Posted 8/30/07
Some thoughts generated by the total lunar eclipse a few nights ago:
The eclipse announced itself in no uncertain terms. My bedroom was bathed in moonlight throughout the early AM hours, as I lay in bed listening to my iPod and wavering between sleep and active interest in seeing the show. And then, at some vague point in the hours, the light just faded away. There was no doubt about it: the show was on, and it was time to tiptoe out to the patio.
The moon and earth put on an impressive show, exciting to watch and interesting in the details. For one thing, the event was actually visible. Due to a long-standing conspiracy of location and weather, I've rarely had the chance to watch celestial happenings over the years. Too much light pollution, too many obscured sight lines, too much fog--the night sky has rarely been my friend. But the sky was clear, and the moon hovered in a perfect part of the southern sky, well clear of the worst of the visibility shields.
From a technical standpoint, the most interesting tidbit to come from viewing the eclipse had to be the certain knowledge that--contrary to popular thought--some ancient peoples must have known that the earth and moon were round. Seeing the shadow of the earth on the moon made the fact as plain as the nose on my face. Usually, the sunlight moon appears bright and flat, but the earth's shadow gave the lunar surface an amazing aspect of dimension. Admittedly, I viewed the event through binoculars, which showed the shape clearly, but even a sharp unaided eye would have been able to see the clear evidence of spherical shape, both of the moon and in the shadow of the earth. It was a sight capable of changing perspective, not just scientific perspective but also historical perspective.
Definitely something worth the cost of a couple of hours of lost sleep.
Posted 8/20/07
It's hot again. I don't like this. I just wanted everyone to know that. Bring on Autumn.
I am in the midst of classic "dog days" territory. That is, I'm stuck in some doldrums, during which I have no gumption for working on planned upon projects such as...creating artwork for an online store...updating the portfolio...getting the model railroad up and running...etc. Hell, I'm still waiting to start my review of my most recently read book (The Proud Tower, for those not paying attention). I'm not sure if it's the heat, or the stupidity, but things aren't progressing. So if you've been expecting anything from me, please have patience.
I know I'll get some "Discovery Channel geek" shit for this, but damn if they haven't reeled me in again: I've become a regular viewer of Survivorman. Yes, Les Stroud is a drama queen, and every time he brings out his harmonica he looks like a total dweeb, but the fact is, there's a lot of good information contained within these shows, stuff that's good to know if you're out and about and need to be adaptive. It helps you get your mind into a very good mode: "how can I make this otherwise useless thing useful," and other such sharpness. That's a form of mental exercise that would benefit a lot of people. Take a look and you'll see what I mean.
Posted 8/13/07
I'm pleased to report the return of Robot Chicken for a third season on Cartoon Network's Sunday night Adult Swim lineup. I wasn't sure it was coming back, so imagine my surprise on catching the first new episode last evening. Typical stuff: weirdly funny, with a few outright howlers thrown in for good measure. Check it out, if you get the chance. As they say, check you local listings.
Posted 8/8/07
I returned from Kings Canyon National Park on Monday. I won't go into the gorey details, but it was not the greatest camping trip I've ever lived through. Just let me say this: if you value the nature experience in any way, you must not, EVER, go camping on a Friday and/or Saturday night. You might as well pitch a tent in the middle of downtown Las Vegas under those circumstances. I'm still recovering, so don't expect much in this space for the next few days. I'll be myself again--or hopefully, better--by the weekend.
Posted 8/1/07
I'm sure you see it--I've altered the face of this web site once again. This is a minor but long in the works tweak; I've widened the layout and inserted a reference column on the left, which now contains links to individual postings, and links to the archived pages in general. This should help you find stuff that has gone up recently even if subsequent postings push the earlier stuff off the page. Nothing lost, nothing wasted. I think this will also give the page a little more balance, and hopefully will prevent visitors from having to scroll way way down to see the info down below. Hope all this helps.
This page last updated on 9/4/07