Birds, Blues, and 13 Moons in a Year

Oh Happy Day

I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges?

Object of close affection

Budding astronauts, avert your eyes. NASA has posted photos of a failed test landing (read: crash) of a mock-up of the Orion crew exploration vehicle, part of the Constellation program to replace the shuttle in 2015.

NASA dropped the Orion mock-up from a C-17 aircraft flying 25,000 feet about the U.S. Army's Yuma Testing Grounds in Arizona on July 31. The good news: All but one of 18 parachutes inflated. The bad news: That 18th one was responsible for orienting the mock-up for a safe landing. The space agency said it was torn and didn't inflate properly.

Struggling to Shift
A Great Tit is shown holding an insect in its beak. New research suggests that many wild birds may be at risk as they struggle to adapt to global warming and their food sources, such as insects, adjust at different rates.

The jokes about that birds' name are just too easy. Make up your own.

Thursday night at The Shasta Blues Society Jam...

Havin' fun with the blues. 8/21/08
The time was right for a great set at the blues jam. Sammi' put together a good combination of players. Some of them have played with me before, so more emphasis was put on my simple arrangements. There were drums, bass, lead guitar, two tenor saxes, harmonica, keyboard, and me. We all had a great time.

Thunder Rolls...

Happy Phil at Thunder Rolls 8/22/08
12 Noon at the Tehama district fairgrounds saw me doing a solo performance. It was different than the 8 piece band the night before, but the sound system was good and I was glad to be part of the happiness that comes from heart felt music. Later, the drummer that played with me at the blues jam showed up to play along. Thanks Rocky.

Then there were two... 8/22/08
The music managed to touch most of the people who were there, and it was heartwarming to have people come up and tell me how much they enjoyed specific songs.

Technical support staff and assistants. 8/22/08

"Who knows where we shall meet again, if ever?"
Here is a nice slide show combined with "Time", by the Alan Parsons Project. It was one of Chris' and my favorite songs to play while traveling in the mountains or dessert. Alan Parsons helped in the creation of Pink Floyd's, Dark Side Of The Moon. Listen.

I am currently reading, "EARTH," The Sequel. It's seems some people have shown that there is money to be made in new technologies to help stop global warming. This is good news. Maybe the big energy companies will stop publishing, "anti-clean-air propaganda."
Now if we can only find a way to make money by teaching students something besides how to pass a test.

Chankillo: Americas' earliest solar observatory

Archaeologists have long debated the significance of a fortified hilltop structure at Chankillo in the coastal desert of Peru, but the provenance of a line of 13 towers along a nearby hill is no longer in doubt: It's a solar observatory. The towers span the arc of the rising and setting sun from the summer to winter solstice when viewed from observing points on the east and west sides, according to research published in March 2007. The observatory dates to the 4th century B.C.

You have to love these scientists that forget there are 13 moons in a year. The real meaning of the word, "Month."
I suppose we can thank Ptolemy or Gregory for the screwy idea of 12 months. They suspended reality to support some belief that 12 was a better number than the actual 13 months. One day some scientist will become famous for, "discovering", that the 13 towers represent full moons.

This just in....
Obama pick's the old guy with hair plugs for V.P.

I am thankful for the gift of music.