Earth Day

On Thin Ice

Global Warming Survival Skills
Inuit people in Alaska are reverting to traditional dog sleds instead of modern snow machines as the icy region warms.

Travel is safer with sled dogs.

"People go out on their snow machines, fall through the ice and are never seen again,"says Patricia Cochran, an Inupiat native of Nome, Alaska. "But our sled dogs will tell you when the ice is not safe ... "

Horsing Around

After a visit from Hollywood hairdresser.

Tiny Alcoholic

Taming of the shrew?

The Pen-tailed Treeshrew is one of the currently known seven wild mammals that actively and consistently (if not chronically) consumes mass quantities of alcohol.

This picture could explain the name, "Pen-tailed".

Because treeshrews are not the same as shrews, and are indeed distant relatives of our own species, they may indicate that consumption of alcohol in the evolutionary line that lead to humans may have occurred, and it may be why today we are still fascinated by alcohol. Because the treeshrew resembles early primates it is no far leap to guess that perhaps an ancestor of our own relied on alcohol naturally created in nectars, and indeed chimpanzees and gibbons eat fruits and nectars today, which can easily ferment.

However in humans, the ability to tolerate such high levels is no longer present, and it can cause disease and even death.

More Baby Stars Found

Stars forming in the Orion Nebula. (image-UKIT/SST)

Astronomers have completed the most wide-ranging census of baby stars in and around the Orion nebula, and found a stellar nursery that's both chaotic and crowded.

The new Aptera

The Wired.com guys test drive the new Aptera in S.F.

http://www.wired.com/video/aptera-car-of-the-near-future/17417995001

Neat Green Gadgets
A couple of Earth Day gadgets to do my part. There was very little Earth Day news, in the news today.
Air Cleaning Light Bulb

http://www.purelyproducts.com/products/purely-anion/

Solar Charger Bags

Manly men's bag

For the lady who likes to charge.

From Wired.com
Composed of biodegradable materials, each bag contains a flexible solar panel on the outside, which connects to a lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack hidden in a pocket. The bags also include adapters for you to plug your iPod, USB-powered device or cellphone into the battery pack to keep your gadgets juiced while you bask in the sun. (GreenLoop, from $330 to $500)

Dolphins Best Friend?

Is that a Portuguese water dog?

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Talk to The Animals -Louis Armstrong

We Are Animals Too

Like A Cosmic Surfer

Riding the Wave of the Present

We are riding a wave of the now,
in an ocean of what was.

Raccoons in a swing.
Cute video, HERE.

I put this in my,
"Get over it", category...

War, what is is good for? Absolutely nothing! The Song

I got an e-mail today with the subject line; Fw: Never Forget---Jane Fonda---Traitor!!!!
It started with the person, or organization that has been posting under the name; RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF, since 2002.
If you read my blog, you know I had to check it.
You also know that when an e-mail says forward this to 5, 10, or more people, don't; It's a scam. If you want to share an interesting or funny e-mail with your friends, remove the cookies, trackers and collected email addresses before sending it. Just copy what you like and paste it in a new e-mail. (Unless you are sending it to me so I can fact check it for you.)
Not surprisingly, most of the "information" in it was not true. The only fact that was right was Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam. The soldiers that are named in the email, have publicly stated that none of the so called "traitorous acts" by Jane Fonda ever happened to them. Never the less, e-mail like this continues to upset some people.

This Ronald D. Sampson guy is a phony persona that has been used to post false information about our military, our leaders, and our citizens. I recommend that you just delete anything with that name on it, and eventually that hate mail will dry up and go away.

Why cling to a resentment for years, even when it's based on faulty information? I have an answer.

This fit's in with a lot of stuff that has been floating around in Phil's Lake of Incomplete Hypotheses.
So, let's go for a swim and see what's in there.

War: The ultimate expression of ignorance.
Ignorance: It's easier to do stupid things if you don't know too much.
Anger: Aggressive ignorance.
Aggression: Action resulting from fear.

Fear: Incomplete information.
Information: Main ingredient of knowledge.
Knowledge: Key ingredient for my serenity.
Serenity: Peace
Peace: Topic of the Sermon on the Mount.
Hunger: Time to get out of the lake and eat a sandwich.

Wow! That was fun.
You never know what you will find when you swim in Phil's Lake of Incomplete Hypotheses.

Godspeed

I just couldn't help but illustrate this word.

Wikipedia; (from Middle English God speed you, meaning "May God help you prosper").

My Sister Sent Me This

Two peanuts walked up a dark alley. One was a salted.

Sue sent me the cartoon.
The peanut joke was one that our Dad told over, and over, and over.
"I told you a million times not to exaggerate."

Scientists Discover The Obvious

Poseidon the giant lobster (Image courtesy Dailymail).

Crabs Feel Pain, Too...

Ripping the legs off live crabs and crowding lobsters into seafood market tanks are just two of the many practices that may warrant reassessment, given two new studies that indicate crustaceans feel pain and stress.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that virtually all animals, including fish, shellfish and insects, can suffer.

Thoughts can not be seen,
but they can be expressed.

Stars being born in the Orion Nebula.

Understanding how stars form and why they are so hard to make does much more than just foretell our far-off cosmic future. Star birth also explains where the atoms in our bodies come from and why the universe looks the way it does today. As astronomer John Bally of the University of Colorado puts it, “Star formation is the single most important process for determining the fate and evolution of normal matter in the universe.”

For the complete story and a star making game, CLICK HERE.

Timing


New feature in Google Documents

I recently downloaded around 8 different drawing programs for a project I was working on. I am still learning how to work them. Some are not what I want, they go in the trash. Some of them I paid for, I will keep them. But today, as I was writing this, I looked up and saw there were some new features. Is it a coincidence that there is a drawing program now in Google Documents?

I love the way my life is working. Every day I am shown some wonderful expressions of a Higher Power.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
I Believe -Joe Satriani

Observe and Be Amazed

Hopeful and Happy

Long Presidents Day Weekend

I Love These Baby Pictures

Aww, ain't it cute? DNA test will determine sex.

Lemur baby with stuffed mom in incubator.

There is a contest to name this one. How about Regis?


Venus Is Hot Stuff

Infrared image of Venus...(photo credit-NASA)

Car of the Future, Today.

Aptera 2E

The 2e is scheduled to begin rolling off the Vista, California, assembly line this October for an as-yet-to-be-determined price between $25,000 and $40,000. Charge it overnight from your 110-volt home outlet, and it's claimed to have a range of 100 miles...in the carpool lane, if you wish. It has an estimated top speed of 90MPH, and can go from 0-60 in less than 10 seconds.

I would certainly take one of these.

According to this article; http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/857/exclusive-aptera-2e 4,ooo of these have already been ordered by customers, (one of whom is Robin Williams), who are awaiting delivery by the end of the year.

Hop in


Wow! That's A Burger!

From;

Denny’s Double Cheeseburger
1,540 calories
116 g fat (52 g saturated, 7 g trans)
3,880 mg sodium

Add this to our ever-expanding list of the Trans-Fattiest Foods in America. (This burger has more than three days' worth of the stuff.) In fact, with as much saturated fat as 52 strips of bacon and more sodium than 21 small bags of Lay’s potato chips, this burger also belongs on the salt-packed list of 20 Foods Your Cardiologist Wouldn’t Eat.

If I ever want a burger, which I rarely do, I guess it would not be at Denny's. The senior specials are pretty good sometimes, depending on who is cooking, and which Denny's. But, then again, I haven't been to Denny's lately.

Miracles and Coincidences

Chris and I used to laugh at ourselves when "magic" didn't happen. We were so accustomed to magic and miracles in our daily life, that a "normal" moment would leave us wondering what the heck went wrong? We were thankful, and aware that we were experiencing life at a level that one might only find in a legend or fairy tale, it was our norm.

People would treat us as though our presence was a special event.
Our time together was blessed with once in a lifetime events on a regular basis.
"I love you's", were punctuated with meteors, rainbows, singing birds, and all manor of magic.
Owners of restaurants would often treat us like royalty and prepare something special, "On the house."
We could be in the middle of nowhere, and musicians would pop out of the bushes to join me in serenading my sweetheart. One time on a deserted beach, a guy showed up with his trombone!

We saw miracles everywhere we looked. That's the secret. Everywhere we looked, we saw magic.

"You read about heaven in your book.
It's all around you if you take a look."
-Phil Seymour, 1970

If we weren't seeing magic and miracles, it was because we weren't looking.

I have come to believe that the magic is nonstop, God is everywhere, in all things, all the time, if I look. I love my life. The "coincidences" continue to fill me with joy and wonder, every moment of every day. One lifesaving miracle for me is knowing that even though I am on my own, the "magic" is still here.

I have 3 houseplants.
Sandi brought them into my apartment last year.

They are still alive!

I try to water them when they get dry.

I even made a watering jar to remind me.

The watering jar has become a part of the stuff on top of the refrigerator and no longer screams, "Water the plants!". The plants are forced to tell me themselves. They do. They adopt parched postures, in real life theater, to communicate a need for water.
They are very good at this.
They aren't dead yet.

No Life Without Plants

How Plants Power the Planet

I am reading a book about the importance of plant life to all life on Earth. It's an eye-opener that I have been reading before I go to sleep. It is sort of a history of how the different disciplines of the sciences merged with the discovery of carbon 14. (I hope I didn't give away the plot and spoil it for you.)

Coincidentally, I found an article from Popular Science that addressed how specific frequencies of light affect houseplants.
It had this visual aid.

The wavelengths of visible light that plants use to live

What Does It All Mean?
I had a dream last night, actually around 10 AM, just before the alarm woke me.

It took place in Hollywood, as it was in 1967 when I lived there. I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard with a guy who had recently gotten out of jail after his tour of Vietnam, (Tour? Who came up with that euphemism?), and we came upon another man ranting to a small crowd on the corner. He was dealing with the same problem as my friend, so after the crowd dispersed, I invited him to come over and talk with us. I had a feeling that we would find an answer to their troubles in that spot, at that moment. I looked up at the first guy, (They were both very tall), and said...(That's when the alarm went off!)

Here's an Idea
I just thought of a handy program for my computer, if it doesn't already exist. A place called quarantine. I could send dubious or questionable downloads there to;
A. See it I really need it.
B. See if it is doing anything strange.
C. Allow time for me to check the Internet to see if it's some bad thing that's going around before I let it out.

The reason I am writing about this, is a recent download of Real Player. I have used Real Player in the past. I even sent away for the actual disk, back in the 90's, so I know it's a legitimate company. But, one can never be too sure these days.

I am seeing it's icon in my "Dock", wanting me to download more stuff, and I am not sure I want to do that. Therefore...Quarantine!

I guess for now, I will just make a folder called quarantine and put downloads there for a week or two while I make sure they are not toxic.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Ukulele Lady -Muppets

Life Is A Miracle

"What? Christmas Already?

"Tis The Season"


Bavarian chapel from e-mail my sister Sue sent

Sydney Summer Santas

Speedboat Santa's in Sydney's Summer Season

$1,800,000.00 Piggy Back Ride

Shuttle rides on 747 across the Mohave dessert

Santa Baby

Find the song and story below ↓

The song and story Santa Baby

'Star Trek' Scanner
Made From Cell Phone

Blood analyzer made from cell phone

Scientists Hack Cellphone

to Analyze Blood, Detect Disease,

Help Developing Nations

It's like the scanners that the, "away team", would use on Star Trek.
Great stuff.
Good news for third world countries like Somalia and Kentucky.

Using only an LED, plastic light filter and some wires, scientists at UCLA have molded a cellphone into a portable blood tester capable of detecting HIV, malaria and other illnesses.

We could use this in our own country.
How long did you have to wait for your last blood test?
How much did it cost?
Read the whole story, HERE .

Shoe Throw Success Story
Dozens of Video Games
Millions of People
Throw Shoes At Bush, CLICK HERE

One of the many shoe throwing games on the internet.

The Adventures of Bat Girl

Bat Girl and Maya at the Sundial Bridge 12/20/08

Bat Girl and Maya stopped by Redding on their journey to discover America. I had a chance to show them the top attractions here in Redding. I took them to the Sundial Bridge and explained that, in the daytime, it's actually a sundial. The Harvest Natural foods store was a must see, and, the icing on the cake...the 99¢ store. I love this town.

View from the rivers edge, (photo by Maya). 12/20/08

Our Mister Sun

Is there nothing new under the sun?

Scientists previously believed that when sun's magnetic field was aligned with Earth's, the planet was safely cocooned within its protective bubble. Not so, report researchers at this week's American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
It is expected that the next peak solar storm will cause extensive satellite communication disruptions and overloads in the electrical power grids. The electromagnetic field that normally protects us, will instead, provide openings through which the charged plasma will freely pass.
The sun has an 11-year cycle, which is next expected to peak in 2011 or 2012.

It seems amusing, or mildly curious, that, "scientists", now are discovering what scientists have been saying for the last 40 years. In addition to the start of a new Mayan calendar on 12/21/2012, intense solar storms have been expected to occur around this time as the sun begins a new 11 year cycle.

I am beginning to realize that it's not just the un-enlightened masses that ignore historical records, but the graduates of our institutions of higher learning don't seem to take the time to find out if the wheel has already been invented, before they announce, to the world, their astounding new discoveries.

The 2012 enthusiasts, have been announcing all manner of wonderous events that will take place on, or around, 12/21/2012 for decades.

These events include a giant asteroid, the new world order, the age of Aquarius, naked people floating up to Jesus, alien visitors, and all sorts of fun and mayhem. I hope I am still around to see this, it sounds very entertaining.

For lot's of stuff about 2012, just Google, 2012 and you will find hundreds of thousands of websites promoting every crackpot theory ever imagined. (There are even a few actual compilations of historical records and scolarly examinations of ancient artifacts that relate to 2012.)

If you type 2012 in this blogs search field, you will find some posts where I discuss this in depth, with links, pictures and some of my own speculation.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place,
a man is lucky to get out of it alive."

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
It Aint Necessarily So -Sammy Davis, Jr.

Happy Wassailing

The Cosmos and Different Points of View

Cosmic Rays From Orion

Bursts of cosmic rays,(Red), from the direction of Orion.

Puzzling Bursts
An international team of researchers, using Los Alamos National Laboratory's Milagro observatory, has seen for the first time two distinct hot spots that appear to be bombarding Earth with an excess of cosmic rays.

According to the article, these bursts originate about 500 Light Years from Earth.

Some cool optical illusions
that Jo Anna sent me.

Stare at the dot and move your head to and fro.

Assembling the puzzle from within.

This would be a good Christmas card.

Here in Redding

Steak and onions with steamed veggies...$4.00
Every once in awhile I feel the need for a steak, or a slab of prime rib. I am somewhat particular about what I make my body digest, but every couple of months, I seem to benefit from a big chunk of beef. I got this Ranchers Reserve Beef Chuck Cross Rib Steak Boneless, (What it said on the package), at Safeway. It was 1.09 lb for $3.80. The onion was one of 6 that I got at the 99cent store, so I figure 20 cents.

I was given the veggies. I will probably buy more of them. They are from Salinas and packaged by Mann's, in a bag that you can toss in the microwave for 4 min. and have steamed veggies. They were tasty.

Outdoors in self portrait mode. 12/13/08
I took a ride up to Shasta Lake today, to test out my new camera in some familiar locations. There are some settings that come prepackaged with the Panasonic DMC-LZ8, and so far, they seem to be correct under most conditions.

Outdoors in landscape mode. 12/13/08
Interesting color differences. I like them both.

Dam. Mount Shasta is behind the clouds. 12/13/08
I have started uploading some of the new camera pictures to my picasaweb albums. There are a few located in the Greeting Cards album. You can check them out HERE .
You can compare the different camera images with the 2, "Under Bridges", photos.

From my balcony around 4PM. 12/13/08

Here is a video I took with the new camera. Santa from Sandi .
She gave me this blues singin' Santa for Christmas.
It's my first upload to You Tube, so I don't quite have the hang of it, yet.
I think the sound issue will be easy to correct.
It's a good start, and it was as easy with the Mac as I thought it would be.

The Adventures of Bat Girl

Bat Girl near Grants Pass, Oregon. 12/13/08
I got a picture from Bat Girl this afternoon. I guess it's been snowing in Oregon.

The weather guy on TV has been predicting rain each day for a couple of weeks now, but so far, Redding remains dry.
What ever your weather happens to be, I hope you can enjoy it.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Let it Snow -Frank Sinatra

Happy to be Me