More Cincy Trip...

The Mysterious Blood Gutter

After gathering my keys and stuffing my wallet in my back right pants pocket, I hoisted my back pack over my shoulder and stepped out the door for another day of work. I turned from locking the door, it's black paint chipping exposing the gray metal underneath, and strode toward the top of the steps. Before taking the first step, I looked down to find an extremely large pool of blood on the second step from the top. My first thought was blood, but it was only in the one spot. I didn't see a trail of smaller drops leading to our neighboring apartment or further down the steps. I then second guessed myself and thought someone had spilled a red drink or dessert. After closer inspection, I knew it was blood. I stepped over the pool and went down a few steps. I turned around and looked up at the gutter. There was a red streak on the outer edge of the gutter directly above the pool. The blood was no longer dripping, but it appeared extremely fresh. It was very red and had not yet taken on the brownish rust color. I figure it must have been a raccoon, possum or squirrel that had cut itself, maybe on the gutter. I'll keep you updated if I see any animals with fresh stitches.

One Disappointed Geology Dork

It seems all of Louisville and the entire Ohio Valley were awakened by last weeks 5.2 earthquake west of Evansville on the Indiana-Illinois border. That is everyone except Beth & I. I have long wanted to feel an earthquake (except for the concrete and wood beams falling on my head). When I am finally presented an opportunity, I sleep through it like I was on a NyQuil bender the night before. I have not asked a single person yet who did not feel it. I have a friggin' link to the USGS on my blog and I am the only person I know who consistently reads books on Geology...but I stay asleep. CRRAAAAAAAAAAP!

Anyway, the ballpark had its share of minor damage. The quake created a little ripple in center field which the grounds crew had to sand, tamp down & re-sod. We watched the surveillance cameras when we came into work and you can definitely see them bouncing around. One even picked up a tree trembling in the parking lot. It is easy to tell a tree moving due to wind compared to a tree being shaken. All in all, very interesting for my first earthquake experience...I just missed out on the actual shaking. CRRAAAAAP!

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"

I remember Mark reading this book not too long ago and decided to pick it up at Half-Price Books while selling a few stinkers. I figured it would be a short, quick read while I decided what I really wanted to read next. I can't say it's the best book I ever read...not even top 20. However, it is a unique and interesting book. Assuming the point of view created by Mark Haddon (the author) is correct, it gives an interesting perspective from the viewpoint of an autistic person. The funny thing is, I found myself identifying with Christopher (the main character). Sometimes all a person wants is white noise and be left to their fancies.

Things are Going to Start Happening to Me Now!

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=B2&Date=20080414&Category=SPORTS07&ArtNo=804140810&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=13

Miscellaneous Thoughts

First, I hope any Hoosiers reading my drivel don't take it seriously. Having numerous wonderful family members who reside or were born in the Hoosier State, it is more of a friendly jab than anything else.

Second, what is up with the twitching. For the past year I feel my muscles have taken on a life of their own. It's not what it sounds like...I'm not ready for the Cougar 3000 (see Seinfeld for reference). I often have muscle twitches taking place in my back and in my arms and legs. Last week, I encountered a weird fluttering of my left eardrum. It wasn't loud, just odd. I noticed it made the sound when I rubbed the top of my head (don't laugh...I couldn't make this up). I used some ear drops and it seems to have helped. It is the ear with which I have had past trouble. Last night, a new and even more bizarre twitch developed. It felt as if someone was gently bending the top of my right ear in short, quick little pulses. No muscle in that part of the ear...just cartilage and nerves.

Based on these experiences, I have formed a theory when it comes to people who experience "ghosts" touching them. Most of these little episodes do feel as if someone is poking on the muscle (or "bending your ear"). It is completely possible many of these ghostly encounters could be debunked and written off to no more than a twitch. Or maybe it's a small toad or a dwarf living in my stomach. Oh well...I guess I'll go see the Barber for a good bleeding.

A Pirate Looks at Forty (Cents)

I haven't had the chance recently to get out and detect much, but this is what I have found the past couple of weeks. It's not much, but I have not gone to any interesting places either. You've read about the bottle cap and the salamander and the rest is mostly pennies, dimes & quarters (I have found very few nickels...not really sure why). I have found a few tokens (one to The Park & another with the skull & bones-the back has a treasure chest. I thought this was funny because it represents all I want to find in a cheap little kids coin...except for the bones). I did find my first foreign currency in a Canadian cent. It's not a big deal, but it's somewhat of a milestone in my short detecting-life.

Is 40 Days & 40 Nights Too Much to Ask?

In anticipation of the heavy rains forecasted this week in the wake of last weeks deluge, I thought it appropriate to republish my poem...

Metallic Garden Globes & the Fiberoptic Tee Pee
The great Iroquoian river erodes
carving Ken-tah-ten
dividing the land of tomorrow
from land of native men.
North of the muddy ribbon
parasitic towns emerged
oh' only if tomorrow
had purged this festering scourge
Now the lights of winter
cast bleak shadows on our face
as we gaze o'er the river
and ponder wasted space
Glaciers past devoured, scoured
a once proud pristine land.
Now our hope lies with rain drenched skies
to use what is close at hand
Oh river, oh river swell thee wide
depths deadly deep
quicken your current, reclaim your road
and from us Hoosiers keep.

("Ken-tah-ten" is Iroquoian, translated as Land of Tomorrow)

Smallmouth Salamander

Since Beth was in Lexington Tuesday night with Mary Kay, I decided to head over to Charlie Vettiner Park and do some detecting. I headed toward a huge open field I was sure would yield few finds, but do to a lack of recent research, I was basically out for the fresh air. One lone tree stood in the middle of the field. I searched around it for a few minutes and got a hit on something that ended up, like I expected, to be a piece of aluminum. However, in digging for it I came across this ugly little cuss a few inches down. In my limited searching of the web, I think it is a smallmouth salamander.

The picture on top is from the web, the one on the bottom taken with my cell phone. It's blurry, but the toes are identical to the "web specimen." He's lucky I didn't slice him in two. I gently buried him back under the tree. Hopefully he will survive the ordeal of being dragged from hibernation. If anyone thinks this is a different critter, let me know.

I also found $.37 in clad. Besides Mr. Slimy, the neatest find was a Coca-Cola bottle cap. Usually, bottle caps are a nuisance, but this was different. It was obviously off an actual glass Coke bottle. It was in great shape except for the edges being bent in. The top was shiny and looked new. It read "Instant Winner" & Coca-Cola in the famous script underneath. I turned the cap over and I saw the familiar blue-green rubber disc with writing underneath. It was good for (1) Free Admission to an Early Bird Matinee at Champs Roller Dome at any participating Louisville or Lexington location. Unfortunately, I'll have to keep my skates in the closet. The expiration date was 10/31/84. DAMN IT!

(I'll post pictures when I get more booty)

I GOT YOUR MILK MONEY KID!

I finally got out on Saturday afternoon to metal detect. I headed over to Long Run Park and poked around finding only a couple quarters, a dime, a few pennies and a Canadian cent. I headed to the playground before I left and found a little change there, too...just some kids milk money. It is much more pleasant to hunt and dig in this weather. I hope to get out more soon even though baseball season is here. At least I'll have some Fridays and weekends to get out. I will post a picture of everything I have found since my last picture, but I want to take a few more trips first.

Baseball, Dave Matthews & the Raging Rash

First, I have deleted my sports blog. It seems everyone I have talked to has said they don't read it. I guess I was just writing it for myself. That should be enough, but I'm selfish and want people to read what I write. So if it is important enough to me, and I think someone may find it interesting, I'll continue to put it on this blog.

Baseball season has started and we are busy at working getting ready for our opening day on April 11th. We have a lot to do and short time to do it. Also, for the past 3 weeks I have been the go to guy for Dave Matthews concert questions. They will be here August 1st, 2 weeks after the All-Star Game leaves town. When it comes to the ASG, I have been put in charge of the operations at FanFest (the 3 days leading up to the game). So my plate is full and they keep dishing out helpings.

My beautiful wife had a reaction to a medication this weekend and her skin turned polka-dotted. It was really bad from head to toe (literally) and she has been miserable trying not to scratch. If she laid down in some pink flock, you couldn't finder her. She has some stuff to help get rid of it and now it's just a waiting game.

Birthday Season Snow

Here are the pictures of this past weekends snow storm from our balcony.

Weather is Fine for Derby Time!

The snow is melting and Derby is only a matter of weeks away. Place your bets, place your bets...

St. Pius Cornhole Tournament

Last Saturday Kevin & I played in the St. Pius Cornhole Tournament. This was my first year playing, but Kevin has played a few times. The tournament distance was 33' hole to hole, 3 ft longer than I'm used to. However, I did get a chance to practice and when it came time for the tourny, I felt ready. Kevin played really well for the most part and was pretty much responsible for us winning the games we did. I felt I tossed better than the results showed...just like in golf when you strike the ball better than you score. I had so many I felt were dead on, but just a little off on the distance. We won the first match against a team we had no business beating, but Kevin got hot and they played poorly. It was the same team that won the whole sha-bang last year. The second game we played Sparks' friend Nate and his sister. We ended up beating them twice...once in the first round and once in the losers brackets. It was double elimination...so we were solely responsible for knocking them out. Our over all record was 3 & 2. The two games we lost were not really close although we made a run at the end of them. I hope to redeem myself next year..............until then!

Snow at the Ballpark

Here are a couple of pictures I took today at Slugger Field around noon.

Too Much of a Good Thing

I realized the other morning Beth & I have been watching too many episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We are currently in season 5 of the DVD collection (season 4 is a bootleg from Singapore...but that is another story). Anyway, I dreamed the other night numerous family members & myself were at mom & dad's house during the evening. The house was "pre-finished basement" and the coal bin was still there. However, the coal bin was was reinforced with metal locks and steel walls. Apparently the reason for this upgrade was because Oz (Seth Green), the werewolf from Buffy, was using it to lock himself in during full moons. I remember walking around the outside of the house and hearing the bangs coming from the basement hoping he would not get out. I am sure there is more detail to the dream, but I have forgotten most of it. I hope it is not a premonition. But if I actually believed that, I definitely need to take a break.

The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa

It is this type of phenomena that makes me so skeptical of reports of crop circles, alien spacecraft & ghosts. So many quirky little things like these happen in the world, but usually have a very simple explanation (even if that explanation has not been proven). The world is full of paranormal activity and the simplest answer is usually the correct one.

http://geology.com/articles/racetrack-playa-sliding-rocks.shtml

The Bread Paradox

I noticed in the cupboard this morning we only had a few slices of bread left. As I sat down on the couch to eat breakfast, the "Weather Hunter" on Fox 41 news mentioned a winter storm warning for Louisville. Great. Now if I stop and get bread, and only bread, it will look like I am one of "those" people wigging out about the weather ("If we don't get bread, we will all die!!!") If I don't , no sandwiches or toast for lil' Beth & Brian until after the snow moves on (thank god we don't need milk...I'd have to move out of the city). If I go before the snow, I will feel the urge to buy a lot of stuff we don't need to cover the fact I am in there to get bread. The only solution I forsee is if I go in the middle of the storm to get the bread and show my true manliness as well as satisfying the situation of needing bread. If I had a breadmaker....

screw it.

Updated Detecting Finds

As promised, I will continue to post what I have found metal detecting. At the end of the year, I will post a picture of everything I find. Anyway...here is what I have found since the last update.



Midnight Magic

Lunch Break Today

I went to Frisbee Field in Cherokee Park today at lunch. In the short time I was there, I found 4 pennies. A 1971, 1980, 2002 & 2007. The '71 is in excellent shape. It is the perfect penny. 1980 was in good shape, but a little blotchy. 2002 was barely readable and corroded. 2007 looks like it had been in a garbage disposal (Metro Parks tractor most likely). The newer it is, the worse it looks. Any way, I am getting better at listening to the detector and knowing when I have found something worth digging.

Union Forts in Louisville Area

Bingham Park between Franfort Ave & Brownsboro Road was the site of Fort Elstner, a Union camp during the Civil War. Here is more on it according to Wikipedia:

Civil War defenses of Louisville (1864-65)
See also: American Civil War fortifications in Louisville
Around 1864-65, city defenses including eleven forts, which were ordered to be constructed by Union General Stephen G. Burbridge, formed a ring about ten miles long from Beargrass Creek to Paddy's Run. Nothing remains of these constructions.[17] They included, from east to west:

Fort Elstner between Frankfort Ave. and Brownsboro Road, near Bellaire, Vernon and Emerald Aves.
Fort Engle at Spring Street and Arlington Ave.
Fort Saunders at Cave Hill Cemetery.
Battery Camp Fort Hill (2) (1865) between Goddard Ave., Barrett and Baxter Streets, and St. Louis Cemetery.
Fort Horton at Shelby and Merriweather Streets (now site of city incinerator plant).
Fort McPherson on Preston Street, bounded by Barbee, Brandeis, Hahn and Fort Streets.
Fort Philpot at Seventh Street and Algonquin Parkway.
Fort St. Clair Morton at 16th and Hill Streets.
Fort Karnasch on Wilson Ave. between 26th and 28th Streets.
Fort Clark (1865) at 36th and Magnolia Streets.
Battery Gallup (1865) at Gibson Lane and 43rd Street.
Fort Southworth on Paddy's Run at the Ohio River (now site of city sewage treatment plant). Marker at 4522 Algonquin Parkway.
Also in the area were Camp Gilbert (1862) and Camp C. F. Smith (1862), both at undetermined locations.

The one on Goddard Ave is interesting and I would like to research it more. Bingham Park is the only other one I would actually feel safe going to. I'm not sure how much foreign soil has been dumped to create this par, but it may be worth an investigation.

View Larger Map

Scary Politics

I know it is wise to stay away from politics and religion on personal blogs. You may end up offending friends or family. Plus, blogs of this nature are a dime a dozen. However, I can't help but post and bring attention to these subjects when they collide. I am writing about Mike Huckabee. I have started to think he is losing his momentum and would likely lose if he drew the GOP nomination anyway...but just for kicks, let's look at what he said in a recent speech.

http://www.richarddawkins.net/article,2130,Huckabee-Wants-A-Faith-based-Constitution,Crooks-and-Liars

This should scare anyone, including the religious.

AAARRRGGGGHHH....TIS BOOTY I BE LOOTIN'!

Well, I haven't had a chance to get out recently to hunt for more pennies, but I hope to get out at least a little this weekend (maybe mom & pop's front yard). Here is a picture of what I have so far.

3 quarters (the one on top is a Delaware), 2 dimes, 7 pennies (including a 1926), a McGregor zipper thingy, 2 chunks of misc. metal, 2 toy cars and a pot metal airplane wing (upper left corner). The airplane wing has the 5-point star inside a circle. I think there maybe a picture of Mark & Kevin on their birthday playing with toy planes in the backyard. I want to find it and see if it is part of one of those planes.
I will keep updating what I find (and Mark, I will respond to your e-mail or talk to you soon about Otter Creek...it sounds a little strange to me).

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

I cannot help but search for and watch videos like this. Maybe I am trying to convince myself that these people are joking and using satire. But alas, I am afraid no. This sends nausea inducing chills through my body and I still cannot keep from watching. Is there a word for this? Masochist?

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=9bede653e94468ff8df1

Metal Detecting

I received one of the coolest gifts ever this Christmas, a metal detector from my parents (the coolest Christmas gift was my niece Jill a few days before in 2005). I have logged several hours with it now and am becoming more comfortable. I have spent most of the time in my parents yard, but have also briefly been to frisbee field in Cherokee Park and up around Hogan's Fountain. So far I have found exactly a dollar in change. My first find was a 1977 quarter in my parents backyard (pictured below). I also found a 1926 wheat penny back there, too. Besides coins, I have found to chunks of metal I want to identify before I discard, a wing of a toy airplane, a McGregor jacket zipper, two metal toy cars. I plan on keeping the blog updated on my various finds with more pictures to come.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

UK Basketball

For anyone who reads this blog and is a big UK Wildcat fan or is just plain dumbfounded by the reaction of some UK fans to the current basketball season, let me be the voice of reason.

• Tubby Smith is a good basketball coach. However, he was never going to keep UK at the Top 10 level. Top 25, maybe.
• Gillispie is not playing with the same guys Tubby had last year. Morris is gone, Meeks has been hurt & Jasper has not played a game this season and probably won't.
• Our 2 star seniors are mediocre to good.
• One of our best Freshmen and "future stars" elected to transfer6 games into the season.
• Our best player, and freshman, Patrick Patterson did not play against Houston due to an ankle injury.
• Our best players off the bench are Jared Carter, Perry Stevenson & Michael Porter!!! You can't win alot of games with that.
• With that being said...it is still disappointing so far, but anyone who understands the game won't panick until 2 or 3 years from now if things haven't improved.
• I predict Kentucky will play much better this year if they can get a full healthy starting 5 in Bradley, Crawford, Meeks, Jasper & Patterson.
• Gillispie will have several Top teams in the next 5-8 years. Just be patient.

Know Your Local Geology!!! The Tabler Quartet

Mark & Kim's house also lies atop Louisville Limestone from the Middle Silurian. However, just off to the east you will find Waldron Shale indicated by the narrow gray strip & Laurel Dolomite (pink). Both of these are also Middle Silurian. The orange is the Drakes Formation (Upper Ordivician). The small brown area east of Edgeland Road is fill. I am curious to know what the fill is...gravel?

"Drakes Formation (0d).-The Drakes Formation consists of four members: Rowland, Preachersville, Bardstown, and Saluda Dolomite Members. The Rowland and Preachersville occur in the eastern part of the Outer Bluegrass region, and the Rowland, Bardstown, and Saluda occur on the west side. The Drakes Formation is composed of dolomite, limestone, mudstone, and shale. Dolomite, dolomitic limestone, and mudstone are most abundant and are commonly composed of silt-sized grains, are sparsely fossiliferous or unfossiliferous, partly laminated, and locally mud cracked and ripple marked. The Bardstown Member, which makes up only a small part of the total Drakes, is composed of fossiliferous limestone in irregular or nodular beds thinly interbedded with fossiliferous or sparsely fossiliferous shale. The Drakes Formation generally ranges in thickness from 20 to 150 ft. In south-central Kentucky, it is locally cut out by the unconformity at the base of the Devonian rocks."

Know Your Local Geology!!! The J-Town Foundation

This is a map of our neighborhood in J-Town just off I-64 & Hurstbourne. Though fairly boring, the interesting thing about this is our apartment lies right on the edge of Sellersburg/Jeffersonville Limestones(Middle Devonian) indicated by the dark blue and Louisville Limestone(Middle Silurian) indicated by the light blue. Obviously with all the development and parking lots, you cannot notice anything. But I imagine if you were to follow the contact boundary, you would find signs somewhere in the region.

Know Your Local Geology!!! The Highlands/Tyler Park

Here is my Mom & Pop's neck of the woods. I never really thought about the change in elevation surrounding my parents house until now. I just saw the backyard as a great sledding hill and the street provided hours of vehicular entertainment during snow and ice storms. Now, I get to see a map of "what gives?" Our street sits atop Sellersburg and Jeffersonville Limestones(Middle Devonian - Upper Devonian), but just to the south, overlooking Tyler Park, you see Louisville Limestone(Middle Silurian). This would be the steep cut we see in the alley behind the house (when I think of all the times I slid down that hill, I never realized I was falling back in time!!!). Once you get to Castlewood, you have entered Lacustrine deposits from the Wisconsinan-Quaternary period. Knowing this, I can now picture a huge lake engulfing Tyler Park and across the lake you could yell to people who live up on Summit Avenue. I never realized my parents owned lake front property.

Know Your Local Geology!!! Nelson Co.

Having driven Hwy 245 between I-65 & Bardstown on numerous occasions, I have become interested in the noticeable change between Limestone and Shale in the road cuts as you enter into Nelson Co. I have decided to compare the local underlying geology of the places our families live. This is a map of Tom & Peggy's neighborhood just outside of Bardstown. Their respective neighborhood lies atop New Albany Shale and Beechwood Limestone (member of Sellersburg Limestone). This was deposited between the Middle Devonian & Upper Devonian slot on the Geologic Time Scale. The surrounding area in purple is Laurel Dolomite located in the Middle Silurian time frame. The hills to the west, plainly seen from their home is the Borden Formation(Lower Mississippian) which is more erosion resistant Limestone and part of the same series of formations of Muldraugh Hill near Ft. Knox.

More to come...

2007 RedsFest

This past Friday & Saturday, three co-workers and myself stayed in Cincinnati to work RedsFest at the Duke Energy Center. We had a booth set up with ticket and All-Star Game information. We also sold ASG hats, baseball cards and game worn jerseys. It was fairly successful and we had plenty of interest. The event was huge. Numerous vendors and sponsors were set up as well as interactive games and simulations for kids and adults. The biggest draw of course was the autograph sessions. Thousands of people lined up through the mazes of pipe and drape with memorabilia in hand. Each day when the doors opened, it was a stampede of red & black, baseball bats, duffle bags, memorabilia and over-weight guys in Barry Larkin jerseys as fans of all sorts sprinted for the head of the line. The Reds new manager Dusty Baker, Marty & Thom Brennaman (radio), Wayne Krivsky(GM) and numerous other current Reds were on hand to answer questions from fans. I also saw George Foster at a booth signing autographs for charity. I wish I would have had the George Foster bat Mark, Kevin, Steve & I had when we were little. I think we still have one in mom and dad's basement.The event was done very well. The displays were very interesting and the memorabilia stores would make and sport fan nostalgic (my favorite was a big framed picture of Nolan Ryan holding Robin Ventura in a headlock punching him in the face, signed by Nolan Ryan). I will always be a St. Louis Cardinal fan, but this event made me realize how much I used to love the Reds. I think it has rekindled some of my fanhood.

Think Snow...or Else!

Think Snow!!!!

Well, it's almost mid-December and I have not personally seen a single snowflake. I think perhaps the snow gods were miffed because the leaves stayed on the trees so long this year due to the draught. Just like Calvin & Hobbes, we must appease them. So...do your part. Burn some leaves or do a snow dance. Go dismantle a snow plow or poor cement into a salt truck's dispenser! Think snow!!!I find it odd that Calvin's parents sort of look like my parents...hmmmmm.

Colorado Pictures (1998, 2000)

These are some of the pictures I had from Colorado when Jeff, Adam and I went out there. I put them to The Mountains Win Again & Escaping by Blues Traveler. They have been my favorite band since I first heard them while living in Colorado. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I guess I associate them with the Rockies. One of my friends at the YMCA of the Rockies (where I worked) was a big fan. I had heard of them, but never listened to them. I saw them on SNL while out there (we only received 2 stations) and a week later we went to see them in Denver at the Paramount Theater. We bought standing room tickets for $20 right in front of the stage. This is when John Popper was ginormous and all the original band members were still alive. They are still great in my opinion and John Popper's solo stuff is pretty swanky.

A Loss of Curiosity

For the past month, as I have written previously, I have been reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan. It has a few concepts it brings forth causing me to do further reading elsewhere before I can continue on with the book. This is why I have only read 180 pages in a month. Keep in mind, this book was published in 1980, so many things have come to pass in the world of science since Sagan finished this book. It makes it that much more interesting to read his insight. I came across one paragraph I found particularly interesting. He writes about how great it would be to send a roving vehicle to Mars to carry out advanced experiments in imaging, chemistry & biology. "Prototypes of such rovers are under development by NASA." writes Sagan. He goes on to write:

"Public interest in such a mission would be sizable. Every day a new set of vistas would arrive on our home television screens...[a] billion people could participate in the exploration of another world."

Sagan, C., Cosmos. Chapter 5: Blues for a Red Planet. p. 108.

The two rovers he spoke of, Spirit & Opportunity, have been on the Mars surface for nearly 3 years now. When they first landed, there was some hype. These two little rovers have out performed and lasted longer than anyone thought possible. They are still going to this day. But where is the hype now. We don't see the pictures on TV every night or hear stories on the rovers. This is just an example. It seems very few people take an interest in new things or even attempt to ask questions, much less seek the answer ( during a discussion, I actually had somebody I work with ask me if I thought there were other suns in the Universe).

Anyway, I hope to finish the book in the next week. I will then start "Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Should Have Learned in School, but Didn't" or something like that.

Cool Picture

I came across this picture a few days ago. It is now being used as my desktop wallpaper. It is a picture taken from one of the Mars rovers of Earth. It just makes you feel so small and insignificant. Wait...we are small and insignificant. It is weird to imagine that every person who has ever lived; every war ever waged, all of man's accomplishments and dastardly acts of horror; disease; the hustle and bustle of industrialization; mountains; vast oceans; plunging canyons; every species of plant and animal; and all of our fears and worries take place in that little dot. This is just one little dot in billions and billions of dots (maybe more). Some people take comfort in religion and faith...I take comfort in knowing we are nothing special and just a freckle on the gigantic eternal ass of the cosmos (I bet Sagan wishes he had thought of that line!).

(The speck in the upper right hand corner is just a blown up image of Earth, though it's hard to tell in this format).

Ghost?

I took this picture this afternoon at work. It looks like we have a ghosty!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Ghost Hunters at Waverly Hills

The show Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi Channel will be broadcasting live from Waverly Hills Sanitorium Halloween night. They are supposed to go live at 9 PM and be on until 3 AM. There will be numerous reruns on throughout the afternoon leading up to the live broadcast. They have caught some creepy footage in the past and it will be neat to see it live.

Pumpkin Picking, Pumpkin Guts & Jack O-Lantern

We have finally carved the pumpkin. It now has a personality. It turned out fairly well, even though my carving skills are less than surgeonish. We are not sure if our apartment allows lit Jack -O-Lanters, but we are being very cautious. Here are some pictures of the selection process, the slaying and the final result.

Pumpkin Carving

I will attempt to carve our pumpkin tonight. I will post pictures of the pumpkin selection process, close-ups of the pumpkin before his demise, and finally the Jack-O-Lantern when it is finished. I don't really have the best tools, but I can make do. I have a feeling my exacto knife will come in handy. I have also been thinking of the book, "The Pumpkin Smasher" we had when we were kids. I decided to research it online to see if any copies are available. It is out of print, but a few copies were on Amazon for $78. Too rich for my blood, but I would like to continue searching. I remember the story was perfect for kids at Halloween. Not too scary, not too silly. It was a great little mystery with perfect illustrations.

Cousin David, The Keg of Nails Thief

For any of you who do not watch football highlights (or give a damn about UofL football), cousin David was shown on ESPNU after the Louisville/Cincinnati game running with the "Keg of Nails" after UofL beat Cincinnati in the annual grudge match. The camera was on him for a good 7-10 seconds. It happens at about the 1:10 mark of the video.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3062719&categoryId=2564308&n8pe6c=2

UK v. Florida

I have scored a cheap ticket to the UK/Florida game this weekend. UK has done so well this year without me going, I am tempting fate by actually attending. If they lose, I will blame myself. For any true Kentucky fans, you know my predicament. They did beat a poor Georgia team last year while I was there, but it was still a big win. The game is at 3:30 on CBS, but I'll be in the upper deck away from the hubbub. I have never been to a Kentucky/Florida game (but considering we have not beat them in 17 years, it's probably a good thing), but I figured I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Maybe I'm just the luck they need.

Jeptha Knob

Sunday afternoon I took a little drive to Shelby County, just east of Shelbyville, to a place called Jeptha Knob. I noticed it on a topographical map of Kentucky, a round area sticking out like a sore thumb (or as Willow from Buffy would say "Wow, that thumb is sore!"). I investigated the area further and found out it is believed by many earth scientists (but not confirmed) to be an astrobleme, or a crater from an asteroid impact. The area has millions of years of erosion, so it looks to be no more than a group of hills to the average motorist passing by. Knowing more about it, however, one can definitely see it being an old impact crater. The valley below where all the farms and houses are are in the crater itself & the knobs are actually the deformed and metamorphosed rock layers pushed up and away from the crater. Not only have the knobs eroded greatly over millions of years, but the thick forested hill side, lush vegetation & thick soil deposit hides any outcroppings. I drove around the knobs a few times trying to find easy access points to explore. However, to our disappointment, it seems all the surrounding land is private and NO TRESPASSING signs were posted everywhere. We did drive up Jeptha Knob Rd. to a locked gate blocking the road. We walked up the road a little further and saw a couple of deer walking up on the hillside above us through the trees. Other than that, we did not see much, but we can always say we stood atop an astrobleme (supposedly).

Official Rock, Gem & Mineral of Kentucky...oops!

I found this funny, but typical. Past state representatives took it upon themselves to name the official rock, gem & mineral of Kentucky. Next time, ask.

• The official rock of Kentucky is the Kentucky Agate. Very beautiful, but technically not a rock. It is a type of quartz, so technically it is a mineral.
• The official gem of Kentucky is the pearl. Freshwater pearls are often found in Kentucky, but since most gems are considered minerals (and minerals cannot be made biologically), pearls are not really gems.
• And last, but not least, the official mineral of Kentucky...coal. Sure, it makes sense. But coal is not a mineral. It is a fossil fuel, aka, biologically made. Strike 3!

I love our government.

Montana Road Signs

Whenever I drive through a road cut, I have the bad habit of rubber necking around at the surrounding exposed rocks (even if I have seen it a million times). It gets really bad when I am driving in a place with different geological formations than I am used to (just ask Beth). While it is not the safest thing in the world, I have always wanted people to be aware of their surrounding geology, but you can't very well have a conversation with surrounding motorists when you are hurling at 70 mph. Here is an article about a new idea in Montana. They put up road signs in an effort to teach people about the surrounding geology. I'm still not convinced this is safe, but it is a neat concept.

Cephalopod v. Calamite

While working for the USGS a few years ago, I found this fossil in Goose Creek out U.S. 42 near Prospect, KY. I am not positive what it is, but my best conclusion is that it is a Calamite stalk. It is about the right size for a younger trunk (4-6 cm across) and is segmented just like the description says. It is also very common in the Devonian Limestone which borders the Cincinnati arch. Long, segmented tubes could also be the shells of cephalopods, however, this is more plant like. It does have rounded ends like a cephalopod, but that may just be from the erosion of the creek. If anyone is a fossil junkie and can let me know, I'd appreciate it.

Meteorite Hunting

I have had the urge for a long time to go meteorite hunting. Now that the weather is cool, I have been itching to go. I don't have a metal detector and don't know much at all about them. I am going to a place off Browsboro Road today call Burk Metal Detector Sales to get some ideas and ask for advice. I think it would be very relaxing, yet exciting to go out in the solitude of a open field and hunt for hidden treasures. While meteorites would be my #1 goal, coins and other interesting artifacts would also be exciting. I imagine it would probably be more searching than finding, but it sounds excellent. If anyone has any expertise or knows anyone who may have access to or is selling a metal detector, let me know. I am also looking for interested partners in this endeavor. I know Mark has expressed interest in the past.

(Sigh!) Part 2

Here is an interesting and disturbing story I saw on the James Randi website (Truth is Actionable)linked on Mark's blog. In the words of Maggie Simpson, "this is indeed a disturbing universe."

Limestone (A Rockhound Haiku)

Unimpressive, bland, caked with dirt

fallen and fractured

washing the slope in cold grayness

Harry Potter, Cosmos & Tom Robbins

I finally finished the last book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a couple of weeks ago. I was very pleased with the whole sha-bang. It was weird reading it because I have enjoyed these books for several years now and knowing it was going to end was a little depressing. I didn't read it as fast as the others because I was trying to savor it, like the last few sips of soda when you still have way too much popcorn. My suspicions ended up being correct for the most part and I am happy with the way it ended. I guess I can look forward to reading them again in a few years. It just sucks knowing the first experience of Rowling taking you through Hogwarts is a one time deal, never to be replicated.

I am currently reading Cosmos, by Carl Sagan. I haven't gotten too far, but I like it so far. The print is really small and reading it at night usually causes me to fall asleep a little more quickly.

Brother Kevin is going to lend me a few Tom Robbins books. I am pretty sure I will like them...I have pretty much liked everything he has sent my way so far. I loved Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. But I did not care a whole lot for Moore's other books I have read so far (Fluke, or I know Why the Winged Whale Sings & Practical Demon Keeping). They were mildly entertaining, but nothing special.

Weird

I just realized I also refer to the Philippines in my profile. Weird!

Filipino Dreamo

I had a very strange dream last night. As usual, the seamless chronology of events that took place in the dream have become choppy and discombobulated as the day has gone on. Here is what I remember to the best of my hazy ability:

I was with an United States Army regiment somewhere in the Philippines fighting what I can only assume is the Filipino Army. We were hunkered down in a bunker (just a big hole with dirt piled up on one side of it) exchanging rifle fire with unknown combatants. The funny thing is, I never felt nervous. Every now and then, someone would heave a grenade and it would explode causing unknown damage. After awhile of exchanging fire, the battle began to die down and we received word we could get out of our bunker. I remember walking up out of the bunker through some tall brush and trees to the edge of a dirt/gravel road. Across the road, about 50 yards away, was a group of Filipino soldiers all sitting around in a circle under a low hanging tree. I stood there and watched them for a few minutes clutching a grenade in my hand. I knew I could take them out if I wanted to. However, my commanding officer walked up beside me and looked back and forth from the group of soldiers to the grenade in my hand. After a moments thought, he waved his hand at them and said"forget it," so we walked up the road.
After a few minutes of walking up the road (I was now by myself...not sure where everyone else went), I came across this large group of prisoners, mostly Filipino and many children, being guarded by a thin Filipino lady in a large brimmed hat, loose robe-like clothing and sandals. She carried a long rifle in her hands, but she wore a big smile. She looked at me and motioned for me to fall in line with everyone else. I didn't feel threatened. One little Filipino kid in a baseball hat was at the back of the line as was running around, picking up sticks and rocks, basically just being a kid. The lady with the rifle called to him in Filipino, apparently telling him to get back in line and stop fooling around. She didn't yell...it was more like a babysitter. Once the kid got back in line, I got in line behind him, and down the road we walked.

That is all I remember.

(sigh!)

I know it is better to ignore this. I used to think something like this would be funny, like what you would see on The Onion, Now that it is reality, it eats at me like a carnivorous earwig and nearly makes me physically ill. I am writing of the new Creationist "Museum" in Northern Kentucky. If a privately owned group wishes to spend their money this way, fine. Disturbing...yes, but fine. What freaks the Ja-heebuz out of me is how many people want federal funding for this "museum" and support public schools to go on field trips here. But, I have neither the patience, time or skill to rant any further into this, so I will stop.

HOWEVER, I am extremely sick of the "argument" used by creationist..."well, don't forget, Evolution is just a theory, too."

"In the first place God made idiots; that was for practice; then he made school boards." -- Mark Twain