Skip to main content

Christmas Firsts #4 : Outer Space

"Santa sighted  in space" - WS 2017 
And today, just for something different in this line up of Christmas FIRSTS - The first song ever broadcast from outer space!
On 16 December, 1965,  that much loved Christmas carol ‘Jingle Bells” was the first song broadcast  in a “space” Christmas prank, performed by Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra, Gemini 6 astronauts as they were preparing to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
 …they sent this report to  Mission Control :
Gemini VII, this is Gemini VI. We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, up in a polar orbit. He's in a very low trajectory travelling from north to south and has a very high climbing ratio. It looks like it might even be a ... Very low. Looks like he might be going to reenter soon. Stand by one ... You might just let me try to pick up that thing.
The astronauts then produced a smuggled harmonica and sleigh bells and broadcast a rendition of "Jingle Bells.    (from Wikipedia)  And here is the recording at Jingle Bells from Gemini 6. 


This was the first recorded musical performance in space but certainly not the  most famous... 

One of the best tributes to  David Bowie (and appropriate, given his stratospheric reach) is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s stirring rendition of the singer’s 1969 single “Space Oddity,” recorded on board the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013. Hadfield’s video of the performance made history as the  first musical recording in space and has been viewed on YouTube almost 28 million times.
Chris Hadfield - Space Oddity at International Space Station. 
And on this fourth day of Advent with thoughts of Christmas carols in space, I wish you all "Peace on Earth " this festive season. 
PS : Did you know that Jingle Bells was originally written to be sung  at Thanksgiving, and was never meant to have anything to do with Christmas? It is now the song most associated with Christmas? 

Sources : https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/11/10749622/david-bowie-space-oddity-chris-hadfield-cover-memoriam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bells
 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Post a Comment
Read more

From my workshop page....

  Current Workshops  Offerings  Thinking of a workshop for your group in  2022?    Art Doll Workshops : -  Garden Thread Dolls  (one day workshop   -  WoW -(Woman of Wisdom)    - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head.  This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or  2 full days  days!   -  Message/Story  Stick doll  - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth.  ( one day)    -  Elemental totems  - stick doll variation , with sculpture  ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric)  TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS    Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style.    - Dipping Into Tea  - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric.  ( two days)  work by Judith Bee, workshop participant.  - Tea Bag sculpture : ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...
3 comments
Read more