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The Mitchell Domes

On vacation in the middle of winter here in Wisconsin...there isn't much to do, except go to someplace warm like the Mitchell Domes Horticultural Conservatory. Located in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, the Mitchell Domes are basically biosphere like greenhouses that literately holds thousands of different species of plants from different regions of the globe in three diverse domes.


Over a thousand plant species are on display in the Tropical Dome. Many of these are economically important fruit bearing trees such as banana, papaya, ackee, avacado, cocoa and guava. Hardwoods include big-leaf, little-leaf, and African mahoganies, ebony and lignum vitae. The center of the Tropical Dome is dominated by a large kapok tree. It is one of the tallest trees under glass growing up to 95 feet. Amazing as it was, when we exited the Tropical Dome we were sweating from the humidity in there.

Expecting to especially hot in the Desert Dome, we found it be surprisingly cool and quite comfortable. A large number of plants, mostly from the Americas and Africa are on display here. Most these are native to the Sororan Desert in Arizona. Among them are species of shrubs, trees, annuals, bulbs as well as familiar cacti. The African section has aloes, crassulas, euphorbias and the unusual Welwitschia plant which has only two continuously growing leaves and may live for over a thousand years. From Madagascar, come the succulent flora of Euphorbia, Pachypdium, Adenia, Didierea, Alluaudic and Operculicatya.

The Show Doom was kind of cool... It hosts four seasonal shows and one holiday exhibit held annually in December for visitors to enjoy. Each show has a theme chosen based on cultural ( German, Japanese and French) literary as well as historical. In most recent years, the Winter Show has featured an extensive killer garden railroad display that will surely please kids and adults like me. It has become one of the most popular displays during the year and is one of the largest indoor Garden Railroad displays in the Midwest.

For $6.50 per adult to get in, I couldn't complain. It was a sure fire way to getaway for a winter afternoon. After that, we had dinner at TGIF's at Miller Park. Talk about a succulent meal...

"70 MPH Mobility Scooter in the Snow"

Oh man, I want one of those sooo bad!

Open Blog - Monday & Valentine's Day

"Us" is the JTI.  Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Useless Information

Did you know:

Aluminum boats get better gas mileage then fiberglass boat due to weight.

Saturday Night Sights

Both of these pics merit a click to see the bigger versions. First up, sunset. I posted pics from last Sunday and you can see how much farther north the Sun is setting just shy of a week later. It is now north of Kitt Peak. You can see several domes and the distinctive McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. The usual green flash has more than one color. What colors do you see?

Next up, the International Space Station made a very bright pass tonight. From Tucson, it passes through the upper part of Orion. This shot is my favorite of the evening.

The ISS is making evening passes over the continental United States the next few nights. You can look up when to see it where you live at Heavens Above.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Daniel Shays

The "Wolf Man," who recently protested in downtown Racine [http://www.jtirregulars.com/2012/02/updated-wolf-man-speaks-out-protesting.html, http://racineuncovered.org/2012/02/wolfman-speaks-out-protesting-dickert-lawsuit/], said his street name is Daniel Shays [http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/photo-dickert-protester/image_fa7fa7cc-770f-5ab3-bc25-f5113f572bcf.html].

I looked up Shays and Shays' Rebellion on Wikipedia. I don't remember hearing about him in history class in elementary school or high school, but history was not my best subject. From Wikipedia:
 

"Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.

"The rebellion started on August 21, 1786, over financial difficulties and by January 1787, over one thousand Shaysites had been arrested. A militia that had been raised as a private army defeated an attack on the federal Springfield Armory by the main Shaysite force on February 3, 1787, and five rebels were killed in the action.

"In the aftermath, fear spread that the American Revolution's democratic impulse had gotten out of hand. This fear, combined with the lack of institutional response to the uprising, energized calls to reevaluate the Articles of Confederation and gave strong impetus to the Philadelphia Convention which began on May 17, 1787, which created the United States Constitution."

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shays%27_Rebellion

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Shays

That completes our history lesson for the day.

Tim Hawkins - "The Government Can"

You still know that the government is inept, if not immoral, but now you're smiling.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! Welcome back! Well, I'm off from work for a short little vacation. So here I am, writing my post, then it's back to bed for me.... Here are some questions for you...

1) Do you think Valentine's Day is more a "Hallmark" holiday or a real day to celebrate your love for another?

2) What is your idea of a perfect Valentine's gift?

3) How many of the U.S. Presidents have you memorized?

4) Do you like trivia-like games?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday & Weekend

Hope your eyes still work after reading that.

Sorry Arizona, Even Teachers Have Rights

Well our legislature is back in session and they wasted no time going straight to the bat-shit crazy education legislation. I have to just quote it verbatim for you (you can find the original here).

"Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 15, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-108, to read:

15-108. Public classrooms; compliance with federal standards for media broadcasts concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity; violations; definition

A. If a person who provides classroom instruction in a public school engages in speech or conduct that would violate the standards adopted by the federal communications commission concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity if that speech or conduct were broadcast on television or radio:

1. For the first occurrence, the school shall suspend the person, at a minimum, for one week of employment, and the person shall not receive any compensation for the duration of the suspension. This paragraph does not prohibit a school after the first occurrence from suspending the person for a longer duration or terminating the employment of that person.

2. For the second occurrence, the school shall suspend the person, at a minimum, for two weeks of employment, and the person shall not receive any compensation for the duration of the suspension. This paragraph does not prohibit a school after the second occurrence from suspending the person for a longer duration or terminating the employment of that person.

3. For the third occurrence, the school shall terminate the employment of the person. This paragraph does not prohibit a school after the first or second occurrence from terminating the employment of that person.

B. For the purposes of this section, "public school" means a public preschool program, a public elementary school, a public junior high school, a public middle school, a public high school, a public vocational education program, a public community college or a public university in this state. "

Got that? Anytime a teacher says or does anything, not limited to school time, that does not pass muster with the FCC's broadcast standards, they can be disciplined. Can't call the legislature a bunch of fucking morons without risking a week's suspension. Literature teachers will end up having to get rid of a lot of classics (including most Shakespeare if anyone ever figures out the dirty jokes). Biology teaches would have to tiptoe around biological functions (excretory references are scatological according to the FCC). But its even worse than that. One of my facebook friends pointed out that under this legislation, teachers are technically barred from having sex since that cannot be broadcast on television!

Now I know everyone will say that's not what they are targeting, but why write it this way then? If you have ever been in a school, you know there are students who will bait teachers to try and get them to say or do inappropriate things (and if you don't believe this, you have just lost the right to call anyone else naive...ever!) When I was teaching, I was in a local production of Cabaret (an extremely well reviewed award winning production at that) and I am pretty sure there were multiple scenes that would have gotten me in trouble under this law if I was teaching at a public school!

And I am pretty sure the ACLU will have a field day with this gross attempt to regulate teacher speech outside school and rightly so! The Arizona legislature, what a bunch of fucktards! (I am not a teacher right now so I can say that!)

"Sauna Pants"

And sometimes a thousand pictures are worth only one word: yuck.

Husband Day Care Center

A picture is worth a thousand words.

"Updated-Wolf Man speaks out-protesting Dickert lawsuit."

From RacineUncovered.org:

"Updated…Witnesses started calling this morning stating that a wolf was in downtown Racine picketing at what they believe are happening with our City of Racine leaders. The wolf was seen walking the streets downtown around the courthouse, LEC and other areas! If you saw the wolf, you weren’t seeing things. Here is the official statement from the Wolf of Racine. The Wolf was in the area from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. picketing and had checked on ordinances and rules concerning picketing so that none were broken.

"On Feb. 8, Daniel Shays came to the Racine County Courthouse to raise awareness about the John Dickert lawsuit and the fact that the City of Racine Taxpayers are being required to pay his legal bills for deeds that were committed while he was campaigning. On CCAP the lawsuit is specifically labeled to John T. Dickert, and NOT the City of Racine, which makes it a personal lawsuit. City of Racine taxpayers have no legal obligation to pay for personal lawsuits, nor can they afford to in this time of economic distress. When Residents are struggling to pay everyday bills, and Racine has high rates of unemployment and foreclosures, it is wrong to take money from the people to pay for John T. Dickerts personal legal bills.

"Wearing the mask that symbolizes the Wolf that is eating Racine along with his sign, he set out on a 2 hour mission of awareness and education. He explained to inquiring people the reason for his mission and stand. In response, he received many words of thanks and encouragement, horns honked in agreement, thumbs up and even one young boy who approached him to shake his hand.

"We now eagerly await the ruling of the Court on the motion of John T. Dickert and pray for a victory for the struggling residents of Racine. It is also an opportunity for John T. Dickert and the Racine City Council to acknowledge the truth, and do the honorable thing for the residents of Racine."

http://racineuncovered.org/2012/02/wolfman-speaks-out-protesting-dickert-lawsuit/

Wow.  The Wolf Man was in downtown Racine protesting Dickert stealing our money for his lawsuit and I missed it.  Even the movie monsters know that Dickert is a liar and a thief, propped up by the lying and thieving councilmen.

"The Good Life:" making someone else pay your bills.      

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my vivacious valentines! How are you? It’s so wonderful to see the grass growing and the flowers blooming. That is winter in Wisconsin 2012. I sincerely hope that Mother Nature is not fooled by Old Man Winter’s hijinks. If the fauna and flora start breeding and feeding too soon, they can be killed by cold snaps to come. On the other hand, if it’s not going to get much colder this winter, I wonder if such an early start won’t strain resources. The weather is so strange, and certainly the talk of the town. As they say, everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it - unless you count the millions of tons of greenhouse gases that we’ve released. Oh my.

As I was corrected last week, today is the day for a ruling in Mr. Mayor John Dickert’s slander case. Mr. OrbsCorbs has stated that he believes that the judge will rule in favor of Mr. Mayor, saying that Mr. Mayor was acting as mayor when he said the e-word on the radio. I have predicted otherwise, but both our outcomes are the same: Racine taxpayers will pay for Mr. Mayor John Dickert’s personal lawsuit legal bills. Oh dear.

My next blog won’t appear until Wednesday, so let me take this opportunity to give you an early reminder of Valentine’s Day, next Tuesday, February 14, 2012. If you are lucky enough to have a special someone in your life, you may want to express your love to him or her on that day. Of course, you don’t have to buy into the big, Madison Avenue candy boxes and flowers. Maybe just a few words are enough: “I love you.”

Here’s the “History of Valentine's Day” from the History Channel:



“I love you” is not just for that special someone in my life, but for all of my readers, too. Thank you for reading my blog today. I enjoy creating them for you.

Cupid not cutting it for you? Try Madame Zoltar’s® combination love potion and paint thinner, Loventine™. madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

This is where I usually warn you about the dangers of the week’s upcoming weather, but, uh, who the hell knows, anyway? Be safe, have fun, be loving, my dear friends. Don’t let the bedbugs bite. Belocolus!

Open Blog - Wednesday & Thursday

That makes me a little seasick.

"The Karate Rap"

©1986. I don't care, I'm still embarrassed for them.

One minute is about enough of this video.

"Four-Year-Old Loves Kohler Toilets"

Here's a related story from JSOnline: http://www.jsonline.com/business/boy-gets-christmas-present-of-his-dreams-a-new-toilet-qb429cl-138758514.html

Perhaps someday he will engineer a great advance in toilets.

Open Blog - Monday & Tuesday

Wake up, sleepy head. Say hi to the work week.

Thank you, kkdither, for the Valentine candy heart on the sidebar.

Super Bowl Sunset

Some of us were fortunate enough to live where sunset occurred over halftime so we could sneak out and avoid the invariably overhyped halftime show (and in the unlikely event that it turned out to be great and everyone was talking about it, there is always Youtube).

Nice sunset in Tucson. The Sun is setting just south of Kitt Peak, visible in this picture. You can see a green flash on the left and look closely on the right for a blue flash!

Now back to watch the end of the Super Bowl.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Useless Information

Did you know:

In the movie Mr & Mrs Smith, they spent $250,000 just for bullets.

Honesty in Marketing

I came home and the Caller ID was blinking. It's always blinking. A call, but no message. Probably some phone scam. I looked at the Caller ID:

I blinked. Laugh out loud!

I Googled the number. Scroll a little down this list and you'll see that many others have also received the "Phone Scam" ID: http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-567-248-4400

I heartily applaud this new trend in telemarketing. Thank you so much. My prayer is that it spreads to all of marketing, everywhere. Can you imagine honest advertising? It boggles the mind.

"Old Spice | Bounce "

I love the inane. Green Acres is still one of my favorite television shows because it was so ridiculously absurd.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after what's seems like a short week. Slowing down at work... Here are some questions for you...

1) What is your favorite beverage?

2) Any plans for Super Bowl Sunday?

3) Who would win the game, the New York Giants or the New England Patriots?

4) Which ground hog do you 'believe" in, Punxsutawney Phil or Milwaukee's Wynter the Groundhog?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday & Weekend

Both Tweety and Sylvester have speech impediments. What's up with that?

"Beginning of the Rollerblade"

Nothing is new. Those looked a little awkward until that guy at the end was showing off.

"WELCOME TO RACINE COUNTY CORRUPTION.COM"

New website: http://www.racinecountycorruption.com/

I don't know anything about it - I saw a link posted in a comment on the Journal Times site. I know Nieskes is dirty, though. Hell, anyone who ever had any doings with the DA turned judge knows that. He is proud of his corruption.

Good luck to this site. We need more citizens to step forward and speak about the corruption that takes place daily in Racine. A few dozen more lawsuits and we may yet clean up this pigsty.

If you didn't have to eat, would you?

I know this is impossible, but what if someone magically produced a pill that met all of your nutritional and fluid intake needs for 24 hours? You could take a pill and your body would act normally, except that you wouldn't get hungry or thirsty for a day. You could eat or drink in addition to the pill, but then you'd run the risk of gaining weight. There would be no side effects from the pill and it would meet all of your physical needs perfectly.

You could take a pill one day and eat regularly the next, or mix in any combination, without physical harm.

Would you take the pill or would you prefer to taste and eat your meals? Even if you have to make them? Or would you mix it up with pills some days and meals on others?

Me? I'd live on the pill.

"Downtown Spokane Street Musician Bryson Andres"

Wow.

9th Anniversary of Columbia

February 1st, 2003 was just another Saturday morning. I knew Columbia was due to land in Florida, but landings were so routine I wasn't even worried about tuning in for it (and let's be honest, they aren't as exciting to watch as a launch!)

I was listening to NPR as usual. It was during one of the local news breaks that I first hear that Columbia broke up on reentry. Very odd, NPR was still running its usual programming and hadn't broken in with special coverage so I turned on CNN. They were in full coverage mode.

It was pretty obvious right away there was a heat shield failure and quickly became apparent that it was damaged on takeoff. The heat shield is fragile (I have a shuttle tile, although the area that damaged had a different but still fragile material) but since weight is a concern, you have to use light weight materials.

That evening, I went out and drove by Horlick High. All the major networks had news truck in the sh0pping center parking lot across the street since Laurel Clark went to Horlick.

I remember running through the Laurel Clark fountain on hot summer runs. I also bought the Columbia Christmas ornament at Zoo Lights.

The Columbia accident is ultimately what led Bush to (correctly) decide it was time to retire the shuttle fleet. Shuttles didn't fly again until procedures were in place to reduce the risk of a similar accident in the future including new techniques to mitigate debris strikes on the orbiter and inspections in orbit to look for damage and developed techniques to repair the heat shield while in orbit (I believe it was only once that they saw enough damage they decided to go out and make a repair).

The Columbia accident didn't seem to traumatize the nation quite like Challenger. Maybe because it wasn't the first one. Maybe because it was after 9/11 and seemed smaller by comparison. Maybe because we were building up troops in Iraq in preparation for a war that would start weeks later.

What do you remember about February 1st, 2003?

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicst Blog.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my dreamy confections! How are you? The first day of February and we’re going to see 50 degrees again? What happened to winter this year? Is it going to come in like gangbusters late in the season, or just sputter out with a few more cold spells this month? Mother Nature is not talking to me, of course, and I can’t find Old Man Winter anywhere. Obviously, when he’s not around, the temperature rises. Word on the psychic gossip hotlines is that Old Man W is having a fling with summer, and that’s what has him preoccupied. Of course, opposites attract, but in the long run, they’re totally incompatible and I expect that our weather will return to normal sooner rather than later.

In perusing the news yesterday, I came across this disturbing item: “Pythons Wiping Out Everglades Mammals, Report Says” http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/01/31/sci-pythons-everglades.html Oh my. I immediately thought of our Ms. Beejay. I know she’s battled a few snakes in Florida, but I don’t know if she is ready to take on 16 ft. long Burmese pythons. Apparently, these pythons are the descendents of pets that either escaped or were let loose into the Everglades. They have devoured nearly all other species into extinction. It’s quite a mess and I don’t know what they are going to do about it. Once man has upset the natural balance of things, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to restore it. The pythons have no natural enemies in the Everglades. If you introduce a natural predator, then you need to think of what is going to control that animal. Whatever happens, please stay away from the Everglades, Ms. Beejay and Mr. BiggieD.

A little closer to home, I was reminded that a Kenosha judge is supposed to rule tomorrow on whether Mr. Mayor John Dickert was acting as mayor or not when he said the e-word on the radio during a mayoral candidates forum. My prediction is that the judge will rule that Mr. Mayor was not acting as mayor when he said the e-word. However, that won’t stop our Common Council from picking up Mr. Mayor’s legal tab, anyway. Thus spake Madame Zoltar!®

Thank you so much for stopping by to read my blog today. It’s always wonderful to share time with friends and family. My blog is your blog. I’m delighted to have you as a guest.

Taxes prepared, audit antidotes: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Keep your wardrobe for all four seasons out. That’s the only way to cope with weather so out of kilter. Stay warm, cool, dry, wet, or whatever you need to coexist peacefully with the elements. I love you all. Rorulent!

Open Blog - Wednesday & Thursday

Welcome to February.

"Peaceful protest to be held to save the street lights-February 7, 2012"

From RacineUncovered.org:

"Residents have come together and want to be heard. Residents in the Jerome Blvd. area have organized a peaceful protest on Tuesday February 7,2012 around City Hall starting at 4:00 p.m. and ending at 6:45 p.m. just prior to the start time of the Common Council meeting. They have also sent a letter to city hall requesting a common council special hearing (which by law they are entitled to).

"Residents have stated that they are contacting the TV stations in Milwaukee and other media outlets inviting them to this rally to show that this means a lot for residents for the safety of their neighborhoods.

"ALL RESIDENTS OF RACINE ARE ENCOURGAGED TO ATTEND AND SHOW THEIR SUPPORT!"

http://racineuncovered.org/2012/01/peaceful-protest-to-be-held-to-save-the-street-lights-february-72012/

Primary Colors

Featuring OK Go and a video they made for Sesame Street



Very good, but this only applies to pigments (paints and dyes) and is called subtractive color mixing. Mixing light, such as in live theater, is very different. The primary colors of light are red, green and blue. I think they need a sequel on additive color mixing!

Shaolin Monk - "Iron Egg Skill"

I am speechless, primarily because I am wincing so hard.

Open Blog - Monday & Tuesday

That looks relaxing.

"Thoughts from the Common Council President Greg Helding-Street Lights & Woowoos"

 
RacineUncovered.org has another story up about the streetlight situation in Racine: http://racineuncovered.org/2012/01/thoughts-from-the-common-council-president-greg-helding-street-lights/

That was sparked by an email from Common Council President Alderman Greg Helding to RacineUncovered.

It also includes a link to a WISN TV12 report on the streetlight issue in Racine: http://www.wisn.com/news/30308931/detail.html

My previous blog on the same subject: http://www.jtirregulars.com/2012/01/fox-6-news-bye-bye-street-lights.html
 

Useless Information

Did you know:

62% of the small towns in America, the population is less then 2,500,

Rémi Gaillard - "Radar"

http://www.youtube.com/user/nqtv

I've posted videos from Rémi Gaillard here before:

http://www.jtirregulars.com/2010/11/remi-gaillard-lamour-fou.html

http://www.jtirregulars.com/2010/12/for-you-scrooges-out-there.html

I like his twisted, almost anarchistic, sense of humor.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after an industrious week. This morning, I wrestled to come up with some questions, then it hit me... Here are some questions for you.

1) What celebrity do you feel has been overexposed?

2) If you where a celebrity, how much exposure would you give yourself?

3) If you were an actor/actress what role would you like to play?

4) What do you think of the paparazzi?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday & Weekend

That's a positive and productive message.

"QUIZ: How well do you know Racine's history?"

 
From the JournalTimes.com, a quiz on historical facts about Racine: http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-racine-s-history/html_76d5d0f6-482f-11e1-be97-0019bb2963f4.html

I started out great and got three right, then got the next four wrong. :-(

Didn't Meatloaf sing, "Three out of seven ain't bad"?
 

"Fox 6 News-Bye-Bye Street Lights"

 
RacineUncovered.org has a video of last night's TV 6 spot on the removal of streetlights in Racine: http://racineuncovered.org/2012/01/fox-6-news-bye-bye-street-lights/

I worry that one big snowstorm, like last year's, will paralyze most of Racine for a week because of cutbacks in snowplowing.
 

A Close Encounter Between Venus and the Moon

Venus and the Moon are engaging in their dance the next few months in the evening sky. Tonight the crescent Moon was well below Venus.

Tomorrow night the Moon will be below Venus and Thursday night it will be just above Venus giving two more excellent opportunities to see this nice pairing in the night sky.

But that's not all. Venus is nice and far away from the Sun right now which and the Moon provides a useful guide to help see Venus during the day. I recommend using a program like Stellarium to help you out. Set it up for your location and time of observation. Be sure the Moon and Venus are up in the sky during the day. Note the position of Venus relative to the Moon. Now you are ready to track down Venus in broad daylight.

Find the Moon and slowly scan away from the Moon toward where Venus should be located according to Stellarium. You really have to look directly at Venus to see it during the day. That is, the image of Venus must land on the fovea of your eye. The fovea is the small spot in the center of your retina where the cones are most closely spaced and your vision is most acute. Once you hit that spot, Venus will pop into view so prominently you will wonder how you missed it before.

It takes some practice. Be sure your eyes are focused at infinity (focus on the Moon before you scan will do the trick). It also helps if you stand so the Sun is hidden Sun behind a tree or building to cut down on glare.

Many people wait until close to sunset to try this, but I have seen Venus practically any time it is up, even in the middle of the day. A good strategy might be to try it near sunset on Wednesday night and if you are successful, try it during the day on Thursday.

Happy observing!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my snappy snow sculptures! How are you? Faring better than the sculptures downtown, I hope. These brief flirtations with warmer weather are doing a number on the creations in Monument Square. Saturday was perfect for the event, though. You just take what you get weather-wise when winter rolls in around here. It’s like a rollercoaster ride that you never wanted to get on. You just hang on and pray until it’s over.

As I duly noted last week, the season is over for our hapless Green Bay Packers. These words are just an echo of that catastrophe.

I’m sorry, my dears, but my winter funk persists. I don’t think it’s just the weather. It’s the constant bombardment of bad news from around the world that does it. When it’s nice outside, I can get away from the litany of the negative for awhile. As the weather worsens, I stay inside more. I can astral project to escape, but that takes an extraordinary amount of energy. It’s not for daily use. One of the things that has helped me is searching for the positive on the internet. For instance, I went to YouTube and typed in “happy” into their search engine. Below is one of the videos that came up.



I will admit that watching Mick wiggle his tight buns still makes me happy. You’ve still got it, baby! You and that magic tongue of yours.

Oh my, did I say that? I meant to say that I love all of my readers and I thank you for reading my blog this week. Without you, I would be nothing, like a figment of someone’s imagination. My visits with you are the high point of my week. You are my family.

Skeletons in the family closet? Contact: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Watch out for the changeable weather, my dears. Sunny, dry, cloudy, rainy, snowy, sometimes all in one day. Keep your hat on and your zippers zipped. You never know what the day is going to throw at you. That’s my job. Kia ora!

Open Blog - Wednesday & Thursday

And joyous Thursday!

"Lee gets OK to emerge from bankruptcy January 30"

From boston.com:

"DAVENPORT, Iowa—Newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises Inc. said Monday that a judge had approved its debt refinancing plan, which will allow it to emerge from prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 30.

"The publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and nearly 50 other newspapers filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec.12 to compel a small minority of lenders to go along with a refinancing plan that gives the company more time to repay about $1 billion in debt. The plan extends due dates to December 2015 and April 2017.

"Lee CEO Mary Junck said the favorable outcome will give the company nearly four years to continue improving its balance sheet.

"Lee's stock jumped 21 cents, or 24 percent, to close at $1.10 on Monday."

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/01/23/lee_gets_ok_to_emerge_from_bankruptcy_in_january/

Lee Enterprises Inc., of course, is the owner of the Journal Times. I didn't know that their stock was so low. Even as it is, I might be able to buy 5 or 10 of them. How do I do that? I've never owned stock before. I just want to be able to write letters to the editor complaining about various crap while harrumphing that I own stock in the company. "I am your boss," I may say. Or how about, "I own part of your ass,"?

Winter Forming On The Lake!

I will start with Friday night. I was having a bad night trying to sleep. I had a real bad sinus headache and only got a couple hours of sleep. I was suppose to work on Saturday but my with sinus headache it never went away and with the very little sleep I had gotten I didn't want to take the chance driving the car with both things. So Saturday I stayed home and tried to get rid of the headache. It finally went away in the evening. Believe me I tried taking any medicine I could to get rid of the headache.

Then on Sunday I had a short day at work. So Drew had an idea to go out and do something since I was feeling better. I gave him the idea to go and drive around and go to the thrift stores. Yes we did do both things.

The first place we went was by Lake Michigan. The picture you see here is a few blocks away from our place. You can see how the ice is starting to form by the shores. You can also see how the waves are coming in from the winds yesterday.

Then we went downtown by the lake to see if we could see any ducks out there. We did see some Seagulls just laying on the ice. That is in the picture to the right.

I just couldn't believe how the ice was forming downtown already. There was ice up on all the rocks along the lake. Yesterday with the winds the waves came up on the rocks.

We also seen some Seagulls trying to fly into the wind. But they couldn't get anywhere. We tried to get a picture of that but when we would go to snap the picture they went down below the rocks.

Yes we did make it to the thrift stores and he found some more to add to his music collection. I found some books for my daughter and work pants for him and I. 

It was just nice getting out of the house even with it being windy and cold outside. I do enjoy just going out for a drive and looking around. I don't like the cold but as long as it is nice and warm in the car I will go. I hope everyone enjoyed there weekend I did at least on Sunday.

Possible Aurora Tonight

The Sun put out a pretty big flare and CME yesterday which has been hitting Earth this morning. Tonight is a good chance to see aurora. The weather in Racine looks partly cloudy for tonight, so you have a shot.

The most common colors of aurora are green (electrons recombining with oxygen) and red (nitrogen). Other colors can be seen occasionally from different energy level transitions.

Don't give up just because you live in Racine. I saw them from Aurora, Illinois (no, really, that is the name of the city where I lived! Look it up!) just outside Chicago so a big storm can punch through and this is a pretty good storm. Of course, aurora are finicky so no guarantees! I am not anticipating anything in Arizona!

Here is one of my aurora pics from Acadia National Park last September just to get you primed.


UPDATE: The most recent forecast is for aurora low on the horizon from Chicago so you got a chance. See the aurora forecast for updates.

Texting Codes for Seniors

Seniors who are in step with the latest technologies now have  their own codes.

The  kids have all their texting codes, like

BFF (best friends  forever)

LOL (laughing out loud)

So  why not some codes for seniors (60 and over):

ATD  - At the Doctor's

BFF  - Best Friends Funeral

BTW  - Bring the Wheelchair

BYOT - Bring Your Own Teeth

CBM  - Covered by Medicare

CUATSC - See You at the Senior Center

DTAF - Don't Trust A  Fart

FWIW - Forgot Where I Was

FYI  - Found Your Insulin

GGLKI - Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking in!

GGPBL - Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low

GHA  - Got Heartburn Again

HGBM - Had Good Bowel Movement

IMHO - Is My Hearing-Aid On?

LMDO - Laughing My Dentures Out

LOL - Living on Lipitor

OMSG - Oh My! Sorry, Gas

ROFLCGU - Rolling on the Floor Laughing. Can't get Up!

WAITT - Who Am I Talking To?

WTF - Wet the Floor

WTFA - Wet the Furniture Again

WTP - Where're the Prunes?

WWNO - Walker Wheels Need Oil

Useless Informaation

Did you know:

If your city hostss the Winter Games, it is like hosting 3 Superbowls per day for 17 days straight.

Open Blog - Monday & Tuesday

Happy Chinese New Year!

The Big Chill

Over the weekend, we a festival here in downtown Racine called the Big Chill. Among the attractions were the Door County Sled Dogs and a snow sculpting contest. I didn't go (I'm not much of a fan of the cold weather), but I took these pictures as I passed through downtown. Had to hurry up to take the pictures, rain was coming in as it was slowly was dissolving the artwork.

Hello from the Big Chill.



Magnum Tractors built in Racine at J.I Case



I don't think that is Clarence Clemons



I'm not sure what that is, but it looks cool...



A vision of paradise on a tropic island....



Mice fighting over cheese?

"Congress puts brakes on anti-piracy bills"

From Reuters.com:

"(Reuters) - Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks on Friday, delivering a stunning win for Internet companies that staged an unprecedented online protest this week to kill the previously fast-moving bills.

"Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for January 24 "in light of recent events."

"Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, followed suit, saying his panel would delay action on similar legislation until there is wider agreement on the issue.

"'I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products,' Smith said in a statement."

Read more:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/21/us-usa-congress-internet-idUSTRE80J10X20120121

Hip-hip-hooray!

Four for Fridays

Hello everybody! Welcome back to another amazing episode of Four for Fridays-where I have the questions and you have the answers.... Here are questions for you.

1) Have you ever felt the you are the only sane (or crazy) person in the room?

2) If you were to take a road trip cross country with one person, what person would you take?

3) What is your favorite meal of the day?

4) What are your views on censorship?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday & Weekend

Have a fun everyday.

"Speak English!"

What? What did they say?

I understood "What's the point?" and "Come back."

Jeremy Kyle is a British version of Jerry Springer.

"The Government Wants to Kill the Internet"

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my eclectic Eskimos. How are you? My, what a difference a week can make. Last week I was marveling at the warmth and lack of snow. This week, well, you know what happened: snow, ice, cold. So much for our overextended Indian Summer, and on into the breech of winter. Oh dear, I don’t like it. I don’t like the snow, I don’t like the ice, I don’t like the cold. I don’t like any of it. Time to astral project to one of the Caribbean islands.

You also know what happened to our vaunted Green Bay Packers: loss, defeat, end of season. The New York Giants defeated the Packers in their first playoff game. Oh my. Contrary to the rumor that Mr. OrbsCorbs was spreading, I did not go to the ER after the Packers’ loss. I told Mr. OrbsCorbs that Junior’s acting out of each play in front of Senor Zanza and me and the television almost put us in the ER a couple of times. I’m an adult and I know how to handle the Packer loss. Senor Zanza and I got stinking drunk.

Winter can make me melancholic. Melancholy makes me want to listen to music. Thus, I give you a great song by a great artist, Tori Amos perfuming “Winter”:



That song always leaves me a little teary-eyed. I hope that you enjoyed it, though. I hope you enjoyed my entire blog. Thank you for reading it. I just adore visits from the Irregulars and regulars alike. I love you all.

In these dire economic times, I have found it necessary to obtain a second source of income, at least temporarily. Therefore, I have instituted Madame Zoltar’s Income Tax Services, Inc., LLC. I am a CPA (Certified Psychic Accountant) and I offer deep discounts to readers of my blog. Plus, if you get audited, your auditor will be cursed for eternity. Contact madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Be careful out there, my dears. It’s slippery and the frozen ground is unforgiving. Walk safe. Drive safe. Be safe. Madame Zoltar watches over you all. Laconicum!

Open Blog - Wednesday & Thursday

Chocolate candies and strawberries. Yum! (Click on the picture to see the glass sparkle.)

"Wikipedia to go dark Wednesday in protest against SOPA, PIPA"

From USA Today.com:

"Joining the protest against two proposed federal Internet regulation bills, Wikipedia's English-language site will be blacked out for all of Wednesday, co-founder Jimmy Wales announced on Twitter today.

"Beginning at midnight ET on Jan. 18, visitors will see a protest message for 24 hours, Wales tweeted. The move will affect 30 million to 40 million users, he said, correcting an initial figure of 100 million.

"'This is going to be wow,' read one of his tweets.

"Wikipedia and several other sites are calling on lawmakers to block the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). They are concerned the laws will 'hold website owners liable for links to sources of illegal music and movie downloading, with a detrimental effect on free speech online,' The Financial Times reports."

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/01/wikipedia-other-sites-protest-sopa-go-black-wednesday/1

I don't know enough about this legislation to make an informed comment on it, but I do know that Congress screws up everything it touches. Wikiless Wednesday! Power to the net!

Doomsday

The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans
Atop the broken universal clock:
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.
Out painted stages fall apart by scenes
While all the actors halt in mortal shock:
The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans.

Streets crack through in havoc-split ravines
As the doomstruck city crumbles block by block:
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.

Fractured glass flies down in smithereens;
Our lucky relics have been put in hock:
The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans.

The monkey's wrench has blasted all machines;
We never thought to hear the holy cock:
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.

Too late to ask if end was worth the means,
Too late to calculate the toppling stock:
The idiot bird leaps out and drunken leans,
The hour is crowed in lunatic thirteens.

-- Sylvia Plath

"Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and they lived together first in the United States and then England, having two children together: Frieda and Nicholas. Following a long struggle with depression and a marital separation, Plath committed suicide in 1963.^[1] Controversy continues to surround the events of her life and death, as well as her writing and legacy.

"Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for her two published collections: The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel. In 1982, she became the first poet to win a Pulitzer Prize posthumously, for The Collected Poems. She also wrote The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death.^[2]"

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

Sable turns 4!!!!!

This is the cake we had made for Sable...Yep, we do need a shrink!

Open Blog - Monday & Tuesday

I hope you all have a good start to the workweek.

Peggy Lee - "Is That All There Is" & "Fever"

Remember that one?

Here she is performing "Fever"

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Now Charging for Online Access

The above image (click to enlarge) appeared on my monitor this morning as I perused JSOnline articles. You get 20 free articles a month now. If you want more than that, you must subscribe. A subscription to their print paper automatically entitles you to online access. If you want online access only, it's $4.29 a month.

As a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper noted for its investigative journalism, I think $4.29 a month is a bargain for the Journal Sentinel. As a resident of Racine who exhausts his entire income just to stay alive, I can't afford it. So it goes.

Will the Journal Times be next? Would you pay for online access to either one?

Happy birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Both my Mother-in-law and my daughter share a birthday with a very great man. We showed this video to the girls for the first time, still a little too young to appreciate or understand the meaning behind it but I think it's an important topic.