Yeah, We Have an Intellegent President!

The President's press conference the other night proved at least one thing: we now have an intellegent, thoughtful leader. Maybe it's being a nerd myself, but I just feel better with an A student as Pres. instead of the frat boy C student who has recently moved out of DC.

Some may find him boring. No sound bites. Long-winded. No fodder for Stewart, Colbert, Leno, Letterman and SNL.

While even intellegence alone does not guarantee a quick solution to the economic downturn or our foreign policy messes, I still feel better with an intellegent guy who actually understands policy.

I Don’t Believe in New Year’s Eve

Yep, I don’t believe in New Year’s Eve. Or New Year’s Day, for that matter.

Why?

I know the inconvenient truth in the science of astronomy: One year is 365.2424 days. One trip around the sun just doesn't add up to an even number of days.

But the time between the ball dropping in Times Square from year to year is exactly 365 days (or 366 days in leap year).

So when the ball drops, it’s NEVER exactly 1 year since the last time it dropped.

New Year’s Eve is a fraud! It's not 1 year since the last New Year's. It's either a bit more or less than a full year!

That’s the inconvenient truth of astronomy!

So, where did this fraud come from? It’s a product of government and religion that for over 2,000 years sought to impose their sense of order on something that’s not that nice and neat. Early cultures had a better sense of time. First of all, rather than start a year freezing yourself on a winter’s night, many cultures started the year in spring, fresh with the hope for the rebirth of nature. These cultures often used events in nature or astronomical observations such as the spring equinox as the start of a year.

Perhaps the most accurate early calendar was developed by the Persians who used the date of the spring equinox to start each year. This was self-correcting calendar, and did not depend on numerical rules like the Julian and Gregorian calendars developed in Europe.

The Gregorian calendar was based on 365.2425 days which created creeping error over the centuries as the difference between 365.2425 and 365.2424 eventually catches up. The current Julian calendar is based on 365.25 days and included a leap year every 4th year, with some other exceptions every 100 and 400 years. This was the beginning of the bureaucratic control of the calendar.

Thanks to the bureaucrats, the New Year has no relationship to astronomical events such as the equinoxes and solstices.

Religion’s contribution to all this is that the years are supposed to be measured from the birth of Jesus Christ. But New Year’s Day isn’t on Christmas. Instead, we have New Year’s Day on the 8th day after Jesus’ birth, the day that Jesus was named and circumcised. Add to this, the fact that Jesus was not born in December (this remembrance of his birth was moved near the winter solstice to blend in with the pagan Roman celebrations) nor was he born in the year 0 (more likely 2 BC) [see http://www.bethlehemstar.net/ to find out when Jesus was really born, based on science applied to scriptural references).

So, New Year’s Day on January 1st really relates to absolutely nothing. It’s just an arbitrary date based on the current calendar. It doesn’t relate to any reoccurring annual astronomical event. And each New Year’s at midnight is never exactly one year since the previous New Year’s.

Once again, the inconvenient truth of science tells us that New Year’s is all just a fraud!

Beauty in Urban Industrial Photography

Decaying cities, abandoned factories, glass-covered empty lots -- what could be uglier?

But, being an engineer and urban creature, I've actually been fascinated by the industrial zones of cities. Here in New England, many of the river cities had an extensive network of canals. In the 1900s, the factories were powered by canal water passing through turbines.

I just returned from a trip to Lowell where I took some pictures of the canals and factories in the fading light of late afternoon with the oncoming of winter.

As with people, with the right lighting, even the ugly can take on a striking beauty.

Above: Dam building over the Hamilton Canal, bathed in the warm light of a setting sun.

Below: Another canal in Lowell

Below: Old factory, reflecting the setting sun. Even the grass in the abandoned lot takes on the look of "amber waves" when bathed in such warm light.


































Above: water rushes out of a conduit below the dam.

Below: waiting platform for a trolley shuttle service that uses historic cars from the same era as the factories.

Friendly Felines, Carnivorous & Cohabitating

The world is more or less divided into those who love cats and those who hate them. Well, I fall into the first category, and cohabitate with 2 carniveorous friendly felines. They are part Maine coon cats, and come with lots of fluff. (And my clothes pick up lots of fluff, too!)

But, as the weather turns cold, there's nothing like a fluffy, purring lap cat (cuts down on heating bills, too!).

"Fluff #1" on the left is the affectionate, but skittish one we call Scout. "Fluff #2" on the right is the smarter and more self-reliant Maggie. They were litter mates, but have grown apart and each has its own territory. About once a day they pounce on each other.

The funniest thing is when we actually get a mouse in the house, and they try to take care of things. One will catch the mouse, walk around with just the tail sticking out of her mouth, and then let it go. Then they paw at it, and maybe catch it again or just loose interest. Good thing they are fed cat food, as they might not survive on their hunting sills.

Here are 2 cats who know how to keep warm in the mountains of Peru. Comecuye is sitting on top of the wood stove while kitten #2 sits under the stove with just his head sticking out. They keep their welcome by staying out of the way and catching any unwelcomed rodents. (But not the guinea pigs, which share the kitchen and courtyard – they are a delicacy in Peru.)

Later Comecuye curls up to keep warm in the kitchen.

A Day Lily Blooms in November

Our little city garden supprised us this week: the day lily bloomed in November!

We've been having this crazy weather this fall. Sometimes cool, but then it warms up. The killing frost that should accompany El Día de los Muertos (Nov. 2) never came.

The last 2 weekends it was in the 60s (15-18 deg. C) and it got one of the day lily plants a bit confused. There was a yellow flower coming out in November!

It should only be blooming during the summer. But this summer was very wet and it only bloomed when we were away in Peru. But this one little bloom in November makes up for it.

The killing frost finally came this week, but the yellow flower remains.

Here's the little flower, hiding in our front planter:

The Joy of Spam

Ah, the joy of spam!

If your spam filter isn't working, it just keeps coming and coming and coming and coming.

To quote Monty Python: "Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam, wonderful spam...."

Do I need a cheap car? An early payday? Satellite TV? Money for school? Maybe even a job? Or maybe I need to control my appetite. Spam reveals the way! Here's some of my favorite topics.

Breast Implants

Sounds great!? Not only can I get these larger, perkier breasts, but I can afford better breasts!Wow! Well why not, if I can afford it!

So why does one need these better and perkier breasts? That's when you have to read the message:

"Are you tired of men paying more attention to women with larger, perkier breasts?"

Hmm, can't say I am! And what exactly makes a breast perkier? Is it just size or a more conical shape?

Even if guys are watching, is it such a good thing? A close friend who is naturally "very well endowed" feels very self-conscious in public when guys stare. In fact, she often says she'd like to get them reduced. (I kid that she should be a doner for the less endowed who desire a perkier endowment!)

What if you think you're reasonably proportioned as is? (They look ok in the pic, at least to me.) Who needs to be top heavy!

"Do you want to feel better about yourself and have all those eyes on you at the next party?"

Don't know I really want that... I'm shy, so I don't mind a few eyes, maybe, but not necessarily all those eyes (particularly those guys who gauk at your breasts and don't look you in the eye when talking to you) .

Funny thing -- these spam ads came to a guy's e-mail. Wonder how many guys want perkier breasts to they can get more guys looking at them!!!

Dating

So Jenn wants to chat with me! Two new signles want to talk with me! But who's this "Hey Babe..." character who also wants to chat with me? Am I the "Babe" or is she/he? Never realized so many people want to chat with me.

And now I have a neighbor who is looking for me! (Hope he or she is not peeping into my bedroom window trying to find me!) And why is this neighbor assuming I'm still single?

Now I must find out who are these sexxxy singles!! Do all those x's make them extra sexxxy?

So, why do I want to see Britney's pics? What if looking at a young women's pics isn't my thing?

Why does spam always assume everyone is single? Or is this an opportunity for those in a relationship to "chat" with someone else -- maybe one of those extra sexxxy singles! This is a consumer society, so why just have one relationship when you can have as many as you can stand!

Now, you shouldn't think I spend my days reading spam. But every once in a while, it's entertaining to see what they're trying to sell and how they pitch it. Ah, spam -- it you can't avoid it, at least you can make fun of it!

Visitor in my garden

I hate spiders -- them and their yucky webs! They give me the creeps. I like to avoid them and just let them be, hopefully somewhere far from my comings and goings.

Now it's been unusually warm again, in the 60s (15 to 18 deg. C), and I was thinking of taking in my 4-ft. high geranium before the killing frost (if it ever comes). As I was about to reach for the geranium pot, I felt something funny. There was this web connected to my plant and the biggest spider I ever saw in the garden sitting in the middle of her web. Well, I just left her alone.

Later I showed it to Rosie who said “Hmm, not going to catch much at this time of year.” Unless some insects decided to check out the unusually warm weather in November, she’ll go hungry.

Her she is, squatting in my garden!

Today, the web remains, but no garden spider.

My Garden is Dying

Today is known as the Day of the Dead (El día de los muertos in Latin America). Since I started gardening, I have always associated Halloween and the Day of the Dead with the first killing frost here in the northeast.

Being in the city, it comes a few weeks later. But it's now or never to rescue whatever I want to keep indoors over the winter. Soon my inpatients will be withered, the tomato plants brown, and leaves will cover it all until next spring.

Here are some photos of my garden last’s days before the frost and the rescuing of the geraniums and parsley.

For pictures of this garden in bloom, see my post titled "My little garden."