Northbank Trail

Northbank!

Part 3 of the trail system.

Part 3!

Northbank Trail

The Beginning of the Trail...

Buttermilk!

A Video Test...

Just a little test with a video. This is a new feature that Blogger is working on.

What is your opinion?

I really like this feature. These are just some funny clips that i have...

The Weekend...

It has been a rough few days at work. i just got up from my sleep. I will be home all weekend so i will have a few posts this weekend.



What is your opinion?

Eating beef ' is less green than driving?

According to the article that i read, "Producing 2.2lb (1 kilo) of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday."

They have got to be mental!!

"Taking into account all the processes involved, they said, four average sized steaks generated greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 80.25lb of carbon dioxide.

This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy.

That means that 2.2lb of beef (1 Kilo) is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours or the amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.

Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in the form of methane released from the animals' digestive systems, New Scientist magazine reported."

Who would have thought that cow farts were the main reason for the Greenhouse Effect??

Their answer is for us to stop eating beef!! What a good answer...NOT!! If we were to stop eating beef, what would happen to all the cows? Would we stop feeding them and let them die? This sounds like something PETA thought up and is trying to push their Vegan Liberal thinking on us. Did they ever stop to think about all the cows left out in the pasture so to speak? So, for the last 2500+ years, cow farts have been accumulating in the atmosphere and are going to cause a global climate shift? This is ridiculous to me, but hey, I love to eat a good steak!!


I am a member of PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals!
What is your opinion?

Global Temperature

Credit: Credit: AIRS Science Team, NASA/JPL

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA?s Aqua satellite senses temperature using infrared wavelengths. This image shows temperature of the Earth?s surface or clouds covering it for the month of April 2003. The scale ranges from -81 degrees Celsius (-114? Fahrenheit) in black/blue to 47? C (116? F) in red.

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, an equatorial region of persistent thunderstorms and high, cold clouds is depicted in yellow. Higher latitudes are increasingly obscured by clouds, though some features like the Great Lakes are apparent. Northernmost Europe and Eurasia are completely obscured by clouds, while Antarctica stands out cold and clear at the bottom of the image

What is your opinion?

Private Submarines?

I would have to say that this hits the top in the luxury travel category! This to me is the epitome of decadence. Yes you too can have a private submarine to travel the Earth's Oceans undetected by foreign powers.

The Phoenix 1000 pictured here is at the top of my list to purchase after I make my first billion dollars!! I can t wait. It has about 5000 sq/ft of living space in it and can be custom designed to meet your every need! With a $78 million price tag, all but the uber-rich can purchase one of these.

Download a brochure on the Phoenix 1000

What is your opinion?

Alpengeist

We rode this one 5 times!!

What is your opinion?

Bobby Brown fears he is terrorist target?

We all know how imprtant Bobby Brown is to the music industry. He had a hit or to way back in the late 1980s and early 1990s and then vanished off the face of the earth only to be married to Whitney Houston! What a pair they made!! So for him to make a comment like this is just par for the course.

By Alex Fletcher

Bobby Brown has confessed he is scared of the fact that he may be a target for al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.The singer became aware of a threat, when Sudanese writer Kola Boof wrote about the leader's alleged infatuation with his estranged wife Whitney Houston.

Brown has taken measures to increase the security around him since he read the claims.On an Australian radio show, the Being Bobby Brown star claimed: "Come on, if anyone is threatened by al-Qaeda they'd take it seriously. "I figure if Bin Laden wants me, and everybody is looking for him, it won't happen. But if he wants to try and find me for something so stupid, then he can if he wants. I have to leave it in the hands of a higher power."

What is your opinion?

Next Week...26th - 29th of July

My Co-Author Jimmy Freeman with be at the Comics Con in San Diego  and will be sending live pics and reports via the Blog to us.  So please be looking forward for that!!

 

Here is the Link to the Convention : http://www.comic-con.org/

 

RMStringer

******************

"Seduction is thus a central, indeed in certain respects, the central idea, in political life.

It signifies a course of action deliberately designed by one or more interested

agents to undermine and replace some established loyalty."

Kenneth Minogue (November issue of The New Criterion)

 

The Lochness Monster

We rode this one 4 times.

Last one today!

Budweiser Clydesdale

There were several of them in the stables located in the England portion of the park.

Big horse

Me and Chelsea in line...

Me&Chels @ BG!

Apollo's Charriot

We rode it 7 times yesterday!!

The Big Bad Wolf

This is the oldest ride that they have. We rode it 1 time yesterday.

BBW!

The Griffon

This is the newest ride that they have, we rode it 1 time yesterday. It is a good ride, but it does not live up to the hype about it.

Griffon!

Fun Today!!!

We Are off to Busch Gardens!!!

RMStringer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood

over questions of reality and illusion.

I know this: if life is an illusion, then I

am no less an illusion, and being thus, the

illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I

love, I slay, and I am content.

(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)

Toilet-paper dispenser is stingy with the sheets.

I know that i will try to avoid any and every bathroom that has one of these installed in it. If i want to use the whole roll of TP, i will This is just wrong on so many levels. I read about a study that said that you need at least 9-12 sheets to be sanitary. This thing is only supposed to give out 5 at a time! here is the whole story.

By Brian Tracey
MSNBC

Gizmo issues a few tissues

This may be the last straw for people who think technology has eliminated every last bit of personal privacy: A toilet-paper dispenser that limits the issue of tissues.

A year in the works, the electronic dispenser is being rolled out to the masses by Kimberly-Clark Corp. as it seeks to capture more of the $1 billion away-from-home toilet paper market. The company believes most people will be satisfied with just five sheets — and use 20 percent less toilet paper in the process.

"Most people will take the amount given," says Richard Thorne, director of the company's washroom business. Waxing philosophical, he adds, "People generally in life will take what you give them."

Kimberly-Clark turned to focus groups and years of internal research to determine just how much is right.

Americans typically use twice as much toilet paper as Europeans — as much as an arm's length each pull, Thorne says. The company decided the best length is about 20 inches — or precisely five standard toilet paper squares, though the $30-$55 machine can also be adjusted to churn out 16 inches or 24 inches, depending on the demand.

No wonder that the Pulp and Paper Industry is in decline. With them wanting to be so cheap as to only give 5 sheets; I mean come on!! The way most of the TP feels on your ass; you need about a hand full to even feel clean or like it is doing what it was designed to do.

What is your opinion?

Space Shuttle Discovery...

Would you ride home in this? It looks like it has been rode hard and put up dirty...


What is your opinion?

1987 TV Shows...

Who remembers the Genesis video called Land Of Confusion? It came out around 1987ish. They used puppets in the video. Now remember a show that came out around the same time and aired on NBC? It had the same kind of puppets in it and it had Ed McMahon as the leader of the government and other puppets like Regan, Bush just to name a few.

IMO, it was alluding to the Trilateral Commission and the government being run by a “shadow government” where the President is merely a puppet and someone else pulls the strings. Does anyone remember this show? Perhaps the show was called the “DC Follies?” Or perhaps, it could have been a version of the British TV show Spitting Image. I am just not sure as both have Regan and Bush Senior in them.

What is your opinion?

Today and Tonight.

Well, I am on my 3rd day of work. I got the call on Thursday morning that I had to go back to night Shift. I was like "ok" like I really had a choice. So I worked on Friday Day Shift but had to leave early to take care of my Wife after a little day surgery. I guess that I went to sleep around 11pm and got up around 8am on Saturday morning. I tried to go back to sleep around 9.30am and then got up at 3pm to get ready for night shift.

Last night went ok at work, and I went home at the normal time. I ate breakfast and got into bed around 9am. I was woken up around 9.30 by a phone call and then I got up around 1.20pm for a few minutes. I tried to go and lay back down to sleep for a bit. I think that I slept for about another hour or so. Ay the present time, I am really tired and I am dragging around the Fab.

I can’t wait until tomorrow morning where I can get some uninterrupted sleep! It reminds me of the song by the Art Of Noise called “Paranomia” with Max Headroom. Remember that video? “How Can I Get Some Sleep?”

What is your opinion?

West Texas Goes Green...

Most of you know that i am from Texas. All of my family live there. I talk to them almost daily and i get to hear about the weather and how it has been rainning for almost the entire month of June and now most of July. I saw this article relating to that issue. It would be strange to see most of Westren Texas with dense vegitation.

By Christine Dell'Amore(National Geographic)

Apparently, the weather doesn't know not to mess with Texas.

A deluge of torrential rains has lashed the Lone Star State for more than a month—making June one of the wettest ever recorded in Texas.

The rains spurred Texas' grassy plains to bloom dense vegetation, as seen in a photograph taken by a NASA satellite between June 11 and June 20.

The deep, emerald green indicates regions where plants are growing more quickly or robust than average, and the dark, almost-black color marks where vegetation was most dense.

Brown spots point to clouds or water on the ground, which in some cases may mask plant growth.

About 48,000 square miles (124,319 square kilometers), an area the size of Mississippi, was pounded by rains. Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas were hit with more than 330 percent of their average rainfall. In Texas, every major river basin flooded, an event that had not occurred since 1957, according to the Associated Press.

Powerful floods also took the lives of more than a dozen people and destroyed an estimated thousand homes.

"Unprecedented," Jack Colley, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told the AP. "Mostly this time of year we're fighting wildfires. ... The problem with this is, the water won't go away."

What is your opinion?

"Crank" The Movie...

I know that I am a little behind n watching movies. The wife and i watched this last night. It action was very different than most of Jason Statham other movies like The Transporter 1&2. He still plays the Killer/Professional Hit Man as in other movies, but the acting style is very different.

"Professional assassin Chev Chelios (Statham) learns his rival (Cantillo) has injected him with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops."

It seams to be a very plausible story line, "The Beijing Cocktail" sounds real, but the action was very campy, almost like a very poor "C" grade Kung-Fu movie. It started off normal, but his actions during the movie trying to keep his hears beating and wanting to get revenge on his killer made it funny. And with Amy Smart as his girlfriend, she played the dumb blond very well. It was a fun movie to watch if you don’t try to compare it to any of his other films. Some of the events that happen are over the top so to speak like when he was having sex on the street and all the Japanese were watching him, over the top to exaggerate his ability to stay alive long enough to get revenge.

If you want to watch a rock'em sock'em fighting action thriller, then this is one for you, but don’t put too much into the story, but I guess you have to take it for what it is.

What is your opinion?

Life and Choices...

We all have decisions in our life to make that will and can affect us dramatically. Should we take a new job, or should we go for a promotion and the such. I am in that position at the moment.

As many know, I was hoping to be picked up by Qimonda for a Sustaining position, the same position I do now, but with better benefits. This did not happen on the first go around of hiring.

I have a chance in September to be picked up again, but with some changes to be made in the meantime. In order for me to become a better tech, I will have to go to Day Shift again, but go to straight days, Monday-Friday and not be on shift anymore. I do not know how I feel about that as I like shift and having days off during the week and a 3-day weekend every other weekend. I would only have a 2 day weekend. Also, I would have a lot more responsibility placed on me and have to learn the system and work on the equipment more that I have had to in the past. This is not a bad thing, but still a consideration.

How have yall dealt with situations like this in your professional work careers? Please feel free to give me some feedback on this issue. I know that in every decision that there are pluses and minuses, I just have to weigh them out.
Thanks...




What is your opinion?

Cameras and the such

What kind of cameras do you people use? I use a Sony DSC-H1 Cybershot 5.1 megapixel.

I am thinking of coing to soem type of SLR cam this christmas, but i am unsure. Can some of you please offer some suggestions?

Thanks!!



What is your opinion?

Friday the 13th

Happy Friday the 13th



What is your opinion?

Work Stuff...

It has been very busy since i got back from vaca.  I was on day shift, but got the call yesterday morning that i am going back to Night shift that i was previously on.  I cant wait until the end of the month as my uncle and Grand Parents are driving from Texas to visit me for a week. More on that later this weekend...

--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

Swift Creek Reservoir

This is the lowest levels that i have seen since moving here in December 2005. IF we do not get any rain soon, we will be placed on Water Restrictions.







We have lots of Canadian Geese that live here year round. The lake we live on is the water supply for Chesterfield County. It is called Swift Creek Reservoir. We have not had an substantial rain in the past several months.


This coves in the lake is getting shallow and the geese are taking advantage of it. Even though the weather gets hot here, the geese do not seam to mind the heat.







What is your opinion?

Thanks...

Thanks for keeping me on my toes "Anonymous." Sometimes i forget to do that and i try to be very good about giving credit where it is due. I just want to thank you for your patronage and pleas continue reading and making comments on my posts...


What is your opinion?

Custom Ring Tones on Verizon.

I am not sure if this will work on every Wireless Network or cell phone, but it works with my LG vx8600 phone. It has a slot for a MicroSD card. I purchased a Lexar MicroSD card but there are many choices. Mine came with an adapter as most card reader will not accept the MicroSD format. I have placed pics, music and the such on it. I bought a 1gig chip for under $30 at Wal Mart. The phone gives you the option to move all saved material from the phone memory to the card. I have chosen to do that.

There is a folder called "My Sounds" on the chip. I placed the custom Ringtones in that folder that i made using Sound Forge and encoding them at anywhere from 40-96kbps depending on the length of the clip. I had to redo a few of them as they were to long. You will have to place them on the MicroSD car via your card reader. So you make them and how to get them onto the phone?

There is no feature that will let you import them. So, you have to make a Pix Message and it gives you an option to attach a sound file with it. All clips have to be smaller than 200kb or they will not work. All you have to do is enter you own cell number as the recipient and and send yourself the message. The ringtone will come to your phone and it will give you the option to listen and also to save as a ring tone.

This is a picture of a MicroSD style card.

What is your opinion?

Lady Bird Johnson passes away in Austin, RIP.

I, being a native son of Texas was saddened to hear of her death. She will be missed.

AUSTIN, Texas - Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady who championed conservation and worked tenaciously for the political career of her husband, former President Lyndon B. Johnson, died Wednesday, a family spokeswoman said. She was 94.

Lady Bird Johnson returned home late last month after a week at Seton Medical Center, where she'd been admitted for a low-grade fever. Her husband died in 1973.

She died at her Austin home of natural causes about 4:18 p.m. CDT, said Elizabeth Christian, the spokeswoman. She said she was surrounded by family and friends.

She was hospitalized with a stroke in 2002 that left her with difficulty speaking. But even after that she continued to make public appearances and in May attended an event at the LBJ Library and Museum featuring historian Robert Dallek.

In March, she listened from Texas through a conference call when President Bush signed legislation naming the Education Department headquarters building in Washington, D.C., after her late husband.

The longest-living first lady in history was Bess Truman, who was 97 when she died in 1982.

‘Grace and ... elegance’
The daughter of a Texas rancher, Lady Bird Johnson spent 34 years in Washington, as the wife of a congressional secretary, U.S. representative, senator, vice president and president. The couple had two daughters, Lynda Bird, born in 1944, and Luci Baines, born in 1947. The couple returned to Texas after the presidency, and Lady Bird Johnson lived for more than 30 years in and near Austin. "I think we all love seeing those we love loved well, and Austin has loved my mother very well. This community has been so caring," Luci Baines Johnson said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2001.

"People often ask me about walking in her shadow, following in the footsteps of somebody like Lady Bird Johnson," she said. "My mother made her own unique imprint on this land." Former President George Bush once recalled that when he was a freshman Republican congressman from Texas in the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson and the president welcomed him to Washington with kindness, despite their political differences. He said she exemplified "the grace and the elegance and the decency and sincerity that you would hope for in the White House."

Championed the environment
As first lady, she was perhaps best known as the determined environmentalist who wanted roadside billboards and junkyards replaced with trees and wildflowers. She raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to beautify Washington. The $320 million Highway Beautification Bill, passed in 1965, was known as "The Lady Bird Bill," and she made speeches and lobbied Congress to win its passage. "Had it not been for her, I think that the whole subject of the environment might not have been introduced to the public stage in just the way it was and just the time it was. So she figures mightily, I think, in the history of the country if for no other reason than that alone," Harry Middleton, retired director of the LBJ Library and Museum, once said.

What is your opinion?

Ten Reasons Why You Shouldn't Buy an iPhone

I love this!! As you know, i am not an I-PRODUCTS person! I saw this and had to post it!!

By: Jim Lynch

These have been the weeks from hell as far as iPhone hype goes. Over and over and over, we've all been subjected to more and more iPhone blather. Enough already!

It's time to cut this stupid phone down to size, once and for all! And mark my words, that's all it is ... a stupid phone!

It is not a cure for cancer, it will not bring peace to the world, it will not feed the hungry or provide homes to the homeless.

It's a freaking phone and it's high time somebody drew a line in the sand and said: Thus far and no farther with the iBlather!

Here are 10 reasons why you should NOT buy an iPhone. No doubt the Apple cultists will flame me for saying it like it is, but it's about time somebody did.
So here is why you should avoid this vile piece of over-hyped crap:

10. Too Expensive
Is Apple kidding us? $599 for a freaking phone? Wow ... just wow. No phone is worth that much money even if it has a few "gee whiz" and "it's neat" type features. Apple has gone way, way off the deep end this time with the price of this behemoth phone. Why would anybody be foolish enough to pay that much for a cell phone? Are people that addicted to blabbing on the phone that they must pay $600 to do so? Sheesh, get a life people. Do you really want to waste your money lining the pockets of Steve Jobs and his minions at Apple? Take the $599 and do something productive with it instead of wasting it on yet another over-hyped, over-priced Apple product.

9. Tiny Storage
Well, just as with the iPod, we can always count on Apple screwing us over with tiny amounts of storage space. The $499 iPhone has 4 gigabytes and the $599 has 8GB. What on earth does Apple expect people to do with that tiny bit of storage space? Think about it. The vaunted iPhone is supposed to be able to play movies as well as play songs. Well, how many movies are you going to be able to store with just 4GB of storage space? And how many songs can you carry? That's to say nothing of your other data that you might need to tote around with you. Apple appears to have rushed headlong into the release of the iPhone with no thought whatsoever about how starved for storage space iPhone users will soon be. What does Jobs think is going to happen? That people will carry around a terabyte external hard disk with them to desperately try to carry their needed data? Come off it, Steve. The minimum data storage for the $499 iPhone should have been 500 GB at the very least, with the top of the line model having at least 800 GB or preferably 1 terabyte.

8. Stylish and Stupid
There's no doubt about it that the iPhone looks "stylish" when you first see it. But isn't that really the problem with all of Apple's products? They look pretty, but provide very low value for the price? Do you really want to be a loser that overpays for the iPhone just to look cool for a little while? Don't forget that no matter how "stylish" you look, sooner or later other people will have an iPhone too, and then you'll just look stupid. Is that what you're really after? To look stupid trying to be cooler than everybody else? Hey, you can do that without spending $600. In fact, you may have already achieved that goal just by reading this column, but I'll leave that to each reader to decide for themselves.

7. Stuck With AT&T
One of the worst things that Apple ever did was to sign a five-year exclusive agreement with AT&T to be the wireless provider for the iPhone. Five years! So if you use Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile or some other provider, you can't get an iPhone unless you switch to AT&T. To date AT&T doesn't seem to have all that great of a reputation as a mobile service provider. I can't speak from experience because I've never used them, but isn't it odd how a fossil from telephone-service days gone by (AT&T) ended up in bed with Apple, a company that likes to pride itself on being "cutting edge"? It's the telecom marriage made in hell! What exactly was Apple thinking here? Did it deliberately decide to screw over customers on other services? We'll never know what on earth was going through Steve Jobs' head when he made this wacky decision (was his turtleneck so tight it cut off the blood supply to his head?) but anybody on a different wireless carrier will have to live with it unless they want to switch to AT&T.

6. Edge and Not 3G
Apple's decision to go with AT&T is also costly for another reason. The iPhone apparently will be using AT&T's super-slow and crappy EDGE data service instead of 3G. Wow. Another major screw-up by Apple. Are you willing to pay for a slow data connection on your "cool" iPhone?Stop and think about that for a minute. You're going to be paying for a data service that might take a few minutes to load this Web page, depending on how it performs that day you use it. Given that the iPhone is supposed to be "cutting edge," I can't imagine what Apple was thinking to release it on a service that doesn't offer 3G data transfer speeds. It's like Apple released a Corvette that can only go up to 35 mph. What the heck is the point?

5. No Flash or Java Support
Flash and Java are both pretty basic parts of the Web experience. And yet Steve Jobs and his lackeys have arbitrarily decided to exclude them from the iPhone Web experience. So much for "the Internet in your pocket" blather that Jobs was spewing earlier on. It's more like the "crippled, crappy, lame version of the Internet in your pocket" instead. No doubt, though, that Apple's marketing department will probably put their usual spin on this and start touting the iPhone as being "Flash-free" or "Java-free" as though both things were positives instead of negatives. And you know what? The Apple Faithful will eat it up! They'll storm out onto the Web and begin filling discussion forums and newsgroups with inane comments about how the iPhone "protects" users from evil things like Flash and Java. I guess when you're the head of a cult, you can make people believe anything.

4. Two-Year Contract and $175 Termination Fee When you buy an iPhone.
You'd better get ready to pay out even more! You'll have to agree to a 2-year contract, whether you like it or not. And what happens if you decide to switch to another wireless provider? Get ready because you'll have to cough up another $175 to regain your freedom from the tyranny of AT&T and Apple. Talk about a ripoff!

3. No Keyboard
I'm sorry but I'm not buying the "multitouch is great" line of thinking. I don't want to be dependent on a stupid touch screen, I want a keyboard! Who knows how accurate the iPhone's touch screen keyboard will be? Early rumors suggest that it might be a disaster in the making. Do you really want to pay $599 or even $499 to find out that it's a total pain in the rear end just to text somebody and that you have no option whatsoever for a built-in keyboard? What was Apple thinking here? No hardware keyboard and a dubious, iffy software based keyboard that could be completely unusable for most people? No thanks! Put a hardware-based keyboard in the next version, Apple, and maybe it will be worth considering.

2. Crapfari Instead of Firefox
One of the most disappointing and shocking things about the iPhone is that it ships with the second-rate (or is it third- or fourth-rate?) browser known as Safari. I prefer to call it Crapfari, as there are just far too many sites that don't work properly with it for me to consider it a real browser. Instead of shipping with a real browser like Firefox, Apple chooses its bastard step-child of a browser. And then it has the temerity, the impudence to release the same bug-ridden piece of junk on Windows right before the launch! Could Apple be more arrogant? How many people are aware of just how bad the Crapfari browser really is and that they will have no alternative on the iPhone? I bet there will be a lot of shocked and angry iPhone users once they start trying to use the Web and find that the Crapfari browser won't display their favorite sites properly. Well, what did they expect from a fourth-rate browser anyway? And here's the No. 1 reason why you shouldn't even consider buying an iPhone:

1. I Got to the Apple Store Ahead of You
If you've read this far, then you've finally discovered the *real* reason I wrote this column. You see, I was out to dissuade as many people as possible from buying an iPhone so that I could have less competition June 29 when I went to get mine. Yep, this entire column was nothing more than a self-serving ruse at giving myself the best chance possible to snag an iPhone on opening day. The fewer people that are interested in the iPhone, the better were my chances at getting one! So in this column I've just regurgitated all the usual FUD about the iPhone, Apple, and AT&T in a blatant attempt to discourage you from being remotely interested in buying one.

What is your opinion?

Perseid meteor shower this summer.

Got a calendar? Circle this date: Sunday, August 12th. Next to the circle write "all night" and "Meteors!" Attach the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you won't miss the 2007 Perseid meteor shower.

"It's going to be a great show," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "The Moon is new on August 12th--which means no moonlight, dark skies and plenty of meteors." How many? Cooke estimates one or two Perseids per minute at the shower's peak.

The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is nowhere near Earth, the comet's tail does intersect Earth's orbit. We glide through it every year in August. Tiny bits of comet dust hit Earth's atmosphere traveling 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a smidgen of dust makes a vivid streak of light--a meteor--when it disintegrates. Because Swift-Tuttle's meteors fly out of the constellation Perseus, they are called "Perseids."

Note: In the narrative that follows, all times are local. For instance, 9:00 pm means 9:00 pm in your time zone, where you live.

The show begins between 9:00 and 10:00 pm on Sunday, August 12th, when Perseus rises in the northeast. This is the time to look for Perseid Earthgrazers--meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping the surface of a pond.

"Earthgrazers are long, slow and colorful; they are among the most beautiful of meteors," says Cooke. He cautions that an hour of watching may net only a few of these--"at most"--but seeing even one makes the long night worthwhile.

As the night unfolds, Perseus climbs higher and the meteor rate will increase many-fold. "By 2 am on Monday morning, August 13th, dozens of Perseids may be flitting across the sky every hour." The crescendo comes before dawn when rates could exceed a meteor a minute.
For maximum effect, Cooke advises, "get away from city lights." The brightest Perseids can be seen from cities, he allows, but the greater flurry of faint, delicate meteors is visible only from the countryside. Scouts, this is a good time to go camping.

Above: The eastern sky, viewed during the hours before sunrise on Monday, Aug. 13, 2007.
And there's a bonus: Mars. In the constellation Taurus, just below Perseus, Mars shines like a bright red star. Many of the Perseids you see on August 12th and 13th will flit right past it. Instead of following the meteor, you may find you have a hard time taking your eyes off Mars. There's something bewitching about it, maybe the red color or perhaps the fact that it doesn't twinkle like a true star. You stare at Mars and it stares right back.

Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter in December 2007. NASA is taking advantage by launching a new mission to Mars--the Phoenix Lander. Phoenix will touch down on an arctic plain where it can dig into the ground and investigate layers of soil and ice, searching for, among other things, a habitable zone for primitive microbes. The launch window opens on August 3rd, so by the time the Perseids arrive Phoenix may be hurtling toward the Red Planet. Landing: late Spring 2008.

It's something to think about at four in the morning, with Mars rising in the east, meteors flitting across the sky, and a summer breeze rustling the legs of your pajamas.

Maybe you should go circle your calendar again.

2007 Meteor Showers and Viewing Tips - Thanks to Stardate Online for this chart.

What is your opinion?

The top indestructible careers...

I found this and thought that it was interesting.

By By CareerBuilder.com

While we haven't quite reached the age of flying cars, we've certainly made significant strides in civilization. Gone are the heydays of goldsmiths and wheelwrights, but an element of those jobs live on in one form or another. With advancements in technology and science, so come changes in jobs working with them.

And while there are certainly more than 12 occupations that will stand the test of time -- like artist and politician -- check out this list of jobs that have staying power:


1. Doctor
Why it's everlasting:
While humans pride themselves on being the most intelligent of species, we still have a mortality rate, and we still get bumped, bruised and diseased along the way. We will always need people to investigate and treat our medical conditions.
What it pays:
The median annual salary is $120,000.

2. Teacher
Why it's everlasting:There will always be a need for education, and there will always be a need for people to do the educating. What it pays: The median annual earnings of kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers ranged from $41,400 to $45,920.

3. Mortician
Why it's everlasting:
Unless a solution for mortality is found and available to everyone, there will always be a need for someone to care after the deceased.
What it pays: The median annual salary is $37,000.

4. Waste Disposal Manager
Why it's everlasting:Humans create a lot of waste, biologically and otherwise. We'll always need people to maintain and relocate our messes.
What it pays:The median annual salary is $35,000.

5. Scientist
Why it's everlasting:
Humans will always ponder our surroundings and how it all works. We need people to dedicate their lives to the cause and effects of ourselves and our environments to deal with changes.
What it pays:
The median salary for a research scientist (biotechnology) is $70,000.
The median annual salary for a environmental scientist is $42,000.

6. Tax Collector
Why it's everlasting:
As the old saying goes, "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." For all reported income, there will always be a form of collection to aid government programs.
What it pays: The median annual salary is $38,000.

7. Barber
Why it's everlasting:
People will always need to have their hair cut and groomed.
What it pays: The median annual salary is $21,200.

8. Soldier
Why it's everlasting:
Even if world peace were a reality, there would still be a fear of future wars based on history.
What it pays:
The basic pay for enlisted personnel is an annual income of $14,137. The position also includes paid housing, food allowances, healthcare at little to no cost for the soldier and their family, extended vacation/leave, education stipends and additional incentives.

9. Religious Leader
Why it's everlasting:
As people continue to ponder the meaning of their own existence, a majority find a need for people to assist them with a form of spiritual guidance.
What it pays: The median annual salary is $34,000.

10. Law Enforcement Officer
Why it's everlasting:
If we are dependent upon a system that governs, we will also be dependent upon people to enforce the rules of that system.
What it pays:
The median annual earnings at government state and local levels are $38,236. The median annual earnings for companies are $62,700.

11. Farmer
Why it's everlasting:
One of the basic human needs is food and, even though farming is increasingly consolidated, there will still be a need for someone to grow it.
What it pays:
The average net cash farm business income is last reported at $15,603. Government subsidies and additional incomes or cost reductions are not included in this figure. Incomes for ranchers and farmers vary with the weather, price of farm equipment and factors that involve the quality and quantity of the product.

12. Construction Worker
Why it's everlasting:
In the same way we'll always need food, we'll always need a form of shelter to protect us from the elements. We will always need construction workers to build and repair our buildings.
What it pays: The median annual salary is $35,000.



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Meet Reverend Tori Spelling

LMAO!! You have got to be kidding me? A PREACHER? That would be like Paris Hilton becomming a NUN.

Tori Spelling is an actress, a mom, a reality-show star, and now ... a minister? "I am now officially ordained," Spelling, 34, writes on her MySpace blog. "Yep, that's right – Reverend Tori Spelling! I did it last week online and my official certificate is in the mail."

Mail Order Preachers... I guess that really means she was "Saved By The Bell" in Beverly Hills 90210

I have heard about all of that crap i can handle. My brother went to Duke for 3 years to get a Masters in Theology and she does it via mail? Give me a BREAK!!


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Save The Internet.

This is an issue that will and can hurt everyone that uses the internet!! It will hurt everyone, not just people from America, but the whole world!!!




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The Blog

I am very excited with all the comments and traffic that I have gotten over the last 2 weeks!! Let’s keep it up! It is very nice to see what people are thinking about on the various topics that are posted on this site. I thank all of you and urge you all to continue with it!!

We went from 5000 hits to well over 6100 in a little over 2 weeks!! That is AMAZING!!

I am #10 on BLOGFLARE
I am #186 on BLOGTOPSITES
I am #43 on TOPBLOGAREA
These stats are as of today.

Thank you for all of your support and let’s try to break 10000 by years end...


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Morning Drive to Work...

Going East on 895 to work this morning.

Good morning

Health...

How many of you can say that you are truly healthy? I would like to be able to say that, but I can’t. I get regular exercise as all of you know and I feel much better for doing it. When I went to the doctor about 9 months ago, he said that my BMI (Body Mass Index) was a little high for my height and age. I told him that I would start trying to ride my bike more and that was over 9 months ago. I checked my BMI about 3 weeks ago and I was lower than what it should be. I am very happy about that.

For most of my life I have not liked vegetables. I still do no like them, but I am trying to eat more of them I do use supplements to offset the lack of eating them. Where I work, I walk an incredible amount because of the nature of my job I am on my feet a lot. So, I think that in conjunction with biking and walking as well as cutting down on the snacks, I have been able to loose about 20 pounds without even dieting. To be blessed with good health is wonderful.

I guess that there comes a time in everyone’s life when they say it is time to get in shape and try to live a more healthy life. Now is the time for me. I turned 36 last week and I have not been in this good of shape for at least 15+ years. I just done want to be a 55 year old man with a pot belly and bad health due to medical complications. If it happens, I want to know that I did everything that I could to have prevented it. So I encourage each and every one of you to take charge of your health and get some exercise. Start off slow if you have to, but please start!! It has made a dramatic difference in my life. I went from a size 34-36 now to a 32-34. All of my shorts fit loose...


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Shopping at the mall...

I guess that it was Saturday afternoon that my wife and I went to Chesterfield Town center. It is a local mall that we shop at sometimes. While we were parking our car, we saw a fight between two kids outside. The little one was getting beat up by a bigger kid. We both reached for our cell phones and called 911. Chesterfield PD was on the scene quickly and took our statements. One of the kids tried to run away and go to his car and leave. We were able to get his license plate number and gave a description of his car. We then went into the mall and finished our business.

On another day, back in 1993, a friend and I were in Beaumont Texas going to Parkdale Mall. We got out of my car and heard a scream! We looked at the front of the mall and we saw a man with a woman and a knife to her neck under her chin. I happened to have a cell in my car, so I called 911 and cave a description of the car and person. The police came and went after that person. Several months later, we got letters in the mail telling us top appear in court for the trial. We did and had to testify as to his actions. He was put away for 18 years for abduction.

Cell phones are very useful for spur of the moment action like that.
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Crazy Moutain Biking Video!!!

A friend emailed me this video!! These guys are EXTREME!!!

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More Net Neutrality Stuff...

To quote Wikipedia:

Network neutrality (equivalently "net neutrality", "internet neutrality" or "NN") refers to a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. Precise definitions vary, but a broadband network free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment attached and the modes of communication allowed would be considered neutral by most advocates, provided it met additional tests relating to the degradation of various communication streams by others.[1][2][3]

The principle of Net Neutrality and regulations designed to support the neutrality of the internet have been subject to vociferous debate in various forums. Since the early 2000s, advocates of Net Neutrality rules have warned of the danger that broadband providers will use their power over the "last mile" to block applications they do not favor, and also to discriminate between content providers (i.e. websites, services, protocols), particularly competitors. Neutrality proponents also claim that telecom companies seek to impose the tiered service model more for the purpose of profiting from their control of the pipeline rather than for any demand for their content or services.[4] Others have stated that they believe "net neutrality" to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms.[5] As co-inventor of the Internet Protocol Vint Cerf has stated, "The Internet was designed with no gatekeepers over new content or services. A lightweight but enforceable neutrality rule is needed to ensure that the Internet continues to thrive." [6]

Critics, meanwhile, call net neutrality rules "a solution in search of a problem" and believe that net neutrality rules would reduce incentives to upgrade networks and launch next generation network services.[7] Others argue that discrimination of some kinds, particularly to guarantee "Quality of Service," is not problematic, but highly desirable. Bob Kahn, the Internet Protocol's co-inventor, has argued that the term net neutrality is a regulatory slogan, which he opposes: "If the goal is to encourage people to build new capabilities, then the party that takes the lead in building that new capability, is probably only going to have it on their net to start with and it is probably not going to be on anybody else's net.[8]" The US Federal Trade Commission urges restraint in the examination of the new regulations proposed by network neutrality advocates: "Industry-wide regulatory schemes – particularly those imposing general, one-size-fits-all restraints on business conduct – may well have adverse effects on consumer welfare, despite the good intentions of their proponents[9]."

In my opinion, we are way behind the rest of the world in using Broad Band Connections and are stifled by the major companies on price and speed. There are stats to back this up. According to a few articles that i have read, this does not have to be so. Remember back several years ago there was a big push to lay Fiber all across America. We only utilize about 2-4% of that fiber laid or "Dark Fiber" as it is called. Our capacity is far greater than what we presently use. The big 3 have a monopoly on the American Internet user. Comcast, ATT, Road Runner all cap their services for a high premium fee. I know that Verizon FIOS will eventually put a dent into this, but if we do not strive for Net Neutrality, all this will be lost. They will censor what you read and how you use it and for how long.

This is a very good site to use to find out current information about this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Bike Ride Today...

We went to Poco Park and got in a 7.8 mile ride this morning. It was a good ride and we rode the Blue Trail. No wrecks!! The humidity was very oppressive this morning but we drank plenty of water from a Camel Back bags. We will drink an entire bag of water on a long ride.


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My Cell Phone, LG VX8600

All pics that i post from my phone are to these specs. I use a 1gig MicroSD memory card with the phone as well.

The VX8600 comes packed with a 1.3-megapixel camera with 8x zoom that also doubles as a camcorder with 4x zoom. It comes with a slew of options that allow you to make your simple snapshots stand out. You can adjust the resolution (1280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 176x144, 160x120)or the brightness; choose from five white balance settings, three shutter sounds (plus a silent option) and six color effects; and turn night mode on or off. There's also a camera self-timer and the ability to turn the external display into a viewfinder. Camcorder options include brightness and white balance settings, and two recording times (15 seconds for a multimedia message or unlimited according to the available memory). Picture quality was pretty good, though we can't say the same for the shoddy video quality, since it can only record in 176x144 video resolution. On the other hand, that's to be expected from a camera phone.

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7.4.2007 Epcot Center Fireworks...

Here is a link to Epcot Center Fireworks display that we saw on July 4, 2007. It was AMAZING!!!

This is just a preview...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmstringer/sets/72157600693693226/


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Well, i am home!!!

I have lots to talk about over the next few days. here are a few pics from my cam phone. I could not get it to work over the trip...

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Picture Pages...

Posted as I watch a Twilight Zone marathon on SciFi, just randoms I've run across today. Enjoy.



via bldgblog




via warren ellis



via boingboing



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Cloverfield. Here's what we know so far...

Here's a bootleg trailer. It showed up before some Transformers screenings. Click!



Here's the youtube vs - not as easy to follow. You can hear someone say, "It's alive! It's huge!":


Here's the wiki article: Paramount is denying the movie even exists. Click!

It's all shot on consumer cameras from the perspective of the people running from the monster (or whatever it is) on the street. Might be a secret Godzilla movie, not sure.

This is the first thing I've been excited about in a year or more. Good job, other JJ, my interest is peaked (and that's hard to do)!



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Scooter does a lot less time than Paris did...

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Art Bell Retires...again (sigh)!

from wiki:

Art Bell announced his retirement from weekend hosting on July 1, 2007. Art stated that the reason for this latest retirement is his desire to spend time with his wife and new daughter born in May, 2007. Art Bell stated he will host occasional shows in the future but will no longer host regularly on weekends. Art also said that unlike his other "retirements", this one will stand.



***

I don't know how many of you have ever listened to Coast to Coast AM. To me, and all of us freaks who find themselves up late at night and want to pass the time listening to stories of bigfoot, Area 51 and shadow people, it's the best. The weekend is when it really shines for me though - I just like listening to Art.

Yeah, I'm depressed.






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