Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Last ISS/Endeavor Pass

UPDATE: Okay, I bumped this up since someone on facebook pointed out a really cool part of this pic that I missed. Shortly after the shuttle leaves the ISS, it performs a water dump before returning to Earth. Look closely right beneath the trails and you can see a hazy region in the sky. That's the water dump going on! I see it better in the later pictures instead of the one that is zoomed in. Click on the pics to get the larger version. It doesn't show up as well on the smaller versions.


I have taken lots of photos of the ISS and various shuttles over the year. Either right before docking or right after undocking, you can see them flying together in the night sky. This flight is Endeavors last, so I dragged myself out of bed really early this morning for a 3:19am flyby. I got a couple of shots, but made the rookie mistake of not checking the f stop so they pics came out a little darker than they should have.


The top streak is the ISS and the bottom is Endeavor. Notice there is a bright spot toward the left on the ISS streak. Sometimes the sun glints off the solar panels causing a quick brightening of the ISS. This photo is the first time I have captured this phenomena. And here is the next shot, a wide angle version.


Some of you might get one more chance to see Endeavor and the ISS tonight. Check Heavens Above to see if your location is favored. I don't get another pass here in Tucson. There is only one shuttle flight left. Won't know who is favored for that one until it blasts off.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

A Sign from Heaven


Tuesday, the New Monday

Tomorrow is Hump day already?

City Cites Cosmic Corner for Colors

This blog was originally posted on Friday, May 27, 2011, at 9:25 PM. I bumped it to today (a weekday) to give it more exposure.
----------
Have you noticed the little head shop on the northwest corner of Hamilton and North Main Streets? If you haven't in the past, you probably will now. See the pictures at right.

The store is called Cosmic Corner (http://www.cosmiccorner.com/) and it has been there for at least a couple of years, maybe more. I really don't know. The store manager is the same one who ran the old Mainstream Music downtown. They seem to be thriving in their present location.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed their new colors. It's hard not to. The store used to be painted the same color as the upper level. Someone else noticed, too. Now there is a petition in the store that states "We support Cosmic Corner's new colors" for customers to sign. When I asked about the petition, I was told that the city has scheduled a meeting with the store owner because of objections to the colors. I expressed surprise that the city could tell a private business what color to paint itself. I was then told, "Even though we're not downtown, I guess we're part of that 'downtown thingy' and we need their permission."

That's all I know. I'll admit this is not exactly a piece of investigative journalism. I'm not a journalist. I don't know who objected to the colors, but I assume it's another of Racine's nanny-nazis, like the ones who chased BrewFest out of Festival Hall and want to make smoking and farting in the open air a criminal act. I rest so much better at night knowing that these divine arbiters of all are busy telling everyone else how to live their lives.

things people pass around

Open Blog - Tuesday


Surprise!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Chocolate Fest 2011

Ever wonder where your Nestle's Crunch Bars, Butterfingers and 100 Grand Bars come from? One of those places is Burlington, Wisconsin. Burlington is a small community with a population of 10,000 located about 30 miles west of Racine. Affectionately nicknamed "Chocolate City, U.S.A." after the Nestle's plant was built here in 1966, ChocolateFest has been a regular attraction for Burlington for 25 years on the Memorial Day weekend.

Over the weekend, I took my girlfriend (whom never been there) and my son to visit this spectacle. Even though the skies were cloudy with a few raindrops, the temperatures were in the upper '60's. We had fun, anyways.




The centerpiece of the festival



The midway were rides, games, vendors and delicious food are sold.



Kids digging through chocolate looking for hidden treasures



Dresses made from candy wrappers.
(They actually had a fashion show with these!)

Open Blog - Memorial Day


Thank you.
 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

As you & I continue to open our deep pockets

As you & I continue to open our deep pockets for this disaster, that crisis, or the next whatever catastrophe, please keep these facts in mind:

The American Red Cross
President and CEO - Marsha J. Evans
salary for the year 2010 was $651,957, plus all personal, medical, & pension expenses.
Less than 10 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause.

The United Way
President - Brian Gallagher receives a
$375,000 base salary, along with numerous personal & family expense benefits.
Less than 12 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause.

UNICEF
CEO - Caryl M. Stern receives $1.2 Million per year (100k per month) plus all living & housing expenses, including a ROLLS ROYCE.
Less than 15 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause.

The Salvation Army
Commissioner - Todd Bassett receives a salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization.
96 cents of all donated dollars go to the cause.

I don't think any further comment is necessary.

Deadline to register for no-call list is Tuesday

The next deadline to register for Wisconsin's no-call list to block calls from telemarketers is Tuesday.

Those who sign up through that day will have their phone numbers put on the list starting July 1.

The list is open to home and cell numbers, but registration must be renewed every two years. Anyone who has forgotten when they signed up can sign up again to be safe.


Wisconsin No Call List Registration

Sunday Grin

A woman and her husband are sitting on the veranda drinking a glass of wine, when she says "I love you."

Her husband asks "Is that you or the wine talking?"

She replies "It's me, talking to the wine."

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Ah....and such is life.


One lazy Sunday morning the wife and I were quiet and thoughtful, sitting around the breakfast table when I said to her, "When I die, I want you to sell all my stuff, immediately."

"Now why would you want me to do something like that?" she asked.

"I figure a woman as fine as yourself would eventually remarry and I don't want some other asshole using my stuff."

She looked at me intently and said, "What makes you think I'd marry another asshole?"

Bud Commercial

This has been around for awhile but it is a good reminder of what Memorial Day is all about!




Friday, May 27, 2011

You Might Be From Arizona If...

We had the Wisconsin version a while ago...here is the Arizona version (not my originals).

  • You buy salsa by the gallon.
  • Your Christmas decorations include a half a yard of sand and 100 paper bags. And several chile ristras.
  • All of your out-of-state friends start to visit after October but clear out come the end of April.
  • You think someone driving while wearing oven mitts is clever.
  • Most of the restaurants in your town have the first name "El" or "Los."
  • You think six tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful yard.
  • You notice your car overheating before you drive it.
  • Your house is made of stucco and has a red clay tile roof.
  • You can say Hohokam and people don't think you're laughing funny.
  • You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.
  • You see more irrigation water on the street than there is in the Salt River.
  • You know a swamp cooler is not a happy hour drink.
  • You can say 120 degrees without fainting.
  • Vehicles with open windows have the right-of-way in the summer.
  • You discover, in July, it only takes two fingers to drive your car.
  • The pool can be warmer than you are.
  • You can make instant sun tea.
  • People will drive more than 100 miles just to see snow.
  • You run your air conditioner in the middle of winter so you can use your fireplace.
  • People with black cars or black upholstery are automatically assumed to be from out-of-state or nuts.
  • You know that Valley Fever isn't a disco dance.
  • The water from the cold water tap is the same temperature as the hot one.
  • You can (correctly) pronounce the words: "Saguaro," "Tempe," "Gila Bend," "San Xavier," "Canyon de Chelly," "Mogollon Rim," "Cholla," and "Ajo."
  • It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is moving on the streets.
  • Sunscreen is sold year round, kept at the front of the checkout counter, a formula less than 30 SPF is a joke, and you wear it just to go to the Circle K.
  • Hot-air balloons can't go up, because the air outside is hotter than the air inside.
  • No one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car.
  • You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
  • You break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. before work.
  • You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

Four for Fridays

Hello everybody! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after a difficult week. A three day weekend is on it's way and it couldn't come at a better time. Let's kick it off with some random questions...

1) If you could own a business, what kind of business would you run?

2) If you could change something in your past, what would you change?

3) Do you think there is life on other planets?

4) Do you know sign language?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday


What is candy corn doing in that picture?

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Soggy bread

Has anyone else noticed store bread is getting soggy? Almost either undone, or extra water to stretch the bread as it's sold by weight. Not talking about the bakery bread but the brand names.

School Vouchers

UPDATED



Earlier this month I ran a poll about support of “School Vouchers”. The results of this poll indicated people who voted where against school vouchers.

Today in the JSOnline, their results are opposite. You can read the article at

Poll measures support for school vouchers in Racine, Green Bay.

In the poll of voters in the Racine Unified School District, 55% said they would favor creating a school choice program for low and middle income children in Racine, while 33% said they opposed it. The partisan support skewed Republican, with 65% of Republican voters in favor, 46% of Democrat voters in favor, and 57% of independents indicating they would back the voucher program's expansion in their community.


AND I AM STILL AGAINST THEM....SER









Quality of care at Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital







Wednesday, May 25, 2011

People of Walmart - Music Video



First, there was the website: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
Now there is a song.
I assume the next step will be People of Walmart: The Movie.

Mardi gras in Wisconsin


Comic Side of Bin Laden

"The death of Osama bin Laden last Sunday has apparently damaged our relationship with al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has released a statement vowing to make America pay for bin Laden's death. Which - I'm pretty sure we did pay for his death. We paid for the whole thing and even took care of the funeral arrangements. Maybe a thank you would be nice." -Jimmy Kimmel

"Osama Bin Laden's supporters want to rename the Arabian Sea where his body was dumped Martyr Sea. Really? Martyr Sea? Hiding in your bedroom for six years? How about Chicken of the Sea?" -Jay Leno

"Osama bin Laden is in the ocean. How ironic. Once again surrounded by seals." -Jay Leno

"Osama bin Laden had money and telephone numbers sewn into his clothes. Apparently we got him just as he was on his way to summer camp." -Jay Leno

"Osama bin Laden's death has been in the news all day. Leftish stations are going, 'President Obama saves the world.' Stations on the right are going, 'Obama kills fellow Muslim.'" -Craig Ferguson

"How about those Navy Seals. We're getting our money's worth there. They broke into Osama bin Laden's compound with 12-foot walls topped by barbed wire, and fired a warning shot into his head." -David Letterman

"Apparently, members of Al Qaeda are online slamming the U.S. I don't understand why they're so upset. Everyone in Al Qaeda just got a promotion." -Craig Ferguson

"Bin Laden was buried at sea. Or as Dick Cheney calls it, 'the ultimate water boarding.'" -Jay Leno

"Osama bin Laden was apparently shot twice in the face. It looks like Dick Cheney may have been involved." -Jay Leno

"Bin Laden lived in this compound in Pakistan with all of his wives for 6 years. So he did suffer." -David Letterman

"Bin Laden's wives didn't have it too bad.........by looking at the pictures of the inside of the compound, it doesn't look like any of them EVER had to do housework.

Power pays

Curt Johnson's family is moving away. The JT is not allowing comments. Too bad. I see North Carolina has a 16 year old consent law. I'd have thought Curt would move to Alabama or Indiana where consent is 14 instead...

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my shivering sputzies! How are you? I’m beginning to think that Mr. OrbsCorbs is correct in his belief that Mother Nature is a contrarian who purposely sabotages my weather predictions. Oh dear. I do apologize on her behalf for the cool weather. I would appeal to her better nature, but I think that two words explain my apprehension: Japan earthquake. Talk about a temper! Enough said.

I’ll be blunt with you, my dears: I’m running late in writing my blog this week and I don’t have much to say. When a man enters your life, things can get very interesting, but also very time consuming. I swear, on occasion a man demands more attention than a child. Of course, there are rewards… (insert big smiley face here)… I would not continue in my relationship with Senor Zanza if it was one-sided. He is a perfect gentleman and a very gracious man. He is very intuitive and attentive to my needs and desires. Ooo-la-la! He is kind and generous, and very wise and worldly in the ways of romance. He is somewhat evasive about his past, though. Hmm. Well, no one is perfect, but I come darn close. No, oh my, tee-hee, that was a joke.

It’s just that your priorities shift when another person enters your life. I have to continue to operate Madame Zoltar® Enterprises™, parent Junior, head a household, manage my business and personal affairs, and still make time for Senor Zanza. We try to combine as many activities and as much time together as possible. For example, Senor Zanza loves to hang out at work, learning every detail of my operation. His appetite for knowledge is voracious. He wants to know everything about my business, so that he can help out whenever or wherever he may be needed. I really appreciate that.

I am so glad that Why Not? and Stoughe and their girls have arrived safe and sound in Racine. Hip-hip-hooray! Racine’s summer will be better for your presence. I hope you have a wonderful time here and create many happy memories to take back with you to Sweden. The Racine area has a lot of fun stuff to do. Unfortunately, we have our troubled areas, too. If you got a good grasp on things the last time that you were here, I don’t think much has changed. Be careful, be vigilant, be aware. Major events held downtown are usually family safe (except for that errant Ferris Wheel at Party on the Pavement last year – oh my!), as are any other well-established events and locales. The vast majority of Racinians are honest, hard-working people. Unfortunately, that fact is often overshadowed by the sensationalism of crime.

I know that I’ve grown less trusting of other people in Racine as the years have gone by. That, too, is unfortunate, but also a fact. Does that reflect the reality of life in Racine, or is it my misperception of reality that causes it? I don’t know. You tell me.

Thank you my lovely, lovely readers for spending some time with me this week. I can sense when someone reads my blog. It feels delightful. Thank you so much. I love you all. My, I sure rambled on for not having much to say.

Please send your insider stock trading tips and misheard lyric sheets to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

I swear, it will warm up sooner or later. Uh-oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe now you-know-who will keep it artic throughout the summer. Please, I’m sorry Mother Nature, it was just a joke. Please have mercy and shine your love light on us once more. Naupathia!

A Follow up to KK's Protest Blog


This time there wasn't as many protesters but cops...gezzzz twice as many as last time, also lots of high school students this time marching back and forth and chanting 'recall walker'!




















All Photos Property of SER/JTIrregulars - To purchase these picture write to jtirregulars@jtirregulars.com

Open Blog - Wednesday


Pucker up!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Morning Grin........

A middle-aged man was asking advice from his trainer at the gym " I want to impress that beautiful girl, which machine should I use? "

Trainer: " You should use the ATM machine just outside this gym ''

Guinea Pig....


Why do they call it a ‘Guinea Pig’?

They’re not Italian and they’re not pork!

The End Of The World Has Been Rescheduled For Oct. 21

"An Autumn Date for the Apocalypse"

"OAKLAND, Calif. — Here we go again. A California religious radio impresario who predicted — wrongly — that the end of the world would begin on May 21 revised his prophesy on Monday, saying now that the end is due in October.

"In a rambling, 90-minute speech, broadcast both online and on his stations, Harold Camping, whose Family Radio network paid millions of dollars to promote his prediction, said that he was stunned when the rapture did not happen on Saturday.

"'I can tell you very candidly that when May 21 came and went it was a very difficult time for me, a very difficult time,' said Mr. Camping, 89, a former civil engineer. 'I was truly wondering what is going on. In my mind, I went back through all of the promises God has made, all of the proofs, all of the signs and everything was fitting perfectly, so what in the world happened? I really was praying and praying and praying, oh Lord, what happened?'

"What he decided, apparently, was that May 21 had been 'an invisible judgment day,' of the spiritual variety, rather than his original vision of earthquakes and other disasters leading to five months of hell on earth, culminating in a spectacular doomsday on Oct. 21 — something he had repeatedly guaranteed. On Monday, however, Mr. Camping seemed satisfied with his new interpretation, which apparently spared humankind its months of torture for a single day of destruction."


Well, duh, of course, an invisible judgment day comes first. I thought everyone knew that.

Now we have a lot more time to party before the world really (no, really this time) ends. And there's not going to be any rolling time zone swath of destruction; it's going to happen all at once. The big unbang. That will show all those dummies who think that the world is going to end next year.

"The Red Wheelbarrow"

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

--William Carlos Williams

"The Red Wheelbarrow is a poem by and often considered the masterwork of American 20th-century writer William Carlos Williams. The 1923 poem exemplifies the Imagist-influenced philosophy of “no ideas but in things.” This provides another layer of meaning beneath the surface reading. The style of the poem   forgoes traditional British stress patterns to create a typical “American” image.[1] "  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Wheelbarrow


"William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Williams "worked harder at being a writer than he did at being a physician"; but during his long lifetime, Williams excelled at both.[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams

Monday, May 23, 2011

"'Zombie Apocalypse' campaign crashes website"


"(Reuters) - A blog post by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that mentions a 'zombie apocalypse' as a lighthearted way to get Americans to read about preparing for hurricanes drove so much traffic that it crashed the website, the agency said on Thursday.

"The Zombie Apocalypse campaign is a social media effort by the CDC's Public Health and Preparedness center to spread the word about the June 1 start of hurricane season."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/20/us-zombies-idUSTRE74J44A20110520


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention zombie blog page: http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

I think that's great. I'm sure there are many people who consider this an unfit use of tax dollars, but I like it. You never know when zombies might attack.

joke of the day

Having already downed a few power drinks, a woman turns to the guy on the stool next to her, faces him, looks him straight in the eye and says, "Listen here, good looking, I will screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, their place, my place, in the car, front door, back door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down, naked or with clothes on. It doesn't matter to me. I just love it."

His eyes now wide with interest, he responds, "No kidding. I'm in Congress too. What state are you from?"

Open Blog - Monday


Hallelujah! It's Monday!