"Leslie Nielsen: Funny to the End"

What a fitting final salute.

A very talented Sister-in-law

Please take a listen to my sister in law that played on the radio to day. There is a button that you have to push that says something like Livemusik i P4 morgon med Catharina Hultman. I am really proud of her, she is really developing a great music style.

The twelve pains of Christmas

Here is a little ditty that should make you smile:

http://www.minibite.com/Christmas/12pains.htm

I can identify with the lights!

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my wise winter owls! How are you? I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I ate so much that I just had to do it again on Friday with the leftovers. Oh my, it will take me weeks to work off that binge. But the important thing is gathering with loved ones to give thanks for our blessings. We live in a country of plenty and thus we are fortunate. There are so many, many others who have so little, if anything. Gratitude is the attitude that succeeds where others fail. Thank you, Creator, for all of your gifts.

Unfortunately, our beloved and besieged Green Bay Packers lost last Sunday’s game to the Atlanta Falcons. I am so heartbroken. I was watching the game, but had to answer nature’s call in the final minute. Oh dear. If only I had been watching, I might have been able to put the kibosh on Mr. Bryant’s kick. I feel just awful. It’s all because of my digestive problems. Shame on me. I promise to stay riveted to this Sunday’s upcoming game against the San Francisco 49ers. I’ll watch every second that they broadcast, just in case my undue influence is required. Rise again, o most exalted Green Bay Packers, and vanquish your foes!

Speaking of digestive problems, today (Tuesday) I underwent a procedure which involves that most intimate and invasive inspection of all: a colonoscopy. I will spare everyone the details, other than to say that such things are often recommended for people who reach a certain age and/or suffer related symptoms. And not to give away too much about my age, but this was my second one. That, however, did not make it any easier or more pleasant. Sometimes we have to do the unpleasant things if we want to keep enjoying the pleasant ones. (And sometimes we have to do them because the doctor refuses to renew a prescription until we undergo the procedure. Humph!)

In any case, I’m keeping my blog short this week, my dears, so I can rest. Since it is December 1st, I consider this to be the start of the Christmas season. I thought I’d post a classic performance to kick off the joy:



Thank you, sweethearts, for reading my blog. I am so grateful for my wonderful JT Irregulars. I look forward to the holidays with my online family of irregulars and regulars and everyone in-between. Madame Zoltar loves you all.

Please send your holiday greetings and bah humbugs to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

The infamous “they” are saying that it’s going to get colder. (Duh, it’s December.) Bundle up and prepare for winter, my dears, for it is on its icy way. Juramentum!

Driving Dog Prank

Open Blog - Wednesday

Wheee!

Hubble Holiday Cards

As you start thinking about sending Chrimahannakwanzstice cards to your friends and family, the Hubble Space Telescope is offering a free set of holiday cards for you. You can print them out at a photo shop or even on your own printer at home. Many designs to choose from. Here is one of my favorites

.

Each card has a link to the original press release so you can find out what you are looking at and why it is significant. The cards are blank on the inside, so you have plenty of room for personal messages or to tell people about the image!

There are a couple of dozen designs to choose from...just don't wait until the last minute!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

are you ready?

Yes, this REALLY IS my big guy.
Are you in the holiday spirit yet?
Are you ready for Christmas?
The decorations and all the fun,
or do you put it off til the last minute?

I always like to set up Thanksgiving night or at least the next day.
Winter gets so drab, cold and depressing, that I can't
wait to see it more festive.
I do not rush taking it down and prefer to keep it up thru
most of January, usually the last in our area to cave.

How about you?

"My Tiny Junk is Offended!"

Yep, all security theater.

What do you want for Christmas?

Okay, what do you want? And, Drew, your front teeth is not what I had in mind!!!!

What is your true wish for Christmas this year...Liz, no three page list, please.

Let's see what you come up with.

Me, I'm happy with my life, so my wish is that it continues in this direction! Oh, and cheese...I want cheese! WISCONSIN CHEESE!

Racine Uncovered Calls for Community Donations and Volunteers

Racine Uncovered's current Open Blog lists a number of local schools and programs that are in need and how to help. You can read it here: http://racineuncovered.org/?p=25317

The Journal Times ran a series of stories over the Thanksgiving weekend on Racine's homeless children: http://www.journaltimes.com/homelesschildren/

I did not realize how many children are relying upon schools and agencies to provide them with basic necessities beyond meals. It is a shame.

Open Blog - Monday

Time to go back to the job and work off that turkey.

I'll Be Groped for Christmas...

I get to fly later this week...joy, joy!

The Six Million Dollar Man Intro

The Six Million Dollar Man is one of those cheesy '70s shows that I never missed as a kid (and I am surprised that I was able to understand as much as I did seeing as when it came on when I was only six!) I had all the toys including Steve Austin with the bionic eye, arm and all the little bionic modules you could see when you too off his clothes AND the rocket.

Recently the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast featured on show on the Enterprise, the space shuttle that never flew in space and was used for testing. Surprisingly, the host (Steve Nerlich of Cheap Astronomy) talked about the Six Million Dollar Man intro. Specifically, that they used real footage in the intro. The intro featured a Northrop HL-10 being dropped from a B-52. The HL-10 was an experimental lifting body that flew both unpowered flights and powered flights. It would be taken up to abotu 45,o00 feet on a B-52 and then released. The HL-10 is reference in the Six Million Dollar Man as being the craft Steve Austin was piloting when he crashed.

The crash used in the opening sequence of the show is also real. This crash is of a Northrop M2-F2 in 1967, another lifting body craft. The crash occurred on its last flight, an unpowered glide.

I love it when science fiction shows use real footage like this and I kind of geek out just a little bit when I find out a beloved show from my childhood did that.

Here is the Six Million Dollar Man intro so you can see the two clips for yourself (sorry, embedding is disabled)

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

(Winter) Wonderland of Northern Wisconsin

I just got back from celebrating Thanksgiving in the northern woods of Wisconsin. I had a great time with family and friends! Musta gained about 20 pounds on the turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, the casseroles, stuffing, chairs, ice cream and I'm stuffed!

The weather? It was blustery cold when I arrived at my folks place just south of Crandon. Temperatures hovered around seven degrees. There was about two inches of snow that covered the ground. The lakes and rivers were starting to freeze up there giving it a more of a surreal landscape.

It was rather pretty up there...



Arbutus Lake



Lily River




Grass Lake





The Wolf River

So how was your Thanksgiving?

I think it's done snowing for now..

My first attempt of publishing photos





After 4½ days of constant snow fall this is what it looks outside our door.. Yuck, it's going to be a terribly long winter.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Open Blog - Weekend

It's Black Friday. Why aren't you shopping?

Buy Nothing Day

Yep, Adbusters promotes the day after Thanksgiving as Buy Nothing Day. In this, the biggest day of conspicuous consumption, a small band tries to get us to stop and think about our overconsuming lifestyles on a day when consumers go off the deep end.

I have not really celebrated a traditional Christmas in a long time. My family treats it the same way as the rest of the year: if we see something that inspires a gift to be given, great. If not, no big deal. As a result, there are not always presents given on Christmas but you might get something randomly on June 18th if I happen to see something that makes me think of a person on that day. What about Christmas? Well, we know we love each other and show it all year long so we just don't worry about stressing ourselves out during an arbitrarily selected season.

Now I don't expect large numbers of people to suddenly skip Christmas shopping due to this campaign...but if it can get some people to think about our lifestyles and/or how we celebrate that season, more power to 'em!

Happy Thanksgiving

Feast You Happy & Rest You Merry!

Latest post from the molders of public thinking

If Sarah Palin did not exist, we would invent her. She is a product of our media culture. Crass, superficial, ignorant and proud of her ignorance, unaware and unconcerned about the existence of real people, Sarah Palin floats on a media cloud that does not at any time touch the ground. She is the type of politician who can't name a Supreme Court decision, or explain how the legislative process works, or knows anything about the Constitution (but she totally loves it). Palin is the perfect Twitter user. Her mind was made for Twitter. Anything she thinks or says usually can't survive beyond 140 characters. Don't be annoyed by her. She is simply the evolutionary product of our culture.. Vickie, It's easier now than you think to get a job. Many employers go online now to list good paying jobs so you don't have to waste gas and money driving around. You can see all the available jobs in your city and what they pay. Go to YouGetWork.com

Notice how they.lead you along with you going yes, yea, yes, then BAM they smack you? An experiment in psychology had a large cage with monkeys in it. A banana was placed on top of a ladder for any monkey to grab that wanted it. BUT if a monkey did go after it, ALL monkeys got sprayed with water. After awhile they started swapping out the monkeys. When a new monkey started for the banana, all the rest pounded on it. Eventually there were no original monkeys left. The researchers found that the most ruthless monkeys were not the originals but later additions. None of the later monkeys knew why they weren't allowed the banana, just that they weren't and they would leave it alone.

"Patent Office Agrees To Facebook’s 'Face' Trademark"

"Facebook is just a payment away from trademarking the word 'Face.' As of today the U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has sent the social networking site a Notice of Allowance, which means they have agreed to grant the 'Face' trademark to Facebook.

"All Facebook needs to do is pay the issue fee within three months of today and the 'Face' trademark will be issued and be published in the official USPTO gazette and everything."

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/23/patent-office-agrees-to-facebooks-face-trademark/

That's right, they'll own the word "Face." I don't know if it has to be capitalized. I have a difficult time understanding things like this. I think I have some grasp of intellectual property, but I don't comprehend how someone can trademark a common word. Are they going to trademark "book" next? Can I trademark "the" and make a gajillion dollars? Why am I posting such a great idea online?

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my tornado survivors! How are you? Oh dear, oh my, oh dear. What an awful thing to happen, again. Tornadoes for Thanksgiving? Well, I never. I am very grateful that no one was seriously injured in the recent storms. We should count our blessings and help those who have suffered from the weather. That is the best way to give thanks.

Our illustrious Green Bay Packers once again vanquished the Minnesota Vikings and their cur quarterback, Brett Favre. That’s the second time that we’ve beaten a team so badly that their head coach was fired. If this continues, perhaps the Packers will literally destroy their division. The next opponent is the Atlanta Falcons, this Sunday. May you clip their wings, o mighty Packers!

Like many of you, I am busy getting ready for the big holiday tomorrow. Rush, rush, push, push, hurry, hurry. There is no way I would join the throngs going out on Black Friday to spend and consume, but I still feel a sense of urgency about Thanksgiving. I feel the same about Christmas, and that’s over a month away. Maybe it’s the result of the commercialization of the holidays. Maybe the hype just works me up. I don’t know, my dears, but I get anxious. I have found that the right music can calm me down, and even set a nice mental tone. As Christmas approaches, I start playing some of the holiday music that I like, not that jingly, nerve-fraying muzak they blare in the stores. So I looked for some appropriate Thanksgiving music and found the video below. It is a slideshow done to George Winston performing “Thanksgiving.” It is short and soothing.



And here’s the late, great Johnny Cash singing a “Thanksgiving Prayer” on an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman:



I’m thanking the Lord for the JT Irregulars and all my other friends here. Thank you for being you and thank you for sharing some time with me today. I truly am grateful for such wonderful friends. Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!

Don’t forget to send your leftovers to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

The weatherman is saying it might get a little slippery for Thanksgiving, my dears. Please be careful in your holiday travels, long or short. We have to re-learn every year how to drive on snow and ice. Enjoy a delectable day with family and/or friends. Pleniloqent!

Talk To Your Kids About Star Wars

The More You Know...

Open Blog - Wednesday

Enjoy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Gobble till you wobble.

Something to occupy your time

It's about time for us to do our words that sound alike, are spelled differently and mean different things (homophones).

I'll start with the usual:

two, to and too

Have fun, guys.

New TSA Bumper Stickers

Wiping Out Your Phone...

Okay, so you are chatting on your cell phone, maybe sending a text and the phone goes dead. You turn it on and everything is gone...your contacts, pics, everything. Chalk it up to bad luck...a faulty circuit board perhaps.

Or maybe your employer zapped your phone. Yep, they can do that even if its your phone and you pay all the bills. If you use your phone to access your work email over a Microsoft Exchange server, they can send commands to your phone to do everything from disabling the camera to totally wiping your phone. They had a nice piece on it on NPR today.

Now this feature might be nice if your phone is lost or stolen, but having it done to you involuntarily by your employer is another story. If you don't want this to happen, the solution is simple...don't access your email through an exchange server. If your employer expects you to stay in touch using your phone to access email, well, that's tricky. Many people don't know their employers have this control over their personal phones (one company in the NPR story makes employees sign a form outlining their company policies...not all do).

Now if this was an employer owned and paid for cell phone, this wouldn't be an issue. If it's my cell phone and someone else tries to wipe it remotely, then I have a huge issues with that (for the record, my employer does not use Microsoft Exchange so the couldn't do that to my phone if they wanted).

The legality of this is not clear (although companies that make you sign a contract might have a case...my advice, don't sign and make them supply a cell phone if they want the ability to do that). Cell phones are one of those devices that have mixed personal and business uses. We pay for them, yet some employers expect us to use them for business...and can assert total control over them at will.

So be careful out there how you use your phone, especially if you access email through Exchange.

November 22, 1963 this day in History

Do you remember where you were at when President John F. Kennedy was shot?

Open Blog - Monday

Let it all out.

Jennifer Lynn, Christine Wu & Meytal Cohen cover System of a Down's "Toxicity"

This is just amazing to me. I never even considered the configuration of two violins and drums. Very well done. Here's the original by System of a Down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iywaBOMvYLI.

The young women in the video have grown. Jennifer Lynn and Meytal Cohen each have their own YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/jenniebenn and http://www.youtube.com/user/meytalll.

I didn't find a page for Christine Wu, but there is this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZoZpUrkosg.
 
Edit, May 7, 2013: Christine Wu has her own webpage and a Facebook page:
www.WuTunes.Com
www.Facebook.com/christinewuviolin 

Green Flash With a Hint of Blue...

My camera is finally back from the shop and I had to take it out and put it through its paces on a sunset. I keep chasing those green flashes. This sunset looked a little odd and when I downloaded the pics, I got a pleasant surprise. I cropped these pretty close due to the fact that the effect is subtle and difficult to see.

This is a full res pic (now I am wishing I had a higher pixel density or a longer zoom!) Note how the Sun appears nice and yellow on the left. As you progress to the right (where the Sun has just set) you see some green. Further right, you start getting a hint of blue...yes, the even more rare blue flash! This pic is the first time I have caught any hints of blue. Normally, the blue light is scatter by Earth's atmosphere so you don't see it, only the longer wavelength green which is not scattered as much is visible. On rare occasions with a clear atmosphere, you can get the blue. Here are the next two pics in the series.

I have known that blue flashes are a possibility and even seen pics on the web...now I have seen it in my own photos and want a better camera and lens to take it further...I hope I can hold out...this could be an expensive discovery!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

What I saw in my front yard

We've spotted this little guy before, but never so close! He was frolicking around in our front yard yesterday so I ran and got the camera. I've never seen a white squirrel before! It's hard to tell whether he is albino or not, I couldn't really tell if his eyes were pink.
Anyway.. thought I would share some cool pictures I took. :) Enjoy!

What's on your Thanksgiving menu and what does the holiday mean to you?

Last night I was watching "Chopped." The menu was for a Thanksgiving Dinner and the ingredients were less than traditional. In the place of a turkey, they had pheasant... But, when they asked the contestants what they traditionally had growing up, a few said 'ham,' one said 'turkey' and the last one said 'tv dinners!'

What is your traditional Thanksgiving meal? Mine is turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (with cranberries, apricots, pecans, croutons of some sort, onions, apples, etc...pretty traditional!), sweet potatoes, veggies, a salad (cranberry, of course!), and dessert. This year, the dessert will be cheesecake of some sort. My Mom made a killer cranberry pie and normally a mincemeat pie for us when I was growing up. (I haven't had a mincemeat pie in probably 40 years!)

What memories do you have from your childhood of Thanksgiving. Mine was a very large group of relatives, sitting around our dining room table, eating and chatting...a very heart warming memory. Even back in the dark ages, there was a football game on the TV or radio.. The guys would have gone deer hunting early in the morning. And sometimes, they even brought back a deer.

Life changes and we all get so busy with our lives that I think we lose the reason for the celebration. This year, especially, I will not forget to give thanks. I am so thankful for what I have these days and appreciate each and every day for my friends, my family and that special person in my life. I am grateful for my health, which many of us take for granted, but we definitely shouldn't.

Have a wonderful holiday, JTI friends, a safe holiday. Drink responsibly and eat til you burst.

"Grandma's Superhero Therapy (18 photos)"

"A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn't stop smiling.

"With the unexpected success of this series, titled 'Mamika,' Goldberger created a MySpace page for his grandmother. She now has over 2,200 friends and receives messages like: 'You're the grandmother that I have dreamed of, would you adopt me?' and 'You made my day, I hope to be like you at your age.'"

You can read more and see the rest of the photographs here: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/grandmas-superhero-therapy-18.

Then there are 10 more photos here: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/superhero-grandma-is-a-viral.

Rémi Gaillard - "L'amour fou"

According to Wikipedia, "Rémi Gaillard (born 7 February 1975 in Montpellier, France) is a French prankster and football trickster. He gained attention in the French media after performing a well-documented series of pranks, including a famous appearance disguised as a Lorient football player in the 2002 Coupe de France final match, during which he took part in the winner's celebrations and was even greeted by the then president of France Jacques Chirac. Gaillard has appeared in several sport events, TV game shows and political rallies, normally breaking the security measures easily."

I think his videos are hilarious. Here's a short one - the first person in the scene is just a guy going to get his parked car:



You can see more of Rémi Gaillard's videos on his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/nqtv.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! I can't hardly believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away! Isn't that something? This week's questions are about Thanksgiving.

1) What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

2) What is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?

3) What are you most thankful for?

4) Planning going shopping the day after Thanksgiving?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Weekend

Let the celebration begin!

TDM Auto Sales

This ad was made as part of the I Love Local Commercials Series created by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal (http://rhettandlink.com/). They consider local commercials to be an art form. They study them and they also make them. You can see more at the I Love Local Commercials website: http://ilovelocalcommercials.com/.

Sturtevant Auto Salvage

http://www.sturtevantauto.com/index.php/Main_Page

Sturtevant Auto Salvage is my favorite vehicle bone yard. They’re at 2145 East Frontage Road I-94, Sturtevant, between Highways C and K. (262) 835-2914. I was out there earlier today to get a part for my truck. It’s been awhile. When I had the old, full-size Ford, something always needed fixing. I was at Sturtevant Auto quite often then. And I always liked it.

What I like the most about that yard is you can pull your own parts from the junkers and wrecks. For a gear-head like me, that’s a little bit of heaven. At times when I’m out there, far out in the acres of heaped metal, the sound of the heavy machinery in the distance, I feel a little serenity. It’s peaceful, kind of like a human cemetery.

The vehicles are arranged in rows of AMC, Ford, GM, Chrysler, and imports. If you find what you need and can manage to get it off yourself, you will save some money at the front counter. If they pull the part for you, it costs more. What I don’t understand is how they can afford insurance to cover this. I’ve seen a number of wrecks in precarious positions, held up by cheap scissors jacks, or even teetering on rocks, as someone works beneath. I just wince. They have to have insurance, don’t they? Their site says they’ve been in existence for over fifty years.

I got lucky today and found the part I needed, a plastic piece of the air intake system on my truck. It’s not the sort of thing that people normally want and is usually tossed aside as they work to pull other parts. That’s where I found it, cast aside in an engine compartment. The price? Only $5. I found a used one on eBay last night: $17.95 plus $8 shipping. I assume a new one at the dealership would go for around $50.

Sturtevant's prices are great, and if you disagree, you can always haggle (except for $5 – that’s their minimum). I’ve seen all sorts of people out in the yard, toting tools, pulling parts, getting greasy, looking for a bargain. If you like to crack a knuckle open occasionally doing your own vehicle repairs, I highly recommend Sturtevant Auto Salvage for your used part needs. Even if you just like the idea of walking around acres of wrecks, stop by and tour the yard. Be sure to wear appropriate footgear (and clothing if you’re going to scavenge). Finally, the place is a huge mud pie after rains and on warm days in the winter, so stay away then unless you want to get really, really muddy.

"Bristol Palin's dancing prompts man to shoot his TV"

"A rural Dane County man believes Bristol Palin should not be on 'Dancing With The Stars.'

"He demanded his wife get his pistols to emphasize his point.

"The result: A 15-hour standoff Monday and Tuesday involving hostage negotiators, a dog team and other law enforcement authorities on one side and the Town of Vermont man on the other.

"The only casualty: The man's television."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/108684844.html

I don't think it's fair to shoot your TV unless it can shoot back.

RIP RacinePost

http://news.racinepost.com/2010/11/patch-joins-online-local-local-news.html

The stories were few and far between lately. You can't pay the bills with a free site. So it's over.

I'm devastated. The Post was at its best when uncovering the truth in local politics. The Journal Times publisher is in bed with lying John, so this means that the iron curtain falls again on the Racine news scene. All we will read now is the official lies that Dickert's paid hustlers spew. This is a tragedy. So much hope for Racine's future, hope for the truth, dies with the RacinePost. I'll bet that squeals of delight are oinking from City Hall today.

Italian President from New Jersey

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my White-breasted Nuthatchers! How are you? Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away and our temperatures are still in the 50’s? Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away? Where does the time go? The Fourth of July parade was just last month, wasn’t it? Well, I hope that you have your plans in place for the holiday. Those of you hosting the feast are probably preparing already. And those who partake are whetting their appetites. For those who cannot afford a Thanksgiving meal, or have no one to share with, two fine local businessmen have arranged a free community Thanksgiving meal at Festival Park: http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_3b9d5c4a-ed93-11df-b9a6-001cc4c03286.html. What a wonderful thing to do for Racine! Thank you so much, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Stibeck. And thank you to the city for donating the use of the site and thank you to all of the volunteers who will help with the meal.

Another worthy event takes place a week from tonight: the Thoughts for Food Autumn Benefit. For the price of admission ($10) and a donation of two non-perishable food items, you get great music at various venues while helping the hungry in Racine. Get more information at their website: http://www.thoughtsforfood.org.

I hope that our august and celebrated Green Bay Packers have rested well during their bye week. This Sunday they again face the notorious Minnesota Vikings and traitor quarterback Brett Favre. I don’t care what you say about the current season’s standings or the physical and mental condition of quarterbacks, the Vikings are always a threat to our beloved Packers. May Green Bay smite them!

I received an email this week from the abstruse Mr. OrbsCorbs. It was entitled “Frustrated” and reads thus:

Dear Madame Zoltar,

I hope that you can help me resolve this dilemma. I’ve been having trouble with my truck for a long time now, and it’s been looked at/worked on by a couple of professional, as well as a number of unprofessional (myself included), mechanics. I have over $500 invested in this and counting. I thought the problem was finally resolved last month, when the engine’s intake manifold gasket was replaced.

Everything was fine until yesterday. Suddenly the Service Engine Soon light came on (again – arrgh!). It posted a trouble code, twice. I cleared them both. Today it posted another one. This is just how the problem started a year ago. What’s up? Can you help me?

Respectfully,
OrbsCorbs

Dear Mr. OrbsCorbs: Thank you so much for contacting me regarding your difficulties. I am sorry, but vehicle repair is not one of my specialties, so I went into a trance and consulted the spirit of the late, great Henry Ford. He appeared to be more than obliging, but the ether was unstable and our connection was poor. Mr. Ford seemed to understand the question, but the interference was considerable and I had trouble receiving his reply. Once he realized that, he repeated two words over and over. I had difficulty making them out. I am almost positive that the first word was “vacuum.” So I was sure that he must be saying “vacuum cleaner.” But he wasn’t. The second word sounded a lot like “peek,” but I’m not sure, Mr. OrbsCorbs. Does any of that make sense to you? I’m sorry, I tried my best. I hope that helps somehow.

Thank you dear readers, Irregular and otherwise, for spending some time with me today. I look forward to our visits like a child anticipates Christmas. You are the gifts that I receive. Thank you for such wonderful presents.

Send you secret stuffing recipes and acerbic critiques to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week to come. If you have a chance, spend a little time thinking about what you have to be thankful for in your life. An “attitude of gratitude” always seems to get good results. Lampadomancy!

Open Blog - Wednesday

May the Wednesday Fairy sprinkle happy dust on your breakfast cereal.

Flying Pasties

Just thought I would post this as the groping and stripping scandal escalates with reports of TSA agents putting their hands down people's pants and revelations that the scanners CAN store the images, the people fight back with Flying Pasties. They are designed to cover breasts and pelvic regions and be opaque to the scanners. Better yet, the next generation has messages to tell them exactly what you think of the scanning.


It's nice...they even thought of our gay and lesbian travelers and made special rainbow pasties with appropriate messages (I doubt the messages show up on the scanner but I appreciate the sentiments).

I got "randomly selected" for the enhanced treatment at SFO recently. It was tough not to tell him off and it was humiliating. Worst part: I knew it was coming. You can tell if you have been selected before you get to security by looking at your boarding pass. Only really, really stupid terrorists would miss it.

SFO didn't have the body scanners and were only giving the enhanced pat downs to people "randomly selected" or who set off metal detectors. I am less concerned about radiation (you get that while flying also, newsflash there!) but as these machines store images, do you want them to get out? As an educator, I would be fired if I posted images like that of myself online and we are seeing that others can post them. I travel a lot, I don't like it, there is huge potential for abuse and if history is any guide, systems that can be abused will be abused.

Give me a set of flying pasties.

The Leonids Are Here

Just a quick reminder that the Leonid meteor shower peak is coming up. The next two mornings (November 17th and 18th) are the best times to look. Unfortunately, the Moon is waxing gibbous and does not set until pretty late. Therefore, your best bet is to get a good night sleep and getup after the Moon sets (about 2:13am local time in Tucson...check your local listings for Moonset in your area).

The meteors appear to come from the constellation of Leo. However, don't look only at Leo! Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky (although if you trace their paths backward, you end up somewhere in Leo). You don't need a telescope or binoculars, just scan the sky with your eyes from as dark of a location as you can reasonably find. The Leonids are a decent 20 or so meteor per hour shower. No big forecasts of meteor storms this year.

However, you never know what you are going to see so you should always look. Last year, I was fortunate to see the Great Western Fireball during the Leonids. This fireball was probably not a Leonid, but a random meteor that happened to hit at the same time. It's always worth taking a look (although be sure to dress warm if you are in the north!)

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Brush With an Olypmic Champion...

Okay, this is an old one I have been thinking about writing up for a while. When I was in high school, the seniors on the track team would go to the Drake Relays. The Drake Relays are huge in college track. They have many of the top colleges and universities there. Drake also hosts some "elite" events as well where professional athletes run.

I was a senior in high school in 1986. One of the special events was a men's 100 meter dash featuring former world record holder Calvin Smith. Danny Harris (best known for breaking Edwin Moses's incredible winning streak in the 400 meter hurdles and winning silver in the '84 Olypmics) ran as well.

The race I am going to focus on here is the women's 400 meter hurdles which featured '84 Olypmic Champion Nawal el Moutawakel from Morocco. She ran, a great race of course, and won going away.

Now to the cool part. Turns out Nawal (I am not going to repeatedly butcher her last name) knew the people sitting next to us in the stands. After the race she comes up and sits right next to me! She was friendly, gracious and had no problems talking to a bunch of high school boys. Nawal sat there and chatted with us for quite a while, even staying after her friends left (and she hadn't showered yet and was still wearing her running gear!) She even signed my ticket stub.
























Now this was a really cool event, but I really didn't know much about her at the time. What I learned later made it even more interesting.

Turns out she was the first woman from an Islamic country to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Being that young and growing up in Iowa, my knowledge of Islam was probably limited to the fact that Indian Jones sidekick was a Muslim. I had no idea she was or that she really broke a major gender barrier in the Islamic world. If I was able to sit down and chat with her today, the conversation would be very different!

She is still very active in track and field, not as an athlete but in various governing functions at the international level. I read about her occasionally in Runner's World as she weighs in on issues affecting the sport.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me that day to capture the moment. I just have my signed ticket stub that I can proudly show off and remember that day.

"Eric Marcus -- Racine aldermen must not raise taxes"

"On Tuesday, the City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m. to vote on Mayor John Dickert's 2011 budget. The budget has a deficit of $3,925,518 which is being met by increasing taxes $1,225,518 (2.7 percent) and taking $2.7 million out of our reserves. This is the last opportunity for you, the citizens of Racine, to be heard before the budget is voted on by your aldermen.

"Like it or not, city government needs to acknowledge that earlier this month the voters said they want all government to cut costs and not raise taxes. You and your families are hurting. Unemployment is not getting better and many continue to lose their homes to foreclosure. In fact, the state Workforce Development Department reported that Racine County lost 600 jobs in September. The many middle and low income households of this city do not have the option of living beyond their means and neither should your city government. You have challenged us to change the way City Hall operates and we must take that seriously and act upon it."

http://www.journaltimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_33dffcd8-ef8c-11df-9cef-001cc4c03286.html

The complete commentary by Racine alderman Eric Marcus appears in the Journal Times. I agree with it 100%.

Open Blog - Monday

Here comes Monday!

Thought I've Seen it All...

There are some days I think I've seen it all...Yet people continue to surprise me. After a recent trip through Oshkosh revealed me the Three Farves, made me wonder about the Three Stooges..