Whoa!
Simultaneous moonrise and sunset from a few moments ago.
And it is freaking freezing cold out there.....
click on images for a closer look
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Celestial Bodies
Whoa!
Simultaneous moonrise and sunset from a few moments ago.
And it is freaking freezing cold out there.....
Animal Factoid
I was reading something the other day about three
magnificent raptors – the barn owl, osprey and peregrine falcon.
These hunters are quite adaptable, capable of flying vast distances and are specialized hunters. The peregrine falcon preys-upon small birds. The osprey fetches fish from the lakes and river it calls its habitat and the secretive barn owl subsists almost exclusively on rodents.
All three of these birds can be found throughout the world - a testament to their adaptability. Nevertheless, a successfully adaptable as these birds are they are not to be found on the continent of Antarctica. Evidence that there are limits on adaptability.
Coincidentally, you will find ants and dung beetles on every continent as well. With the exception of Antarctica.
These hunters are quite adaptable, capable of flying vast distances and are specialized hunters. The peregrine falcon preys-upon small birds. The osprey fetches fish from the lakes and river it calls its habitat and the secretive barn owl subsists almost exclusively on rodents.
All three of these birds can be found throughout the world - a testament to their adaptability. Nevertheless, a successfully adaptable as these birds are they are not to be found on the continent of Antarctica. Evidence that there are limits on adaptability.
Coincidentally, you will find ants and dung beetles on every continent as well. With the exception of Antarctica.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Fun With Words
Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning
submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply
alternative meanings for common words. The winners are:
1. Coffee (N.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (V.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (V.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (Adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (Adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (V.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (N.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (N.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (N.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (N.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (N.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (N), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (N.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (N.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (N.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:
1. Coffee (N.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (V.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (V.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (Adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (Adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (V.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (N.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (N.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (N.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (N.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (N.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (N), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (N.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (N.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (N.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:
1. Bozone (N.): The substance surrounding stupid people that
stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows
little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (V): Any
misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3.
Cashtration (N.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject
financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (N): Vandalism
spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (N): The gulf between the author of
sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (V): To take
coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (N): Terminal
coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (N): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra
credit.)
9. Karmageddon (N): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a
serious bummer.
10. Decafalon (N.): The grueling event of getting through the
day consuming only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (V): All talk and
no action.
12. Dopeler effect (N): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter
when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (N.): The frantic dance
performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
14.
Beelzebug (N.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at
three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (N.): The color
you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating. And the pick of
the literature:
16. Ignoranus (N): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Night Sky
 |
| click on image for a closer look at the ISS |
The International Space Station (ISS) came directly over the house tonight.
That is the moon in the lower-left corner and the ISS directly in the center of the photo.
Viking Fan
I'd bet that the title of this post caught your attention, eh? If you are of Irish ancestry like I am a map of your DNA
would reveal contributions from British, Scandinavian, and French
invasions. And contrary to popular
belief the Irish have more Viking blood in their ancestry than previously
believed.
Vikings invaded Ireland for the first time in the 8th century - raiding a monastery on Rathlin Island on the northeast coast. These warlike raiders were armed to the teeth and arrived with strength in numbers. They advanced inland along riverways sacking monastic settlements and seizing captives to be sold into slavery.
Eventually the Vikings settled in Ireland
including a major settlement in Dublin founded in 841 AD. Vikings also settled in Scotland and would
grow to be known as the Gallowglass. The name
derives from the Gaelic word gallóglach (GAHL-o-glukh) roughly translated as foreign warrior. Gallowglass are descendants of not only
Vikings but of Scots native to the western Highlands and Hebrides. Scottish historian Fergus Cannan noted that the Gallowglass lived for war - his sole function was to fight, and his only
contribution to society was destruction.
The Viking conquest persisted for longer than 200 years and the fact that Scandinavian DNA is so widespread among the people of the United Kingdom and Western Europe is living proof of the extent of Viking assimilation and contact.
The National Museum in Dublin has an extensive exhibit on the Viking imprint on Ireland’s culture. Including the harm that can be inflicted-upon a combatant by a sword or battle axe.
What we don’t know is if the this skull is of a Celtic combatant (Irishman) slain by a Viking or that of a Viking combatant felled by an Irish warrior.
If only the dead could talk......
Vikings invaded Ireland for the first time in the 8th century - raiding a monastery on Rathlin Island on the northeast coast. These warlike raiders were armed to the teeth and arrived with strength in numbers. They advanced inland along riverways sacking monastic settlements and seizing captives to be sold into slavery.
 |
| click on images for a closer look |
The Viking conquest persisted for longer than 200 years and the fact that Scandinavian DNA is so widespread among the people of the United Kingdom and Western Europe is living proof of the extent of Viking assimilation and contact.
The National Museum in Dublin has an extensive exhibit on the Viking imprint on Ireland’s culture. Including the harm that can be inflicted-upon a combatant by a sword or battle axe.
What we don’t know is if the this skull is of a Celtic combatant (Irishman) slain by a Viking or that of a Viking combatant felled by an Irish warrior.
If only the dead could talk......
Saturday, December 7, 2019
County Rescue
If you have a medical emergency here on the peninsula –
whether it is accident or sickness – you can count on Eagle III to provide fast
and safe transportation services to an appropriate medical facility by means of
ground ambulance, rotary wing aircraft or fixed wing turbo prop or jet
aircraft.
Eagle III is on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With the help of local EMS dispatch makes the decision as to the mode of transportation dependent upon the condition of the patient, distances and weather conditions.
We happen to live in the flight path of the
helicopter - rotary wing aircraft. The helicopter almost always
flies directly over our house when dispatched to a remote location or conditions when ground transportation may be lengthy.
Sometimes I feel like I have the same ‘sixth sense’ associated with the character Corporal Walter Eugene - Radar - O'Reilly in the film M*A*S*H, as well as the TV series. I can tell when the chopper is approaching.
Recently I was chilling-out in a deer stand minding my own business when my chopper antennae began to twitch. And within moments the air ambulance came screaming overhead on a NE heading. On the return trip I had the presence of mind to have my Flight Radar App open so I could track the travel time from point to point. If the app is to be believed the chopper completed its transit from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay in thirteen minutes.
That’s impressive!
While I hope I never have to avail myself of this service – it is comforting to know that these professionals stand ready to take action when called.
Eagle III is on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With the help of local EMS dispatch makes the decision as to the mode of transportation dependent upon the condition of the patient, distances and weather conditions.
 |
| click on images for a closer look |
Sometimes I feel like I have the same ‘sixth sense’ associated with the character Corporal Walter Eugene - Radar - O'Reilly in the film M*A*S*H, as well as the TV series. I can tell when the chopper is approaching.
Recently I was chilling-out in a deer stand minding my own business when my chopper antennae began to twitch. And within moments the air ambulance came screaming overhead on a NE heading. On the return trip I had the presence of mind to have my Flight Radar App open so I could track the travel time from point to point. If the app is to be believed the chopper completed its transit from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay in thirteen minutes.
That’s impressive!
While I hope I never have to avail myself of this service – it is comforting to know that these professionals stand ready to take action when called.
Friday, December 6, 2019
Friday Music
Following the breakup of the bands Cream and Traffic - Eric
Clapton and Steve Winwood began jamming together. This eventually led to the formation of the
band – Blind Faith.
Written by Steve Winwood this song was released by Blind Faith on their 1969 album Blind Faith. Shortly thereafter the group split-up. This is a particularly nice version of Can't Find My Way Home featuring the late Tom Petty. Enjoy…..
Written by Steve Winwood this song was released by Blind Faith on their 1969 album Blind Faith. Shortly thereafter the group split-up. This is a particularly nice version of Can't Find My Way Home featuring the late Tom Petty. Enjoy…..
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