Contents: How to core your D.C. Unit (Lucas); Jack Rabbits Enduro; Everett Brashear Wins Bay Meadows Championship; Dodge City Mid West Motorcycle Rally; Dodge City Highlights; Awards won by riders at Dodge City; BSA Road Test (Clubman Gold Star); Joe Leonard wins Windber Road Race; Jeff Smith in Hawkstone Victory; Testing the Lambretta Scooter; more

1955 September Cycle Motorcycle Magazine Back-Issue available at www.DadsVintageAds.com in the “ Motorcycle Magazines” category

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Sorry for the two days 0ff from blogging. On Xmas day, the winds were so fierce and the air so cold in western Kansas we never left my in-law’s Internet-absent house. The next day, we did get out of the house – despite still frigid wintery weather – but our trusty Internet Cafe in Dodge City wasn’t WiFi-ready for whatever reason. The truly good news is that during 18 hours of driving, we managed to dodge any major troublesome form of precipitation. It happened all around us but not when we were present – the snow and rain and ice seemed to be just behind us or to the south or north. My stepdaughter’s mom arrived to meet us in Wichita today after digging out of a record snow in Oklahoma City. In Kansas City, which had been snow-free last Wednesday, some of the major streets like Broadway and Main were still remarkably messy (not messy enough to keep us from picking up some take-away bbq from Gates). En route to Des Moines, Iowa was even snowier – and prettier – than when we’d left five days ago. Fortunately our street in Des Moines, which is often the last to be plowed, was snow-packed but navigable. So here we are, feeling lucky that we made it to western Kansas and back during a major midwestern storm without incident. Now we need to make sure our friends, traveling every which way, also fared well.

A casino has opened in Dodge City, reviving memories of the once- raucous cowtown that inspired television’s “Gunsmoke.”

Revenues from the new Boot Hill Casino and Resort will go to the state.

The casino complex opened with 20,000 square feet of gambling space, 584 slot machines and 12 tables for blackjack, poker, craps and roulette, along with a bar, a restaurant and a snack bar. The second phase, to be completed by 2012, includes a 124-room hotel.

Dodge City seemed a natural site for a casino to some local officials and legislators, given its history as a wicked western town in the 1870s and 1880s and a place where famed lawman Wyatt Earp also was a dealer for a card game called faro. The city once had 18 or 19 saloons — including the famous Long Branch — and most had gambling, said Jeff Thorpe, the president of a local group that lobbied for the casino law.

The wild times led to a backlash, as Dodge City residents sought a more sedate community, and the gambling disappeared. Eventually, the cowtown of the past lived on only in “Gunsmoke,” which originally aired from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Boot Hill is the first complex built under a 2007 state law authorizing one casino in each of four areas to generate revenue for the state. A private developer built the casino and will manage it, but the state lottery owns the rights to the gambling and the gambling equipment, down to the cards and dice. Kansas is the only state with such an arrangement, according to the American Gaming Association.

We made it with no problem from Des Moines to Dodge City (technically the small town of Wright, outside Dodge) and it’s a good thing we’re not traveling today. It is bitter cold, with fierce winds, making an already harsh landscape look even harsher, the trees even more battered and windswept, the land flat, frozen,empty, the sky a dull, slightly menacing shade of blue-gray (is there snow in them there clouds.)

Emma, my trusty computer tech, is here with me at the wonderful new Cup of Jo-nes on Wyatt Earp Blvd. (the kids here “drag Earp” for fun) which has great chai and much-welcomed WiFi. Thank you, thank you. Our drive yesterday featured various forms of precip – starting with the worst, frozen drizzle (is there such a thing a “freezing fog”?) outside Des Moines, then rain in southern Iowa and northern Missouri, brief sunshine in K.C. then dense fog, which ruined my favorite part of the trip – the scenic Flint Hills of Kansas, which were shrouded beyond recognition. By Wichita, we just had wind, a lot of fierce wind (which just blew open the heavy wooden door to this coffee house) . The wind also knocked out the heat at D’s mother’s house so we had a very cold night and morning until some neighbors came and started fiddling with the boiler.

Who knows what weather comes next? Doesn’t look like much snow but we may get more ice – and the wind is likely to remain fierce. We will probably try to get to a movie in the mall and maybe our favorite mexican restaurant in Dodge, otherwise we’re not likely to check out the  tourist hotspots which include A reproduction of Boot Hill (my husband had a friend who had a summer job playing the part of the “Drunken Indian” there in in the 1970’s. I’m thinking that part has been eliminated these days), the “Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame & Gunfighters Wax Museum” (no joke), and the Bridle Bit Museum.” We’re rather much-welcome spend time with family!

Cover: Joe Leonard, 2 time winner of Dodge City 100-Mile Grand Prix; Contents: 1961 Harley-Davidsons; Peoria T.T. Nationals; Springfield 50-Miler; Royal Enfield Road Test; Jack Pine Enduro; Mount Fuji Rally; more

1960 November Cycle Motorcycle Magazine Back Issue available at www.DadsVintageAds.com in the “ Motorcycle Magazines” category

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Top left Photo: Start of the 100-Mile Grand Prix Road Race; Bottom left photo: Top three Grand Prix finishers line up after race. From left are winner Joe Leonard (HD), 2nd Larry Palmgren (HD), 3rd Larry Beall (BSA)

1960 Dodge City 100-Mile Grand Prix Motorcycle Road Race 5-Page Article available at www.DadsVintageAds.com

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I wasn’t the first patron in the door at the new Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City, Kansas, but I’ll bet I was one of the first five hundred.  As you may know, the first state-owned casino in Kansas held a soft-opening today, ahead of their ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, December 16th. My first impressions of Boot Hill Casino are favorable, mostly because I’ve never been to a casino on opening day.

Things seemed to be running smoothly as I arrived in the late afternoon following my day at the office. It was brightly lit, not too smoky, and the atmosphere was pleasant. I didn’t eat in the restaurant, but my buddy Mitch and I had a couple of beers at the bar to celebrate his birthday, and they were less than $5 a piece. Boot Hill Casino has a bar by the restaurant on one side, and a saloon in the front corner. No Can-Can dancers, in case you were wondering….

The Wichita Eagle newspaper said almost two hundred people were waiting outside when they opened the doors at 1 p.m. Tuesday. By 4 p.m. when I arrived, there were several hundred people inside. I imagine as people get off work, they’ll head out to the west edge of Dodge City to check out the new entertainment in town.

I’m not a big gambler, but I like to watch people. There was certainly a wide cross-section of people playing on opening day, and everybody still seemed happy at 5 o’clock. I dropped a dollar in a penny slot machine, and immediately won $5.25! If you don’t count the beers that we drank at the bar, then I’m up for the day!

I won’t be here every day after work, but I probably will stop in from time to time just to see how the place fares.  I’m one of those optimistic people who think this will be good for the community, and tourism in southwestern Kansas.  I’m just wondering how many Sedgwick County license plates I’ll see in the parking lot.

The much-anticipated opening of Dodge City’s state-owned Boot Hill Casino is set for a soft opening Tuesday, December 15th. It’s been a long time in coming, and many in this southwest Kansas tourist and cattle town hope it will be worth the wait.

As bickering and political positioning have stalled development of other state casinos in Wyandotte and Sumner counties, the State of Kansas and Dodge City community leaders have managed to bring at least one gambling mecca to a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday, December 16th.

Dodge City has fairly low unemployment at just over 4 percent. Over 200 new jobs have been created by the casino, but most of them won’t pay much more than the wages of an hourly worker at the city’s meat packing plants. Because the people who took those jobs at the casino left their jobs in retail or the meat packing industry, those everyday jobs will have to be filled by someone. The question is, who will move to Dodge City to fill those jobs.

I think Dodge City could use a boost in the tourism industry, and this is sure to bring it. I hope it continues for a long time.  I’m going to the casino on opening day, just to see what it’s like. I hope they have good beer, and loose slots.

As part of a non-sustainable push to secure government funding, we are temporarily rebranding Fancy Plans as “blogucational” and fully compliant with the No Troll Left Behind Act. As part of our educational lip service, we are pleased to present our well-rounded profile of the great state of Kansas, birthplace of “The Wave.”

(It may also be noted that we have previously provided such educational features as the Fancy Plans Guide to Wisconsin, the Fancy Plans Guide to Minnesota and the Fancy Plans Guide to North American Trees.)

Kansas: home of the first flag entirely created with MS Paint.

Kansas
A dry, dusty state whose most prominent geographic feature is the horizon, Kansas has long been associated with the twin industries of agriculture and ranching. Referred to as “America’s Breadbasket,” Kansas has also been saddled with less-complimentary slogans such as, “America’s Dustbowl,” “America’s Killing Floor” and most recently, “What Happens in Kansas Doesn’t Matter Anywhere Else.”

Kansas has fought (mostly unsuccessfully) its image as a state routinely ravaged by tornadoes and infested with witches. This image has been reinforced by Kansas’ dry and dusty prog rock (especially Dust in the Wind; Arid as Hell) and Elton John’s hit song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, in which he deserts Kansas for its lack of shiny red shoes and singing midgets.

Should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself unable to fly over the mostly fruitless plains, here are some points of “interest” which should fully earn any sarcastic air quotes you wish to deploy while recounting this visit to annoyed loved ones and co-workers.

What you call "farming," I call "stealing from God."

Topeka Wind Farm
Contrary to popular misconception, the Wind Farm does not actually produce wind but rather reaps the benefits of an energy source produced by someone else. (Much like a “collective” farm or California’s parasitic electricity usage.)

A joyous Chiefs player receives news he has just been traded.

The Kansas City Chiefs
Long gone are the days of regular season competitiveness and playoff appearances. Presently the franchise is attempting to become the New England Patriots farm team through the acquisition of cast-off benchwarmers and assistant coaches. Catch this excercise in futility while you still can as the owners have made attempts to relocate the team to New Haven, CT, where they hope to complete the metaphor as the Connecticut Minutemen.

The Royals run another "Buy One, Get Three Empty Seats" special.

The Kansas City Royals
Speaking of exercises in futility… The Kansas City Royals continue their bold experiment to operate a major league franchise on a minor league budget. This stems from a settlement reached with their last superstar (George Brett) in which they have agreed to retire his number and avoid competitiveness until “ten (10) years after Brett’s death.”

After four sheaves, Art Mitchum found himself pitching a shutout. So to speak.

Wichita Threshing Dome
Although a yearly high point for many Kansas locals, what with its heady combination of agriculture and pointless competition, the Threshing Dome can be very intimidating for the uninitiated. Trying to grasp the nuance of chaff dispersal only becomes more difficult as the competition heats up and bloodthirsty cries of “Two men enter; one man leaves!” fill the dry and dusty air.

Two members of the Dodge City chapter of Improv Everywhere demonstrate the Wild West Reacharound.

Dodge City, Kansas
The ending point of many dry and dusty cattle drives, Dodge City is also famous for playing host to Wyatt Earp’s early experiments with vigilante justice. In addition to slapping a male prostitute, Earp also winged alleged gunman George Hoy and gave a stern talking-to to hitman Clay Allison.

Visitors often note that Tombstone, AZ is a much more exciting destination, if equally dry and dusty. The Dodge City Chamber of Commerce has countered by stating that “although Tombstone bears more historical locations and an incredible performance by Val Kilmer, the O.K. Corral is just that. ‘O.K.’ If you like your entertainment to be merely serviceable, why not stay in Dodge City and visit our old-timey Adequate General Store or grab a bite to eat at the locally renowned Passable Buffet, which has been hailed by Zagat’s as ‘not terrible; you could do worse.’”

-CLT

      HOLLIDAY IN TOMBSTONE  (ISBN 978-1-932695-69-4)

      Part two of S.M Ballard’s DOC HOLLIDAY TRILOGY

      John Henry “Doc” Holliday, Georgia gentleman, dentist turned gambler, a consumptive whose days are numbered follows his friend, Wyatt Earp to the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory.  From the moment Holliday sets foot on the dusty Tombstone streets, his path as a lawman is set.  Time and again he risks life and safety for his friends and for justice, taking on the likes of Curly Bill Brocious and Johnny Ringo, leaders of a gang of fuffians known collective as “The Cowboys.”

      Don’t miss part one of S. M. Ballard’s Doc. Holliday Trilogy BORROWED TIME  (ISBM 978-1-932695-52-6)

      In the days before they became legends, John Henry “Doc” Holliday, a Georgia dentist turned gambler whose constant companion is the specter of early death, and Wyatt Earp, a rough hewn frontier lawman saddled with a taciturn nature and an iron clad sense of justic, forge an unlikely alliance to hunt down the brutal killers of a young Dodge City woman. 

      During the course of a cross country manhunt to stop the murderers before they can strike again, Holliday and Earp form the basis of a friendship that will last literally unto death. 

      BOROWED TIME and HOLLIDAY IN TOMBSTON available at: TrebleHeartBooks.com  Amazon.com  SMBallard.com  and through your favorite bookstore. 

      HOLLIDAY IN TOMBSTONE

      A Sundowners Western Selction

      Sundowners is a division of Treble Heart Books  Sierra Vista, Arizona

I’ve lived in Dodge City for a little more than eight months now, and I’ve finally learned my way around town. I just follow the orange barrels and pylons.

I have been amazed at the apparent slow progress of road construction here. Two of the major arteries through or across town have been dismantled, constricted and under construction for what seems like a very long time. And they’re not even half-way finished!  These roads are very important to Dodge City’s tourism industry, and will affect travel to and from the new state-owned Casino set to open next month.

But more importantly, the traffic disruption affects delivery of emergency services, causes unimaginable losses to businesses along the route (it almost killed business at my favorite Thai restaurant) and is a major inconvenience to those of us who use the roads in Dodge City every day. Most of Dodge City’s original streets are made of paving bricks. Even downtown. But I think it kind of adds to the charm of this city. And after they open up a chunk of street to work on underground utilities, they just fill in the hole, replace the bricks and the street is open again. I like that, actually.

Now, I’m not a traffic engineer, and I certainly don’t know the reason these projects have taken so long. Public comments in the local newspaper have alluded to the fact that the companies doing the work are a little “out of their league” with the size of these projects. I don’t think we’ve had that much bad weather, either. (although and end-of-winter storm in March dumped twelve inches of snow on Dodge in the last week of March)

As a new resident of Dodge City, I see the city like many of its visitors see it; inconvenient. And that’s a damn shame. Because it’s a great town with lots of great people, interesting history, and a lot to be proud of. We’re going to be attracting a lot of new visitors once the casino opens, and I want to see Dodge City make a good impression on them The road construction won’t be done by then, so maybe we could put some holiday decorations on all the construction barrels and pylons.

And lights. Lots of lights!

I’m a fairly new resident of Dodge City, Kansas. In the six months I’ve spent working and living here for AT&T, I’ve gotten to know some of the people and heritage that make Dodge City so special.

I arrived at the end of March, 2009, greeted by a winter-ending blizzard that isolated the town for a couple of days. I found a stranger willing to push my truck out of a snow bank. Another made sure that I had food when the snow closed the restaurants while I was still staying in a hotel. After I found an apartment to rent, I found I had kind and helpful neighbors. Some of them also ride motorcycles, so I had something to do after work. I even found a friend who works for the Southwest Kansas Library system. She helped me get a local library card, and even found a book I was looking for at another library. Not to mention the fact that I work with some great people here at the local AT&T office, who have made my assignment here much more pleasant.

The people of Dodge City have been great, but so has the town. There’s a lot of history here, along with some fiction. Of course, this is a cattle town. No, Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty never lived here. But Wyatt Earp, Batt Masterson, and Big Nosed Kate did. And they were wilder and more exciting, anyway!

I’m learning about the history of this town, and enjoying the time here as much as I can. Obviously, I’d rather be back in Wichita with my family, but this has been fun, for the most part. I’m going to write about some of my experiences, and invite you to comment. Especially if you’re one of the Dodge Citizens that I haven’t met yet! Please, ask your friends to suggest things for me to see and do while I’m here. Maybe we can all get together for a cup of coffee, or something a little stronger at the Long Branch Saloon!

I look forward to hearing from you, and hope you’ll visit again soon to see what I’ve discovered here in Dodge City!

It’s fucking unbelievable!!!, More Than Life are one of my most recent favourite hardcore acts from UK and I just found out they’ll be playing a show here in Singapore on the 21st of November at the tiny Crawlspace!!! I cannot fucking wait!!!

Block of halite in the Kansas Salt Mine

    This post describes the sixth day of my journey between Philadelphia and my home in Orem, Utah. I had been in Philadalphia for three months conducting a research fellowship at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) under a generous grant from the American Section of the Société de Chimie Industrielle, and my project was to research and collect media for The Elements Unearthed project, which I’ll be turning into a series of video podcasts and other educational materials. So on my way home, I’ve been visiting and videotaping as many related sites as possible. If you’ve been following along, I’ve been to the Drake Oil Well in Titusville, PA; interviewed Theo Gray in Champaign, IL on the periodic table; toured lead mines in Missouri; and visited the Kansas State Oil Museum in El Dorado, KS. Now I’m in Hutchinson, KS and the journey continues . . . .

Salt layers in the Kansas Salt Mine

    On Saturday, September 5 I drove out of Hutchinson to visit the Kansas Underground Salt Mine. Just as there is a large body of oil and natural gas under Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas there is also a huge layer of salt that covers these same states. At Hutchinson, the layer is 650 feet down and extends hundreds of feet further, with some layers more pure than others. The layer the salt miners were after is over 96% pure and shown here as the whiter area at the bottom of the wall, starting under the distinctive dark stripe about 1/3 of the way down. They continue to mine salt here, spreading out in all directions. The old area of the mine is now used for a tour (they even have a gift shop down here) and as a storage facility for documents. Many movie and TV production companies send their original footage here, as well as props and costumes, to be archived. Although Kansas is fairly humid, any humidity that gets into the mine is absorbed by the salt, so that the temperature and humidity are constantly cool and dry: ideal conditions to archive celluloid footage and other types of documents. Some of the props and costumes are on display in a small museum off the gift shop.

Undercutter machine in the Kansas Salt Mine

    Although most salt mines today (such as the one near Moab, Utah) use a hot brine extraction method (pumping hot water into the salt deposit to dissolve the salt, then evaporating the brine in ponds on the surface), this mine still uses more traditional methods because of the purity and accessibility of the salt here. First, they use a machine like a large chainsaw to undercut the face, then drill holes using a hydraulic machine that can drill 4-8 holes at once, then they set charges and blow the face, then muck up the halite and transport it to the surface. The salt here isn’t used for human consumption; most of it goes for rock salt to de-ice the roads in Chicago. Some finds its way to livestock (similar to the halite mined near Salina and Redmond, Utah) and some becomes packaged as rock salt for making ice cream.

Wind turbines under construction near Dodge City, Kansas

    After finishing at the Salt Mine, I drove west on US-50 toward Dodge City. About 18 miles east of Dodge City I came across a large wind turbine farm, many already in operation and a large number getting ready for assembly. In the end, perhaps Kansas will create more energy out of its winds than out of its oil. After eating lunch, I got the heck out of Dodge and hit the trail toward Cimarron (yes, the puns are intentional), then crossed into Colorado. I was trying to beat the sun and make it to Cripple Creek before dark to take a few pictures. But since Colorado is on the eastern edge of the Mountain Time Zone, the sun set earlier than I am used to in western Utah and I made it to Mueller State Park west of Colorado Springs well after dark.

My last out of state trip for the summer took me to Dodge City, Kansas. Once again, there was excitement at the Denver airport: My hair had stayed perfectly curled throughout my flight to Denver, and I somehow managed to keep my hat from getting rained on throughout my travels thus far. Then came the walk to my Great Lakes puddle jumper that would take me to Dodge City. Through the course of that 50 yard walk I came the closest I have ever come to losing my hat, my hair and hat got doused, and I almost got blown away as well. Needless to say, the thought of taking off in this inclement weather in a plane on which we had to reorganize our seating so the plane was balanced well, was a bit scary. But we took off in it anyways and made it into Dodge City.

This airport was much like North Platte’s: we were the only plane there, the person who guided us in with the glow sticks was the same one who unloaded my luggage and brought it into the airport.

I was picked up and immediately taken to the rodeo’s Tough Enough to Wear Pink performance Wednesday night. They call the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo the Greatest Show on Dirt, and it was a lot of fun. It is a Silver rodeo on Wrangler’s Million Dollar Tour with world champions competing in every event. The stock was wonderful as well, and were giving even some of our best cowboys a run for their money!

Along with the rodeo, I had the pleasure of participating in the Miss Rodeo Kansas Pageant. The current Miss Rodeo Kansas, Meredith Holland, has become a very dear friend so it was a blast to spend the weekend in support of her! They treated us visiting royalty well!

One of my favorite things was learning about the history of Dodge City from the Boot Hill Museum. We got to take a walk into the 1870’s on the Boot Hill boardwalk.

Dodge City was founded in 1871 and served as a trade center for travelers and buffalo hunters. It also was a supply base for troops fighting Indian Wars and a frequent stop for wagon trains. Initially, there was no law enforcement. In this time period, the city earned it’s notorious reputation.

“Kansas has but one Dodge City, with a broad expanse of territory sufficiently vast for an empire; we have only room for one Dodge City; Dodge, a synonym for all that is wild, reckless, and violent; Hell on the Plains.”

– A Kansas Newspaper in the 1870’s

Of course, this town eventually was tamed by such names as Wyatt Erp. For my stay in Dodge, I was impressed by the way the city clinged to the history- the good and the bad! I loved the brick streets and the western and old-fashioned feel.

Heads up, Dodge City!

Again, Hollywood looks to the ghost of television past to provide us with future stupefaction entertainment.  The soon-to-be latest ‘re-imagined’ casualty is the film version of Gunsmoke, which holds the distinction of being one of television’s longest running series.  It’s the show that your grandparents probably watched religiously before they moved over to Touched by an Angel.  Anyways, CBS Films (!?) is developing an adaptation and promises it will… oh, let their press release tell it:

The action-adventure will re-imagine Marshal Matt Dillon, the hero of the classic Western, for modern audiences. The story will be set in the same American West as the original but will feature a contemporary look and modern action twists.

Did none of the nutless monkeys executives who gave this the green light learn anything from the CGI travesty called “Wild Wild West’?  Or “Land of the Lost”? Or “Bewitched”?  Or (insert failed television-based film adaptation here)?  Oh, I see.  There aren’t any original scripts out there.  Okay, I understand. 

It’s a time to pause when you hear the words “contemporary look and modern action twist” because that means it’ll be like Deadwood so you’ll see Miss Kitty (starring Taylor Swift or Bryce Dallas Howard) actually turn a trick or tubercular Festus (DJ Qualls) stumble down Main Street clutching his stomach as bad whiskey works its way through his cirrhosis-ravaged system.  Absinthe-addicted Doc will be there too, explaining how someone came down with dropsy or prescribe a dose of mercury for syphillis or help pull a bullet out of Marshall Dillon.  Then of course the action scenes will feature – you know it! – a slo-mo gunfight done like the battle scenes in 300, accompanied by a Lil Wayne soundtrack, which of course ends with the bad guy being blasted some 30 or 40 feet backwards into an open grave on Boot Hill.  Awesome. 

I’ll be at the bar.

This weather is so nice. I wish it would last all day. I also wish I was still in bed listening to it, as opposed to being in the basement of University Hall, listening to my incredibly Japanese professor teach us about American political parties. I say that like it’s a bad thing, but he’s actually pretty awesome. Except for the 15 page paper he assigned us yesterday that’s due on August 5th. That part isn’t so cool. But it’ll be an easy paper to write, so that’s nice.

There’s a dude in here who’s a Political Science major, and he just cracks me up. The guy is trying to look like a total B.A.. His hair is slicked back, he’s very physically fit, he wears a Jaegermeister t-shirt that’s a size too small, and he flirts like crazy with this one girl in here. The funny part? He’s got the goofietht lithp I’ve ever heard. It’s freakin’ hilarious! He triyth to go on theeth ranth about whath wrong with the Republican Party and how Chrithtianity ith dead, and all I can do is laugh at the lisp. I know it’s wrong, I’m sorry. But I just can’t help it.

This half of the summer has been crazy. I’ve got this class, which has been pretty decent, plus my Images of the American West class in the mornings. My American West class has been pretty sweet. We watched “Stagecoach” last week, and we finished “Dodge City” yesterday. Both are excellent movies, and showed John Wayne and Errol Flynn at their awesomest.

Anyway, I’ve also got my Architecture class at TCC in the evenings. My teacher is this really scatterbrained Jordanian lady. She’s really nice on a personal level, but she’s all over the place as a teacher. It’s really hard to get her to focus when you have a question that needs to be answered. She kinda irritated me last night. We had to have a roughdraft ready for a model we have to build for our midterm project. I kept mine pretty simple, a mildly stylized cross with a couple of pyramids on it. It would have satisfied the criteria she outlined in the assignment sheet, and I was happy. But of course, she comes around to take a look at it last night, and she scribbled like crazy ALL OVER IT. You can’t even see the original design anymore, because she drew what SHE wanted me to make right on top of it. Granted, the design she came up with is really nice, but it was really irritating how she approached changing up my original creation. Not to mention that she made it a whole lot more complex, so I’m not looking forward to figuring out how I’m going to build the stupid thing.

Back on my diet today. I’m STARVING. Gotta stay focused.

Oh, and Blackest Night #1 is freakin’ awesome. This is gonna be one wild story!

The Lady Cavaliers batted around on three different occaisions during their Region VI First Round doubleheader versus Hesston on Saturday.

Pitchers Katie Ford, Jamin Landreth and Lacey Dixon kept the Larks offense at bay, allowing only two runs in the doubleheader.

Offensively, the Lady Cavs scored 16 runs in the first game, and 14 in the second in 16-0 and 14-2 wins.

The top three hitters in the Lady Cavs lineup, Lindsey Tuter, Christi Clevenger and Taylor Nelson reached base a combined 18 times over the two games and plated 16 runs.

Of note, Jordan Gadbois hit a three run shot, in the bottom of the second inning in game one, part of a 10 run, seven hit inning that send 13 batters to the plate. Also, Clevenger, hit a grand slam in the fourth inning of the same game.

Other home runs on the day were struck by Brittany Hess (solo shot in the fourth of game one, solo shot in the fourth of game two), and Nelson (second inning of game two).

Hesston briefly held the lead in game two, after a lead off single by Elice Frey, a sacrifice to second by Megan Schrock, and a two run home run by Kristin Nussbaum, but the joy of the Larks was short lived as the Lady Cavaliers struck back with a 10 run, 10 hit bottom of the first inning off of Jayme Hays.

With the sweep the Lady Cavs advance to the next round in Wichita to face the winner of the Labette/Dodge City series on Saturday, May 2. Game time is yet to be determined.

Replicas of Wyatt Earp Guns...Cool and Intimidating

On This Date in History:  What a great moustache.  I always wanted to grow a moustache like Wyatt Earp.  But alas, nature did not make that possible.  I looked ridiculous with a moustache.  Earp, known for his moustache and infamy as a US Marshall in Tombstone, Arizona was fired on this date!  He was a deputy sheriff in Wichita, Kansas which was a rough and rowdy cowtown.  It took a lawman with meddle to control the ruffians that came  through town.  Earp was proficient with a long barrelled Remington.  Part of the reason he liked the Remington was that it had a strap on it from which he could sling the weapon as a club.  It is interesting to note

Bat Masterson(left) and Wyatt Earp

that historians, antique collectors and gun collectors have never been able to find Earp’s gun.  Anyway,  Wyatt preferred whacking his adversaries with his gun rather than use it as designed.  The sheriff whom he worked for was up for re-election and the opponent said some unsavory things about the sheriff.  Wyatt took umbrage and beat up the prospective candidate, most likely bopping him a few times with his pistol.  The sheriff won the election but the town council found Wyatt too violent so they fired him on this date in 1876. 

Tombstone,AZ 1881 Looking SE

What is interesting is that most of the movies and popular culture don’t really get Earp’s life correct.  It seems Wyatt went on to Dodge City, KS where he joined the police force in late May 1876.  He was there off and on through 1879.  The newspapers reported that he was well liked by the public.  He had stints in Texas and was absent for a time with speculation ranging that he had taken some time to go to Deadwood, SD to he was riding shotgun protecting stage coaches.  While he

Tombstone 1881 Allen St. Where did the trees come from?

got into some scrapes along the way with his pals Jim and Bat Masterson, he apparently had not yet established a reputation as a tough lawman in the west.  So, when the movies portray him as already having a reputation when he goes to Tombstone, AZ, it is not correct. He apparently established his legacy in Arizona.

Earp went on to fame, infamy and not much fortune though he ultimately found success as a consultant to moviemakers in Hollywood. When he died in 1929, his pallbearers included western stars Tom Mix and Hopalong Cassidy.  They say Mix wept during the funeral.

Weather Bottom Line:  It would appear that the overly aggressive GFS has backed off its severe threat a bit for Sunday regarding the tornadic threat.  However, both the GFS and NAM have vertical profiles that indicate a potential for some strong storms.  While there may be a few tough storms with gusty winds and maybe hail, this looks to be a pretty good rain event.  The NAM is throwing out almost and inch and a half by Sunday afternoon and then continues with off and on rain through Tuesday bringing a total of nearly two inches.  That secondary short wave that the models were picking up on is not really looking to be too menacing for Tuesday.  What I suspect is going on is that on Sunday that there will be clouds and rain before the afternoon when the severe threat would be the greatest and all of the clouds and rain will rob some of the energy, thus decreasing chances.  Also, the same will hold true on Tuesday.  But, Sunday afternoon is still worth keeping an eye on.  As of midday Saturday, the SPC did what I thought that they would do and revise the slight risk area. It’s not in our area but has been expanded much closer, putting us right on the edge.  Bottom line is it’s going to be wet on Sunday.  Good thing Thunder Over Louisville was not on Sunday.

Midday Sat SPC Convective Outlook for Sunday

DAY 2 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK 
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   1230 PM CDT SAT APR 18 2009
  
   VALID 191200Z – 201200Z
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS SRN KY/TN VALLEY SWD TO
   CENTRAL/ERN GULF COAST STATES…
  
   …SYNOPSIS…
   CLOSED MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW…VERTICALLY STACKED WITH H85/SURFACE
   LOWS…AND EMBEDDED WITHIN A CENTRAL/SRN PLAINS TROUGH…IS EXPECTED
   TO EVOLVE INTO AN OPEN WAVE REACHING ERN KS/OK AND THE OZARKS REGION
   BY 12Z SUNDAY.  MEANWHILE…MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE AN
   AMPLIFICATION OF THE POLAR WESTERLIES WITH AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDING
   ACROSS THE WRN U.S. INTO THE CANADIAN ROCKIES…AND DOWNSTREAM
   TROUGH DEVELOPING ALONG AND E OF MS RIVER VALLEY ON SUNDAY.  THE
   LATTER FEATURE WILL BE THE RESULT OF THE PHASING OF A SHORTWAVE
   TROUGH CURRENTLY LOCATED OVER CENTRAL CANADA WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED
   CENTRAL/SRN PLAINS TROUGH.  A SHORT WAVE TROUGH CONCURRENT WITH THE
   CLOSED LOW IS EXPECTED TO ACCELERATE ENEWD ACROSS AR/TN VALLEY AND
   REACH THE UPPER OH VALLEY BY 12Z MONDAY.
  
   IN THE LOW LEVELS…A SURFACE LOW IS EXPECTED TO DEEPEN AS IT TRACKS
   NNEWD FROM THE UPPER PART OF THE LOWER MS VALLEY TO WRN OH BY SUNDAY
   EVENING.
  
   …LWR OH/TN VALLEYS…CNTRL AND ERN GULF STATES…
   MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THAT FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRIMARY
   MID-LEVEL IMPULSE…EMBEDDED WITHIN THE REMNANT SRN PLAINS
   TROUGH…WILL GENERALLY TURN EAST OF THE OZARK PLATEAU THROUGH THE
   TN VALLEY/NORTHERN GULF STATES REGION FROM MID DAY SUNDAY THROUGH
   EARLY SUNDAY EVENING.  HOWEVER…MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THAT
   THIS WILL BE RATHER CLOSELY PRECEDED BY FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH
   ANOTHER IMPULSE…WHICH SHOULD SUPPORT CONSIDERABLE CONVECTIVE
   DEVELOPMENT AND CLOUD COVER…AS LOW-LEVEL GULF MOISTURE RETURNS
   NEWD.  THE BULK OF THIS INITIAL ACTIVITY PROBABLY WILL BE BASED IN
   AN ELEVATED WARM ADVECTION REGIME…FROM THE NORTHERN GULF STATES
   THROUGH THE LOWER OH VALLEY.  HOWEVER…MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE
   LARGE CLOCKWISE CURVED LOW-LEVEL HODOGRAPHS NEAR A 30-50 KT SLY 850
   MB JET COULD CONTRIBUTE TO TORNADO/WIND DAMAGING POTENTIAL WITH
   STORMS FORMING NEAR THE LEADING EDGE OF BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE
   RETURN…ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SRN MS/AL.  THIS THREAT APPEARS
   MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR AT THE START OF DAY 2…WITH SOME POTENTIAL
   THAT THIS ACTIVITY MAY BE ONGOING FROM THE END OF THE DAY 1 PERIOD.
   THIS MORNING THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH AS THE UPPER IMPULSE PIVOTS
   NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD THE OHIO VALLEY…AND THE LOW-LEVEL JET CORE
   BEGINS TO SHIFT OFF TO THE NORTH/EAST BY EARLY AFTERNOON.
   HOWEVER…THE SRN EXTENT OF THE LLJ MAY LINGER FOR A PERIOD ALONG
   THE GULF COAST…AND MAINTAIN A THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS INTO THE
   AFTERNOON.
    
   THE INCREASING LIKELIHOOD OF WEAKENING AND VEERING OF LOW-LEVEL FLOW
   FIELDS IN THE WAKE OF THIS INITIAL IMPULSE CONTRIBUTES TO UNCERTAIN
   SEVERE POTENTIAL WITH THE STRONGER MAIN IMPULSE THROUGH THE
   REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD.  THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR SUBSTANTIAL
   SURFACE HEATING MAY BE LIMITED…BUT IT STILL SEEMS PROBABLE THAT
   BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTENING COUPLED WITH STEEPENING LAPSE
   RATES…ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG MID-LEVEL COOLING…WILL CONTRIBUTE
   TO WEAK TO MODERATE DESTABILIZATION.  THIS INSTABILITY …AND COOL
   THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES…IN THE PRESENCE OF STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR
   SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT STORMS CAPABLE AT LEAST OF PRODUCING
   LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WINDS…AS FAVORABLE MID-LEVEL FORCING
   OVERSPREADS THE TN VALLEY/NRN GULF STATES REGION SUNDAY AFTERNOON
   AND EVENING.
  
   ..PETERS/KERR.. 04/18/2009

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alphainventions

Im back and have enough time to write about the spring break mission trip called “Numbered”

The breakdown (by day)

Saturday:
we drove to Nashville, TN and stayed at the Lamb’s house

Sunday:
we attended First Baptist of Hendersonville where Ed Stetzer is the interim pastor. Afterwards we ate lunch with him and discussed his research and the Church

Monday:
we worked at the Feed the Children organization and we opened boxes. Then we ate lunch with Jeff Slaughter (creator of VBS music). In the afternoon we went to Vanderbilt and checked out their BCM. Then we drove to Dodge City, AL to a lakehouse.

Tuesday:
Spent the entire day at the lakehouse…

Wednesday:
Drove to Birmingham, AL and worked at an urban garden with Urban Ministries

Thursday:
Worked with the BBA apartments with people who are waiting to receive organs, in the afternoon we visited the Civil Rights museum and the 16th St. Baptist Church (where the four girls died in the bombing). Then we drove back to ATL.

Friday:
We painted rooms in the bottom of First Presbyterian Church of College Park (I think thats the name) and then we ended…

it was very tiring and exhausting