I love George Hrab. He cracks me up. He’s funny, erudite, can put four Ecuadorean cupcakes in his mouth at once, sings awesome songs, and makes baldness teh hawt.
He also loves science, and that endears him to me even more.
He loves it so much, in fact, that he graciously wrote the theme song to 365 Days of Astronomy, the year-long daily podcast for the International Year of Astronomy. The podcast is created by you: anyone who wants to talk about astronomy and can record their voice.
The theme on the podcast site was abridged for time reasons, but now George has made available the whole darn thing. Give it a listen. It’s cool.
"And haven’t caused your ticker too much ventrical resistance" Wow. How can you not love lyrics like that?
And honestly, how many people do you know who can shoot fire out of their head?
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February 5th, 2009 at 8:05 am
That would make a good “The stupid, it burns” pic.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:27 am
So this is what Firestorm looks like when he gets older.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Four cupcapes and can shoot fire out of his head? Verily, each day he seems more and more divine.
A loud “Manganese!” for George Hrab! (What? What was that thing I just said?) (A reference.) (No it isn’t. You’re supposed to say “Manganese!” when you sneeze.) (So what’s the secret Hrabalite password, then?) (Dunno.) (Aww, crap.) (Enough of this already.)
February 5th, 2009 at 9:04 am
jack mitcham. epic win.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:05 am
I want a back-mounted barbecue! Only problem is I’ll need some kind of slave to walk behind me cooking my tasty, tasty meat.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:05 am
You talk about someone who can stick four cupcakes in his mouth at once and don’t include a video link? You’re slipping, Plait.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Cupcakes(chocolate, I hope) should be savored, not crammed willy-nilly into a cavernous organic ingester.
Humph! BArbarians!
Fire from the head? I’ve done that, but it was at my last Dead concert,,,
GAry 7
February 5th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Only Hrab could get a room ful of astronomers to sing along with the 365 Days theme song and LOVE it!!
February 5th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I see that he literally makes baldness teh hawt!
February 5th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Next on Bad Astronomy: “When Electrolysis Treatments Go Wrong.”
February 5th, 2009 at 10:11 am
“can put four Ecuadorean cupcakes in his mouth at once”
I’m curious, what exactly is “Ecuadorean cupcake” an euphemism for?
February 5th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I like how you could just caption his photo….”The Stupid, It Burns!” It’s like the cartoon in real life like, kinda…..maybe.
Just who was it that was talking to him right before this was snapped? That’s what I wanna know.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:03 am
George is great, and as my wife likes to point out, “He’s Ukrainian too!” Any of his band line-ups are a lot of fun, especially the Phildelphia Funk Authority. I tried to hire his quartet last June for a festive I produce (RiverRites Music and Art Festival in Easton PA)but he was pre-engaged. I highly recommend George to everyone.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:52 am
I loved it when Hrab sang about ‘precision’. Back (waaay back) when I did my dissertation on some interstellar clouds, I was happy to constrain neutral hydrogen and electron densities to within two orders of magnitude. When I excuse my inability to balance my books to the penny, I always say, ‘What’s an order of magnitude or two among friends?’ That aside, it’s a really good song. Reminds me a bit of my Accordion Hero, Weird Al, whose parodies are inevitably better than their originals.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Vibraphone!!!
Yeah, Geo is teh King of fun, entertaining skepticism. NO! Wait! Before you slap me:
Dr. Phil, Derek & Swoopy, PZ, Brian Dunning, Steve Novella, Rebecca Watson, James Randi etc. are also the Kings & Queens, but Geo’s songs are better *ggg*
oh, btw: I sponsored an episode of the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast and it was a very rewarding feeling
Just sayin’…
February 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Awesome song – and I really like the article just below the download link for the song; there may yet be hope for those Canadians …
February 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I was surprised to read the lyrics as “if there’s some doubt listen to us shout”, because I’ve always heard it as “listen to our show”.
February 5th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Looks like some bum did the Feb 4 podcast. Congratulations Richard.
February 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Here, made the poster.
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll312/jackmitcham/BurningStupidPoster.jpg
February 5th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Doctor-
We shamelessly adore you here at Geologic HQ. In fact your book is displayed on the counter in the studio. All it’s missing are the votive candles due a patron saint.
Thanks for all the sugar for the Hrab fellow. We are giddy from the the shout-out. Far out.
Huzzahs and yippees,
Ms. Information for the Geologic Universe
February 5th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Thanx, Shane! I made a point of doing a shout-out to Geo and a recommendation of the Geologic Podcast at the start of each of the 2 shows I’ve produced so far. For the NRAO podcasts I shot HDV video and pulled the audio tracks for the podcast. I will get around to YouTubing the uncut video sometime.
‘Lo Donna! I hope all is well in PA & NY!
I have 2 more to make, this time with the fine folks at UVa’s Astronomy Dept.:
Dec 3:
“Infrared instrumentation and the Large Binocular Telescope”
I will talk to Dr. Mike Skrutskie of the University of Virginia Astronomy Department about his construction of the LMIRcam mid-infrared camera which will be part of the University of Arizona’s LBTI/NIC the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer/Nulling Imaging Camera, on the LBT on Mount Graham. Dr. Skrutskie will also tell us about the TripleSpec trio of near-infrared spectrographs his laboratory is constructing, one of which is to be installed at the Apache Point Observatory.
Dec 16:
“When the Universe was Young”
I will talk to Dr. Mark Whittle of the University of Virginia Astronomy Department about the formation of the first stars and galaxies and the surprising implications of the WMAP mission’s image of the entire universe, the largest image ever taken.
BTW, I’ve ordered this:
http://www.alesis.com/protrack
to record the next 2 podcasts with the iPod Touch I already have. I’m -SO- psyched!
February 5th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Lol, that’s a great pic
George really is a talented and fun guy to be around, had the pleasure back at the AAS in Long Beach. Watch him, he’ll be uber-famous very soon – there’s only so much genius the human body can take before it goes global !
I still giggle at the 365 Days theme tune.
Cheers, Ian
February 5th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
plognark, my apologies for the outright theft of your intellectual property through the creation of a derivative work. If you want me to make this go away, say the word and it’s gone.
Phil, here it is: The Phil Plait Version of plagnark’s “The Stupid, It Burns”!:
http://anothermonkey.blogspot.com/2009/02/stupid-it-burns-phil-plait-edition.html
February 6th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I was very pleased to hear an astronomy theme that “doesn’t sound like Enya”.
February 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
YOU make baldness teh hawt!!!