Saturday, April 14, 2007

Yuri's Night 2007

Last night Mr. Evil took me to Yuri's Night 07: World Space Party, which was held inside a hanger at the NASA Ames Research Facility in Mountain View. Think science fair meets Burning Man. Yuri Gagarin was the first human to go into space on April 12th, 1961. Yesterday there were 126+ parties in 35 countries taking place simultaneously, in celebration of "the power and beauty of space and what it means for each of us".

I really wished that I had my camera last night -- the people watching was excellent. It was a like a big rave happening inside of the Exploratorium. There were science projects and vendors selling food and rave gear. There were people riding bikes with big light trees attached to them (words fail me here). People on stilts, artists painting up on stages, and everybody had some kind of blinking or glow in the dark accessory. There was even a big clear plastic buddha sculpture with multicolor lights inside of it. On the main stage we saw Plaid perform, which kicked off with video footage of the first US shuttle launch (saw one raver crying, overcome with emotion and Ecstasy). Space Cowboy was also there with their crazy DJ truck.

Mr. Evil said he went there to see Plaid perform. But I think he really just wanted to talk to the science guys :-)

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