Some new links under the local stuff...

Hey lets give it up for these new blogs on the shore. Hell they may not be that new, but they sure kick some ass. Oceanshaman and Explore the Shore are refrehing because they don't delve into that undercurrent of sicko bullshit that most of us get caught up in. So enjoy, I know I have in the past few weeks.

Hey all you out of towners who have lost their way from home, you will want to check out the Oceanshaman's shinizzle. Makes you want to party like its 1989 in OC baby...

Spring Haiku

The sun reaches high,
The moon illuminates all,
cricketts chirp loudly.

This kind of snuck up on me this year...

That's my girl. Straight up. Sad to say, it was this day in 1431 that Joan of Arc was martyred. And I hate being burned, something about bubbling skins and the pain that gets me. Seriously, think of Joan today. Who in the hell would give her the time of day, let alone an amry to kick the British ass that was in northren France. I like to look at the accomplishments JoA had like

Joan was born of peasant parentage in Domrémy (now Domrémy-la-Pucelle). When she was 13 years old, she believed she heard celestial voices. As they continued, sometimes accompanied by visions, she became convinced that they belonged to St. Michael and to the early martyrs St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Margaret (255?–75). Early in 1429, during the Hundred Years' War, when the English forces were about to capture Orléans, the “voices” exhorted her to help the Dauphin, later Charles VII, king of France. Charles, because of both internal strife and the English claim to the throne of France, had not yet been crowned king. Joan succeeded in convincing him that she had a divine mission to save France. A board of theologians approved her claims, and she was given troops to command. Dressed in armor and carrying a white banner that represented God blessing the French royal emblem, the fleur-de-lis, she led the French to a decisive victory over the English. At the subsequent coronation of the Dauphin in the cathedral at Reims, she was given the place of honor beside the king.

Seriously, if I rolled up to the Whote House and started in with this line that god told me I would win the war, well hell I might actually be given the chance at this point.

Every year I try to do something to remember Joan of Arc. And it goes beyond watching that ex-GoGo do the arobics work out in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, I try to light a candle or burn some incense. Something. So tonight I am going to crack a bottle of vino open and give this French maiden her props.

Star Wars

So it bagan on this date in 1977. The standard was born for what science fiction and movies should be when put together. Sure, great trilogies would follow, but what would have been if Star Wars was never made? Would there even be a Raiders of the Lost Ark trilogy? Leaves you something to ponder. See no one knew how people would react to Star Wars. Thats why it was only released in 32 theaters. But that changed quickly. It didn't take long for the force to take effect. And look how far we have come. The entire story is now a 6 part movie. Darth Vader is probably the most recognized villan of all time. Seriously. The image of Vader is as recognizable as that of Jordan. Lucas created a tale as endearing to a generation as Lord of the Rings was generations ago. Star Wars will be among the heavy weights of popular culture for years to come. Now go rent or watch a Star Wars flick over the weekend. I recommend The Empire Stikes Back, pay attention to the Hoth world. And the last installment is good, only because of the dark nature of it all and that opening scene of unadultered warfare. Good stuff.

Don't forget to remember the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to the alter of freedom this weekend either. I plan to read some war poetry by the fire outside while I consume a Guinness for me and leave one open for any one on the other side who may want to hang out and listen to me read. Peace out.

Life Haiku

anniversary
five years of happiness, smiles
days should be longer

I wouldn't exactly call it quits...

While Jim Rapp is leaving the zoo, it's not because Albero ran him out. He will be the excutive director of DLITE, which is a step up from the zoo. While the zoo director position was a great springboard, it's time for Mr. Rapp to make a real name for himself. Seriously, I would have jumped all over this too. The zoo is better off now than it was, regardless of what the village ball licker says. DLITE will concentrate on bringing more people here for nature trails and outdoor activites. So I can't wait to see how Joey ball licker spins it. He will probably say he outed Jim. It's a bunch of shit. See I know Jimmy in a different way than the rest of you. The Jimmy I know kayaks all over the place. The few times I had the chance to meet this fellow, he was out on the Pocomoke river with a speaker calling birds. And they came. It was pretty damn neat. See I like to fish and have been fishing that river for damn near 30 years, so when you see someone out there more than 2 times, you got to wonder who they are. So you get to talkin to em and find out who they are. I rarely go to the zoo, I am never up that way much, but I get a good impression from the zoo. I think the attacks by Albero were in retaliation for his wife. Why is Albero so pissed when his wife took porn to work at the zoo. What good for the animals was that? And why wasn't she watchin the porn with Joey anyway? Either way, she is suspect. Plus I never seen her out on the river. Ever. Joey either. They talk the naturalist talk, but I never see em walkin the walk.

Big ups to your new job Jimmy. See you on the river more often now I reckon. Drop me a line and we will get together for some paddlin.

An exciting development in prehistory...

Those who have read the crap I spew for the past 3 or 4 years online have become familiar with my facination with prhistory. I honestly believe that we have not seen the whole picture. There is much missing from the story of man. Regardless of what the bible thumpers want you to believe about how long that planet has been here, man has existed for longer than a mere 5000 years. We got the bones! And they are tens of thousands years old. Anyway people can ingnore the past or try to figure it out. That said, read on.

I have theorized before that there modern humans have been roaming the earth for about 100,000 years. After reading about the bottleneck thoery, it got me to thinking, we could have lost a huge chunk of our history to a cataclysmic change and not even know it cause it happened so long ago. See if humans have been in the shape you look at in the mirror every morning for 100,000 years, the learning curve couldn't have took that long to develop. Think about it. Your telling me that humans thought about how to make a better spear for 90,000 years before they built the pyramids? Bullpucky. Something else happened. The only problem is, there were a bunch of things that had to be explained.

One of the hotly debated points in prehistory is what happened to stone age in America? He just up and disappeared. And thats saying something cause these boys knew how to hunt. Mammoths. Big game. With spears. Fierce and savage stuff. Anyway no one can agree on why they went away. Some say famine, some say they were conquered, some say a natural disaster, and now there is a big push in climate change did them in. All of it is hard for me to buy.

The second thing that is really debated in the prehistoric world is the disappearance of the mammoths themselves. They were plentiful. What happened to them?

The third is the sudden cooling of the planet. This period is known as the Younger-Dryas period and it basically talks about an abrupt climate change. During that time, about 12,000 years ago, things were happening. We were coming out of an iceage, but not all the way out. Still it was cool yall.

So whats the excitment? this article in the Guardian. It is exciting as all get out because it shows possible explantations to all 3 events that have up till this point, have been hard to explain. It makes sense. See humans like ot live near the coast. We always have. It make life easier. Anyway, if this comet torched the ice on the ground and the glaciers, the fast melting action would have flooded the planets coast, not allowing the present population to escape to higher ground. Many of prehistoric man would have died, leaving a small group to repopulate, the bottleneck theory. It makes sense. I can't wait to see what's next.

Fatty sunspot.

Check it out. Sunspot 956 is getting bigger and has now had X-class given to it. X-class flares can cause raido blackouts and all the jazz. They are the flares we actaully notice. A 5% chance of exposion in the next 24 hours. Stay tuned.

In God We Trust.

Normally I would talk about the fact that Mt. St. Helens erupted on this day in 1980, but after the passing of Falwell, I got to thinking about religion and how its gone from the objective to the fanatical. I find when I get on this subject with a many a people, there is the preception that the founding fathers put "in God We Trust" on our money and that just ain't true. In fact, I see it as a hang over from the 2nd Great Awakening. During that period, around 1820-1830, christians decided to take up societies issues like women's rights and abolitionism. That, in the political theater, plays out in the civil right movement, womens sufferage, and eventually to Teddy and the Progressive backlash against big business, which is where we end up with this tid bit of history.

1908 : Congress mandates use of "In God We Trust"

In a move that seemingly flew in the face of America's founding belief in the separation of church and state, Congress passed legislation on this day in 1908 that made the maxim "In God We Trust" an obligatory element of certain coins. The motto dates back to the early 1860s, when the Civil War stirred religious feelings throughout the nation. America's heightened piety manifested itself in many places, including the treasury department, which received countless letters requesting that the nation's coins pay some form of tribute to God. Concerned citizens and religious leaders found a fast friend in Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, who readily agreed that the "trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins." James Pollock, director of the U.S. Mint at Philadelphia, was charged with devising a suitable motto. After some key revisions from Chase, Pollock decided upon the now-familiar "In God We Trust."

War Haiku

war drums beat steady
spears and swords, sharpened ready
I look to the sun

Your History event of note for the day...

1943 : The Memphis Belle flies its 25th bombing mission

On this day in 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes the first B-17 crew to complete 25 missions over Europe.

The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a bombing raid against Lorient, a German submarine base. But before returning back home to the United States, film footage was shot of Belle's crew receiving combat medals. This was but one part of a longer documentary on a day in the life of an American bomber, which included dramatic footage of a bomber being shot out of the sky, with most of its crew parachuting out, one by one. Another film sequence showed a bomber returning to base with its tail fin missing. What looked like damage inflicted by the enemy was, in fact, the result of a collision with another American bomber.

The Memphis Belle documentary would not be released for another 11 months, as more footage was compiled to demonstrate the risks these pilots ran as they bombed "the enemy again and again and again-until he has had enough." The film's producer, Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler, was known for such non-military fare as The Letter, Wuthering Heights, and Jezebel.

A fictional film about the B-17, called Memphis Belle, was released in 1990, starring John Lithgow, Matthew Modine, and Eric Stoltz.

Big ups to the men that flew in WWII. Big freakin ups. When I was in college, one of my favorite professors flew the B-24 in WWII. Damn that man had some great stories to tell. They were truly unique. You will never see a total war like WWII again where there are 2500 bombers and fighter escorts in the air at a time. It's all precision this and laser guided that from here on out. And thats cool cause it saves lives. These guys did it the hard way, with bullets and flak pounding their asses every minute they were over target. Big freakin ups.

I watched the Memphis Bell when it came out. Not a bad flick. Check it out if you get the chance. As far as war movies go, its not so graphic that you can't watch it with your girly. Plus Harry Connick Jr sings in it and probably has one of the better supporting characters in a war flick. Just what you think a Naw'lens dude would be like.

This is how China will be kicking our asses in the future...

Take a quick read of this article in the BBC about China launching a Nigeria communications satillite into orbit. But notice how they mention that Nigeria also contracted the satellite to be built by them. I have had this disagreement with many people about our economy and why it sucks giant balls right now. Not only is launching the it, they built it too. This would not have happened 20 years ago. If the US wan't building it, they were launching it. It has been in the last 15 o 20 years our space program has had real competition in securing these kinds of contracts from countries like Nigeria. We are moving closer and closer to being a country that is sustained by selling services and not tangible goods. See while our factories are being retrofitted or closed altogether, China has dumped billions into building a manufacturing factories that are quality. They should be, they got the Germans to build them. Germans are a precision oriented people. They pay more for things because the expect them to be of a better quality. There is value in what they build. It was amazing to live in Germany because you got to see all the things they have built that have survived 2 World Wars and some harsh winters and that stuff is still standing. You could feel the history around you. But I digress, look out for China. They hold something like 12% of our debt and they have the receipe for an explosive economy. Which I will remind you has grown at like 11% the last few years. Unreal. What are clipping along at? 3% if we are lucky? No wonder I feel so freakin broke.

Little 85's

Last year we found this praying mantis hanging out on our front steps in the potted plants we had there. She hung out all summer and held on late in the fall and I think even into early winter. She was a tuff bug. So we got to know her and love her and all that. After some online research we discovered the two weird growths on the plants were actually her egg sacks. We placed both sacks on the back deck and let them chill over the winter. Once we got the new plants on the steps and back deck, we moved a sack to the front and back of the house. On mothers day, we got home and there were 10 to 12 little 85's running around on the obelisk we got in the pot. My wife loved it. It was a great gift for her. So we have successfully continued the family line of 85. I hope one of these little 85's can produce the next generation of 85's. It will be killer if we can have our own supply of praying mantis around. They eat other insects better than birds.

In case your wonder why 85 for the name, my wife and I watch sports together a lot. She got me into baseball, I got her into hockey, we both love football. So last year when NFLN was showing that commercial with Chad Johnson from the Bengals, it would say "Where you at 85?". So in the evening when we got home we would look for our praying mantis and eventually we singing the commercial jingle. So she became 85. And these new guys and gal praying mantis' are the little 85's cause they are so tiny right now. It has been fun carrying on the generation for them and I will keep you posted on the progress of the 85's.

Alright mother bitches....

I always loved that line, but I cant remember what movie its from. I got a great picture of what 200 mph winds can do. Good one huh? This was taken after the tornado scourge of 07. and it aint over yet.

Speaking of natural disaters, i know most of you dis global warming and thats okay, just dont ask me for my survival gear. But I digress, next week we kick off National Hurricane Prepardness Week. SO browse the site and get your shit together cause it might be a nasty one this year.

Spring Haiku

small praying mantis
lifes first moments, a fresh year
hungry for flies

You know I would have thought that this would have come at a later date....

Look at little Miss subtropical depression Andrea here. Pretty early considering there is almost 3 weeks of May left. It just may be a bad hurricane season. The tornados have been prety fierce this year. I am not looking forward to the hurricane season yet. The family isn't ready. Andrea here has convinced me its time to get the emergency ready kit updated and fresh. Maybe you should too.

Pretty big sun spot today....

Check that big ass sunspot out. Here is a moive clip of the same spot.

Spring Haiku

humid air abounds
a fresh mulch aroma hangs
watering flowers

Spring Haiku

spruce blue with white hue
rubber-like needles open
beautiful nature

Space....the final frontier....

Look up sometime, you may see some crazy shinizzle. This here picture was taken over France when the ISS passed close to Venus. I still haven't found this little fucker in the sky yet, and I think the 8 year old across the street has. WTF? Damn nerdy kids. I mean I was a nerd, and I can't outnerd this bitch? I guess todays nerds are better than previous editions. Kinda like everything else.


The real news in space yesterday was this. Thats the NASA link and its fabulous. That bright little sucker is 240 million years away. That means it went nova 240 million years ago. That was pointed out for all you creationist out there that think the universe is only 5000 years old. Have you ever heard a more ludicris argument. SOME people will believe anything. Evangicals have good intentions, but they are still sheep. I need some free thinkers around me. I know the whole hell thing and all that, blah blah blah. All I am saying is this star exploded 240 million years ago during the Permian period and that was longer that 5000 years ago so thats a big fat whole in your creaionist argument. So lets hear it bitches.

Spring Haiku

yellow dust abounds
birds scavage the ground for food
hungry is this life

Damn paper due this week.

Sorry folks, got the 25 pager due this week, all spare time is devoted to that. Once its over, I will post more regularly. Peace