Yee-haw, it’s Independence Day!

July 5, 2015 by Eve England

The cowboy is an undisputed American icon, and the 19th century westward expansion into the “Wild West” has been immortalised in popular culture for over a century.

The American Frontier has been mythologised using tales of legendary outlaws such as Billy the Kid, quick-fire showdowns and raucous saloons, and is by far the most popularised period in American history. But the movies we love, together with other media portrayals (such as HBO’s Deadwood or the video game Red Dead Redemption), oversimplify the Old American West’s historical events, and exaggerate the exploits of some of culture’s favourite villains and heroes: all for the good of entertainment, of course! This love affair with all things Western continues to this day, in spite of its historical inaccuracies, and so we chose this wonderful genre as the theme to our 2015 Independence Day party.

For the decor, we wanted a more natural look, and elected to incorporate dried wheat and beautiful cacti to represent the vegetation of the land, with accents of paisley and deputy sheriff badges. The tablecloth is a navy Kate Spade Larabee Spot design, and we used vintage cowboy and indian action figures to finish the look.

The highlight of the party was the home-made s’mores station using a small Sterno can, home-made marshmallows, graham crackers and imported Ghiradelli chocolate squares! Yum.

Visit Cowboy Country

The disconnect between fact and fiction of the Western can be seen quite notably in the location that has become synonymous with the American West, Monument Valley, even thought the area was never, in fact, a true cowboy area (most cowboys of the time inhabited the states of Texas and California). The Navajo tribal park, bordering Utah and Arizona, however, was a favourite of the director, John Ford, where in 1939 he filmed “Stagecoach”, the movie that firmly established John Wayne as the true Hollywood Cowboy. Eventually, Ford made 9 more movies in this area, and others have also used this setting to depict the West, including the fabulous Back to the Future: Part III.

Although it is not an authentic cowboy location, the geologically fantastic buttes and plateaus of the area make it a truly spectacular filming location, and it is well worth a visit. The only lodging within the park is the View Hotel, and no visit would be complete without traversing the 17 mile dirt track on the valley floor.

Oh Yeah!

June 7, 2015 by Eve England

2015 is an exciting year for all those of us over 30s who recall spending many hours during the long school holidays watching our favourite classic 80’s adventure movies on fuzzy, poor quality VHS copies (whether bought or recorded off the limited 4 channel telly). There are a number of high profile anniversaries this year, including, The Goonies (today, 7th June – special 30th anniversary tribute will be forthcoming later in August after my visit to the actual Goondocks, Astoria ;)), and on October 21st, we finally catch up with Back to the Future Part II’s actual future, giving us the opportunity to comment and opine over what it got right, and what it got wrong (hover-boards being the most disappointing of all of the incorrect predictions!).

It was also fascinating to discover on Friday (for me, via a Tweet from the amazing T-shirt guys, Last Exit To Nowhere), the 5th June was the ACTUAL day that legend Ferris Bueller skipped school having executed a ridiculously complex and ingenious plan to convince his long suffering mother that he was really sick. As Ferris himself informs us at the beginning of the movie, this being his ninth sick days so far that semester, coming up with new, “plausible” illnesses was becoming a real challenge for him. However, fortunately for Ferris, and for us as lovers of the movie, his efforts proved convincing; so convincing, in fact, that the “Save Ferris” campaign is in full swing by the end of the movie, where his fellow students hold vigils for his recovery from what is perceived to be a life threatening affliction). As Ferris himself informs us at the beginning of the movie, after 9 sick days so far that semester, he was really having to work on his illnesses. What follows was, of course, one of the best days off imaginable, as Ferris, his girlfriend Sloane, and his reluctant buddy, Cameron, become tourists for the day as they enjoy the sights of the Mid-West’s best town, Chicago.

And how do we know this was THE date (taking into account the movie wasn’t released until 1986)?! Well, some baseball aficionados at Baseball Prospectus used footage from the movie to work out which game the truants were at by referring to the players. See the article here: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=12877 – AMAZING!

If you are ever in the Windy City, and you are interested in following in Bueller’s footsteps, then here is a list of the main sights from the movie (plus some other places you must certainly visit but weren’t there back in 1985!):

Some main Chicago sights (The Flamingo, Federal Plaza, The Art Institute of Chicago, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, The Sears Tower, or as it is now known, the Willis Tower, The Bean, The Station)

If you haven’t experienced the carnage that is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, then you really are missing out (if you are based in Cardiff, an opportunity has presented itself courtesy of the team at Motley Movies – The movie will be playing on the Jacobs roof on the 15th August)! I will leave you with one of Master Bueller’s more profound observations…

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

“It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?”

May 9, 2015 by Eve England

Blade Runner is one of the great iconic sci-fi movies of the modern age. Last Thursday, we were fortunate to have had the opportunity to see the Final Cut version of the movie in the cinema. This is the definitive version out of a staggering seven, and the only one to satisfy Ridley Scott’s impeccably high standards.

The movie is, of course, loosely based on the Philip K Dick cult classic, Do androids dream of electric sheep?, a product of the Cold War era, and published at the height of the Vietnam conflict. It is fairly typical of its time, in that its portrayal of the future is dystopian, rather than offering a brighter and more progressive outlook of humanity’s fate.

The novel’s core characters are transported from post World War Terminus to a decrepitly dank and darkened LA metropolis. The wealthy elite has deserted the resource drained planet for the more prosperous spoils of the off-world colonies, leaving the “chicken heads” fighting for survival in the purgatory that is life on Earth in the movie’s re-imagined decades of the twenty first century. 2019 LA is a distant cry from the LA we know today, it’s skies an endless night, the only colour in this decaying world is the luminesce of the neon strip lighting of the street markets and nightclubs, and the domineering skyline billboards.

Film noir accents dominate; Deckards first encounter with Gaff, complete with fedora, itself worthy of an Edward Hopper portrait. The haunting Vangelis score, which permeates the decaying world, creates suitably melancholic tension throughout.

The storyline is straightforward one: Harrison Ford’s Deckard is a highly specialised bounty hunter, known as a “blade runner”, who is tasked with “retiring” a group of escaped off-world colony slaves. These particular renegades are identified as being sixth generation replicants, the Tyrell Corporation’s most advanced model android yet, marketed as being “more human, than human”.

Whilst the movie is not as overtly theological as the book, the religious and philosophical notions are undeniably. Deckard’s main adversary is military model, Roy Batty, who returns to Earth in search of his maker, Eldon Tyrell, who he perceives as his only hope to save him of his built in obsolescence. The prodigal son’s raging against the dying of his bright light ends with him inflicting vengeance on his creator in a particularly violent and distressing way, epitomizing the extreme capabilities of men. Dick himself had become more acutely aware of the horrors of such dehumanization following the research he conducted into the Nazi regime for his earlier alternate history work, The Man in the High Castle. This violence, however, is markedly offset by Batty’s own redemption, as he saves Deckard from death atop the Bradbury Building at the film’s climax. His poetic soliloquy about how his memories and consequently, his key life moments will, in his death, be lost in time, like tears in rain, acknolwedges the complexity of the “human” condition.

Batty’s struggle with his imminent death, together with Rachael’s declaration that she is not IN the business, but IS the business, sparks Deckard’s own mortality musings, as the line between human and machine becomes irredeemably blurred. Without humanity, what is it that makes us different to the machines? The definitive version of the movie continues to explore this fundamental question, and Gaff’s silver unicorn leaves us without doubt about Deckard’s own existence.

May the fourth be with you – Happy Star Wars Day!!

May 4, 2015 by Eve England

Star Wars Kellogs breakfast cereal
Movie marathon begins!
Disney store glasses
Star Wars M&Ms
Hoth Dogs

Lassen Volcanic Nat’l Park – Edge of the world wilderness and my favourite National Park. So far…

April 25, 2015 by Eve England

The U.S. National Park Service will celebrate its centennial next year on the 25 August, having been established by President Woodrow Wilson under the Organic Act of 1916.

The precursor to this government agency was the proclamation of Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first National Monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, and the dedication by an act of Congress of Yellowstone, Mackinac (decommissioned), Sequoia and Yosemite as protected National Parks in 1872, 1875 and 1890 respectively. The fruit of America’s best idea needed an agency to nurture it, and the NPS was created “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Presently there are 59 National Parks located across 27 of the United States.

Whilst the UK has some truly spectacular National Parks, including our local park, the Brecon Beacons, those of the United States are just on a scale that our native gems cannot compete with. The diversity for one is incredible, with all manner of landscapes and wildlife to behold. To date, we have been fortunate to visit a number of National Parks on our travels (Biscayne, Everglades, Lassen, Death Valley, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion) all of which have been wonderful places. We have also visited Monument Valley, which is not, as is often thought of as, a National Park, but it is in fact a Navajo Tribal Park (which is a Navajo Nation equivalent). We are planning a trip to visit the three Washington parks, Olympic, Cascades and Mount Rainier in July. But clearly, there are still many more to yet to see!

#FindYourPark

As it is National Park Week, I am going to showcase my favourite National Park, Lassen, which is located in Northern California, at the lower end of the Cascade Range.

Lassen Volcanic National Park was established on the 9th August 2016, not long after the largest plug dome volcano in the world, Lassen Peak, erupted, and is one of nine parks in the state of California. Mount Lassen is one of only two volcanos to have erupted in the US in the twentieth century, the other being Mount St.Helens (Washington) in 1980. Whilst the giant peak has remained inactive, but not extinct, since 1915, the park as a whole remains restless, its hydrothermal features leaving the alpine area scarred with vividly bright fumaroles, boiling pools and geysers. The area is unusual in that it is home to all four volcano types: plug, shield, cinder cone, and strato).

The West: Lassen Peak Territory

The landscape of the park can be categorised into two distinct areas; the West is mountainous and jagged, interspersed with devilishly hostile sulphur vents and water features. Here you can take a short hike to Bumpass Hell, an aptly named gorge marked by a distinctive pallet of deadly pastels. The area can only be observed from a series of boardwalks, and at no time should visitors start from the safety of these elevated walkways, or else you may find yourself seriously maimed, as the areas name sake discovered to his detriment as he fell through the fragile surface crust into a boiling mud pool resulting in his leg being amputated.

Trail Overview: Bumpass Hell

Start: Bumpass Hell parking lot

Round Trip Distance: 3 miles

Round Trip Time: 2 hours

Terrain: easy 300 foot descent

Elevation: 8000 feet

The sulphur works are also nearby, as is the isolated and ancient Emerald Lake (home to numerous species that exist nowhere else in earth), both overshadowed by the towering peak of Lassen.

The East: Magnificent Desolation

This grandeur is contrasted starkly with the Martian-like lava plateau of the park’s East side, where many cinder cones rise eerily from the dark volcanic debris. The most well known of which is the Red Cinder Cone, surrounded by the Fantastic Lava Beds. Whilst there was originally some controversy as to when the cinder cone was last active, it is now agreed that the last eruption was around 1650.

To experience this alien place, enter the park from the Butte Lake entrance and drive for 7 miles along an unpaved road. The hike, whilst not long, is arduous, mainly because the 2k ascent to the top of the volcano is gravelly and steep. The sight from the top is worth the effort, and in spite of the blustery conditions on the top, a circumnavigation around the rim provides spectacular views of the rainbow lava dunes surrounding the base of the cone. If you still have enough energy, it is worth venturing into the depth of the volcano, where a scorio throne awaits you! Coming down the volcano was a breeze by comparison to the way up, but it was still a welcome sight to see the pine forest approach, with the promise of more secure terrain.

Trail Overview: Cinder Cone

Start: Butte Lake parking area. The Butte Lake area is accessed from highway 44, approximately 24 miles east of Manzanita Lake, and a two-hour drive from Drakesbad Ranch.

Round Trip Distance: 5 miles

Round Trip Time: 3 hours

Elevation Change: 846 ft

Elevation: 6,061 ft – 6,907 ft

Drakesbad Ranch: A little piece of paradise

For our trip, we stayed in the Southern area in the Warner Valley, where the idyllic Drakesbad Guest Ranch has been offering visitors with rustic lodging since 1900.

The area itself is a great base for hiking, and has numerous hot springs, with Devil’s Kitchen and Boiling Spring Lake a morning hike away.

Trail Overview: Devil’s Kitchen

Start: Warner Valley Trailhead 

Round Trip Distance: 4.2 miles 

Round Trip Time: 2 hours 

Elevation: 5,640 ft – 6,040 ft (6,080 high point)

 Elevation Change: 440 ft

Trail Overview: Boiling Springs Lake

Start: parking area west of Warner Valley Campground 

Round Trip Distance: 3 miles 

Round Trip Time: 2 hours 

Terrain: easy 200 foot climb 

Elevation: 5800 feet

Stables & Stargazing

The ranch’s highlight was the naturally heated pool that is available for use 24hrs a day. After nightfall, the bubbling dark waters offer the perfect spot from where the stellar spectacle, the Milky Way, can be seen in all its dazzling glory cutting through the starry canopy above. We were also treated to a clear view of the ISS passing by.

Rustic Living

But this place is not for those who cannot live without their tech – none of the rustic wooden cabins have power outlets, and were equipped with only a kerosene lamp and basic bathroom facilities. The shared shower block is located 200m away next to the pool. Expect to be joined by critters, but remember to keep all food out of the cabins, and to keep your door securely fastened to keep larger guests (like squirrels or bears) at bay. All meals at the ranch are included, and the food and local Californian wine was an unexpected luxury, and the sack lunch option sustained you on your daily adventures.Legendary Drakesbad veteran, Ed, made our dining experiences ones to remember and Nick managed to keep us moving after some warning lights coming in our Jeep – great service! The long evenings were spent with other guests around the creaking and popping campfire toasting s’mores and drinking honesty box beer.

Call of the wild

Having also visited Yosemite on our trip, there was something magical about our time at Drakesbad. It was so isolated (the lodge is 17 miles down a unpaved track from Chester), and so removed from our everyday hectic lifestyles that the only option was to truly relax and absorb the extreme wilderness. We saw so few people on our hikes, and compared to Yosemite, saw so much wildlife, including three black bears (including one too close for comfort encounter!), marmots and so many squirrels and chipmunks that the air was shrill with their chirruping.

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” – John Muir

Whilst most tourists fail to venture so far beyond Sacramento, the 7-hour trip from San Francisco is so very worth it. Lassen Volcanic National Park – My Park!

More information

http://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm

http://drakesbad.com

To the Batcave!

April 19, 2015 by Eve England

Hiking in the Brecon Beacons offers such diversity in terms of the landscape that is available to be explored, and yesterday, we visited what is known as Waterfall Country, in search of Bruce Wayne’s legendary Batcave.

The Batcave hides behind the tallest waterfall in South Wales (at 90 feet), in the county of Powys. The location was used in the last scene of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises, and the hiking trail was developed by the National Trust quite recently, as the area’s newfound fame attracted new visitors along the previously treacherous gorge.

The hike’s trailhead starts at the National Trust car park just outside the village of Coelbren (grid reference SN853121). Here, you descend a steep path into the valley, at the end of which you are faced with two routes. To head straight over to the falls, take the left option, and ascend a series of wooden steps to view the spectacular “Sgwd” (Welsh for waterfall). It only takes a few minutes to arrive at the idyllic spot, and it is a great place to have a picnic to admire the view. At this time of year, there was very little water flowing over the precipice, but earlier in the year, and during flood season, the flow is said to be quite spectacular. You can even walk behind the falls, and look out of the Batcave into the valley. The path is a little slippery and wet!

If you have time, then head back to the earlier junction, and take the path heading to the right. This is the longest section of the hike. Most visitors only go as far as the Batcave, but you really should keep going and experience the entire walk.

This footpath follows Nant Llech and the path traverses along the valley walls. The hike takes about 3 hours if you factor in time to immerse yourself in the wonderful surroundings.

There are a number of smaller, and just as beautiful waterfalls along the way, the first of which is Henrhyd small fall. There are some gorgeous rock formations visible as you follow the stream, and plenty of wildlife to admire, including butterflies, and hummingbird bees.

At the end of the trail, you come to the River Tawe, and this is where the path ends, and the spot where you start retracing your steps back towards the car park. The out and back trip is about 3.5 miles (6k), but if you want to extend your trip a little further, then you can follow an alternative path towards the Monkey Sanctuary at Abercrave. Entrance fees are 6.50GBP for adults and they have many primates and monkeys, including, chimpanzees, snow monkeys, limas and marmosets. You can also buy refreshments here (including Joe’s ice-creme) before you head back to the trailhead.

On our way back, we decided to stop by the Batcave again to see how it looked in the afternoon, rather than late morning sunlight – we were not disappointed, and the falls sparkled with the full range of the spectrum.

A beautiful hike with a movie flavour thrown in for good measure. Certainly recommended!

365 days on planet earth: happy birthday kitCat!

April 12, 2015 by Eve England

To celebrate kitCat’s first birthday, we had a small up, up and away party, featuring a piñata cake. The mini helium balloons were super cute, just like the baby birthday girl!

And here are the gifts we bought her from my favourite store, Think Geek! Hopefully the Elemental blocks will help foster a keen scientific mind and a healthy obsession with Star Wars and all things Geek Chic courtesy of the cutesy AT-AT plush!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KITCAT!!

Supplies:

Tiny balloons: http://prettylittlepartyshop.co.uk

Party Kits:http://www.gingerray.co.uk

AT-AT & Elemental blocks: http://www.thinkgeek.com

Marshmallow recipe:It all started with Mr Stay Puft

The Force Awakens: These aren’t the Easter eggs we’re looking for…

April 7, 2015 by Eve England

The ubiquitous Star Wars universe is full of “Easter Eggs”, and favourites from the franchise can also be found in other movie classics: E.T species hold seats in the Galactic Senate in Phantom Menace (with stranded baby E.T. crying “home” at a passing Yoda in the 1982’s classic Halloween scene); R2-D2 and C-3P0 are depicted as ancient hieroglyphs in the map room in Raiders of the Lost Ark (with the Ark itself making a cameo in Empire Strikes Back); and not forgetting Indiana Jones’ frequenting of Shanghai’s Club Obi Wan in Temple of Doom. Having had fun with a Star Wars Christmas back in 2013, why not then, have a Star Wars themed Easter this year?!

It’s a trap!

The table was set with an intergalactic tablecloth, vintage pie tins with star napkins. The worlds of Hoth, Tatooine, Endor and the Death Star “moon” were represented by the fabulous Think Geek Solar System glasses (available at http://www.thinkgeek.com), and vintage Star Wars figures.

I found some fab duck egg blue lichen on our wilderness walk that I used in some gorgeous blue chicken eggs to make a Lego stormtrooper egg-box terrarium.

The M&M’s were made by the magical machine housed in M&M World, Leicester Square, London. In addition to the Star Wars branding, you can also create your own designs and print there and then ready to enjoy at home – Truly AMAZEBALLS!!

Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?

Having seen a couple of pictures of Stormtrooper and Darth Vader chocolate bunnies on Pinterest, I decided to make some gingerbread versions with the left-over dough I had from the Six Biscuit Tournament. I was pleased with the end result, and was so pleased that I found an icing felt tip pen, which made the decorating task far easier than piping!!

Here, the Stormstoopers try a little spot of hunting, the prize, a gigantic Lindt Chocolate Bunny!

We’re doomed!

I found some brilliant ice cube trays from http://www.lakeland.com that I used to make homemade creme eggs – the detail of the space craft is particularly impressive! The iconic AT-AT was my favourite, and reminded me of the far more complex iteration I constructed out of gingerbread! (Click here to see the gingerbread version: (https://geekchic-hq.com/2013/12/24/they-used-to-laugh-and-call-him-names/)

Here, our favourite droids duo, Artoo and C-3PO encapsulated in chocolate and goo!

Laugh it up, fuzzball

And not forgetting the series’ other legendary pairing, the unbelievably arrogant, but undeniably awesome, Han and Chewie! Punching it around the Kessel Run in the piece of junk known as the Millennium Falcon!

Utini!!

Every year we make chocolate Shredded Wheat east nests, but this time they take on a mischievous guise, fashioning the desert attire of the Tatooine scavengers, Jawas.

That’s no moon. It’s a chicken!

And of course, it wouldn’t be easter without a couple of tacky fluffy chicks. Here, a more exotic variety is being trained by the Dark Side enforcers.

Star Wars day this year (May the fourth, of course) is going to be particularly notable, as it marks the start of the countdown to the release of the space opera epic, Episode VII, later this year!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Clash of Kings: Super Saturday Showdown

March 22, 2015 by Eve England

The conclusion of the 2015 RBS Six Nations championship proved worthy of a season finale George R.R.Martin himself would have been proud of.

As the participant nations broke their fast yesterday morning, it was a three-way battle between Ireland, Wales and England, with an outside mathematical chance for France thrown in for good measure.

There was no denying the billing had the makings of something great.

CHAPTER ONE: ITA v WAL (Stadio Olimpico)

Wales needed to secure as high a points tally as possible against Italy to have any hope of securing victory, but no-one expected had quite expected the riot that Wales wrought in Rome in the day’s opening clash. After only a 14-13 lead at half time, Wales pumped up the volume in the second half to win by margin of 41, with George North reminding us all of his sheer speed and power as he contributed to three of Wales’s seven mid-afternoon tries.

If nothing else, Wales’ performance had guaranteed a thrilling afternoon of rugby.

CHAPTER TWO: SCO v IRE (Murrayfield)

Having foiled Ireland’s chance of winning a second consecutive Grand Slam in Cardiff last weekend, Wales had once again made Ireland’ quest for the title difficult, by setting Ireland’s gauntlet for their next battle over championship outcasts, Scotland, at 21.

Ireland, however, cruised ahead of the Northmen, beating them by a clear 30 points. Scotland were left commiserating at the bottom of the table with their trusted wooden spoon in its familiar tow.

CHAPTER THREE: ENG v FRA (Twickenham)

For England, word from the North was unwelcome. The point deficit challenge surely, at 26, an insurmountable one. But England were certainly game for it, and what ensued was possibly one of the most exhilarating games of rugby in the tournaments’ long history.

The unpredictable French cast aside any thoughts of a possible surrender, and instead resisted fiercely against everything thrown at them by the attacking English pack. For the full 80 minutes, all 30 men on that grassy battlefield fought with both blood and sweat, the struggle epitomised by the terrifying bone-breaking tackle inflicted on France’s fly-half Jules Plisson by Courtney Laws.

It was an epic finale, and England managed to clock a massive 55 points against France’s 35.

But in spite of their most courageous efforts, it just wasn’t enough. England fell 6 points shy of what was needed, and the elusive title remained beyond the home team’s grasp for the fourth time in as many years.

EPILOGUE

After a staggering and record breaking 27 tries and 221 points, Super Saturday ended with Ireland lifting the brand new tournament trophy in Murrayfield, thus retaining their reign over the realm.

https://geekchic-hq.com/2015/02/08/tales-from-the-six-kingdoms-a-lion-doesnt-concern-itself-with-the-opinion-of-sheep/

Super Science Day!

March 21, 2015 by Eve England

Last Saturday may have been Super Pi Day, but today was Super Science Day, as the Spring Equinox corresponded with the best Solar Eclipse in the UK since 1999.

We were fortunate enough to have crisp clear skies this morning to witness this remarkable celestial phenomenon, after the warnings of grey and overcast conditions failed to materialise.

Productivity levels in the office dipped significantly as we deserted the building in favour of the nearby urban space a little after 9:00am, armed with a welding mask and pie tin to safely observe the heavens.

We watched mesmerised as our valiant yet invisible super-satellite slowly devoured all but a small crescent of our star, depriving us of the comforting light and warmth of what we would otherwise have expected from any other regular Spring morning.

It was a spectacular experience, but we will have to wait another decade for another partial eclipse, or a lifetime (2090) for the next totality to cast its shadow in the UK. To top off a wonderful day, I also received my amazing Solar System tumbler set from ThinkGeek.com, which includes a teeny-tiny Pluto, the old school planet that was sadly relegated to the status of dwarf planet in 2006.

It was strange to think that the last time I was enjoying the total eclipse back in August 1999, Pluto was one of the 9 undisputed planets, and no one was yet living on the ISS. Since then, we have seen humans achieve great feats, the most notable of late being the miraculous landing of the Philae lander on comet 67 P. One can only begin to imagine what exciting discoveries await us over the next fifteen years.

Today, then, lets all say a big “Yay! and Hooray!” for Science!