Yogi Berra-isms

Whats a Yoggi Berra-ism? You've seen that insurance commercial with the duck when Yogi is in the barber's chair and he says "And they give you cash, which is just as good as money."
If you heard any others, or have some of your own, here's the place to share them. Here's a couple to start:
"Things will get better if they don't get worse first."
"If you're going to count your chickens before they hatch, you'd better count the eggs too."
An yours is......

A Trick or Treat Treat: The Moon and Venus

NASA just put out a press release about the Moon and Venus in the western sky after sunset. The Moon will be slightly below Venus tonight, next to it tomorrow night, and between Venus and Jupiter Sunday night. No telescope needed as the Moon, Venus and Jupiter are the three brightest things out there after sunset. You do have to look fairly soon after sunset because they will set fairly quickly (the Moon sets at 7:00pm in Racine tonight). Next month, things get really cool when Venus, Jupiter and the Moon all have a really close gathering December 1st (don't worry...I will post a reminder!)

However, knowing weather in Wisconsin, I would check them out tonight since the forecast is for clear skies!

It's beginning to look a lot like Festivus

The Racine Post has a great story and photographs here on downtown Racine's holiday (don't say the C-word!) tree going up yesterday. I happened to see it arrive when I was at the Post Office. Of course, it got me to thinking more about Festivus, for the rest of us. Who do we see about erecting a Festivus Pole on Monument Square this year? Do we need a permit to perform the customary Feats of Strength and Airing of Grievances on December 23? What about the holiday parade? I have a small trailer - we can put a Festivus Pole on it, put some JTI banners on the side, and show Racine how Irregulars celebrate the holiday. I think this is a great idea - as long as someone else does all the work. Happy Festivus to all!

Just for grins - I had to check Google

JT IRREGULARS
The Master Crayola Artist. Don Marco was born in Northern Minnesota in the late 1920's. .... The first email today comes from Mr. Logjam, who writes: ...www.jtirregulars.com/ - 273k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

JT IRREGULARS: Talk About Crayons on the Bus...Check This Guy Out
Oct 29, 2008 ... Don Marco..... The Master Crayola Artist. Don Marco was born in Northern Minnesota in the late 1920's.His interest in art was evident even ...www.jtirregulars.com/2008/10/talk-about-crayons-on-buscheck-this-guy.html?showComment=1225391820000 - 6 hours ago - Similar pages - Note thisMore results from www.jtirregulars.com »

Hubble Rises From the Ashes as Phoenix Fades

The Hubble Space Telescope is back working! And just to strut it's stuff check out its first image.


This pair of galaxies is known as Arp 147 (from Halton Arp's list of peculiar galaxies) and has been dubbed the Perfect 10. The galaxy on the left seems to have just plowed through the middle of the galaxy on the right setting off a round of star formation (massive young stars tend to be nice and blue like you see in the ring).

On a sad note, the Phoenix Mars Lander entered safe mode due to low power. It is heading toward winter in the northern hemisphere on Mars and the lander is getting less power (possibly compounded by dust building up on the soalr panels). They are shutting down various heaters on it and other instruments to save power and keep it going as long as possible. We knew this was coming. Soon the Sun will set for the long winter. Snow will probably build up on the solar panels and break them so no one really expects it to wake up again in the spring. It has been a good mission, achieved all its goals and a few bonuses, and has lasted longer than its original 90 day mission.

Phoenix has served us well.

Reprinted with permission form the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

ExxonMobil posts biggest quarterly profit ever, $14.8 billion

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2008-10-30-exxonmobil_N.htm

In other news, Congress reported today that they still can't figure out why retail gasoline prices rose so high in recent years or where the money is going.

"The free market is a funny thing," snorted Senator Pocketstuffed, "especially when it ain't free."

The Chesire Cat Gravitational Lens

I just found this gravitational lens from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey which has been dubbed the Chesire Cat.

Hopefully you can see the eyes and the smile near the center of the image.

The two eyes of the cat are two massive elliptical galaxies about 4.5 billion light years away. These galaxies are bending and distorting the light of more distant galaxies (at least two different galaxies have been identified) to form the smile. These more distant galaxies are about 8 billion light years away.

Gravitational lensing is one of those weird things predicted by Einstein. He said that a massive object (say a galaxy) could warp space. Light from a more distant object would follow this strangely curved space time and creates all kinds of interesting patterns such as arcs, crosses and circles.

Gravitational lenses are useful for mapping dark matter. By looking at the pattern we see, we can calculate how much matter is present and how it is distributed. We can also look at the matter we see and conclude that what we don't see is, well, dark matter!

You can see the Chesire Cat and a bunch of other gravitaitonal lenses from the SDSS at at the CASSOWARY Graviational Lens page.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Death From the Podcasts

Last week I blogged about my friend Phil Plait and his new book Death From the Skies. It turns out he is doing a virtual book tour and you can join him.

First up is an interview with my friend Pamela Gay at Astronomy Cast. You can hear him talk a lot about the topics in the books. This podcast is free to download or you can listen streaming.

Next stop is an interview on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. This one is in my mp3 player now, waiting to be listened to. I have been listening to this podcast for a while so I have no problem giving it the recommendation.

Some people say they will wait for the movie of the book...now I guess we wait for the podcast!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Talk About Crayons on the Bus...Check This Guy Out

Don Marco..... The Master Crayola Artist

Don Marco was born in Northern Minnesota in the late 1920's.His interest in art was evident even before starting school. As a young adult in the Army Air Corp, he began his life's career in Air Traffic Control, which continued until his retirement from Honolulu International Airport in 1973. Much of his spare time was spent as a professional artist. Before retirement, Don started developing a technique to create fine art, using Crayola Crayons. Shortly after retiring, he published his first print. Living in Southern California , his work was in demand, including commissions from Burt Reynolds and a one-man show at his Dinner Theater in Florida. Hard to imagine these are done with crayons!!!

There are many images so I posted them here to save space.......

“Mr. Crayola”

Oh No Another Game to Play

Hangman...and I suck at it....

“Hangman”

A Translation of Joe Cocker at Woodstock

Those who listen to Joe Cocker know sometimes he is very hard to understand. This video has illustrations and captions of all the words when he sang “With a little help from my friends” at Woodstock.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Boo to you, my ghouls and goblins! Happy Halloween! This is one of my favorite times of the year. Please enjoy my holiday blog.


The first email today comes from Mr. Logjam, who writes:

Madame,

With Halloween coming up, I am in need of your vision into the mystic. Looking forward into my past, is my younger self going to get the good candy this year Trick or Treating or am I doomed to a bag full of Tootsie Rolls like in the past?

My gratitude to you is as always.

Dear Logjam,

Your query brought a tear to my eye. Looking forward into your past, I was filled with melancholy at the prospect of young Logjam facing another Halloween with nothing but little logs of hard, stale, chocolate taffy to show for it. Therefore, I did something that I rarely do; I altered the space-time continuum. Oh, don’t worry, not by much. Just enough to give young Logjam a Halloween filled with Hershey bars and Three Musketeers bars and Snickers and Milky Ways and gobs of other goodies this year. Please let us know how the memory feels as soon as you receive it, Mr. Logjam.

P.S. To all of you: messing with the s-t continuum usually has some side effects like people and/or other forms of life suddenly fading into and/or out of existence in the present. And buildings. And maybe a few other things. And history is changed. You’ll get used to it. Or dematerialize. You should check out who is running for president now!


The second email today comes from a “Ms Awa Dominic,” who has a familiar way of saying things:

Hello Dear,

In the galaxy where all is beauty i fine it necessary to approach your Platform these way, well i apologies if my mode of contacting you will any way offend you,as well pardon me for the inconvenient it will take you in listen to my magistrate,i got your contact when i was searching for business partner,one fact to know is that, the essential sadness is to pass through life without experience, yet is also sad to pass through life without sharing once experience and weakness to others,if this is true of me.

I am Ms Awa Dominic, From Sudan,my mother die when she was giving berth to me,and my father Mr Dominic Dim Deng,is a military delegate whom die in the recent plane crash, see the web http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7380412.stm I am residing is Senegal since the war of Sudan,I want you to assist me retrieve my late father sizable asset , so that i come over to your country for investment.Thank for your anticipation.

Dear “Ms Awa Dominic,”

Or should I call you Stella the Stargazer? Or Andrea the Mystic? Or whatever other names that you, Shirley Deister, of Brookfield, IL, are going by now? I recognize that “Awa Dominic” alias from Cook County jail over 20 years ago. Shirley, I knew that you were low, but I never thought you’d stoop to email scams. This is my territory, so hit the road, “Dear,” and take that flakey assistant of yours, Thomas P. O’Dea, with you! If I'm lucky, you both dematerialized after you sent me that spam.


I have more online tricks and treats for you this week:
Try out Ben & Jerry’s Halloween Experience.
Be sure to visit BlackDog’s Halloween Party.
Check out FreeHalloween.com.
And my personal favorite, Halloween with Boowa & Kwala.


Finally, my friends, I just have to put in a good word for the Burlington Vortex Conference this weekend. (Journal Times story here.) My booth will be the one with the flashing neon JTI sign. I hope to see you there.

Don’t forget to email your questions and comments, phantoms and apparitions, possessionss and visitations to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com. Have a haunted week.

Dosvidanya, dears.

"Don't Turn Your Back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck!"

Such is the warning given by the Doctor in the wonderful episode of Doctor Who titled Blink. Given that is it Halloween and this is a classic horror episode, now is the time to rent the DVD (its in season 3 of the current revival).

For the unititated, Doctor Who follows the adventures of a Time Lord known as the Doctor. It first aired on the BBC in 1963 and kept going until the late 1980's. It was recently revived and reimagined by the BBC.

Blink starts with young woman named Sally Sparrow exploring an old mansion. She finds a message with her name on it under some old wallpaper telling her to duck. She duck just as a rock passes over her head. She returns to the site with Kathy, a friend of Sally's. Kathy disappears. Sally instantly meets a young man who claims to be Kathy's grandson with a letter for her. And thus begins the mystery.

Don't blink Doctor Who
Uploaded by silent_howl

This is a classic horror story. You never see the monsters...they are always just out of sight, waiting for you to look away...or even blink. Only two people die in the episode, no blood or gore, but the story is written so you care about these characters which gives their passing more impact.

Fans of Back to the Future will recognize lots of the same time travel paradoxes played with here. The creepy ending will leave you jumpy the next time you see a gargoyle.

So rent this for a good scare this week...and whatever you do, don't turn you back, don't look away, and don't blink!

Dining out in the World

This is a neat little quiz about etiquette around the world.

“Dining out in the World”

From your coordinator -little, managable, irregular, minor glitch..

Hi everybody, this is your humble events coordinator.
Please answer the following so we can get something in the works,
thanks!
Question #1 - How does a bowling/darts/pizza night sound?
Question #2 - When are you guys available?
Check your emails, you should have one
with the alternative dates,
Please let me know what works and what doesn't.
(At Paradise West on Hy 20)

Input? What works for you? Does this sound like a decent plan?
Any questions, please email me at lizardmom@wi.net
thanks!!

Here’s one for all the cooks out there......

Should be something for everyone.....

“Goodies for the Holidays”

BRRRR... Frozen Monday OPEN BLOG!!!

Time to pull out the long undies, it's cold out there!!!
Last week was a very long week with tragedies to start the week,
the reality of it all didn't hit me until this morning,
between that, and the cold, and the very fact that it's

MONDAY...

How about we start this week with some good humor,
I NEED IT!!
So what do you have to help this week start out better???
SER, I know you have plenty, lets get the giggles going!

Is anyone else having trouble with this site using Firefox?

Since yesterday evening, I cannot properly view this site in Firefox, my favorite internet browser. (The blogs are stretched across the page and the sidebar appears at the bottom of the page.) I'm using Internet Explorer to post and read this, and that works fine. The JTI CHAT page appears OK in Firefox, as do all the other blogspot blogs I've visited. So, is it just me?

Liberal HollywoodFor Obama

Okay, it was funny enough seeing Ron Howard do this, I had to post it.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

The Big Picture: Enceladus

The Boston Globe's Big Picture is spectacular this week, featuring Saturn's Moon
Ecneladus as seen by the Cassini spacecraft. Here is my favorite.

Okay, there are actually three objects in this picture. First you will notice an edge on view
of Saturn's rings. The big dark circle with a ring of light is Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Titan has a thick atmosphere that scatters sunlight making that distinctive ring. Then you
will see the small dark moon Enceladus about 2 O'clock on the ring of light around Titan.
Since we see the Sun eclipsed, we are looking at the night side of both of the Moons.

Be sure to check out the entire collection of pictures.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Have a Frankenbeer for Long Life

We have a thing about those French, right? They eat lousy diets but are healthier than we are. One idea about why is because they drink a lot of wine that is high in resveratrol. The University of Wisconsin recently published a study on the effects of resveratrol.

Well, we Americans don't want to drink no stinkin' wine...we are beer drinkers! So a group of students at Rice University set about finding a solution: a genetically modified strain of yeast that will produce resveratrol! Unfortunately, these are geeky students, not beer brewers and their first batch reportedly wasn't exactly a fine beer. But they are turning to Saint Arnold Brewing Company to get it right.

Soon we too will be able to eat poorly, drink beer, and still live a long, healthy life thanks to the geeks!

Oh, and that is another bottle of geeky beer: Galileo's Ale that was introduces at last summer's American Astronomical Society meeting.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophyscist Blog.

"Don't expect as much snow this year"

The crystal ball gazers at the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin are predicting weather months into the future again: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/33213629.html. Never mind that they cannot accurately predict tomorrow's weather.

After years of working in landscape, I came to trust NWS predictions about as much as I do Madame Zoltar's. In fact, I trust hers more. Yeah, this is one of my pet peeves, a taxpayer funded service that makes useless pronouncements about the future. I remember the "major winter storm" that NWS said was going to hit us a few years back. Their hyperbole reached fever pitch as the system approached. Death and devastation were inevitable. Racine Unified cancelled school. Businesses closed. Everyone hunkered down. And then . . . , nothing. not even a snowflake. Oops, my bad, said the NWS, and then geared up for their next big scare.

Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of a government weather service. The Sullivan NWS forecast for Racine is still my homepage. But ask anyone who works outdoors and they'll tell you that the NWS is more interested in sensationalism and dramatics than they are in accurately predicting the weather. I consider their forecasts to be guidelines for the next 12-24 hours, at best. If my gut tells me differently, I trust that because it has proven to be much more accurate than anything the NWS says.

I know that people consult farmers' almanacs and other sources for predictions about upcoming seasons. Fine. We all want to know what's coming. I mean, just think back to last fall and all those dire predictions from the NWS about the killer winter that was about to blanket us. Remember how they told us that we were going to have a record year for snowfall? Remember how they advised local communities to stock up on salt and snow removal supplies? Remember how well prepared we were for the events of last winter thanks to the predictions of the National Weather Service? Remember? No? Gee, neither do I . . .

Friday's nights Lost Video Part III

You want the best... you got the best ..... (punk band in the world that is) The Clash with London calling. RIP Joe Strummer.

Friday'sLost Video Part II

Ok, follow me on this one....

The Foo Fighters are Dave Grohl's post Nirvana music avenue, which for the first album was just Dave playing all instruments and singing. The songs were ones he wrote while a member of Nirvana, but never showed them to Kurt Cobain because he didn't think they were good enough. He decided that a whole band was needed to tour, so the Foo's became a four man outfit, and a second album was done (and many more since). This song is called "My Poor Brain" and is my fav from the 2nd album "The Color and the Shape"(1997). Im also addicted to the bridge riff on this song!!!

Now about this song was not played in concert alot, and some English Foo fans went to 6 concerts to get Dave to play this song. From a poster called Emily:

I went to see the Foo Fighters on their UK tour, i went to these dates:

Manchester
Birmingham
Sheffield
Cardiff
London
London

At each show we held up signs saying "My Poor Brain", and nearly every show Dave said no way. On the Saturday at London he said "I'll play it tomorrow! ok? i will!" then it came to Sunday and he kept his word and played it second to last :)
Props to all the Foo Fighters Postboard people, you made this tour one hell of a laugh!!

Now this vid is a cross between the live intro from the London concert, merged to the album version of the song and concert footage. Please enjoy! (Sorry about a couple of "F" bombs)

Friday's Lost Video Part 1

Alice in Chains formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley. Although widely associated with grunge music, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and acoustic elements. The band is known for its distinct vocal style which often includes the harmonized vocals of Staley and Cantrell.

Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.
Although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity due to Layne Staley's problems with substance abuse, culminating in his death in 2002. "No Excuses" is in my opinion one of their best songs. Please enjoy.

Video That SHould Have Stayed Lost..

Sarah Palin is well known for saying she can see Russia from Alaska (even though she has never been to that part of Alaska as far as anyone can tell). However, that also means you can see Alaska from Russia...and they like what they see!

"The Stink in Farts Controls Blood Pressure"

"A smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice, a new study finds.

"The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide (H2S), can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well, out.

"The new research found that cells lining mice's blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents' blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). This gas is 'no doubt' produced in cells lining human blood vessels too, the researchers said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20081023/sc_livescience/thestinkinfartscontrolsbloodpressure


I know that this may not be the most pleasant subject for posting, but I consider it part of my duty as a responsible blogger to keep everyone updated on advances in medical science.

I also wanted to show my ex-wife that I wasn't lying when I said that I had to pass gas or I would explode. Now I know why I developed high blood pressure after all those years of trying to stifle nature's release valve.

YEAH!! It's Friday, if you're not on the bus yet, get in!

I guess we're somewhere in California, darn auto pilot!
We're heading to Florida next if I can get this thing turned around...
Pool party at Beejays!!!

What Will Happen at Midnight Tonight?

While having another useless conversation with a couple of friends of mine, we pondered the following question: What will happen at midnight tonight? There are two correct answers; 1) Today will come to an end 2) and so will tomorrow. If tomorrow continued past midnight, it will be today. And if tomorrow did continue past midnight, it would be the tomorrow today that we talked about yesterday. Makes sense don't it?
And that's another thing. If you replace the "b" in "bone", with a "d", why is it done?

Captain Kirk to Lieutenant Sulu: Plot a Course for the Planet of Bitter Recriminations

http://www.williamshatner.com/

Set your phasers on stun and then shoot yourself in the mouth.

States target sex offenders before Halloween

There's an AP story here about how various states have laws governing the activities of registered sex offenders on Halloween. Most of them specify that sex offenders can't have contact with children or Halloween activities, cannot dispense candy, etc. The ACLU is fighting the laws in one area.

I never thought about it before, I mean, specifically prohibiting sex offenders from participating in a holiday that revolves around children. Sounds like a good idea to me, but I know that the "rights" of sex offenders is also an issue.

Truth is, I have no idea what we should do with "those people." I know an individual who committed a horrible sex crime against a two year old. He was tried, convicted, served time in prison, and his parole included sex offender counseling and classes. As far as I know, he has not committed another such crime. I also felt that he never fully accepted responsibility for his original crime because he always said that he was out of his mind drunk when he did it, and it would never have happened had he been sober. I've pointed out numerous times that I'm an alcoholic, yet never once in my deepest drunkenness did I ever even consider committing a sex crime. I think that's something that's inside of you whether you're drunk or not, sane or not.

I don't know what the solution is. Do you?

Free Taco Courtesy Jason Bartlett!

Taco Bell was having a promotion where everyone gets a free taco if there was a stolen base in the World Series game tonight. Bottom of the 5th, Jason Bartlett of the Rays just cashed it in for us.

Get your taco next Tuesday, October 28th, between 2pm and 6pm local time.

With two teams known for good baserunning, that was a sucker's bet on their part.

The Despair of Blogging

The above image comes from a killer website called despair.com. If you are feeling uplifted and happy from all the motivational posters around your office, their collection of Demotivators is the cure.

Take your 12 favorites and make a custom calendar for next year...I guarantee your boss will love it!

I WILL NOT complain about my job, EVER AGAIN!!

That was the title of an email I received that contained this picture:


But the email didn't say what the job is. Veterinary constipation consultant? Maybe that's how you do a colonoscopy on an elephant? I hope that's an air line going in there with him. Then again, maybe he's not going in, maybe he's being pushed out? Or is this how you assist an elephant in labor? The mind reels . . .

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello my sweeties! How are you? It has been a grueling week in the psychic business, what with the upcoming election, the economy, and all. The one thing I can tell you for certain about current events is that nothing is certain.


Our first email today comes from Lizardmom, who writes:

This question has plagued me for some time now. Hubby says that water and/or rain are bad for leather. Why do cows not seem bothered then as well?? They don't shrink, crack or anything that seems to be worrisome once it's a jacket, but yet wasn't an issue as a full body suit...

Dear Ms. Lizardmom,

Cows are evil creatures, as attested to by this photograph:

They do things like that just to bother us. Like the milk thing. As long as milk is inside a cow, it doesn’t matter how hot it gets. But once it’s been dispensed for human consumption, watch out. It has to be separated, refrigerated, pasteurized, homogenized, neuralized, bacteriostaticized, and on and on. On no, dear, never trust those of a bovine nature. Nor the porcine.


Our next query comes from logjam, who writes:

Dearest Madam,

Is it true that the ransom for Orbs will eventually end up being a $50 gift card and 1,000 skymiles?

Your vision into the vast bunion is appreciated.

Dear Mr. logjam,

Thank you for your appreciation. I am always willing to help my fellow human beings in their quest for knowledge.

I do not know nor do I care about any supposed ransom for that reprobate, OrbsCorbs. He does not exist in my world. Unfortunately, he appears to exist in yours. You have my sympathy.


Here’s a couple of early Halloween treats for you all.

The first is the Past Life Generator. Click on the mirror to discover who you were in a previous incarnation.

The second is Predictions from the Past. That’s self-explanatory.


Ta-ta, children! Don’t forget to email me your questions and comments, hopes and dreams, plots and schemes: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com. Have a wonderful week.

Auf Wiedersehen!

India's First Lunar Mission

India launched its first lunar mission today, Chandrayaan-1 (which means "Moon craft" in Sanskrit, and I am not going to write that again for fear of misspelling). This mission will map almost the entire lunar surface with a resolution of about 5 meters and keep up the search for water in the polar regions. A 5 meter resolution is pretty good...you could see a house, but not something the size of a person. (The U.S. will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter next year which will have much higher resolution but will not be able to image the entire surface of the Moon so these two missions complement each other nicely).

Congratulations to India...and best of luck in the futrue. They are planning a lander/rover mission for 2011!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Welcome JTI Bus Tour To Kitt Peak!

I would like to welcome you all to Kitt Peak National Observatory! I know it has been a long bus trip from Racine. Let me show you around a little bit.

Our first stop will be the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. It is that weird looking thing that is described as a sideways 7. It is the world's largest solar telescope. The tunnel is 500 feet long...you only see 200 feet of that above ground, so most of that thing is below ground! Let's go inside.

Sorry about the glare. It's a little bright in here when they are observing. You can see the main mirror way down there at the bottom. A mirror at the top (called a heliostat) bounces light down the tube to the mirror. The mirror then focuses the light. A third small mirror bounces it down to the observing room. Speaking of the observing room...

There is Claude, an observer at the solar telescope. He has set up the telescope to project an image of the Sun onto a table. The image is about 80cm across. You can see sunspots on this or direct the Sun into different instruments, such as spectrographs, to record the data.

Let's go to another telescope. This is the WIYN 3.5 meter telescope. It was built in 1994 and is the newest large research telescope. It has a wide variety of imagers and a multi-fiber spectrograph that can take spectra of a lot of objects at the same time (I forget the exact number...we can ask them down in the control room). You can see a person standing next to it for scale.

Take a lootk at the back of the telescope. Each of those little guys you see there is an acuator. An acuator is a small motor that pushes and pulls on the mirror. Modern mirrors are very thin to make them lighter. Thin mirrors bend under the influence of gravity as the telescope moves. All these little motors push and pull on the mirror to keep it from becoming deformed and giving distorted images.

Our last stop will be the largest optical telescope on Kitt Peak, the Mayall 4 meter telescope. It was the second largest telescope in the world when it was built back in the 1970s. Thanks to continuous updates to its instruments, it still does premiere scientific research on such areas as dark matter. It recently got a new infrared camera called NEWFIRM which is producing lots of good new science.

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of Kitt Peak. Do stop by again...don't miss the Desert Museum or the Pima Air and Space Museum.

And Orbs, don't play with the snakes!

Another DIFFERENT Time Waster

Monster Maker

Caffeination Domination (or Least Scientific Poll Ever)

I noticed my local 7-11 today had a strange banner outside about the election. It turns out that you can vote for you favorite candidate by choosing a red or blue coffee cup.

And if you click the link above, you can come to the conclusion that McCain better hope most people don't drink coffee at 7-11! I mean, Obama is winning Texas for crying out loud! There are a lot of states that don't have results...I wonder what is up with that.

I was honestly surprised...I thought all them elite liberals would be drinking elitist coffee and the "real Americans" would go to 7-11.

More Damn Pictures of Trees

With the autumn sun low in the sky, it can give a Maxfield Parrish-like glow to things, especially when setting. I've noticed this many times over the years. And I've tried many times to capture that peculiar light on film and, more recently, digitally. I've always failed.

Earlier today I saw that glow again on some trees in East Park, aka Gateway Technical College campus. I took 19 shots, but none of them do justice to the light and color display. Here are three of the better ones:

Another Time Waster

“Pumpkin Simulator”"

Political

Palin really gets my cheese melted and not in a good way. She would seek out a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Is the Right that bent on Fascism? Do we need even more government in our business? After she puts through that amendment, she wouldn't stop. She is showing her true Nature with that bit of hate speech.

What about Powell? He was well respected by the Right. There were many hoping for a McCain/Powell ticket. Now he is a pariah. Interestingly enough, views are so utterly entrenched, people are unwilling to rethink their views. It's become too emotional an issue for clear thinking. Yet it says a lot when the comment is made by a man who "used" to be revered by the Right. Picking Palin brings judgment abilities into question.

Sadly I think Obama has less than nine months to live if he wins. My impression is that there are way too many crazies on the Right. Bidden will be President by next year Christmas, and the ghettos and some burbs will be in flames. I hope not. Obama won't bring anymore Socialism into the world than is already being heeped in his lap by Bush's regime. He will bring a lot less Fascism though.

Some Weird Guitars

Although,I admire the sound and beauty of Gibson's Les Pauls and the Fender Stratocastors,I find myself going "wow" at the creativity and the design of some the guitars out there. Can anybody guess some of these guitars to whom they belong to? (I can) The one I want to get my hands on is Jimmy Page's doubleneck.

"The Universe is trying to kill you"

So says my friend Phil Plait (aka the Bad Astronomer) in his new book, "Death From the Skies:These are the Ways the World Will End..." Today is its official release date and you can buy it online or at local bookstores.

As the name implies, he is writing about all the nasty ways that the universe can kill you...including asteroid impacts, gamma ray bursts and everyone's favorite, black holes (which can kill you in a surprisingly large number of different ways!)

His book is targeted toward a general audience so don't be intimidated just because you didn't major in science. The one warning I will give you is that he is prone to bad puns...based on how long he was working on this book, I almost shudder to think of the puns he may have spawned!

I have not read the book yet...I just got it Friday and had a very busy weekend...I have a plane flight Wednesday that will be devoted to the book and will post more comments after that. Based on his first book, Bad Astronomy, I have no problem urging you all to run out and pick up a copy!

The Great Worldwide Star Count

Monday night starts the Great Worldwide Star Count, a project to raise awareness of light pollution as well as collect a little data. The basic idea is simple. People around the world go out at night and look up at the constellation Cygnus (in the norhtern hemisphere) or Saggitarius (in the southern hemisphere). You compare what you see to the star charts on the web site and you have an estimate of how much light pollution there is in your neighborhood. You enter your observation into a form on the web site (along with your location) and you have just contributed a little bit to science. You can even make multiple observations from different locations. The most useful data is when a single city has data points near the center, the edge, and points in between.

Bad lighting design does more than just drown out the stars. Bad lighting design wastes energy by letting it go upward and can even create lots of bright glare and dark shadows that can decrease safety. Light pollution has many well known adverse effects on wildlife and even has been shown to increase cancer rates.

The International Dark Sky Association is the great resource for information on light pollution including sources for good lighting design and how to work with your local government addressing the issue.

The Great Worldwide Star Count begins on October 20th and runs through November 3rd. So go out and make some obsevations!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Do You Dream in Color?

If so, you probably were raised watching color television according to a study by Eva Murzyn, a psychology student at the University of Dundee. She interviewed people of different ages about their childhood television and movie viewing along and combined her data with some historical studies to come to her conclusion (it should be noted that I think her sample size we pretty small to make such broad conclusions!) Younger people raised on color television and movies dreamed in color and older people raised on black and white television and movies dreamed in black and white more frequently than the younger subjects.

I want to dream in 1080p with Dobly Digital surround sound!

Odd Ad

This ad appeared in the Friday, October 17, 2008 print edition of the Journal Times. Page 3A, in the center, small, 2 x 3-1/2" ad. Maybe it, or a variation, has appeared there for some time. I don't know. But for some reason, it caught my eye today.

When I first read the copy, I couldn't believe it. What the...? Anyway, I visited Thera-Gesic's site, and it seems normal enough: http://www.thera-gesic.com/, so I don't know what's up with their print ad, but the tone seems a little off to me. I mean, I'm not sure that beating off would-be car burglars is the best way to advertise pain relief results, even if it is done jokingly. Or is it? It's not that I'm offended - I guess I just don't get it.

Stay Alive With "Stayin' Alive"

A study from the University of Illinois College of Medicine has shown that the song "Stayin' Alive" helps people perform CPR correctly. It is recommended that you give 100 chest compressions per minute when doing CPR, very close to the 103 beats per minute of "Stayin' Alive". There are other songs that have close to 100 beats per minute, but few probably known as universally in the U.S. as "Stayin' Alive."

And everyone should know CPR. So everyone go out, put on your platform shoes and get to the local Red Cross or American Heart Association class and get certified so you an save a life.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Happy Early Friday!! Open blog!!

It's close enough to Friday to start being happy!!

Here's an early edition of the Friday open blog.

How was your week?

Did you survive?

For kicks, here is a link to my personal blog,
you can see exactly how my week ended,
and it wasn't pretty!!!!!!
(but my rant ended up rather funny!)

http://sandys-sanity.blogspot.com/

McCain Suddenly Doesn't Like the DMCA (and Rightly So!)

According to an article on Cnet, the McCain campaign is protesting YouTube's take down policy. They claim several of McCain's ads have been removed from YouTube due to Digital Millennium Copywright Act take down notices being filed. The McCain campaign says the material in question is covered by fair use. He may be right (although the letter to YouTube does not list specific examples).

The problem is the DMCA is pretty draconian. If a content provider such as YouTube takes down a video when they are notified of infringement, they are not held liable for damages. If they left it up (as the McCain campaign is suggesting) they could be sued. So places like YouTube do the safe thing and take it down. YouTube has fired off a response to the McCain campaign according to Wired suggesting he (or Obama) introduce legislation to amdend the DMCA. Our current Congress and Senate aren't helping as they just passed a new anti-piracy law upping the penalties for infringement that was signed by Bush on Monday (bet you didn't hear about that one in the news!)

McCain has proposed YouTube handle political ads differently and review them for fair use before taking them down. That is totally missing the point. The DMCA tramples on EVERYONE'S fair use rights, not just those of political campaigns. What McCain (and Obama) should do is stand up and tell everyone the DMCA needs revision to protect fair use and pledge to pursue such changes in their administration. As bloggers, we should all be supporting DMCA reform.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophyscist blog.

A grieving family needs your help - Update on Band and contests!

New Update: I just wanted to bump this up again. We have received some really cool Silent Auction items, which I will post soon, but I just wanted everyone to know that tickets are still available, and that we still need donations of time, talent, cash (to offset costs so all proceeds go to the family)and raffle items. Thanks again everyone!


Update: The band Unlikely Heroes (http://www.myspace.com/unlikelyherorocks ) will be playing at the Sprague Benefit, and there will be an adult and kids halloween costume contest. There will also be raffles, silent auctions and a 50/50. Of course, donations of time/talent/items/money are still being accepted. Tickets are now printed and available. Please let me know if you need tickets.

Stu


Original Post:

Today’s post is not about anything political, musical, or funny. Today, I am coming to all of you on behalf of a family that needs your help:

Please join our community in remembering Wendy Leittl-Sprague. Wendy courageously battled cancer for four years and was only 48 years old when she passed away on August 31, 2008. She leaves behind her husband, Rick, her 9 year old son Austin, her 23 year old daughter Michelle, and many, many relatives and friends.

Wendy and Rick met at Acme Die Casting where they both worked.

Wendy also worked at Andis Clipper Company for nearly 10 years. Her slowly deteriorating health forced her to quit working in December 2007. At that time she had already battled skin cancer and thought that she had won the fight but in December a brain tumor was detected. It was removed successfully. She needed to go through radiation therapy but she soon developed more cancer, which sadly led to her loss of life at such a young age. This courageous woman was an inspiration to every person who knew her!! She will live on in our hearts forever!!

We are asking for your help in covering the funeral expenses and also establishing a trust fund for Austin. As you are probably aware, the medical costs for treating Wendy were exorbitant! We're not asking that her medical expenses be covered but just a bit of relief to all of those involved in putting her so peacefully to rest and to secure an education for her young son. A benefit to celebrate the life of Wendy will be held November 1, 2008 from 5:00 to 12:00 at Hiawatha in Sturtevant. This will be a Halloween themed celebration for Wendy and her family. Admission is $15.00 for adults and $7.00 for kids 12 and under, and includes food, beer and soda. There will be many items up for raffle and auction and entertainment throughout the night. Come in costume!

If there is anything you or your company could donate? We are in need of items for raffles and auctions, money to offset the cost of food and drinks and to put on the benefit itself, baskets of like-minded goods for raffle and anything else you could think of. Please look inside your heart and see if there is anything you can do to help make this a success for the family. Anything you can give will help.

Despite our differences, Racine is a giving community, and I trust we can pull together for another family in need.

Please feel free to contact me through this site if you have any questions, or need further information. Thank you.

The Sugar Maple on 12th & Main

September 25, 2008:
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees are noted for their fall color displays. Over the years, I've noticed that this one, on the northeast corner of 12th and Main Streets, puts on a particularly spectacular show. I see the tree almost every day, and today I had the idea to chronicle, in photos, the tree's progression through the color chart over the next few weeks.

Every so often, I'll take a picture of the tree, post it here, and bump this blog. That way we can all watch the colors change as autumn steals into southeast Wisconsin.

October 2, 2008:
If you ask me, the tree looks worse this week than last. :( Looks like the crown is thinning out. The winds have been fierce lately. I hope there's something left before it goes orange and yellow. That is, if it goes orange and yellow.

October 10, 2008:
Now we're getting there. Orange, orange, orange. Not as bright as I remember it, but memory tends to exaggerate.

October 16, 2008:
Well, it has lost a considerable amount of its leaves, but the neighbor across the street is just beginning to turn. I spent a little time today looking at the fall colors I encountered on my errands and on a couple of short walks I took after I got home. I was thinking about how you should make time to do that because this show is fleeting. Next up, winter. Ugh. Anyway, I was thinking along those lines, and I took a few pictures, and then I encountered Pete Selkowe's beautiful photography in the Racine Post: Take time to enjoy the view... That about says it all.

The Power of Blogging

The Racine Post has an interesting story entitled The power of Dooley, about the brouhaha in RUSD over the appearance of some of Sen. Barack Obama's writings in a textbook. I haven't followed this too closely because I am FED UP with the inane nitpicking by crazed campaigners on both sides of the election. In the Post piece, Dustin Block points out that a complaining parent has not been identified, nor has a formal complaint been made, but Unified is now reviewing its textbook policies - all because Mr. Fred Dooley's Real Debate Wisconsin blog posted an anonymous complaint.

Go bloggers! Go web 2.0! I hereby challenge JT Irregulars bloggers to come up with an equally explosive tidbit, fact, or fiction to rattle Racine's cage with. One of us must know something that will put the Journal Times and/or city officials in a tizzy. I can't believe that anyone would be better at raising a stink than we are. So, come on JTIs, spill your guts and the beans. Irregular minds want to know.

The Ultimate American Right

A small victory for those of us who believe that the right to vote is the most precious right we have.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/14/ohio-elections/

I don't care which person you vote for in November. If enough fraud is uncovered, you will never be sure if your choice really won or really lost. Ohio could very well decide the next President.

The same person who ran the Indiana ACORN registration drive that has been the subject of raids and identified registration fraud, is running the registration drives right here in Wisconsin.

Even though ACORN is supporting Obama, it was a Democrat in Indiana that blew the whistle on the fraudulent registrations. No one seems to be watching these folks in Milwaukee.

Voter registration needs to be taken back into an official government run process (City Hall, DMV, etc.) and out of the hands of these organizations.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, everyones! Never fear, Madame Zoltar is here. In uncertain times it is good to know at least one thing for certain: Madame Zoltar knows all!


Our first email today comes from the redoubtable Ms. kkdither, who writes:

Dear Mme. Zoltar,

Please be kind enough to answer a couple of questions for me. No one seems to be able to come up with an acceptable response. These may only be best answered by you, madame:

If you shoot a mime, is it necessary to use a silencer?

When you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?

If you were to throw a cat out of a car window, does it then become kitty litter?

And, what was the best thing before sliced bread?

Dear Ms. kk, and dear readers, my responses, in order:

Although it is not necessary to use a silencer when shooting a mime, it is considered good etiquette to do so. However, if a silencer is unavailable, good etiquette still demands that you shoot the mime.

I haven’t choked anything in quite some time, so I had to consult my crystal ball on this one. The answer: black and blue.

If you were to throw a cat out of a car window, I would make someone throw you off of a building.

And the best thing before sliced bread, my dear, was me. Best thing after, too.


Our next email comes from “Wall_Street_in_Wisconsin,” who writes:

Dear Madame,

I work on the exchange. Should I fish or cut bait?

Dear WSW,

If I were you, I’d save the bait for food.


Finally, this note was slipped under my door the other night:

“If you ever want to see OrbsCorbs alive again, put $10,000 in small, unmarked bills in the glove compartment of the abandoned car in the alley behind your parlor.”

Dear Whomever,

Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Excuse me, ah, aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!


That’s all for this week, my friends. Don’t forget to send your questions and comments to madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Sayonara!

On the Shoulders of Giants

I just downloaded and listened to a new song from the Chromatics called On the Shoulders of Giants. It is a very good acapella song commissioned for the Johannes Kepler Project for the International Year of Astronomy. The song echoes the sentiment that we managed to get where we are today by standing on the shoulders of giants, all those people like Galileo, Newton, Kepler, etc. who did a lot of the early work in their fields.

I have been a longtime fan of the Chromatics and have their Astrocapella CD, a CD of acapella astronomy songs. The Chromatics are composed of a lot of people who work at the Goddard Space Flight Center, so the songs have good science content in addition to being catchy. I finally had the pleasure of meeting one of their songwriters, Padi Boyd, at a meeting last summer.

The International Year of Astronomy is coming quick…I will be blogging more on it and the exciting plans that are coming together!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

The Mentalist

I have just started watching a new CBS show called The Mentalist. I am not much of a crime series fan, but I am cautiously optimistic about this show.

Simon Baker stars as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigations. He was a psychic in his past. Without revealing any spoilers, his career as a psychic did not end well and he now admits he was a total fraud and is using his skills to solve crimes (and not always by the book!) He uses the tricks of the trade of psychics, cold readings and astute observations. Of course realism is not 100% in this show. they don't reveal all the tricks and I would expect that the techniques would not solve every crime, but you can make that criticism of almost every crime show.

The thing I really like is that he openly says he was not psychic and that psychic powers do not exist! How many shows take that sort of attitude? I would like to see him blast astrology and other such nonsense as well. We need more skeptical thinking portrayed on television and less mumbo jumbo. The Mentalist is well produced and hopefully will spawn a few imitators.

So, any other good new shows I am missing?

Pretty Tree!!

Here is the tree I watch every day. It's very cool to watch it change.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Google Goggles for Gmail

So it's Friday and you went out at the end of a long week and had a few drinks. What's on your mind? How much you miss your ex and you want to tell him/her how you really feel? You want to send your boss a nasty email and tell him what to do with your job?

Technology can save us from ourselves. A couple of years ago, LG introduced a phone with a built in breathalyzer. The phone would keep you from drunk dialing.

But people we not that easily deterred and would go home and get on the computer and send an email. "I will show that stupid phone!" seemed to be the prevailing attitude.

Now Google has introduced Mail Goggles to stop drunk emailing. You can set it up with your Gmail account. You tell it what hours of the day you want protection, and you will not be able to send email until you answer a series of math questions. Math! I have heard you can set the difficulty level. I don't use Gmail, but would love to go in and set it to the highest level to see if it really could stop me from emailing! (Maybe they should introduce a version for techies where we have to interpret a Tennyson poem or something instead...that would probably slow me down more than a math problem!)

I am not sure this is a good idea...you can't phone...you can't email, I fear that people will get in their cars and drive over there!

Sunset Picture

Took this picture at Linwood Park in Calendonia on Saturday.Hope you all enjoy!

The Sun as You Have Never Seen it Before

This week’s Boston Globe’s Big Pictures features the Sun

.

This animation shows the Sun over the course of six days starting June 25, 2007. You can clearly see the rotation and some flares and prominences. Animations like this really drive home the point that the Sun is a dynamic body and not just the constatnt light we see with out eyes.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Big Picture: The Sun.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

GM to Janesville workers - "Merry Christmas and BOHICA!"

General Motors now being called Grinch Motors as they tell 3000+ workers to grab their ankles TWO DAYS before Christmas. At least they could have let them work out the year...

http://www.reuters.com/article/privateEquity/idUSN1345360820081013

Simple Procedure for Setting up DTV

As we all know all TV will go 100% digital February of 2009. The following video show a simple procedure for setting up your TV...

“DTV Setup Procedures”

This weeks open blog!! Happy Monday!!!!

Welcome to this week's open blog.
What are you up to this week?
Having a good day?
Having a bad day?
Why is it a 'Happy Monday'?
I have off today!!!!!!!! :)
Tomorrow tho, I go back to the grind...

Beck and Scrubs???

A few weeks back, I featured the song "I think I'm In Love" (to KK's approval!) and in researching that video, I found this video done by someone on You Tube, taking some of the funny dance moves from the very funny show "Scrubs" and syncing them to this song. This is very well done, and I think you will get a kick out of it. Enjoy!

Part Three

The Smashing Pumpkins are a band that either just love, or cant stand. I have always been a pumpkins fan, and this is my favorite song (Along with Hummer and Cherub Rock from Siamese Dream) .... never released except on their B-sides release. Please enjoy "Here's To the Atom Bomb"

Part II - Song I cant get out of my head

I was watching a friend's son riding his BMX bike today and from some forgotten region of my music vault, this song from the 90's popped into my head, and I've been humming it all day. Now you can too. Enjoy from the group OPM "Heaven is a Halfpipe"

Friday Night's Lost Video (Saturday edition)

Hello Fellow Music Lovers!

Tonights lost video is from a band that burst on the scene with a song called Cult Of Personality. The band is called Living Color and rocked oput and kicked ass. They are multi-functional band. This song tonight is called "Soliace of You" And shows a more quiet side, but the guitar is intricate. Good rythymas well. Please enjoy.