Mr. Bubble

So I was in the park, having my weekly sketching practice. I wasn't feeling too well but I feel that it's important for me to practice drawing regularly. I was overlooking a small natural valley that has a large stage in the bottom. It is a venue for holding outdoor concerts and shows. Still uninspired and a bit cold from the autumn wind, I noticed a soap bubble. And then another one. And another. Actually, they were everywhere.

Following the source of this bubble storm, it turns out it was this guy who collects bubble guns. I ended up having a chat with him about his hobby. He has several battery powered toys that create constant streams of bubbles. Some of his guns have been modified to accept another battery (or two?) for a higher rate of 'firing'. He really was filling up this reasonably large amphitheater with bubbles. Apparently it only works that well if the wind is 'right' and if he is firing with the wind.

At first I thought it was a pretty weird hobby, but the more I think about it the awesomer it is. It was actually quite a sight to see that many bubbles, it did inspire me to do a bit of drawing and quite a few kids at the bottom started to go nuts when they realized that they were in the middle of this bubble storm.

Viking Lander

So I was sketching a scene in the local cemetery. After my drawing, I noticed a headstone with something unusual. It was for a sailor who died at sea by the name of Viking Lander. Immediately, I thought of the Viking Mars mission from the 1970's. It had a Viking Orbiter and a Viking Lander!
When I first saw this I thought it was an odd name... and he couldn't have been named after the the space probe by sci-fi nerd parents. He lived and died long before humans had put anything in space.
The original Viking Lander accidentally drowned at sea. According to Wikipedia, Earth lost contact with the Mars Viking Lander because of a... "Human error during software update caused the lander's antenna to go down, terminating communication." That makes both deaths sudden accidents. The obvious differences are that the remains are over 60 years apart on two different planets.