America has stopped dreaming...

Dr. Neil degrasse Tyson is one of the most influential Astrophysicists in the world. He is also an outstanding orator, and frequently speaks on Astronomy and science in general.

I first discovered him while listening to excerpts of a TV show on youtube. He was an invitee on the show along with Richard Dawkins, a very well known evolutionary biologist who has written several remarkable books on evolution.

So what does all this have to do with America and dreaming?

I am a big fan of both of these gentlemen. A few days ago I started following Dr. Tyson on Twitter and read a couple of his tweets this morning. Here are a couple of videos where Dr. Tyson shares his thoughts on the importance of the space program in general, and NASA in particular on American enterprise and the future of America. Very thought provoking videos indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbIZU8cQWXc&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFO2usVjfQc

Tennis Bean Poles

What's with these ridiculously tall tennis players on the ATP tour? I am watching a French open match between a couple of bean poles - Kevin Anderson (6' 8") and Tomas Berdych (6' 5"). Actually Berdych is a relative dwarf when you consider other men on tour like John Isner (6' 10"), and Ivo Karlovic (6' 10"). Then there is Juan Martin Delpotro at 6' 6" and Marin Cilic at 6' 5".

It was not long ago that Goran Ivanisevic at 6' 4" and Todd Martin at 6' 6" were considered to be the "giants" in the game!

Of the present lot of giants, only Delpotro has won a major title, so the jury is still out on how much a height beyond 6' really helps in the sport of tennis. However these guys are a lot of fun to watch!

Then there are the women. I can count at least 5 of them beyond 6' - Sharapova, Venus Williams, Ivanovic, Kvitova, Azarenka. I am sure there are more. They don't stand out in the world of tennis like Pam Shriver and Helena Sukova did during their time.