Astronomy for August: Perseid Meteor Shower

the remarkable image of the Perseids above was captured by Fred Bruenjes

August 12 and 13, (meaning approaching midnight on the 12th and gaining frequency until sunrise on the 13th) the Perseid meteor shower will be quite a show this year. The moon is going to be a small crescent and will set early, so the conditions should be perfect. This is arguably the best meteor shower of the year, and it would be a great time to stay up to watch the skies. This meteor shower may peak at around 50 meteors per hour, so it's pretty spectacular. It would be the best time in August to plan a camping trip, somewhere lonely and without light polution. We'll be watching from West Texas.

Lou Lou and the Guitarfish-- The Tingler

Obviously the video was filmed around these parts. Scary stuff.
Lou Lou & Guitarfish

Lulu and the Witch: the X-File

One evening as twilight descended on the Magical Mountains rubbing out the last traces of a smoldering sunset Lulu walked her dog Crispin in the field. Imagine her surprise when she heard an eerie tune being whistled-- seemingly carried by the wind.

“Excuse me, miss,” a man’s voice said behind her. She spun around to find two people gazing curiously at her. “I’m Special Agent Sculder and this is my partner, Special Agent Mulley.” He pointed to the red-haired woman at his side.

“Sounds like your problem to me. Beat it,” Lulu declared.

“We’re looking into reports of some strange phenomenon in this area, possibly involving witchcraft and extra-terrestrial activities,” Sculder continued, paying Lulu’s bratty reply no mind.

Lulu just stared at them for a moment, not knowing what to make of this development. She didn’t like the look of Sculder, who was looking at her as sneakily as a fox. Mulley was staring piercingly too.

“You haven’t seen anything unusual in the area have you?” Mulley asked.

“Well, I…” Lulu hesitated. “There were the several times I was abducted by the Wicked Witch of West Texas.”

“Abducted? How?” Sculder suddenly looked excited and Mulley, well she just looked irked.

“Sculder, don’t go getting all excited. There’s no Wicked Witch here, just some very good candidates for group therapy.”

“There is too. And she’s my aunt,” Lulu replied.

“Tell us about these abductions,” Sculder answered. Mulley just rolled her eyes, as Sculder pulled out a tape recorder. Lulu began to recount the tales chronicled here, and Sculder grew more gleeful by the second.

“So, you’re saying alien visitations are connected with the Witch? This is fantastic.”

“Sculder, she’s telling you tall tales. The 'Wicked Witch of West Texas' is clearly a local legend fueled by mistrust of people from other places, which naturally includes Texans who are outsiders here in Walla Walla. Add to that some familial dysfunction and you set the stage for all kinds of ridiculous beliefs. The alien part is, no doubt, due to popular culture. Television shows that fuel societal fears of aliens, offering a fantastic target for the more mundane fear of people from other countries is obviously metastasizing with the local legend, causing delusional fantasy among the more bratty inhabitants,” Mulley replied. “There is no such thing as the Wicked Witch of West Texas. Think about it. If you could do magic why would you live in Texas? Why not the Bahamas? And why would aliens want to help operate a taco conglomerate? It’s illogical.”

“She lives in Texas because she can make wormholes into alternate universes,” Lulu explained.

“Exactly,” Sculder exclaimed. "It makes perfect sense." Mulley looked at him like he was a lunatic.

“I can’t believe you’re buying this,” Mulley replied.

Just then a loud pop split the night air and in a ball of light she began to materialize. The Wicked Witch of West Texas, that is.

“Who dares to call me during CSI?” the Witch demanded angrily. Sculder and Mulley just gaped. "David Caruso was just about to utter his one liner."

“Nobody called you,” Lulu replied. "so you can just dematerialize back to Texas."

“I heard you talking about me. You interrupted my favorite show, so it had better be good.”

“The FBI is onto you, you mean old Witch,” Lulu retorted.

“Well, not for long,” the Witch replied taking her wand from her sleeve.

“Excuse me, Ms. Witch, but I would appreciate it if you would answer a few questions,” Sculder began.

“We’ll see how being probed by aliens effects your curiosity,” the Witch said saccharinely. With that her wand, held aloft, began to glow like a beacon and within a few seconds the mother-ship appeared above them.

“So, it’s true. You are connected with the aliens,” Sculder commented.

“You’re a quick study,” the Witch answered, just as the beam shot from the craft and began to lift the agents toward the opening in its underside.

"This is great," Sculder exclaimed.

"We're being abducted, Sculder." Mulley objected. "We're going to be probed."

"Haven't you heard of takin' one for the team. Now we'll know..."

"They'll just obliterate our memory of the event like they did last time," Mulley reminded him.

"I forgot about that," Sculder said, dejectedly as they continued their ascent.

“See you two later,” Lulu called, waving at the agents. "Or not."
The X-Files: The Complete Collector's Edition

Abstract Animation from "Punch Drunk Love"

By the late Jeremy Blake.

Norman Mclaren- 1940 -Graveyard Gambol

Grierson, who was at that time head of the GPO Film Unit, hired him for the GPO as soon as McLaren completed his studies.
After making a few films for the GPO in London, McLaren moved to New York City in 1939, just as World War II was about to begin in Europe.
At the invitation of Grierson, he moved to Canada in 1941 to work for the National Film Board, to open an animation studio and to train Canadian animators. During his work for the NFB, McLaren created his most famous film, Neighbours (1952), which has won various awards around the world, including the Canadian Film Award and the Academy Award. Besides the brilliant combination of visuals and sound, the film has a very strong social message against violence and war. In addition to film, McLaren worked with UNESCO in the 1950s and 1960s on programs to teach film and animation techniques in China and India. His five part "Animated Motion" shorts, produced in the late 1970s, are an excellent example of instruction on the basics of film animation.
Norman McLaren: The Masters Edition

Old Spice Guy Talks Libraries

via motherreader

Wiccaphobia-- Fear of Witches

Yes, there is a real condition called "Wiccaphobia," as well as a related condition called "Samhainophobia." Fear of Witches and fear of Halloween, respectively. There's also Triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number thirteen, and fear of the number 666 is Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. It should be noted that fear of Witches is considered a somewhat rational fear in these parts.

Fantastic Whirligigs to Get a New Home

When a breeze brushes through the field just below Vollis Simpson's machine shop, you can hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal and of Ferris wheel-like contraptions turning.
But the cacophony of sound from the 29 whirligigs that Simpson built over a period of 10 years has ebbed: The buggy rider's whip no longer moves, the horse's legs don't trot and his ears don't flap. The two men sawing on another whirligig don't move back and forth. The guitar player no longer strums and has slowed the pat of his foot. Tree limbs grow through a Ferris wheel lined inside with hundreds of stainless steel milkshake cups that still shimmer in the sun despite their decades of exposure.
The works have fallen victim to the 91-year-old's health problems that have left him unable to climb as high as 50 feet to keep the mechanisms greased, and the red, white and blue paint that dominates his work shiny and new.
"I'm not able to look after it now," Simpson said on a hot summer morning, sitting in a lawn chair in the shade of the field about 50 miles east of Raleigh. "I can't climb. If I could climb, I wouldn't let it go. My knees are wore out."
Simpson is letting go of the 29 masterpiece whirligigs that have stood in this field in eastern North Carolina since the early 1980s. The city of Wilson, with the help of the North Carolina Arts Council, hopes to buy, move and conserve the whirligigs, relocating them to a 2-acre park in downtown Wilson by November 2012.
Organizers say they're already receiving private pledges, and the arts council has provided a $10,000 grant.

More here

Elvis-- Blue Moon

The next blue moon, defined as the second full moon in one month, will occur on August 31, 2012. There is another, older, definition of a blue moon, which is the fourth full moon in one season. That, however, was not the reason for this post, so much as was the recent Elvis sighting near Marfa over the weekend. Rumor has it he's still alive and well and has been living aboard an alien spacecraft which has also de-aged him back to his pre-sequined-jumpsuit state. The Wicked Witch of West Texas isn't very happy about this, either.
Boy From TupeloBoy From Tupelo

The View at the Ranch This Morning

The Wicked Witch of West Texas appears to be having a soiree this weekend. Hopefully she didn't see me photographing the festivities.
Hieronymus Bosch

Scientists Say Lucky Charms, Superstitions Actually Work

Do you carry a lucky rabbit's foot, or an enchanted bling ring for good luck? If not, maybe you should consider it. That's what researchers at the University of Cologne in Germany are saying after they did an experiment testing the effects of superstitions on performance related outcomes.

The first experiment looked at the influence of the concept of good luck in a test of putting a golf ball. Experimenters handed participants a ball, and those who were told the ball was lucky tended to outperform those who weren’t.

In another experiment, participants were given a cube containing tiny balls and a slab with holes. The goal was to get as many balls in the holes as quickly as possible. Again, participants who were told, "I’ll cross my fingers for you," by the experimenter performed better.

The final two experiments involved a lucky charm brought by each participant. In a memory test and an anagram test, the participants who were permitted to keep their lucky charms with them performed better.

The caveat is that it only relates to performance-based good luck. Researchers speculate that the cause is a boost in confidence brought about by the lucky object, so for things like winning the lottery, where your own performance is irrelevant, you may as well skip the bling ring. (Lulu, let me know what flavor you want for your Super Enchanted Magical Witch Repelling Bling Ring.)

Haunted-- Oregon State Mental Hospital Building J

Over 3000 copper canisters like those in the picture (right) from the collection "library of dust," by David Maisel, hold the cremated remains of patients of the Oregon State Hospital. Many of the remains are over 100 years old and are stored went unclaimed by their families and friends. The remains symbolize the loneliness, isolation, shame and despair too many patients of the hospital experienced. We encouraged others to know about the remains and to visit the abandoned building where they are stored. Journalists, politicians, bureaucrats, family members and former hospital patients visited. A large amount of publicity was generated. About 40 families contacted the hospital and claimed their relative’s remains.

The Oregon State Mental Hospital, notoriously, the setting for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, is reputed to be one of the most haunted sites in Oregon. Remains of cremated patients have been sitting in storage there for years. After plans were announced to demolish the 125 yr old 'j' building, many people objected because of its historic status. Tours were started in Sept.

Tourists interested in exploring the mental hospital made famous in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" will have to settle for a virtual visit. Public interest in visiting the 125-year-old J Building at the Oregon State Hospital soared after the state Department of Human Services sponsored a series of guided tours the Statesman Journal reported. State employees led about 200 people through vacated, decaying sections of the building and the sprawling tunnels under it, where some patients had to live. Publicity from that day led another 1,100 to express interest in visiting the place where the Oscar-winning film starring Jack Nicholson was shot.

It's definitely a creepy place. People have reported hearing screams that seem to have no origins, fogs, cold spots, and specters. Sadly tours were soon discontinued.

A Lifetime Burning

Home is where one starts from. As we grow older 
The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated 
Of dead and living. Not the intense moment Isolated, with no before and after, 
But a lifetime burning in every moment 
And not the lifetime of one man only 
But of old stones that cannot be deciphered. 
There is a time for the evening under starlight, 
A time for the evening under lamplight 
(The evening with the photograph album). 
Love is most nearly itself 
When here and now cease to matter. 
Old men ought to be explorers 
Here or there does not matter 
We must be still and still moving Into another intensity 
For a further union, a deeper communion 
Through the dark cold and the empty desolation, 
The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters 
Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning. From T.S. Eliot, East Coker
Collected Poems, 1909-1962 (The Centenary Edition)

Chicken vs. Egg Finally Solved

After finding a fossilized nest paleontologists have made a determination on the chicken-egg conundrum, but having done that, it turns out they have changed the question:

But interpreted literally, the answer to the riddle is clear. Dinosaurs were forming bird-like nests and laying bird-like eggs long before birds (including chickens) evolved from dinosaurs.

"The egg came before the chicken," Zelenitsky said. "Chickens evolved well after the meat-eating dinosaurs that laid these eggs."

So the original riddle might now be rephrased: Which came first, the dinosaur or the egg? Meanwhile, the new nest provides some of the strongest evidence in North America in favor of the bird-like egg over the chicken.

LiveScience

But all of this fails to address the more crucial question: which came first chicken salad, or egg salad?

The Worst (Famous) Singer to Ever Play Carnegie Hall

Poor Florence Foster Jenkins. She was wretched. But she wanted to sing, and she could afford to rent Carnegie Hall, so sing she did.

From Wikipedia's entry on her:

From her recordings, it is apparent that Jenkins had little sense of pitch and rhythm and was barely capable of sustaining a note. Her accompanist can be heard making adjustments to compensate for her tempo variations and rhythmic mistakes. Her dubious diction, especially in foreign language songs, is also noteworthy. Nonetheless, she became tremendously popular in her unconventional way. Her audiences apparently loved her for the amusement she provided rather than her musical ability. Critics often described her work in a backhanded way that may have served to pique public curiosity.
Despite her patent lack of ability, Jenkins was firmly convinced of her greatness. She compared herself favorably to the renowned sopranos Frieda Hempel and Luisa Tetrazzini, and dismissed the laughter which often came from the audience during her performances as coming from her rivals consumed by "professional jealousy." She was aware of her critics, however, saying "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing."

In other words people watched her for the same reasons we like to watch American Idol auditions.

Song for Sunday: Ring of Fire-- Wall of Voodoo

Index Masters

Florida Senate Candidate with Anti-Witchcraft/Sorcery Platform

Paiboon Sunthonchart Jr., who is apparently running for a Senate seat Florida, has posted an open letter to all 50 governors of the United States, and the UN, warning of sorcery attacks. He has some fairly specific ideas about just how sorcerers attack, too. Here's a small excerpt from his letter:

- Government arresting these terrorist working in America, must happen, for the three hundred million American’s they have attacked. There should be no thought of impeachment but arresting the terrorist in governments working in witchcraft, remember, witchcraft is a crime.

- What is the world to think, when they shout, they are going to take over the world, and attack people, people of America, who do not agree will think, that they are bringing threats of bombs to our country and people of America, for government officials, talking loud and stupid in the war of Holy. It is stupid business of high school bullies, of only a small hand-full of terrorism by sorcery, that American government must stop. To American people and governments watching The American Civil War of Sorcery, American government looks weak, and the American people will see the same about the government, when the American government is afraid and ran by people afraid of a few sorcerers, when the Americans in the working world, take the sorcerers they are afraid of, out of body.

Interestingly enough his website also features a page for his talent agency. He'll represent models, actors and more. Sorcerers probably needn't apply, though stage magicians might be acceptable. The poor fellow wouldn't hold up too well in West Texas, what with the Wicked Witch of West Texas running roughshod over the populace. He'd probably also better avoid Walla Walla.  He might better be careful, however, because sorcerers vote too, and you don't want to offend the evil constituency.

Happy Birthday Louis Arrmstrong: Mack the Knife

His birthday wasn't actually July 4, rather it was August 4, but he always claimed this day as his birthday.
Mack the Knife

More Than a Few Bad Ideas: Radio-Active Consumer Products of Yesteryear

"All I know for sure is there's more than a few bad ideas runnin' loose out there." Sailor Ripley, Wild at Heart.

To prove the point, one need only look as far as radio-active consumer products of the twentieth century. They include things like dinnerware, skin cream, suplements, chocolates, toys, jewelry. Check out the thorium and radium skin cream below, guaranteed to make your complexion glow (in the dark). No? How about some nice radium water?

This lovely implement promised to boost your health by "activating" your water with a little radium goodness. For more, check out this slideshow of regrettable radioactive consumer products, and the online museum of radioactive products. 

Achtung: Be Careful With Fireworks. They Explode

Wow. So, be very careful tomorrow. (via dangerous minds)