Last week, the University of Illinois Department of Aerospace Engineering hosted a 25-minute question and answer session with alumnus Mike Hopkins, a NASA astronaut currently aboard the International Space Station.
You can watch the full segment below. You can also catch his segment on last week's CBS Sunday Morning.
James Hathaway, frontman of Truck Parts, and member of Hathaways, is debuting this video for his track "Fangorn Forest" by way of JAPRO's Bedroom Broadcast series. Hathaway describes the meaning behind the song, which he describes as "an homage to Middle Earth and Tolkien-lore."
Hathaway filmed, recorded, and engineered the video and song in conjunction with guitar luthier James Meggas and Mothertone Drums founder Michael Turner. Hathway described his experience to me: "They had built these incredible instruments which I had been following closely in the early stages of development. When the designs were finished, I wanted to be one of the first people to show them off to the world."
You might be curious what Hathaways are up to these days. During the pandemic, the Hathaway siblings were split between the U.S. and Australia, though they have been working on material from a distance, and look forward to playing shows again when the time comes.
Watch the video below, and learn more about the song from the YouTube description:
Illinois Men's Gymnast Evan Manivong nailed his vault, then proudly whipped out his COVID vaccination card, which was tucked into his uniform. His epic flex has made national news.
This is quality content.
Screenshot from Illinois Men's Gymnastics Twitter.
Yesterday, Brooklyn Vegan posted a series of videos from 1990s punk/emo bands performing at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago, one of which happened to be C-U outfit Braid. There's a whole slew of acts they have new footage of, including Mineral, Rainer Maria, Unwound, Alkaline Trio, and more.
Watch the video below, which features an early version of a standout Braid track "New Nathan Detroits" from Frame & Canvas.
Top image from the video.
Sixteen years ago today, Illini basketball fans were taken on an emotional journey as our almost undefeated (thanks a lot Ohio State) team came from a 15 point deficit with just four minutes left to force an overtime and eventually make it into the Final Four.
I know we might still be in mourning after last Sunday, but let's just remember this glorious day in Illini basketball history as we start our weekends.
Top photo from FightingIllini.com.
Celebrate the winners of Parkland College's recent Youth Art Competition in this Zoom video.
Over the weekend, this tweet came back through on my Twitter feed, and was such a delight I have to share it here because of its local relevance. The clip features Roger and Chaz Ebert at the 1998 NAACP Image Awards, which was hosted by Steve Harvey that year.
Roger Ebert and Harvey have a quick interaction, which seemed to be part of what he was doing throughout the ceremony, picking out audience members to identify clips from songs. Harvey asks Roger where his "partner" was (which admittedly as I was watching it initially, I was thinking Harvey was referring to Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert fame), in which Roger points out that his wife, Chaz, was sitting right next to him. The rest I won't spoil for you, because the clip is too good. Plus, Chaz responded, so I've included that tweet here as well.
As the main author responds to his own tweet, "I promise this will improve your mood."
Top image from Twitter.
Archaeologists from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) are using a "3D structured light scanner in conjunction with archival data" to attempt to decipher the names and dates on the headstones in the two cemeteries. Early settlers from the mid to late 19th century are buried there.
The ISAS is recording the process. You can check out their work in this video:
Former Illinois men's basketball player Meyers Leonard, who currently plays for the Miami Heat, is under fire for dropping an anti-Semitic slur during a streaming session of the video game Call of Duty.
Leonard, who went to high school in Robinson, Illinois, graduated from the U of I in 2012, drafted #11 overall by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Leonard was in the news last year for standing during the national anthem while simultaneously pledging his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Here's the video which contains the slur, so be forewarned before viewing.
Top image from Twitter.
Mermaid Heaven has released another new song, "Nightbloom", by way of their gorgeous new video embedded below. You can listen/download the song on Bandcamp as well. The band released another great song, "The Thorn", towards the end of last year.
On their Instagram post about the track, they talk a bit more about the song:
sometimes people come into your life for a singular function. nightbloom is ‘that song’ for me - written in the kind of low that takes a baseball bat to the back of your knees. suddenly they were there with me, spinning in the darkness, holding my hand and pulling me from the water. I landed, a wreck, onto the fake beaches of their tiny planet orbiting the void. when someone has such a profound impact, the pain of them departing is overshadowed by gratitude. that is this song
Also, it is Bandcamp Friday, so all monies spent on that platform go directly to the artists today.
Top image from the video.
One of Illinois basketball's absolute all-time-greats, a member of the '89 Flyin' Illini, Kendall Gill, is a lot of us following Tuesday's blowout win against #2 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Collectively, there could not be more hype and enthusiasm around this Illinois basketball team, and yesterday on the Chicago Bulls' pregame show, Gill donned his #13 jersey, and provides a dance that I cannot describe as anything other than straight up feelin' it.
Watch the video below, and his tweet featuring him and his jersey beneath that. These are fun times for Illinois fans, even though we can't be part of the action as fans in seats this season.
Don't miss their next game on Saturday at 3 p.m. as they travel to Columbus to face off against #7 Ohio State.
Top image from Kendall Gill's Twitter.
Yeah, that win last night felt pretty damn good.
Top photo from Illinois Basketball Twitter.
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