USS BOSTON Sail and Rudder Co, Ltd. or Is there life after your boat gets scrapped?

Thirty One years ago...

2011-04-19T20:55:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe that it was 31 years ago, APRIL 19th, 1980 that the USS BOSTON (SSN-703) was launched. Those of us who were there, it was an unforgettable moment! Now, she belongs to history, except for the sail and rudder.

2010-02-01T21:03:00.004-05:00

Okay, I know this seems a bit corny, but when I was a wee lad in the early 1960's, one of my favorite TV shows was a program that were very much a precursor to Star Trek, it was called Fireball XL5, this started me on my Science Fiction kick...

via The Insider

So busy this time of year!

2009-11-28T10:19:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to take the time and let everyone know that I have launched a new blog: Buffalo Pottery Faces, which, for the lack of a better name will have to do for now. I first started with pottery while I was aboard the USS BOSTON during its pre-commissioned days. Interesting then, what started out as a curiosity, grew into an interest, and soon the mugs I was making proved to be in demand by all who saw my work then.

Now, after 26 years of inactivity with pottery, I am re-establishing my technique. Curious, I think, that it corresponds with the remains of the sail being on display from that same USS BOSTON here at the Naval Park in Buffalo. I'm sure that I'm trying to make connections where none exist, but this is after all the USS BOSTON blog...

Updating can be so tedious and time consuming!

2009-11-18T08:40:00.006-05:00

I know, life can be soooo STRESSFUL at times! That's why we each need to learn to settle down, and find our "center" with a bit of meditation and deep quiet thoughts. Unlike my disturbed friend here (shown above) he was quickly off-center and because of that, he is stressed-out to this day! One must find inner peace, but first you must make that self-discovery! It seems like ages ago sometimes, but after about a 25 year break, I once again found myself in the position, due in part to the economy, of picking-up some clay and working once again on a wheel. Probably something I have should have NEVER stopped doing. I believe that working with clay can be very meditative and relaxing. As you center the clay on the wheel, you seek center or "balance" within yourself. It is a therapy and lesson in life! Then as you coax and guide the clay on the wheel, you find yourself giving it form and shape until (after some practice this becomes easier) the clay matures much like a growing child.

May your children not be as stressed-out at this fellow!

Subs%2C+frigate+on+list+of+ships+being+retired

2009-07-23T05:58:00.001-05:00

Subs%2C+frigate+on+list+of+ships+being+retired

Shared via AddThis

Yet some more boats retired, at least these had a proper useful life.

Feeling the Pain....

2009-06-27T17:39:00.003-05:00

I know...because I keep reminding myself. It has been almost 26 years since I got out of the Navy and left the USS BOSTON behind me; I never would have thought that something that I spent my youth helping to give birth to (launching, commissioning, etc...) would occupy so much of my time long after I left the service.

I must have spent nine hours today, screwing allen-hex fasteners into the top of the sail of that submarine, which is at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park at the foot of Pearl Street today. Despite applying sunscreen and wearing a hat, I'm sun-burned, my hands have 1st degree burns and some blisters, and I am exhausted!

My wife commented that she was tired from working in with the kids and that I "spent the day doing what i liked", I tried to remind her that spending a hot day, aboard a sail of a submarine that doesn't even exist anymore is not what i "like" doing, it is however an obligation, and I for one do not take obligations lightly.

...sigh! Perhaps, Shakespeare-in-the-Park tonight!

"...That's what she said!"

2008-08-26T12:13:00.002-05:00

Imagine this: Twenty years ago, you are with a bunch of friends and decide to create a memorable line that IS JUST YOUR OWN! You repeat it only among a select group of friends, each time the laughs grow bigger, then one day you hear someone repeat it and you find that it's become a national sensation!!

That's what I experienced when I heard someone repeat this line who I did not tell it too! I was shocked not by the content, but that a phrase that I thought I coined had become so popular! I suppose, it is with a mixed sense of pride, indignation and embarrassment that I sheepishly admit to this creation that fortunately, WAS captured on video. Do I expect any royalties from it? ...somehow I don't think so! But I'll let you know if the checks start rolling in! I guess the only "royalities' I'll get is the satisfaction that it has taken on a life of its own.

Phoenix Lander Reports:Water Discovered on Mars!!!

2008-08-01T12:58:00.003-05:00

Okay, based upon my past blogs, how could I not report on this?

NASA Phoenix probe confirms water on Mars

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — NASA scientists said Thursday the Phoenix lander exploring Mars had confirmed water on the planet after analysis of a soil sample from the Red planet's surface.

The discovery was made after the lander's robotic arm delivered a sample this week to an instrument onboard the lander that identifies vapors through heating samples.

"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the lander's "oven" Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA.

"We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."

Earlier, NASA officials said the Phoenix's mission had been extended until the end of September, describing its progress so far as "very successful."

Michael Meyer, chief scientist of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, told reporters that the lander's minimum objectives had been achieved and that "full mission success" was expected.

"It's been very successful and Mars had proven itself to be very interesting, mechanically the spacecraft is operating great, and there's plenty of power margin to carry us beyond the waning summer," Meyer said.

"With that, what I'd like to do is announce that we're going to extend the mission to go till the end of the fiscal year (September 30)."

The lander started digging trenches into Martian soil after touching down near the planet's north pole on May 25, revealing a white substance that scientists confirmed was ice in June.

University of Arizona scientist Peter Smith, Phoenix's principal investigator, said ice scooped up by Phoenix's robotic digging arm was being analyzed to see if conditions on Mars could have supported life.

"We're looking to understand the history of the ice, by trying to figure out if this ice has ever melted, and through melting has created a liquid environment that modifies soil," Smith said.

"We're just getting the data back. Through this we also hope to resolve questions, is this a habitable zone on Mars, meaning that we have periodic liquid water, materials that are the basic ingredients for lifeforms."

Smith said chemical analysis which indicated soil was alkaline had baffled scientists. "This is a mystery ... this is a typically acidic environment, perhaps this had to do with a nearby crater," he said.

Although important nutrients including sodium, potassium and magnesium had been discovered, no organic materials had been found so far, Smith said.

Blogging the BLOB, er, ...The Blog, ...eh, whatever!

2008-01-15T16:48:00.000-05:00

The Incredible BLOG!!!
...er, BLOB
After all this time, how can I NOT BLOG-the-BLOB!!!

I guess they both are taking over the world!

Here's one from the 1988 remake...

USS BOSTON (SSN-703) on YouTube.com!!

2008-01-15T09:07:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to Don Ward for putting this together and uploading it to YouTube.com.

In fact, even I am in this....first picture on the starboard side during launch! Hehehehe!

Only the Chinese Could get away with this!

2008-01-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

Leave it to the Chinese to remove the summit of Mount Everest and take it around the world as a touring exhibit!

See: The Tour of Mount Everest story here. You know, if some American tried that, the Chinese government would be up-in-arms about it!!

Feel Like Your Growing Old?

2008-01-05T16:30:00.001-05:00

Sung by the Composer: Tom Lehrer
Does this resemble anyone we know?..

Know someone with a Domineering Spouse?

2008-01-03T15:22:00.000-05:00

In this RARE bit of British Music Hall footage Gus Elen sings a song he made famous about 1891: "It's a Great Big Shame!" About a husband who has to given up the free lifestyle he enjoyed before marriage and the frustration experienced by his friends when they want him to go out for just a few beers.

Now you probably wondering, what does this have to do with the Navy and submarines?

...Well, I'll tell you, quite a bit! But I better save it for a later post because my wife just walked in!

Powerful! Earthy! It's Carmina Burana - O fortuna! by Carl Orff

2008-01-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

The lyric translation would be considered vulgar and rude, very lusty even today!
...so I presented it here in Latin for your amusement and confusement!

Saying Goodbye to 2007

2007-12-31T09:44:00.000-05:00

Here we are, at the end of another year, ready to welcome in 2008!
I can't believe the first decade of the new century is nearly over!
I have posted below, what I consider one of the most beautiful renditions I have ever heard of the song composed by Flowtow for his opera "Martha" and written by that famous Irish poet Thomas Moore that so beautifully captures the aesthetic movement of the Victorian age. About the death and loss of love and friendship, or the changing of times, and the coming of something new! This performance sort of left tingles running up and down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck on end!

`Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
To give sigh for sigh.

I`ll not leave thee, thou lone one!
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o`er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
And from Love`s shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

....goodbye to 2007

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

2007-12-24T12:24:00.000-05:00

I was looking out over lake Erie just a few minutes ago, it was snowing "horizontal" as it is often does from November & December on the Great Lakes.... My mind wandered off to the legend of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

I think this video clip captures the power of the elements and the fury of the Great Lakes

Keeping "a-breast" on current Turkey-Technology!!!

2007-11-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

It's Time to Relax with the Turkey!

...She's some dish, eh? I showed this photo to my wife and suggested that we could have a little fun and have all our guests "Talkin' Turkey" for quite some time! Well, it didn't take long before she torpedoed that idea! Personally, I think this is fine if you are serving-up a Hen-turkey, but certainly not appropriate if you have purchased a Tom-Turkey! ...in fact, I think it would be considered a bit of "a drag" don't you think?

This was done, BTW with careful placement of Aluminum foil before this lovely bird was sent to the kitchen "Tanning booth" for a few hours.
...Rumor has it that she met a fowl-end, but that's another story!

I just don't know why I didn't think of this first? Somehow, I don't think this "Chef" is married! ...anymore!

Yet Another "Out-Of-This-World" Discovery!

2007-11-08T08:37:00.000-05:00

This artist's concept shows four of the five planets that orbit 55 Cancri, a star much like our own. NASA scientists said they discovered a fifth planet orbiting a star outside our own solar system and say the discovery suggests there are many solar systems that are, just like our own, packed with planets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA scientists said they discovered a fifth planet orbiting a star outside our own solar system and say the discovery suggests there are many solar systems that are, just like our own, packed with planets.

The new planet is much bigger than Earth, but is a similar distance away from its sun, a star known as 55 Cancri, the astronomers said on Tuesday.

Four planets had already been seen around the star, but the discovery marks the first time as many as five planets have been found orbiting a solar system outside our own with its eight planets, said Debra Fischer, an astronomer at San Francisco State University.

Life could conceivably live on the surface of a moon that might be orbiting the new planet, but such a moon would be far too small to detect using current methods, the astronomers said.

"The star is very much like our own sun. It has about the same mass and is about the same age as our sun," Fischer told reporters.

"It's a system that appears to be packed with planets."

It took the researchers 18 years of careful, painstaking study to find the five planets, which they found by measuring tiny wobbles in the star's orbit. The first planet discovered took 14 years to make one orbit.

They said 55 Cancri is 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer, a light-year being the distance light travels in one year -- about 5.8 trillion miles.

The newly discovered planet has a mass about 45 times that of Earth and may resemble Saturn, the astronomers said.

HARBORING LIFE?

It is the fourth planet out from the star and completes one orbit every 260 days -- a similar orbit to that of Venus.

"It would be a little bit warmer than the Earth but not very much," said Jonathan Lunine, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona.

The planet is 72 million miles from its star -- closer than the Earth's 93 million miles, but the star is a little cooler than our own sun.

"If there were a moon around this new planet ... it would have a rocky surface, so water on it in principle could puddle into lakes and oceans," said Geoff Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley.

But the moon would have to carry a lot of mass to hold the water, he said. Water is, of course, key to life.

"This discovery of the first-ever quintuple planetary system has me jumping out of my socks," Marcy added. "We now know that our sun and its family of planets is not unusual."

Marcy and other astronomers strongly believe that many stars are hosts to solar systems similar to our own. But small objects such as planets are very hard to detect.

Technology that would allow scientists to detect planets as small as Earth is decades away, the scientists agreed.

The researchers have been looking at 2,000 nearby stars using the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California, and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

They have posted images of what the planets may look like on the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/telecon-20071106/.

The inner four planets of 55 Cancri are all closer to the star than Earth is to the sun. The closest, about the mass of Uranus, zips around the star in just under three days at a distance of 3.5 million miles.

Problems with Confession in the Catholic Church

2007-10-30T07:06:00.000-05:00

It seems these day all houses of faith are having problems recruiting and retaining ordained ministers and priests. "Men of the Cloth" sometimes must come up with ingenious ways to deal with this recruitment problem as outlined in the video clip below.

The Automated Confession System!

Old Seadogs Don't Die.....

2007-10-12T11:51:00.000-05:00

They just get Grey and wrinkly, that's all.

How could I NOT post this?

2007-10-10T19:35:00.001-05:00

The call of the Wild!

2007-09-21T14:14:00.000-05:00

Some photos of my visits to Algonquin Provincial Park
(in Canada)

As some of you might know, I enjoy camping and the outdoors in general. Well, around Memorial Day and Columbus Day weekends a few of us brave souls pack-up our camping gear, grab a canoe and head out to the wilds of Algonquin park about 4-5 hours drive north. I thought I would share a few of those photos with you.... because of my knee problems last year I missed going, so I hope to make up for it this season!

...Want to join us?

Unusual views of Shuttle launch

2007-09-19T12:45:00.000-05:00

Checkout this unusual view of the
Shuttle STS-118 Booster Camera Launch Views Pretty cool footage!

Are folks in Peru suffering from an Alien Space Illness?

2007-09-18T07:43:00.000-05:00

It appears that Star wars has started according to THIS Article

Mon Sep 17, 11:23 PM ET

LIMA (AFP) - Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

Feeling Crummy today?

2007-09-13T14:09:00.000-05:00

That's the way the cookie crumbles!
Maybe you have the "Cookie Blues"??

The Cookie Blues

Careful, or I'll go thermobaric on you! ...or is it yet " Another Arms Race"????

2007-09-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

Russia tests giant fuel-air bomb

The Russian air force has tested a giant fuel-air bomb which the military says is the biggest non-nuclear explosive device in the world.

Russian TV showed a Tupolev bomber dropping the bomb over a test range, a powerful explosion and a four-storey building reduced to rubble.

Claims it is bigger than the Moab, a US device of similar destructive power, seem plausible, analysts say.

Such bombs are mainly designed to destroy underground targets.

Fuel-air bombs, technically known as thermobaric devices, generally detonate in two stages: a small blast creates a cloud of explosive material, which is then ignited with devastating effect.

"The Russians have a long and proven history of developing weapons in the thermobaric class"

Robert Hewson
editor of Jane's Air-launched Weapons

The name Moab officially stands for Massive Ordnance Air Burst but has unofficially been interpreted as Mother Of All Bombs.

The Russian bomb, which has no known official name, has been dubbed Father of All Bombs by its designers, Russia's Channel One News says in its report.

It contains about seven tons of high explosives compared with more than eight for the Moab but is four times more powerful because it uses a new type of explosives developed with the use of nanotechnology, according to the channel.

"Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon," Gen Alexander Rukshin, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff, told the channel.

It has, he says, "no match in the world".

Psychological value

Robert Hewson, editor of Jane's Air-launched Weapons, believes that the Russian claims are plausible given the country's track record in developing, and using, fuel-air devices.

"I think the likelihood is that this is the world's biggest non-nuclear bomb," he told the BBC News website.

"You can argue about the numbers and how you scale this but the Russians have a long and proven history of developing weapons in the thermobaric class."

Russia used such weapons in Afghanistan and Chechnya, Hewson says, and he suspects that the bomb shown on TV was conceived for the Chechen conflict but never actually used because of the sheer scale of the destruction it could wreak.

He believes that the test blast was a "statement" by Russia comparable in its psychological effect to America's demonstration of the Moab just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq - a demonstration never followed up by its actual use.

"The Russians are in a phase of needing to make statements at the moment and have done the same thing," Hewson says.

The giant bomb was transported by a Tu-160 "Blackjack" supersonic bomber, itself in the news recently when Russia revived the Soviet practice of sending heavy bombers out on long-range flights.

Web-Based Email :: Download :: dunktank.mpg

2007-09-05T17:09:00.000-05:00

Web-Based Email :: Download :: dunktank.mpg

Why not head out to the ultimate tourist destination?

2007-08-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

You too can plan your trip early! Stay a while too!

Missing Ships' Movements (I am guilty!)

2007-08-07T09:38:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it, they moved MY sail without telling me, so I don't have any pictures of the move to show you!

I tell ya, these large construction companies like L.P. Ciminelli Construction Company just walk right over you sometimes and there is nothing you can do about it!

At left are photographs of the BOSTON Sail in it's new location:

Now the question on everyone's mind is of course:

..."Is there life

after your boat

gets scrapped?"

Has our holiness Art Hebert been moonlighting?

2007-07-26T11:42:00.000-05:00

I know it seems that as busy as Art has been with the USS BOSTON Shipmates, Inc. he still has time to fulfill his more public duties as the 13th Bishop of Buffalo, NY. Of course, switching time between Buffalo, NY and Amherst. NH can be quite a challenge, so while in Western New York he maintains his residence in Amherst, NY so to avoid any slip-up he can truthfully and proudly say: "Of course, I live in Amherst!"

Of course, I've known about this for the last several years but didn't want to let on because perhaps he has not told his wife Nancy about his his other vocation....or is it that he hasn't told the Catholic Church about Nancy? ....it gets too confusing doesn't it!

So, to keep things straight, be sure to address Art the next time you see him as "His Holiness" or "Blessed Father, thou Art"

One thing is for certain, if Art & Nancy plan on visiting Buffalo, NY anytime soon Art will be revered by all of Western New York and whatever establishment he visits, they might just roll out the Red carpet for him and he might just get a few free meals from some of the best restaurants in the area! ...That is if he chooses to offer his personal blessing on their business!

See: The Bishop Kmiec Website

Fowl Language Shipmates!

2007-07-25T14:36:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you put a bunch of Boston Shipmates who are old Navy vets and their families together in an Amphibious vehicle called a "DUCK"?

Answer: You get A Bunch of Saltine-Quackers!!

Seriously folks, we all donned our "Fowl-Weather Gear" and the driver put that Duck "In gear" and away we went!

Now they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this one would hardly be a feather-in-my-cap if it wasn't for the fact that we were all just "ducky" about the ride! ...we of course, all had "a wheel good time" too!

Wes caught in a Red dress

2007-07-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

This photo shows our dear Wesley indeed wearing a red dress at the reunion! If only others were there to see it!

Wes. you really do look good in red and pumps!

One Good Turn Deserves Another!

2007-07-18T12:37:00.001-05:00

Wesley and Ray discussing the finer aspects of blogging over a few drinks!

Ray points out that his glass is empty, but Wesley reminds Ray that it is still half-full. "Full of what?" says Ray.

"Hot Air" says Wesley.

"Too bad Stubby isn't here, he'll bite you for saying that."

You know, taking a dog on a walk without legs can be a real drag.... Right Ray?

Tennessee Headline: Granny Proofed, Denied Drink!!

2007-07-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

This 87 year old Great-Grandmother walked, with the aid of her walker into a hotel bar last night in Memphis, TN and was proofed for her age. Unable to show proof that she was over 21 years old, she was denied service!

"All I wanted was a glass of sherry to help me wash down a piece of toast with my evening medications" she was heard replying to the bartender and told the Judge. She explained that she had her social security card, her Sears charge card some pictures of her grandchildren in her purse, but no license because she stopped driving when she turned eighty years old and has turned it in.

"I don't think I've every been asked to show my age before to buy a drink, this is absurd" she remarked. "I was probably drinking straight bourbon before you were a twinkle in your grandparents eyes!" she sarcastically explained to the bartender. "Would you rather I jump up on the bar, strip naked and dance for you first?" she sarcastically added, "Is that what you want?"

Following that remark, the police were notified and she was arrested for indecent exposure, however the charges were eventually dropped because she never really did take off her clothing, only threatened to do so, which in not a chargeable offense in Tennessee.

"I'd like to kick the jerk in the ass who suggested this stupid law!" she remarked as she was led out of the courtroom.

When you gotta go...you gotta, even on Mars!

2007-06-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

The Dirt on the Martian Crapper!

Here's the "poop" on the Martian Estate! It was simply the process of elimination. Since water is rather scarce and you don't have the EPA to bother you, why not just build your pooper on a cliff? Then when it gets full, you take the proverbial dump and well, just dump it out? I have no plan on exploring down there anyways, I'll leave that for future politician and lawyers to investigate.

Anyway, since there seems to be little difference between the high-rent and low-rent districts on Mars at this point and I pretty much can make whatever towns and roads I see fit and name them as seems my whim at the time. So I have decided to call this view "Fecal Lookout" which I think is especially appropriate, especially if you happen to be somewhere below.

Earth's Heat Keeps America Afloat, (not the Economy)

2007-06-26T08:06:00.000-05:00

Earth's Heat Keeps America Afloat

Mon Jun 25, 11:35 AM ET
Heat from the Earth’s deep interior helps keep much of North America afloat by warming the continental crust and making it buoyant, scientists say.
If not for this effect, many American coastal cities would lie beneath the sea.

“We have shown for the first time that temperature differences within the Earth’s crust and upper mantle explain about half of the elevation of any given place in North America,” said study team member David Chapman of the University of Utah. Rock composition differences can explain the other half, he added.

Using previously published data of how rock density varies with depth in North America’s crust, the researchers created a hypothetical continental crust with a uniform thickness and composition.

“Once we’ve done that, we can see the thermal effect,” Chapman explained. The researchers could then calculate how much heat flow contributes to elevation in each of the 36 tectonic provinces, or “mini-plates,” of North America.

The findings are detailed in two studies published in the Journal of Geophysical-Solid Earth, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.

Cities beneath the sea

The findings show that if North America had a uniform crust, many American cities would be underwater. New York City, for example, would be dunked 1,427 feet beneath the Atlantic. Boston would be 1,823 below sea level, and Los Angeles would be 3,756 beneath the Pacific.

Other cities would soar to new heights. Seattle, for instance, would reach an elevation of 5,949 feet, up from its current elevation of about 500 feet above sea level. The rock beneath America’s Emerald City is cooler than average for North America; removing the temperature difference would cause the rock to expand and become more buoyant, so Seattle would rise.

Some regions would remain at the same elevation. “If you subtracted the heat that keeps North American elevations high, most of the continent would be below sea level, except the high Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Northwest of the Cascade Range,” says study team member Derrick Hasterok of the University of Utah.

No immediate threat

According to Chapman, scientists have largely overlooked differences in rock temperature as an explanation of elevations on continents. Instead, they usually attribute the buoyancy and elevation of various continental areas to variations in the thickness and mineral composition of crustal rocks.

As an example of how rock temperature affects elevation, the researchers point to the Colorado Plateau, which sits 6,000 feet above sea level, and the Great Plains, which is 1,000 feet below sea level, despite having the same rock composition.

“We propose this is because, at the base of the crust, the Colorado Plateau is significantly warmer [1,200 degrees Fahrenheit] than the Great Plains [930 degrees Fahrenheit,” Hasterok said.

American cities are in no danger of being submerged any time soon, however, as it will take billions of years for North American rock to cool and become dense enough that it sinks, Chapman said.

If anything, coastal cities face flooding much sooner from sea level rise due to global warming, he added.

Here are other locations, their current elevations and what their elevations would be if North America's continental crust were a uniform temperature:

--Atlanta, 1,000 feet above sea level, 1,416 feet below sea level.
-- Dallas, 430 feet above sea level, 1,986 feet below sea level.
-- Chicago, 586 feet above sea level, 2,229 feet below sea level.
-- St. Louis, 465 feet above sea level, 1,499 feet below sea level.
-- Las Vegas, 2,001 feet above sea level, 3,512 feet below sea level.
-- Phoenix, 1,086 feet above sea level, 4,345 feet below sea level.
-- Albuquerque, 5,312 feet above sea level, 48 feet above sea level.
-- Mount Whitney, Calif., tallest point in the lower 48 states, 14,496 feet above sea level, 11,877 feet above sea level.

Of coastal cities, New York City would sit 1,427 feet (435 meters) under the Atlantic, New Orleans would be 2,416 feet (736 meters) underwater and Los Angeles would rest 3,756 feet (1,145 meters) beneath the Pacific. Rather than perched a mile high (1.6 kilometers), Denver would be 727 feet (222 meters) below sea level.

"If you subtracted the heat that keeps North American elevations high, most of the continent would be below sea level, except the high Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascade Range," says Derrick Hasterok of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, a researcher on the study.

Typically, the movements of "tectonic plates" of Earth's crust, which result in volcanoes, mountain-building collisions, and sinking or "subduction" of old seafloor, get the credit for determining elevation. However, Hasterok and his University of Utah coauthor David S. Chapman say tectonic forces contribute to elevation by affecting the composition and temperature of rock that they move. For example, as crustal plates collide to form mountains like the Himalayas, the mountains rise because the collision makes less dense crustal rock get thicker and warmer, thus more buoyant.

"We have shown for the first time that temperature differences within the Earth's crust and upper mantle explain about half of the elevation of any given place in North America," with most of the rest due to differences in what the rocks are made of, Chapman says.

Continents and mountains like the Rockies are kept afloat partly by heat from Earth's deep interior and heat from radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium in Earth's crust.

Chapman says it will take billions of years for North American rock to cool to the point it becomes denser, sinks, and puts much of the continent underwater. Coastal cities face flooding much sooner as sea levels rise due to global warming, he adds.

The researchers published their new findings on Saturday, 23 June as two reports in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth - a publication of the American Geophysical Union.

In the new work, the team first analyzed results of previous experiments in which researchers have measured seismic waves moving through Earth's crust due to intentional explosions. The waves travel faster through colder, denser rock, and slower through hotter, less dense rock. Then, the Utah scientists used published data in which various kinds of rocks were measured in the laboratory to determine the rocks' densities and how fast seismic waves travel through them.

The combined data allowed the researchers to calculate how rock density varies with depth in the crust. They could then assess how much of any area's elevation is due to the thickness and composition of its rock and how much is due to the rock's heating and expansion. Finally, the researchers "removed the effects of composition of crustal rocks and the thickness of the crust to isolate how much a given area's elevation is related to the temperature of the underlying rock," Chapman says.

To calculate how regional elevations would change if temperature effects were removed, the researchers did not turn off all the heat, but imagined that a region's rock was as cold as some of North America's coldest crustal rock, which is still at 750 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius) at the base of the crust in Canada.

Hasterok says it has been well known for years that "elevations of different regions of the continents sit higher or lower relative to each other as a result of their density and thickness." By accounting for composition, thickness and, now, temperature of crustal rock in North America, scientists can more easily determine how much elevation is explained by forces such as upwelling plumes of molten rock like the "hot spot" beneath Yellowstone. The new method also will make it easier to identify areas where crustal rocks are unusually hot due to higher-than-average concentrations of radioactive isotopes.

Chapman says temperatures in Earth's crust and upper mantle often are inferred from measurements in boreholes drilled near the surface, whereas elevation reflects average rock temperatures down to 125 miles (201 kilometers) beneath Earth's surface. Inconsistencies in both measurements can be used to reveal the extent to which borehole temperatures are affected by global warming or changes in groundwater flow.

Although most locations would sink if the temperature influence were removed, some areas that sit atop rock that is colder than average would actually rise. For instance, Seattle sits above a plate of Earth's crust that is diving, or subducting, eastward at an angle. That slab of cold, former seafloor rock insulates the area west of the Cascades from heat deeper beneath the slab. Removing that heat-blocking action would warm the Earth's crust under Seattle, so it would expand and become more buoyant. Instead of its current position on the shores of the saltwater Puget Sound, Seattle would soar to an elevation of 5,949 feet (1812 meters).

Home Away from Home or Hauling Building Supplies is a ....PITA

2007-06-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

You know, it's not so much of a "do-it-yourself" project building your getaway home afar. But transportation can be a real pain too! Back and forth from Lowe's and Home Depot really wastes lots of fuel!

Then there is the labor shortage, these pesky Martians just don't want to earn an honest dollar!

Anybody wanna buy some swamp land...Cheap!

2007-06-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

I have been quite busy these last few weeks and many have thought that perhaps I have been ignoring everyone here. In fact I have been investigating a new real estate deal involving property which is REALLY out of this world!

Where else can you find empty spaces, clear skies, peace and quiet while being only (light) minutes distance from your nearest amenities?

What can I say? Investigating the tropical swamps of mars can keep you away from a lot of things, especially if you take the trip all in your mind... but around here it's "mind over matter, ...if you don't mind, then it just doesn't matter!"

Just Hanging out at the Amusement Park Mom!

2007-06-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - A dozen riders on a roller coaster spent half an hour hanging upside down — 150 feet above the ground — after a power outage shut down the attraction.

Spectators cheered when the riders were brought to the ground from the highest point of a loop on the X-Coaster, but one passenger threw up after reaching safety.

The X-Coaster was one of several rides brought to a halt by the outage that originated somewhere near the park.

"You could tell who got off the (X-Coaster) because their faces were red," said Angela Salter. She was riding the Gauntlet, another coaster, and said park employees worked quickly to free her.

The park resumed normal operations, although the X-Coaster remained closed.

One X-Coaster passenger, Jay Plummer, 37, was taken to St. Joseph Mercy Medical Center in Hot Springs after complaining of neck pain and a headache.

"It was very scary," said his girlfriend, Connie McBride. "I love the amusement park, but I will never get on the X-Coaster again."

The park has experienced outages before, but usually they last only seconds, said Dan Aylward, Magic Springs president and general manager.

Entergy Corp. was investigating but crews found no faulty wiring.

"The cause could be a (tree) limb or as simple as an animal (on the lines)," said Mark Hunt, general manager of customer service for Entergy. "We could find no faults, but we are going to continue to investigate until we find the cause."

___

On the Net:

http://news.yahoo.com

Magic Springs & Crystal Falls: http://www.magicsprings.com/

Life Possible on Gliese 581 C

2007-04-26T10:28:00.000-05:00

Gliese 581 C is the first Earth-like planet found outside our solar system that appears to have liquid water and therefore a climate that could support life as we know it!

New Planet Could Be Earthlike, Scientists Say

By DENNIS OVERBYE
Published: April 25, 2007

The most enticing property yet found outside our solar system is about 20 light-years away in the constellation Libra, a team of European astronomers said yesterday.

The astronomers have discovered a planet five times as massive as the Earth orbiting a dim red star known as Gliese 581.

It is the smallest of the 200 or so planets that are known to exist outside of our solar system, the extrasolar or exo-planets. It orbits its home star within the so-called habitable zone where surface water, the staff of life, could exist if other conditions are right, said Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory.

“We are at the right place for that,” said Dr. Udry, the lead author of a paper describing the discovery that has been submitted to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

But he and other astronomers cautioned that it was far too soon to conclude that liquid water was there without more observations. Sara Seager, a planet expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, “For example, if the planet had an atmosphere more massive than Venus’s, then the surface would likely be too hot for liquid water.”

Nevertheless, the discovery in the Gliese 581 system, where a Neptune-size planet was discovered two years ago and another planet of eight Earth masses is now suspected, catapults that system to the top of the list for future generations of space missions.

“On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X,” said Xavier Delfosse, a member of the team from Grenoble University in France, according to a news release from the European Southern Observatory, a multinational collaboration based in Garching, Germany.

Dimitar Sasselov of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who studies the structure and formation of planets, said: “It’s 20 light-years. We can go there.”

The new planet was discovered by the wobble it causes in its home star’s motion as it orbits, using the method by which most of the known exo-planets have been discovered. Dr. Udry’s team used an advanced spectrograph on a 141-inch-diameter telescope at the European observatory in La Silla, Chile.

The planet, Gliese 581c, circles the star every 13 days at a distance of about seven million miles. According to models of planet formation developed by Dr. Sasselov and his colleagues, such a planet should be about half again as large as the Earth and composed of rock and water, what the astronomers now call a “super Earth.”

The most exciting part of the find, Dr. Sasselov said, is that it “basically tells you these kinds of planets are very common.” Because they could stay geologically active for billions of years, he said he suspected that such planets could be even more congenial for life than Earth. Although the new planet is much closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, the red dwarf Gliese 581 is only about a hundredth as luminous as the Sun. So seven million miles is a comfortable huddling distance.

How hot the planet gets, Dr. Udry said, depends on how much light the planet reflects, its albedo. Using the Earth and Venus as two extreme examples, he estimated that temperatures on the surface of the planet should be in the range of 0 degrees to 40 degrees centigrade.

“It’s just right in the good range,” Dr. Udry said. “Of course, we don’t know anything about its albedo.”

One problem is that the wobble technique only gives masses of planets. To measure their actual size and thus find their densities, astronomers have to catch the planets in the act of passing in front of or behind their stars. Such transits can also reveal if the planets have atmospheres and what they are made of.

Dr. Udry said he and Dr. Sasselov would be observing the Gliese system with a Canadian space telescope named MOST to see if there are any dips in starlight caused by the new planet. Failing that, they said, the best chance for more information about the system lies with the Terrestrial Planet Finder, a NASA mission, and the Darwin missions of the European Space Agency, which are designed to study Earthlike planets, but have been delayed by political, technical and financial difficulties.

“We are starting to count the first targets,” Dr. Udry said.

Gliese 581 C is the smallest extrasolar planet yet discovered; it is about 50 percent bigger than Earth and about five times more massive. It's sun is Gliese 581, a small red dwarf located a mere 20.5 light-years away.

Study leader Stephane Udry, of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, stated “We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit], and water would thus be liquid.”

Scientists discovered the new world using the HARP instrument on the European Southern Observatory 3.6 meter telescope in La Sille, Chile. They employed the so-called radial velocity, or “wobble,” technique, in which the size and mass of a planet are determined based on small perturbations it induces in its parent star’s orbit via gravity.

Science fiction writers have posited the existence of extrasolar Earth-like planets for at least seventy-five years. Thanks to a lot of hard work by generations of scientists, it's possible that this collective wish by writers has been proven true.

USS BOSTON (SSN-703) Launched 19 April 1980

2007-04-19T12:33:00.000-05:00

I was topside for the thrill-ride of a lifetime!

Twenty-Seven Years Ago...

Bitter-Sweet Chocolate for Easter

2007-04-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

...talk about "Bad Taste!"
AP Image of "Sweet Jesus" done in Chocolate!
Curiously, this is an "anatomically correct" naked Jesus complete with all those body-parts that are unmentionable on this blog!

...Talk about the "Melty Man Cometh" (I did find this information on another blog.)

Article Text is contained below:

New York (Reuters) -- A life-size sculpture of a naked Jesus made out of chocolate has angered a Roman Catholic organization and forced a Manhattan art gallery to reconsider exhibiting it during Easter week.

The sculpture "My Sweet Lord" by Cosimo Cavallaro was to be exhibited for two hours each day next week in a street-level window of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery in Midtown Manhattan.

It was set to open Monday, days before Good Friday when Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus.

"We're considering our options," Matthew Semler, the gallery's artistic director, said on Friday. "We're still assessing the situation."

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for a boycott of the accompanying Roger Smith Hotel, writing to 500 religious and secular organizations.

"This is an assault on Christians during Holy Week," said Kiera McCaffrey, director of communications for the league, which describes itself the largest U.S. Catholic civil rights group.

"They would never dare do something similar with a chocolate statue of the prophet Mohammad naked with his genitals exposed during Ramadan," she said.

Semler said the hotel had no knowledge of what the gallery planned to show and was being unfairly targeted. Moreover, he said the work was not irreverent.

"It's intended as a meditation on the Holy Week," Semler said of the sculpture, which depicts Jesus as if on the cross.

A photo of the piece on the artist's Web site (Link) shows the work suspended in air.

The Catholic League has no intention of bringing legal action but seeks to punish the hotel with a boycott because "they're the ones bringing this into the mainstream, in the heart of Manhattan, for any child holding his mother's hand to see," McCaffrey said.

She was further irked by an unconfirmed report that Cavallaro invited the public to come take a bite out of the sculpture.

Semler said that was only a joke by the artist.

New York is familiar with peculiar clashes between art and religion. In 1999, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani threatened to withdraw a grant from the Brooklyn Museum of Art for showing a painting depicting the Virgin Mary as a black woman splattered with elephant dung.

Couch-Potato Blogging

2007-04-09T12:04:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed the amount of time we seem to spend in front of our computers?

Yeah, doing work, email, blogging.....yeah, yeah.

I think a lot of us would just as easily grab a beer and toast: "This SPUD's for YOU!" in a heartbeat (or is that a potato-beat). That of course raises another question, if Potatoes have "Eyes" do they have "Hearts" too?

...I don't know, "Pass the mouse and and easy on the French-fries!" In any case, after a few brews you'll begin to feel a bit mashed as well!

Well, we DO have the potato to thank for Vodka and Moonshine!

Enough is enough with this potato abuse!!! Will somebody please contact "SPUDS"????

(Society for the Prevention of Unethical treatment and cruelty towarDS Potatoes!

A few Reflective thoughts...

2007-04-04T10:13:00.000-05:00

...A few of my favorite Pictures I have taken...

Yosemite Valley

Ragged Peak Mountain in Yosemite Park

A Reflective Moment in Yosemite

A Springtime vista!

Ah yes! the beauty of the outdoors!!

Smooth Riding in the North Alantic....NOT!

2007-03-27T14:04:00.000-05:00

Okay, now imagine your riding around in a round barrel much lower in the water, with a big "Sail" sticking up just waiting for a wave to splash along the side instead a ship like is shown here!

Git er done! One show Down (Thursday) and two to go!

2007-03-22T08:31:00.000-05:00

REALLY!! ...It IS a Small World!

2007-03-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

Fifty-Four Years Ago...

Tom Davis (3rd from left, top row) and Walter Reitz, (directing) both now in their 80's performed with my mother in this 1953 edition of the Amherst Male Glee Club Show. Actually, I should say, my mother performed with them!! Anyway, this coming week will be the 59th year of continuous production of the Amherst Male Glee Club, under the direction of its founder, Walter E. Reitz!
The accompanying clipping explains a bit about the show that year.

My mother passed away November 2005, which also happened to be the same day Walter Reitz transferred ownership of his summer cabin to me. ..What comes around, goes around I guess!

For those of you reading this blog who happen to be BOSTON Shipmates, that is as long as the service life of the hull of the old Protected Cruiser BOSTON under its two names!

There's No Business like Show Business!

2007-03-15T09:21:00.000-05:00

Time for another Glee Club Show!

One week from tonight is opening night!

Ah Yes! Atomic Power has it's moments!

2007-03-14T12:54:00.000-05:00

Nothing like that WARM BLUE GLOW greeting you in the morning!

"Grounds" For Removal?...

2007-03-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

...Bean There, Done That!

You know the old saying: "For All the Tea in China" well, it seems that "StarBucks" is in BIG trouble with the Chinese Government over what really amounts to a "Hill O' Beans".

Read: "Chinese Lawmaker Revives Calls to Oust Starbucks From Beijing's Forbidden City" for more on this late-breaking story!

Frankly, I think it's time for the Chinese Government to "Wake-up and smell the Coffee" on this one!

A Dining Room Table for Bubbleheads

2007-03-10T18:25:00.000-05:00

Certainly something a clever Nuke Bubblehead invented!

What DO you do when more guests show-up for dinner?

These Tables are actually for sale from DB Fletcher Expanding Tables

World Destruction may be a forgone conclusion...

2007-03-08T08:34:00.000-05:00

...But you should always look on the Bright Side of Life

After all, life is filled with too many ironies and humorous situations isn't it? Just look at the motley group of characters that reads this blog? Even tailors have a seamy-side to their lives which can be so laughable that it puts a little "zip" in their lives and keeps those they don't know in stitches!

I guess our existence comes down to money...Hmmm

2007-03-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

Did Chicken-Little have it right?

You know me, I don't mind kicking-up "a little dust" (so-to-speak) but the below three articles speak volumes for the short-sightedness of the "Bean-Counters" on this global cesspool of politics or is it an arrogant cry; "Go ahead and Hit me!"
Not only that, they want to treat us to a system of "Mushroom-Management" which is essentially, a policy of to:

"Keep us in the dark and feed us Bullsh*t"

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Mon Mar 5, 8:06 PM ET

WASHINGTON -
NASA officials say the space agency is capable of finding nearly all the asteroids that might pose a devastating hit to Earth, but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done.

The cost to find at least 90 percent of the 20,000 potentially hazardous asteroids and comets by 2020 would be about $1 billion, according to a report NASA will release later this week. The report was previewed Monday at a Planetary Defense Conference in Washington.

Congress in 2005 asked NASA to come up with a plan to track most killer asteroids and propose how to deflect the potentially catastrophic ones.

"We know what to do, we just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center.

These are asteroids that are bigger than 460 feet in diameter — slightly smaller than the Superdome in New Orleans. They are a threat even if they don't hit Earth because if they explode while close enough — an event caused by heating in both the rock and the atmosphere — the devastation from the shockwaves is still immense. The explosion alone could have with the power of 100 million tons of dynamite, enough to devastate an entire state, such as Maryland, they said.

The agency is already tracking bigger objects, at least 3,300 feet in diameter, that could wipe out most life on Earth, much like what is theorized to have happened to dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But even that search, which has spotted 769 asteroids and comets — none of which is on course to hit Earth — is behind schedule. It's supposed to be complete by the end of next year.

NASA needs to do more to locate other smaller, but still potentially dangerous space bodies. While an Italian observatory is doing some work, the United States is the only government with an asteroid-tracking program, NASA said.

One solution would be to build a new ground telescope solely for the asteroid hunt, and piggyback that use with other agencies' telescopes for a total of $800 million. Another would be to launch a space infrared telescope that could do the job faster for $1.1 billion. But NASA program scientist Lindley Johnson said NASA and the White House called both those choices too costly.

A cheaper option would be to simply piggyback on other agencies' telescopes, a cost of about $300 million, also rejected, Johnson said.

"The decision of the agency is we just can't do anything about it right now," he added.

Earth got a scare in 2004, when initial readings suggested an 885-foot asteroid called 99942 Apophis seemed to have a chance of hitting Earth in 2029. But more observations showed that wouldn't happen. Scientists say there is a 1-in-45,000 chance that it could hit in 2036.

They think it would mostly likely strike the Pacific Ocean, which would cause a tsunami on the U.S. West Coast the size of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean wave.

John Logsdon, space policy director at George Washington University, said a stepped-up search for such asteroids is needed.

"You can't deflect them if you can't find them," Logsdon said. "And we can't find things that can cause massive damage."

On the Net:

NASA's Near Earth Object Web site: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/

Planetary Defense Conference: http://www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/

(CNN) -- If scientists detect a killer asteroid shortly before it slams into Earth, should the public be informed?

One researcher, Geoffrey Sommer of the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica, California-based think tank, believes the best answer in some cases is no.

Should an alert come too late to make a difference in the outcome of a global catastrophe, Sommer suggests governments should remain silent.

"If you can't do anything about a warning, then there is no point in issuing a warning at all," Sommer said earlier this month at an American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Denver.

"If an extinction-type impact is inevitable, then ignorance for the populace is bliss," he said.

Other space researchers were highly critical of Sommer's views.

"I find Geoffrey's whole idea both irrational and unrealistic," said Benny Peiser, a U.K. scientist at Liverpool John Moores University who monitors asteroid threats.

"The advocated secrecy, far from being cost-effective as Geoffrey claims, would most certainly preclude any attempt at impact mitigation," he told CNN.com.

Regardless, Peiser said, any attempt to keep a killer asteroid quiet would be futile.

"Professional and amateur astronomers from around the world can easily access and confirm observational data and calculations of any discovered NEOs [Near Earth Objects]," he said.

Scientists estimate more than 1,000 asteroids 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in diameter or larger -- big enough to cause global devastation -- lurk near the Earth's orbital path.

Killer Asteroids: A Real But Remote Risk? By John Roach for National Geographic News

It is almost certain that Earth will be hit by an asteroid large enough to exterminate a large percentage of our planet's life, including possibly over a billion people, according to researchers. But as such cataclysmic collisions occur on average only once in a million years or so, are they really worth worrying about?

At some point in the geological future a large chunk of rock and ice will smack into Earth and destroy life as we know it. This is a cold, sober, scientific fact, according to Andrea Milani, a researcher at the University of Pisa in Italy.

"A future impact from, say, a 1-kilometer [0.62 mile]-diameter asteroid is, rather than just probable, almost certain over a time span of a million years," he said.

Wolf Reimold, a geoscientist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, said a 1-kilometer-wide asteroid would produce an impact crater of about 12 miles (20 kilometers) in diameter and wipe out an area the size of the United Kingdom. The human toll would depend on where such an impact occurs.

"Estimates may range from 500,000 to 1.5 billion casualties," he said. "This latter number certainly smells of global nuclear war. Such an event would in all likelihood not wipe out mankind, but it would cause a global economic crisis."

Given the real threat of impact by a so-called near Earth object (NEO) and the consequences for human life, Milani and Reimold are urging the worldwide scientific community, and the agencies that fund their research, to take the field of impact mitigation seriously.

In separate papers appearing in the June 20 issue of the journal Science, Milani and Reimold outline what is known about the impact threat and how impacts have shaped the geologic and life history of Earth.

They agree that the developed world has made great strides over the past few decades in NEO research, but say that more funding is required to raise public awareness of the impact risk and to determine how to thwart an incoming object.

"Governments have the responsibility to deal with a lot of problems afflicting humankind. But these same governments must realize that large asteroid or comet impact has the potential to wipe out all other problems, including mankind," said Reimold.

Impact Science

Impacts of meteorites, asteroids, and comets are frequent events on a geological time scale, said Milani. They have shaped the surface of the Earth and altered the course of life that thrives upon it.

For example, 65 million years ago a 6.2-mile (10 kilometer)-diameter asteroid impact resulted in a 100-million-megaton explosion that excavated a 112-mile (180 kilometer)-wide crater on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and brought the dinosaur era to an end.

Events such as the impact implicated in the dinosaur extinction happen on the order of once every 100 million years. Smaller objects collide with Earth with greater frequency. Asteroids large enough to cause ocean-wide tsunamis, for example, happen once every 63,000 years.

In 1998 NASA accepted the responsibility of compiling a catalog of at least 90 percent of NEOs of 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in diameter or greater and to assess the probability that any of them will impact Earth. Such events are believed to happen on the order of about once every 1 million years.

To date the NASA initiative, known as Spaceguard, has identified 585 objects of 1 kilometer or greater. Most of them have no chance of impact and those that do have only a very low probability. Scientists estimate there are about 1,000 NEOs, so NASA is more than halfway to accomplishing its goal.

Reimold notes that this initiative and projects such as the British Taskforce on Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Objects and the Intercontinental Scientific Drilling Program into the Chicxulub crater in Mexico have helped scientists understand the risks and consequences of collisions with asteroids and comets.

The developing world, he said, is slower to catch on, but a movement by astronomers and geoscientists in South Africa to establish a National Working Group to assess NEO impact risk and mitigation is gaining traction.

"On the other hand, the general public in developing countries has a host of other problems than the possibility that a large bolide could wipe out mankind," he said. "If your first concern is to have shelter and food, if HIV/Aids and unemployment are your daily worries, you cannot be expected to be wary of meteorite impact."

More Mitigation Funding?

Writing in Science, Milani says that the scientific community should take on the responsibility to investigate all objects that could potentially impact Earth "down to the size compatible with available technology and with the public perception of acceptable risk."

According to Milani, a reasonable goal would be to detect within the next ten to 20 years 90 percent of the NEOs over 1,000 feet (300 meters) in diameter and 97 percent of those greater than 1 kilometer in diameter.

To accomplish this goal, Milani says that understanding and awareness of the impact risk must be raised amongst the public and the agencies that provide the requisite funding to perform the work.

"If [funds] are provided, the scientists would know how to use them efficiently," he said. "If resources dedicated to this task are not provided, the scientists have difficulties in canceling other worthwhile basic research to make resources available for impact risk assessment."

Reimold said that more money ought to also be made available for research into known and potential impact sites. Currently, he said, only a few impact sites older than 300 million years are known, but that many more should be out there.

"Ongoing detailed geological analysis of known impact structures is a must in order to further improve our knowledge of the impact process and its devastating results," he said.

Robert Jedicke, an asteroid expert with the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, said that "it would be nice" if asteroid researchers had more money but that current funding for the NEO impact risk assessment programs is sufficiently supported given the available funding for all scientific research.

"There's only so much money to go around," he said. "So if the pot gets split there's less stew for the rest of the astronomical/scientific community."

NEO Deflection

As NEO researchers continue to search the skies for objects that pose an impact risk, they are also beginning discussions on how to deflect an object on a collision course with Earth.

One of the issues being explored is the interior structure of asteroids. If the interior is weak, for example, an attempt to deflect it with a nuclear warhead (an option under consideration) may simply breakup the asteroid into many smaller and uncontrolled pieces.

Milani writes that such investigations are a valid extension of the NASA and European Space Agency NEO programs and make logical sense: "We cannot justify the effort for discovery unless we can safeguard our planet."

Jedicke said that we are not currently prepared to deflect an incoming asteroid, but that there is no reason to be alarmed because there is little chance that an asteroid even as small as 330 feet (100 meters) will hit Earth within the next 100 years.

"They don't build tornado shelters in Germany. Cities don't buy snowplows in Florida. And there's no pressing need to worry about deflection of incoming NEOs at the moment," he said.

Bowling for Planets! (Part 2) or "Strikes, Spares and (near) Misses"

2007-02-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

The more I look into this the worse the scenario looks. Who knows, by then we would have colonized the Moon and Mars....right?

You know, there is an ancient Chinese proverb which is considered a curse: May you live in interesting times" ...No doubt, those living in the next 40 years will experience that many times over!

New Analysis Identify a Small Possibility that Asteroid 1999 AN10 Could Collide with Earth in 2044 or 2046

New orbital analysis for the kilometer-sized asteroid 1999 AN10 have revealed a remote chance that this object might collide with the Earth in the year 2044 or 2046. Although this asteroid will be monitored in the future, it is not thought to be a serious hazard to Earth at this time. Researchers Andrea Milani, Steven Chesley and Giovanni Valsecchi in Italy, as well the undersigned at JPL, have identified these new impacting possibilities by using new observational data, and by projecting the asteroid's motion somewhat farther into the future than before. New measurements of 1999 AN10, made over the last week and a half by amateur astronomer Frank Zoltowksi in Australia, have allowed astronomers to make significantly more precise orbital calculations, and the revised predictions indicate that the asteroid could approach the Earth particularly closely on August 7, 2027. The orbital motions of the Earth and the asteroid do not permit a collision in 2027, but the close approach will certainly change the asteroid's orbital path. During the past week, researchers have focused on the range of possible paths the asteroid could follow after 2027.

The accompanying diagram shows the uncertainty in the predicted close approach in 2027. The asteroid must pass through the plane of the diagram somewhere within an extremely skinny uncertainty ellipse, which appears simply as a line segment. New measurements taken over the weekend have moved the center of the ellipse (the most likely point of passage) out to a distance of about 200,000 km from the Earth, significantly farther than last week's estimate. The predicted point of passage may continue to bounce around within the ellipse as new data are added, but it cannot decrease below a minimum of about 37,000 km from the Earth's center.

During the 2027 close approach, Earth's gravity will change the asteroid's orbit by an amount which depends on the precise location of the point of passage through the uncertainty ellipse. In particular, a range of post-2027 orbital periods are possible: a passage on the left side of the Earth in this diagram will decrease the orbital period; a passage on the right side will increase the period. If the asteroid passes through certain narrow "keyholes" in the uncertainty ellipse, its changed orbit will bring it back for another Earth close approach in a later year. The 2039 impacting scenario identified by Milani et al. last month actually required passage through two keyholes, one in the 2027 ellipse, and one in the 2034 ellipse, which explains why it was so unlikely (about one chance in a billion using last month's orbital estimate). This week's new observations have now moved the uncertainty ellipse completely off the 2034 keyhole, which indicates that this impacting scenario is no longer possible.

The newly identified impacting possibilities for August 6, 2044 and August 7, 2046 each require passage through only a single keyhole in the 2027 ellipse, and the probabilities of impact for these cases are correspondingly larger, on the order of one chance in 500,000 for 2044, and one chance in five million for 2046. These odds of collision are larger than those for any other object, but they are still less than one hundredth the chance of an undiscovered asteroid of equivalent size striking the Earth sometime before 2044.

In summary, asteroid 1999 AN10 does not pose a serious impact hazard at this time, but observers should continue to monitor its motion over the next few decades, and the chance of impact should be carefully reassessed whenever new data become available.

Paul W. Chodas
Research Scientist
Near Earth Object Program Office
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 26, 1999

Are you Making Plans for August 2027?

2007-02-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

According to scientists there is an excellent chance (astronomically speaking, of course!) that we might have a close encounter with a meteor a kilometer-wide that could strike a bulls-eye right here on Terra-Ferma!

That's right, boys, girls (...and sailors), in as little as 20 years we might have our proverbial "Evolutionary PlayStation" reset and have to start over, although that is more likely to happen a few years later in 2039 the results will no doubt be "a smashing success" for the astrophysicists that predicted the event.
Although new evidence released this week predict that the new close encounter date is August 13th 2027 (Yes, that happens to be a Friday too!) Most recent predictions have lowered the odds to 1:45,000 (that's NOT good!)

The Continuing Story Of Asteroid 1999 AN10

New observations are now available for asteroid 1999 AN10, which is gradually moving away from the glare of the Sun. The new data allow a considerably improved orbit to be calculated for this potentially hazardous object, and the revised predictions indicate that this kilometer-size asteroid could pass particularly close to the Earth on August 7, 2027. The passage in 2027 could be as close as 37,000 km from the Earth's center (just 19,000 miles above the Earth's surface), but no closer. The miss distance is still very uncertain, and the asteroid could easily pass well outside the Moon's orbit. The probability of a collision in 2027 is essentially zero.

The accompanying diagram shows the uncertainty in the predicted close approach in 2027. The asteroid must pass through the plane of the diagram somewhere within an extremely elongated uncertainty ellipse, which appears simply as a line segment. (To be precise, the ellipse as drawn is a three-sigma linear confidence boundary.) The center of the ellipse is indicated by the plus sign, which is located at a nominal distance of 58,000 km from the center of the Earth. The minimum distance between the ellipse and the Earth center is 37,000 km.

here is still a very remote possibility that asteroid 1999 AN10 could pass by Earth in 2027 in such a way as to return in the year 2039 on an impacting trajectory. First identified by researchers Andrea Milani, Steven R. Chesley and Giovanni B. Valsecchi, this scenario is still exceedingly unlikely, but the probability of collision in 2039 has now increased to about 1 chance in 10 million. The post-2027 (Monte Carlo) analysis of this object's motion will continue.

Paul W. Chodas
Research Scientist
Near Earth Object Program Office
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 18, 1999

...Hey, if you don't believe me, look it up for yourself!

You know someone forgot it!

2007-02-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

You know, some things are best remembered, while other things are not. But one thing that everyone seemed to forget was that 25 years ago on January 30th 1982 the last vessel to bear the name BOSTON was commissioned.

That's right folks, we missed a chance at a mini-reunion on the silver anniversary of the commissioning! Perhaps we can have a party in Buffalo April 19th to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the launching!

...Geez, I remember that day like it was yesterday, heading down the ways backwards while standing topside!
Now THAT was FUN!!!

Dive! Dive! Dive! As seen from the periscope

2007-02-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, here's something the cruiser never wanted to do!

Laws of "cartoon" Physics

2007-01-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

Cartoon Law I

Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation.

Daffy Duck steps off a cliff, expecting further pastureland. He loiters in midair, soliloquizing flippantly, until he chances to look down. At this point, the familiar principle of 32 feet per second takes over.

Cartoon Law II

Any body in motion will tend to remain in motion until solid matter intervenes suddenly.

Whether shot from a cannon or in hot pursuit on foot, cartoon characters are so absolute in their momentum that only a telephone pole or an outsize boulder retards their forward motion absolutely. Sir Isaac Newton called this sudden termination of motion the stooge's surcease.

Cartoon Law III

Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter.

Also called the silhouette of passage, this phenomenon is the speciality of victims of directed-pressure explosions and of reckless cowards who are so eager to escape that they exit directly through the wall of a house, leaving a cookie-cutout-perfect hole. The threat of skunks or matrimony often catalyzes this reaction.

Cartoon Law IV

The time required for an object to fall twenty stories is greater than or equal to the time it takes for whoever knocked it off the ledge to spiral down twenty flights to attempt to capture it unbroken.

Such an object is inevitably priceless, the attempt to capture it inevitably unsuccessful.

Cartoon Law V

All principles of gravity are negated by fear.

Psychic forces are sufficient in most bodies for a shock to propel them directly away from the earth's surface. A spooky noise or an adversary's signature sound will induce motion upward, usually to the cradle of a chandelier, a treetop, or the crest of a flagpole. The feet of a character who is running or the wheels of a speeding auto need never touch the ground, especially when in flight.

Cartoon Law VI

As speed increases, objects can be in several places at once.

This is particularly true of tooth-and-claw fights, in which a character's head may be glimpsed emerging from the cloud of altercation at several places simultaneously. This effect is common as well among bodies that are spinning or being throttled. A `wacky' character has the option of self- replication only at manic high speeds and may ricochet off walls to achieve the velocity required.

Cartoon Law VII

Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot.

This trompe l'oeil inconsistency has baffled generations, but at least it is known that whoever paints an entrance on a wall's surface to trick an opponent will be unable to pursue him into this theoretical space. The painter is flattened against the wall when he attempts to follow into the painting.

This is ultimately a problem of art, not of science.

Cartoon Law VIII

Any violent rearrangement of feline matter is impermanent.

Cartoon cats possess even more deaths than the traditional nine lives might comfortably afford. They can be decimated, spliced, splayed, accordion-pleated, spindled, or disassembled, but they cannot be destroyed. After a few moments of blinking self pity, they reinflate, elongate, snap back, or solidify.

Corollary: A cat will assume the shape of its container.

Cartoon Law IX

Everything falls faster than an anvil.

Cartoon Law X

For every vengeance there is an equal and opposite revengeance.

This is the one law of animated cartoon motion that also applies to the physical world at large. For that reason, we need the relief of watching it happen to a duck instead.

Cartoon Law Amendment A

A sharp object will always propel a character upward.

When poked (usually in the buttocks) with a sharp object (often a pin), a character will defy gravity by shooting straight up, with great velocity proportional to the size of the sharp object.

Cartoon Law Amendment B

The laws of object permanence are nullified for "cool" characters.

Characters who are intended to be "cool" can make previously nonexistent objects appear from behind their backs at will. For instance, the Road Runner can materialize signs to express himself without speaking.

Cartoon Law Amendment C

Explosive weapons cannot cause fatal injuries.

They merely turn characters temporarily black and smoky.

Cartoon Law Amendment D

Gravity is transmitted by slow-moving waves of large wavelengths.

Their operation can be witnessed by observing the behavior of a canine suspended over a large vertical drop. Its feet will begin to fall first, causing its legs to stretch. As the wave reaches its torso, that part will begin to fall, causing the neck to stretch. As the head begins to fall, tension is released and the canine will resume its regular proportions until such time as it strikes the ground.

Cartoon Law Amendment E

Dynamite is spontaneously generated in "C-spaces" (spaces in which cartoon laws hold).

The process is analogous to steady-state theories of the universe which postulated that the tensions involved in maintaining a space would cause the creation of hydrogen from nothing. Dynamite quanta are quite large (stick sized) and unstable (lit). Such quanta are attracted to psychic forces generated by feelings of distress in "cool" characters (see Amendment B, which may be a special case of this law), who are able to use said quanta to their advantage. One may imagine C-spaces where all matter and energy result from primal masses of dynamite exploding. The "big bang thoery" indeed.

Flushed with Pride!

2007-01-02T14:38:00.000-05:00

I know, I know....you just finished celebrating Gnu Year's and now you have to visit the facilities....but it's dark outside and after following direction you make it to the outhouse!

Little did you know the next morning just where that outhouse was located!

Yikes!

Here's to a Happy Gnu Year in 2007

2007-01-01T10:22:00.000-05:00

Have a very HAPPY "Gnu" Year for 2007!!

Now I'm the first one to have "Buffalloed" you in the New Year!

...You didn't think I would "get your goat" did ya?

I bet y'all are still in bed with a drunken stupor, or else i would have seen comments already!

Well, I hope y'all recover quickly!

Happy "Gnu" Year to all!

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE "DYSFUNCTIONAL"

2006-12-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the froggy can I have a chocolate, hey pretty lights, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle ......

Have a Merry "DYSFUNCTIONAL" Christmas!

Another Christmas Story!

2006-12-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

The fragrant evergreen needles,

Digging deep into my skin,

My gloves only protect my hands,

On my wrists, branches tearing at the skin,

Poking at my face,

Or jabbing at my chin,

Wrestling through the doorway,

"I'll get this DAMN thing in!",

I place the cold, snowy tree of pine,

Upon the stand of pressed,

Brightly painted, sheet metal,

With a reassuring thud, I know,

Again, I missed,

...And hit the floor,

Another dent,

To remind me of Christmas,

Now the tree, proudly seated,

Upon its' flimsy stand,

To be adorned with lights, and ornaments,

"I'll make her look just GRAND!"

Lights upon her gracious branches,

The twinkle in the children’s eyes,

Do not reflect the seasons meaning,

Dimmed by the lights, `tis no surprise,

Yet still, we follow folly,

With all this mistletoe, and holly,

If we forget the seasons' worth,

Of Christmas time, and Jesus' birth.

Santa Claus and his Reign Deer

2006-12-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you a story, a tale of woe, The story of Santa, before you all go, This is a tale, of one they called Nick, Who lived a hard life, that would make some people sick, A tale to be told, around this time of year, A story of woe, which brings most eyes's to tear, 'Bout a balding old man, with a long beard of white, Who lived way up North, far away out of sight, He lived up on the tundra, in a make-shift-shack, There he tried keeping warm, burning dropping of Yak, Life on the tundra, is never too kind, You must fight to keep living, and eat all you can find, Then one cold winter’s Day, many long years ago, Old Nick was out hunting, on the tundra in snow, The wind bitterly blowing, snow swirling about, Nick was in trouble, yet the snow drowned his shout,

Then out in the distance, a light did appear, In the swirling snow, his heart filled with fear, The light then descended, setting down on the ground, From the light came a voice, which spoke without any sound, The voice said to Nick, "Nick, you've had a hard life." "But now this will change, I shall give you a wife." Yet here with a mate, this task is your quest." "Dedicate eternity to Christmas, forsaking the rest." "Service to children! That is my command!" "Bearing gifts to all children, whatever they demand!" "Oh, great light that speaks.", said Nick in trembling voice, "What", said the light, "You've not got a choice!" So, Nick stood erect, yet trembling with fright, And the next that he knew, he was wearing red, trimmed with white! Dressed now, in garb which he wasn't accustom, Said Nick to himself, "Why should I trust him?" "Calm all your fears Nick.", said the voice from the light, "With new clothes, comes a new name, which I'm sure will delight!" From Northern Siberia, you'll be "Santa the Red!". Said Nick to the voice, "I don't quite like that name." "Let's think it over, no sense in us rushin', Please don't name me after some old commie Russian!" "Perhaps Nick, your right, just what would you suggest?" "Is there another name, which you wouldn't detest?" "What's wrong with just 'Nicholas'?", said Nick with a smile, "That's not a name which any would find vile.", So Nick got his way, and his job he does "saintly", Now we call him "Saint Nicholas", But his buddies now call him "Saint Nick", Now I've this story to finish! Don't let me digress!

I've told you the story of his name, and how he is dressed! There's still more to tell, I'll get to it now, The story of his sleigh, and his dozen reign deer, I know, there is only eight now, just wait you'll find out why, Be patient for now, there's no reason to cry, So the voice said to Nick, who was picking fleas from his beard, "You'll soon fly in the sky, please don't be scared!" "You gotta' be kiddin' me!", said Nick, "That silly!" "You'll fly in a sleigh, powered by a horse named Billy." (You know that's not true, of course!)

...Here's why. "Your first task Saint Nick, is to find a stallion or mare, It must be a worthy beast, of what gender I don't care." "Now where on the Tundra of Northern Siberia, Will I find a horse? You only see Yak!" "Well, sometimes you see deer too, but what good is that?" Said the light to Nick, "You've done it again by Joe!" "Now find me some bucks, and a half-dozen doe!" Said Nick, "Powered by deer, with a sleigh at the rear, To fly in the sky, light, find some other guy!" "Trust me", said the light, "You have no reason to fear, Sit down, relax, here's a bottle of beer!" "What kind of beer?", said Nick with suspicion,

"Why, a 'lite' beer of course, what else would I keep?" Now Nick sat down, resting his touche, Pondering his decision, sipping Anheiser Busch So Nick sitting down in the snow, he was at quite a loss, "Alright, I'll do it, but I gotta be the boss!" So Nick gathered his reign deer, a dozen to the pack, Lead by a yak, his favorite of course, the one he called "Jack", Well, Jack didn't work out, and chased away four of his deer, So Nick let him go, then finished off his six-pack of beer,

When the light finally returned, the deer were transformed, That each one could fly, which to Nick he forewarned, Then the light it is told, gave Nick a contract for life, He asked both to sign it, ...yes, Nick and his wife, With one stipulation, that on each Christmas Eve, That this time with your wife, you must of her take leave, Delivering presents to kids all over the world, that is your cause, In the contract we'll call this, the "Santa Clause", So, Santa agreed, and was given a sack, It made all the toys easier to pack, This is the end, the end of this story, The rest as you know, is just more history!

…..Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Tale of "Rudolf the Red"

2006-12-08T08:31:00.000-05:00

....Now it's gone too far!

Let me tell you a story of "Rudolf the Red",

Most ancient tyrants, whom all people dread,

He ruled with iron-fisted fear, throughout his reign,

Though centuries have passed, legend's all that remains,

From his castle of stone, where he passed his decrees,

Around Northern Poland, which the winter did freeze,

His heart like his home both of stone, they were made,

Living the life of a tyrant, by his cold-steel blade,

Now Rudolf was cruel to animals too,

Tough venison especially he liked to chew,

So, on the coldest of winter days he would order,

His servants to hunt for deer which to slaughter,

On the coldest of winter days the hunt would begin,

With cruel weapons the animals would be ripped limb from limb,

Cold steel claws were the weapons Rudolf liked best,

No other weapon could pass his cruel test,

The villagers living in the valley below,

Living in conditions of cold freezing snow,

Would hear from the castle, these terrible screams,

Saying, "Surly, Lord Rudolf is SATAN, or so, it doth seems!",

Now, after each animal was brutally clawed to its death,

Rudolf would order tower bells to be rung,

And the skins of the deer, on the doorway be hung,

This was too much for some, this cruel decree,

So they raised a rebellion, just to set the deer free,

They raided his castle, and gave Rudolf the sack!,

With his own cruel claw, they clawed down his back,

Loudly they cheered, "Satan's been clawed, and given the sack!"

"No more is it freedom of which that we lack!"

So they tore down the castle, and built a tall pole,

Totally black, it was made from the hardest of coal,

A monument to every departed soul,

Now memories, can change, their meanings we neglect,

What we once thought was evil, may changes as we reflect,

Lost until now, was this unlikely tale,

But its meaning right now I'll tell, without fail,

So Rudolf the Red, we see now quite wrongly,

The villagers called him "Satan with the Claws",

Now what we call him, is simply "Santa Claus",

…Does that give you some sort of reason to pause?

His reign of terror, and brutality to those deer,

We simply remember as "Eight tiny Reign Deer",

Playing too, were bells after each deer he slew,

We remember as Sleigh bells, on a sleigh, which he flew,

Riding on his sleigh, with deer under reigns,

Led by Rudolf, with his bright nose of red,

Children who are rotten, bad to their soul,

Get their stockings at Christmas, filled up with coal,

Though, the villagers gave Rudolf "the sack",

We remember him now, just carrying his sack,

Filled up with gifts, and toys on his back,

His gifts, for children, he never seems to lack,

We remember Rudolf, who lived to the north,

And remember the North Pole, from which he came forth,

His castle long forgotten, his evil obscured,

Perhaps, do you find this tale absurd?

Perhaps, this story gives you something to ponder,

If you don't believe it, just asking those who remember,

Ask Comet, or Cupid, or Blitzen, or Donder,

They will say: "It's the truth, no reason to wonder!"

Maybe next time, I'll tell you why,

Rudolf didn't die, there's reason to sigh!

And don't worry either, there's no reason to cry,

...'Cause now Rudolf,

After all these years, he learned his lesson.

But he's still not a guy,

...With whom YOU should be messin'!

'Cause he now packs a pistol, ...a SMITH & WESSON!

Merry Christmas!

Curses of the Errant Quote:

2006-12-05T10:51:00.000-05:00

See what you guys do, you get me started on something!

Here is a little information about the (de)composer P.D.Q. Bach:

According to Wikipedia:

Among the many "facts" about the composer's life in Schickele's fictional biography of the composer, we find the following:

P. D. Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on April 1, 1742 [2], the son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach. According to Schickele, Bach's parents did not bother to give their youngest son a real name, and settled on "P. D. Q." instead. Johann Sebastian did not give any musical training to P. D. Q. After his death, the only earthly possession Johann Sebastian Bach willed to his son was a kazoo.

In 1755, P. D. Q. Bach was an apprentice of the inventor of the musical saw, Ludwig Zahnstocher (German for "toothpick"). In 1756, P. D. Q. Bach met Leopold Mozart and advised him to teach his son Wolfgang Amadeus how to play billiards. Later on P. D. Q. Bach went to St. Petersburg to visit his distant cousin Leonhard Sigismund Dietrich Bach (L. S. D. Bach), whose daughter Betty Sue bore P. D. Q. a child.

Finally, in 1770, P. D. Q. Bach started to write music, mostly by stealing melodies from other composers.

P. D. Q. Bach died on May 5, 1807; however, his grave was marked "1807-1742".

P. D. Q. Bach's Epitaph reads [as requested by his cousin Betty Sue Bach and written by the local doggerel catcher]:

In the "original" German:

Hier liegt ein Mann ganz ohnegleich;

Im Leibe dick, an Sünden reich.

Wir haben ihn in das Grab gesteckt,

Weil es uns dunkt er sei verreckt.

Translated:

Here lies a man with sundry flaws

And numerous Sins upon his head;

We buried him today because

As far as we can tell, he's dead.

In his many preconcert lectures Peter Schickele has revealed other information about P. D. Q. Bach's life:

P. D. Q. Bach had a substantial influence on Beethoven's deafness. This is due to the latter's habit of stuffing coffee grounds into his ears whenever he saw P. D. Q. Bach coming.

P. D. Q. Bach is the INTERCAL (a parody of computer programming languages) of Baroque music.

Music

Schickele describes P. D. Q. Bach as having "the originality of Johann Christian, the arrogance of Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the obscurity of Johann Christoph Friedrich." The most distinguishing feature of P. D. Q. Bach's music, in the words of Schickele, is "manic plagiarism". P. D. Q. Bach seldom wrote original tunes; for the most part he stole melodies from other composers and rearranged them in often funny ways. Also, P. D. Q. Bach's music uses instruments not often used in orchestras, such as the tromboon, slide whistle, hardart, lasso d'amore and kazoo, as well as items not normally used as musical instruments, such as balloons and bicycle. His music also calls for unusual methods of playing traditional instruments, such as blowing through double reeds by themselves (that is, detached from the instruments) throughout Iphigenia in Brooklyn. His parts for vocalists, in addition to singing, also include coughing, snoring, sobbing, laughing and yelling.

P. D. Q. Bach's music pokes fun at many types of music, including Baroque, Romantic, modern, even country music (Oedipus Tex and Blaues Gras) and rap (Classical Rap). The "Schickele" or "S." numbers whimsically assigned to P. D. Q. Bach's works parody musicologists' catalogues of famous composers, such as the Köchel catalogue of Mozart's works.

There is often a startling juxtaposition of styles within a single P. D. Q. Bach piece. The Prelude to Einstein on the Fritz, which alludes to Philip Glass's opera Einstein on the Beach, provides an example. The underlying music is J. S. Bach's first prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier, but with each phrase repeated interminably in a minimalist manner that parodies Glass's. On top of this mind-numbing structure is added everything from jazz phrases to snoring to the chanting of a meaningless phrase. Through all these mutilations, the piece never deviates from Bach's original harmonic structure.

Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach's musical output into three periods: the Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, and Contrition. (These periods have no relationship to the order in which Schickele actually wrote the pieces, but are simply another play on musical scholarship.)

During the Initial Plunge, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the Traumarei for solo piano, an Echo Sonata for "two unfriendly groups of instruments", and a Gross Concerto for Divers' Flutes, two Trumpets, and Strings.

During the Soused (or Brown-Bag) Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote a Concerto for Horn & Hardart, a Sinfonia Concertante, a Pervertimento, a Serenude, a Perückenstück, a Suite from The Civilian Barber, a Schleptet in E-flat major, the half-act opera The Stoned Guest, a Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra, Erotica Variations, Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice (an opera in one unnatural act), The Art of the Ground Round, a Concerto for Bassoon vs. Orchestra, and a Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion.

During the Contrition, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the cantata Iphigenia in Brooklyn, the oratorio The Seasonings, Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, a Sonata for Viola for Four Hands, the chorale prelude Should, a Notebook for Betty Sue Bach, the Toot Suite, the Grossest Fugue, a Fanfare for the Common Cold, and the canine cantata Wachet Arf!

He also composed the religious work "Missa Hilarious" (Schickele no. N₂O) - N₂O is "laughing gas" - which was found along with documents pertaining to his excommunication.

The Obscure History of the Holiday Celebration Finally Revealed

2006-12-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

'Tis the Season to be Jolly, or so said the Merry fellows in ancient times.

However, a closer look at the history of this holiday seems to indicate that we find its roots steeped in the traditions of Western European culture. Generally, this holiday is most closely associated with good food, good drink and lots of merry making. Upon closer examination, we see now that this holiday is truly a celebration more closely associated with our humble kitchen chef whose preparations were, (and still are) a major part of the holiday festivities.

It was a time long, long ago when the “chef de cuisine” of the small European villages would band together and share their most potent recipes, “conspiring” together to intoxicate the senses of villagers with a venerable orgy of inebriating beverages and fragrant foods that would numb the senses of taste and smell. Thus, it was the humble chef whom we may attribute the phrase: " 'Tis the season..." whilst smugly snickered to himself, the reasons to which will soon be revealed to you, the reader. You see, these foods and beverages would contain (not altogether accidentally) certain supplements that today, would certainly be considered either essentially illegal or potentially of dangerous origins.

It would be these dubious substances that would cause those who would normally be the most upstanding members of the community to go out wildly in pursuit of the pleasures of the flesh and senses. These "ladies and gentlemen" of the communities would (after partaking in the seasonal refreshments), go about the village in pursuit of any members of the opposite sex they could get their hands on. This lead to a period of anarchy over the typically quite village during the course of much of the holiday season, one in which the aforementioned village-folk took ample advantage of each other in manners we will not mention to you here, our gentle readers.

With the passage of time on or about late next summer, many of those females who partook in the seasonal revelry usually had no recollection of their dubious holiday escapades due to having usually partaken in the same seasonal fare as their male counterparts. These "frisky ladies" soon found they were “with child”.

As it happened, these women, soon gave birth to an unusually large proportion of baby girls. Those families, especially those of good repute within the community generally attributed this to some sort of divine intervention of their faith (usually to protect the respectability of the family name) thus, in honor, named the little girl after the Virgin Mary. Henceforth, the aforementioned time of conception was later referred to (with a quick-wink) as a time of "Mary making", in later, to be called "merry making" or as presently, "making merry".

But alas, we have digressed off the subject at hand.

As the years past, the villagers became increasingly aware of those not so harmless additives to their festivities and being a folk of discriminating tastes and temperament, would avoid these foods and libations. So the chefs (being a rather ingenious group altogether) would add certain palatable spices to obfuscate the flavor of these questionable ingredients. Henceforth, the villagers having after a period of time, became accustomed to these spices over the years were finally able to identify these seasonal dishes with some degree of accuracy. This was indeed, because, these flavorful overtones would be included in an attempt to conceal in disproportionate quantities these identifiable hostile flavorings and although now very palatable became established seasonally as associated with the holidays.

The chefs, when confronted, by the villagers and being a rather resourceful group, yet wisely not wanting to be altogether dishonest stated in a rather cunning manner; "My goodness! Good recipes simply take time to prepare." Of course, embedded though some clever homonym was repeated as the absolute truth, because "Thyme" was predominately the season in use as a cover‑up!

These very resourceful, yet cheerful “chef d'oeuvre” usually, were grossly underpaid for their hard work, thus, at times, in order to compensate for this oversight in remuneration took certain liberties with the “well-oiled” villagers during these periods by nimbly relieving them of the contents of their pockets, including any other personal effects of value on their person whenever practical. Any villager who, not being in a total stupor and capable of resisting, usually were knocked‑out with a wooden bar applied with an unreasonable degree of force to the area about the solarplexes until that person was doubled over in pain and rendered senseless. These victims were later referred to as being "doubled‑over on the bar". This bar welding thug was in later years referred to by the somewhat irate villagers as: "The Bartender”.

Those lucky villagers who were not quite as inebriated when the “bartender” came around usually were able to dodge, duck, or otherwise hop‑over the swinging bartenders' advances. This practice later became known as "Bar Hopping" a phrase often used today but with a substantially altered meaning. If the bartender could indeed be subdued by the revelers, which on rare occasions did happen, the villagers, being folk of fun, and good‑nature, would then take some rope, and tie the hands of the "bartender" together behind his back, then his bar would be tied to his hands in such a manner that when the bartender walked, he would be lightly tapping the back of his head with his great stick. This practice later became traditional in the villages, and was often referred to as "tying one on" at the bar.

What traditionally followed, would be that the bartenders inebriated victims would head out to the next village pub to continue their festive celebration, but with substantially lighter pockets and, in a great deal of physical and psychological anguish which would not be fully realized until the next morning.

Of course, now‑a‑days when we experience emotional, or physical distress, we usually order something to relieve the pain, often we order what is now called a "double" from the bartender, not only will he give it to you but, with the price of drinks he still robs you blind. As to the definitive etymology of “Holiday Punch” I think perhaps I need not digress.

Perhaps someday though, I will enlighten you as to how the doorman at these public establishments came to be known as the "Bouncer"! But that is a story for another time.

So remember, around holiday thyme, it 'tis the season...

...The Season of Merry Making!

I suppose the bottom line of this is:

Please, beware of "Chef's Surprise" and "Swinging Bartenders".

Okay...I'm back to work!

2006-11-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

Well, the doctor gave me clearance to return to work today, he also said he had to take a larger chunk out of my miniscus then he originally thought! Then he compaired my meniscus to a piece of burber carpet!! I guess what I'm supposed to have should look like a piece of smooth linolium, you know, like those turkey bone you pull apart! That's what cartelige is supposed to look like, but mine looks more like a piece of burber carpet!!!!

...Just don't try wiping your feet on my Burber!!!!

Countdown to Turkey Day!!!

2006-11-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

Some days you just wish you didn't have X-RAY VISION...

Other days you wish we could just Talk-Turkey all day!!

I sure hope you Thanksgiving day meal doesn't "run afowl"

This Blog will be Temporarily Disabled

2006-11-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

(Yup, that's my knee shown above)

Temporarily Disabled due to pending Knee Surgery

I won't say "Tear"-able things about your knees, if you don't say terrible things about mine!

Temporarily Disabled due to pending Knee Surgery...so don't get-outta-joint!

No Matter Which Way the Political Winds Blow...

2006-11-09T09:21:00.000-05:00

...their breath smells the same!

I know, call me a "Political Curmudgeon" but the truth is whatever political party is in power, ultimately, it corrupts itself. The pendulum swings from left, to right and now back to left, but those of us stuck in the center see the pitfalls of the extremes and just shake our heads.

It is human nature, or the fact that the temptations of the office prey off human character flaws that we all possess? But there is also the hypocritical nature of their platforms too. After all, how can a party claim to be "Conservative" yet they have driven-up the deficit to record levels? Now "Conservative" is supposed to be "one who conserves" as in our natural resources or fiscally responsibility too, yet we all know how this does not fit the picture of reality. But the reality of the situation is the other party isn't much different either. So, go figure!

"What Me Worry?" So says Alfred E. "Dubbaya" Newman...Guaranteed!!

2006-11-07T11:12:00.000-05:00

Wikipedia, the highly respected on-line encyclopedia provides the following article on the company, Diabold that makes the voting machines.

...I mean, I don't mean to let Karl Rove's "Little Secret" out-of-the bag but....

The Republican Party has reasons to be so confident, they simply cannot lose control of Congress and the Senate!! It's a sure thing, it's "in the bag" ...as they say.

The Republican Party can "count" on Diebold to deliver; it's that plain & simple enough.

Because there is nothing the Democrats can do about it either!

Haha!

Aye! "Beam me up Scotty!" "But Sir, I canna get the transporters to work right!"

2006-10-30T11:04:00.000-05:00

These are the voyages of the United Scottish Ship Enterprise

...Aye laddies, wearin' yer kilt and join the voyage!

Okay, want to know about the "Giggle Loop" & "The Sock Gap"

2006-10-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

"The Giggle Loop"

"The Sock Gap"

Two Examples of how NOT to pick-up women!!

2006-10-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

Remember, if your tongue gets "tied" it's better to just shut-up!

...I suppose you could admire her ears!

SPAM!!! You get it in your email all the time! here are its origins!

2006-10-18T12:14:00.000-05:00

Whether served aboard Navy vessels, or arriving in your email, everyone cringes when they receive SPAM!!

A Sailor's Liberty Experience!

2006-10-18T08:17:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, waiting is the hardest part, isn't it!

Cheap Real Estate prices....Nice view too!

2006-10-17T13:33:00.000-05:00

Nothing like Mars for that "great escape" vacation home or weekend getaway!

...Just think, you too can build your getaway vacation home, a few light-minutes from your favorite beverage store!

Polar Fishing is great this time of the year!

2006-10-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

They Don't MOUSE Around on Cyprus! ...Mickey look out!

2006-10-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

A New Species of Mouse discovered on Cyprus!

Durham Research Fellow discovers new species of mammal in Europe

(11 October 2006)

An archaeozoologist has stumbled across a new species of mammal in Europe, an area where scientists had believed all mammal species had already been identified many years ago in the last century.

The new mammal, a species of mouse, namely Mus cypriacus, was found in Cyprus by a research fellow at Durham University, Dr Thomas Cucchi, an expert on the origin and human dispersal of house mice and whose findings recently appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.

Dr Cucchi was working in Cyprus examining archaeological remains of mice teeth from the Neolithic period and comparing them with those of four known modern day European mice species, to determine if the house mouse was the unwelcome guest of the human colonisation of the island 10,000 years ago.

Dr Cucchi said: “New mammal species are mainly discovered in hot spots of biodiversity like South East Asia and it was generally believed that every species of mammal in Europe had been identified. This is why the discovery of a new species of mouse on Cyprus was so unexpected and exciting. To understand the origin of this new mouse I compared its teeth morphology with the ones of fossils mice collected by palaeontologists. This comparison revealed that this mouse colonised and adapted to the Cypriot environment several thousand years before the arrival of man.”

Mus cypriacus differs to other European mice, it has a bigger head, ears, eyes and teeth. Once genetic tests had confirmed that the new mouse was of a different species it was named Mus cypriacus, genus Mus (Rodentia, Mammalia), only to be found on Cyprus.

This discovery revealed that an endemic species of mouse had survived man’s arrival to the island and now lived side by side with common European house mice, whose ancestors had arrived with man during Neolithic colonisation. This is very unusual because all other endemic mammals of Mediterranean islands died out following the arrival of man with the exception of two species of shrew. The new mouse of Cyprus is the only endemic rodent still alive, and as such can be considered as a ‘living fossil’.

Dr Cucchi continued: “The discovery of this new species and the riddle behind its survival offers a new area of study for scientists studying the evolutionary process of mammals and the ecological consequences of human activities on island biodiversity.”

What do you mean you don't believe??

2006-10-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

The ANY Key is a standard feature with many computer keyboards these days!

In fact, it is provided on many musical electronic instrument too!

But did you know the ANY Key comes in different colors too?

So, you DON'T believe in the ANY Key??

...That's like ...well, not believing in Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, or the Great Pumpkin,
...or the USS BOSTON!!!

It looks like Micheal Jackson has gone Indian!!!

2006-10-05T07:31:00.000-05:00

Putting things into perspective (Astronomy 101)

2006-10-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, just for "giggles and Grins" let's try and place our smaller (inner) planets on a table and compare them in size. If you did that here's what you would get!

...Interesting huh?

Let's try comparing the inner planets with the larger outer planets...

...Pretty impressive, huh?

Now if we compare our Sun with these outer planets and some of the inner planets, here's what we would get. But let's just say that we use a larger table and take this a few steps farther.

Okay, so if we had an even larger table and compared our Sun to some of the more distant "medium-sized" stars we would come up with something like this!

...But let's carry this a step farther, okay?

Comparing some of these "medium-sized" stars with some of the "Red Giants" that we see as little bright points of light we come up with this comparision!

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.

It is more than 1000 light years away.

The universe is so vast it is not comprehensible by the human mind. It would be like an ant trying to understand the wonder of the internet. It can't be done.

The universe humbles us as it should.

...This was sent to me by another BOSTON Shipmate!!

Flipping the "Willie" around!

2006-09-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
... by some accounts he died on his birthday!

Old "Willie" Shakespeare was a very wise man.

But you'd never know it because he used such fancy-schmancy words.

Now our crack team of cunning linguists has translated a number of Shakespeare's quotes into modern day English.

It's about time we were all able to enjoy the wit and wisdom of this oddly groomed scribe.

Quote: Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.
Translation: We should all masturbate more often.

Quote: The weakest kind of fruit drops earliest to the ground.
Translation: Only fight sissies.

Quote: Great floods have flown from simple sources.
Translation: Never have sex with your girlfriend during her period.

Quote: The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
Translation: Let's kill all the lawyers. Really! (Willie REALLY was a wise man ahead of his time!)

Quote: Be to yourself as you would to your friend.
Translation: It's OK to sleep with your best friend's sister because your best friend sure would sleep with your sister.

Quote: Is the jay more precious than the lark because his feathers are more beautiful?
Translation: Good-looking strippers get bigger tips. (Sorry about that Jay!)

Quote: Have patience, and endure.
Translation: Use one of those numbing creams if you have to. Or try wearing five condoms at once.

Quote: I can express no kinder sign of love than this kind kiss.
Translation: First base is better than striking out altogether.

Quote: Men at some time are masters of their fate.
Translation: Get married and you're screwed.

Quote: They that thrive well take counsel of their friends.
Translation: If your drinking buddies say she's really a man, listen to them.

Quote: That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man, if with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
Translation: If you're desperate to impress her, you can always resort to oral sex.

Quote: O, flatter me, for love delights in praises.
Translation: Honesty isn't necessarily the best policy when it comes to penis size.

Quote: The course of true love never did run smooth.
Translation: When dumping someone, always wear a protective cup.

Quote: I'll note you in my book of memory.
Translation: Don't expect me to call the day after.

Quote: Alas, poor world, what treasure hast thou lost.
Translation: Lap dances have actually been outlawed in some parts of the country.

Quote: Praising what is lost, makes the remembrance dear.
Translation: When you're telling your buddies about your conquests, exaggerate. A lot.

Quote: 'Tis better to be brief than tedious.
Translation: Nothing like a "quickie" anytime of the day or night.

Quote: My endeavors have ever come too short of my desires.
Translation: You've never had twins and you never will. Get over it.

How to AVOID speeding tickets!!!

2006-09-21T07:35:00.000-05:00

"But officer, I didn't want to be blown-up!"

I gotta get me some of these

Instructions for a possible valid excuse to speed on the interstate.....................
Step 1. Tie balloons to car.
Step 2. Drive at what ever high speed you want....
Step 3. Watch other cars and the police freak out !!!!

I wonder if they make them in Tomahawk or Harpoons too?

About "The Star Spangled Banner"

2006-09-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

About "The Star Spangled Banner" written in 1814

I must confess, growing-up I only knew verses one, two and four, usually verse three is not sung since it was a stinging jab into the side of the British who are now our allies! I especially enjoy singing the whole poem/song as this can be quite moving. Strange itn't it that the official "National Anthem" which is only the first verse ends with a question?

"The Star Spangled Banner"
Words by Francis Scott Key,
Music attributed to John Stafford Smith
from the song "To Anacreon in Heaven"

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say does that star spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep.
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the Star-Spangled Banner! O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the Star-Spangled Banner, in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: “In God is our Trust.”
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

So, you're probably asking yourself what was "To Anacreon in Heav'n" anyway?

...Interesting question, actually.

The tune was probably composed by John Samuel Stevens although it was John Stafford Smith who wrote the tune in the mid-1760s, while still a teenager. It was first published by Longman & Broderip in London in 1778/1779, the original lyrics were attributed to Ralph Tomlinson and so "To Anacreon in Heaven" was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, a club of amateur musicians in jolly London England who gathered regularly to perform concerts!

(try singing it!)

The original lyrics are as follows:

"To Anacreon in Heaven"

To Anacreon in Heav'n,

Where he sat in full glee,

A few Sons of Harmony

Sent a petition

That he their Inspirer

And Patron would be;

When this answer arrived

From the Jolly Old Grecian:

"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute,

No longer be mute,

I'll lend you my name

And inspire you to boot,

Chorus:

And besides I'll instruct you,

Like me, to intwine

The Myrtle of Venus

With Bacchus' Vine."

II.

The news through Olympus

Immediately flew;

When Old Thunder pretended

To give himself airs.

"If these Mortals are suffered

Their scheme to pursue,

The devil a Goddess,

Will stay above stairs.

Hark, already they cry,

In transports of joy,

'Away to the Sons

Of Anacreon we'll fly,

Chorus:

And there with good fellows,

We'll learn to intwine

The Myrtle of Venus

With Bacchus' Vine.

III.

"The Yellow-Haired God

And his nine fusty Maids

From Helicon's banks

Will incontinent flee,

Idalia will boast

But of tenantless shades,

And the bi-forked hill

A mere desert will be.

My Thunder no fear on't,

Shall soon do its errand,

And dam'me I'll swing

The Ringleaders I warrant.

Chorus:

I'll trim the young dogs,

For thus daring to twine

The Myrtle of Venus

With Bacchus' Vine."

IV.

Apollo rose up,

And said, "Pry'thee ne'er quarrel,

Good King of the Gods,

With My Vot'ries below:

Your Thunder is useless"--

Then showing his laurel,

Cry'd "Sic evitabile

Fulmen, you know!

Then over each head,

My laurels I'll spread,

So my sons from your Crackers

No mischief shall dread,

Chorus:

While, snug in their clubroom,

They jovially twine

The Myrtle of Venus

With Bacchus' Vine."

Next Momus got up

With his risible Phiz

And swore with Apollo

He'd cheerfully join --

"The full tide of Harmony

Still shall be his,

But the Song, and the Catch,

And the Laugh shall be mine.

Then, Jove, be not jealous

Of these honest fellows."

Cry'd Jove, "We relent,

Since the truth you now tell us:

Chorus:

And swear by Old Styx,

That they long shall intwine

The Myrtle of Venus

With Bacchus' Vine."

VI.

Ye Sons of Anacreon,

Then join hand in hand;

Preserve Unanimity,

Friendship, and Love!

'Tis yours to support

What's so happily plann'd;

You've the sanction of Gods,

And the Fiat of Jove.

While thus we agree,

Our toast let it be:

"May our Club flourish Happy,

United, and Free!

Chorus:

And long may the Sons

Of Anacreon intwine

The Myrtle of Venus

With Bacchus' Vine."

"It'll never fly Orville!" ...or so they thought!

2006-09-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

Spad XIII

If at first you don't succeed ...fly, fly again!

...Hey, if TWO WINGS are GOOD, then that means...

GAX/GA-1 Triplane

THREE MUST be BETTER!!

....Nah!

Anybody got any "uplifting" comments? ...Hmmm?

Submarine Propulsion Systems

2006-09-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

Now you know why submarine propulsion systems are so quiet!

Well, in an hour or so, I'll be driving off to New Hamster and then on to "Tax-a-chusetts" to attend the USS BOSTON Shipmates, Inc. Annual meeting!

The Towel-head Bunch

2006-09-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

Here's the story,
Of a crazy burka covered lady,
Who was bringing up some very ugly girls.
All of them wore burkas,
Like their mother,
The youngest one still had black curls.

Here's the story,
Of a man named bin laden,
Who was busy with the Taliban of his own.
They were four thousand men,
Living all together,
but they were all alone-.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow,
and they knew they was much more than a hunch.
That this group, Must somehow form a network.
That's the way we all became The Crazy Bunch,
The Crazy Bunch-
The Crazy Bunch
That's the way- they became the The Crazy Bunch!

As cool as submarines are, when I was a wee lad I always wanted to be an Astronaunt!

2006-09-12T07:33:00.000-05:00

"What's up docked?"

...Get it?

Why being on a Submarine is more fun!

2006-09-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

As you know, sometimes in the Navy you get to do some pretty wild stuff, including some wild rides! Click Here to see why I would take a submarine over a surface ship any day!

Wet Kitty now is "Singing the Blues"

2006-09-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

"Kitty" Singing the Blues!

First "Kitty" makes a big splash with the family during a little ocean adventure and now must suffer the humiliation of washing off all that salt water.

...What's that you say? Something about "Tumble-Dry?"

Having Fun with "Kitty"

2006-09-07T07:55:00.000-05:00

Okay now, I have a question...
What is wrong with this picture?

- Cape Missing: Could it be that "Kitty" is playing SuperCat?

...Up, up and away!

- Does he think he's "Rocky" the Flying Squirrel?
- Is it teaching "Kitty" to swim day?

- Could it be the annual toss "Kitty" in the water day?

- Raining "Cats" and "Dogs"? Hmmm, I don't see any dogs?

First, we all know how fond kids are of their pets, right?
But first, cats are not usually very fond of water, they also happen to have sharp claws too, thus the parents are obviously not "the sharpest knife in the drawer" that takes "Kitty" with them into an inflatible raft and then pulls that same aforementioned raft along with a power boat like you would be water skiing! What was mom & dad thinking here? Unless they really hated their children and REALLY hated cats too.

The Original Stage Star named was Dan Leno, not Jay Leno!

2006-09-06T12:26:00.000-05:00

"The GREATEST MUSICHALL STAR of the 19th Century!"
Dan Leno

Before Jay Leno, there was Dan Leno, who was considered the GREATEST entertainment star of his generation! Try doing a Google Search of Dan Leno and see what comes up!

Speaking of comedians, if you think that's interesting, try doing a search on the original Billy Murray the comedian and singer! I bet you know many of the songs he made famous!

Or better yet, how about Billy Williams, ...now there was a great singer who died at as his carreer was just approaching the peak!!

The Sad Process of Recycling

2006-09-01T08:20:00.000-05:00

Razor Blade City

It's always a sad day when you think of all those that have gone before us, only to end-up as razor blades or worse.

Government Study Reveals BEAR Genital Facts!!

2006-08-28T08:50:00.000-05:00

Gas prices: UP!!! Polar Bear Genital Size: DOWN!!!

Leave it to FOX News to report this story!

Study: Polar Bear Genitals Are Shrinking

Friday, August 25, 2006

The polar ice cap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic.

The genitals of polar bears in eastern Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants, a new study finds.

Read the Full FOX News story here
Another report is published here from the Alaska Report

Thanks to Doug Marsh for bringing this to our attention!!!

...And you thought bears were "genital Giants"

Hairy Women are Revolting Around the World!

2006-08-28T08:34:00.000-05:00

Kinda' makes the hairs under your arms stand on end huh?
...hairy legs and all!

The things I post to satisfy your need for originality!

2006-08-25T09:54:00.000-05:00

You guys really seem to have a need to see this kinda' stuff huh?

Bearded Navy Brides

2006-08-25T08:22:00.000-05:00

Yes indeed, beards have a long history and tradition in the Navy, but did you know that extended to the wives as well? No wait! This must be a crewperson during "halfway night" going "halfway"
Actually, these gals probably have more facial hair then some guys trying to grow beards!

BREAKING NEWS: Pluto Demoted, No Longer a Planet

2006-08-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is — and isn't — a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.

Although astronomers applauded after the vote, Jocelyn Bell Burnell — a specialist in neutron stars from Northern Ireland who oversaw the proceedings — urged those who might be "quite disappointed" to look on the bright side.

"It could be argued that we are creating an umbrella called 'planet' under which the dwarf planets exist," she said, drawing laughter by waving a stuffed Pluto of Walt Disney fame beneath a real umbrella.

"Many more Plutos wait to be discovered," added Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The decision by the prestigious international group spells out the basic tests that celestial objects will have to meet before they can be considered for admission to the elite cosmic club.

For now, membership will be restricted to the eight "classical" planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's.

Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of "dwarf planets," similar to what long have been termed "minor planets." The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun — "small solar system bodies," a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.

Experts said there could be dozens of dwarf planets catalogued across the solar system in the next few years.
NASA said Thursday that Pluto's demotion would not affect its US$700 million New Horizons spacecraft mission, which earlier this year began a 9 1/2-year journey to the oddball object to unearth more of its secrets.

"We will continue pursuing exploration of the most scientifically interesting objects in the solar system, regardless of how they are categorized," Paul Hertz, chief scientist for the science mission directorate, said in a statement.

The decision on Pluto at a conference of 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries was a dramatic shift from just a week ago, when the group's leaders floated a proposal that would have reaffirmed Pluto's planetary status and made planets of its largest moon and two other objects.

That plan proved highly unpopular, splitting astronomers into factions and triggering days of sometimes combative debate that led to Pluto's undoing. In the end, only about 300 astronomers cast ballots.

Now, two of the objects that at one point were cruising toward possible full-fledged planethood will join Pluto as dwarfs: the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted, and 2003 UB313, an icy object slightly larger than Pluto whose discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, has nicknamed Xena.

Charon, the largest of Pluto's three moons, is no longer under consideration for any special designation.

Brown, who watched the proceedings from Cal Tech, took Thursday's vote in stride — even though his discovery won't be christened a planet.

"UB313 is the largest dwarf planet. That's kind of cool," he said.

___

Pluto Demoted: No Longer a Planet in Highly Controversial Definition

Author Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
SPACE.com 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

UPDATED 11:17 a.m.

Capping years of intense debate, astronomers resolved today to demote Pluto in a wholesale redefinition of planethood that is being billed as a victory of scientific reasoning over historic and cultural influences. But already the decision is being hotly debated.

Officially, Pluto is no longer a planet.

"Pluto is dead," said Caltech researcher Mike Brown, who spoke with reporters via a teleconference while monitoring the vote. The decision also means a Pluto-sized object that Brown discovered will not be called a planet.

"Pluto is not a planet," Brown said. "There are finally, officially, eight planets in the solar system."

The vote involved just 424 astronomers who remained for the last day of a meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague.

"I'm embarassed for astornomy," said Alan Stern, leader of NASA's New Horizon's mission to Pluto and a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. "Less than 5 percent of the world's astronomers voted."

"This definition stinks, for technical reasons," Stern told SPACE.com. He expects the astronomy community to overturn the decision. Other astronomers criticized the definition as ambiguous.

The resolution

The decision establishes three main categories of objects in our solar system.

* Planets: The eight worlds from
* Mercury to Neptune.Dwarf Planets: Pluto and any other round object that "has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and is not a satellite."
* Small Solar System Bodies: All other objects orbiting the
Sun.

Pluto and its moon Charon, which would both have been planets under the initial definition proposed Aug. 16, now get demoted because they are part of a sea of other objects that occupy the same region of space. Earth and the other eight large planets have, on the other hand, cleared broad swaths of space of any other large objects.

"Pluto is a dwarf planet by the ... definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects," states the approved resolution.

Dwarf planets are not planets under the definition, however.

"There will be hundreds of dwarf planets," Brown predicted. He has already found dozens that fit the category.

Contentious logic

The vote came after eight days of contentious debate that involved four separate proposals at the group's meeting in Prague.

The initial proposal, hammered out by a group of seven astronomers, historians and authors, attempted to preserve Pluto as a planet but was widely criticized for diluting the meaning of the word. It would also have made planets out of the asteroid Ceres and Pluto's moon Charon. But not now.

"Ceres is a dwarf planet. it's the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt," Brown said. "Charon is a satellite."

The category of "dwarf planet" is expected to include dozens of round objects already discovered beyond Neptune. Ultimately, hundreds will probably be found, astronomers say.

The word "planet" originally described wanderers of the sky that moved against the relatively fixed background of star. Pluto, discovered in 1930, was at first thought to be larger than it is. It has an eccentric orbit that crosses the path of Neptune and also takes it well above and below the main plane of the solar system.

Recent discoveries of other round, icy object in Pluto's realm have led most astronomers to agree that the diminutive world should never have been termed a planet.

'A farce'

Stern, in charge of the robotic probe on its way to Pluto, said the language of the resolution is flawed. It requires that a planet "has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." But Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune all have asteroids as neighbors.

"It's patently clear that Earth's zone is not cleared," Stern told SPACE.com. "Jupiter has 50,000 trojan asteroids," which orbit in lockstep with the planet.

Stern called it "absurd" that only 424 astronomers were allowed to vote, out of some 10,000 professional astronomers around the globe.

"It won't stand," he said. "It's a farce."

Stern said astronomers are already circulating a petition that would try to overturn the IAU decision.

Owen Gingerich, historian and astronomer emeritus at Harvard who led the committee that proposed the initial definition, called the new definition "confusing and unfortunate" and said he was "not at all pleased" with the language about clearing the neighborhood.

Gingerich also did not like the term "dwarf" planet.

"I thought that it made a curious linguistic contradiction," Gingerich said in a telephone interview from Boston (where he could not vote). "A dwarf planet is not a planet. I thought that was very awkward."

Gingerich added: "In the future one would hope the IAU could do electronic balloting."

Years of debate

Astronomers have argued since the late 1990s, however, on whether to demote Pluto. Public support for Pluto has weighed heavily on the debate. Today's vote comes after a two-year effort by the IAU to develop a definition. An initial committee of astronomers failed for a year to do so, leading to the formation of the second committee whose proposed definition was then redefined for today's vote.

Astronomers at the IAU meeting debated the proposals right up to the moment of the vote.

Caltech's Mike Brown loses out in one sense. The Pluto-sized object his team found, called 2003 UB313, will now be termed a dwarf planet.

"As of today I have no longer discovered a planet," he said. But Brown called the result scientifically a good decision.

"The public is not going to be excited by the fact that Pluto has been kicked out," Brown said. "But it's the right thing to do."

Textbooks will of course have to be rewritten.

"For astronomers this doesn't matter one bit. We'll go out and do exactly what we did," Brown said. "For teaching this is a very interesting moment. I think you can describe science much better now" by explaining why Pluto was once thought to be a planet and why it isn't now. "I'm actually very excited."
------------

Pluto’s Demotion is Well Deserved and Long Overdue
Posted on August 24, 2006 @ 08:06:54 EDT
Author Robert Roy Britt

You might love Pluto, but since 1930 it has been a glaring (if hard to see) error in astronomical decision-making.

The vote today to boot Pluto off the list of planets gives the word “planet” some scientific meaning.

Astronomers stared down public opinion and made the right decision. Now they have a big job: to stay the course in the face of immediate and future outcry from the public or from any astronomers would would revise the main points of the decision.

-----

BC-Pluto Demoted, 6th Ld-Writethru,0929
Pluto demoted as astronomers approve new definition for planets
Eds: SUBS grafs 13-14 pvs to UPDATE with quote from teacher,
NASA saying no effect on mission.
AP Photos LA101-102
AP Graphic
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) … For decades, it's been
confused with a cartoon dog and ridiculed as a puny poser. Now
Pluto, the solar system's consummate cling-on, has suffered
its worst humiliation: It's not even a planet anymore.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the
cosmos, leading astronomers Thursday stripped Pluto of the
planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The
new definition of what is … and isn't … a planet fills a
centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since
Copernicus without one.

The historic vote by the International Astronomical Union
officially shrinks Earth's neighborhood from the traditional
nine planets to eight.

But the scientists made clear they're as sentimental as
anyone else about the ninth rock from the sun.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell … a specialist in neutron stars from
Northern Ireland who oversaw the proceedings in Prague … urged
those who might be quite disappointed‘ to look on the bright
side.

It could be argued that we are creating an umbrella called
'planet' under which the dwarf planets exist,‘ she said,
drawing laughter by waving a stuffed Pluto of Walt Disney fame
beneath a real umbrella. Later, she hugged the doll as she
stood at the dais.

Many more Plutos wait to be discovered,‘ added Richard
Binzel, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.

The decision by the prestigious international group spells
out the basic tests that celestial objects will have to meet
before they can be considered for admission to the elite
cosmic club.

For now, membership will be restricted to the eight
classical‘ planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Much-maligned Pluto … named for the God of the underworld …
doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: a
celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient
mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so
that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the
neighborhood around its orbit.‘

Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong
orbit overlaps with Neptune's.

Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of
dwarf planets,‘ similar to what long have been termed minor
planets.‘ The definition also lays out a third class of lesser
objects that orbit the sun … small solar system bodies,‘ a
term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other
natural satellites.

Experts said there could be dozens of dwarf planets
catalogued across the solar system in the next few years …
handing the world's school teachers a challenge.

Neil Crumpton, a science teacher at Mountfitchet High
School in Stansted Mountfitchet, north of London, called the
announcement very exciting.‘

To be honest, this has been brewing for a while. Pluto has
always been a bone of contention among astronomers because of
the odd way it orbits the sun,‘ Crumpton said. For a start,
we'll have to change all the mnemonics we use to teach
children the lineup of the planets. But Pluto has not
disappeared and it doesn't hurt children to know about it.‘

NASA said Thursday that Pluto's demotion would not affect
its $700 million New Horizons spacecraft mission, which
earlier this year began a 9•-year journey to the oddball
object to unearth more of its secrets.

We will continue pursuing exploration of the most
scientifically interesting objects in the solar system,
regardless of how they are categorized,‘ Paul Hertz, chief
scientist for the science mission directorate, said in a
statement.

The decision at a conference of 2,500 astronomers from 75
countries was a dramatic shift from just a week ago, when the
group's leaders floated a proposal that would have reaffirmed
Pluto's planetary status and made planets of its largest moon
and two other objects.

That plan proved highly unpopular, splitting astronomers
into factions and triggering days of sometimes combative
debate that led to Pluto's undoing. In the end, only about 300
astronomers cast ballots.

Now, two of the objects that at one point were cruising
toward possible full-fledged planethood will join Pluto as
dwarfs: the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s
before it got demoted, and 2003 UB313, an icy object slightly
larger than Pluto whose discoverer, Michael Brown of the
California Institute of Technology, has nicknamed Xena.‘

Charon, the largest of Pluto's three moons, is no longer
under consideration for any special designation.

Brown was pleased by the decision. He had argued that Pluto
and similar bodies didn't deserve planet status, saying that
would take the magic out of the solar system.‘

UB313 is the largest dwarf planet. That's kind of cool,‘
he said.

But as it all sank in, he added: Deep down inside, I know
this is the right thing to do. It's sad. As of today, I have
no longer discovered a planet.‘

………

AP Science Writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed
to this story.

………

On the Net:

International Astronomical Union, www.iau.org

AP-ES-08-24-06 1158EDT

Relax, take a seat! Buckle-up and take a ride in my Charger!

2006-08-23T07:52:00.000-05:00

I know, the seat is not as cushy, but it's a ride that will get you juices flowing. What's that you say? You want to munch on a handful of raisins? ...Well, we don't have any raisins, but how about some "currants". Take a seat, this is a ride the will leave you a bit "fried", but it's also the only chair that will leave you "well done" too!