A literal description of my state of mind
A literal description of my state of mind
(Sorry, that title has nothing to do with the rest of this post. It's just something I noticed on TV).
A new entrant in the rapidly expanding space industry emerged today as Masten Space Systems broke its silence by unveiling its new website, and vehicle development plans. The site contains details on the XA-1 suborbital launch vehicle the company will be developing over the next few years.
"This is the beginning of a lot of fun, but hard work. Work anyone can follow along with by visiting our blog where we will be posting regular updates of our progress," declared Dave Masten, CEO of Masten Space Systems.
In part one we saw how easy it is to create a PDA compatible version of your blog. It only takes a few minutes, and once complete you don’t have to do anything special, because it updates automatically every time you post.
In this part, I’ll go over the steps needed to download your blog (or other PDA friendly web content) into your PDA. It’s pretty easy too.
(in the extended entry)
There are several places online that offer this service, but the one I use is AvantGo, mainly because the reader came preloaded on my iPAQ. You may have to download the appropriate (and free) software to your PDA, which is simple to do, just follow their directions. The basic service is also free, although you can upgrade your account to allow more content to be downloaded. Personally, I haven’t found it to be necessary. Also, please keep in mind that I’m using an iPAQ, but most PDA’s should work in similar ways. Details may differ for you if you use a similar device. If you’re having problems, read the manual or do like I do – Google is your friend. AvantGo also has .pdf versions of their help guides online for Pocket PC’s and Palm Pilots.
Setting up an AvantGo account is easy and free. Using your PC, go to their homepage and after picking your User ID and password you select the content you want downloaded to your PDA.
There’s a huge selection of content, including many newspapers and specialty magazines and newsletters. Obviously, you don’t get the full versions, usually you get major headline stories. Each ‘subscription’ has a maximum downloadable size, and most of these count towards your limit that you must stay under with a free account. The limit on my account is 2000k. I currently subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Christian Science Monitor, MSNBC news, Sporting News, USA Today and PocketPC Life. Add in the blogs Off Wing Opinion, Simon World and Flying Space Monkey Chronicles, and I’m using 1150k, so I’ve got plenty of room to spare. You can change subscriptions at any time, and you probably will do that often at first as you look around for the best mix for you.
To set it up to read blogs, AvantGo offers what they call “Personal Channels”. This is the ability to take any webpage on the net and make it downloadable. Note that if the page isn’t formatted in a PDA-friendly manner, then trying to read it after downloading will be an exercise in frustration. Stick to the dedicated PDA-style pages, there are plenty of them out there, and more coming all the time (Q&O, Minor Perfidy, and many others, are you listening?).
All right, we’re ready to create a new personal channel from the latest Munuvian to go PDA compatible – Flying Space Monkey Chronicles. After you’ve signed in, click on the My Account tab on the right hand side of the page. Below that is your account information and then a section called Account Management Tasks. In that section is a link called Create A Personal Channel, that’s the one we want. Click that.
Now you’ll see some blanks to fill in. The Title is whatever you want to call it, it’s the name that’ll show up on your PDA, and the Location is obviously the URL. Type those in, then make sure you click the VIEW button to the immediate right. This gives you an idea of what you’ll be seeing when you download.
Below that, I generally put a maximum size of 100k on blogs, which is probably way overkill because I input zero for link depth and check ‘no’ for image downloads and links. I want straight text, and if I see something later I want to follow up on, I make a note of it (hey, it’s a PDA!) and do next time I’m on my desktop PC.
The last section is Channel Refresh. For my iPAQ, I ‘synchronize’ once a day, usually in the evening. So by selecting Refresh On Every Sync, I get the latest content every evening, and read it the following day. You can set yours to update however you want, it’s pretty flexible.
Don’t forget to click the Save Channel button at the bottom of the page when you’ve got it all set up.
Then do it all over again for each channel you want to create.
Next time you synchronize your PDA, all that content will be loaded, and you can tap the AvantGo icon (or whichever service you used) to read it. And all your friends will refer to you as a technological trend-setter, and be jealous.
Sarah asks if it's weird that the word "sniper" is a turn-on?
Now for those less militarily-inclined ladies, I'll mention that I have one of those sexy TS clearances, and that all personal detail-filled emails sent to the address on the sidebar will be held in strict confidence.
Just sayin'.
Please? August has been one less-than-wonderful month around the ol' homestead.
You should probably replace the "yahoo" above with your favorite exclamation of pleasure (other than "Oh God, YES!" maybe).
I noticed last night that someone found Rocket Jones by googling "Jets Cheerleaders Hot" or some combination of same. So I wondered where I'd rank on the list for "Jets Cheerleaders".
Congrats to Denita of Who Tends the Fires, for showing up #1 on google for anyone looking for Jets Cheerleaders. Cindy at Dusting My Brain is at number #7, and I'm at #14, which ain't too shabby. As Mookie would say, "Woot!"
A caption contest over at Who Tends the Fires, so sharpen your wits and funnybones, and go to town. I've already disconnected the smoke detectors in my house, because I'm doing some serious thinking on it.
Over at Q & O (happy birthday guys!), McQ posts a moving and devastatingly effective rebuttal to a comment that I thought cut right to the heart of the matter concerning the Swift Boat Veterans ads.
Until I read the comments, where one Viet Nam veteran summed it all up in as perfect a way as I could ever imagine:
"If Kerry loses, that will be the parade that we never had."
I understand the concept that news is a business, and bad news sells, which is good business. That helps explain why you'll seldom see this kind of good news on progress in Iraq.
Warning: there's a lot of good news.
The upside is that I've found simple instructions on how to make a PDA-compatable version of your blog.
If you don't recognize the term, PDA stands for Personal Digital Assistant, and refers to that group of handheld devices like the Palm Pilot, the iPAQ Pocket PC, Blackberry and many others. Basically, they're PC's that fit into your pocket. I recently got one, and love it to death.
Why in the world would you want to do a PDA-friendly version of your blog? Well, some of us out in the world are techno-junkies (not me) and some of us just don't have time to surf to all the places we'd like to each and every day (uh, that would be me). So by downloading your blog to our PDA's every day or two, we can benefit from your wisdom and insight whenever we have a moment or two to spare.
First I'll explain the steps to make your blog PDA friendly, then in part two I'll show those who have PDA's how to get this great blog content downloaded to your wee beastie. It's all in the extended entry.
Blog steps (most of this lifted and slightly modified from ScriptyGoddess, although I saw it in other places too).
1. Go to the Templates area of MT and click "Create new index template." Give the page a name, I chose "Rocket Jones - PDA version." Then come up with a name for the output file. I chose the very creative name "pda.html." You can also use .htm, or .php if you wish. It just depends on your preference and server.
2. Be sure the checkbox "Rebuild this template automatically when rebuilding index templates" is checked.
3. Leave "Link this template to a file:" empty
4. In the "Template Body" box, enter your template code. You can simply copy and paste this into the box if you wish. But, be sure to look through the code for comments on areas you may want to customize (look for the TITLE and DIV id tags).
Sample Template (start copying here):
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1" />
<TITLE>Rocket Jones - PDA Version</TITLE>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
body {
color:#333;
background-color:white;
margin:20px;
padding:0px;
font:11px verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;
leftMargin=0
}
h1 {
font:bold 12px/12px verdana, arial, helvetica,
sans-serif;
margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding:0px;
}
p {
font:11px verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;
color:#333333;
margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding:0px;
}
.Content>p {margin:0px;}
.Content>p+p {text-indent:0px;}
.tinyfont { font:8px verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; }
.smallfont { font:9px verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; }
.titlefont { font:14px verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; }
a {
color:#000000;
font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;
text-decoration:none;
}
A:link { color: #09c; TEXT-DECORATION: none }
A:visited { color: #07a; TEXT-DECORATION: none }
A:active { TEXT-DECORATION: none }
A:hover {
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal
BACKGROUND: #eee;
}
#Header {
margin:50px 0px 10px 0px;
padding:17px 0px 0px 20px;
/* For IE5/Win's benefit height = [correct height] +
[top padding] + [top and bottom border widths] */
height:33px; /* 14px + 17px + 2px = 33px */
border-style:solid;
border-color:black;
border-width:1px 0px; /* top and bottom borders: 1px;
left and right borders: 0px */
line-height:11px;
background-color:#eee;
/* Here is the ugly brilliant hack that protects IE5/Win
from its own stupidity. Thanks to Tantek Celik for the
hack and to Eric Costello for publicizing it. IE5/Win
incorrectly parses the "\"}"" value, prematurely
closing the style declaration. The incorrect IE5/Win
value is above, while the correct value is below. See
http://glish.com/css/hacks.asp for details. */
voice-family: "\"}\"";
voice-family:inherit;
height:14px; /* the correct height */
}
/* I've heard this called the "be nice to Opera 5" rule.
Basically, it feeds correct length values to user agents
that exhibit the parsing error exploited above yet get
the CSS box model right and understand the CSS2
parent-child selector. ALWAYS include a "be nice to
Opera 5" rule every time you use the Tantek Celik
hack (above). */
body>#Header {height:14px;}
.Content {
margin:5px 5px 5px 5px;
padding:2px;
}
.dateheader {
position:relative;
width:auto;
min-width:120px;
margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding:5px;
z-index:3;
}
-->
</style>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV id=Header>Rocket Jones - PDA Version</DIV>
<div align="left">
<MTEntries lastn="15">
<MTDateHeader>
<div class="dateheader"><H1><$MTEntryDate format="%A, %B %e,
%Y"$></H1></DIV>
</MTDateHeader>
<br>
<DIV class="content">
<span class="titlefont"><i><$MTEntryTitle$></i>
(<$MTEntryDate format="%I:%M%p"$>)<br /></span>
<$MTEntryBody$>
<MTEntryIfExtended>
<p><$MTEntryMore$></p>
</MTEntryIfExtended>
<MTEntryIfAllowComments>
<p>
<p>:: Comments left behind ::</p>
<MTComments>
<$MTCommentBody$>
<span class="smallfont">:: <$MTCommentAuthorLink$>
<$MTCommentDate$></span><br /><br />
</MTComments>
</MTEntryIfAllowComments>
</div>
</MTEntries>
</div>
<HR width="75%">
<P CLASS="tinyfont" align="center">
<a href="http://www.movabletype.org">Powered by MovableType</a></P>
</body>
</html>
(end copy here)
5. Save the template.
6. Rebuild the template.
7. Go to your web site and view the results.
8. Tweak until satisifed.
9. Post a link to it on your main web site. I put mine in the sidebar.
10. Announce it. Put the word out. Let the world know that it's there so we can take advantage of it. There will be much rejoicing amongst us geekish types, because, you know, according to the Dilbert author, we're getting all the chicks and we don't have all day to be sitting at the keyboard anymore.
11. That's what he says anyways.
Ok, so that part is pretty straightforward. For those who don't want or like to tweak, the default as given above seems to be fairly standard and works well.
The next part will be for the PDA-enabled. You know it's out there, how do you get at it via your PDA?
That certainly describes Rocket Jones lately. I've been a tad busy, so a lot of recent posts are full of quickie links sprayed around like some manic link-sprinkler. Yeah, that's me - a link-sprinkler!
Seven also happens to be the number of new Munuvians added this weekend by our overworked and underappreciated uberlord host, Pixy.
Welcome and Yay to:
Flibbertigibbet
Drama Queen
Mediocre Fred
Dairy Diary
Ravings of a Corporate Mommy
Nouvel
Deja Vu
Stop in and say hellow. Say hello even.
And the cycle begins anew:
The Lyrics of Life in LA
Darn, did I forget to pick my robe up from the cleaners?
I found this link-filled list of products that let you post to your blog from your PDA. Many are free, and I may be checking these out and posting reviews.
Rich of Vertical Force Rocketry took a nifty picture of one of my rockets taking off yesterday. It's kind of a goth battleaxe, with lots of dripping blood and hammered metal-looking blade/fins.
Great photo Rich!
Today I met up with a friend from my old workplace. We had some lunch, and he says "you been smoking crack?" because I've lost some more weight. It's been slow and steady for me, so I don't really notice it other than clothing-wise. Even if he was just being nice, I appreciated the comment. The crack helps too.
Stop cringing, it's not another cult movie review. I'm talking about the list of people joining in on the second annual Inter-Munuvian Hockey Whoopass Jamboree!
Newest additions are:
Heather - St Louis Blues
Dr Funk - Ottawa Senators
GEBIV - Buffalo Sabres
Already part of the fray:
Victor - Washington Capitals
Helen - Dallas Stars
Daniel - Atlanta Thrashers
Gir - Calgary Flames
Pogo - Calgary Flames
Cindy - Montreal Canadiens or New York Rangers or New York Islanders (not sure yet)
Frinklin - Vancouver Canucks
RP - New York Rangers
Tricia - Atlanta Thrashers
Nic - Washington Capitals
Kin - Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Ted (yours truly) - San Jose Sharks
Still waiting to hear from:
Steve - Carolina Hurricanes?
Wanna play? It's easy, click here for details.
... and other rocket flying news from yesterday's launch.
It was a beautiful day for rockets yesterday, with the only real problem being the extreme heat. But the sun was out, the winds were light, the clouds were high, and we had a whole heap o' people flying their rockets.
My son TJ (home from the Navy) and I loaded up the truck and headed out to the field. I'd pre-prepped a bunch of rockets the evening before, so we were ready to fly.
The Civil Air Patrol was there, twenty five kids and rockets, each needing to make three flights. Needless to say, the launch crew was busy for awhile. By the time I did my 2-hour shift as launch control they were mostly done, but we stayed nicely busy with folks flying just for fun. That's also where my TV moment happened, as a local channel had a couple of people out there filming and I gave an explanation of how our launch control system worked and the procedures we used for safety. I heard that Doug Pratt was headed over to their studio later that day for an interview as well. Yay! Any positive exposure is a good thing in today's paranoid and fear-ridden climate.
So TJ and I flew almost everything we'd brought, except for my largest of the day. When I opened the motor reload kit, it was missing some pieces. I'm mildly annoyed about that, but I'll make it good next time I see Ken Allen at one of the launches.
The Hot Jets rocket made a flawless maiden flight, and there were many compliments on both the flight and how good it looked. How could it not look great, being decorated with the lovely ladies' names. Things went so well that I built another motor, this time an E18 White Lightning and flew it a second time later in the day.
Time for some gratuitous linkage (Yay!). The Hot Jets cheerleaders are:
Helen, of Everyday Stranger!
Gir, of Your Moosey Fate!
Tink, of Flitting Here and There!
Sarah, of Trying To Grok!
Blogoline, of Blogoline's Journal!
Wegglywoo, who's On the Beach at the End of the World!
Big Hair, of Left & Right!
Stevie, of Caught In The XFire!
Emma, of Miss Apropos!
Lynn S., of Reflections in d minor!
Heather, of Angelweave!
Kat, of Mostly Fluff!
Nic, of Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax!
Susie, of Practical Penumbra!
Mookie, of MookieRiffic!
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone!
Denita, of Who Tends The Fires!
Jennifer, of Jennifer's History and Stuff! (nice custom banner, by the way)
Cindy, of Squipper!
Lemur Girl, of... uh, Lemur Girl!
Dawn of Caterwauling! (gone underground, am awaiting her reappearance elsewhere).
Since the spammers have refined the word randomizer routines they use, some of their 'from' names and subject lines have been pretty entertaining. This one was too good not to share:
Need a lover to enjoy this weekend with ,? That person you want to find is here ,. bacterial infantry
Last year, we were four. This year, we have expanded more than Nate Newton's waistline after a visit to the all-you-can-eat buffet, and like Nate, we want more, more more! So come on, join in the fun.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, here are the rules for the second annual Inter-Munuvian Hockey Whoopass Jamboree:
Simple.
This season's lineup:
Victor - Washington Capitals
Helen - Dallas Stars
Daniel - Atlanta Thrashers
Gir - Calgary Flames
Pogo - Calgary Flames
Cindy - Montreal Canadiens or New York Rangers or New York Islanders (not sure yet)
Frinklin - Vancouver Canucks
RP - New York Rangers
Tricia - Atlanta Thrashers
Nic - Washington Capitals
Kin - Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Ted (yours truly) - San Jose Sharks
Still waiting to hear from:
Heather - St Louis Blues
Steve - Carolina Hurricanes?
Lots going on, maybe more later.
Happy Birthday to Daniel, who's comments didn't work for me so I couldn't make it timely or personal. Have a link, and I hope you had a great day.
For now, the Second Annual Inter-Munuvian Hockey Whoopass Jamboree is picking up the big mo', with lots of folks signing up for the season.
Lastly, I've been playing with a new design for Rocket Jones over at the Skunkworks. It's not quite done, but give it a gander and leave comments. Let me know what you think, like and don't like (I have a thick skin, so be critical). I've heard there's a problem in Mozilla with column creep, so let me know if you see it too. This also nicely fits in with work, where I'm formally learning HTML, XHTML, Java, XML and PHP (and lots of other confusing acronyms eventually) on their dime.
Almost forgot, Cindy, the banner is for you.
Microsoft has been awarded a patent for using human skin as a power conduit and data bus.
Many people don't know that at one time Great Britain had a space program that was advanced enough to have placed a satellite into earth orbit. This site talks about the Black Arrow and other advanced British aerospace programs.
I needed to build a rocket for a certain size of motor that I fly because everything in the fleet was either too light or too heavy. Besides, I needed to say thanks to some very special ladies.
Those are the first 'flames' I've ever done and they turned out pretty good. The fade isn't nearly as abrupt as the photo seems to show, but it's still not as smooth as I'd hoped for.
The logo and checkerboard pattern were done on an HP color laser printer. I used Power Point to create them.
Speaking of which:
closeup of the checkerboard
Every Hot Jets cheerleader is included.
Maiden flight is this coming Saturday, on an Aerotech F24 White Lightning motor. Expected altitude is between 1500 - 2000 feet. With a larger motor, she'd easily break a mile. I'm looking forward to having much fun with this one.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't list each of the Hot Jets cheerleaders:
Denita, of Who Tends The Fires!
Jennifer, of Jennifer's History and Stuff!
Cindy, of Squipper!
Lemur Girl, of... uh, Lemur Girl!
Heather, of Angelweave!
Kat, of Mostly Fluff!
Nic, of Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax!
Susie, of Practical Penumbra!
Mookie, of MookieRiffic!
Helen, of Everyday Stranger!
Gir, of Your Moosey Fate!
Tink, of Flitting Here and There!
Sarah, of Trying To Grok!
Blogoline, of Blogoline's Journal!
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone!
Dawn of Caterwauling!
Big Hair, of Left & Right!
Wegglywoo, of On the Beach at the End of the World!
Stevie, of Caught In The XFire!
Emma, of Miss Apropos!
Lynn S., of Reflections in d minor!
My other posts on cult cinema and B-movies can be found by clicking on "Cult Flicks" at the bottom of this post.
The ladies went on vacation a couple of weeks ago, and while they were gone Mookie picked up a few movies for me that she thought I'd like. She made some excellent choices, and I'll review them in parts.
The House at the Edge of the Park - This is a brutal movie, starring the same guy (David Hess), in the same basic role that he played in The Last House on the Left. Hovering right on the edge between ick and cheesy beyond redemption, the movie starts with a rape and murder, and moves right along from there. When Tony and his mildly-retarded best friend invite themselves to a party, it doesn't take long before Tony is terrorizing the entire gathering with a straight razor. He uses it too, more than once, on more than one guest. These partygoers are what we'd call yuppies today - young, wealthy, and reeking of self-satisfied ego, which pisses Tony off. Tony isn't all that stable anyway. Made in 1980, this movie delivers a heaping helping of disco and the Peter Maxx school of design and fashion, which helps set the scene instead of being the distraction I expected. The storyline is straightforward but far from minimalist, with a fair amount of intricate (if sometimes silly) interaction between characters. There's a fair amount of nudity and some uncomfortably realistic sexual assaults. The acting is only ok, and the direction is better than you usually get in this genre. The fact remains though that no character here is all that likable, so it's hard to root for the good guys or against the bad guys. The Last House on the Left is the better movie, if you have to choose only one.
Don't Look in the Basement - The suspense on this one just keeps building and building. A new nurse arrives at an insane asylum, and slowly realizes just how out of control the situation really is. This one has some blood and violence, but the unexpected plot twists and genuine chills delivered make this one fun to see. The crazies are extremely well done, both in concept and as played by the actors who portray them. Only thing is, the basement has almost nothing to do with this movie. I think they just had a good title and ran with it.
I'll save the rest for a later post. Trust me, they're worth waiting for (and that's not sarcasm). In the meantime, I have a dining room to finish painting. Ciao.
That's right folks, it's time to start gearing up for the second annual
The rules are simple:
1. If you have a favorite hockey team, place their logo somewhere on your front page.
2. Every time your team plays someone else's team in the Jamboree, the loser must place the winner's logo on their front page for 24 hours.
That's it!
Need an example? Let's say that Victor's Washington Capitals are playing Heather's St. Louis Blues and win (it's an example, not reality *snicker*), then Heather will display the Caps logo prominently for a day or so, and Victor can crow and link to and point out her shame and sudden increase in good blogging taste - yes, trash talking is encouraged.
Last year's line up (I assume you are all participating again):
Victor - Washington Capitals
Heather - St. Louis Blues
Helen - Dallas Stars
Ted - San Jose Sharks (hey, that's me!)
Others I expect will participate this year:
Daniel - Atlanta Thrashers
Nic - Washington Capitals
Who else? Gir, what moosey club do you follow now that the Jets left town? Any Detroit fans? Who still admits that they kinda like the Rangers?
So everyone, let me know and I'll do the minimal setting of this up (translation: I'll make a list). If anyone needs, I have a source for team logo's if you can't find one.
Despite the name, I see no reason that this can't be open to any and all.
I just hope that there will be a hockey season this year.
(sorry for the cheap shot, Victor)
Two recent discoveries that pegged my cool-o-meter:
Archaeologists exploring the bottom of the sea off the island of Capri have found the wrecks of three ancient ships that once plied the Mediterranean between Rome and northern African colonies.They've identified two cargo ships from the first century, another from the fourth, as well as other wrecks ranging in age from medieval times to World War II.
Also announced was this:
A Viking body, believed to be that of a woman who was buried 1,100 years ago, has been discovered at an undisclosed site north of Dublin, Ireland's National Museum said.
Like they say: if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right...
(in the extended entry)
I'm reading a weird little book titled "The Planet Mars and It's Inhabitants" by one Eros Urides who supposedly lived on Mars for a time. It's a whackjob book, the kind you find on UFO sites and the like, usually listed as 'true but suppressed important works'. I tried digging up more information on it, but all Googles lead to the sites that present it as non-fiction.
In the book, Eros Urides describes a utopian Mars where spirituality is part of the very fabric of life. Mars is 100% Christian, and much preaching ensueth within. But one passage kind of tweaks at me:
As all property is considered as belonging to the Father, and is held in common by the people of the planet, there exists no incentive for anyone to steal. Each individual has all he requires for his comfort.
August 31st is celebrated by most Baltic states as the official end of World War II, because on that date Russia withdrew her troops.
That's August 31, 1994.
That's Alcohol WithOut Liquid.
The user chooses which alcoholic spirit will be used and the alcoholic spirit is loaded into a diffuser capsule in the machine. The oxygen bubbles are then passed through the capsule, absorbing the alcohol, before being inhaled through a tube. The resultant cloudy alcohol vapor is then inhaled from the end of the tube via a device that converts liquid to vapor.
Sorry, but this doesn't impress me as anything more than a gimmick. When I drink (rarely), it's because I enjoy the taste. Inhaling a Dewars on the rocks just wouldn't be the same, and if I'm drinking for effect (even more rare), I prefer a little ceremony with my buzz. Tequila, lime and salt please - and the salt is optional, unless I'm lucky enough to be doing body shots. :D
Oh yeah, they also advertise it as "low calorie and low carb". Jeez I am so sick of that crap.
We've had the power go out twice now in the last two nights as strong thunderstorms moved through the area. In the last fifteen years, I'd wager that we haven't lost electricity more than twenty times total, which makes this notable.
Our electric co-op NOVEC, is also incredibly efficient at restoring power when it does fail. A typical outtage lasts 10 minutes, and an hour or more is something worthy of neighborhood conversation.
Atta boy NOVEC, even though you've deprived me of a good excuse to sleep in on work days.
X-prize attempt goes kablooie.
These guys are trying to do this on the cheap, and it shows. Then again, there's no reason why their methods won't work. If it was easy, it'd been done long ago. Good luck and keep trying!
My spell checker said the title was ok.*
Three to go onto the blogroll (actually, two new and one who used to be but got taken off when he was supposed to become a Munuvian but he never really moved and what's up with that?):
Go say hi.
*Yeah, I'm recycling old old old titles from my Blogspot days. Next I'm gonna go out and hug a tree. It balances out, because of all the ozone I destroyed this afternoon spray painting a new rocket.
We keep hearing about Allawi and Sadr and foreign "insurgents", but nobody talks about that irrelevent old man anymore.
Except when the subject of the death penalty comes up.
I'm sitting there, trying to use our universal remote to turn the volume up on the TV, and managing to do everything but. My wife is greatly amused, and I finally hand her the remote and tell her to deal with it. She does, with about four seemingly random button presses (and a dozen silent spells I'm sure).
She smiles and says, "it's not rocket science."
"Exactly, which is why I can't figure it out!"
I get up and leave the room. TV. Who needs it?
Spotted on a Yahoo group today:
This is an FYI for anyone who might not have noticed the new feature in Yahoo's targeted marketing strategies....as Yahoo has not gone yodeling in the valley -- let alone on mountaintops -- about this software. I am neither condemning nor condoning this feature. You must decide for yourself whether you want to participate in this type of data snagging.Yahoo updated its Privacy Policy to include a gimmick known as "web beacons." They're used to compile marketing information by tracking Yahoo users around Yahoo and the web. From their description, it's an updated/intrusive expansion of cookies. Yahoo's explanation: << Yahoo! uses web beacons to access Yahoo! cookies inside and outside our network of web sites and in connection with Yahoo! products and services. >>
If you don't want Yahoo to track your web surfing habits and log your mail reading habits, you can deny them the right to use web beacons.
TO TURN OFF WEB BEACONS:
View Yahoo's updated privacy statement.
Roughly halfway down the page, in the section titled "Outside the Yahoo! Network," there's a blue hyperlink marked, "click here" -- which brings you to a page acknowledging that you successfully opted out for that browser.
CRITICAL: You must opt out for EACH browser you use. In other words, if you opt out for -- say -- Internet Explorer, but you also use AOL, Opera, Netscape, and Safari, then you must also opt out for AOL, Opera, Netscape and Safari by going to the opt-out hyperlink while using each of those browsers.
Also, there's a vague remark about opting out on each computer you use. If you use separate computers to log into Yahoo (e.g., work and home, or home and laptop), opt out for each browser installed while logged into your various computers. Yes, this doubles your work (possibly triples it, depending on how many computers you use), but unless you follow through, you're leaving the door open for them to track your surfing and mail reading habits, in conjunction with Yahoo cookies, for Yahoo products and services.
After you click the "opt out" hyperlink, pay careful attention to the "Success" message on the next page. There's a "Cancel Opt-out" button. If clicked, you will UNDO your opt-out.
Traffic was outrageously cooperative this morning, I made the Dale City to Rosslyn run in 20 minutes. The only time I had to slow was going through the Springfield mixing bowl, and slowing down meant 60mph. On top of that, it's a beautiful cool morning, so I put the windows down and cranked up the stereo.
It turned out that this morning's randomly-selected CD was perfect for the drive. Check out this lineup:
Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water
Deep Purple - Woman From Tokyo
Foghat - Fool For The City
Foghat - I Just Want To Make Love To You
Foghat - Slow Ride
Gary Wright - Dream Weaver
Gary Wright - Love Is Alive
Little Feat - Rock & Roll Doctor
Little Feat - Spanish Moon
Styx - Lady
Styx - Renegade
Uriah Heep - Sweet Loraine
Uriah Heep - The Wizard
Steely Dan - Do It Again
Steely Dan - Reelin' In The Years
Santana - Samba Pa Ti
Santana - Black Magic Woman
Santana - Oye Como Va
Now, I obviously didn't hear them all this morning. In fact, as I was pulling into the parking garage the first Gary Wright song was just coming on, which made me think of something. That disk is basically a 70's era stoner soundtrack*. I can just see it: someone scores a bag and a few friends gather 'round the bong, getting high and listening to some tunes.
I am so gonna jam on the drive home.
*For the record: I didn't smoke dope in high school, I was always the straight-but-cool friend. I keep telling y'all, I'm boring.
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases." -- Thomas Jefferson
Steve the Llamabutcher says in my comments:
"A motto to live by--if only babel fish could translate into latin!"
So "It may suck, but it's my suck" translates into (drumroll please):
Translation courtesy of Sunsite and their java-based Latin-English/English-Latin translator. Any and all mangling of grammar is purely my fault (where's John Cleese when you really need him?). Automatically majestic just for being latin.
It reminds me of a bit I saw Buddy Hackett do, where he visited the Pope and asked some embarrassing question. And the Pope replied "Abscondi Obesii Illegitimo", which translates to "Get outta here, you fat bastard".
And I'd be remiss without mentioning Anonymous Kyle and his comment. You have too much time on your hands, amigo. Go count something.
Thanks to the Carolina rocket guys for the heads up to this "Inside tour of an operating Rolls Royce jet engine". In fact, I'm just going to quote Bill S:
Yes, this is off topic but most of this crowd will find it cool to watch.....there is most definitely combustion and thrust! :-)This is a seriously cool shockwave flash animation. Whomever put this together deserved their pay.
Keep an eye on the right side of the display to see the operating parameters at each stage, and also down on the lower right where a red bar shows where you are inside the engine. There are some text comments that flash up below the play controls.
Has sound. Low res is about 2.1Mb, hi res version is almost 5 mb, so it may take a while to load on a dial-up connection. Broad band - no problem with streaming.
Rocket Jones the blog sucks lately. For many good reasons, including the new job. Even my recreational reading has been dominated by technical books. Ever relax to "An Introduction to SELinux"? Boy howdy, talk about riveting.
So I haven't had the time to devote online that I used to, and this site has inevitably suffered. I'm not apologizing, just stating the facts as I see 'em. I'm also not considering shutting down, I have too much fun with this.
I don't get to visit the places on my blogroll nearly as much as I used to, and that bites because I feel like I'm losing touch a little bit with good friends.
On the plus side, I've got a whole heap of fun movies to review, a surprise for some of you, and of course the whole Blogger Bowl 2004 league. The draft results are in, annika is trash talking (and we Raiders fans can talk some shit), and, well, let's just say that I've got some things in the works. Not earth-shaking stuff, but stuff.
In other words, keep checking back for continued blogging ala Rocket Jones. It may suck, but it's my suck.
An artist friend of mine was inspired by one of my rockets to paint his PC case and monitor (not the screen part, silly) with that fleckstone spray paint. It looks like something out of the Flintstones. Pretty cool.
On the internet, I've seen PC cases constructed out of clear plexiglass, out of lego and other interesting materials. My dad used to build 'executive' PC cases out of cherry, oak and mahogany for HP, but this case is a true work of art, and I want one sooooo bad.
Many thanks to the Flea Ethereal for the pointer.
"Klaatu Barada Nikto."
-- The Day the Earth Stood Still
-- Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness
Wegglywoo adds still another international flavor to the official Rocket Jones Blogger Bowl 2004 cheerleading squad. She asked, I invited, and that's all it takes.
Stevie, of Caught In The XFire!
Emma, of Miss Apropos!
Lynn S., of Reflections in d minor!
Heather, of Angelweave!
Kat, of Mostly Fluff!
Nic, of Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax!
Susie, of Practical Penumbra!
Mookie, of MookieRiffic!
Helen, of Everyday Stranger!
Gir, of Your Moosey Fate!
Tink, of Flitting Here and There!
Sarah, of Trying To Grok!
Blogoline, of Blogoline's Journal!
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone!
Denita, of Who Tends The Fires!
Jennifer, of Jennifer's History and Stuff!
Cindy, of Squipper!
Lemur Girl, of... uh, Lemur Girl!
Dawn of Caterwauling!
Big Hair, of Left & Right!
I bet the major PC companies are looking over their shoulders these days.
The schedule is up, and I see that my very first opponent is the lovely annika.
I should have some sort of special cheer or something here, just for her. Remember high school, when you "Clipped the Cardinals" or "Defused the Bombers" or whatever?
Anyway, I consider her the primary threat in the league right up front, because she actually does research and stuff before the draft. If I can whup her early on, before injuries become a factor, then I'll know the Rockets have good juju.
Her team doesn't really have a name, since she followed instructions (unlike yours truly) and signed up with her blog name.
Spank the annikas Poets?
This company sells affordable video systems that you can fly in hobby rockets. If you go to this page, check out the very last movie, titled "LOC Booster Bruiser EXP-4 AMW K670 Green No Spin at all". The LOC Bruiser is a beast of a rocket about 10 feet tall and almost 8 inches in diameter, and this video is like hitching a ride.
PS. those little tiny dots are the cars of the folks at the launch.
A few weeks ago I mentioned a successful experiment involving a grilled pear. Since pears are my favorite fruit (or maybe second after apricots, depends on the day), I decided to experiment again last night, and came up with this side dish that goes perfectly with pork.
Sweet and Savory on the Side
3 pears (not too ripe, you want them firm)
1 small onion
2 Tbsp butter or light olive oil
1-2 tsp of fresh ground ginger
fresh ground black pepper
You can peel the pears if you want, I didn't. Quarter and core them, then cut the quarters into slices the long way about 1/4" thick.
Slice the onion into 1/4" slices, then cut in half.
Melt 1 Tbsp butter (or a little olive oil) in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the onion and saute until the onions are translucent - 4 or 5 minutes. When done, remove the onions from the pan and set them aside.
Melt the rest of the butter in the pan (or add a little more olive oil) and saute the pears just until soft, turning occasionally. You don't want the pears mushy, so don't overcook.
Add the onions back to the pan and stir together to combine with the pears. Grate the fresh ginger over the top and cook for another minute or two, turning two or three times to mix the flavors.
When done, top with a generous amount of black pepper. Serves 4.
So the governor of New Jersey, McGreevey (or however you spell it) has resigned and admitted that he's gay.
The cynic in me is screaming that this 'gay' thing is an attempt to deflect attention from the fact that he's being hammered from all sides by scandals and possible investigations.
He's a politician, and a pretty good one since you don't get to be governor without some skills. That doesn't change the fact that he's also (allegedly) a crooked scumbag. Cheat on your wife? Shameful, but personal business. Gay? So what, but having a couple kids with your wife makes me think the term you're searching for is "bisexual".
Then again, I think "gay" might be exactly the term you intended, playing for sympathy and simultaneously using it as a smokescreen.
For excellent coverage of New Jersey matters, go visit Roberto at DynamoBuzz.
I've just started going through this archive of Sports Franchise logos, but so far I'm loving it.*
Thanks to Off Wing Opinion for pointing this out.
*That slogan is about as close to McDonalds as I get these days. *sigh*
It's been awhile since I've posted a love song to my beloved. She doesn't read Rocket Jones, but word gets back to her.
Dust On The Bottle
(David Lee Murphy/Jimbeau Hinson)Creole Williams lived down a dirt road
Made homemade wine like nobody I know
Dropped by one Friday night and said can you help me Creole
Got a little girl waitin' on me and I wanna treat her rightI got what you need son, it's sittin down in the cellar
He reached through the cobwebs as he turned on the light and saidThere might be a little dust on the bottle
But don't let it fool ya about what's inside
There might be a little dust on the bottle
It's one of those things that gets sweeter with timeShe was sittin in the porch swing as I pulled up the driveway
My ole heart was racing as she climbed inside
She slid over real close and drove down to the lake road
Watched the sun fade in that big red skyI reached under the front seat and said, now here's something special
It's just been waiting for a night like tonightThere might be a little dust on the bottle
But don't let it fool ya about what's inside
There might be a little dust on the bottle
It's one of those things that gets sweeter with timeYou're still with me, and we've made some memories
After all these years theres one thing I've found
Some say good love, well it's like a fine wine
It keeps getting better as the days go byThere might be a little dust on the bottle
But don't let it fool ya about what's inside
There might be a little dust on the bottle
It's one of those things that gets sweeter with time
Denmark has forbidden Kellogg's from adding vitamins and minerals to the breakfast cereals sold in that country.
They claim the additions result in "toxic doses" which could harm children and unborn children. Kellogg's additions include 17% of the US recommended daily requirements calcium and iron, and 25% of vitamins B6 and folic acid. Denmark does not have recommended daily allowances of nutrients.
Rather than turn this into some dark anti-American conspiracy, I'll believe the simpler explanation. The Danish government are idiots. Probably not enough vitamins in their diet growing up.
I first posted about the Flugtag '88 Airshow disaster almost eleven months ago, and since then there have been several comments posted and I've received some email from people who were there. I extend my sincere thanks to all who shared their stories.
The most recent commenter is Tricia, who also happens to be a blogger (I'll be adding her to the blogroll). Tricia's recollections are vivid and compelling and I'll admit that I had tears in my eyes as I read them.
If you're not sure what this is all about, look here. It's probably better if you start at the bottom and work your way up. Be sure to read the comments posted as well.
Yesterday I had a complete physical because I'll be 45 years old soon. My last checkup happened when I turned 40, and isn't what the title of this post is about. According to the official doctor scale, I am now under 300 pounds and have lost 40 pounds since the first of the year. I'd hit that plateau and hadn't lost anything for a while, but just kept up the diet and it looks like I'm dropping the pounds again. The doctor agreed with me when I said my goal is 220, which is higher than the 'recommended' but reasonable for my build.
As for my condition, I am disgustingly healthy despite myself, with good blood pressure. Blood work will be done saturday at the lab, mainly for a diabetes check, count the cholesterol (should be fine), and whatever else they look for (mad cow?).
Here's a tip for you Bill: find a pretty lady doctor with small hands. That part of the exam isn't any more fun than before, but you can pretend it's foreplay.
Everyone, and I mean both sides, claim the media is biased against them. Gee, I wonder whatever could they mean?
Check out this headline from the AP:
AP: U.S. Didn't Warn Las Vegas of Threats
Wow. Reading on:
When the Justice Department obtained two videos suggesting terrorists had cased Las Vegas casinos, the discussions didn't center on public alerts or heightened security. Rather, authorities worried about the effects on tourism and the casinos' legal liabilities, internal memos show.
There's more!
Though the FBI offered, most local law enforcement and casino security officers declined an invitation to view the footage after it was obtained in 2002
One document obtained by The Associated Press quotes a federal prosecutor in Las Vegas as saying the city's mayor was concerned about the "deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry" if the evidence became public. The mayor said Monday he was never told of the footage.Another memo states the casinos didn't want to see the footage for fear it would make them more likely to be held liable in civil court if an attack occurred.
Testing Meme Propagation In Blogspace: Add Your Blog
This posting is a community experiment that tests how a meme, represented by this blog posting, spreads across blogspace, physical space and time. It will help to show how ideas travel across blogs in space and time and how blogs are connected. It may also help to show which blogs (and aggregation sites) are most influential in the propagation of memes. The dataset from this experiment will be public, and can be located via Google (or Technorati) by doing a search for the GUID for this meme (below).
Please join the test by adding your blog (see instructions, below) and inviting your friends to participate—the more the better. The data from this test will be public and open; others may use it to visualize and study the connectedness of blogspace and the propagation of memes across blogs.
The GUID for this experiment is:
as098398298250swg9e98929872525389t9987898tq98wteqtgaq62010920352598gawst
The above GUID enables anyone to easily search Google or other search engines for all blogs that participate in this experiment, once they have indexed the sites that participate, which may take several days or weeks. To locate the full data set, just search for any sites that contain this GUID.
Anyone is free to analyze the data of this experiment. Please publicize your analysis of the data, and/or any comments by adding comments onto the original post (see URL above). (Note: it would be interesting to see a geographic map or a temporal animation, as well as a social network map of the propagation of this meme.)
INSTRUCTIONS
To add your blog to this experiment, copy this entire posting to your blog, and then answer the questions below, substituting your own information, below, where appropriate. Other than answering the questions below, please do not alter the information, layout or format of this post in order to preserve the integrity of the data in this experiment (this will make it easier for searchers and automated bots to find and analyze the results later).
REQUIRED FIELDS (Note: Replace the answers below with your own answers)
(1) I found this experiment at URL:
http://practicalpenumbra.mu.nu/
(2) I found it via “Newsreader Software” or “Browsing the Web” or “Searching the Web” or “An E-Mail Message”: Browsing the Web
(3) I posted this experiment at URL: http://rocketjones.mu.nu/
(4) I posted this on date (day/month/year): 10/08/04
(5) I posted this at time (24 hour time): 06:11
(6) My posting location is (city, state, country): (city), Virginia, USA
OPTIONAL SURVEY FIELDS:
(7) My blog is hosted by: mu.nu
(8) My age is: 44
(9) My gender is: Male
(10) My occupation is: Computer Consultant
(11) I use the following RSS/Atom reader software: none
(12) I use the following software to post to my blog: MovableType
(13) I have been blogging since (day, month, year): 04/07/2003
(14) My web browser is: MS IE
(15) My operating systems are: Windows ME
From Off Wing Opinion:
The OSHL will teams in six Canadians cities- Halifax, Quebec City, London, Hamilton, Toronto and Kitchener- and will have a unique format. The season will be comprised of four 11-day tournaments each comprised of a round-robin and a playoff. Each game will also include a shootout which won't decide the outcome of the game but will contribute to points in the standings- wins will be worth three points, shootout wins worth two, making each game worth five points that can be split between the teams. Each team will have a roster of 12 skaters, including the goalie, who will play three 17 minute periods of 4-on-4 hockey.
all penalties will result in penalty shots
Passed on peacefully at age 96. She made over 100 movies in her career, but was most famous for her role in King Kong, where the mighty ape carried her to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City.
In tribute, the lights on the spire of the Empire State Building will be dimmed tonight.
Wife and Mookie arrived safely home last night after their whirlwind tour of the great white north - Minnesota and Michigan plus all those states driven through to and from.
Mookie found some old horror movies on DVD in a used book store and got them for me. :D
Rob has worked out a formula to create a composite listing of guitarists from seven different lists.
Stevie, you'll be especially happy I think.
More lovely ladies have joined the Hot Jets cheerleaders, rooting for Rocket Jones in the upcoming Blogger Bowl 2004.
Welcomed into the lineup are Big Hair, half of the crew in charge over at Left & Right.
Also, a big Yay to Dawn of Caterwauling. She has a really mean kitty cat, and I'm not afraid to use him! Beware the Short Bus of Savage Bloodletting!
With these additions, all of Brazil is celebrating, and I hear they've dedicated all of Carnival to the Hot Jets.
Yeah, it's hype season. Either that or Ricky Williams just stopped by to say bye.
Lest I forget the rest of the lineup:
Helen, of Everyday Stranger!
Gir, of Your Moosey Fate!
Tink, of Flitting Here and There!
Stevie, of Caught In The XFire!
Heather, of Angelweave!
Kat, of Mostly Fluff!
Nic, of Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax!
Susie, of Practical Penumbra!
Mookie, of MookieRiffic!
Sarah, of Trying To Grok!
Blogoline, of Blogoline's Journal!
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone!
Denita, of Who Tends The Fires!
Emma, of Miss Apropos!
Lynn S., of Reflections in d minor!
Jennifer, of Jennifer's History and Stuff!
Cindy, of Squipper!
Lemur Girl, of... uh, Lemur Girl.
I didn't have much energy left at the end of the day last week, so I usually just tossed in a movie and found something mostly non-lethal to gnaw on for dinner. And do you know what that means? Yep, I'm gonna tell you all about the latest B movies and obscure classic wannabes I watched. Yay!
We'll kick this off with a truly odd little flick called What's The Matter With Helen?. (does that period go there?). (or there?). (crap, this could go on forever...)
In the movie WtMwH (how doodz is that?), Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters play two moms who have almost nothing in common. Nothing, that is, except that their sons partnered up to commit a horrible murder and mutilation. Needing to get away, they move to Hollywood and open a dance studio for children. Debbie Reynolds character is your basic money-grubbing floozy, while Shelley Winters plays a semi-psychotic religious fanatic. That's a horrible over-simplification, because their characters actually do have depth and you're able to empathize with them both. Look for Agnes Moorehead in a cameo role.
And in case you're unclear on the subject, I give this one a hearty recommendation. Great fun.
Which brings me to something I was pondering a while back. Some reviewers give the traditional 'stars' or 'reels' or whatever-out-of-five or ten somethings. Others give the now-ubiquitous 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down'. Online, I've even seen the awarding of 'severed thumbs', as in "three severed thumbs out of four". I like that. I was wondering if I should do something similar, like awarding Krafts (four Krafts, three and a half Krafts, etc), because Kraft claims to be the cheesiest, and that's what these reviews are all about. In the end, I decided against it, and will just describe and recommend for or against like I've been doing. Who listens to reviewers anyways?
Moving right along, I also watched Idle Hands. I thought I might've mentioned this before, but a search of the site doesn't turn anything up. Folks, this comedy/horror flick scores a 10 out of 10, all thumbs up (severed and otherwise), plus maximum cheesiness. In other words, rent this movie and you won't be sorry. Think Fast Times at Ridgemont High meets The Exorcist. Funny funny stuff, and eminently quotable. Big thanks to my beloved for thinking of me and buying this DVD. As an added bonus, Jessica Alba (Dark Angel) plays the lead character's girlfriend.
How's about a pair from Roger Corman? I watched not one, but two creature features. First up was Creature from the Haunted Sea. Bad, bad, bad. Fun, fun, fun. Every character is a stereotype, from the Bogie-impersonating bad guy to the inept secret agent (now I know where Chevy Chase got his schtick from). The storyline is nonsensical, the monster laughable, and if I ever meet that character who communicates via animal noises and birdcalls I will strangle him on sight.
Second of the Corman flicks was Beast from Haunted Cave. Something that became obvious was Corman's reliance on quirky mannerisms to define a character. The previous movie had animal-noise boy, and this movie has the gangster who never stops eating. In every scene that he's in, he's stuffing his face, even in the middle of a robbery. The plot here is better, as is the acting, and all in all I liked this one a lot more. Not that it's a great movie or anything, but you get to see Frank Sinatra's cousin in one of his major movie roles. Oh yeah, the monster is some kinda giant spider thingie. Sorta.
Lets finish up with one of those forgotten classics, eh? Revolt of the Zombies, made in 1936, was one of the very first zombie movies ever. It seems that during WWI, some French Cambodian troops were used and proved very effective at the front. They happened to be zombies, and the Cambodian priest who controlled them was imprisoned after the war in the interests of humanity. A team of Allied scientists were sent to Angkor (Wat) to discover the secret of zombification, with the task of destroying it forever. There's lots of love interest and mystery and plenty of zombies, who just happen to be living people under someone else's control - no walking dead here. For you trivia buffs, the lead is played by the same actor who later played the General in White Christmas. Find this one and enjoy it, just don't forget that it's a 30's movie and you'll be fine.
So there ya go. Betcha didn't know zombies originated in Cambodia. You learn the darndest things when you least expect it.
I'm still dragging tail-feathers after the last week, but last night I made a list of things I needed to take care of today.
This morning as I was stripping the beds to wash the linens, I found that one of the dogs (and I know exactly which one) peed on my pillow sometime after I'd gotten up. I assume he's showing his displeasure with me about the long hours of being left alone all week. The family is out of town, and I've been leaving early and coming home late during the rocket launch.
So I grabbed the dog and rubbed his face in it, then tossed him outside. Downstairs in the pantry was another puddle, so I had to do it again. At one point, I walked into the kitchen to check something off of my to-do list and stepped in another wet spot.
That did it, stronger measures were called for. One of the things on my list was to change the water in the dog bowl, but what I actually wrote was "water dogs". What a wonderful idea.
So I grabbed both dogs, took them out front and turned the hose on 'em, which they hate. Soaked 'em both really good, then left them to sit outside and think about it.
An hour later I let them back in one at a time, meeting them at the door with a towel and another stern talking-to. They've been on their best behavior since.
NARAM-46 is over, and our club did one helluva hosting job, if I do say so myself. Besides the evening events and tours, we ran two separate rocket flying ranges.
I said I wasn't going to fly anything of my own since I was working the sport range, and I didn't. But between the four of us who worked there all week, we launched 1,038 flights of everything from 1" tall flying saucers to a beautiful eight foot tall two-stage high-power rocket that topped out at almost 4000 feet. For the rocketeers out there, it was Ted Cochran's bird featured in the last issue of Sport Rocketry. There was one day where we shut down about an hour early because of rain, and there was another two hour rain delay on Thursday in the middle of the morning. Wednesday was brutally hot and humid, nearing 100 degrees with almost no breeze. A perfect day for rockets, but miserable for us humans hunkering under the canopies and guzzling gallons of water. But for the most part, it was big fun.
Memorable moments (for me) include Kevin and his three young kids (all under 7), having a four-way simultaneous launch of their rockets not once, not twice, but at least three times that I saw, and they got everything back every time. Mike, Jerry, and George who brought armfulls of rockets to launch every day, and when those had flown they headed back to their cars for more. Paul and his family brought RC gliders and a video camera rocket, as well as simple rockets that his kids flew. Mark and his son Eric flew their Aerotech Initiator a half-dozen times, making their 60th flight with that rocket along the way.
Lots of kids, which is the neatest part for me.
VIP-ishly, I met Vern Estes, who launched a rocket making it's 400th and some-odd flight. The rocket had flown at least once a year every year since sometime in the late 60's I believe. Bill Stine, owner of Quest Rocketry and son of G. Harry, was there flying video rockets. And in probably the most memorable flight of the meet, George Gassaway brought a huge Concorde-like glider that carried a slightly smaller version piggyback. On liftoff, the big one carried the parasite aloft, which then took off under it's own engine to go even higher. Both gliders returned under separate RC control. Too cool. Later, at least one of the gliders (and maybe both) were massively damaged when two engines CATO'd on takeoff (which is what that means: CAtastrophe at Take Off). George also won the National RC Rocket Glider Championship when he flew a simple RC glider for over 14 minutes before landing. He only needed to do a little better than 12 minutes, and the air was so good that he could have stayed up there for far longer. Carl Tulenko brought his upscaled Tres (as seen in a recent issue of Extreme Rocketry), which lifted off on three I211 motors canted outwards, before staging to an H something-or-other. Perfect flight.
The contest range held nine events for over 100 competitors in four different divisions, plus two more 'fun' contests. They did egg-lofting for altitude, for duration (how long under chute before touching ground), at least four rocket glider-type events, one for helicopter recovery, and a notably interesting event called "plastic model conversion", also known as 'raining plastic doom and destruction' since it's hard to make that Revell F15-Eagle fly safely under rocket power.
So that was my week. Lots of fun, but I'm glad it's over. We have a regular club launch on August 28th. I plan to do quite a bit of flying that day.
Rumor has it that next year, NARAM-47 will be held in Cincinnati, which is an easy drive from here. I might just have to take a truckload of my rockets and do a road-trip next August.
PS. Doug Pratt reminded me that there is a site out there called NARAM Live, with tons of pictures and video of all the stuff going on. Chris Taylor runs that, and he does an excellent job. And while I'm at it, over at Doug's place is a cool picture of the massive O3600 hybrid motor (2,048 times more powerful than an Estes D12).
Here's your chance to write cheers for the Hot Jets cheerleaders!
Real. Funny. Naughty. Just made-up or whatever. Put 'em in the comments. Might even be a prize. Darned if I know what, but suggest prizes too and maybe we can work something out.
About the title: no, I'm not apathetic about this, I just thought it was funny. You don't? Oh well.
