"Ground Control To Major Tom . . ."

So I have been listen to the song Space Oddity by David Bowie alot lately. I have always liked it (as can be seen on my playlist) but there was a car commercial that came out with a new version of it being sung by a female singer rather then the original version by Bowie.
I really liked it so I decided I should got to iTunes and see if I could find it (and also buy the original because I tend to like the original version of songs better then remakes for some reason) but I was unable to find it. I did , however, find a really awesome version by a Polish band called Silver Rocket that was released less then a year ago on an album called Tesla (a concept album centered around the inventor Tesla, pretty cool I think).
Well all this listening to it over and over trying to find the version I wanted made me really think about what this song means (that and walking all over gives you extra time to think as you walk so I often find myself thinking about really pointless things - LOL ). For those of you not familiar with the song I will provide the words and the tell you what I think it may be about. I am also going to google it and see what David Bowie has to say about why he wrote it which I will provide on here once I get the 411.

Ground control to Major Tom
Ground control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground control to Major Tom
(Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,)
Commencing countdown, engines on
(Five, four, three, two,)
Check ignition and may God's love be with you
(One. Liftoff)

This is ground control to major tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is major Tom to ground control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much
She knows

Ground control to major tom
Your circuits dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the moon
Planet earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do.


When I first started really listening to it I figured the beginning was a "liftoff" from earth but now I kind of wonder if he was on his way back in and this is why I think maybe he is coming back. They ask him to take a protein pill and put his helmet on. If you're leaving earth why would you be taking a food capsule? Also he talks about being above the world (not earth specifically) at first, then being 100K out and then above the moon which leads me to think he was getting closer not further away.
This liftoff seems to be a major event. Bigger then any one man. Some sort of success is made (like a man surviving liftoff from a far off planet and coming back) because in human like fashion people want to know where MT (Major Tom) shops! No one seems to care about the mission or MT himself.
Next it talks about leaving the ship (to fix what is thought to be a minor problem) and odd floating and the stars looking different. Makes me wonder if MT is commenting that he is off course? He also comments that the Spaceship seems to know where to go which also makes me think things are going bad, but he's hopeful because he is heading in the general right direction.
In a last effort MT tells ground control to tell his wife he "loves her very much" and they just brush him off, "She knows", as if they don't care about MT just the mission and if they tell his wife that then they are saying the mission has failed and they can't have that.
Ground control knows the spaceship has lost power and they can no longer reach MT. Then MT is saying he is floating "around" his tin can rather then sitting in it. This makes me think he has left the spaceship and is in his spacesuit in an effort to get back to earth and makes it as far as the moon before he realizes he won't make it.

"Planet Earth is blue and there is nothing I can do."

He can see earth. It's a huge blue ball in front of him. So close. To loose the race so near the finish is all most worse then a total loss I think. Watching hope die before you do has to be unbearable. Must be like dieing twice.

So I really wonder if this song was inspired by my other very thought about space scenario, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The name is very similar and from the look of the album cover it looks as though it came out right around the same time as the movie (my guess is after, but like I said all this will be revealed after I google it). I also wonder what David Bowie was saying in this song. Is it just some space type song because that was "in" then. Is it some clever commentary of the nature of man. A musical version of hoe he feels about man's place in space (as in we don't have one!)?
Why am I so obsessed with space? My Dad did work for NASA and tell me that those drawers in kitchens that were just for looks (the ones where there was no drawer but they make it look like there is one by gluing a piece of wood to the side of the counter facing out from the sink) was really a portal to another dimension and that's why they were glued closed (safety). Not sure if I can blame him or not because anyone who knows me and is dumb enough to let me start talking about it knows I hate being earth bound and that if I could I would LITERALLY get on a spaceship and head the 3.8x1016 m (apx 4 light years) to the closest star (Alpha Centauri, which is tech 2 stars) and be happy to die in space just to say I saw it. Honestly, to die in a silent space surrounded by the beautiful images of the universe doesn't seem so bad to me. But I would want to die in deep space not be on my way back, and sure as heck not so close I could see earth!!!!
I also wonder if I think way too much about things. Maybe there is no deeper meaning to most of life. It is what it is. Maybe I need to stop thinking so much. Maybe I am just making myself miserable with all the wonder. Maybe no one really cares so I am just wasting my time. Maybe no one thinks about this kind of stuff any more because they all have cars to drive and families to take care of and no time to spare. I think I must be a dieing breed. Seems everyone wants everyhting yesterday and "just as described", no "deep meanings". I'm sure I will drive myself crazy thinking about that too! Anyway worse case scenario I found a cool new band out of it. Go Poland music scene!!!

Yours, K.

P.S. ~ The pic is a real space image taken by the Hubble

A Year of Walking, Washing, And Waiting

So it has officially been a year since we had a car! Wow! It has totally sucked! LOL!
During the year of walking only twice has anyone ever stopped to offer us a ride. It;s been more of the opposite. Being flipped off or told to go "f*c% myself" because I am delaying someone's left hand turn despite the fact that I have waited for the walk signal and I am on the cross walk and with my five year old!!!! Another thing I wonder is why the heck I'm not a size zero after all of this walking!!!!
It has also been a year since getting my Luna pads and at least with that I have had an amazing exp! As a previous blog entry has stated, I am happy to be doing my part for the environment and also feeling more in control of my body at the same time.
The waiting has sucked too. I don't think we were built to be waiters.
Anyway 1/3 isn't bad and all I can do is hope that in a year from now I won't be walking or waiting, just washing.

Yours, K.