.avi> is a very large AVI
file of 147MBytes and should be downloaded to your computer and played
locally. Expect long download times.]
So, Paul...here is our gift, from us to you. Happy Birthday! And we
hope
you will enjoy the show.