A Groaner.....

A Pastor goes to the dentist for a set of false teeth. The first Sunday after he gets his new teeth, he talks for only eight minutes.

The second Sunday, he talks for only ten minutes.

The following Sunday he talks for 2 hours and 48 minutes. The congregation had to mob him to get him down from the pulpit and they asked him what happened.

The Pastor explains the first Sunday his gums hurt so bad he couldn't talk for more than 8 minutes. The second Sunday his gums hurt too muchto talk for more than 10 minutes. But, the third Sunday, he put his wife's teeth in by mistake and he couldn't shut up...

georgia o’keefe

great lady painter
what she do now
she goes out with a stick
and kills snakes

georgia o’keefe
all life still
cow skull
bull skull
no bull shit
pyrite pyrite
shes no fool
started out pretty
pretty pretty girl

georgia o’keefe
until she had her fill
painted desert
flower cactus
hawk and head mule
choral water color
red coral reef
been around forever
georgia o’keefe

great lady painter
what she do now
go and beat the desert
stir dust bowl
go and beat the desert
snake skin skull
go and beat the desert
all life still

--Patti Smith

"Patricia Lee 'Patti' Smith (born December 30, 1946)^[1] is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses.^[2] Called the 'Godmother of Punk',^[3] her work was a fusion of rock and poetry. Smith's most widely known song is 'Because the Night', which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen and reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978.^[2] In 2005, Patti Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture,^[4] and in 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[5] On November 17, 2010, she won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids. Recipient of the 2011 Polar Music Prize."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Smith

Also see: http://www.pattismith.net/

Black Sabbath - "Iron Man"

One of my all-time fave's, from Black Sabbath's Paranoid album.

Omg, that's more than 40 years ago.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting episode of Four for Fridays! Looking forward to the three day weekend! Here are some random questions....

1) So, what are your weekend plans?

2) What is the most realistic TV sitcom you have seen?

3) Have you ever used a firearm for target shooting?

4) What is/are your favorite Beatles' song(s).

Enjoy your weekend!

Glad I did it.

I got two tickets from a VA benefactor to Thursday night's Packer game at Lambau field. Could not have asked for a better night. The temperature was mild shirt sleeve weather. It was way better than any of the times I've been to see the Brewers. I don't know if it was televised, but the game was an edge of your seat ending. Our third string offense really sucks. Remember the name Jason Hurel. The lad is a bone head, and we do NOT want him having to fill in for an injured Rogers. Because of how weak the third string offense is, we came within seconds of a loss. Defense however was excellent and I hope they have room or a few of those lads.

I was surprise to learn Green Bay is just 2:40 hours away. We made good time up and had an excellent tail gate even with parking costing FORTY DOLLARS! Ye-ouch! The Brewers give disabled permit cars 1/2 off parking. No such luck with the Packers. The night was mildly spoiled to find that some dirtbag decided my $15 Smokey Joe knock off was something he wanted. I'd gotten a few uses out of it so it wasn't a real bad loss.

All in all, glad I went. Good seats, good view, lots of nice people. Thinking about it now that I've been there, I would NEVER go to one of those frozen tundra games. LOL I'm delicate!!

Open Blog - Friday

Go, Goofy, go!

"Law firm representing John Dickert subpeona’s Racine Uncovered!"

"I have been served with a 6 page subpoena from the law firm representing John Dickert (which is attached) I have been subpoenaed to appear for a deposition on September 20th. This is in regards to the slander lawsuit filed against John Dickert for his alleged comments made during a WRJN Mayoral Candidate Forum.

"They are wanting all information relating to confidential sources, email communications, interviews with people, They are asking questions about anything I had to do with Eric Marcus (I endorsed him for Mayor), anyone that reads this site has seen the comments that if need be I would have run for Mayor. I have even said that I would have endorsed Satan over John Dickert. What I do isn’t politically motivated. Its about accountability and doing what’s right for this city (the only thing they haven’t asked for my DNA)…."

Read more: http://racineuncovered.org/2011/09/john-dickert-subpeonas-racine-uncovered/

As I said in my comment on the Racine Uncovered site, I consider this a threat to the Racine blogging community and to free speech. It is an intimidation tactic by a bully. All I can think of is a paranoid Nixon making his "enemies list." I am so ashamed for Racine.

Air Swimmers

http://airswimmers.com

I want one for my cat, Charlie.
 

Rolling in Racine

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day features Racine. Not exactly an astronomy picture, but a cool weather picture. It shows a roll cloud.Roll clouds like this from along advancing cold fronts, and I know those come through Racine occasionally!

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my vivacious violets! How are you? The marvelous weather just keeps on keeping on. The weatherman predicts some heat for Friday. Will that be summer’s last blast? I doubt it. We usually get some hot days in September, too, don’t we? How did it ever get to be the end of August already? Summer just started a couple of weeks ago, didn’t it? Oh my.

Our spectacular Green Bay Packers came back from behind last Friday to defeat the Indianapolis Colts. Huzzah! Huzzah! Next, the Packers meet the Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow (Thursday) night at 7 PM in Lambeau Field. Please, dear Packers, annihilate them. Thank you. I know these are only preseason games and therefore they “don’t count,” but my loyalty and love of our wonderful Packers compels me to cheer them on no matter what the circumstances. Go, Pack, go! Overwhelm your opponents and lay waste to them. Huzzah!

This Friday is a First Friday in beautiful downtown Racine. Make the scene to see and be seen. http://www.firstfridaysracine.com/ Monday, Labor Day, is Taste of Racine at the Zoo. Lots of delicious eats and treats. http://www.racinezoo.org/Special_Events/Taste_of_Racine.shtml

Below is a video from The History Channel on Labor Day. I offer it for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of The History Channel only, and Zoltar® Industries, Inc., LLC, neither endorses nor opposes them.



Thank you for reading my blog and thank you especially for being you. I love my Irregulars and regular readers.

Please send your questions, comments, and subpoenas to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. For those of you who bend an occasional elbow, don’t forget that the police have stepped up patrols for drunk drivers through Labor Day. Do the right thing, don’t drink and drive. Everyone else, please watch out for those who do. Eleutheromania!

Open Blog - Wednesday

Have a great day.

A Trip Up Mount Graham

Going to get back into this blogging thing again. I have a good reason to post today. I finally got a trip up to the Mount Graham International Observatory today. Mount Graham is near Safford, Arizona and home to some great telescopes.

The drive up the mountain is pretty long with lots of switchbacks. You aren't going to make good time up there. However you are treated to the changing vegetation as you ascend to 10,500 feet and a nice collection of animals.

The first telescope we stopped at was the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), affectionately known as the Pope Scope. The VATT is a relatively modest 1.8 meter diameter telescope but broke new ground, particularly with its f/1.0 mirror, ushering in an era of fast telescope mirror fabrication. Here is the VATT.Next up was the Sub-Millimeter Telescope (SMT), a radio telescope.

The SMT is in a dome and the dish sits right next to the edge of the dome make it virtually impossible to get a decent picture unless the dome is open (which it wasn't).

Of course the big boy on the block is the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The LBT features two 8.4 meter mirrors on a single mount. The light from these two massive mirrors can be combined to create the resolution of one telescope with a diameter of 22.8 meters if I remember correctly. The observatory is active, but still has lots of work being done with the addition of new instruments and an adaptive optics system. Here's a panoramic look from the mirror level.

You can see one mirror. The other mirror is on the far side behind the equipment in the middle. The best pic I got from the floor had me in it as scale model.

The mirror you saw in the previous picture is being supported by those silver supports on the left. The whole telescope can rotate and tip up and down. The scope is so well balanced, the whole thing can be moved by a 4 horsepower motor.

Now I am a fan of the quirky. Moths are very common up on Mount Graham. They have a homemade moth catcher...

That's just what it looks like. The light attracts the moths and the big fan sucks them down into the garbage can.

Finally, I will leave you with a pic showing how close we came to losing the observatory. A fire came within 500 feet in the summer of 2004. You can see where the fire advanced to before it was stopped.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Jeb Corliss - "Grinding The Crack"

How cool is that? My mind says I'd love to try it, but my guts say something else.
 

Open Blog - Monday

Peace, bro!

Playing with food

I got enough tomatoes (sorta) and plenty of oregano and basil to try scratch spaghetti sauce. Neighbor Bob tossed me several clumps of garlic from his garden, and I cheated with the mushrooms, celery and thyme. All the rest is from fooling around with my mini garden. We shall see how it works. Got some onion and a carrot. Yes, the recipe I found says carrot. I didn't see the simmer for four hours part.... Should be time for the fridge by bed time. This stuff is better the next day, right?

Freeze drying food

I have an industrial vacuum pump.... Doing some research. Might try to make my own freeze dried foods for storage. Any thoughts?