SSS-Cool Time: Solar Wind and the Magnetosphere

The charged particles of the solar wind first interact with the earth's magnetic field as they approach the earth. The magnetosphere is a magnetic field surrounding the earth generated by dynamo-like motions within our planet. Aurora borealis (northern lights) and aurora australis (southern lights) are caused by the interaction of the solar wind and the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere.

Believe This Man

"I will tell you a million lies that will blow your mind!"
- Vic

Message from Beyond (Meyer & Rockhill)

Dear Simon,

How are you? Things are rather well for me. I will be traveling in a fortnight and I daresay it won't be as hectic as I thought. I thought I was dying on the freeway the other day, but alas just a touch of anxiety. I am doing better day by day. Julian sends his love. Auntie Hobbs still has the touch of the gout, Marty said it would do the old cow good to get off her feet and stop eating all that fat! That Marty! Well, I see that you are still dabbling in poetry. You must continue no matter what mother says. I hope all is well with you and yours. Please give Patsy my love.


Yours in arms,
Andrew


P.S. I had pickles for the first time here! This place is so sublime!

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.
I can't for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don't work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.

I just can't believe it's so,
and though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away,
Oh, oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a moment away


Lyrics by Paul Simon

Melon Cauliflower

Bah

the Blues

Clouds Brew

heavy blue grey bottoms

Increase moisture

Sob

Overflow

Output the Pent up

Soften this rough soil

let my hand clench the earth sphere

To squeeze and drain the sponge

so it will be ready

to soak up more rain

"Racing through my brain

And I just can't contai-i-ain,

this feeling that remai-i-ai-i-ains."

-from "There She Goes" (The La's version)

Sad Days Fuel the Happy ones

Dusk is dawn is day
Where did it go?
I've been laughing
Fast and slow
Moving in a still frame
Howling at the moon
Morning found me laughing
Up and down, down
Low, low, low

Night suits me fine
And morning suits me fine
I've been so happy, happy
Way up high, high
In between
Down below
Low, low, low
Low, low, low

I skipped the part about love
It seems so silly and low
Low, low, low
Low, low, low

You and me
We know about time
We know how things go
They come and go
They live and grow
They pass and go
And glow and glow
Up and down
High and low
Low, low, low
Low, low, low


Lyrics from "Low" by R.E.M. from the album, "Out of Time"
http://www.remhq.com/

Let me whisper something in your ear

The traveling boundary that divides the daylight and darkness is called the circle of illumination.

The Green Eye that Never Sleeps

Excerpt from, Letters From The Earth, by Mark Twain:

...[A]mong human beings jealousy ranks distinctly as a weakness; a trade-mark of small minds; a property of all small minds...

Jealousy. Do not forget it, keep it in mind. It is the key. With it you will come to partly understand God as we go along: without it nobody can understand him. As I have said, he has openly held up this treasonous key himself, for all to see. He says, naively, outspokenly, and without suggestion of embarrassment: "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."

You see, it is only another way of saying, "I the Lord thy God am a small God; a small God, and fretful about small things."

SSS-Cool Time: Why is the Sky Blue?

Individual gas molecules in the atmosphere scatter the shortest wavelengths of visible light which is blue. This scattering, called Raleigh Scattering, disperses radiation backward and forward. Because blue light is among the shortest visible wavelengths it is most readily scattered.

The Tree of Knowledge

Phew! Here I am on the fifth branch from the ground of this god forsaken tree and I am plum tuckered out. I have been eating fruit all day and my gastronomical hunger has not been satiated. Yet, my head feels like it's about to explode. I don't think I can make it to the sixth branch right now with this enormous, heavy skull. I think I'll just rest awhile and let all this knowledge digest. Do I feel any smarter? A little. Do understand all? A scant tawdry bit. What kind of hornet was in god's bonnet about this tree? Why, wouldn't this being think it might be important to gain a little knowledge? Did the great magician think it would be fun fumblin' around this dust ball with nothing in our heads? On the other hand, our scientist folk think it's mighty fine to gather on this tree like cicadas, sucking the life out of knowledge. There has to be some kind of happy medium, or maybe an unhappy medium. It's medium. Glass half full, glass half empty. Yin and Yang. Equal in the sum. Wow, this knowledge fruit is really kickin' in. Excuse me, I've become drunk. Think this here fruit has started fermentin'.

Family Get Togethers

"Get the Skidoo!" My dad's voice pierces through the mundane television atmosphere of my home. My sister's finger trembling and pointing up towards the looming ceiling. A speck, a horrible malevolent speck. Out damn speck, out! The speck unawares sonically taps its eight legs across the white walled world. We all know what to do. My mother, my two sisters and I (after grabbing the can of poison) circle around like druids with our killing shoes. A trickle of sweat melting my dad's forehead, an outstretched, rigamortis arm. The poison, our savior, cocoons the evil intruder. A wobble eight-legged monster falls from its post to a camouflaged carpet below. "Oooh, Where is he?," we all shriek. The shoe falls. Over and over until the lifeless foul thing cannot be identified. Every piece of it's existence must be discarded with a pinch of protective tissue. Into the swirling waters and away--away from our home! We are triumphant, we are family. Don't mess with us. A ridiculous picture, a laugh. The silence, alpha rays and uncertainty wash over us. 

Disney Dizzy

I get so mad at a Robin

When I walk by and she

Won't relax and realize

That I will not hurt her

I never consider that

She must protect herself

Why won't she oblige me in

My Disney Sleeping Beauty or Snow White (take your pick)

Fantasy of animals fearlessly

Landing on my shoulder or wrist

Welcoming my arrival

I should really work on my singing

Don't Kill This

My mom will kill me for telling you this, but don't kill a cicada killer wasp. I have always loved cicadas. It's really odd because I'm afraid of quite a few insects, but cicadas, an insect that most people find disgusting, are one of my favorite. We have a story in my family about my mom when she was a child and a cicada killer. My mom loved cicadas so much that she risked her life, so the story goes, by saving a cicada from instant death by plucking a cicada killer off it's back. This story has always led me to believe that cicadas should be saved at all cost. This summer my boyfriend and I bought our first house. We have found three cicada killer wasps in our screened in porch--each time my boyfriend has killed them. They are menacing looking creatures--a huge flying insect is one to be feared (unless it's a cicada, of course)! We weren't sure what kind of insect it was, so of course we Googled it. We found out how beneficial they are--it seems like all creatures are somewhat beneficial--right? The cicada killer wasp performs a biological control on cicadas, which can wreak havoc on deciduous trees. No matter how much I love cicadas, I love deciduous trees more. I don't know what we'll do next time this huge wasp decides to get caught up in our screen, but since our house is being unusually bombarded by cicadas--we will probably opt for a gentler approach. Gawd Speed!

Burp! It's what's after dinner.

The last thing I want to buy is burpless cucumbers. I mean, just seeing the words "burpless" grosses me out. I'd rather burp for a whole week than buy cucumbers that declare "hey, we make you burp less". Really now, what's the point? If cucumbers make you burp then maybe you should accept that you are going to burp everytime you eat them, or maybe you shouldn't eat them. What's the matter with burping anyways, I mean, besides the actual word? Picture this scenario: In China, if you don't burp after your meal it's considered rude. One time, an american business man was closing on a lucrative deal with a Chinese company. He had brought some burpless cucumbers with him from America. He decided to eat one at lunch before his big meeting slash dinner with his soon to be Chinese partners. The time for the dinner came and fun was had by all. At the end of the meal, however, the american businessman could not seem to adequately respect the dinner host for the lovely dinner. He was, in effect, burpless. Now remember ladies and gents, buy regular cucumbers for when the time comes to burp you just may get millions.

Ridiculous and tedious proverbs aside, what are burpless cucumbers anyways? Do they really exist? Is there something genetically manipulated in the cucumber that makes it burp free?

Professor Todd C. Wehner, from NC State University, conducted a study to find out if there really is such thing as a burpless cucumber. "Wehner specialises in the study of cucurbits - the plant family of cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe and certain gourds. He is an acknowledged expert on watermelon DNA [and] on sex expression in luffa gourds..." (Fantastic, Amazing!)
"'It has been suggested by researchers that burpless cucumbers contain less of a burping compound ... or are just the marketing term for oriental trellis cucumbers,' he writes. 'The objective of this experiment is to determine whether oriental trellis cucumbers cause less burping when eaten.'"
"Wehner fed three kinds of cucumber to six judges. 'Judges were grouped into susceptible or resistant, based on their previous experience with cucumbers. Fruits were evaluated for burpiness using six judges eating a 100-millimetre length of fruit a day. Burpiness was measured on a 0 to 9 scale ... Ratings of burpiness were made within a hour of eating.' The trials lasted three days."
"Upon sifting through his data, Wehner discovered that the judges who were susceptible to burping burped slightly less after eating the burpless cucumbers."

The article never tells whether or not the so called burpless cucumbers were really the oriental trellis cucumbers. In addition, the article states that there is still research to be done to find out if there really is something of a burping component in regular burpy cucumbers. Peace.

This excerpt was taken from the article, "Is there such a thing as a burpless cucumber?," by Marc Abrahams from The Guardian (October 18, 2005)

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/improbable/story/0,11109,1594140,00.html

August 9, 1945--Peace is better.

If promises were rainbows...

It's really messed up how bible stories can infiltrate my mind. It's raining right now (thank god!) and sun rays popped out through a blue grey sky. Immediately, I jumped up like a crazy person peering out the window to see if I could spot a rainbow. All of the sudden the idea that a rainbow was a promise from god to Noah(right?) entered my mind. Why? I'm no longer religious. Still, the old Sunday school bible stories gum up my memories. So is every damn rainbow a promise? For what? So now every time I see a rainbow I have to rack my brain about what god promised? Was it just that one rainbow of Noah's? Or was it all rainbows? All the specifics of the stories seem to get lost in the mix of other urban legends or wives tale myths. Was Noah supposed to wait 15 minutes after he ate before he went swimming in the receding flood? No matter, I didn't see a rainbow, so no promises for god to keep today.

Nippon Fashion

Lake Monster Love

Will Nessie and Champ ever find each other? I have played matchmaker for these two for several years to no avail. One can only write so many fake love letters.

Dear Ness, I long for you. I could never ask you to leave your safe haven and swim across the big open sea to my lovely lake. Please Nessie, tell me you'll have me and I will come to you. All my heart, Champy

Dearest Champy, I have been waiting for you for a hundred years or more. What more shall I do? When will you meet me? I promise to meet you half way. Iceland in May?
Love always, Ness

August 6, 1945--All apologies

Dem Dems, Dem Dems, Dem Dry Dems

Have a great vacation! I hope it wasn't spoiled by the overtime. Now our freedoms will be safe from the foreign nationals that reside in our country. You know, our rights and freedom aren't really the same, so don't sweat this. We must protect our president's freedom. That's the freedom we are protecting. The president and all his friends can continue to rape and pilfer from their own personal earth. That's the new American way. Well, no, not really it isn't. The new American way is already here. Where all our towns buy local. Where all of our health care is paid for. Where everyone can go to school--even higher education!--for free. Where we hear honest news that is uplifting about American civilians doing something everyday to make their
city or town a nice place. Where everyone helps one another. Where we work hard to be a self-sufficient country and imports remain luxuries. Where there are no more wars and soldiers are home with their families. That is the American Way. We are not listening to our Father the president anymore. I don't give a flip what my King's men want me to do. I'm done with all politians even the people I supported. I feel like I fell into this folly; only on the streets in close proximity to any local happenings is the way to go, not in some bullshit city that isn't even a city--some district--to talk to other rich people about how to take care of all the people, all the while trying to move up the ladder and enrich their career. Come on!!
I will not do what you want, I will follow my own way. After all, I'm free to, right?
Tap this, Bitches!

Streaking in Baghdad

Flesh against air

In celebration

A victory

Let's shed the bad news

And run free

A victory

News from the family

A distant countryman laughs

A streaking in Baghdad!

Flesh against air

They must love risks, she says

Bombs, snipers, and combative foreigners

Buns running in glee

Gold Victory!

Flesh against air!

The Most Mysterious Stranger of them All

When the time comes, I want to go to Mark Twain's Heaven where wearing a halo and playing a golden harp on a cloud becomes a bore in one day.