some math poles -
here
some control theory poles -
here
Dave might go for an aggregation of stardust in relation to a celestial pole. Or just the simple 'ship-star'.
or you can go for more variations of nerdy engineer jokes below
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A large diplomatic delegation from Poland gets on a plane to go to a UN conference. The plane takes off normally, and everything seems fine during takeoff. Five minutes into the flight, however, the plane starts flying erratically, inverts, and crashes killing everyone onboard. The investigators analyzing the crash are dumbfounded since everything seemed to be in order with the aircraft. Eventually, they bring the problem to a contol engineer who immediately recognizes the problem: "It's simple really... you had poles in the right half of the plane!"
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Q: Why do Eastern European airlines fly half empty?
A: There must be no poles in the right half-plane
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A group of Polish people got on a plane to New York. For some reason, they all ended up getting seating on the left side of the aisle, and spent their trip talking about this and that. As they approached New York, the pilot announced that they were now passing over Liberty Island and that if people looked out of the right side windows they could see the Statue of Liberty. Our Polish people rushed to look, and as they did so the plane immediately plummeted and crashed into the ocean.
Why?
... too many Poles in the right half-plane.
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Conjugate Poles
The Russian airline Aeroflot has a flight which goes from Moscow to Prague with a stop at Warsaw.
On one day the plane stopped at Warsaw, and a couple got on and seated themselves on the starboard side of the aircraft. On take-off, the aircraft gyrated violently and crashed. The accident investigation board concluded that the aircraft became unstable in flight because it had a pair of conjugate Poles in the right half of the plane.