Roughly thirty bazillion people have sent me notice about this YouTube video. It was made by astronomers, and spoofs observing at the Hawaii observatory to the tune of "Hotel California" .
I am probably the last astroblogger on Earth to post this, and since Science magazine even had it in this week’s issue (click the image below for the text), I have to assume I am the last person to have actually seen it, too.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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December 29th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Oh my goodness, this one has me actually up in tears (I wanted to study astrophysics, but somehow deviated from the path and went into literature and philosophy instead).
Beautiful!
^_^J.
December 29th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Love it, love Hotel California and always wanted to Mauna Kea.
December 29th, 2007 at 9:07 am
When do we get the version about Super-Kamiokande?
December 29th, 2007 at 9:45 am
sorry, should have said I always wanted to go to Mauna Kea.
December 29th, 2007 at 10:00 am
…and I guess I’m the only astronomer who doesn’t think it is all that funny!
December 29th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Brilliant!
December 29th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Nope, I must have seen it because I didn’t know about it until you told me. Heh. Loved it, but what I really loved was the scenery. What a glorious place to work. From what it looks like in the video, those people know it.
December 29th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Apparently, I am now the last person on earth to have seen it.
Thanks for sharing!
December 29th, 2007 at 11:29 am
No, I’M the last person to have seen it.
December 29th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Now that is funny!
The real song Hotel California is kind of creepy if you actually listen to the words.
December 29th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Very funny. Now you weren’t the last one to see it!
“The real song Hotel California is kind of creepy ”
It’s more a lyrical version of Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s before I realized the full meaning of what Wolfe meant. I guess it happens to nearly everyone at some point in their lives. Maybe it hasn’t happened to you yet?
December 29th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Besides the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this is the other place I would love to visit!
December 29th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
“It’s more a lyrical version of Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s before I realized the full meaning of what Wolfe meant. I guess it happens to nearly everyone at some point in their lives. Maybe it hasn’t happened to you yet?”
It’s NOT about a cursed hotel in the middle of the desert?
December 29th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
“It’s NOT about a cursed hotel in the middle of the desert?”
LOL! If it was it would have been called Hotel Las Vegas.
December 30th, 2007 at 12:38 am
An altitude of difference between Hotel Mauna Kea and Mauna Kea Beach Hotel! One is closed after the big earthquake, but the summit one seems to be producing a mountain of new discoveries all the time, and they are willing to share the fascinating findings with the local citizens. How lucky we are to have such a world renowned observatory in our neighbourhood. The summit is snow capped for the past few weeks. I bet the tail bashing humpbacks also enjoy the spectacular backdrop.
The only odd feature of the song is her pronunciation of ‘Kea’. She makes it into a triphthong like ‘Keia’. She has a nice voice, though. The guitarist is superb! Wish he performs at one of the outreach lectures at Keck HQ.
Enjoyed the video thoroughly.
Mahalo!
December 30th, 2007 at 2:21 am
‘S okay, everyone. I’m the last person to have heard of this.
It was cool.
Thanks, BA. If you had not blogged about it, I would not have heard of it ever.
Blake Stacey - I guess if they do a “Super-Kamiokande” it would have to be to the tune of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.
In a lab I worked in in Glasgow a few years back, we did a short parody of the song “Bob the Builder” :- “Clare the Cloner”. It caused much amusement, but we were not sufficiently musical to do a good job of recording it a la Hotel Mauna Kea.
December 30th, 2007 at 4:48 am
Okay, so when do other observatories get their own songs?
Stuck on Kitt Peak (Dust in the Wind)?
J/P=?
December 30th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Absolutely wonderful. So much talent and effort. And that Kelly! Any chance she might like older men? I am in love, and I don’t mean with the scenery. She has a second career (on stage) if she chooses. And, yes, great guitar as well. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Clever. Kelly does have a lovely voice, but I’m going to reword MO Man’s post:
They’re lucky they only got a flat tire. When I was up there last July my guide said taking one’s own car can be risky over the gravel roads and tow-trucks cost upwards of $600. It’s beautiful up there, though, and it was definitely a “hotel” I didn’t want to leave. Thanks for posting it, BA.
Now I can’t get, “On a volcanic highway, cool wind in my hair…” out of my head. (-8~
December 30th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
“Pale mists of the cyrogen,… drifting down through the air…”
LOL
December 30th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Love it! I feel so sorry over the tribulations of the poor folks who must make their living stargazing in Hawaii.
December 31st, 2007 at 1:17 am
[…] iedereen een fijne jaarwisseling, niet teveel oliebollen eten en oppassen met vuurwerk. Bron: Bad Astronomy Blog (en bedankt voor de tip Rene). […]
January 4th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Cecil Adams, in his The Straight Dope column, made a fairly good case that it’s about drugs, e.g., “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
April 14th, 2008 at 5:54 am
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