Radio Sushi – Deborah Conway – It’s Only the Beginning

Radio Sushi – Jane Wiedlin – Blue Kiss

Radio Sushi – David Bowie – Space Oddity

Lykke Li – I’m Good, I’m Gone

Radio Sushi – Big Pig – Breakaway

Louis Braille

Today is the 200th birthday of Louis Braille, the inventor of a writing system for the blind that allows them to read, a freedom that is often taken for granted by the sighted. Let us not forget how fortunate most of us are when reading these words with our very own eyes.

International Year of Astronomy 2009

This year is the International Year of Astronomy.

Every night when I look up into the sky I think, “how small and insignificant we are”. We are but one species on a planet which by chance has been able to sustain life. We are but one species which has come into being through the same chance. And we will end as a species someday just like other species that have come and gone. Such is the mechanism of life.

But by just being able to think about who we are and how small and insignificant really we are is truly a wonderful gift in itself. To see a star or galaxy and know what it is is something we were “given”, not through any real ingenuity or inherent intelligence that we achieved solely by our own efforts (though we like to think so).

So go out and look at the stars this year and meditate upon who we are and what we should be doing with our lives. This not about selling binoculars or telescopes (for I have never owned one), but rather it is about learning what life is about.

Think about the vastness of space. And if you live in the city think about the reasons you cannot see the stars so well at night and think about changing the way you live in order to understand how we lack respect for the environment, the space which we depend on for our survival.

The sky is a nightly free show. But it is one that we often take for granted.

Happy 2009

I hope everyone has a peaceful and contented 2009.

Remember, sharing is a far greater gift than any that we receive.