Sunday, August 31, 2008

Wow, I stayed up too late last night stargazing. I was wore out after only 125 miles of riding my ATV today! The other guys are still out there riding somewhere. I had to wuss out and come home. More tomorrow. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Last night's astro-photography practice with my Canon SX100 IS:


On the left is an image of the southern Milky Way as it comes from the camera (I happened to catch TWO meteor streaks towards the top of the picture and an airplane at the bottom). - On the right is the same image after I applied a little bit of my experimental magic to it.



This is of the double star cluster in Perseus. I also used 10x zoom on the camera lens. On the left is from the camera. - On the right is after I "fiddled" with it.
The bright Summer Triangle stands high overhead this evening. Look inside the triangle for the Coat Hanger Cluster. Binoculars reveal six stars in a straight line, which form the hanger’s cross bar, while four others curl away to form the hook.

If you own a telescope, you probably know that Sagittarius (now highest in the south right after dark) is full of fine deep-sky objects. But there's more here than you probably know. For a tour of some of Sagittarius's lesser-known telescopic treasures, see Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders guide in the September Sky & Telescope, page 69.
Firewood Already In Demand
With spike in oil prices, more using wood stoves


Consumers are buying firewood early this year for their fireplaces or wood stoves, according to local tree removal companies that are selling wood by the cord.

With the pronounced run-up in oil prices over the past year, companies that sell firewood and wood stoves say many consumers are investing in alternatives to help offset those rising energy costs.

Oil suppliers Donald Fowler, who owns Williams Oil Co. in Uncasville, and Mark Mazzella, owner of Benvenuti Oil in Waterford, say analysts are advising them to brace for the likelihood that consumers will cut back on fuel usage - either through conservation or the use of alternative sources, such as wood stoves, by anywhere between 10 percent and 20 percent this coming heating season.

Scott Bourgeois, who owns C&S Tree Removal in Niantic and Salem, said he has had orders from between 70 and 100 people in the past six weeks - and had to turn “quite a few” away.

He charges $200 for a cord of wood, up $25 from last year.

”A lot of people are trying to get orders in before the prices go up and up and up,” he added.

Typically, the season for regular customers starts in August but new requests usually don't come in until September or October, he said.

Another woodcutter, who declined to be named, said he was too busy to be interviewed.


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Saturday, August 30, 2008

A recent Google search for: "putting an oil cooler on polaris hawkeye worth it"

No. After 2000 miles I can honestly say you won't need it. Unless maybe you're slowly pulling trailer loads of rocks in the Sahara Desert. I've hauled many cord of firewood at close to 90 degrees and never had the faintest indication that the engine or oil was getting too hot. The cooling system that comes on it stock seems to be plenty sufficient for the job. If anything, sometimes it acts as if it's running too cool!
My best one yet!
Even if I do say so myself!

This compressed JPEG is not quite as good as the full size. This is the Summer Triangle (minus Altair which didn't get in the lower right corner of the picture). The brightest star at the top, just right of center, is Vega. The brightest star left of center is Deneb. The Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, Altair) is almost straight overhead after sunset now (it's a pretty big triangle, covers most of the sky overhead and several constellations).

One interesting thing to note: A little ways up from the lower right corner is the Coat Hanger. It's small and hard to see unless you study the picture. It looks like it's name, except that it's almost upside down.



This picture is a closeup of the Coat Hanger. The stars are trailed a little bit, due to the amount of zoom I used and the long exposure.

Fun fun! And cheaper than sitting in the tavern, I guess!
Firewood prices are heating up
Stocking stove will be costly this year


Homeowners hoping to cut their heating costs by stoking the wood stove might be in for a shock.

Firewood — if you can find it — has soared in price.

"We have a mile-long waiting list (of buyers)," said Patty Brightman, co-owner of Brightman Lumber in Assonet. "I've never seen so many people wanting to buy firewood ... some people are already buying for next year."

The high demand translates to high prices.

Ms. Brightman, whose brother, Eddie, runs a separate firewood business, said last year's price for a cord of cut, split and dried firewood was $180. This year, the same wood is priced at up to $250 a cord. Some suppliers are closer to $350.

Making matters worse, firewood is getting harder to find.

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Mystery Surrounds Leavenworth's Underground City

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- Some Leavenworth residents have been unknowingly walking around above an underground city, and no one seems to know who created it or why.

Windows, doors and narrow paths beneath a title company at South Fourth and Delaware streets lead to storefronts stretching several city blocks and perhaps beyond.

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Two-headed boy dies after just 48 hours

A baby boy born with two heads has died, after his Bangladeshi parents took him home from hospital because they could not afford treatments that could have prolonged his life.



Kiron passed away aged just two days after developing a fever and breathing difficulties on Wednesday evening.

The boy had been placed under police protection when more than 150,000 people gathered outside the clinic in the town of Keshobpur where he was being treated.

He was moved to a hospital in the neighbouring city of Jessore, but his parents ignored doctors' advice to seek further treatment in the capital.

"We wanted to refer him to a hospital in Dhaka but the family was so poor that they could not afford to take him there, so they took him home where he died," KS Alam, one of the doctors treating the boy, said.

"It was a very unusual case. The boy had one body but two complete heads."

The baby, weighing weighing 12 lbs 1 oz, was born by Cesarean section on Monday in Keshobpur, 85 miles from Dhaka.

He was able to eat through both mouths, although he had only one stomach.

Doctors had been unable to establish whether he had one or two sets of vital organs.

It had been reported in the local press that many of the tens of thousands of people who gathered outside the clinic had left money for the baby's family.

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Thursday, August 28, 2008


Last night's Cassiopeia (Northeastern sky). Got it just before the rain moved in.
The remnants of an exploded star, known as the Crab Nebula, are visible through small telescopes near the tip of one of the horns of Taurus, the bull. The Crab rises in the wee hours of the morning, well below the bull’s orange “eye,” the star Aldebaran.
THE spooky antics of a poltergeist which terrorised a young family for months have been caught on camera and released exclusively to The Sun.

From their very first visit in July 2006, Mike and Darren were confronted by inexplicable phenomena such as objects moving, coins falling from thin air and threatening texts from untraceable mobile numbers.

Up to 15 independent witnesses, including a camera crew which came to document the activity, also encountered the early ghostly goings-on.

But the haunting peaked when Mike filmed the heart-stopping scratch attack and the hovering bottle in one eventful night.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Last night's picture taking and thinking time result.

It takes a long time to improve when I only produce one final picture per night! This is the Southern Milky Way, looking towards the center of our galaxy. The bright fog/light/washed out area at the bottom above the trees is light pollution from the Dells and beyond. Biggest brightest star is Jupiter.


Straight from the camera. Canon SX100 IS pushed to limit of ISO 1600.



Result of 50 exposures (lights, darks, offsets, and flats) Still working on it. More stars visible. Would like more detail though.
A giant stellar nursery known as M17 arcs across the south. It’s part of a system that has given birth to thousands of stars. M17 is above the lid of the “teapot” formed by the brightest stars of Sagittarius, which is low in the south at nightfall.

If you're up before the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, take a look at the thin crescent Moon with binoculars. Can you spot the Beehive Cluster nearby?
Maine governor issues wood warning

FARMINGDALE, Maine (AP) More Mainers are turning to the old standby firewood as prices for oil and other winter heating fuels soar.

But Gov. John Baldacci says homeowners, especially those burning firewood for the first time, should keep safety in mind.

Baldacci and other administration officials held a news conference in Farmingdale on Thursday to demonstrate proper methods for stacking, drying and burning firewood safely. They also showed how to properly measure a cord of wood, which is 4 by 4 feet by 8 feet.

Baldacci recommends drying firewood as efficiently as possible if it is not dry or seasoned when purchased or cut. He also recommends cleaning your chimney and getting the local fire department's advice about safe installation of woodstoves.

More information is available from the Maine Forest Service, the Fire Marshal's Office and local fire departments. ^

On the Net:

Maine Forest Service Web: www.maineforestservice.gov

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Winter is on it's way! I can't wait, except I could do without all the snow we had last year. I was tempted to start a fire in the stove the last couple nights, but I resisted the temptation. Which reminds me, I need to clean the chimney yet too. Anyway, the coolness feels kind of nice, and if I start a fire in the stove it would be too warm. Most years I do need a fire at least one night in the end of August.

I could really tell this morning that Winter is coming, not because it was very pleasantly cool while milking the cows for a change, but because Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades are up high in the dark clear morning sky when I head down to the barn. I have to try my new night sky picture technique on the Summer Southern Milky Way soon, before it's gone for the year!

Just doing laundry now, before I head out to the garage to work on my old pickup. Last night we were heading to town to get Ashley from the theater and all my lights went out! I was right in front of Johnny's house, so backed up to his driveway to try to figure out what was wrong. I turned the low beams on and the lights all came back on! Turn the high beams on, and no lights. The high beams are shorting out and tripping the breaker in the light switch. When I set there idling, flipping to high beams even lugs the engine down! Holy crap. I'm hoping it's just a bad, shorted out headlight. If not, I'll have to trace the wiring harness. Shit.

Oh my god! What's the matter with Jimmy Carter's eye?
With summer growing late, the Great Square of Pegasus is already up in the east after dark. Look for it balancing on one corner. It's a bit bigger than your fist held at arm's length.
Health board drafts ordinance to regulate outdoor woodburners
Inaccurate rumors pollute debate over outside furnaces


Concerned about emissions of particulate matter from outdoor wood-fired furnaces, the Oneida County Health Department is shaping an ordinance to regulate their use, but this past week concerns about the ordinance spewed forth their own thick clouds of particulate rumors, most of them inaccurate.

The Lakeland Times received multiple phone calls this week from citizens who heard the county was planning to ban the units. That's not so, but, as The Times has previously reported, there is a push to control their placement and stack height and to require permits, among other things.

So far, the county board of health has not approved a final resolution to send to the county board, but a draft is in place. That document may well morph into something different: the board of health has requested and is awaiting a comparison table of other local outdoor woodburning furnace ordinances, health department director Linda Conlon told The Times in an email.

As it stands now, though, the draft code would allow outdoor woodburning units/outdoor furnaces with an approved permit from the zoning department; the units would have to meet emission standards required by the Environmental Protection Agency and by the Outdoor Furnace Manufacturer's Caucus of the Hearth, Patio and Barbeque Association.

Specifically, the draft states, regulated units would include any accessory structure or appliance designed for use outside the principal structure to heat any principal or accessory structure on the premise through the transfer of heat via liquid or other means, by burning wood or other solid fuels.

Only natural untreated wood could be burned in the units. Lawfully operated fire pits, open burning, barbecues, fryers, grills and chimneys would not be regulated under the ordinance.

Outdoor wood-fired furnaces would have to be placed no less than 200 feet from any residence not served by the furnace. For existing units within that 200 feet boundary, the stack would have to be at least two feet higher than the peak of adjacent properties.

For units located between 200 and 500 feet of any residence not served by the furnace, the stack height would have to reach at least to the peak of adjacent properties.

A one-time permit for new units would be required under the ordinance. Owners of existing furnaces would have one year to obtain the needed permit for each unit, provided the stack height met the ordinance's requirements.

Why the regulation is needed

The ordinance has been drafted, Conlon says, because outdoor wood-fired furnaces can pose a serious health hazard, particularly in residential areas.

"The reason for the ordinance is that research has proven that the types of fuel used, and the scale and duration of burning by outdoor woodburning furnaces, creates noxious and hazardous smoke, soot, fumes, odors and air pollution, and can be detrimental to citizens' health and can deprive neighboring residents of the enjoyment of their property or premises," she said.

Conlon said outdoor wood-fired furnaces are designed to maintain fire over long periods of time, and are designed to operate at low temperatures when not heating. What's more, she said, they frequently have a lower chimney height than an indoor stove.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Polaris / Lonestar / Eichner Racing Team Demonstrate True Grit at WORCS Round 6

The Polaris / Lonestar / Eichner Racing team showed determination at the World Off-Road Championship Series race held in Olympia, Washington, August 15 - 17, 2008.

Team Captain, Doug Eichner, who entered WORCS Round 6 with the misfortune of a broken toe and injured shoulder, demonstrated the true grit he is known for as he took on the demanding 90-minute race. Despite injury, Eichner and his Outlaw 450 MXR with enhanced power from Yoshimura R&D of America Inc., FOX Racing Shox and MAXXIS tires turned in a commendable fifth place finish in the Pro Main Event.

Additionally, Eichner, in his Polaris RANGER RZR, took on the Side-by-Side event which proved to be a spectator favorite and continues to produce record numbers of competitive units in this division. Eichner captured the lead on the first lap and had the crowd screaming as he and his Co-Pilot, Larry Heidler, were the only unit to take on the large log jump in the motocross section of the course. Eichner held a commanding lead and then made a sudden stop to allow a safety inspection of his Co-Pilot's racing harness. Back under way, Eichner charged hard to regain the lead and finished the race with a sizable lead and impressive first place finish. Eichner continues to lead this event in the overall point standings.

Pro team rider, John Shafe, returned to WORCS racing after taking a couple of months to recover from wrist surgery. Shafe finished the Pro Main Event in the top 10 aboard the Outlaw 450 MXR. Shafe is training hard to return in top form for WORCS round 7.

Team Support Rider, Angela Butler has had a mechanically flawless season in the WORCS series with the Outlaw 450 MXR and continues to dominate the Womens Division with the win at WORCS Round 6 as well as taking eighth place in the Pro-Am Class. This hard charger currently leads the Womens Division in the WORCS series.

"I knew this race would be a challenge for us,” stated Eichner. “With John Shafe returning after his wrist surgery and my own injuries to contend with, the rough track and tight turns did present a challenge. The Polaris machines worked awesome and I was pleased that we could press on for the sake of our sponsors.”
Adams County would have charged her $4.00!

Little Lady, Big Bass: 104-year-old Reels In a Keeper

A nursing home's monthly fishing trip pulls in some bragging rights. The foot and a half small mouth bass is pretty impressive. But, the best part of this big fish story is the little lady who pulled it in.

"That wasn't very good," Rose Kunkel tells us after a short cast.

Rose might not have the best technique when it comes to casting, but Rose sure knows how to reel in the keepers.

"You just keep pulling. Just keep winding. Don't stop. Just keep going," she says.

At age 104, Rose recently pulled in her biggest catch to date: A 17 inch, four pound small mouth bass

“You just pull it in," she says.

It’s simple advice from a pretty spunky Ladysmith lady.

"She has a lot of energy. A wonderful personality. It’s kind of like working with my teenage kids," Ladysmith Nursing Home Activity Director Kara Douglass says laughing.

Kara says Rose wasn't originally a part of the fishing plan. The trip was guys only at first.

"We were talking about it in the dining room and I heard this little voice say 'I’ll go fishing. I love to fish.' I said "OK Rose, you can go fishing with us," Kara says.

After five minutes at the dock, Rose, in her little voice, announced her catch.

"I heard Rose say 'I have a fish!' and her pole was arched. I said 'Rose, reel it in! Reel it in!' And she goes 'I am! I am!'"

Rose had her fish, but, Kara didn't have a net!

"I didn't think we'd catch fish! Not big ones,” she says. “I was pulling the line and Rose was cranking and cranking and I swung it over and it landed at her feet and she goes 'Oh dear, that is a big fish and I didn't even spit on the bait for good luck!'"

Turns out Rose didn't need the luck and was just happy for her chance to get outside and fish like she's always loved to do.

"It's always nice to be near the water. I've known how to fish since I was small," she says

And after 104 years, Rose Kunkel now has her very own big fish tale.

Rose will get to keep her trophy bass. Kara says Wildlife Creations Taxidermy is mounting the fish free of charge for the Kunkel family.

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Here is a sample of my first, and so far only, result of my experimental night sky picture technique. I did this for several hours last night, and this one picture is all there is! It took me 62 exposures (pushes of the shutter button on my Canon SX100 IS) to get it. I still have a long way to go to perfect it (probably never get it perfected) but I think the result is amazing for my first try, even if I do say so myself! As I practice, I hope to be able to go faster (wow, imagine TWO pictures in one night) and get better end result pictures!


This is a plain old night sky picture as it comes out of my SX100.



Also taken with my SX100, this is the same scene and end result of several hours of picture taking last night. Can you see more stars? WOW! A lot more stars. I'm not sure what the faint rainbow streak is, and the whole picture doesn't have as much color as I would like to see, but considering how I only half seriously expected it to turn out at all, I impressed myself.
Residents Make Changes To Avoid Buying Oil
Pellet-Stove Sales Up 1,000 Percent, Officials Say


Faced with higher heating costs, Yvonne Scott said she’s looking at purchasing a pellet stove.

She said she figures the move will save her money in the long run.

Pellet-stove sales are up 1,000 percent, officials said.

Store manager Scott Vernier said customers are looking for alternative heating sources like pellet and wood stoves and buying log splitters as they prepare for winter.

Officials said the price for home heating has nearly doubled since last winter.

For example, the average bill per month in winter 2007 was $210 per month. In winter 2008, bills are expected to rise to $400 per month.

Oil supplier Dick Gada said replacing old thermostats with modern timers and servicing or upgrading furnaces will save money.

Scott said she’s done paying higher oil prices and converting to wood.

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

My little PacMan game conked out! But, I found another one just like it hosted on a different server. Whew! What would we do without PacMan? Ha ha!

I've been researching some new techniques to make better night sky (astrophotography) pictures with my Canon SX100. Unfortunately, last night was too cloudy. When the clouds would clear momentarily, the sky was crisp and clear, but those moments didn't last long enough to do any picture taking. It was a beautiful night to just sit by the fire pit anyway. Maybe I'll try again tonight.

The International Space Station will start making passes over us again on the 27th of August. As usual though, the first days will be early morning flybys. I don't list those here because most people won't see it then anyway. In the meantime, if you're intersted in the early morning flybys, check out HeavensAbove.com for the schedule.
Pensioner cuts fuel bills with medieval stove
A pensioner has found a novel solution to rising gas and electricity bills - a traditional Hungarian tile stove.


Peter Breuer, 80, says the 14th-century technology has enabled him to cut his gas bill from £20 to £5 - and he has turned off his gas central heating completely.

Mr Breuer, a retired Customs and Excise lawyer from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex is given wood for the stove by friends, or finds it in skips, and uses solar panels to heat his hot water.

He said he was inspired by frequent visits to Hungary, where his grandparents lived.

The father of three said: "It might be an old technology but it works, they are still used in Hungary by a lot of people.

"I decided I wanted to have one in this country about five years ago but it's taken some time to realise it. No one knows what a tile stove is here."

Last year Hungarian friends drove a van filled with materials to the British seaside town and took a week to build the 6ft 6in stove, which towers over its creator and dominates his sitting room.

Mr Breuer said rising gas prices and a desire to be more environmentally-friendly encouraged him to build the stove to heat his three-bedroom detached home.

"Oil prices are never going to get cheaper especially when people in India, China and South America start using it at the same rate as the west has been," he said.

"There is a lot of wood laying about, dead trees standing about which is free fuel and could be burnt instead of gas."

Mr Breuer added: "My gas bill is very, very minor now, I only use gas to boil a pan of potatoes."

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These balloons are cool! Thanks for the picture Ron!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Polaris Racing Goes Full-Throttle for the 12-Hours of Pont de Vaux

The best racers around the world will converge at the 12-Hours of Pont de Vaux World Championship scheduled for August 23 - 24, in Lyon, France.

This year, more than ever, Polaris is reinforcing its commitment to the sport of ATV racing with four Polaris teams competing in the historic race including one team from the USA and three French teams, all racing the wicked-fast Outlaw 525 S.

Doug Eichner, multi-time world and national ATV champion and record holder of seven wins and ten podium finishes at the12-Hours of Pont de Vaux, will anchor Team Polaris USA. The team also will feature the talents of Polaris rider Dana Creech, well known for his Division 4 Freestyle Championship and Clear Channel Stadium Series MX Championship. GNC MX Pro National Champion, eight-time GNC Pro-Am National Champion, former Pont De Vaux top-three winner, and former Eichner teammate, Travis Spader will be charging hard as the final member of Team Polaris USA.

Polaris France will be represented by three French teams. Successful MX Racer Vincent Broyer, French MX National Champion Mickaël Revoy and Thierry Chevrot will make up the first French team.

The second French team features Enduro Star Jean-Hugues Adam, Pascal De Palma and Franck Allart.

And, returning again to demonstrate their superiority in the Women's Division, Adeline Martin and Betty Kraft will constitute the third French team.

“Polaris is excited about the level of participation at this year’s event and we look forward to a successful race for all the teams,” said Eric Nault, race team manager for Polaris Racing. “We thank our World-Class Racers and sponsors for helping put together the most-competitive teams of racers we’ve ever had at the historic 12-Hours of Pont de Vaux.”
Albireo - A Spectacular Double Star

The bright double star Albireo that marks the head of Cygnus the Swan is a stunning example of contrasting colors and one of the finest double stars in the heavens.

The Basics

• Albireo lies in the middle of the Summer Triangle formed by Vega, Deneb, and Altair. You'll have no trouble seeing it with the naked-eye as a single moderately-bright star, even in city skies

• In nearly any telescope, even at low magnification, Albireo resolves into a double star. The 3rd magnitude component shines a golden-yellow; the fainter 5th magnitude component is a sapphire-blue. The color contrast is striking… this is one of the most beautiful double stars anywhere in the sky.

• To observe Albireo, use low magnification since the colors stand out better when the stars appear closer together.

• If you have trouble seeing the colors, that's because your eye is less sensitive to color concentrated in tiny bright points of light. Try de-focusing your telescope just a little to smudge out the image. The color should become obvious.

A Deeper Look

• At one time, this pair was considered an optical double… just a chance alignment of two unrelated stars. However, in spite of the large distance between them, astronomers proved Albireo forms a true binary system that revolves about each other.

• At a distance of 385 light years from the Earth, this pair is physically separated by 60 times the diameter of our solar system. Although they revolve around each other, no orbital motion has been detected since Albireo was first measured in 1832.

Good To Know

In 1976, the brighter component of Albireo was itself resolved as a binary star using large telescopes and a complex image processing technique known as speckle interferometry. The separation of this close pair is only 0.4”, nearly resolvable visually with a 20-inch telescope. But to my knowledge, no one has visually resolved this star.

Bonus Object

A bonus object: try to find the “Coathanger” cluster, between Albireo and the small constellation Sagitta, the Arrow. Although not a true star cluster-- the stars are not physically associated-this asterism looks like an upside-down coathanger… very striking. Use low power with your telescope, or try binoculars.


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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Ventura County hot spot puzzles experts
A two-acre patch of land north of Fillmore has heated up to 800 degrees, and firefighters and geologists are unsure why.


A patch of land in Ventura County's section of Los Padres National Forest where the ground recently heated up to 812 degrees continues to puzzle firefighters and geologists after weeks of monitoring.

"It's a thermal anomaly," said Ron Oatman, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to reports of a blaze there a month and a half ago, when observers noticed smoke rising from the parched scrub. But when they arrived, they found no flames.

Firefighters and geologists who have surveyed the area in the Sespe Oil Field are uncertain what's causing the heat, but they do have a theory.

Allen King, a retired geologist with the U.S. Forest Service who went to the site Friday, said the smoking ground is "a normal occurrence" that does not appear to be the result of human activity.

The hot spot is in an area considered to be an active landslide that has shifted for more than 60 years. Several hundred feet below its cracked surface lie pockets of gas, tar and oil.

King said he suspects cracks along the landslide's slope allow oxygen to enter into the earth and hydrocarbon material to "seep out" of the fine-grain shale. The combination can create underground combustion, he said.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

A Snippet From My Everyday Life

When a cow has a calf, it creates a little extra work, especially on the day it's born. For many years, my cousin, who owns the farm, has been under the delusion that "the calves are almost always born on Sunday", and tells everyone that. Of course that's not true. I've tried to explain to him the reason it seems that way is because Sunday is the only day he's there. The rest of the week I'm there and I deal with the extra work of new mothers/babies, most of the time without him even noticing or being there.

The most recent calf was born on Monday. Like usual, he said he was "surprised it wasn't born on Sunday, like most of them are". I then turned to Karen and said that I knew it would be born on Monday, because most of them are! He exclaimed "bullshit" real loud. Hee hee. That gave me an idea!

I started keeping records of dry cows, fresh cows, and calf births on 11/28/2000. Before that the records were pretty much nonexistent. We didn't know when a cow was dried up, when she last had a calf, etc. etc. Mostly guesses. Since then, I know the important stuff at a glance. And to prove that "most of the calves are NOT born on Sunday" I created a bar graph and pinned it up in the milkhouse!


As you can see by the graph, over the last 8 years, there has been only 2 more calves born on Sunday than the average, and 4 less calves born on Sunday than on Saturday. Considering that this spans eight years and 159 births, I'd conclude each day of the week is darn close to dead even. Duh. Like I said all along. Certainly, the other 135 calves were born Monday through Saturday and only 24 on Sunday! I'd hardly call that "most of the calves are born on Sunday".
Bigfoot Body Revealed to Be Halloween Costume

So it really was a rubber suit after all.

Last week's excitement over a supposed Bigfoot body, which culminated Friday in a circus-like press conference in Palo Alto, Calif., collapsed like a wet soufflé Sunday as an independent investigator determined it was all fake.

SearchingforBigfoot.com owner Tom Biscardi had paid an "undisclosed sum" — Internet rumors put it at $50,000 — to Georgia residents Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer for their frozen "corpse" and the privilege of trotting them, but not the body, out in front of TV cameras.

At the same time, Biscardi sent self-described "Sasquatch detective" Steve Kulls to a secret location — apparently Muncie, Ind. — to check out the specimen.

Kulls, it's safe to say, was severely disappointed.

The upshot? Bigfoot, once found, is now again missing. So are Whitton, Dyer and Biscardi's money.....

.....As for Whitton, he doesn't seem to have a job to come back to in Georgia.

Asked for comment on Officer Whitton, Clayton County, Ga., Chief of Police Jeffrey Turner, corrected FoxNews.com. "You mean ex-officer Whitton."

"As soon as we saw it was a hoax," Chief Turner explained, "I filed the paperwork to terminate his employment."

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New law keeps wood boilers at a distance

With a growing number of people using them and a nearly equal amount of people complaining about them, the state has set new standards for outdoor wood boilers.

A new state law requires homeowners who use boilers that are installed as of this month to consider the distance between the devices and their neighbors. Newer models will also have to meet tightened emission standards starting next year.

The state, with the help of municipalities, will also curtail or shut down existing boilers if they continue to choke neighbors with black smoke, the Department of Environmental Services said.

"We would wake up in the middle of night coughing and have to go around our home and close the windows," said Hanover resident David Cole, an attorney who won a temporary court injunction to stop his neighbor from using a wood boiler.

While pleased the state will tighten emissions standards for the boilers, Cole thinks it's still not enough.

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Bracing the Satellite Infrastructure for a Solar Superstorm
A recurrence of the 1859 solar superstorm would be a cosmic Katrina, causing billions of dollars of damage to satellites, power grids and radio communications


As night was falling across the Americas on Sunday, August 28, 1859, the phantom shapes of the auroras could already be seen overhead. From Maine to the tip of Florida, vivid curtains of light took the skies. Startled Cubans saw the auroras directly overhead; ships’ logs near the equator described crimson lights reaching halfway to the zenith. Many people thought their cities had caught fire. Scientific instruments around the world, patiently recording minute changes in Earth’s magnetism, suddenly shot off scale, and spurious electric currents surged into the world’s telegraph systems. In Baltimore telegraph operators labored from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next day to transmit a mere 400-word press report.

Just before noon the following Thursday, September 1, English astronomer Richard C. Carrington was sketching a curious group of sunspots—curious on account of the dark areas’ enormous size. At 11:18 a.m. he witnessed an intense white light flash from two locations within the sunspot group. He called out in vain to anyone in the observatory to come see the brief five-minute spectacle, but solitary astronomers seldom have an audience to share their excitement. Seventeen hours later in the Americas a second wave of auroras turned night to day as far south as Panama. People could read the newspaper by their crimson and green light. Gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up and ate breakfast at 1 a.m., thinking the sun had risen on a cloudy day. Telegraph systems became unusable across Europe and North America.

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

STEVE KULLS: On August 16, 2008, the freezer containing the alleged corpse arrived with the Searching for Bigfoot team at an undisclosed location. I arrived that same day at 6 p.m. to provide initial verification, examination, biohazard control, and consult for security measures at the location.

At that time, the ice was being thawed slowly, to prevent and further decomposition of the alleged corpse.

On August 17, 2008, Searching for Bigfoot Director of Operations TJ Biscardi and myself were up early. We discovered that some hair was now exposed from the ice. I extracted some from the alleged corpse and examined it and had some concerns.

Bob Smalbach, vice president of Searching for Bigfoot, arrived and concurred. We burned the said hair sample and the hair sample burned into a ball, uncharacteristic of hair.

At that time, we began to expedite the melting process, after receiving the go-ahead from Tom Biscardi, by using a salamander heater to heat the freezer. Within one hour, I pressed on the partially exposed head and it seemed mostly firm, but unusually hollow in one small section – yet another ominous sign.

Within the next hour, upon examining the feet area, there was a break in the ice and I observed the foot, which looked unnatural – reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot.

We immediately contacted Tom Biscardi and advised him of the situation, and he began to take action on his end. We were advised that both Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer admitted at this point it was a costume.

They agreed to sign a promissory note in an admission of what they’d done, and set a meeting for their hotel room in California at 8 a.m. the next day.

On August 18, 2008, Tom Biscardi went to the hotel so they could sign those documents – where Dyer and Whitton were staying – and found out they had left. Searching for Bigfoot is at this time seeking the return of their funds.

The actions and motives of Whitton and Dyer, obviously at this point, are beyond comprehension.

Whitton, who being a police officer for the Clayton County police Department in Georgia, got up before the world and lied, and was complicit to defraud in a felonious manner.

Ricky “Trailer Truck” Dyer, an ex-corrections officer, who now operates mostly as a car salesman and, as I uncovered several weeks ago, is involved in shill-bidding his vehicles on eBay under another screen name.

The bottom line in this is that both organizations sought the truth. The team here, myself, did our jobs, did our duties, reported it such, and there you have it.

We have proven now that Ricky “Trailer Truck” Dyer and Matthew Whitton are liars, and have crossed that line from hoaxers to committing a fraud and a crime.

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Explorers to search Himalayas for yeti

Over the next two months, a team of Japanese explorers hopes to obtain indisputable video evidence confirming the existence of the legendary yeti, the mysterious apelike creature long believed to inhabit the Himalayas of Nepal and Tibet.

A 7-member crew of experienced climbers, led by veteran yeti hunter and mountaineer Yoshiteru Takahashi, will depart Japan on August 16. At their destination in the Dhaulagiri mountains in central Nepal, they will establish base camp at an elevation of 4,300 meters (14,000 ft) and set up an array of automated infrared cameras along a ridge. For six weeks, the men and their state-of-the-art motion-sensitive cameras will monitor the area for signs of the yeti.

The expedition is Takahashi’s third attempt to find the elusive creature. The 65-year-old mountaineer first became interested in the yeti while on a climbing expedition in the Dhaulagiri region in 1971, after fellow climbers saw a mysterious humanoid creature covered in gray fur that appeared to be about 150 centimeters (5 ft) tall and walked upright. In 1994, when Takahashi returned to the region on his first mission to find the yeti, he reportedly found small humanoid footprints in a mountain cave that had a strong animal scent. In 2003, on his second expedition, Takahashi and his crew found more mysterious footprints and observed the silhouettes of unidentified humanoid creatures from a distance.

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Houseneeds.com Reports ‘Shocking’ Rise in Electric Heater Sales

As heating fuel costs continue to sky rocket, many homeowners are searching for supplemental heat sources as a way to decrease their consumption of heating oil. Pellet and wood stoves are selling briskly, in fact, they are starting to sell out in New England, months ahead of the fall heating season. Another concern is finding reliable sources of wood or pellets for the whole winter. Houseneeds.com, The Vermont based internet provider of energy efficient, environmentally friendly heating, cooling and ventilation products, has sold more Pellet and wood stoves in June and July then they sold all last heating season. A rather surprising big seller has been Electric heaters.

“Homeowners are attracted to electric heat because it’s quick and easy,” said Gary Johannesen, Director of Sales for Houseneeds. “If you look at the big picture, the cost of electricity is no longer so cost prohibitive when compared to the current cost of Heating Oil or Gas.”

As sales for Oil fired boilers and furnaces plummet, electric units are selling faster than ever. According to Mr. Johannesen, “Houseneeds sales on electric units are up 25% from last year at this time.”

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Monday, August 18, 2008

It's Official !! The boys in Georgia, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer perpetrated a hoax not only on Tom Biscardi, (who obviously fell for it & continued with it) but on an interested world watching this fiasco unfold.....It's my understanding warrants have been issued. Monday August 18, 2008....

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Bigfoot Discovery Declared A Hoax

Alas, the search for Bigfoot continues.

No evidence has emerged to support claims made last week by two men who said they found the corpse of a seven-foot-tall (two-meter-tall) Bigfoot—an apelike creature of North American legend—in the woods of northern Georgia.

Critics declared the men's story a bold hoax after the pair refused to show the body and following the disclosure that genetic tests from the alleged remains revealed only human and opossum DNA.....

.....Matthew Moneymaker is the president of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, an international network of Bigfoot investigators.

Moneymaker called the press conference an elaborate "profiteering scam" engineered by Biscardi.

"They know there's tremendous interest in seeing photographs of [Bigfoot], and they're trying to get people to pay to see hoaxed photos," he said.

Moneymaker's organization tracks Bigfoot news in the media, and he says Biscardi really scored with his latest exploit.

"There's been at least a thousand stories in newspapers across the world," Moneymaker said. "Before this, the highest record was about 200 articles in newspapers."

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A few miscellaneous pictures from last night, for your viewing pleasure.

Now over 4000 pictures taken with my Canon SX100 IS since I bought it in April. I like it. It's not as light and easy to carry as the Sanyo Xacti is, but it's way lighter and easier to carry than the old Mavica. And it has the potential for better quality pictures/movies than either one. Longer than the slowest, 15 second, shutter setting would be nice for even better night sky photography. Except then I would need a tripod with a clock drive on it to keep the stars from trailing (when I don't want them to). May be a future upgrade.




Big Dipper



One of my usual/favorite subjects, which my regular viewers will of course recognize.





Moonlight



More moonlight.
The Bigfoot press conference and the art of selling a website



What was most revealing about the exhilarating and highly truthful Bigfoot press conference was not what was said.

It was the headgear.

Emblazoned with the URL bigfoottracker.com, a site devoted to their own Bigfoot tracking enterprise, (a site, incidentally, that declares that Bigfoot's DNA has been taken away for 'analization'), the baseball caps worn by Matthew Whitton (aka Gary Parker) and Rick Dyer said so very much.

Their words on MSNBC's Countdown With Keith Olberman said it with a cleanliness only rivaled by Bigfoot's teeth. When asked by the lucky stand-in presenter, Rachel Maddow, whether they were out to make as much money as they could, Mr. Dyer, who had not uttered a word through the entire interview, firmly stated that this was the case. (Please take note, Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg)

These are businessmen who put most Web 1.0 enterprises to shame. Most of Web 2.0 too. They have a geneticist's rigorous grasp of detail. And they have a clearly articulated business plan.

Messrs Whitton and Dyer are afraid of nothing, certainly not of the world's press. After all, they have faced and sniffed the body of Bigfoot. They have dragged his five hundred pounds back to their pickup truck. They have resisted the urge of calling the police, or Animal Rescue. These are men smart and courageous enough to have run Webvan.

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Castle Rock Family ATV Club Members and Interested Parties

A membership meeting will held on Aug 23, 2008 at 12:00pm at the Roadhouse
in Necedah with a local ride following, weather permitting.

Also, the CRFAC Board of Directors will hold its meeting prior to the
membership meeting at 10:30AM. Everyone is welcome to attend.

For the Board of Directors
Roger
Nobody jumps at offer of money to pay for cleaner wood stoves, fireplaces

Bob Elliott has $260,000 burning a hole in his pocket.

The director of the Southwest Clean Air Agency is looking for homeowners willing to take $1,500 to $3,000 to replace old wood stoves and fireplaces with cleaner-burning versions.

Does free money from the government sound too good to be true? Plenty of people apparently think so.

Earlier this month, Elliott mailed hundreds of postcards advertising the giveaway to houses within a half-mile of the agency’s automated gauge in Vancouver’s Ogden neighborhood. The idea is to improve air quality by replacing smoky wood stoves closest to the monitor.

Not a single homeowner responded.

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Like the great bird for which it’s named, the star Vega stands high atop the firmament early this evening. Vega is from an Arabic name that means “the eagle.” From most of the United States, it is the third-brightest star in the night sky.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

We had a wonderful "family" day at the Badger Steam and Gas Engine Show in Baraboo yesterday.

The girls sure enjoyed the flea market and homemade ice cream. Wow, what a show it is. For a guy like me that likes steam engines, it's the only show around here worth going to. You can see old tractors just about anywhere, but steam engines are a lot harder to find. Steam engines are my favorite.


I remember when my dad was in the snowmobile business, there were a few of these around back then. They were kind of cool, but didn't do too well. It was much harder for them to get the traction needed, due to having to pull the weight of the sled and passenger. The more conventional design, with all the weight over the track, worked better.



Since switching to Stihl chainsaws, I haven't needed this many backup saws! Although, one spare comes in handy when you get the other pinched in a log.



Here is where they make the ice cream! Pretty cool, huh?



These Teddy Bears were having fun!



I had been debating on whether to buy an old tractor, an old hit and miss engine, or a steam engine. Well, my real interest is steam, but I do not have the room for a full size steam engine. I think I've found what I want now. A steam truck! I would even load my ATV into the back of this and take it to the riding areas!



Clean clothes, anyone?



My dad spent almost his whole life sitting on one of these! And cranes, graders, earth movers,.........



I'd probably have room to own one of these half scale engines, but I have decided a steam truck would be more fun.



Ahh, and here it is in action, my future purchase! (if I can ever find one for sale)



Steam power is so fascinating! I've got more than enough fuel for it, but no room.
He is 8ft tall and has a roar that could start an avalanche.

Despite this, the yeti has always managed to remain abominably elusive.

But, claims that the legendary beast really does exist took a giant step forward.

Scientists have used microscopes to analyse of strands of hair found caught on some rocks in jungle near the India-Bangladesh border.

The tests showed the thick, wiry hairs do not belong to any of the most common wild animals known to live in the area.

Instead, they bear a 'startling resemblance' to some collected half a century ago by Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary.

Researcher Ian Redmond said: 'The hairs are the most positive evidence yet that a yeti might possibly exist. It might be that the region this animal is inhabiting is remote enough for it to remain undiscovered so far. We are very excited.'

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The owner of a 1991 Chevrolet Silverado that's traveled more than a million miles is parting with what he calls his "old girl."

The 58-year-old northern Wisconsin man attracted attention in February when he reached the million-mile mark while doing a live interview on public radio.

He says that the truck has had four radiators, three gas tanks and five transmissions but that the engine is original.

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

When the world gets sucked in

YOU may not be convinced the body of Bigfoot is stowed in an Esky in the US, but history shows people have fallen for hoaxes time and time again.

Sceptics believe two men who claim to have discovered the corpse of Bigfoot are pulling our legs, particularly after the pair admitted to faking a video interview with a scientist.

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Hee hee!
The Moon is full today as it lines up opposite the Sun. The full Moon of August is known as the Grain Moon or Green Corn Moon. The Moon will be partially eclipsed early today as it passes through Earth's shadow. The eclipse is not visible from the United States, however.
MONTPELIER, Vt.—To offset rising fuel costs, the state has launched a firewood subsidy, hoping to supply low- and moderate-income Vermonters with firewood to fill their woodstoves this winter.

The Douglas administration last month unveiled "Wood Warms," a three-part initiative that will provide a limited supply of firewood. One part relies on a decades-old initiative that the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation is beefing up to meet rising demand.

"We used to be more reliant on our backyards and forests for fuel," says Jonathan Wood, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. "I think we have to head back there in the future. We're kind of going forward into the past."....

....The state also plans to supply dry, split wood to low-income Vermonters who don't qualify for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. LIHEAP pays 60 percent of winter heating bills, but only covers residents who earn less than 125 percent of the poverty level.

It's unclear how much seasoned wood will be available. Volunteers, the National Guard and possibly even prison crews will split the wood, Wood said.

"The concept is to get the wood from state forests to concentration zones, then get it cut up and sent out to the people who need it," Wood said. "I'm trying to find every stick of wood I can for people to burn this winter."

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Friday, August 15, 2008

what is best set up to take pictures of running water with my canon sx100?
This question was recently asked in a Google search. Here's what I do:

These aren't water pictures. I have examples somewhere back in my archives but found these first. They're taken using the same methods as water pictures.


To show motion in your water (or fire), set your camera to Tv (shutter priority) and slow your shutter speed all the way down (15 seconds). The SX100 will compensate for the light conditions automatically to keep from over-exposing the picture while choosing the slowest shutter speed possible. Use a tripod. Less light = more motion will appear in the picture (cloudy days, evening, shade, etc.) Water or fire will look almost painted on.



If you want the opposite effect, do the same except choose the fastest shutter speed to freeze the action. More light = sharper "frozen" action.


And that's all there is to it. The camera does the complicated stuff as long as you know how to tell it what you want. The final shutter speed that the camera uses to actually take the picture will most likely not be the speed you told it to use, but will be the most extreme speed that it could use under the conditions.
Bushnell Responds to Bigfoot Capture Claims -
$1,000,000 prize being offered by binocular manufacturer Bushnell Corporation in conjunction with Field & Stream magazine for photographic proof of Sasquatch's existence


"We have seen the news reports and Internet photos of the alleged Bigfoot capture. The contest rules posted on our website clearly state that the Bigfoot must be captured on a Trail Camera and verified by our panel of judges. No photos have been submitted to Bushnell at this time. We look forward to their statement and the results of the press conference on Friday." - Bushnell Press Relations Department

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30 Ways to Save: pellet vs. wood stoves
The heated debate over which is more efficient


Pellets burn more efficiently, but wood stoves will heat a larger area.

"The pellet stoves are pretty well designed to heat a room or smaller area,' said Roger Korenberg, engineer for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources energy center.

Korenberg says pellet stoves themselves cost more because of fancier gadgets like blowers that help circulate the heat. With wood stoves the technology is older.

So which is better to own?

"If you want to do the work of adding wood to a wood stove that probably dollar for dollar is gonna be a little bit cheaper," stated Korenberg, "But if you like the convenience of putting it on and going away then the pellet stove is a good option."

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M11 - The "Wild Duck" Star Cluster

Compact and rich, the “Wild Duck Cluster” is perhaps the finest open star cluster visible to backyard astronomers. One look at its dazzling stars set against an inky dark sky and you will have no doubt that life is worth living.

The Basics

• Set in a star-clogged section of the constellation Scutum, the Wild Duck cluster is easy to find… it’s just south and west of the tail of the constellation Aquila, the Eagle.

• You can see M11 in binoculars and smaller telescopes, but it’s surprisingly small and faint… almost like a loose globular cluster. A 4-inch or larger telescope will resolve the cluster into a tiny swarm of sparkling white stars.

• With an 8-inch or larger scope at 100-150x, you’ll see hundreds of tiny star points across the field of view… incredibly rich.

• British Admiral William Smyth imagined M11 as a V-shaped configuration of stars that reminded him of wild ducks flying in formation. Can you see this shape with your telescope?

A Deeper Look....

Thursday, August 14, 2008

BREAKING NEWS

Hoax, Hoax, Hoax! Or, maybe not?..........

From The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization:



The Georgia "Bigfoot Body" story is a hoax started by two hoaxers in Georgia. The hoax is now being orchestrated by a veteran bigfoot hoaxer named Carmine Thomas Biscardi.

Here are two of the YouTube videos put out by the two Georgia boys who started this hoax. In the first video the lying sheriff deputy, Matthew Gary Whitton, goes to the airport to meet a "scientist" who he claims has come to Georgia to examine the "body." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRcKClMRz4I

Various people figured out that the "scientist" was actually the deputy's own brother, Martin Whitton.

Busted.
In the second YouTube video the sheriff deputy admits to the hoax ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMEsD3_J2DQ ... but then continues to lie about having a "bigfoot body".

These Georgia clowns are lying and perpetrating a scam. The story is definitely a hoax. The "body" is a Halloween costume in a freezer, with some animal entrails laid on top. The sheriff deputy is going to be disciplined (and probably fired) when he returns to work from medical leave, according to the Clayton County (Georgia) Sheriff's department.
These two buffoons do not run bigfoot expeditions and never have. That's just another one of their lies. They are simply two clowns in Georgia who put some bogus videos on YouTube that got some attention. They initially offered bigfoot expeditions because they were aware of the popularity of BFRO expeditions.

When they initially got some press attention in Georgia, the press attention attracted the legendary hoaxer, Carmine Thomas Biscardi. Biscardi has been pushing hoaxed bigfoot evidence for several years now. He is widely known on the bigfoot research scene as a charlatan, a parasite, a hoaxer, and a scam artist. He perpetrated a similar hoax on a nationally syndicated radio show in 2005, and later confessed to the hoax. He recently announced a press conference for Friday in San Francisco or Palo Alto, in order to attract lots of attention to himself -- attention which he plans to parlay into various profiteering ventures, the profits from which he has undoubtedly agreed to share with the two original hoaxers, Whitton and Dyer.
Legitimate bigfoot researchers have mixed emotions about this whole affair. On the one hand, it's sickening to watch this ridiculous hoax receive as much attention as it has gotten. On the other hand, this is Biscardi's final hurrah. Reporters headed to the press conference are prepared to expose him as a liar and hoaxer. The media and the public will never take him seriously ever again after that, and he will finally go away.

"But could it be for real afterall?"
If Biscardi actually brings the body itself to the press conference, and he hands it over to the Department of Anthropology at Standford ... and THEY declare that it's a real bigfoot ... then we'll admit we were wrong about the whole thing.
But instead, here's what you might expect from the press conference: Biscardi will waltz in with two smiling impostor Russian "scientists" ... who will say whatever Biscardi has paid them to say about the "body" that he'll never allow the press to examine in the flesh.
Carmine Thomas Biscardi's only alleged career background is that of a "Las Vegas promoter" ... which Americans understand means any manner of sleazy vocations in that town.

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This Saturday, August 16th, people on every continent except North America can see a lunar eclipse. At maximum, around 2110 UT, 81% of the Moon will be inside the red core of Earth's shadow. It should be a good show.
New UFO Mystery Surfaces

A large object with a turquoise hue plummeted out of the sky earlier this summer and plowed into the earth south of Las Vegas near Needles, California.

Eyewitnesses say this was no meteorite, especially since a bunch of helicopters came looking for it and then hauled it away.

The object was seen in the early morning hours of May 14. It appeared to crash into the ground just west of the Colorado River. And that's when things got interesting for residents of the area.

Somewhere in the rough terrain just west of the Colorado River and south of Needles is a point of impact, maybe some burn marks, created by something that fell from the sky. Frank Costigan saw it because he got up at 3 a.m. to let his cat out -- a fiery object that flashed across the sky, but it wasn't a meteor he says.

"It was bright, bright enough that it illuminated the ground," he said.

For seven years, Costigan worked as the chief of airport security at L.A.X. He says the mystery object flew out of the north east, heading southwest, traveling very fast, but at one point it slowed down, then sped up again.

"It went behind a hill, and I waited to see if I could hear it crash because as big as it was, it was bound to make noise," he said.

But he didn't hear a crash. Hours later, David Hayes, the owner of KTOX Radio in Needles, was coming to work when he spotted an odd formation of dark vehicles getting off the highway. He drew a picture of the lead vehicle, a large truck with a dome on top and a black structure that reminded him of a stealth fighter.

"It seemed like it was some kind of surveillance vehicle -- four-wheel drive. It had government plates, U.S. government plates and behind it were a couple of vans that looked like support vehicles," said Hayes.

The men inside had a military bearing, Hayes said, but weren't in uniform. He made eye contact with one of the drivers and the guy followed him. Later in the day, one of the vehicles was parked outside the station, seemingly conducting a surveillance of the place...............

..................Bob says he saw at least five helicopters flying in formation, including a large sky crane. The crane picked up the oval shaped object, still glowing, and flew away, heading in the direction of Las Vegas. One odd detail, the choppers arrived only 17 minutes after the object crashed. He described it to Hayes.

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If you look south after sunset the next few nights, you will be facing the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It's above the "spout" of the teapot-shaped constellation Sagittarius, which is to the right of the Moon at nightfall.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

BREAKING NEWS

Georgia Gorilla: Bigfoot Body’s First Photo!

In a news conference on Friday, August 15th, to be held in California, the DNA results of a probable new species of primate, call it “Bigfoot,” “Georgia Bigfoot,” or “Georgia Gorilla,” if you wish, will be announced.

Also a photograph of the body was to be released, but a mistaken uploading and premature release of the photograph tonight on the Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. website has rushed that timetable.

Is it real? It certainly looks like the real deal, and with a surprising variety of features.

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UPDATE:
The above linked website has been down due to heavy traffic (one report of a million hits per minute?). A short news blurb appeared on FOX. Full press release with DNA results expected Friday, August 15th. Hopefully not just an elaborate hoax.

Here are some of the vital statistics on the "Bigfoot" body:

*The creature is seven feet seven inches tall.

*It weighs over five hundred pounds.

*The creature looks like it is part human and part ape-like.

*It is male.

*It has reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.

*It has two arms and two legs, and five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.

*The feet are flat and similar to human feet.

*Its footprint is sixteen and three-quarters inches long and five and three-quarters inches wide at
the heel.

*From the palm of the hand to the tip of the middle finger, its hands are eleven and three-quarters inches
long and six and one-quarter inches wide.

*The creatures walk upright. (Several of them were sighted on the same day that the body was found.)

*The teeth are more human-like than ape-like.

*DNA tests are currently being done and the current DNA and photo evidence will be presented at the press
conference on Friday, August 15th.
Motorists respond to soaring gas prices with record miles cut
Report: 9.6 billion fewer miles logged on roads in May


In the latest reflection of $4-a-gallon gas, Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in May than in May 2007, a 3.7 percent decline, the government reported Monday.

Traffic normally increases in May, which ends with the Memorial Day holiday weekend that marks the traditional start of the summer driving season. The decline was the third-largest monthly drop in the 66 years that the Federal Highway Administration has tracked miles driven and the largest drop for any May.

The data released Monday show that Americans drove 29.8 billion fewer miles in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year, a 2.4 percent drop. Americans have driven 40.5 billion fewer miles from November through May compared with the same period a year earlier.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the continued decline in driving signals long-term changes in the nation's transportation habits and highlights the need to find new ways to pay for roads and bridges.

The federal Highway Trust Fund, which funds road construction with gas taxes, faces a $3.1 billion shortfall in fiscal year 2009 because drivers are buying less gas.

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Test Your Disaster I.Q.

Check out this quiz based on Amanda Ripley's book The Unthinkable.

My score was 8/11 = survival expert.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The grand total of meteors last night = 2!

At 10pm, it was still too cloudy here to see well, in addition to the Moon lighting the sky up. Nevertheless, I did manage to see one through high, thin clouds. This morning at 4am, the clouds and Moon were gone, but still only saw one more.
Jackson County ATV Trails update:

The Oak Ridge trail will be opened on a temporary basis on Friday August 15th. The trail will be closed for 4-5 days for final repairs which should begin in the next couple of weeks. DO NOT DRIVE AROUND CLOSED GATES! Please be careful and cautious when riding and be aware of potential flooded sections of trail.
Vermonters will have access to more state trees, low-interest loans and energy advice to help them heat their homes this winter, with a little culinary advice thrown in to make their food budget go farther.

Those were among the plans state officials and legislators unveiled as Vermonters brace for what promises to be the highest heating bills in history. The help will cost the state about $3 million to $4 million, officials said.

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A giant tags along behind the Moon tonight: Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. It looks like a brilliant star, and it's a little to the left of the Moon at nightfall. They will scuttle quite low across the south during the night.

Monday, August 11, 2008

One of the things I did today


A logger buddy of mine called situations like these "widow-makers". Guess where he is now.



All cut up and Mrs. Reverend is not a widow, yet.
The Perseid meteor shower is at its peak late tonight. At best, you might see a few dozen "shooting stars" racing across the sky in just a few hours. Unfortunately, the Moon is in the way for most of the night. Its light will overpower the view of its fainter meteors.
Today: Cassini will fly over the tiger stripes of Saturn's moon Enceladus and take high resolution images of vents spewing water and organic molecules into space. Cassini might see "banks of snow where icy particles in the jets fall back to the ground"--or something else "geologically unusual."

updates....
Getting the home fires burning

Yikes!

That may be one of the more acceptable exclamations people are using when they receive their heating oil contracts from their suppliers.

For Ridgefield resident Jay Whelan, the cost estimate he received from his oil supplier this month was such an eye-opener that he did more than complain. He decided it was time to buy a wood-burning stove.

"Our oil bill for last winter ran between $2,000 and $2,500. This winter it would be over $4,500," he said. "That's a big difference. That was it."

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Open Star Clusters

Like dazzling jewels set against the black velvet of deep space, open (or galactic) star clusters showcase glittering new stars as they emerge from their dusky birth in giant molecular clouds.

The Basics

• As a giant cloud of gas and dust coalesces in the arms of a spiral galaxy, tiny clumps in the cloud collapse and ignite into groups of hundreds to thousands of young stars. The hottest of these stars light up the remaining gas and dust, resulting in glowing gas clouds like the Carina and Orion nebulae.

• After several million years, the hottest stars of the new cluster blow off the remaining gas and dust. What remains is a group of dazzling new stars loosely held together by gravity.

• Over many tens of millions of years, as the cluster revolves around the galaxy, it encounters other stars and dust clouds that disrupt the cluster and eject its members into the spiral arms of the galaxy. There, they continue to revolve about the galactic center by themselves or in loose “stellar associations”. Some of the stars of Ursa Major are part of an association and were once members of an open cluster.

A Deeper Look

• Open star clusters are only found near the arms of spiral and irregular galaxies, where there is abundant gas and dust. Elliptical galaxies no longer have enough gas and dust to sustain the creation of new stars.

• The greatest concentration of open clusters in our skies lies along the Milky Way in Cygnus, Scutum, Scorpius, and Sagittarius. For that reason, open clusters are sometimes called “galactic clusters”.

• Most open clusters stay together for a few tens of millions of years. One of the oldest is the lovely Beehive cluster. It was massive enough at birth to hold itself together for nearly four hundred million years.

• There are nearly 1000 known open clusters in our skies, and likely 10,000 more hidden behind the disk of our galaxy. Some famous open clusters: Pleiades (M45), Beehive (M44), Hyades, and the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

I didn't see any auroras last night here, at least until midnight while I was looking. But some people did. Got the usual nightly Moon and Jupiter photos though! I know, I know, Zzzzzzzzz.


Jupiter. One moon must have been hiding behind the planet.



The Moon among the stars of the southern Milky Way.



And of course, last night's Moon.
'Looked 8 feet tall' "Sasquatch" spotted north of Grassy Narrows Canada

A trip to pick blueberries last week bagged something much larger for a Grassy Narrows woman and her mother.

On July 22, Helen Pahpasay and her mother left the Ontario First Nation, located about 80 km northeast of Kenora, to go berry picking.

While driving in their truck to a spot about 25 km north of Grassy Narrows, Pahpasay said she spotted a tall, black creature roughly 15 metres ahead.

"It looked about eight feet tall and it was upright," she said.

Pahpasay said she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until her mother confirmed she was seeing the same thing in front of them.


Near the area where Pahpasay reported seeing the tall figure, they say they found a large footprint with six toes near a beaver pond.


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Mystery vibrations have Green Bay couple spinning
Ehrfurths at loss to explain home's annoying noises


Bob and Leona Ehrfurth are very sensitive to the possibility that people might think they're crazy.

For the record, they're not — but they are being driven that way.

For two years now, the Ehrfurths have been enduring an annoying, persistent noise in their home — a low, motor-like rumble accompanied by a vibration. They can't figure out what's causing it, and it's been a challenge getting others to believe them because the problem starts and stops.

They've lived in the house at 2048 Mary Queen Road for 42 years, and it's only been the last two years that it's been a problem.

"It's like there's a semi parked right outside with the engine running, but when you look out, there isn't one," said Leona Ehrfurth, 76.

And it quits at the most inconvenient times. Like when they bring city officials, acoustic experts or news reporters into their house to experience the problem.

City officials spent $1,000 to hire a company to do some testing this spring; the tester heard no noise, and his equipment failed to measure vibration of any significance.

Nicholson hoped the equipment could be used inside one of the factories in the general neighborhood, but Municipal Judge Jerry Hanson wouldn't sign the inspection warrant that would allow that.

"There has to be some reasonable suspicion of some type of violation you could point to," Hanson said. "Nobody's been able to come up with anything that would point to anything specific."

"Now they KNOW we're crazy," Bob Ehrfurth, 75, grumbled after explaining how a technical expert installed vibration-monitoring equipment in their house and failed to measure anything of significance.

"Imagine putting your pillow on the hood of a running car — you can't sleep through that," Leona Ehrfurth said. "You get this pressure in your ear. Sometimes I have to get out of the house, because I can't take it anymore."

Bob Ehrfurth can sleep through it, but he doesn't like it.

"It doesn't matter if the windows are open or closed — you still hear it," he said. "It's worse in the winter."

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Saturday, August 9, 2008


Last night's Moon through thin, wispy clouds. - Closeup, no clouds.



Woof! Woof! Snoopy the toad sniffer.



What the hell?! First time I've ever seen this. Ha ha!
Synchronicity appears in a Fields of Wiltshire

On the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the twenty first century the number eight appears in one of the fields of Wiltshire.

The number eight is a very meaningful number to the Chinese as it is also to many religions of the world.

The sheer scale of this formation is a marvel to behold. Many people were walking among its many circles in awe and wonder


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“Something terrifying happened in the air one day in the late summer of 1939-and to this day the incident is shrouded in secrecy.

All that is known is that a military transport plane left the Marine naval Air Force Base in San Diego at 3:30 one afternoon. It and its thirteen man crew were making a routine flight to Honolulu. Three hours later, as the plane was over the Pacific Ocean, a frantic distress signal was sounded. Then the radio signal died.

A little later the plane limped back to base and made an emergency landing. Ground crew members rushed to the craft and when they boarded, they were horrified to see twelve dead men. The only survivor was the copilot, who, though badly injured, had stayed alive long enough to bring the plane back. A few minutes he was dead, too.

All of the bodies had large, gaping wounds. Even weirder, the pilot and copilot had emptied their .45 Colt automatic pistols at something. The empty shells were found lying on the floor of the cockpit. A foul, sulfuric odor pervaded the interior of the craft.

The exterior of the airplane was badly damaged, looking as it had been struck by missiles…The incident was successfully hushed up and did not come to light for fifteen years, when investigator Robert Coe Gardner learned of it from someone who was there. They mystery of what the crew encountered in midair that afternoon in 1939 has never been solved.”

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Phoenix Mars Team Opens Window on Scientific Process

Phoenix Mars mission scientists spoke on research in progress concerning an ongoing investigation of perchlorate salts detected in soil analyzed by the wet chemistry laboratory aboard NASA's Phoenix Lander.

"Finding perchlorates is neither good nor bad for life, but it does make us reassess how we think about life on Mars," said Michael Hecht of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., lead scientist for the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA), the instrument that includes the wet chemistry laboratory.

If confirmed, the result is exciting, Hecht said, "because different types of perchlorate salts have interesting properties that may bear on the way things work on Mars if -- and that's a big 'if ' -- the results from our two teaspoons of soil are representative of all of Mars, or at least a significant portion of the planet."

The Phoenix team had wanted to check the finding with another lander instrument, the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which heats soil and analyzes gases driven off. But as that TEGA experiment was underway last week, speculative news reports surfaced claiming the team was holding back a major finding regarding habitability on Mars.

"The Phoenix project has decided to take an unusual step" in talking about the research when its scientists are only about half-way through the data collection phase and have not yet had time to complete data analysis or perform needed laboratory work, said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. Scientists are still at the stage where they are examining multiple hypotheses, given evidence that the soil contains perchlorate.

"We decided to show the public science in action because of the extreme interest in the Phoenix mission, which is searching for a habitable environment on the northern plains of Mars," Smith added. "Right now, we don't know whether finding perchlorate is good news or bad news for possible life on Mars."

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Friday, August 8, 2008


Last night's sunset.
ISO speed: 200
Shutter speed: 0.8 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Zoom (Focal length): 33mm (equiv.)*
Exposure bias: +0.0 EV
Original image size: 640 x 480 Pixels
Flash used: No
Date taken: Thursday, August 07, 2008
Time taken: 9:06 PM
Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SX100 IS



Last night's Moon.
ISO speed: 200
Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/4.3
Zoom (Focal length): 330mm (equiv.)*
Exposure bias: +0.0 EV
Original image size: 640 x 480 Pixels
Flash used: No
Date taken: Thursday, August 07, 2008
Time taken: 9:05 PM
Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SX100 IS
In mythology, Orion, the hunter, was killed by a scorpion. To keep these enemies apart, the gods placed them on opposite sides of the sky. Orion is in view in winter, while Scorpius is best seen in summer. In fact, the scorpion is in good view tonight. Its brightest star, Antares, is to the left of the Moon at nightfall.
The 2008 Perseid Meteor Shower

The 2008 Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12th and it should be a good show.

"The time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday, August 12th," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "There should be plenty of meteors--perhaps one or two every minute."

The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is far away, currently located beyond the orbit of Uranus, a trail of debris from the comet stretches all the way back to Earth. Crossing the trail in August, Earth will be pelted by specks of comet dust hitting the atmosphere at 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a flimsy speck of dust makes a vivid streak of light when it disintegrates--a meteor! Because, Swift-Tuttle's meteors streak out of the constellation Perseus, they are called "Perseids."

Serious meteor hunters will begin their watch early, on Monday evening, August 11th, around 9 pm when Perseus first rises in the northeast. This is the time to look for Perseid Earthgrazers--meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond.

"Earthgrazers are long, slow and colorful; they are among the most beautiful of meteors," says Cooke. He cautions that an hour of watching may net only a few of these at most, but seeing even one can make the whole night worthwhile.

A warm summer night. Bright meteors skipping overhead. And the peak is yet to come. What could be better?

The answer lies halfway up the southern sky: Jupiter and the gibbous Moon converge on August 11th and 12th for a close encounter in the constellation Sagittarius. It's a grand sight visible even from light-polluted cities.

For a while the beautiful Moon will interfere with the Perseids, lunar glare wiping out all but the brightest meteors. Yin-yang. The situation reverses itself at 2 am on Tuesday morning, August 12th, when the Moon sets and leaves behind a dark sky for the Perseids. The shower will surge into the darkness, peppering the sky with dozens and perhaps hundreds of meteors until dawn.

For maximum effect, "get away from city lights," Cooke advises. The brightest Perseids can be seen from cities, he allows, but the greater flurry of faint, delicate meteors is visible only from the countryside. (Scouts, this is a good time to go camping.)

The Perseids are coming. Enjoy the show!

sky map and more....

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Wood becoming more attractive heating option

Josh Vavra wants a cord of hardwood firewood so badly, he's offering tickets to a Red Sox-Yankees game to get it.

Vavra has used oil to heat his home in the past, but the 30-year-old Derry resident switched to using a wood stove last winter because of rising oil costs.

So far this year, he has found local dealers couldn't supply him with the dry hardwood he needs, which prompted him to turn to the online classifieds Web site Craigslist to trade what he calls one precious commodity for another.

"I've cruised Craigslist, and have seen people trying to trade hardwood for other things, or vice versa," Vavra said. "People are trying to trade vehicles and Jet Skis for hardwood. I don't have any of those toys to barter, and the (baseball) teams seem to frown on ticket scalping. . . . It seems like a win-win."

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The Moon is at first-quarter today. Many people call this a "half" Moon because of its appearance. The "first-quarter" designation means that the Moon is a quarter of the way through its monthly cycle of phases.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

M51, a system that consists of a large, bright galaxy and a smaller, fainter companion, is just below the star that marks the end of the Big Dipper's handle. It is easily visible through modest telescopes. The dipper is high in the northwest this evening.
Feeling Winter's Chill



At a time normally set aside for carefree vacations on the beach, thoughts have turned to cold winter days and the specter of escalating heating oil bills.

Motorists can, and already have, cut down on gasoline consumption by driving more slowly and shorter distances, carpooling, walking or riding bikes and scooters. But there's no simple solution to keeping one's house toasty when oil costs twice what it did last winter.

Some homeowners living in modest-sized dwellings are predicting heating bills of $5,000 or more. That's enough to induce chills, especially for those whose hot water runs off the furnace instead of through a separate water heater. Cold showers, anyone?

Not since the Carter administration have water-cooler conversations been so dominated by the subject of heating alternatives such as pellet stoves, wood stoves, coal stoves and solar panels. Those options beat cranking up the thermostat and burning oil that's becoming as precious as gold.

Pellet stoves are so popular that some stove shops are telling customers they can't get them until January. The compressed sawdust pellets that fuel the stoves are also back-ordered. One New Hampshire dealer reported that sales of pellet stoves increased as much as 500 percent. Furnaces that burn wood or coal also are selling far more vigorously than usual.

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