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If you visit LA and get the opportunity to go see a concert at the legendary Hollywood Bowl – take it! The sound system there is one of the best I’ve ever heard, you’re out in the fresh air, it’s got enough ambiance to choke a mule. We can even tell you how to avoid the horrific traffic getting in or out.

Tonight, not only was there a great concert, but at 21:20 there was a very bright ISS pass. I knew when it was and had an idea where it would be, so at the appointed time, as Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga were singing “The Lady Is A Tramp,” we watched the ISS rise behind us, pass the moon, and then head to the northeast right behind the bowl and the hills. It was fantastic!

The music was pretty awesome as well. Even if we were in the mid-range seats where the better view was on the high-def big screens. Remember, awesome acoustics and sound system. Great band. Tony Bennett. Lady Gaga. Tony Benett and Lady Gaga.

Great night.

Jessie and Joey Chan are similar ages, no more than a few months apart, so they’ve essentially lived with each other for their entire lives. Given that, they don’t fight, especially “like cats and dogs”. There’s a lot of mellow in the domestic pet corps these days.

But…

Jessie has always been a typical canine begger (big brown, sad eyes plus a look that makes you think she’s just seconds from starvation) who gives you her undivided attention if you’ve got food. Joey was always cat-aloof, never deigning to acknowledge your presence, no matter what you had.

But as the joke goes, in her old age Joey’s gotten “feline Alzheimer’s” which makes her forget to be aloof. For the past year or so, if food’s being consumed, both of them will sit there side-by-side, staring, starving, fading away to spectres before your very eyes. (You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a cat eating bacon.)

Jessie’s bright enough to suspect that “her” portion of the “people food” is now being split with Joey. (It’s not.) When the meal’s over, Jessie will always run over to where Joey was eating and sniff the area thoroughly to make sure there isn’t anying left.

Tonight, well away from meal time, Joey gave into one of her other base feline instincts. She raided the presents under the Christmas tree, stealing one of those stick-on bows off of a package. Her kill safely clamped in her jaws, she trotted out to the middle of the floor and started gnawing on it.

Jessie watched all of this with an expression of horrified disbelief. “Did she get something and I DIDN’T?!”

It was comical enough watching Jessie fidget for five minutes, looking from Joey to us to Joey to us to Joey to us… “Why aren’t you DOING something about this?!”

But even better was Jessie’s reaction when Joey had finally had her fill of plastic, nylon, and cardboard. (I’ll be finding purple thread in her poop for days – something to look forward to!) Joey sauntered away to bathe, at which point Jessie rocketed across the room to check out this travesty of justice.

She sniffs, she tastes, she’s baffled. Joey was eating this while Jessie didn’t get any — it MUST be food!

They’re simple creatures. It’s why they’re so cute. (They think the exact same thing about me BTW.)

The second day of the NASA Social at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center was just as good as the first, with some amazing hardware seen (and even touched) and some great talks.

And I’m going to tell everyone about it later, ’cause I’m about ready to faceplant right into the keyboard. (If you just can’t wait, there are tweets and photos shown on the right.) Two nights in a row with less than five hours sleep is for the young, and that ship sailed on me a while back.

So for tonight, I’ll let you see how we ended a second long day at NASA Armstrong, with a nice sunset over a BUFF at the museum on base.

For those not familiar, a BUFF is that B-52 Stratofortress there, but it’s referred to as a “Big Ugly Fat…Fellow.” Yeah, that’s it, “fellow!” At least, I’m pretty sure that’s right. What else could it be, after all?

…and we’re going to be here late, late, late. All of us here are having a great time. All of you there should talk amongst yourselves.

When do we get cake?