I never turn down awards, even from Archie. He and I don’t see eye-to-eye on basic economics and politics.
I don’t recall exactly, but I think we had a cordial discussion on whether a janitor should be paid the same as the owner of the company that employs the janitor, and I said no. Regardless, Archie’s basically a good guy with a cool blog.
Matua Island, MFN* (Strutts News Services) – It happens:
“This detailed astronaut photograph is exciting to volcanologists because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption. The main column is one of a series of plumes that rose above Matua Island on June 12. The plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance. The eruption cleared a circle in the cloud deck. The clearing may result from the shockwave from the eruption or from sinking air around the eruption plume: as the plume rises, air flows down around the sides like water flowing off the back of a surfacing dolphin. As air sinks, it tends to warm and expand; clouds in the air evaporate.”
The phrase, “detailed astronaut photograph,” disturbs some folks, as there is no astronaut, detailed or otherwise, in the image. Assuming there was such an entity, and that the image was indeed captured via a detailed astronaut, there are many unanswered questions that need to be answered or otherwise ignored. For example:
Which way was this “detailed astronaut” being pointed when the picture was taken? What size mm lens, what film speed (400 ASA or greater?) and what was his/her f-stop setting? Where was this detailed astronaut’s aperature located? Who aimed the astronaut? How on earth did he/she control the shutter speed?
American ancestry brief from the 2000 census (via this excellent website). Interesting that the largest percentage, 1 in 6, described their ancestry as German. When asked, I usually describe myself as European Mutt.
Some day, when my kids are grown and on their own, and I’m looking for a place to retire with the lovely and gracious Mrs. Strutts, I’d like a nice country village in a temperate climate, maybe near the ocean. A place to let the world pass by without traffic, without paved roads, without telemarketers.
A place I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted; stay up late and sleep in as long as I liked. And blog via satellite.
Maybe set up a little bed and breakfast stop for tourists and travellers, with a wine and cheese shop with tacky homemade postcards and hand-screened purple t-shirts. Maybe a place like this. Or not. Click here, or click the top image, then zoom out.
Last week, VE (of VE’s Fantastical Nonsense) went on vacation, and axed yours truly and several others to serve as Sock Puppets, to post and respond to comments as VE. (Bunk had fun on Earth Day.)
Cartersville, GA (Strutts News Services) – Even in an economic downturn, many businesses flourish. Tetris Constructions is one of them. Regardless, Johann “Joe” Tetris died yesterday afternoon of natural causes, succumbing to HSB. HSB is known to laymen as “He Stopped Breathing.”
Johann Tetris at 1993 TED Conference (Strutts News Services Archive Photo)
TC founder Tetris was born into poverty but not by choice. He’d intended to be born into wealth, but those dreams were squelched by economic forces beyond his control. Ever since birth, Tetris fought to rise above the dirt-floor/waxed-paper windows of his childhood to create one of the most lasting icons of the “Information Age.” That icon would be Tetris Constructions.
Tetris’ work is recobanized throughout the civilized world as cutting edge modular construction: fast paced, low cost, rarely finished, but in Tetris’ own inimitable iconic style.
Some call it brutal. Others are both alarmed and enthralled at the possibilities and potentials of the breakneck speed of real-time design, combined with the willy-nilly construction system that Tetris Constructions promotes.
The TC motto sums it up: “We Build Faster than an Honest European Lunchbreak.” Johann Tetris will be missed by many, but his legacy endures.
A place I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted; stay up late and sleep in as long as I liked. And blog via satellite.
Tacky Raccoons 