Friday, June 11, 2004
A couple other things to think about today
First, that the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning also happen to be the first (and still the only) NHL team to sign a female player-- goaltender Manon RhČaume, who played in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues in 1992, and who later played for the first Canadian women’s Olympic team in 1998, winning a silver medal. In my office at school I have one of Ms. RhČaume’s Tampa Bay trading cards (alongside my photo of the New York Rangers’ 1994 victory parade), and I’m not selling. Here’s to Manon, and her brother Pascal, who won the Cup last year with the New Jersey Devils.
Second, that the NASA probe Cassini makes its first encounter with the Saturn system today, flying by the outer moon Phoebe (which, with its retrograde orbit, is probably a “captured” object like an asteroid or the nucleus of a comet). Cassini was launched in 1997, and will spend the next four years orbiting Saturn, exploring its 31 moons. Cassini also carries still another probe, Huygens, which will parachute down onto the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, on December 24 of this year. It’s a shame that dazzling engineering feats like these don’t get the buzz they deserve, but that’s the way it goes.
Yep, it’s Nonpartisan Blogging Day here at this humble blog. May Ray Charles rest in peace. I’ll be back on the weekend with more of the usual.


