Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others,
are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams

Read more ...

It's Forrest Gumps Dream Come True !!!

Look Lieutenant Dan, Free Ice Cream !!!

Tomorrow (March 23rd, 2010) is Free Cone Day at your local Ben & Jerry's Shop!

Local Denver locations are:

Ben & Jerry's University of Denver
2339 East Evans Ave.
Denver, CO 80210

Ben & Jerry's Belmar
7181 West Alaska Drive
Lakewood, CO 80226

Ben & Jerry's Park Meadows Mall
8401 Park Meadows Drive
Lone Tree, CO 80124

You have got to love free Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream!

The Ides of March.

Beware the Ides of March? A look at March 15 in history.

8 Reasons Hitchcock's 'North By Northwest' Still Rules - Wired

The director's suspenseful masterpiece remains a must-see movie, 50 years after its release.

read on ...

The Dancing House is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.

Source: Wikipedia

So You Want to Be Famous ... - Newsweek
How to become a celebrity without any talent or skills whatsoever.

Once upon a time, it took actual talent to become a celebrity in America. Whether you achieved fame in arts and letters, athletics, or politics, it was necessary to have at least some modicum of skill. But now, thanks to cable television and the Internet, there is an endless appetite for "content."

read on ...

5 Houseplants That Clean Your Air - MotherJones

Anyone who's tried to decorate an apartment on a budget knows that houseplants are great: They're cheap. You can buy 'em at the supermarket. And many are remarkably independent. Plop a philodendron down basically anywhere, and voila: instant hominess.

read on ...

Nov. 5, 1955: A Flux of Genius 

Google releases Dashboard privacy tool - CNN

Ever wonder what information Google knows about you? With a click or two, now you can find out.
Google released a feature Thursday that lets users see and control data that the Web giant has collected about them. Called Google Dashboard, the service provides an online summary of a user's Google files -- Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa photos and so on -- by collecting pre-existing privacy controls in one place.

read on ...

Obesity responsible for 100,000 cancer cases annually - CNN

More than 100,000 cases of cancer each year are caused by excess body fat, according to a report released Thursday in Washington. Researchers with the American Institute for Cancer Research looked at seven cancers with known links to obesity and calculated actual case counts that were likely to have been caused by obesity.

read on ...

Hubble's New Camera Delivers Another Stunner - Wired

The Hubble Space Telescope's new camera is returning incredibly detailed, stunning images of space. This close-up view of an area near the core of the iconic Southern Pinwheel galaxy, or M83, shows very rapid star birth.

read on ...

Record labels keep blaming P2P, but it's a hard sell - Ars Technica

In response to a new survey suggesting that P2P file-swapping might not be harming music sales, music's international trade group IFPI today put out a statement. "The net effect of illegal file-sharing in the UK and elsewhere has been to reduce legitimate sales," IFPI asserts. "This is why spending on recorded music has fallen every year since illegal file-sharing began to become widespread."

read on ...

Inside the Army's Far-Out Acid Tests - Wired

Dropping acid to boost the Pentagon's psychic powers was just the start. The Men Who Stare At Goats, the upcoming movie based on Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book of the same name, has George Clooney and Jeff Bridges in a bizarre military research project involving astral projection, remote viewing, and LSD. But for the real dope on the Army's narcotics and psychedelics tests, you have to turn to Dr. James S. Ketchum, who wrote a firsthand account of the military’s trials with these "incapacitating chemical agents."

read on ...

America's War on the Overweight - Newsweek

Anti-fat rhetoric is getting nastier than ever. Why our overweight nation hates overweight people.

read on ...

The Rural Brain Drain - The Chronicle

What is going on in small-town America? The nation's mythology of small towns comes to us straight from the The Music Man's set designers. Many Americans think about flyover country or Red America only during the culture war's skirmishes or campaign season. Most of the time, the rural crisis takes a back seat to more visible big-city troubles. So while there is a veritable academic industry devoted to chronicling urban decline, small towns' struggles are off the grid.

read on ...

The Angry Evolutionist - Newsweek

More Americans believe in angels than in evolution -- and Richard Dawkins isn't going to take it anymore.

read on ...

Top 10 Unanswered Questions in Geeky Movies - Wired

Even the best movies ever made leave unanswered questions in their wake. Some refer to these as "plot holes," but why not give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt? Maybe they had a perfectly reasonable explanation in mind, and simply ... forgot to include it in the movie.

read on ...

* Be sure to read the comment section. There are some great observations.

The New Sputnik - Thomas L. Freidman / NYT

China is embarking on a new, parallel path of clean power deployment and innovation. It is the Sputnik of our day. Unfortunately, we’re still not racing.

read on ...

Is the Internet melting our brains? - Salon
No! The author of "A Better Pencil" explains why such hysterical hand-wringing is as old as communication itself

By now the arguments are familiar: Facebook is ruining our social relationships; Google is making us dumber; texting is destroying the English language as we know it. We're facing a crisis, one that could very well corrode the way humans have communicated since we first evolved from apes. What we need, so say these proud Luddites, is to turn our backs on technology and embrace not the keyboard, but the pencil.

read on ...

Analyst: Forget the Feds, Apple is 'doing just fine at wrecking the wireless business' - ZDNet

The Feds have been examining exclusive wireless carrier deals with handset makers - think AT&T and Apple - but the effort is a bit of a farce. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett says it's laughable that the wireless industry is anticompetitive and the Feds don't have to worry about wrecking the wireless industry - Apple already has.

The argument in a research note is an entertaining read and prompts a few "hmm" moments. The biggest one comes when Moffett argues that the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice are wasting its time reviewing the wireless market - especially AT&T. Why? Apple has taken any power that AT&T has. Sure, AT&T has an exclusive deal with Apple, but the iPhone maker owns the customer relationship and holds all the cards.

Read on ...

The Undemocratic People's Republic of Korea - Why do the most totalitarian countries always have the most democratic-sounding names? -- Slate

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (i.e., North Korea) accused the United States Wednesday of intruding on its airspace with surveillance planes—the latest tension between the two countries. Though nominally Socialist, the DPRK is a totalitarian regime, rather like other states that include the words Democratic or People's Republic as part of their official names. Like the People's Republic of China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, and don't forget former East Germany—the German Democratic Republic. Why is it that the least democratic countries always brandish democratic-sounding names?

read on ...

EPA Ruling on Coal Levels Playing Field for Wind, Solar -- Wired

Building an alt-energy power plant is risky and expensive, but thanks to a new ruling by an Environmental Protection Agency panel, building a coal plant may become riskier and more expensive.
The Environmental Appeals Board blocked the EPA from issuing a permit to a proposed coal plant addition near Vernal, Utah, about 150 miles east of Salt Lake City.
Perhaps more importantly, the quasi-independent board, composed of four highly regarded, experienced judges, ruled that the EPA needs to develop a single nationwide standard for dealing with carbon dioxide.

more ...

Study Shows Drivers Feel Free to Ignore Speed Limits -- Wired

From the Autopia Unintended Consequences Department comes this dispatch from Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where researchers at Purdue University say the majority of drivers have no problem going 5, 10 or even 20 mph over the speed limit and see no risk in doing so.

more ...

Found an interesting article on Slate about whether to idle or shut off you car. It even goes into whether to warm up your car or just start driving.

Some excerpts:

Today's cars use electronic fuel injectors, which rigorously control the amount of gas delivered to the engine when you hit the ignition. As a result, virtually no fuel is wasted during startup, and only a thimbleful is burned as the car roars to life. So forget about the 30-minute axiom you were raised on - the threshold at which it makes more sense to shut off rather than to idle should be expressed in seconds, not minutes.

The researchers concluded that restarting a six-cylinder engine - with the air conditioner switched on - uses as much gas as idling the same car for just six seconds.

Idling is similarly wasteful in frigid temperatures. Contrary to popular belief, cold-weather drivers needn't warm up their cars for longer than 30 seconds. The best way to raise an engine's temperature to optimal levels is to drive it almost immediately after startup; according to a study by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, a car driven for 12 minutes in 14-degree-Fahrenheit weather will achieve the same temperature as one that idles for 30 minutes. (However, it's best to avoid rapid acceleration during that 12-minute warm-up drive.)

But if we were able to eliminate idling in stop-and-go traffic, the effect could be more dramatic. Right now, it is imprudent (and often illegal) to cut your engine while on public streets. There are automated systems, such as in the vaunted Toyota Prius, that can rapidly turn engines off and on when the car is, say, stopped at a red light or involuntarily "parked" on a bumper-to-bumper freeway; just apply some pressure to the accelerator, and the engine springs back to life. According to the learned folks at Car Talk, the widespread adoption of such technology could reduce our national fuel consumption by as much 10 percent.

more ...

 
Cam Cardow - 26 May 2006

Huh?

What piracy crisis? MPAA touts record box office for 2007 - Ars Technica

... But this sort of thing has become crucial to the MPAA. Take a look at the group's homepage; nearly everything is about copyrights and piracy. The MPAA routinely asserts that the movie business is being decimated by piracy, but the press release announcing the Weekly Reader deal sits just below a far more interesting piece of news (PDF): data that shows the US box office doing its biggest year of business ever in 2007, growing 5.4 percent over 2006 and bringing in $9.63 billion.

more ...

Comcast Must Die - MojoBlog

Comcast, the cable TV giant, has given its customers lots of reasons to hate the company. They've refused to embrace a la carte programming, charged people $2 to stop sending them junk mail, wrecked people's credit reports, falsely advertised its Internet speed and generally abused the people who pay for its services. Comcast's customer service problems are so acute that Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield started a blog called Comcast Must Die to compile all the gripes about the company from consumers. But Comcast doesn't really need any help generating bad press.

more ...

AT&T's degrading service and my landlord’s ban on Comcast - ZDNet

With all the negative attention headed towards Comcast lately, AT&T's problems seem to be slipping below the radar. Unfortunately for me, those problems are first hand for me as I'm personally suffering degradations in speed. As if getting 1200 Kbps downstream on a so-called 1500 Mbps service and all those outage problems (example here and here) weren't bad enough, my AT&T DSL service has declined. I suppose I could count myself lucky compared to my Mom's neighbor who only got 320 Kbps service after AT&T unilaterally and without permission "upgraded" his bill to the 1500 Mbps service without upgrading his performance.

more ...

Great news for Microsoft: Zunes stolen! - ZDNet

Providing yet another sign that Apple's iPod is the audio and video platform, a policy think-tank on Tuesday said that thefts of the media player have skewed crime statistics. Microsoft wishes it had that publicity.

more ...

The Gaza Bombshell - Vanity Fair

After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

more ...

Could a Coffee Maker Be Worth $11,000? - Slate

The New York Times used words like "cult object," "majestic," and "titillating"; the Economist called it "ingenious" and "sleek." The subject of these encomiums is, incongruously, a commercial coffee machine—the Clover 1s, an $11,000 device that brews regular coffee (not espresso) one cup at a time. Could the Clover represent that much of an advance in the state of the coffee art? I had to try it for myself.

more ...

Are you ready? Here is some info for you:

NASA Eclipse page

Perfect Viewing for Wednesday's Total Lunar Eclipse - Wired

CU-Boulder Observatory To Host Lunar Eclipse Viewing

Get ready for the eclipse that saved Columbus - AFP

History's Greatest Gadgets - Wired

It's not all about circuits, silicon and stock options: mankind's been making technology since the dawn of time. Here's ten of the most wonderful gadgets from centuries - and millenia - past. No "ThyPhone" jokes, if you please!

January 31, 2008

Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Attention: Roy Bostock, Chairman
Attention: Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft's closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!'s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft's share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft’s consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.(1)

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers.(2) Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

• Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.
• Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform.(4) Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.
• Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.
• Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.(3a)

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.(3b)

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

* Highlights are from various sources including: ZDNet, AdWeek,
(1) - Laying the ground work for a hostile takeover.
(2) - Google
(3) - Ballmer driving a wedge between the board and stock holders
(4) - need for scale to compete in the digital ad market.

49 years ago "the single most influential creative force in early rock & roll" - as Bruce Eder has said - Buddy Holly died in a plane crash with Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper."

Ready to eat Cheesecake Filling! A Dream come true!

Why even bother buying a shell, you can just eat it straight out of the container.

Now I have something to follow that cheeseburger with.  

OK, we a photo of the Apollo 11 crew left to right - Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot.

Now, check out the pocket just above Michael Collins arm.

Looks like a slide rule to me!

Life-saving program BANNED by the Feds! - ZDNet

Pardon me while I bang my head on my desk Less than 3 weeks ago I wrote about a simple storage device that saved 1500+ lives and over $175,000,000 in just a couple of hundred hospitals out of 3700 nationwide. Now the Feds have ordered the program halted.

Read on ...

Ten Best Technologies and Trends of 2007 - Extremetech.com

Ten Worst Technologies and Trends of 2007 - Extremetech.com

Five desktop Linux highlights of 2007 - DesktopLinux.com

2007: The Miserable Year in Review - John C. Dvorak

The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007 - Wired

THREAT LEVEL's Year in Review - 2007 - Wired

The Year in Oversight:The yeas and nays of Congress' efforts to gavel the Bush administration into order in 2007 - MotherJones

100 things we didn't know last year - BBC

I went to Testcolor.com and did there profile:

You are 47 % extrovert and 53 % introvert.

Independently of any order of importance :

You are intellectual and intelligent, you wonder and you inquire before taking any action.

You are also dynamic, your actions are only directed by your own will and you know how to lead people.

Finely you are creative, you always have new ideas, and your inspiration comes from the inside.

Your attitude towards the environment :

At first, at 37%, you are centered on your thoughts and your actions are determined by your knowledge and your experience.

Then, at a rate of 33%, you are centered on the facts and on the reality of things at 32 %, Your actions depend on the real facts.

Finally, at 28%, you are attached to moral values and feelings, and you have an emotional relation with the environment.

Your highest qualities today :

At 22 %, you are intellectual and intelligent, you keep wondering and inquiring before setting up your next step or defining your values.

At 19 %, you are thoughtful and deep, you think before getting into action and you know how to communicate your knowledge.

At 19 %, you are dynamic and active, you are determined in your actions, you know how to communicate your ideals and your energy, and thus, you know how to boost people.

At 19 %, you are a creative person, with always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.

At 18 %, you are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.

Finely, you are creative, you know how to see beauty, you are intuitive and your inspiration comes from the inside, you are open and good communicator, you know how to attract people and engage them.

A Thinkgeek specialty!

Times Person of the Year 2007 - Vladimir Putin

1,800:
Cubic meters of water consumption, per capita, in the U.S. in 2006

300:
Cubic meters of water consumption, per capita, in 15 European Union countries

100:
Cubic meters of water consumption, per capita, in Denmark

From the Rocky Mountain News The Clause Celebre

Primary Photo By Martti Kainulainen / AFP/Getty Images; photo illustration by Chas Chamberlin/The Rocky Mountain News

Can you pick out the famous movie Santas that help make up our St. Nick mosaic? They range from Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to Tim Allen in The Santa Clause to "Mini Me" Verne Troyer in Jingle All the Way. And that burly-looking dude? Why, it's Hulk Hogan, of course, flexing his way through 1996's Santa With Muscles.

The transistor turns 60 - C|Net

Sixty years ago, on December 16, scientists at Bell Labs--William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain--built the world's first transistor and nothing has been the same since. We'll be covering the anniversary in subsequent articles, but here's a smattering of some of the implications, in somewhat chronological order, of the event ...

If you use Firefox and wish a festive Christmas/Holiday theme, check out Tinseltown. The extent that the author went in taking this theme is incredible.

Tinseltown is a Christmas theme with holiday imagery including Christmas lights, snow, reindeer, presents and more. This theme is made eve better with great Christmas icons from Watiworks and a semi-transparent URL bar. Get in the holiday spirit!

Buddha Banana is just one of a bazillion in the Image Gallery. 

We where watching a bit The Wizard of Oz and started talking about Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. As such, I delved into the internet and happened upon this little photo and just had to pass it along.

The post title is an actual quote from the movie. It was one of many I could have used:

• Heh heh heh heh heh heh!
• And now, my beauties, something with poison in it, I think. Something with poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell.
• Well, my little pretty, I can cause accidents, too!
• Just try and stay out of my way. Just try! I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too!
• I'll get you my pretty... and your little dog too!

By the way, pick up Wicked, it's a good read.

La Gare Montparnasse 1895

Harmon/Kardon Computer Speakers
17" LCD Monitor
2004 USPS Champs Elysees Jersey
2005 Discovery Champs Elysees Jersey

On Saturday DARPA Grand Challenge takes place. Driver-less robotic vehicles will attempt to navigate a 60 mile urban setting on the former George AF Base in California. At stake is a $2 Million prize for first place. There are 11 teams that have qualified. Wired magazines Danger Room has a special section just for this event.

Check out Flickr's Jack-o-Lantern gallery

Don't forget:

Get your free taco today at Taco Bell between 2pm and 5pm today!

Check out more images on Best of Worth A

Welcome To Purple Tuesday

Rockies Win The Pennant !

Because of libration you actually get to see 59% of the Moon's surface from Earth.

The animation shows a set of simulated views of the Moon over one month.

Fifty years ago today Russia shocked the world with a little thing called Sputnik1

Sputnik at 50: An improvised triumph - Yahoo News

When Sputnik took off 50 years ago, the world gazed at the heavens in awe and apprehension, watching what seemed like the unveiling of a sustained Soviet effort to conquer space and score a stunning Cold War triumph.

But 50 years later, it emerges that the momentous launch was far from being part of a well-planned strategy to demonstrate communist superiority over the West. Instead, the first artificial satellite in space was a spur-of-the-moment gamble driven by the dream of one scientist, whose team scrounged a rocket, slapped together a satellite and persuaded a dubious Kremlin to open the space age.

And that winking light that crowds around the globe gathered to watch in the night sky? Not Sputnik at all, as it turns out, but just the second stage of its booster rocket, according to Boris Chertok, one of the founders of the Soviet space program.

Read on ...

Procured off of Ubuntu Gallery

I was wondering if he is related to McGruff?

Real Eyes
Realize
Real Lies

Create your own Einstein images @ www.hetemeel.com

As I get ready to empty out my storage unit I come across this article No Sex Please, We're Organizing: A nation of pack rats tries to get it together on Mother Jones.

Here are some tidbits from it:

American women would rather organize their closets than lose weight, according to a 2005 Rubbermaid survey.

1 in 3 ikea customers say they get more satisfaction from cleaning out their closets than from having sex.

75% of L.A. garages are used in ways that preclude any parking.

In 2003, a Bronx man spent two days trapped under his magazines—ranging from Vibe to the Harvard Business Review—before firefighters rescued him.

The average American fridge is twice as big as its European counterpart.

More than 70% of Americans are routinely unable to find matching lids for their 15-plus food-storage containers.

Read on ...

via Wikipedia

Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is called "Fête Nationale" ("National Holiday"), in official parlance, or more commonly "quatorze juillet" ("14th of July"). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the storming of the Bastille was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French "nation", and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution.

Read on ...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in English, German, Polish and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe. Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece or Spain, for example, Tuesday the 13th takes the same role. In Russia, the unlucky day is Monday[citation needed]. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia (a word that is derived from the concatenation of the Greek words ... meaning Friday, thirteen, and phobia respectively; alternative spellings include paraskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia) or friggatriskaidekaphobia, and is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

No historical date has been verifiably identified as the origin of the superstition. Before the 20th century, although there is evidence that the number 13 was considered unlucky, and Friday was considered unlucky, there was no link between them. The first documented mention of a "Friday the 13th" is generally listed as occurring in the early 1900's.

However, many popular stories exist about the origin of the concept ...

Read on ...

Be sure to check out the external links. Quite a few of them are rather interesting.

Are you ready for global warming fashion?

In 22 seconds, Krispy Kreme can make a enough donuts to form a stack as tall as the Empire State Building.

Just think of all the holes that are left over.  

FYI - It's Flag Day

Old Glory

Who Designed the original flag?

Saw the Gin Blossoms last night at the Walnut Room.

Favorite quotes (probably not the exact quote, but you'll get the idea):

Jesse Valenzuela - It's nice to be in Denver. You have a drinking problem, but I like you any way.

Robin Wilson:

1. We know about 20 songs and we are going to play most of them tonight
2. Give us a few minutes, we're going to drink our shots and figure out what where playing next. - This was right after Jesse above statement (:

The Walnut Room is a small venue to say the least, it holds maybe 200. Being that small there is not a bad view in the house, unless some tall guy with a big head is in front of you - I think tall people should be regulated to be behind those of us that are vertically challeged. I think I'll call my rep in DC about this. ;) - Anyway, where was I, oh yea, they have an excellent sound system and lights for such a small place - I would definitely suggest ear plugs if you go. Last night was the 2 year anniversary so the included a couple free drinks and free pizza prior to the show.

The pizza was damn good and so was the show.

~ update ~

Forgot to mention Pete's Kitchen for after show breakfast burrito. Nothing like Pete's Kitchen for late night breakfast.

Check out OldAmericanCentury.org

I have summitted my laptop configuration to Linux on Laptops for their consideration.

Now it is wait and see time.

Do you have feelings of inadequacy? Do you suffer from shyness? Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Tequila.

Tequila is the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Tequila can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything. You will notice the benefits of Tequila almost immediately, and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live. Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past, and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Tequila.

Tequila may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Tequila. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it. Side effects may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, erotic lustfulness, loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, loss of virginity, delusions of grandeur, table dancing, headache, dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing Karaoke and play all-night rounds of Strip Poker, Truth Or Dare, and Naked Twister.

Tequila. Leave Shyness Behind.

With Ballmers recent FUD about patent threats against Linux (and if anyone knows about stealing intellectual property, it would be MS!) I found Open Source, the Internet and the Decline of Microsoft on drdreg.com an interesting read.

~ update ~

Check out Show Us The Code - an open letter to Steven Ballmer

~ update ~

doofus - I won't be holding my breath waiting on Dell to start selling Linux machines. I think it was just a bunch of hot air.

I have been taking the light rail here in Denver a fair amount recently and I have noticed something odd. In all the stations there are no clocks. There are lighted displays in all the stations that give information, but not the time. It just struck me as odd.

Denver is starting to melt out. It was a gorgeuos 50-55 degrees and sunny all day. Finally was able to sit outside and enjoy lunch at the local drinking establishment. It's been months since I've been able to do that. Sure was nice.

Now, if we could just get a little more melt off, it could be bike ridable around here again.

According to FactCheck.org "The President's facts check out, though he leaves out some inconvenient ones."

Check it out for yourself.

3,000 – Number of Iraqi civilians killed every month. More than 3,000 Americans have also been killed, and more than 22,500 wounded, while serving in Iraq.

15,000 – Number of U.S. troops in Baghdad. A teeming capital city of more than 6 million citizens, Baghdad contains almost 25 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.

60,000 – Possible number of fighters in the Mahdi Army, a militia led by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Iraq's government has been unwilling or unable to disarm this militia.

141,000 – Total number of U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq. There are also 16,500 military personnel from 27 other countries, including 7,200 from the United Kingdom. Together, they patrol a country about the size of California or Sweden.

3.4 million – Number of Iraqis who have fled their homes. More than half have left the country. The rest have moved within its borders, trying to escape the sectarian violence. Authorities say "sectarian cleansing" is common.

$8 billion – Estimated U.S. costs for the Iraq War, per month. At the end of 2006, the United States had spent more than $400 billion to finance involvement in Iraq.

More than 95 percent – Amount of Iraqi government revenues that come from oil production. Iraq has the world's third largest proven oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia and Iran. But production remains below prewar levels.

Between 75 and 80 percent – Number of Iraqis who are Arab. Another 15 to 20 percent are Kurdish. About 5 percent are Turkoman, Assyrian, or something else.

Between 60 and 65 percent – Number of Iraqis who are Shi'a Muslims. Between 32 and 37 percent are Sunni Muslims.

More than 60 percent – Number of Iraqis who approve of attacks on American-led forces, according to recent polls.

More than 50 percent – The rate of inflation in Iraq. Unemployment estimates range from 20 to 60 percent.

About 40 percent – Iraq's literacy rate, defined as the percentage of Iraqis age 15 or older who can read and write. For men, the rate is 56 percent. For women, it's 24 percent.

Wishing you and yours
a Joyous Christmas,
Happy Hanukkah,
a prosperous New Year,
peace, love, laughter
and a great good cheer.

Big time winter storm hitting Denver right now.

I made it to work for dinner this evening and breakfast tomorrow. The hotel is full with most of the guest stuck and unable to travel and more walking in looking for rooms.

Fun, fun, fun.

McDonald's has applied for patents in the U.S. and Europe for the "method and apparatus" used in the preparation of the sandwich.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=26183&in_page_id=34

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1952246,00.html

PC Magazines 15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web.

Team Wonderbike - Are you a member yet? Go take the pledge.

These 10 questions are drawn directly from the new naturalization exam of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau. You must correctly answer 6 out of 10 to pass and become a citizen of the United States of America.

1. Name one important idea found in the Declaration of Independence.

2. What is the supreme law of the land?

3. What are the three branches or parts of the government?

4. How many United States senators are there?

5. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

6. Who is the chief justice of the United States?

7. Name one example of checks and balances.

8. When was the Constitution drafted?

9. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?

10. What type of economic system does the United States have?

See all 144 questions approved for this exam

Answers:

1. People are born with natural rights or The power of government comes from the people or People can change their government if it hurts their natural rights or All people are created equal

2. The Constitution

3. Legislative, executive, and judicial or Congress, the president, and the courts

4. 100

5. 435

6.John Roberts

7. The president vetoes a bill or Congress can confirm or deny a president's nomination or Congress approves the president's budget or The Supreme Court strikes down a law

8. 1787

9. The Bill of Rights

10. Capitalist economy or Free market or Market economy

I have started listening to KVUC 102.3 FM here in Denver. I ususally listen to KBCO, but KVUC is more diverse / eclectic in there programming. KBCO, as a Clear Channel station, is more formatted than KVUC, who is owned by NRC Broadcasting and owns 2 stations here in Denver and 13 stations in Colorado resort towns.

They are online - www.kcuvradio.com

Small is better.

Peacefire has added https:// support back to the www.StupidCensorship.com site. They found due to a common configuration error where networks are set up so that blocking software only applies to http:// sites and https:// sites past through unfiltered. https://www.StupidCensorship.com

They have also added http://www.TowerOfDonuts.com to their list of circumventor sites. Here are other circumventor sites that as of today still work.

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed;
2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed;
3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb;
4. One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of light bulbs;
5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb;
6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner: Light Bulb Change Accomplished;
7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally in the dark;
8. One to viciously smear #7;
9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along;
10. And finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

After a sabbatical of a few months I am going to start updating the my lowly weblog again.

I bet you can hardly wait.

How things have changed in the past 91 years - (Cost is today's dollars)

Trust me, when someone invites you over for a beer, this is what you want to see - lots and lots of New Belgium beer !

There is a new Circumventor site at:
http://www.ChemistryNerds.com/
(Note that unlike some other recent ones, this URL begins with 'http' not 'https'.)

This one *does* load images. They're hoping they've secured enough bandwidth to get it to work.

As always, if you find that these sites are too slow or are getting blocked too quickly, you can go to http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/simple-circumventor-instructions.html for steps to set up your own Circumventor site on your own home computer. If you are in a country where all Internet access is censored, you can send that URL to a friend outside the country and ask them to set up a Circumventor for you.

Every day, eat:
14 ounces of fruits and vegetables
2 1/2 ounces almonds
5 ounces of wine
1 clove of garlic
3 1/2 ounces of dark chocolate (less if you're counting calories)

4 times a week, eat:
4 ounces of fish

via USAWeekend

The confusion has finally ended.

After much trial and error I have finally figured out how to get the font size the same across different browsers. I usually use Firefox and I have always wondered why the font size was smaller when viewing it as apposed to IE or Opera. Finally the cunuderum is over, it's all in the way you specify the size. I have been coding with CSS and have specifying the size using small, x-small ect. Well if you use pixels instead, such as 12px, magically the font size appears the same across the board.

Sweet!

©Ranger Project, NASA

Dude, the moon expires today! (Or, maybe it just needs to be sold by today.)

Man, that is going to one smelly place when George finally gets us back to the moon.

Phew, nothing like old smelly cheese.

An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building. They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, "Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building."The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, "Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too." The blond opened his lunch and said, Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too." The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death. The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too. The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well. At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, "If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!" The Mexican's wife also wept and said, "I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much." Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife, a brunette. The blonde's wife said, "Don't look at me. He makes his own lunch!

The George W. Bush 2006 State Of The Union Drinking Game

By Will Durst

What you need:

1. A group of four taxpayers: including one white guy wearing a Suit. Two people wearing jeans; one in a Work Shirt, the other in a Dark Shirt, and one person wearing Rags. Stitched-together washcloths are nice. Four are grouped around cocktail table within sight of television. Newspapers on floor in front of television.

2. A shot glass per person. Everyone brings their own and places on table. Suit picks one first. Then Work Shirt. Then Dark Shirt. Suit takes last one as well, and Rags gets a Dixie Cup with the top scissored off.

3. Five bucks apiece. Everybody antes.

4. Fondue pot with two packages of Li'l Smokies stewing in barbecue sauce on table. Preferably a sauce from Texas. Surrounded by

5. 100 cocktail toothpicks. The kind with the little American flags wrapped around the top.

6. A large stash of beer. Rags gets the cheapest stuff you can find, like Old Milwaukee Light; Suit gets to drink whatever import he asks for; while the jeans get to pick their favorite domestic brand, but they are required to pay for all the beer and the Li'l Smokies.

Rules of the Game:

1. Whenever George W. uses the phrases: "national security," "tax relief," "activist judges" or "affordable health care," drink two shots of beer.

2. Whenever George W. mentions the tragic events of 9/11, last person to grab a toothpick, stand and salute must drink three shots of beer. If you stab yourself in forehead with the toothpick, drink two more shots.

3. If George W. actually says, "If Al Qaeda is calling you, we want to know why," first person to finish a whole beer gets to toss Li'l Smokies at any of the others until they finish their beer. Use the toothpicks.

4. If George W. makes up a word like "strategerie" or "deteriorize" drink four shots of beer.

5. If George W. speaks of Hamas and repeats his earlier statement that "it's good to see people are demanding honest leadership," the first person to stop laughing gets to drink one shot of beer then pummel Suit with empty shot glass. No head shots.

6. Whenever George W. talks about bipartisanship, the last person to grab his throat in a choking motion has to eat four Li'l Smokies.

7. If either the Vice President Dick Cheney or First Lady Laura Bush are caught napping, last person to sing "Wake Up Little Susie, Wake Up," has to drink three shots of beer.

8. Predict the number of applause breaks. Person closest to correct number may then force the other three to drink that number of shots of beer in whatever ratio they wish.

9. Three shots of beer if he mentions New Orleans. Five shots of beer if he mentions Brownie. Two full beers if he mentions Abramoff.

10. Every time Tom DeLay is shown in the audience, take turns throwing Li'l Smokies at the TV. Suit sits out. First face hit doesn't have to drink two shots of beer. Every time Hillary Clinton is shown in the audience, Suit throws Li'l Smokies at the TV. If he hits her face, everyone else drinks two shots of beer. Use the toothpicks.

11. Whenever George W. quotes the Bible, last person to fall to their knees and cry "Hallelujah!" drinks two shots of beer.

12. Whenever George W. smirks during a standing ovation, take turns drinking shots of beer until the audience sits down. Do it double time if his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

EXTRAS:

· Whoever can correctly identify in advance the person giving the Democratic Response doesn't have to watch it.

· Suit gets to kick Rags hard, once if George W uses a heartfelt story of a pulling yourself up by your bootstraps to illustrate a point, twice if the regulation of large cardboard boxes is mentioned as a security precaution. Rags gets 15 seconds to kick the Suit if Bush reveals the subject of the anecdote is in the audience. Thirty seconds if he or she is sitting next to Harriet Miers. One full minute if she's sitting next to an astronaut.

· Suit takes home $20.

· Leftover beer, Li'l Smokies and fondue pot go home with Rags.

Political Comic Will Durst needs a volunteer to wear the suit.

Catch The Will & Willie Show, weekdays 7- 10:00 a.m. on KQKE. 960 AM, San Francisco or www.quakeradio.com. Will Durst is a political comedian who has performed around the world. He is a familiar pundit on television and radio. See www.willdurst.com for additional information on Will's performance schedule. His two CDs are available at laugh.com. Email Will at willdurst@sbcglobal.net.

©2006 Will Durst.

Saturdays home loss to the Red Wings began a five-game homestand for the Avalanche that includes four opponents who are atop their respective divisions, these teams have won five of the last nine Stanley Cups.

© Stuart Carlson - 2004

Bob has updated Thingamablog once again.

You ask what is Thingamablog:

Thingamablog is a cross-platform, standalone blogging application that makes authoring and publishing your weblogs almost effortless. Unlike most blogging solutions, Thingamablog does NOT require a third-party blogging host, a cgi/php enabled web host, or a MySQL database. In fact, all you need to setup, and manage, a blog with Thingamablog is FTP, SFTP, or network access to a web server.

Thanks for keeping Thingamablog going Bob.

The guy on the right looks to be a bit nervous about the situation in hand.

Recent gas prices around the world:

... the Woodstock Music and Art Fair drew more than 450,000 people to a pasture in Sullivan County. For four days, the site became a countercultural mini-nation in which minds were open, drugs were all but legal and love was "free". The music began Friday afternoon at 5:07pm August 15 and continued until mid-morning Monday August 18. The festival closed the New York State Thruway and created one of the nation's worst traffic jams. It also inspired a slew of local and state laws to ensure that nothing like it would ever happen again.

Here are a couple of cool links sent to me by a nice sheila in Australia. These are flash shows of the earth and space.

http://www.frontiermultimedia.com/the-good-earth.htm

http://www.frontiermultimedia.com/deepspace.htm

Thanks Brenda

Here is an interesting fact I found out today.

When flying the flag on Memorial Day:

• Up until noon you fly it at half mast for those that have died.
• After noon you fly it at full mast for those still living.

A ring tone available as either a download or a cd could outsell Coldplays new single preventing it from reaching number 1 on the U.K. music charts.

International Herald Tribune

Meet Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)

• Occupation - poet, nurse, federal worker, printer, publisher, journalist, teacher, carpenter, "kosmos"
• Philosophy - "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem"

On May 15, 1855, Walt Whitman registered the first edition of Leaves of Grass with the U.S. District Court in New York. A few weeks later, he published the book of poems himself--and changed American literature forever. To mark the 150th anniversary of Whitman's essential work, let's get to know the old "rough" himself.

Before Walt Whitman, American literature consisted largely of political treatises, moral allegories, and poetry derivative of English verse. Ben Franklin and the rest weren't bad, but they were busy building a nation. By the time Whitman made the scene, the literati were clamoring for the creation of a distinctly American literature.

Man of Vision and Revision

Enter Walt Whitman and his "barbaric yawp." Born into a working-class family in Brooklyn, Whitman was largely self-educated, drawing his curriculum from the libraries, museums, and theaters of up-and-coming New York. After several years in the newspaper business and a five-year stint as a teacher, he began to focus his energies on creative writing.

In 1848, Whitman left New York to travel to New Orleans for a new newspaper gig. His trip down the mighty Mississippi broadened his understanding of the land and people, and he returned to New York with a sense that America possessed unique power and potential. Whitman then set about creating a literary form to celebrate his novel nation.

The poetic medium seemed sufficiently grand, but the rhythmic and structural constraints of traditional verse just wouldn't do. So, to write his love letters to America, Whitman positioned himself as a kind of cosmic moderator--and threw out the rules of poetry in favor of free verse.

Those Lovely Leaves

After honing his new style for several years, Whitman sponsored his own coming-out party in 1855, putting up the money to publish a collection of 12 poems titled Leaves of Grass. At first, the volume didn't excite much enthusiasm in critics or regular readers, but it did serve to solidify Whitman's status as a writer and stated his artistic purpose:

I CELEBRATE myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Anointing himself as the nation's spokespoet ("Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos"), Whitman continued, forging linguistic connections between facets of America as diverse as city and country, master and slave, prostitute and priest.

As Whitman's years increased, so did Leaves of Grass. Eight editions of the title eventually appeared. He revised the work copiously, rearranging, adding, and removing poems with each new release. In reality, the various editions of Leaves of Grass are different books, each reflecting Whitman's evolving view of American society and the poet's role in it.

Beltway Bard

Just as Whitman settled into his vocation, the Civil War broke out, endangering both the country he loved and his literary venture. During the war's early days, he wrote little and began visiting military hospitals around New York, offering comfort to patients. When his brother George was injured during fighting in Virginia, Walt took his nursing on the road, first to Fredericksburg, Virginia, then to Washington, D.C.

George rejoined the fray, but Walt stayed in Washington. He had become attached to hospital work and spent the remainder of the war conversing with the wounded and dying, writing letters to their families, and bringing them small gifts.

Of course, Whitman still had to pay the bills. So he did what any Washingtonian worth his salt does--he networked furiously until he landed a government job. His first position, in the Indian Affairs Bureau, was short-lived. His boss thought Leaves of Grass, with its frank treatment of human sexuality, was morally suspect. In 1865, Whitman began clerking in the Office of the Attorney General, where he remained until 1873.

Required Reading

The end of the Civil War marked the beginning of a difficult period in Whitman's life. He was traumatized by Lincoln's assassination in 1865 and composed two celebrated elegies mourning the president: "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "O Captain! My Captain!"

Despite suffering a stroke in 1873, Whitman continued to tinker with Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892. By then, he was recognized as a writer of some stature in American literary circles. Yet the Great American Poet's greatest accolades came from Europe, where he was appreciated for his unabashed celebration of democracy, liberty, and America's cultural diversity.

Whitman's work has now made its way into countless classrooms, anthologies, movies, and songs. It has also influenced entire generations of American writers. Not bad for "one of the roughs."

Laura Kane - The Knowledge News
May 13, 2005

Remember all that talk about "red states" versus "blue states"? Turns out, America has plenty of purples. On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center released a new study of political affiliation in America. Among the findings: more potential U.S. voters think of themselves as independents (36 percent) than as Democratic "blues" (34 percent) or Republican "reds" (30 percent).

Here is a little of Cliff Clavin's famous logic for you:

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine! That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

More tidbits on beer:

Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, "It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.
Babe Ruth

~~~~~~

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
Lyndon B. Johnson

~~~~~~

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
Paul Hornung

~~~~~~

24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.
L. Mencken

~~~~~~

When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!
George Bernard Shaw

~~~~~~

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.
Dave Barry

~~~~~~

Remember, "I" before "E", except in Budweiser.
Professor Irwin Corey

~~~~~~~

To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a "support group." Salvation in a can!
Leo Durocher

Check out this piece of video. I can't say these are the smartest boys I have ever seen. A bicycle drag-race through the streets of NYC.

Laws? We ain't got no laws. We don't need no laws.

Helmets? We ain't got no helmets. We don't need no helmets.

FYI, this beast is 51 MB big. Hope you are not on a dial-up!

nyc-bicycle-dragrace.mpg

Just another April winter storm in Colorado. Looks like a good 6" so far and it's still coming down!

More photos

My hosting service Fatcow finally gets their servers working again!

Sometime after 2:17 PM MDT yesterday all of Fatcow hosting service went down. It was so bad that not even their site was up. All the email sent to me since then is gone. It was just swallowed up by the deep, dark void of never-never land in cyberspace.

They where just sold to Endurance International and I hope this is not a sign of things to come.

-- Update --

At this time Fatcow's mail server is not working. I can log in but I am not able to send or receive any email. They must have either had a total system failure or they just moved everything to Endurance in Massachusetts and didn't say anything about it.

This sucks! Come on Fatcow, lets get this fixed!

-- More Info --

Read this thread on Google Groups

-- Update --

This morning at about 10:00 am I finally started receiving consistent email. So, we are looking at about 42 hours of down time all together on my email.

An interesting note: There has been no word from Fatcow about what happened. No emails or info on their site. Nothing.

Very Strange.

Arlington, Va., has been rated the "best walking city" in the nation by the American Podiatric Medical Association, a group with a strong interest in what people do with their feet. Walking, the association says, is one of the best exercises for feet, and in Arlington people apparently do a lot of it. Surveys indicate that 35 percent of residents there walk for exercise. Second among the 200 cities, despite its many steep streets: San Francisco. Fourteen criteria were used to evaluate the cities, among them the percentage of people who own baby strollers, buy athletic shoes, and go backpacking. The APMA's 10 best walking cities:

1. Arlington, Va.
2. San Francisco
3. Seattle
4. Portland, Ore.
5. Boston
6. Washington
7. New York
8. Eugene, Ore.
9. Jersey City, N.J.
10. Denver

I have a DD Seaton original. I'm an art collector now!

The Cassini spacecraft's two close flybys of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus have revealed that the moon has a significant atmosphere. Scientists, using Cassini's magnetometer instrument for their studies, say the source may be volcanism, geysers, or gases escaping from the surface or the interior.

When Cassini had its first encounter with Enceladus on Feb. 17 at an altitude of 1,167 kilometers (725 miles), the magnetometer instrument saw a striking signature in the magnetic field. On March 9, Cassini approached to within 500 kilometers (310 miles) of Enceladus’ surface and obtained additional evidence.

NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory

- Tim Shaffer/Reuters

I wonder if they arrested the snowball thrower for protesting and attacking the VP?

Received this note in an e-mail today and just had to pass it on!

------

If anyone's been bad, it's been little Georgie Walker Bush, and no one we know deserves a lump of coal in his stocking more than Georgie (and of course, Dick, Condi, Donald, and anyone else you care to add to the list).

We know there's only a short time before Xmas, so get on it! If you don't have access to a coal mine anywhere, you can send part of a charcoal briquette - just make sure it's NOT NOT NOT one of the "self lighting" kinds that's embedded with starter fluid. That would most likely be a felony to send through the mail.

And to make it doubly sweet, put your local Republican representative or senator's name and address as the return address. Write whatever you want inside or outside about why George deserves a lump of coal in his stocking.

DUBYA'S ADDRESSES

George W. Bush
43 Prairie Chapel Ranch
Crawford TX 76638

OR

George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC 20500

For your district representative's or state senator's address to put as the return address, go to:

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_USA_Map.shtml

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

------

The full article can be found at http://www.democracymeansyou.com/articles/article.php?ID=248

While going through the storage unit today I came across these Ukrainian Easter Eggs. They where made by Aka Pereyma. I have created a slide show to show the detail a tad better.

The Ukrainian pysanka (from the word pysaty, to write) was believed to possess an enormous power not only in the egg itself, which harbored the nucleus of life, but also in the symbolic designs and colors which were drawn upon the egg in a specific manner, according to prescribed rituals. The intricately colored eggs were used for various social and religious occasions and were considered to be a talisman, a protector against evil, as well as harbingers of good. With the arrival of Christianity the symbolism evolved to include cruciform symbols and representation of Our Lady. Thus, pysankas are messengers of life, the life of this worlds and life eternal as we perceive it in the Incarnation and Redemption.

Pretty cool if you ask me

6.3 Billion: Number of barrels of oil expected to be recovered from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if drilling is approved there. That's worth more than $30 billions to companies after development costs, taxes and royalties. And that's a conservative tally; some estimates range as high as 16 billion barrels.

1 cent: Estimated drop in the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump in the U.S. due to drilling in the refuge, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Source: Bloomberg News

Kind of makes you wonder why President Bush is so eager to let the oil industry pillage our protected lands. Who is he really thinking about, us or big business? Makes for a pretty easy question!

They never, ever called themselves "Pilgrims." The "First Thanksgiving" in 1621 - actually a secular, three-day harvest festival held sometime between September 21 and November 11 - was the only Thanksgiving they ever celebrated. They dressed in earth-tones, not black and white, nor did they wear buckles on their shoes. They probably dined on wild turkey, venison, seafood, Indian cornmeal, stewed pumpkin, nuts and plums, but there was no ham, no mashed potatoes, no corn on the cob, pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce to be had. Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday until President Abraham Lincoln declared it so in 1863.

Read More: http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/thanksgivinglore/

Found this review on the Soniadada site and wanted to pass it alongto those of you who care. Jackie writes so much better that I can.

I attended the Church of Sonia dada for the 25th time Saturday night at Denver's Fillmore Auditorium and left with heart and spirits soaring. After a fine warm-up by the Bodeans, Sd took the stage at 10:00 and rocked the house for almost 3 hours. (It was a real warm-up - the Bodeans walked out on a chilly stage at 8:00, and by the time Sd left it almost 5 hours later, the temperature had risen about 40 degrees in the room, and they weren't burning any fossil fuels!) They mixed up favorites from everything but Barefoot Soul, did two very fine new tunes, and the two covers mentioned from previous shows, ending with Jungle. // Scotty was in rare form, displaying even more energy and individuality than usual, and had the crowd howling on a drawn-out intro to "I'm Gone." Maybe it was a nice long nap that had him so pumped ... or maybe the mighty fine photo of him that now graces the Wall of Fame at the Fillmore, taken during their 9/28/01 show there... // It's always fun watching first-timers, and this time it was a security guard in front of the stage. He admitted he didn't know who "Sonia" was before the show, but when we told him he'd be rocked by the band, he said he had to maintain his tough-guy pose during the show. Ha! He was bouncing and grinning before the second song ended! He also told us he'd never seen the Fillmore so packed. Word has it they sold 300 more tickets than the fire department knew about. // After so many gigs, I'm still amazed by the complexity of the songs, the intertwining of voices, the skill of the musicians. I mean, it would be one thing to be a singer/songwriter, writing a ditty for your own voice and your own guitar. But to put together a tune for these three phenomenal voices and world class musicians is a whole 'nother story. I'd love to witness the studio evolution of a new song from Dan: who takes the lead, where does it change, who backs whom... Now, that would be a treat! Rock on, guys, and thanks for being so good to us in Denver. Jackie.

I caught the Sonia Dada and Bodeans show last night at the Denver Fillmore Auditorium. It was an amazing show. Because the show was on a Saturday night, the bands where able to play later than usual. The Bodeans played till 9:20 and Sonia Dada played from about 10:00 to 12:45. A good long night of hot music in snowy Colorado.

It was the first time I have seen either band. The Bodeans where good, but I was blown away by Sonia Dada. We where camped out just in front of the sound and light boards so the sound and views where excellent. Sonia Dada was just tight all night long. From the singing to the instrument solos, it was a breathtaking show. I have to say including Pink Floyd's "Wish You Where Here" and Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" in the encores definitely sealed the deal.

If you ever get the chance, go see Sonia Dada, it is worth it

According to a survey by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio university:

• 13% answered "no" when asked, "Do you and your family plan to have a special gathering for a meal this Thanksgiving?"
• 16% predict "this Thanksgiving will be the happiest you've ever celebrated."
• 18% said it will be "not as happy as in the past."
• 9% in survey, mostly women, said they find the day "a stressful time."
• 86% said they "generally look forward to Thanksgiving."

A survey prepared for the Economist magazine's "World in 2005" publication listed what it considered will be the best places to live in 2005. The survey looked at income, health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate and political stability.

1. Ireland
2. Switzerland
3. Norway
4. Luxembourg
5. Sweden
6. Australia
7. Iceland
8. Italy
9. Denmark
10. Spain

Where, you may ask, is the U.S.A.? Well it came in 13th place!

Hmmm, I guess those 7 items looked at aren't so good in the land of opportunity.

On this site you can check your registration status and find your polling location if you live in Colorado.

Are you registered? Want to find your polling location?

www.9-11pdp.org/

Meet the revised 9/11 Commission

Following the July 22, 2004, release of its official 567-page report, the 9-11 Commission, in accordance with its founding statute, disbanded as a government entity on August 21, 2004. All ten commissioners believe, however, that it is critical to educate the public on the issue of terrorism and what can be done to make the country safer. They would like to do so by reaching out, in bipartisan pairs, to communities around the country, encouraging a national conversation on these critical issues. In the absence of such an effort, they are concerned that there will be insufficient public examination of how the lessons learned from the terrorist attacks can be used to shape public policy. The perils of inaction are far too high - and the strategic value of the Commission's findings too important - for the work of 9-11 Commission not to continue.

For this reason, the ten commissioners have formed a 501(c)(3) organization - the 9/11 Public Discourse Project - aimed at fulfilling the 9-11 Commission's original mandate of guarding against future terrorist attacks, while adhering strictly to the same bipartisan and independent principles that guided it over its twenty month tenure. This new organization, intended to remain in effect for one year, consists of the same leadership of the 9-11 Commission, including its commissioners.

Check out this parody of Light My Fire for Linspire.

http://media.linspire.com/RunLinspireSong/RunLinspire.swf

Just what we have all been waiting for, a self cooling aluminum can!

Tempratech has developed a can that cools the contents by a minimum of 30° in 3 minutes.

The Instant Cool Can (I.C. Can™) uses a 100% safe and environmentally friendly self-chilling process that cools by using brilliantly simple water evaporation.

I*C*CAN

With another academic year just around the corner, a new Royal Bank of Scotland survey of 2,163 college students - in this case in Britain - has found that they spend three times as much money annually on adult beverages as they do on books: $1.8 billion, compared to $600 million.

With the Olympics back in Greece, birthplace of both the ancient and modern Games, a profusion of books, magazines, Internet sites, and radio-TV accounts has bombarded the public with Olympic history. Many regurgitate the same basic facts (with slight variations), including that 311 athletes representing 14 countries competed in the 1896 Athens Olympics, compared to more than 10,000 from 202 countries participating this year. Oddly, a full roster of the nations at those inaugural modern Games isn't easy to find - except in a new book, "The Olympics: Athens to Athens, 1896-2004," published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The 14 nations that sent athletes in 1896 (in alphabetical order as they were known at the time):

• Australia
• Austria-Hungary
• Bulgaria
• Chile
• Denmark
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Greece
• Italy
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• US

In which cities do people enjoy the greatest affinity with the printed word? Jack Miller, chancellor of the University of Wisonsin-Whitewater, attempts to answer that question with his second annual list of America's Most Literate Cities. To reach his conclusions, Miller weighs census data, newspaper circulation rates, magazine publishing activity, educational attainment levels, library resources, and the prevalence of booksellers. The cities of 200,000 or more people with the greatest proppensity for reading, based on these and other factors:

1. Minneapolis
2. Seattle
3. Pittsburgh
4. Madison, Wis.
5. Cincinnati
6. Washington
7. Denver
8. Boston
9. Portland, Ore.
10. San Francisco

From Berlin comes word of the arrest last week of - well, we'll call him Karl. His crime: being involved in a minor traffic accident in which he was driving without a license. Normally, this wouldn't raise eyebrows. After all, police in the German capital deal with far more serious offenses every day. Still, Karl's case is noteworthy because for years he has been earning his living as ... a driving instructor. He flunked his first road test in 1961 and never went back because "I was too afraid to try again." He has since schooled more than 1,000 people in the fine points of operating a motor vehicle. No word on whether they'll have to be retaught.

I saw this and just had to pass it on



Get yours now!

I wonder if I have been drinking to much and would not pass the piss test?

One January 1, 2004, caffeine was removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list, after being a "controlled to restricted drug" in the world of athletic performance for years, and moved to the "monitoring list."

Prior to this change caffeine urine levels of greater than 12 micrograms per millimeter were considered illegal. The reason for this change, notes WADA, is really very practical. This old limit has always given caffeine a unique position as a "potentially" performance-enhancing drug, implying that higher doses of caffeine are required to improve performance. However, this is simply not true. This column summarizes the current research on the performance enhancing effects of caffeine and important considerations of caffeine use in view of its new legal status.

Read More: http://www.velonews.com/train/articles/5800.0.html

There is approximately 3 micrograms of caffeine per 10 to 12 ounce cup of coffee or 12 ounces of soda.

Imagine: It's time for the final game of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament--circa 1776. In the frontcourt for the "Patriots": George Washington (6 feet 2 inches), Thomas Jefferson (6 feet 2 inches), and Ben Franklin (listed at 6 feet, but probably closer to 5 feet 11 inches).

Of course, it's unlikely that Washington could dunk over Cornwallis. But 18th-century Americans weren't particularly small, either. Exhaustive studies of documentary evidence, not to mention cemetary excavations, show that American men born in the 18th century averaged about 5 feet 8 inches. Documentary data for women are harder to come by, but the cemetaries say women averaged 5 feet 2 inches.

That's 2 inches taller than the English team from the period, an inch taller than English Middle Agers, and an inch-and-a-half taller than Americans playing around World War I. What gives? Isn't human height always headed up?In 2004, the University of Connecticut's basketball big man, Emeka Okafor, stands 6 feet 10 inches tall. Georgia Tech's young giant, Luke Schenscher, measures 7 feet 1 inch. Egads, what do they feed those boys? Are raw Connecticut oysters and ripe Georgia peaches the recipe for basketball tall?

In a word, yes. Better nutrition has everything to do with humans' recently enhanced altitude. Height, say most experts, is a function of three factors: genes, nutrition, and health. Scientists combine the latter two into something called "net nutrition"--gross nutrition minus the energy needed to fight off disease or do back-breaking work. And in the developed world, net nutrition has made a great vertical leap forward over the last century.

Widespread health care, especially during the crucial early years of childhood growth, wards off most disease. Adolescents going through their growth spurt no longer work at hard labor. And we eat like kings. The average American, for example, consumes about 3,600 calories per day. Compare that to the English population 200 years ago, which consumed little more than 2,000 calories per day--or to less well-off regions today, such as Latin America, where people consume about 2,700 calories per day.

With better nutrition and less energy spent fighting disease or performing labor, people can more easily reach their maximum genetic potential for height. Human genes around 1800 could make Oliver Twist stand tall, but poor nutrition, prevalent disease, and hard work meant that he got "taxed" a bit in the growing process. In fact, people who paid less of those "taxes" achieved greater height. In 1800, the English titled nobility stood a full 5 inches taller, on average, than overworked and undernourished plebes.

Relative to the English, many 18th-century Americans had it pretty good--and grew tall off their plenty. Not so their grandkids. The rapid industrialization and urbanization of the 19th century may have made the nation, but, on average, it stunted its people. (The same thing seems to have happened in Great Britain.) Only in the 20th century did Americans reclaim their super stature.

But what about genes, the other factor in the height equation? Are we simply eating ourselves into our genetic destiny, or are humans actually evolving into a taller, more basketball-ready species? Are we all going to be like Shaquille O'Neal someday? Scientists say no. Widespread tallness, they say, has happened only recently--and only in industrialized nations where nutrition and health care have improved. No long-term trend toward universally bigger people exists outside the recent ignition of net nutrition.

Americans in particular, once one of the tallest peoples in the world, are not getting taller anymore. The average height for U.S. men leveled off at just under 5 feet 10 inches around 1960 and has stayed there ever since. American ladies have topped out at 5 feet 4 inches. When it comes to height, we may have reached the point where we are all that we can be. (In fact, the U.S. Army reports that the average length of its military uniforms has not changed for some time.)

So, where are all the 7-footers coming from? After all, in the early 1960s, only three NBA players topped 7 feet. This season, there are more than fifty 7-footers on NBA rosters. Well, as any good college coach will tell you, it's all in the recruiting. More than half of today's NBA 7-footers were born outside the United States, as other nations now stand taller. In the Netherlands, for example, today's men average 6 feet 1 inch, and women average 5 feet 8 inches. Even the historically short Japanese have caught up. Figuring out why Americans haven't kept pace has experts blocked.

Michael Himick - Knowledge News

Check this out, Singapore Airlines has an 18.5 hour flight from Los Angeles to Singapore. Damb, that's a long time to be in an aluminum tube! On top of that they are going to start alonger one in June from NYC up and over the North Pole and then on to Singapore. I hope they give you more than just peanuts on those babies!

Read More:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/Travel/WorldNewsTonight/longest_flight_040328-1.html

Spring Science Surprise #1:
Bears Don't Really Hibernate

Scientists say that "true" hibernators, such as ground squirrels, practically die during hibernation. Their body temperature drops to near freezing, and their organs shut down. A ground squirrel's heart rate, for example, slows from a few hundred beats per minute to just five. Even the little nut lover's bones and teeth deteriorate, as every tissue toes the line between life and death. They do wake up every few weeks. But normally, you can poke, prod, or even eat a hibernating critter and get no response.

Never try that with a bear. Yogi and Boo-Boo aren't exactly into winter sports, but they're not dead to the world either. Bears just use winter to catch up on their sleep, preferring winter dormancy to scrounging for dwindling food. Their body temperature drops only a few degrees. They wake up frequently and can stir in a second if someone invades their den. Mother bears even give birth to cubs and suckle them sleepily till spring.

Spring Science Surprise #2:
Your Grass Doesn't Really Grow That Fast

Once warmed and watered out of its winter brownness, your lawn probably adds a couple of inches each week. Yet be thankful. There is a grass that you'd have to cut every hour of every day for a month just to keep your yard underfoot.

It's called bamboo. Bamboo may grow like a tree, but it's actually a kind of giant grass. Many think it's the fastest growing plant on the planet. One variety, called madake, can grow up to four feet (more than a meter) in a single day. It reaches its full height in a month, towering as much as 72 feet (22 meters) above you and your Lawnboy. Slack off with a bamboo lawn, and you'll be cutting it with a helicopter.

Spring Science Surprise #3:
The Smell of Rain Is Petrichor

April showers bring May flowers, and something else, too: the smell of rain--that fresh, earthy scent marketers never quite manage to put in fabric softener. In 1964, two Australian scientists trying to pin down the elusive smell discovered that plants secrete various oils during dry times that rocks and soil absorb. A little rain releases the oils into the air. The scientists, who clearly had poetry in their souls, called the aroma "petrichor," combining the Greek word petros, or rock, with ichor, the blood-like essence of Greek gods.

Still, not every rainy-day aroma comes from botanical extracts, like so much bath oil. In moister, more wooded areas around the world, the smell of rain is likely the smell of spores, from bacteria that live in the soil called actinomycetes. Raindrops pounding the ground blast fine particles of soil and spores into the air, where they're more whiffable. So, could the smell of rain kill you? Not generally. In fact, actinomycetes are a primary source of antibiotics used to combat other, less refreshing bacteria.

Spring Science Surprise #4:
The First Robin May Not Signal Spring

Alright, let's talk about the birds and the bees. First thing: Mom lied. Spotting a robin does not necessarily signal the start of spring. Truth is, you can spot American robins just about all year long. Even if your robins flew south for the winter, you might see one that flew in from someplace farther north. To get a thumbs-up on spring, you have to lay eyes on your robins--on the ones actually returning to your area for some spring and summer worming.

You can't exactly check their boarding passes. But you can listen. When your local robins return, the males call dibs on worms, marking their territories with a distinctive song: cheer-up, cheer-up, cheer-a-lee. Robins make all kinds of chirps and calls, but they save this singing for after they've returned to claim a springtime spot. They tend to arrive after the temperature moves consistently above 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius). That's when worms head back to the surface after tunneling all winter below the frost.

Spring Science Surprise #5:
Honey Is Bee Vomit

Dad didn't tell you the whole story either. He surely told you that bees make honey. But how? It's not as if the little buzzers have a honey factory inside their hive where they slather sweets into packages like Keebler elves. Come on: they're bees, not teamsters.

No, honey is pretty much just bee vomit--what bees burp up to feed their young and sustain the hive during winter. To make such glorious stuff, honeybees sip only the best nectar from the ripest flowers. The official drink of Greek gods, nectar is a watery mix of various sugars, with those sugars accounting for between 3 and 80 percent of the solution. Once inside bees' honey sacs, the nectar loses moisture, giving the sugars sticky-sweet reign. One bee belch later, and you've got the essence of spring flowers on your toast.

From: Knowledge News

Like a busy urban family, planets rarely get together all at once. Later this month, however, the five so-called naked-eye planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - will reunite in the night sky, giving spectators a unique chance to see Earth's closest companions in one easy sitting.

The gathering will be visible every night for an hour after sunset, beginning around March 22 and lasting about two weeks. While other opportunities to catch a five-planet rendezvous will take place in the next few years, both at dawn and dusk, this one is not to be missed.

"This particular planetary grouping will quite possibly offer the best nighttime views until 2036," says Dr. Myles Standish, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

For early risers, there will be another chance to see all five naked-eye planets together just before sunrise in December of this year and early January 2005.

Since ancient times, the naked-eye planets have intrigued and inspired onlookers all over the world. But only sporadically, usually every few years or so, do their orbits take them to the same side of the Sun. When this happens, the planets stretch across the morning or evening skies depending on which side of the Sun they reside. More rare are planetary alignments in which the five planets assemble in a very small corner of the sky.

"Every so often the five visible planets will collect on one side of the Sun," says Standish. "Only when conditions are right, will they all be clearly visible at either dusk or dawn."

The Details

To catch the planetary get-together, you'll need a good view of the sky, free of buildings and bright city lights (you should still be able to see the planets through urban light pollution). The show begins around March 22 and lasts through early April, when Mercury fades from sight. The finest views will take place during the last 8 to 10 days of March.

Begin by looking to the western horizon each evening just after sunset. Seated in a row up and across the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. Saturn will lie almost directly overhead. Following the line of the planets, Jupiter will be close to the eastern horizon. Together, the planets will span about 135 degrees. About an hour after dusk, Mercury will dip below the western horizon.

The Moon will also be attending the festivities, mingling through the planets in an orderly fashion. On March 22, it will take a seat next to Mercury, and then climbing up the night sky, it will end its tour on April 1 right above mighty Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. As the Moon slides from planet to planet, it will grow in size from a slender crescent to a nearly full circle of white.

Note that Venus is currently brighter than usual because of where it lies in relation to Earth and the Sun.

The Moon and planets will appear to follow nearly the same path through the stars. This is because their orbits around the Sun occupy planes that are close to that of Earth's orbit. The plane Earth moves in is called the ecliptic.

If for some reason you miss the "Fab Five," another set of orbiting bodies will soon make a grand debut. In April and May of this year, two naked-eye comets, C/2001 Q4 and C/2002 T7, will grace the twilight skies. To spot the cosmic balls of dust and ice look to the west at dusk or dawn. A pair of binoculars will help to initially locate the comets because they may be slightly washed out by the Sun. On May 12 to 16 look out for a mini-reunion with the naked-eye planets, when comet C/2001 Q4 lines up with Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.