Sputnik Reality

Have you been watching the Sputnik coin orbit around the earth over the top of my Blog for the last few weeks? All that spinning overhead got my mind stirred up, so I clicked on the link to find out more. This Wednesday an orbital Sputnik coin will be released from Cook Islands. Produced by the Perth Mint, the coin honors the 50th Anniversary of the launching of the Russian satellite Sputnik. This event and what led to it is the subject of a fascinating article appearing this week on FOX News. Seems coincidence and genius both had a hand in launching mankind into space and solidifying the U.S and U.S.S.R. on a 40 plus year Cold War. Boris Chertok's new book Rockets and People, along with his interviews with the AP provide more indepth reading on the dawn of Soviet space exploration. But just as Sputnik created a huge societal stir, the Sputnik Anniversary coin is causing quite a little bit of stir among my fellow numismatists.

Often times the collectors here in Iola pooh-pooh new innovations as gimmicky and dismiss them as trendy objects destined for numismatic oblivion. This coin, however, seems to be garnering more interest from the staff. I'm not sure if it is the motion that transfixes them, the space theme, which ignites their imagination, or the history that catches their attention. In any case, they are interested and that made me curious enough to check it out.

In searching over the Perth Mint information page for the Sputnik coin several things jumped out. The first thing I noticed was that this coin is coated with a water-resistant finish, rather than being contained in a capsule. Perth Mint did this so that you can actually handle the coin and orbit Sputnik around the earth, making this one of the most interactive and yet quality contained new issues I have ever seen. It is struck in silver, one ounce with fineness of .999, but of course there are other elements there as well. The moon and earth orbital system is color and the moon overlaps the silver legend. The clear coating allows the moon to orbit without damaging the silver legend, which is good since the coin costs about $72.50. Packaging is also essential to this product, as there is an elliptical shaped case and special box displaying great graphics.

Sputnik is the first in a proposed run of five space coins in the Orbit and Beyond series. The next coin to be released will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the first Moon Walk by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, through NASA. This coin is to exhibit a Dynamic Imaging feature, which should also be new to numismatics.

Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Vodka Lemon

Hiner Saleem has an interesting outlook on life. You'll have no doubts about that after watching Vodka Lemon.

Born in Iraqi Kurdistan territory, Saleem left in his teens to avoid the oppression of SaddamHussein. His Kurdish origins have effected all of his films, may of which have been shot in Kurd territories in Armenia and more recently even in Iraq, after the U.S. invasion. Many of the elements in Saleem's films may seem symbolic, but in reality his recollections of Kurdish life coupled with what he experiences while shooting in Kurdish locations often dictates this artists sense of style. Put simply, if it looks good and rings true Saleem may use it in the film.

This approach gives Vodka Lemon an artistic quality. A story, which seems simple, but becomes more complex the more you mull it over. Framing and photography present the film as if it were a series of paintings in a gallery. Characters which you understand immediately, without any dialogue, but which you feel compelled to continue following just to see how they will navigate this barren existence. The situations are established and the viewer is left with as much hope for the characters as they lack for themselves. But the immortal theme of "love finds the way" is never far from the scope of the camera and, as the endorsement of Best Film from the Venice Film Festival indicates, Vodka Lemon provides a sense of satisfaction.

A simple story, with interesting characters and vast snow packed vistas, Vodka Lemon will leave you with a feeling of what life is like for the Kurds. Humor in the face of insurmountable adversity, or, to quote Saleems grandfather "Our past is sad, our present is catastrophic, but fortunately we have no future."