2.14.2006

i believe in outer space

Sunday night I grew quite weary at about 10:30, and around 11:00 gave up on the Olympics and headed for bed. I flipped on the TV in my room right before bed to see if the Flying Tomato had held out for the Gold, and as I was switching around the dial, I came across, for the first time in years, Jack Horkheimer, Star Gazer. (Apparently the show used to be called "Star Hustler," but had to be changed when they went online and search engines would turn up lots of porn results for that phrase?)

Jack was always something of an enigma to us growing up because, beyond the mere fact that he was a dude with funny sweaters who walked around in outer space and talked about astronomy, he didn't seem to have a regular air schedule. Every once in a while, you would turn on the TV and there he was. Often you missed the first 2 minutes of the 5-minute broadcast and had to figure out for yourself what end of the sky Alpha Centauri was inhabiting.

Actually, he may have been -- and may still be -- on a completely regular schedule on WQED, and I just never figured it out, mostly because he's not advertised and not listed in the TV listings.

Regardless, you can stream his bizarre little starwatching lessons or get the PODCASTED (whatever that's about) through that site, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any further merch to purchase (no t-shirts, or chain wallets, or back patches or anything).

And as always, keep looking up!