Random Friday Roundup

The above picture is from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray observatory, which orbits at 580 km above Earth’s surface. Some have dubbed this picture ‘The Hand of God’. Kinda wacky, huh? The image in question depicts an event that apparently took place some 17,000 years ago (it’s that tricky speed of light thing). The ‘hand’ is the result of a supernova, which in turn created a pulsar – the bright white spot located at the ‘wrist’ – that has created a cloud of gas 150 light years across. Wowza! The red stuff is thought to be a gas cloud that just happened to be in the neighborhood.

It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the thought that everything you now see in this picture could be gone (after all, a lot can happen in 17,000 years). A mind-bending way to start off your Friday, eh?

Now, if you want to see the hand of Apollo, that’s right here. ;)

Moving on elsewhere…

The Guardian has news on Blur’s first reunion warm-up gigs. As I’ve clearly appropriated one of their songs for my blog’s name, I cannot go without reporting this information! [Guardian Music]

Bedwetting Cosmonaut (best name for a blog EVER) has news on Regina Spektor’s forthcoming album. If you read my Outside Lands coverage from last year, you’d know I have an unhealthy crush on Regina and could not pass up re-posting this information [Bedwetting Cosmonaut]

For those of you attending Coachella this weekend, Linda over at Speed of Dark has a great summary of acts you might want to check out. [Speed of Dark]

Title and Score is a new blog that plays with the idea of what a blog ’should’ be. They go with a visual approach, with simple album covers and a red score indicating their take on the album in question. If you click on the album cover, you can hear an mp3 and find buy links. [Title and Score]

Marcy over at Lost In Your Inbox has found an interesting correlation between Kings of Leon and M83. Decide for yourself. [Lost In Your Inbox]

I’m a new reader to David’s Mars Needs Guitars blog, but I think you should all take a look. He not only posts great music, but he writes very heartfelt, personal entries that I would never be capable of writing (I’m just too darn guarded). [Mars Needs Guitars]

Elhaam has a review up of a recent YYYs show she attended in NYC, and also has the latest tracklist from Guilty Pleasure available to peruse. Trust me – if you see something you don’t know and Elhaam is playing it, you should seek it out. They’ll be huge in no time! [Retarded Fantasy]

New Order – Touched By The Hand Of God

The Smiths – The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

Tags: bloglove, Blogroll, devo, friday, new order, the smiths