and the winner is...

Open Blog - Weekend

Party on!

"Firecracker Explodes A Cowpie Over This Kid"

These are males. This is what males do. God bless us.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It has been a long week filled with excitement and drama... Maybe too much of it. Anyways, some questions for you...

1) What kind of camera do you use?

2) If you had your own TV network, what would you put on it?

3) How do you think the American family would change over the next 25 years?

4) What was the last thing you took a picture of?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday

Sing on.

Madame Zoltar, You Have Competition

Betty Boop is too much woman for Iggy.

Alderman Jim Kaplan Recall

From an anonymous email:

"Recall on Kaplan should be official as of today. They are going to meet to gather signatures on Saturday -

'The Kaplan recall committee has been formed and the official paperwork was given to the city clerk this morning. Reasons for the recall were 1. Ald. Kaplan engaged in discriminatory practices in his official capacity as alderman of the fourth district. 2. Abuse of power. The petitioner is Oscar Bueno the treasurer is Ray Bueno his brother. They own a bar  at 1600 Douglas Ave., it is not open as of yet.'

"A signature drive is being held this Saturday at 12:00 meeting at the bar. The hope is to collect all 300 plus signatures that day."

 

 

Obviously, some people are pissed off.  Kaplan and Alderman Greg Helding told the Common Council that they were threatened online. They provided no proof.  Now the Common Council is packing heat in City Hall while citizens are forbidden from doing the same.

"90 year old does double backflip"

Wow. I'm impressed.

Open Blog - Thursday

Yes sir, Mr. Yosemite Sam.

Ain't it the Truth

A Spotty Sunset

Low clouds dotted the western horizon at sunset in Tucson tonight. However, that is not all bad. They can slightly dim the setting Sun making it easier to photograph sunspots. Today there were plenty of good sized sunspots. These pics were taken with my Canon 60D and 70-300mm zoom lens (at 300mm).

If you want to compare it to today's Sun, check out the Spaceweather archive. Note, due to an effect called field rotation, the Sun is my pics is rotated 90 degrees clockwise relative to the image on Spaceweather.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

happy may day!

"A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie"

"Published on Apr 30, 2013

 

"You're about to see the movie that holds the Guinness World Records™ record for the World's Smallest Stop-Motion Film (see how it was made at http://youtu.be/xA4QWwaweWA). The ability to move single atoms — the smallest particles of any element in the universe — is crucial to IBM's research in the field of atomic memory. But even nanophysicists need to have a little fun. In that spirit, IBM researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope to move thousands of carbon monoxide molecules (two atoms stacked on top of each other), all in pursuit of making a movie so small it can be seen only when you magnify it 100 million times. A movie made with atoms."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCX78-8-q0

 

"Published on Apr 30, 2013

 

"How did IBM researchers move all those atoms to make the world's smallest movie? This short behind-the-scenes documentary takes you inside the lab. Meet the scientists, see how they made a movie with atoms, and find out more about their research in the field of atomic memory and data storage. See the world's smallest movie at http://youtu.be/oSCX78-8-q0"

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA4QWwaweWA

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my thawing throngs!  How are you?  Spring may have sprung.  The weather has been beautiful the past couple of days.  I actually saw the sun. I thought maybe it had burned out.  The weather extremes that have affected the world are worrisome.  I sincerely hope that we have a nice summer.  I know it has to get hot on some days, but moderation is the key.  With the ozone layer depleting, the sun is like a microwave for your skin.  Just lard on some sun block with an SPF of 1,000 or higher and you’re good to go outdoors.

Another sign of spring is bicyclists on the streets (and sidewalks).  If you drive, please be very careful around bicycles.  Although they’re supposed to be subject to the same rules of the road as motor vehicles, the reality is that most of them do whatever they wish. There is no law enforcement regarding bicycles in Racine.  It is up to drivers to stay alert.  Always expect the unexpected.  Bicyclists often ignore stop signs, ride on the sidewalk, ride against traffic, and ride at night with no lights.  The other day, I was driving through an intersection when a man on a bicycle, riding against traffic, with no hands on the handlebars, and headphones on his head, cut directly in front of me.  I locked my brakes.  The man flipped me the bird.  Oh, that makes me so angry.  Racine rudeness is everywhere.  

My congratulations to Mr. Mayor Dickert for the complete whitewash of the ethics complaints against him and others.  You have to be darn smart to manage all the scams that he does and get away with them.  When he becomes President of the United States, we can say that we knew him when.  If he doesn’t go to prison first.

With the warmer weather also comes more parties for Racine.  This Friday is a First Friday downtown.  Saturday, May 4^th, is Kiwanis Pancake Day at Festival Hall.  In Festival Park, the Lakefront Artists Fair will be held concurrently with Pancake Day.  Those are just the big things that I know about.  I’m sure there’s more going on, and there will be even more as the season progresses.   Racine is a party town, and getting drunk is the recommended way to achieve enlightenment.  Party hearty, Racine! 

Finally, my dears, I just learned of a website devoted to Racine’s nightlife: RacineNightOut.com, http://www.racinenightout.com/  That site has a link on the City of Racine homepage, so I’m sure it’s well connected.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  I enjoy the company and companionship.  You light up my life.

Know the future before it becomes the past: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Enjoy this glorious weather, my friends.  We’ve been deprived so long that anything above 50 degrees calls for a celebration.  Get them old bones moving and have some fun.  Psychorrhagy!

Open Blog - Wednesday

It's May already.

"Asleep at the wheel: City of Racine Ethics Commission"

Bumped again!  The Journal Times reports that the Ethics Board dismissed all complaints against lying John: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/car-ethics-complaints-dismissed/article_2ce8a830-b18b-11e2-9ebe-001a4bcf887a.html   Again, the board has two lying John cronies on it who refused to recuse themselves.  Lying John flaunts the law left and right. He doesn't play by the rules.  Why should we?

Racine Exposed also has a story up on this:  http://racineexposed.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/a-matter-of-trust/

# # # # #

Originally published April 26, 2013 at 8:58 PM: 

Bump!  I'm bumping this blog because Racine Transparency has put up a three minute video of Racine's Official Ethics Board Meeting on April 16, 2013. You can watch the video, and some commentary, here: http://racinetransparency.tumblr.com/post/48939655429/the-ethics-board-in-the-city-of-racine-is-being

I'm not sure if that's the old guy snoring at the beginning of the video, or just some microphone noise.  Of course, there is the travesty of two of lying John's buddies being on the board that is judging him.  It looks like they're really going to do it.  They're going to make a kangaroo court of the hearings.  That takes some audacity. It is spitting in the face of every Racine resident.  They're doing it because they can.  They're going to get away with it, too. 

# # # # #    

Originally published April 16, 2013 at 5:57 PM:

From Racine in Ruins:

"Today at Racine City Hall there was a meeting of the City of Racine Ethics Commission.

"The above is a photo taken of a member of this group.

"I and others saw this member sleeping as the meeting was held and planing talked about for the upcoming Ethics complaints filed on Mayor John Dickert Other City of Racine Staff and members of the City of Racine Cable Commission over issues about CAR 25.

"Can the above Member do his job?   Is the public being served by this?

"Is this how the City thinks how to best serve the public?"

http://racineinruins.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/asleep-at-the-wheel-city-of-racine-ethics-commission/


City Hall is a vicious joke to Racine residents.  We pay and pay and pay, and lying John lies and lies and lies.  Look at the above pictures. Our city government in action. Who do we complain to about the ethics of the Ethics Board?       

Open Blog - Tuesday

That's beautiful.

Useless Information

Did you know:

 

The Tootsie Roll Company in Chicago manufactures 83 million Tootsie Rolls per day.

 

"Racine Zoo 'Three Little Pigs' Naming Contest"

From The Journal Times.com:

"The Racine Zoo is anxiously awaiting the arrival of three baby mini pigs to include in our new Barnyard Safari exhibit opening this Memorial Day Weekend. The three little pigs will join dwarf Nigerian goats, Tunis sheep, llamas, alpacas, and others in the new exhibit. Get ready for a truly wonderful and interactive animal experience!

"In anticipation of their arrival, help us name these three little pigs!  Submit names April 24 through May 8 to the Racine Zoo Facebook page or to the Journal Times.  Zoo staff will narrow entries down to five finalists. Voting for finalists opens May 15 through May 26.  The winning names will be announced on May 28.

"The winning submission receives a Zoo prize package that includes plush piggies, a family membership, and special animal encounter, in addition to oinking rights, of course."

Enter the contest here: www.journaltimes.com/pigs


I have to admit that I love that URL address.

How The Grandkids Are Growing!

We went up north this past weekend. A friend of mine was getting married so I called Drew's mom and we stayed the weekend by his parents. It was so nice to see them and just sit there and talk with them. So on the way home Sunday we stopped by my mom's house and my son came over with the Grandkids. It was so nice to see all of them again. We both just enjoyed the whole weekend with everyone. Here are some new pictures of the Grandkids.

In this picture it is Amanda, Donny and Skylee. Skylee was playing bashful with us at first.

This is Ace and he is sitting on Grandpa's lap. He looks so tired here because we have been playing with him.

I found out Ace is five inches shorter than Skylee already. Skylee is 1 1/2 yrs old and Ace is 6 monthe old.

Bad News About Grandpa

An elderly man had a massive stroke and the family drove him to the emergency room.

After a while the ER doctor appeared wearing a long face.

“I’m afraid Grandpa is brain-dead, but his heart is still beating”.

“Oh, Dear God”, cried his wife

“We’ve never had a liberal in the family before!”

Fifteen Minutes

Last Thursday I had an early meeting at work. To be sure I was on time, I got up 15 minutes earlier than usual to go for my morning run.

Fifteen minutes might now seem like a lot but can make a big difference. Several businesses that open at 6am were closed when I ran by instead of open. The crossing guard I usually see near a middle school midway through my run hadn't arrived to patrol his intersection yet. The people I usually see waiting for the bus at Broadway and Pantano were not there and replaced by an entirely different set of people waiting for the earlier bus. A man was putting up signs outside an apartment complex advertising all the amenities and specials they have (those signs are always up when I ran by so I didn't know they took them down at night!) Students had not started arriving at the high school I pass near the end of my run.

Fifteen minutes...it might now seem like much, but it can feel like an entirely different part of the day.

Open Blog - Monday

It sure is.

Now you know what i have

"Ship My Pants"

Bump! I bumped this blog because today's Journal Times has a story on the creator of this ad.  He's from Racine: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/with-video-ship-is-the-word----racine/article_fa905fba-afbc-11e2-b83d-0019bb2963f4.html 

# # # # #

Originally published on April 13, 2013 at 4:42 PM:



I almost shipped my pants watching this.