**Note: This is essentially a repost of an earlier entry…

Let’s balance some eggs, kids

Happy Winter Solstice everyone!  It might seem a strange thing to be celebrating, this specific position of Earth in its orbit around the sun, but we skeptics have our reasons.  This, of course, has to do with the old myth of being able to balance eggs on their ends only during either the vernal (spring) or autumnal equinox – of course, all references are in regards to the northern hemisphere.

But wait, it’s not the equinox, so why bring up this myth now?  To debunk it, of course.  According to adherents of this myth, usually the same folks who are into astrology-related woo, during the equinoxes “things line up cosmically” (probably some misunderstood reference to the fact that the length of day & night are the same), and this should result in the capability to stand eggs on their ends.

The funny thing about this particular myth is that it contains a kernel of truth… you can stand an egg on its end on the equinox, just as you can at any time of the year – even the solstices, as far away from the equinox as you can get.  Case in point, I’m away visiting family, and I just balanced an egg on end in the kitchen…

This supposedly “cosmic event” took me all of fifteen seconds to accomplish – with a little practice, it’s easy to do. To understand why it is that eggs can be balanced in this manner, it is more helpful to look to the science of physics rather than the pseudoscience of astrology – this link at the Bad Astronomy blog explains in more detail.

So, the next time you hear someone make this loony claim, have a little fun with it – whip out the eggs and balance away!

November 3, 2009

The Honorable Eric H. Holder Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Holder:

In an open and democratic political system, it is important that United States citizens have reasonable access to the justice system to seek redress from the federal government. The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) is intended to force transparency and accountability on the large bureaucracies of the federal government.

We support this goal.

We write today, however, to express great concern about the apparent abuse of EAJA by certain organizations, and the lack of accountability and transparency in the operation and distribution of funds under EAJA that have contributed to this abuse.

As you know, EAJA was established by Congress to ensure that individuals, small businesses or public interest groups with limited financial capacity could seek judicial redress from unreasonable government actions. EAJA allows plaintiffs to seek reimbursement from the federal government for attorney’s fees related to the case brought against the government itself.

Many small businesses, non-profit institutions and individuals have used EAJA exactly as it was intended.

Unfortunately, we are concerned the lack of government oversight of EAJA payments has allowed some groups to circumvent Congressional intent with respect to this law.

Attached is a document submitted by an independent law firm that outlines the amount of tax-payer dollars spent by the Forest Service on reimbursement of attorney’s fees between 2003 and 2005.

Should these numbers prove accurate, we are alarmed at both the amount of taxpayer dollars diverted from agency budgets, and the high volume of court cases filed. We are concerned that under the guise of “public interest,” some organizations with a narrowly focused political agenda regarding the management of public lands in the west are abusing the Congressional intent of EAJA.

In order to more carefully examine this issue, Members of Congress and the general public should have full access to data that give us a more accurate representation of how EAJA is administered.

Importantly, the Equal Access to Justice Act provided for two annual reports to Congress: one regarding agency awarded payments by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), and the other regarding court awarded payments by the Attorney General.

However, in 1995 Congress defunded ACUS and repealed the Attorney General’s EAJA reporting requirement, thus ending any Congressional oversight of EAJA. We understand that ACUS was reauthorized and appropriated $1.5 million in March of 2009, but has no staff to date. We are not supportive of additional federal bureaucracies, but fear that without any reporting requirement, agencies have simply ceased to monitor the administration of EAJA. A simple online database of administrative, judicial and agreed settlement payments would be efficient and effective in restoring Congress’ oversight responsibility.

With that in mind, we request that the Department of Justice respond to us with an explanation about how the Department tracks EAJA disbursements.

If no such tracking exists, we encourage DoJ to create a central, searchable EAJA database. The database should indicate the organization’s name, the total amount of attorney’s fees reimbursed, and the case under which attorney’s fees were awarded. A central database under DoJ auspices would be the most transparent and efficient means of bringing EAJA back into the sunshine.

EAJA is an important tool for protecting citizens’ rights against the federal government. Sadly, its abuse undoubtedly has far reaching consequences on public lands management decisions and for all American taxpayers. We urge the creation of a database to bring transparency and accountability to these public interest groups, and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely, 

Representative Cynthia M. Lummis

Representative Rob Bishop

Representatives: Senators: Representative Devin Nunes

Senator John Barrasso, M.D.

Representative Wally Herger

Senator John Ensign

Representative Michael K. Simpson

Senator Michael B. Enzi

Representative Jason Chaffetz

Representative John Shadegg

Representative Doug Lamborn

Representative Kenny Marchant

Representative Denny Rehberg

Representative Scott Garrett

Representative Todd Akin

Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer

Representative K. Michael Conaway

Representative Trent Franks

Representative Paul Broun

Representative Glenn Thompson

Representative Duncan Hunter

Representative Tom McClintock

Representative Dean Heller

test

Vernal. Once home to cuddly dinosaurs. Now home to mormons and singletrack.

Loaded up with a breakfast of sugary-coated cereal, then resting my backside gingerly on the newly-welded Brooks saddle, I bade farewell to my sunglass-toting hosts, Jim and Barbara in Manila. It was a long climb out of Flaming Gorge; hot and interminably rolling. A climb that forever seemed to lose as much altitude as it gained, it did finally breach the 8500 foot pass forty miles later. My original plans involved a dirt road detour beyond the top but in light of my damaged perch, I dove straight back down on pavement, finishing the day with a ten mile, ten switchback descent that unravelled almost into the backstreets of Vernal.

Ten blissful miles of descent.

The bike shop where I hoped to invest in a new seat was shut by the time I tracked it down on the fringes of town, so in a moment of wild abandon, I booked myself into a discounted room at the Sage Motel. Such indulgent luxury! As it happened, it was just the kind of independent motel I like. Cheap and quirky round the edges, it was run by a friendly Indonesian family, and when the back door opened, I caught a waft of Nasi Goreng.

Just a few miles from the main drag in Vernal, a web of trails criss-crossed the desert.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from Vernal. But as it happened, it had just hit the big time in mountain biking circles, thanks to a magazine feature on its brand new network of trails within easy reach of town. I liked its desert heat and oddball feel; the enormous, surreal and almost cuddly dinosaurs poking their heads high into the clear blue sky, and the faded, classic Americana shop facades in the older part of town.

Blue skies in Utah. Thanks Troy at Altitude Cycles for donating me a saddle to keep me rolling.

Two other mountain bikers had booked into the same motel, brothers Jim and Tim from Salt Lake City; Jim a keen mountain bike racer and Tim an extreme distance runner, before fatherhood took over a chunk of their lives. Over at Altitude Cycles, owner Troy’s unremitting enthusiam for the trails he’d been working on inspired me to strip down the bike and spend a ‘day off’ riding lovely, dusty singletrack out in the desert with the two brothers.

Jim throwing some moves in the desert.

Brothers Jim and Tim. They invited me to join them for a day's mountain biking, then kindly treated me first to lunch, then to a gargantuan Mexican dinner. I slept on their motel room floor the second night - thanks guys!

So as often the case when travelling, a turn of bad luck was far outweighed by the experiences that came from it. Breaking my saddle rails resulted in a night at Jim and Barbara’s, and an impromptu stop in Vernal. Which in turn introduced me to Jim and Tim, whose company both on and off the trails I really enjoyed. ‘It’s a good earth’, said Jim. And I agreed.

In the morning, we rode McCoy Flats and in the afternoon, we squeezed in a ride around the Red Fleet Trails.

Then it was time to load up once more and head south, via the dirt roads of Baxter Pass, which would lead me me over the mountain range into Colorado.

As I rode south to the wonderfully named but sinfully ugly Bonanza, the desert took on a surreal, wind sculpted, biblical quality.

I would have had the valley to myself but for the profusion of hunters stalking the mountains for deer and elk, garbed in full camo gear, somewhat incongruous with their day-glo orange waistcoasts and baseball caps.

All the creeks had dried up, so I flagged down pickups and asked for water. Everyone quizzed me on where I’d ridden from, and what I was doing out in the middle of the mountains alone. When I told them, they forced out whistling sounds from their mouths and shook their heads. Just to temper their perception of my madness, I often added that there was a couple on a tandem homeschooling their kid, and two brothers on a similar journey, one of whom was towing his dog in a trailer. ‘Well, I sure as hell don’t blame him for that,’ said one of the hunters, to unanimous nodding from his camo-clad friends, as if leaving a dog behind would have been far more of a surprise than the journey itself.

One couple asked me simply, ‘So what are you going to do when you get there?’ It was a question no one had put to me before. ‘Er, fly home, I guess,’ I answered, seeing in a moment of clarity how so many people must view this journey.

Happy to be camping out in the mountains. Do I look a bit like a stickman? Maybe I need to eat more.

A biking trail! After a few ambiguous turns and some compass squinting, it was good to see this sign and know I was on the right track.

The border with Colorado was cattle ranching territory. I stopped in at a hunting outfitters, and was warmly welcomed in by Bruce - see cowboy hat below - where I was offered a giant platter of elk meat cooked up by his wife.

A group of hunters had gathered in the barn, where huge carcasses were hanging like pendulums from the rafters; one man was busy severing an elk's head from its 700lb body. For someone who's not been brought up in this kind of world, it was pretty gruesome watching him working away at the animal with his knife. But I figure that if I'm prepared to eat meat, perhaps this is a more natural way of experiencing how it gets onto my plate, rather than neatly embalmed in a styrofoam packet, purchased from the disconnected convenience of a supermarket.

Rick was one of the guides, and we talked about the ethics of hunting. He argued that that many people are happy to eat meat pumped with chemicals from McDonald's, but balk at the idea of the 'blood and guts' of hunting. To him, living off the land and understanding where your food is coming from form the essence of hunting - the size and majesty of the antlers comes second. To me though, I still find the 'trophy sport' aspect of it - hunting for the thrill of the kill - hard to deal with.

With a belly full of elk meat and a generous slab of carrot cake to top it off, I left the outfitters. From there, the track deteriorated as it began to switchback up the pass.

With the approach of winter, the aspens were turning, a blaze of colour burning across the hillside. When the wind blew, bright leaves fluttered to the ground like snowfall.

At last, the top of the pass, at 8650 feet. From here, I'd been promised a white-knuckled, pedal-free descent.

Which it was for the first 10 miles... Then a howling wind stirred into life, threatening to blow me back up the hill. And the rock-strewn and washed out trail swelled out into a body jarring, filling-loosening washboard road. Both of which I were taking their toll on my spirits and energy supply. You can't see the two evils of bike touring in this picture, but they were there, believe you me.

I'm now largely beyond bear country. Here, critters take a different form. Being an arachnophobe, I wasn't impressed to hear there are small but lethally poisonous spiders the size of a penny scuttling across the desert floor. Further down the pass, I nearly ran over this camouflaged snake. I'm not sure if it was dangerous, but it certainly had the attitude to be. It did the iconic snake dance - raising itself up on the ground and bobbing its head from side to side...

As I closed in on the highway came the incongruous sight of gas and oil stations, sprouting out of the otherwise empty desert like sets from a post-apocalyptic movie.

Reaching sun-kissed Fruita has suddenly injected a little holiday-like spirit into the journey. There's two great shops in town, Single-Tracks and Over The Edge, where a steady stream of visiting riders check in before hitting the trails.

Pedalling into such a formidable headwind, I didn’t make it into town until dark, and luckily ended up sharing a campspot in the overpriced State Park ($20 for a tent!) with Craig, Bonnie and Dean from Canada, who’d been mountain biking in twin meccas of Fruita and Moab.

All in all, it had been a great segment of the journey. One that had been incredibly varied: from snow to mud to dust to desert to highway, with some wonderful encounters in between. Next up is the Kokopelli Trail to Moab…

northeast utah is beautiful!

did ya know it’s also considered “dinosaurland?”

according to www.viamagazine.com:

Dinosaurland is simply larger than life—a region of towering rock formations, time-chiseled cliffs, tumultuous rivers, and prehistoric giants. Some of the world’s finest fossilized specimens have been pulled from this desert. Hundreds still remain, offering dinosaur lovers old and young the chance to come face-to-face with these awe-inspiring monsters of the past.

if you haven’t heard, i kinda love dinos…so this was exciting!

vernal, utah is home to all sorts of dinosaur kitsch.

dinah the pink brontosaurus greets you as you enter vernal:

as you drive through vernal’s main street, you’re greeted by cartoon-y dinosaurs beckoning you into local businesses and of course just begging for a photo:

this t-rex is all about a balanced diet…

east of vernal at the colorado border, you’ll find dinosaur national monument. this national monument is one of the most productive dinosaur excavation sites in the world.

we didn’t stumble on any prehistoric fossils, but there were plenty of breath-taking views:

sexy <3! oh, and the landscape wasn’t so bad either.

i love this part of the country…it’s so pretty <3

have you ever been to a national park/forest/monument?

i think i’ve visited every major western one in the US. when i was growing up we always took a road trips every year…maybe even a few times a year to visit national parks. i didn’t always love being stuck in the car with my parents for days but i feel lucky to have seen so many beautiful views. nature is pretty amazing!

next stop: denver!

…is not my new band name, but the so-called first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, which is tomorrow, officially at 5:19 AM*.

An equinox, or “equal night”, is when the Sun is directly overhead the Earth, usually on March 22/23 (“vernal” ) and September 22/23 (“autumnal”).

Of course, in the Southern Hemisphere (good onya, Australia!) where the seasons are the reverse of the Northern, tomorrow would be the first day of “spring”.

And here’s a quote to kick off autumn. (Hat tip to Jessi Franko!)

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus

CORRECTION: The equinox was 5:19 AM Eastern Time, according to National Geographic.  The equinox was 9:18 according to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

is a well-known Chinese Yin Yang symbol. Sometimes it’s called Tai-Chi symbol. The Tai-Chi is from I-Ching. The I-Ching is the greatest foundation of Chinese philosophy. It’s development is from the natural phenomena of our universe. Because I-Ching comes from nature, it should be easy.

The Chinese characters of I-Ching are . The second character means a book, a profound book. The first character means ease or change. Since I-Ching is easy, some people call it as “The Book of Ease” or “The Book of Changes”. The original Chinese character of is , which is a symbol combining the sun (top) and moon (bottom). It’s easy for people to understand the philosophy by talking about the sun (Yang), moon (Yin) and universe. After observing the universe, ancient Chinese found that the universe is changing every day. Although it changes easily every day, it also has seasonal and annual cycles. From these cycles the unchanging rules are created. However, it’s not easy to use the method to find the unchanging rules from the universe and apply on human activities. That’s why some people think I-Ching is easy and some don’t.

When observing the cycle of the Sun, ancient Chinese simply used a pole about 8 feet long, posted at right angles to the ground and recorded positions of the shadow. Then they found the length of a year is around 365.25 days. They even divided the year’s cycle into 24 Segments, including the Vernal Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice, using the sunrise and Dipper positions.

They used six concentric circles, marked the 24-Segment points, divided the circles into 24 sectors and recorded the length of shadow every day. The shortest shadow is found on the day of Summer Solstice. The longest shadow is found on the day of Winter Solstice. After connecting each lines and dimming Yin Part from Summer Solstice to Winter Solstice, the Sun chart looks like below. The ecliptic angle 23 26′ 19” of the Earth can be seen in this chart.

The Ecliptic is the Sun’s apparent path around the Earth. It’s tilted relative to the Earth’s equator. The value of obliquity of the Ecliptic is around 23 26′ 19” in year 2000.

By rotating the Sun chart and positioning the Winter Solstice at the bottom, it will look like this . The light color area which indicates more sunlight is called Yang (Sun). The dark color area has less sunlight (more moonlight) and is called Yin (Moon). Yang is like man. Yin is like woman. Yang wouldn’t grow without Yin. Yin couldn’t give birth without Yang. Yin is born (begins) at Summer Solstice and Yang is born (begins) at Winter Solstice. Therefore one little circle Yin is marked on the Summer Solstice position. Another little circle Yang is marked on the Winter Solstice position. These two little circles look like two fish eyes.

In general, the Yin Yang symbol is a Chinese representation of the entire celestial phenomenon. It contains the cycle of Sun, four seasons, 24-Segment Chi, the foundation of the I-Ching and the Chinese calendar.

© Copyright 1999-// 109 Allen Tsai

source: http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/YinYang.htm

Stamattina, mentre ancora dormivamo tutti, è arrivato un messaggino, il nonno ha ritrovato gli occhiali da sole del piccolo!!

La notizia merita una festa: non erano occhialini qualsiasi, si trattava di super occhiali da vista- sole con montatura avvolgente ma non tonda e lenti solari speciali di costruzione a massima protezione. Totale, un oggetto prezioso con sole tre settimane di vita…

Con questi occhialini e un cappellino il piccolo può stare fuori a giocare al sole senza che la sua fastidiosa allergia vernal gli dia problemi agli occhi che – preso dal prurito – tormenta fino a farli diventare come due albicocche.

Il piccolo però è anche furbetto: lo sfregamento oculare parte istantaneo ad ogni capriccio senza che nel cielo ci sia un solo raggio di sole…

La cheratocongiuntivite Vernal (VKC) è una malattia rara, tipica del bambino e del giovane adulto, più comune nelle zone dell’area mediterranea e del Medio Oriente. Si tratta di una malattia infiammatoria cronica che interessa bilateralmente (nel 98% dei casi) la congiuntiva bulbare e quella tarsale e che è stata a lungo ritenuta una manifestazione allergica, in quanto si associa nel 50% dei casi ad una storia di rinite allergica, dermatite atopica, familiarità per atopia, e/o, soprattutto, ad asma bronchiale. Nel sangue di questi soggetti, inoltre, così come nelle loro lacrime e congiuntive, sono abbondanti gli eosinofili e i mastociti.

Descritta per la prima volta 150 anni fa col nome di congiuntiva linfatica, in seguito è stata descritta e denominata in tantissimi modi da altrettanti autori (catarro primaverile, phlyctenula pallida, ipertrofia circumcorneale, congiuntiva verrucosa e così via). Nonostante la sua attuale denominazione, la VKC non si manifesta solo in primavera, presentando invece riesacerbazioni durante il corso di tutto l’anno. La VKC esordisce prima dei 10 anni e di solito si si risolve dopo la pubertà (4-10 anni dopo l’esordio); gli attacchi, che inizialmente sono stagionali, tendono a diventare indipendenti dalla stagionalità nel giro di alcuni anni dopo l’esordio. In un quarto dei pazienti la malattia rimane attiva sempre, sin dall’esordio, senza andare mai in remissione completa. Il fatto che si risolva dopo la pubertà, che sia presente soprattutto nei maschi, e che siano stati rilevati numerosi recettori estrogenici e progestinici nella congiuntiva fanno pensare che nella VKC sia molto importante il ruolo degli ormoni. Di recente sono stati raccolti molti dati relativi a una patogenesi immunologica molto più complessa rispetto a una una reazione di ipersensibilità di primo tipo legata alle IgE (ovvero all’allergia). La malattia sarebbe scatenata da un insieme di fattori ambientali e dall’interazione di sistema nervoso, endocrino ed immunitario.

Aspetto "ad acciottolato romano" (fonte: The Medical Journal of Australia)

Ma veniamo alla clinica, che è fondamentale per la diagnosi. Nella forma tipica la VKC si manifesta con intenso prurito oculare, iperemia delle congiuntive, fotofobia e lacrimazione. Non si associano blefarite o eczema del viso o delle palpebre. L’aspetto dalla congiuntiva tarsale, che si può osservare alla semplice eversione della palpebra (in particolare di quella superiore) è tipicamente ad acciottolato romano (“cobblestone“) con papille che raggiungono un diametro anche superiore ai 6 mm e che si riducono di volume nelle fasi di quiescenza. L’ipertrofia papillare può riguardare anche la congiuntiva bulbare, dove si può rilevare a livello del limbus. Durante le fasi di acuzie si può anche rilevare la presenza di una secrezione filamentosa e viscosa che è tipica di questa congiuntivite (“ropy discharge“). Talora si possono esservare dei depositi gialli puntiformi a livello del limbus, noti come punti di Horner–Trantas (“Horner–Trantas’s dots“) costituiti da detriti e eosinofili in degenerazione.

Punti di Horner–Trantas (fonte: www.ispub.com)

Quando viene interessata la cornea sono intense la fotofobia e la sensazione di corpo estraneo. A questo livello si possono rilevare erosioni, cheratite puntata, neovascolarizzazione corneale e ulcere a scudo (“shield ulcers“). Se non trattate, queste lesioni possono portare ad ulcerazioni e cicatrizzazioni che provocano alterazioni della vista. Infine, talora si può formare un pseudogerontoxon, ovvero un deposito lipidico grigiastro lungo la periferia della cornea, simile al gerontoxon senile.

A sinistra: papille del limbus; a destra: ulcera a scudo (fonte: Kumar -VKC: a major review)

TERAPIA: Evitare gli allergeni e gli stimoli irritanti (sole, vento, ecc…) può essere utile, così come applicare impacchi di acqua fresca o lacrime artificiali. La prima linea terapeutica si basa sull’utilizzo di vasocostrittori, antistaminici topici e stabilizzatori delle membrane dei mastociti, che riducono il fastidio ma non risolvono del tutto il quadro. Gli antistaminici sistemici sono meno efficaci. Il cardine della terapia è però rappresentato dagli steroidi topici, che sono in grado di risolvere l’infiammazione, ma il cui uso prolungato provoca effetti collaterali importanti, quali cataratta ed infezioni fungine (per tale ragione non dovrebbero mai essere utilizzati come prima linea). I FANS topici (ketorolac e diclofenac) possono essere una buona alternativa, ma non sono altrettanto efficaci. Nelle forme resistenti agli steroidi topici si possono tentare le iniezioni subtarsali di corticosteroidi o si può utilizzare topicamente la ciclosporina, che è stata utilizzata in vari studi a diverse concentrazioni (0,05%, 1%, 2%) e in formulazione oleosa, con ottimi risultati (anche se la malattia ricorre dopo l’interruzione della terapia).

Per approfondire l’argomento, ecco una bella review, molto approfondita:
2009 – Kumar – Vernal keratoconjunctivitis: a major review

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This last week I climbed up on the roof, the satellite dish post and the front porch to remove seven pinhole cameras. As I took them down, I took a picture of where each was aimed. These images give Tarja a reference as to what the image should look like while she does her imaging magic.

The cameras referred to above are simply 35mm canisters with a hole drilled in the side, a pinhole lens taped over the hole and a piece of B&W photographic paper inside the canister. You place the camera facing the Sun’s path and put it securely in place.

These were in place from the Vernal Equinox to the Summer Solstice. With luck, they will show the varying path the Sun takes through the sky as the seasons change. The magic is – when you remove the paper from the camera there is a pseudo color image already on the paper without any development.

Since the image will very quickly disappear in normal light, I don’t play with them myself, I send them to Tarja who has more experience with Solargraphy than anyone else I know about.

She sends you back the images and you pick one from the batch to be posted on her website. She will send the cameras to you free of charge. You put it up, take it down and mail it back. It cost about $5.00USD this last time for the postage. All in all, a very cheap investment in both a scientific endeavor and photographic experiment.

http://www.solargraphy.com/

Happy Solstice everyone!  It might seem a strange thing to be celebrating, this specific position of Earth in its orbit around the sun, but we skeptics have our reasons.  This, of course, has to do with the old myth of being able to balance eggs on their ends only during either the vernal (spring) or autumnal equinox – of course, all references are in regards to the northern hemisphere.

But wait, it’s not the equinox, so why bring up this myth now?  To debunk it, of course.  According to adherents of this myth, usually the same folks who are into astrology-related woo, during the equinoxes “things line up cosmically” (probably some misunderstood reference to the fact that the length of day & night are the same), and this should result in the capability to stand eggs on their ends.

The funny thing about this particular myth is that it contains a kernel of truth… you can stand an egg on its end on the equinox, just as you can at any time of the year – even the solstices, as far away from the equinox as you can get.  Case in point, I just balanced three eggs on end in my kitchen…

This supposedly “cosmic event” took me all of five minutes to accomplish – with a little practice, it’s easy to do. To understand why it is that eggs can be balanced in this manner, it is more helpful to look to the science of physics rather than the pseudoscience of astrology – this link at the Bad Astronomy blog explains in more detail.

So, the next time you hear someone make this loony claim, have a little fun with it – whip out the eggs and balance away!

My story for today tells of a time when I probably got exactly what I deserved. Like many people, I always thought the phrase was ‘just desserts’… meaning that, when it was all said and done, I got a dessert that fit with the rest of the meal. However, the Phrase Finder web site set me straight. A desert is a dry desolate area and if you took a group of people to such a place for a day of fun and frolic, you might have more than a few people desert you. Thus, a person’s ‘just deserts’ implies that a person has been left alone in a dry desolate area – exactly what he or she deserved.

With that out of the way, let’s go back in time to 1984. Perhaps Big Brother was looking over my shoulder and shaking his head on the day I left work early so I could watch the Olympic Torch pass near my home in Roswell, Georgia.

Because traffic was blocked on the road to my home, I had to pull into a shopping center parking lot. I then joined the throngs of people anxiously awaiting the once-in-a-lifetime event.

We waited. And we waited. Then, we waited some more. The runners must have stopped for a long lunch; they were more than an hour behind schedule.

Finally, in the distance, we could see a police car followed by the news media vehicles. The excitement built to a crescendo as the torch bearer finally came into view.

The world class marathon runner I expected to see turned out to be a pudgy preteen who was walking. A more athletic looking man was walking beside the boy and seemed to be urging him to move faster. The boy seemed oblivious.

Needless to say I was extremely disappointed and angry. This was obviously the son of some fat-cat who paid off somebody so his darling little spoiled brat could be part of the Olympic games. The kid should have been home playing video games. (I think Atari was around back then.)

A few days later I was at a social function and began a tirade about the experience. I was soon interrupted by a friend who explained that the boy was one of several special needs children who were representing their school. Yes, a fat-cat did make the donation, but, No, the child I saw was not related to the donor.

After I got my foot out of my mouth, I apologized for my ignorance. I felt terrible at the time, and it still bothers me that I was so judgmental without trying to learn the whole story.

Now, fast forward a few months. It is still 1984, and the Olympic Games are about to begin in Los Angeles. The torch is making its final approach and passing through Atascadero, California. My family and I are there visiting my brother and his family.

Once again I find myself in the midst of a crowd of anxious onlookers. This time, the torch is on time and being carried by a man who has obviously run in many long distance races.

One major difference this time around is that I have my camera with me and I manage to get some terrific shots of the man and the torch. Life is good and the photos will look great in the album we’ll eventually put together.

Let’s fast forward a week or so. We are now near Vernal, Utah and visiting the Dinosaur National Monument. I took a few pictures and looked at the indicator to see how many more shots I had left on the roll of film. The indicator showed that I’d already taken forty-two.

The roll of film was supposed to be for thirty-six. Rather than take any more chances – this roll had pictures of my nieces and nephew as well as the Olympic torch runner – I pressed the rewind button. Nothing happened.

I guessed that the film had pulled out of the canister and feared that if I opened the case, the film would be ruined. I asked a guide if there was a dark place I could go to remove and try to save my roll of film.

The guide did more than find me a dark place, she took me to the dark room used by the palaeontologists. When I opened the camera, the film was in the canister. I must have rewound it and forgot to remove it. At least that is what I hoped happened.

A couple of weeks later, we were back home in Georgia and I’d dropped off my fifteen or twenty rolls of film. When I picked them up, the truth finally became clear. The roll of film in question was never properly loaded. The entire roll was blank.

Now the 1984 Olympic Games experience is nothing more than the memories in my head. And the picture that is most clear in my mind is that of a pudgy preteen walking through Roswell with the torch.

I think I learned my lesson, but that image is a constant reminder to not jump to conclusions.

In 1984, I dragged my family on a cross country tour. In six weeks, we covered almost ten thousand miles, visited twenty-nine states, and saw two oceans.

I was forty years old at the time and thought I’d seen just about everything one could imagine. But when we arrived in Vernal, Utah, my mind went into another sphere.

To begin with, I saw Reddy Kilowatt.

The one and only! Watt a lot of jobs he does!

I hadn’t seen the logo of the electric companies in years, and yet there he was – standing proudly in front of the local power company.

Things got even more interesting when we decided to visit the Vernal Dinosaur Museum. Walking around and looking at the displays gave me the strangest feelings – I’d been there before! And yet, it was my first visit to that part of our country.

Finally, I looked down and noticed a small brass plate attached to each display counter. It read, “Donated by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”

These were many of the same display cases I looked at when I was a grade school student on my annual feed-trip to the museum. The only things that were missing were the basement cafeteria and milk in the one-pint glass bottles.

I asked one of the employees to explain why the museum in Pittsburgh had donated so much to a museum in such a small town as Vernal, Utah.

The answer was quite simple. Andrew Carnegie had hired a team of archeologists to go out and find dinosaur bones. That team found them in the area of Dinosaur National Monument… just outside Vernal, and sent them all back to Pittsburgh.

An escapee in Pittsburgh

Carnegie then selected the best specimens to be placed in the museum in Pittsburgh. He sold the rest to museums throughout the world.

Eventually, the people from Utah had had enough and insisted some of the bones should stay where they were found. To repay the state of Utah, the museum in Pittsburgh sent the display cases, along with many artifacts from around the world, to Vernal to provide them with a ‘world-class’ museum of their own.

If you’ve ever visited Dinosaur National Monument, you know that today, every effort is made to leave the bones where they are found.

I want to thank the author of a dinosaur website who calls himself Dinoguy for reminding me of my visit to Vernal. If you’ve ever been interested in being part of a ‘dig’, this is the guy you need to talk to.

© Jeff Sullivan (Truckee today)

#mce_temp_url#

I had almost forgotten this family blog. We’ve been so super busy with school and working and everything else.

Don and I had our First Anniversary on March 22nd. So to celebrate we decided to do something we hadn’t done before. We got in our car and started to drive. Around every corner there was something even more spectacular and beautiful and before we knew it we were almost in Colorado, it was 7:30 p.m., and we were 3 hours away from home, but it had taken us like 7 to get there because there was snow and we kept stopping to look at all the natural beauty.

We found my knew favorite restraunt in Heber City. They have the best scones and pies that you have ever tasted… and I mean ever.

Don was so fascinated by the desert and all of the geological aspects of it. He kept explaining it to me in such a way that geology was actually interesting. I thought that would never happen to me. Unfortunately we were slackers and didn’t take any pictures, but I did buy a pretty lavender hoodie to commemorate the occasion.

In essence we had had so much fun and such a wonderful time that we didn’t even know what time it was.

March 31 Spring brings out the best in me. I feel contracted all winter because I don’t get out enough, don’t walk the land.  I tried cross country skiing but it was limited to trails and was too much like a sport. You have to spend too much time paying attention to it and not enough to where you are.

Then I got snowshoes which were much more to my sensibility, walking on snow, going where I pleased. I like them but I just have not got the right pair. Either they are too wide and I keep tripping over myself or they do not have enough surface and they sink into the snow. I know I am being picky but I do not get very far if every step I sink into the snow a foot. It is exhausting. 

OK one of my goals is to get snowshoes  that work for me next year, after the recession is over. Meantime I find myself more and more envious of the snowmobilers. I know snowmobiles  are gas hogs and polluting and noisy. I also know that people who snowmobile have smiles on their faces in January. I am not a fan of noise. You might say I am noise sensitive but I am adventurous and when I  see a story about people cruising through the north woods on a moonlit night gazing at the star filled January sky and coming upon a display of the Aurora Borealis.  

Well, my heart is aching.  A few years ago I saw a picture from a satellite of the headlights of snowmobiles moving through the woods at night. It was beautiful but eerie and disconcerting as well. There were hundreds of them. Do they really belong there? Are they confusing and endangering the deer and bears? I know they are.It is a moral dilemma. I will forsake a fast ride in January and update my snowshoes and move slow under the moonlight so quiet that I can hear the Great horned owl hoot. That will bring a smile to my face even in January. 

Thank goodness now it is spring. The snow is slowly melting and our driveway is a sea of mud. Today I will get out to walk and soon I will be in the woods before the blackflies hatch. I will be watching the water rise in the rivers and steams, and poking around the vernal pools  trying to catch the wood frogs laying their eggs and documenting the process of metamorphosis as it unfolds. My ‘leave no footprint’ (except in the mud) intent intact, I can spy on the emerging frogs and take only photographs. I am once more out and about on the land and my spirits are revived.

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Tomorrow, March 20, 2009 at 11:44AM (UTC) is the Vernal Equinox.

Today I put four pinhole cameras in place around my house to record from tomorrow through the June 21. 2009 Summer Solstice. The cameras were sent to me, free of any charge by Tarja Trygg. After I take them down, I will send them back to her for processing. I did some for her last Fall through Winter and one is posted on her website.

Solargraphy Website in Finland

Tarja welcomes people to share in this endeavor no matter where in the world they reside. The only cost to you is the return postage to Finland for the cameras. It was less than $2.00 USD for me in January.

Here is the image taken from my backyard that Tarja put on her website under New York.

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Tomorrow, March 20, 2009 at 11:44AM (UTC) is the Vernal Equinox.

Today I put four pinhole cameras in place around my house to record from tomorrow through the June 21. 2009 Summer Solstice. The cameras were sent to me, free of any charge by Tarja Trygg. After I take them down, I will send them back to her for processing. I did some for her last Fall through Winter and one is posted on her website.

Solargraphy Website in Finland

Tarja welcomes people to share in this endeavor no matter where in the world they reside. The only cost to you is the return postage to Finland for the cameras. It was less than $2.00 USD for me in January.

This is the image taken from my backyard that is on the Solargraphy website.

The full moon tonight is the last full moon of the winter.

According to astronomers and meteorologists, spring begins with the vernal equinox–on March 20 this year.

On the Jewish calendar, today is the feast of Purim. Purim comes on the full moon before the Passover moon.

This means we are one month away from Holy Week.

Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

(You will be quizzed on this.)

Equinox

Plus, here is a preview for a Purim movie which came out a few years ago. It tells the story of the book of Esther.

I had the wonderful pleasure to do a family session at the Vernal Utah Temple last month.  The kids were great sports especially since it was soooo cold!  Thanks Sharp Family!

My Favorite!

     I can sense the excitement before I ever step foot in the gymnasium. The air is electric with anticipation. The ground beneath me hums as the deep, bass tones of the drums vibrate upon my approach. High brass notes pierce the air as the band enthusiastically pumps out the school fight song. The musty odor of old sweat, dust and polished wood floors, mixed with buttery popcorn and hot dogs lays thick around the parking lot, trapped by the slow moving, cold, winter air. The cadence of bouncing basketballs is an unmistakable signal that this Friday night will be packed high energy, fun, and a whole lot of hometown pride.
     It’s Friday night Basketball at the local high school and the fans have come out in full force. Loyal, homegrown Basin folks and newly claimed transplants alike gear up to support the local boys and girls on the hardwood. Uintah High basketball coach, Scott Mansfield says the fans are the heartbeat of the team. “Our crowd is awesome. A lot of kids come out to support us. They dress up in old school clothes, paint up, and get crazy. They’ll stand the whole game, jump up and down, and cheer loudly. It’s a lot of fun and it gets our players pumped. It’s a huge adrenaline rush to run out onto that gym floor with all those screaming fans. We absolutely love our crowd.”
     Mansfield knows all too well the thrill of playing basketball on the Uintah High School basketball court, in a packed gymnasium, with the crowd worked up to a massive frenzy. “It’s an intoxicating feeling.” Mansfield muses. Mansfield played basketball for the Utes from 1988-1991 during which attendance records in the Ute gymnasium were shattered. The excitement of Friday Night Basketball fever had caught fire in Vernal once again. The start of a winning record for the Utes and the seven foot five inch presence of a well known player from Emery [former NBA player Shawn Bradley] in the region helped create buzz and proved to be a catalyst in getting folks out for a game again. The feeling in the gym was electrifying and helped spur the Utes on to one of its better seasons in six years in 1990.
     Young , old and in between, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is bound to have a great time at a high school basketball game. The little white haired lady sitting next to you won’t hesitate to boo the ref or ask him where his glasses are. Neither will the student section. Woe be unto the ref who makes a bad call and is inundated with “Zebra! Zebra! Short and Stout….” jeers from frenzied teenagers. It’s all part of the hysteria and adds to the ambience and most everyone in attendance loves it.
     There is a lot more to Friday Night Basketball in a Small Town than just excitement too. Hometown teams are a huge source of pride in a community. Townsfolk still sit in their coffee klatches on Monday mornings and discuss “the team”. Young basketball hopefuls sit eagerly behind the players on the bench, happy to hand them towels and bring them water, dreaming of the day they’ll be on that court together making the same magic for the crowd and drinking all the excitement in.

“I’ll be the tall guy like Paul.” one youngster says. I’ll get to play the whole game too”.
“Yeah, and I’ll be Braxton because I’m kinda short, but I’m good at dribbling and I’m tough.” his buddy chimes in.
“Well, I’ll be tough like Kash and grab rebounds like Marcel.” another water boy exclaims.
“And I’ll be like Yazzie,” my own son replies. “Not as tall, but meatier and tough underneath.”
     I have to smile at this point and dream of the day when these youngsters take the floor. The heroes on the court are probably oblivious to the adoration of their youngest fans, but the folks in the community know it all too well. The loyal fans who come to watch every game always remember those young water boys and hearts swell with pride as they watch those boys become men and work their way up through the ranks then turn into heroes themselves for another generation of adoring, young fans.
     Especially in the dead of winter, Friday Nights in a Small Town will never be boring as long as there is a basketball game going on. Girls or boys basketball. It doesn’t matter. Supporting the team is as much a part of small town life as the 4th of July BBQ and fireworks. See you at the game!

.

.…………………………..February 11, position of the Sun

Date: February 11
Location: Al Jizah (Giza)
Sunrise: 06:40
Top R.A. = 21h 35m 51.39s = VE-D (vernal equinox – Sun’s position on February 11)
Distance = 0.986982648

The average distance from the Earth to the Sun = 149,597,870 km = 1 Astronomical unit (1AU)

Height of the Great Pyramid = 14,765.05019 cm

February 11: Earth-Sun (distance) = 147,650,501.9 km

147,650,501.9 : 149,597,870 = 0.986982648

Top RA = 21h 35m 51.39s = VE-D = 21.59760833 hours

Right ascension (RA): 1 hour = 15 degrees

21.59760833 hours = 323.964125 degrees

1 year = 365.242 days

365.242 – 323.964125 = 41.277875 days

January = 31 days

41.277875 – 31 = 10.277875 days = 10 days, 6 hours, 40 minutes and 8.4 seconds = February 11, sunrise at Al Jizah (Giza).

The shortest distance between the Earth and the Sun (perihelion) is about 147,166,462 km. This point in the Earth’s orbit occurs on January 3.

The Earth is farthest away from the Sun on July 4 (aphelion) when it is about 152,100,000 km from the Sun.

1 year = 365.242 days

365.242 : 2 = 182.621 days = January 3 – July 4

Tangent of the Pyramid’s angle of rise = 1.273240621

182.621 : 1.273240621 = 143.4300768 days = February 11 (B) – July 4 (C) = September 21 (A) - February 11 (B)

143.4300768 x 2 = 286.8601536 days = 365.242 : 1.273240621 = September 21 (A) – February 11 (B) – July 4 (C)
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Daylight map (Egypt- Al Jizah, February 11, 06/6 am, Minutes 40):
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html

Sunrise and Sunset Calculator (location Egypt-Cairo):
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html?month=2&year=2009&obj=sun&afl=-12&day=1