A Day at the Beach...

Can take a nasty turn if someone decides to take revenge on you by giving you a Dissolving Bikini. You will look good in this sexy little black number for about three minutes after which you will find yourself wearing nothing at all. Great gift for bachelorette parties!

Committed to Lies, Compelled to Filth

"Sex Crimes and the Vatican" - BBC Documentary, 2006

Embedded playlist - leave player on and all four segments of the documentary will play.

UCLA Cancels 'Undie Run'

"LOS ANGELES — UCLA said this week it is canceling the finals-week tradition known as 'Undie Run,' when students blow off steam by jogging through campus in their underwear.

"The university cited fights, injuries, vandalism and other safety and security problems as the main reasons it is no longer allowing the event, according to a statement issued Tuesday by UCLA.

"Undie Run occurs three times a year on the Wednesday of each quarter’s finals week."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,535868,00.html

More pictures: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-undieruns-pg,0,2253585.photogallery


Why doesn't Racine have a fun tradition like this? Maybe we could organize an Undie Run to be held the night before or after the Lighthouse Run.

Have Your Beer and Drink It, Too

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/50404492.html

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/wasted.html

Seems like the Journal Sentinel spends a lot of time criticizing the drinking culture in Wisconsin, yet they can't resist plugging that same culture when it comes to generating hits on their site.

Party on!

In Response to the Ink Blot Test...

Crazy Pete is classic.

Chicago Woman Sued over Twitter about Landlord

On May 12, Amanda Bonnen posted this comment on Twitter about the company that mananged her apartment building: "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay."

In response, Horizon Group Management LLC has filed a libel lawsuit against Ms. Bonnen seeking $50,000 in damages.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1688511,cst-nws-twitter28.article

Jeffrey Michael, whose family has run Horizon for more than 25 years, said, "We're a 'sue first, ask questions later' kind of an organization."

Beejay is leaving town

I head out to Florida on Sunday. This weekend is the wonderful family reunion for which I made this trek to the great State of WI. So far I have been wined and dined by about everyone in the county. The weather, however, could have been a tad warmer!

One last little gathering this evening for anyone interested. Abby and SER know the location or call me. I think most of you have my number.

Anyway, thanks for the fun and the laughs. I will miss you all. Remember, there is an satellite party location in Florida!

Beejay!!!

PS to KK, DA, Abby and Mr. DA: We ROCK!

Thank You, Evolution

I take this with a big grain of salt for about twelve different reasons (not the last of which is it appears on a web site called "Yourtango.com"). Turns out women are getting more attractive over time. Markus Jokela of the University of Helsinki found that attractive women have more children and are more likely to have daughters, hence increasing the percentage of attractive women in the world. Even Forbes thought this was important, so someone must be planning to make money off of it.

Interestingly enough, the study was based on about 10,000 students who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957...results not guaranteed in other states.

Shake Weight

https://www.shakeweight.org/

We can thank Michelle Obama and her sleeveless look for this.

"Based on a completely new workout technology called Dynamic Inertia."

Or is that Inert Dynamics? Whatever, just $19.95!

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my cherubic cherries! How are you? Just like I (and everyone else) predicted, we drown in spring, but go without in July and August. So far, it hasn’t been intolerably hot, though. A cool summer. Will it continue? What’s it worth to you to know?

No mail, messages, calls, or twitters this week. Actually, I don’t twitter, but I have been known to titter. It’s difficult to keep up with all of those electronic gadgets and gizmos. I prefer to rely upon my tried and true crystal ball to keep me in touch with the currents that eddy about us. Of course, I’ve had it upgraded a few times, adding more memory and speeding things up. And I use astral broadband to connect to the real ether net. My crystal ball has never failed me, unlike some computers (and people) I’ve known.

In my never-ending quest to bring you the best in psychic infotainment, I’m proud to introduce you to Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker, a real-life couple who star in the Biography Channel’s TV series, “Our Psychic Family.”



They also have quite the website, http://www.psychics.co.uk/, with links to everything psychic. Hmm, maybe I should contact them about featuring some Zoltar® brand products.

I also came across a blog entitled “Psychic Experiences & Astral Projection: A Personal Record” on Blogspot: http://sense6.blogspot.com/. I haven’t read much of it, but I like the look of the labels on the sidebar: “assisted death (2), astral attack (5), astral kidnapping (2), being someone else (1), etc.” Astral kidnapping is a much neglected crime in our country and I’m pleased to see it getting some attention, no matter how little. Perhaps if federal law were applied to the astral plane, we would see a reduction in the crime and violence that occurs even there. However, I have yet to hear President Obama or any member of Congress utter one word on the subject.

Irregulars definitely should check out “Living With Your Psychic Gifts” on Blogspot: http://lwypg.blogspot.com/. Look familiar? That always creeps me out when it happens. I don’t know why.

Another interesting website is Marguerite Kusuhara’s: http://www.gypsymagic.com/. She blends gypsy arts and magic to entertain corporate clients. Below are a couple of her videos.





Marguerite also has a YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/gypsymagicdancer.

Marguerite is one more artist in the growing number of psychic entertainers available for hire. We even have our own organization, the Psychic Entertainers Association.

http://www.p-e-a.org/

“Founded on 26 May 1978, the Psychic Entertainers Association is an international organization of about 300 members with a serious and vested interest in the ethical performance of psychic entertainment.

“Its membership is comprised of mentalists, bizarrists, hypnotists, readers, and allied artists, including full-time, part-time, and retired entertainers.”

Bizarrist. Now I know what to call our wonderful Mr. OrbsCorbs. Jk, OC, jk. Isn’t that hip texting or twittering or tweeting or tooting or something? I’ll never learn…

Don’t forget to send your magical requests and bequests to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Have a wonderful week, every one of you. I love all of my JT Irregulars. Thank you for stopping by and thank you for reading my blog. Arraviolios!

ISS and Shuttle: Post Separation

Well, I gave it another shot tonight. The Shuttle left the ISS today which means they are flying pretty close together, close enough to get them both in the same shot. Unfortunately, they flew a pretty bad path for where I live. First, they were low in the sky. Second, I live on the east side of Tucson and they flew from the west, across the southwest part of they sky and ended up in the south which means the lights of Tucson are particularly bright in that direction. To top if off, there was a first quarter Moon adding to the lights of Tucson. Still, with all that working against me, I gave it a shot.

Click the photo to embiggen and you will see the two streaks easier. The one on the left is the Shuttle and the one on the right is the ISS. I blog sometimes on light pollution and you can see the effects of it here...and Tucson does a better job than most cities at being night sky friendly.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

"Makeover advised for gang member kicked by El Monte officer"

"The attorney for a gang member kicked in the head by an El Monte police officer at the end of a televised car chase thinks his client has a great case. On Thursday, Nick Pacheco filed a $5-million legal claim against the city on behalf of the 23-year-old.

"But just in case, the attorney said his heavily tattooed client will be getting an extreme makeover in time for a trial, complete with a thick Tom Selleck mustache -- think 'Magnum P.I.' -- to cover the name of his street gang, which is inked on his upper lip. Richard Rodriguez will also grow hair to cover the tattoos on his shaved head. And he'll wear a nice, conservative suit.

"To make his point, Pacheco used Photoshop to show the difference."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elmonte24-2009jul24,0,431133.story


What? All of a sudden he isn't proud of his affiliation? He's ashamed of his brothers? I thought gangs were thicker than blood? He's dissing his family. They should make an example of him.

The ISS Plus Two

Tonight I stayed home to image from the Courtyard of my townhome. It was a much brighter ISS pass than last night, so I thought I could catch it without going out to a dark site.

I caught an interesting photo of the ISS. You can see it as the bright streak on the left. On the right you see a series of pairs of "stars" connected by a very thin streak. This is a plane that happened to fly through my image.

Now for the challenge. Click the image to embiggen. Look closely between the plane and the ISS for a thin streak heading down to the left right. After checking Heavens Above, I believe this may be the Cosmos 1666 rocket (I could see it visibly, but it was tougher to catch with the camera). Look closely and you will see the Milky Way starting to poke through the image. Several star clusters are visible. After seeing that, I wish I drove out to the park to catch this from a slightly darker site.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Pageant Host Makes Big Entrance

Nice recovery, Jan Kraus.

Slang and short comments.......

Beginning in the early ‘60’s and continuing today, what “slang” or “short comments” do you remember?

This is just a couple I do:

Harry...something that was a ‘close call’ people would say, “That was Harry”.

Tune in, turn on and drop out....LSD

Plastic....No not Michael Jackson, but a term used as someone who didn’t fit your way of thinking. "He's plastic"!

Response to JT letter

The following letter was in the JT today:

Thank you, Michael

Regarding recent tragic death of our dear beloved Michael Jackson.

I believe he is the only one of a kind being — that of a musical genius and brilliant dancer — for one. He did so much to enrich people’s lives and eased the pain and suffering of sick and dying people no matter who they were. I believe he wanted peace and end to war and through his music and deeds he did bring people together.

I’m only one in millions of people who adored him and inspired by him and to Michael Jackson, thank you for all the good and happy years you made for me and for millions.

Eileen Botsch

Franksville

I don't know why this bothered me but it did. People cry for a celebrity but fail to feel for the true heroes. I sent the following to the JT. I'm sure they wont put it on the op-ed page, so I'll put it here:

I took it upon myself to re-write Eileen Botsch’s Michael Jackson letter for someone worth praise and adoration:

Thank you, US Soldier

Regarding recent tragic death of our dear beloved US Soldier

I believe he is the only one of a kind being — that of a defender of freedom — for one. He did so much to enrich people’s lives and eased the pain and suffering of sick and dying people no matter who they were. I believe he wanted peace and end to war and through his honor and bravery he did bring people together.

I’m only one in millions of people who adored him and inspired by him and all US soldiers, thank you for all the good and happy years you made for me and for millions.

RWWackoStu
Sturtevant, WI

Thunderbirds

Photos from Milwaukee air show 7/26/09

The top two pictures are prop drive planes from WWII

Following are pictures of the Thunderbirds

What goes up has to come down

With or without smoke!

Catching up to the group




If you enlarge these you can see the thunderbird
painted on the bottom of the jets

I was a little slow when it came to catching a picture of the jets...

Oh no...I just wanted to show you the different clouds that moved thru the area!

A real life UFO!!!!!!!

steviemark productions has authorized posting of photos

Intoxicated Racine woman causes accident with 2-year-old daughter in car

"Shortly after midnight Sunday, officers responded to a crash at 60th St. and Layton Ave. A 57-year-old Beaver Dam man, his 53-year-old wife and their 33-year-old son were waiting at a red light in a minivan when they were rear-ended by a subcompact car.

"The car was driven by a 26-year-old Racine woman. The woman's 2-year-old daughter was found in the back seat, wearing a lap belt, but was not secured in a child safety seat as the law requires, police said. The child was not injured in the crash. The woman in the van was taken to West Allis Memorial Hospital for treatment of neck and back injuries.

"Police arrested the Racine woman on suspicion of drunken driving resulting in injury. Sgt. Mike Brunner said due to the woman's high level of intoxication she was not able to tell officers who could take custody of her daughter. Officers eventually made contact with the child's grandparents.

"Because the woman's daughter was in the vehicle, police are seeking to have the charges upgraded to a felony. The district attorney's office is set to review the case Monday."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/51739142.html


I didn't see this on the Journal Times site, so I thought I'd pass it along.

Another ISS Pass

This time with the shuttle docked. I got out there a little early to see a little of sunset.

The pass was about half an hour after sunset so the sky was still a little light. Therefore, I used a low ISO and a shorter exposure. After taking several shots during the pass, this was my favorite.

We have really good passes here Tuesday and Wednesday. The monsoon is taking a break, so I might have a shot at them (although the seeing is still not that good here).

If you want to see if they will pass over your area, you can use Heavens-Above or Space Weather's Simple Satellite Tracker. Unfortunately, Racine does not look favored for these passes.

The iPhone Sex Offender Locator

Many people like using the internet to find out if there are any sex offenders living nearby. States make the info publicly available on the internet so its pretty easy to find.

What about when you are traveling or in a different neighborhood? Well, the new iPhone app called Offender Locator can help you out. It uses the GPS info from the iPhone to look up offenders near wherever you happen to be. You get a little map with the google marks showing where all the sex offenders are around you.

This app has already made the top 10 in the app store. Now I know what to do to make money...write apps the show people all the awful things around them. Maybe the Superfund sites so they can avoid chemicals, program the iPhone to beep if you drive up to an intersection with a high accident rate, etc. My goal is to make your iPhone beep so much you are constantly paralyzed with fear (evil laugh!)

The Darwin Rap

I was catching up on my podcasts of the Naked Scientists this morning on my run and listened to an episode they recorded at the Darwin Festival at Cambridge. This program features the Rap Guide to Evolution as performed by hip hop artist Baba Brinkman. He jokes that it is the word's first peer reviewed hip hop piece on evolution as it was reviewed by Dr. Mark Pallen to be sure he got the science right.

I am not an evolutionary biologist but the stuff that I do know, he gets right. He covers not just the science but also raps about how he deals with his "Calvinist fundamentalist family". Brinkman tackles a complex subject in an entertaining manner with a few laughs thrown in a along the way.

I noticed that it sounded like a small crowd at the show, a fact confirmed by the Science Magazine review of the show. They have a few videos of the show here as well.

You can listen to the Naked Scientists show online or download the mp3. For those into literature, you can check out one of his previous projects, the Rap Canterbury Tales, which is available on CD. I am checking out his tour schedule...I see he will be at Burning Man (I am already busy that weekend) but hope he tours near here with it sometime so I can catch it live.

For now, we will have to do with a couple of songs on his Youtube channel. I will leave you with his piece, "Natural Selection" filmed at Cambridge.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

"Naked girls plow fields for rain"

"PATNA, India (Reuters) – Farmers in an eastern Indian state have asked their unmarried daughters to plow parched fields naked in a bid to embarrass the weather gods to bring some badly needed monsoon rain, officials said on Thursday.

"Witnesses said the naked girls in Bihar state plowed the fields and chanted ancient hymns after sunset to invoke the gods. They said elderly village women helped the girls drag the plows.

"'They (villagers) believe their acts would get the weather gods badly embarrassed, who in turn would ensure bumper crops by sending rains,' Upendra Kumar, a village council official, said from Bihar's remote Banke Bazaar town.

"'This is the most trusted social custom in the area and the villagers have vowed to continue this practice until it rains very heavily.'"

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE56M3G020090723


I think that naked elderly village women might embarrass the weather gods even more.

"Redesigned Journal Times Web site set to launch"

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2009/07/25/local_news/doc4a6ba9cd6ca01655459846.txt

Towards the end of the article:

"Through our parent company Lee Enterprises, The Journal Times is part of a consortium that has entered into a partnership with Yahoo!. Yahoo! built one of the most technologically advanced online advertising systems currently available. The amazing system, called Yahoo! BT (BT stands for Behavioral Targeting), will allow Journal Times advertising clients to have their ads displayed to Web site users in the 'buying cycle' for specific goods and services.

"For example, the new Yahoo! Behavioral Targeting system can determine that a user has been searching for a new Ford F-150 truck somewhere on the Internet. So when the user visits The Journal Times’ site, they will be served an F-150 ad. This type of targeting extends into demographics, geography and consumer buying patterns in multitudes of business categories. The Journal Times is the only company with the Yahoo! BT system in Racine County.

"The end goal of these new systems is to provide online readers and advertising clients with the best possible products. The Journal Times team works hard to produce the best local newspaper and Web site every day and appreciates your readership."


Oh yeah, "Behavioral Targeting" sounds like a good idea.

It will be interesting to see what the new site looks like.

A New Way to Walk Your New Bride to be Down the Aisle.

DEAR ABBY ADMITTED SHE WAS AT A LOSS TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Dear Abby,
A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker in her mid twenties. These two women go everywhere together, and I've never seen a man go into or leave their apartment. Do you think they could be Lebanese?

Dear Abby,
What can I do about all the Sex, Nudity, Fowl Language and Violence on my VCR?

Dear Abby,
I have a man I can't trust. He cheats so much, I'm not even sure the baby I'm carrying is his.

Dear Abby,
I am a twenty-three year old liberated woman who has been on the pill for two years. It's getting expensive and I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I don't know him well enough to discuss money with him.

Dear Abby,
I've suspected that my husband has been fooling around, and when confronted with the evidence, he denied everything and said it would never happen again.

Dear Abby,
Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own?

Dear Abby,
I joined the Navy to see the world. I've seen it. Now how do I get out?

Dear Abby,
My forty year old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50.00 an hour every week for two and a half years. He must be crazy.

Dear Abby,
I was married to Bill for three months and I didn't know he drank until one night he came home sober.

Dear Abby,
My mother is mean and short tempered I think she is going through mental pause.

Dear Abby,
You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my husband lost all interest in sex and he is a doctor. Now what do I do?

The new bridge at the Hoover Dam

THE WIDER VIEW: Taking shape, the new bridge at the Hoover Dam

Creeping closer inch by inch, 900ft above the mighty Colorado River, the two sides of a $160million bridge at the Hoover Dam in America slowly take shape.

The bridge will carry a new section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting and winding around and across the dam itself.

When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada and Arizona. In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive concrete arches, which jut out of the rock face.

The arches are made up of 53 individual sections, each 24ft long , which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons.


Spectacular: The new Hoover Dam bypass:

The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000ft across. At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge. But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed.

Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road. The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in Afghanistan.

Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day.

The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York to San Francisco. The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead, is 110 miles long and took six years to fill. The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936.

Information source unknown......

A New Olympic Sport

For those that are bored with synchronizes swimming and underage gymnasts, there is now a movement afoot to get pole dancing in the Olypmics. They are collecting signatures via an online peteition. No nudity, but all the usual moves you are used to seeing. In addition to IOC approval, they have to come up with an anti-doping policy for pole dancers.

Just b*tchn & complaining

So, why do people think they can complain and spread their phobias to children?

Laws of Life

Law of Mechanical Repair-After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

Law of Gravity--Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability-The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of Random Numbers- If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

Law of the Alibi-If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law--If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

Law of the Bath--When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Close Encounters--The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Law of the Result--When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Law of Biomechanics--The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Law of the Theater and Hockey Arena-- At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last and they are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over while those in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and who stay to the bitter end of the performance and beyond. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

The Starbucks Law-- - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers-- - If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Physical Surfaces-- -The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

Law of Logical Argument-- -Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law of Physical Appearance-- -If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

Oliver's Law of Public Speaking-- -A closed mouth gathers no feet.

Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy-- -As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

Doctors' Law-- -If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock N Roll

Here's a video of the same song that they released 13 years later in conjunction with the movie Wayne's World 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SOJxNOP37I

Racine Police Scanner Link Added to JTI Sidebar

On the left, just above Madame Zoltar's ad.

Click on the link to listen to the Racine police scanner on your Windows Media Player.

If you have a problem with the link, you can listen to a web player, or select feeds for other players (Real Player, iTunes, Winamp), here:
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?ctid=3103

Wow! Jupiter's Black Eye As Seen By Hubble

Just a very quick post. They got a picture of Jupiter's recent collision with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Wow! Look at that detail! This was taken by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 3 (WFPC 3, or "whiff pick" if you want to sound cool) which was installed on the mos recent servicing mission. The camera has not been fully calibrated yet, but they couldn't pass up this opportunity so an imperfect image is better than none (although its hard to argue with this image too much!)

Now if only these clouds would clear so I can try to shoot it here!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

What if they held a bicycle race and nobody noticed?

Two comments on the Journal Times' story before the race and seven on the Racine Post's (including one from Pete). No comments on either's coverage after the race.

All you have to do is whisper "Adrial White" and people fall all over themselves to say something.

Gee, I wonder what is important to the people who actually live in Racine, Wisconsin?

Gunfire in the hood again last night.

Party on, party on.

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