Smurf Gathering

More than 3,000 students from Swansea University hope to set a new world record by staging the largest gathering of Smurfs.

They will paint themselves blue and don white gnome hats for the attempt on June 8.
They hope to smash the existing record of 1,253 Smurfs in one place, which was set in the town of Castleblayney in Northern Ireland last July.

Hannah Lamden, of Swansea University's Student Union, said the bid in the city's Oceana nightclub will put an end to rival 'Smurf wars'.
She said: "It's a Smurf war. Bath, Southampton, Chester and Portsmouth University have all tried but we're going to make sure that no student is left un-blue.
"We want our record to stay in the Guinness Book for years to come."

Does anyone younger than 40 know what a Smurf is?

Scenes from Manhattanhenge

Before and during

I don't see any fairies like I thought I would...this must not be the Village.

Manhattanhenge tonight

For 15 minutes around sunset on two days this summer, the sun will set in exact alignment with the cross streets of Manhattan's street grid, making the city's towering buildings function something like a modern-day Stonehenge.
They call it Manhattanhenge.
The first Manhattanhenge opportunity comes this weekend: On Saturday (May 30) at 8:17 p.m. EDT the ball of the sun will be half above the horizon, half below if you look west down a major cross-street (34th Street and 42nd Street are good viewing locations). On Sunday, May 31, the entire solar sphere will be visible just above the horizon at 8:17 p.m. EDT.
The second opportunity comes later in the summer, with another half-sphere sunset on Sunday, July 12, at 8:25 p.m. EDT and a whole-sphere viewing on Saturday, July 11, at 8:25 p.m. EDT.
These times are calculated every year by the astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who coined the term "Manhattanhenge."
The "henge" comes of course from Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument in the Salisbury plains of England. The large structure of stones and earthen mounds is thought to be a burial ground that was oriented to face the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset.
Manhattan's street grid doesn't run geographically north to south, but instead aligns itself with the direction of the island. If the grid did run north-south, Manhattanhenge would fall on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the only two days during the year when the Sun rises due-east and sets due-west. (The equinoxes occur when the sun sits directly over the Earth's equator and the length of day and night are roughly equal.)
Because Manhattan's grid is rotated 28.9 degrees east from geographic north, the days of alignment with the cross streets are also shifted.
Manhattan's street grid was laid down by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which was adopted by the New York State Legislature.
New York isn't the only city that can have its own "henge" events: Any city crossed by a rectangular grid has days where the setting Sun aligns with the streets. But a clear view of the horizon and straight streets are needed, and New York might be the only city that fits the bill.

I hope to post pictures of this event...unfortunately, Omar takes Saturdays off otherwise, we'd have on-site tweets.

First Crop Circle 2009

The huge crop circle sculpted in a sea of barley seems to be based on the Yin and Yang theme, and appeared near an ancient British burial mound beneath Windmill Hill near Devizes, Wiltshire on 25 May.
The ancient area of Wiltshire close to Silbury Hill, Windmill Hill and the Sanctuary is a hot spot for crop circles.

I bet these folks (the ones who make these) are also tattoo artists.

Truckerize your name

I convinced mom that she needed to truckerize her name also because she keeps reminding me that Ice Road Truckers season 3 starts on Sunday.

You can now call her BOBTAIL MEAN-GRILL... it's her trucker name!

Don't bother us Sunday, we'll be watching! This year they are in Alaska and there's a woman driver....that's got to increase the drama in itself.

To truckerize your name, click the link in the previous posting.

10-4

One Cool Mother Trucker

Hey kellwell,

You can now call me KINGPIN MONSTER... it's my trucker name! Also, be
sure to check out season 3 of Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel,
Sundays @ 9pm.

http://www.history.com/minisites/iceroadtruckers/

- kathy mock <jhara@gcmuni.net>

Farm kittens

If you can see them. They are freshly hatched. By the way, Rootie is our only domesticated pig.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

Rootie the pig

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

Happy 36th Birthday, Matt

Baby Mammoth found in Permafrost

A Russian man who found the corpse of a baby mammoth will receive 1 million rubles ($31,000) for reporting the find to the Republican Mammoth Museum.
The corpse was found in Yakutia, a republic in Russia’s north-eastern Siberia, by the side of Khroma river, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reports Wednesday.
Specialists of the Republican Mammoth Museum studied the find and alleged it to be a young mammoth corpse some 15,000-30,000 years old. The animal, who died at about two years of age, had its head, legs and some intestines well-preserved in the cold climate of Yakutia.
In the past few years, mammoths have regularly been found in Russia. In 2004, the corpse of a one-year-old mammoth was found in Yakutia; in 2007, an extremely well-preserved six-month-old female was found in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.

Someday, they will find a well preserved baby mammoth in a vat of Russian Vodka...

Cheesus

Many people have seen and heard about the likeness of Jesus turning up in unlikely places. Now, one North Texas man says he found Jesus in a Cheeto. Dan Bell found it inside a 99-cent bag of Cheetos brand cheese snacks. He nicknamed it "Cheesus.""Cheesus" is about two inches tall. Despite missing a right arm, the Bells see a body, hair, robe and even a tiny face.

Better dip that Cheeto into something that will preserve it...and keep it away from humidity - Cheetos can get so soggy.

See ya on Ebay!

Guess Who

otherwise titled, "Mom learns how to enlarge scanned pictures on her new computer."

Bouabidi's

practice shot...took 2 hours to actually post via email

May 18th -- Happy Birthday Lois!

 

Happy 67th Birthday Lois

Happy 67th Birthday, Lois. Sorry I can't figure out how to enlarge the pictures on this
blog. Maybe someday, I'll figure it out. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy 5th Birthday, Marrah

Space Shuttle Silhouette

Amateur Astronomer Thierry Legault snapped this one of kind photograph of Space Shuttle Atlantis, in silhouette against the Sun, on its way to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

Look at how huge that sun is...wow!

Makes you feel pretty inconsequential.

Bigfoot in Siberia

You've obviously found that I have a penchant for off-beat news. One of my favorite sites is a Russian newspaper, http://www.mosnews.com/. Today, there is a very interesting story about a large vegetarian stealing local produce. See what you think. CNN is sending a correspondent...

Siberians complain about Bigfoot’s appetite
The Shor people of Siberia gather wild leeks in the forest this time of year. This year, however, they are having trouble finding it. Something is getting there first, and leaving behind huge footprints.

World's Smallest Car

A Buckinghamshire man has created the world's smallest roadworthy car from a former Postman Pat children's ride.
The mini motor is only 39 inches high and 26 inches wide and was converted by car fanatic Perry Watkins, 47, from Wingrave, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Watkins, who has previously broken the record for the world's lowest car three times, found the inspiration for his latest motoring endeavour while surfing the internet.
"I searched on eBay for something suitable and found a Postman Pat coin-in-the-slot children's ride from a vendor in Scotland," he said.
"It was in non-operative order, but for what I had in mind this was of no consequence as I only wanted the bare fibreglass body from the ride."
Over a period of seven months, Mr Watkins reinforced the fibreglass shell with a steel frame and mounted it on a mini quad bike.
He added a 150cc engine, mirrors, windscreen wipers, lights, 'go faster' flames and mock racing exhaust pipes. He also had to remove Postman Pat and his black-and-white-cat Jess from the inside.
The vehicle is fully legal and is taxed as a quad bike so Mr Watkins can drive it on public roads. But at 6ft tall, he might be better sticking to his company Jaguar.

I'd like to see this guy convert my Barbie Doll mobile home/camper thing from the 70's into a roadworthy vehicle...then I'll be impressed!

Tattooed Man to donate his skin

An Australian man whose body is covered in tattoos has pledged to donate his skin to the National Gallery when he dies.

Geoff Ostling, 65, spent 15 years having the colourful artwork "All the flowers of a Sydney garden" tattooed from his neck to his ankles.

Mr Ostling, a retired history teacher who did not get his first tattoo until he was in his forties, worked with artist eX de Merci on the design. The completed work now covers his back, chest, arms, legs and buttocks.

Think that's strange.... "Portraits painted on human skin hang in galleries around the world. They don't tell you that, of course, and valuable books were also covered in human skin."

And he has a lot of skin there to donate........

Nerd Alert (that's me) II

As reported on www.coasttocoastam.com:

As Trekkies, it's something my brother and I always wanted to do. The warp nacelles are made of Rice Krispy treats and white chocolate. The body and saucer are made of cake, however I had a special stand made up to support the cake.
--Edward and Antoni Frysecg817@aol.com

I do suppose the torpedoes are Twinkies...

Happy 8th Birthday Cale

Happy 8th Birthday Cale - - on Tuesday the 12th. Hope you have a fun day.

Postal Inflation

As you tape those additional two pennies to your envelopes today, keep these tidbits in mind:

If it the Postal Service were a private sector company, it would rank 26th on the 2008 Fortune 500 list, just behind UnitedHealth Group and just ahead of Kroger and Boeing.

With the Postal Service losing money ($2.8 billion in fiscal 2008), Postmaster General John Potter has felt some heat for the $857,459 he earned in salary and benefits last year. (His income would buy almost 43 million 2-cent stamps.)

The Postal Service is an independent federal agency and covers its expenses not with tax money but with the sale of stamps, postage and postal services.

Peeps on the Enterprise

To boldly go where no Peep has gone before>>>

Obviously, a Peep diorama of "the Trouble with Trebles", from the original Star Trek series. Good representation but they all have "Spock Ears."

Nerd Alert

Did somebody just reach through the space-time continuum?

Although I didn't get to the premiere of Star Trek, half my crew went last night and said it was fantastic (and they're too young to be original Trekkies). Did I ever mention that I have a blue Spock uniform shirt like Bones' above that I save for Star Trek movies? I think I might even brave the 'swine flu' confined spaces danger to see this flick.

Volcano Boarding

A group of thrill-seekers have developed a 'hot' new adrenaline sport called 'volcano boarding', in which participants race at speeds of up to 50mph down the side of an active volcano.

Dressed in protective jump suits, knee-pads and helmets, the boarders visited the foothills of Nicaragua's Cerro Negro mountain, and climbed 726 metres (2,382ft) to travel down on specially-constructed plywood boards.
Cerro Negro is Central America's youngest volcano and appeared in April 1850.
It has been one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua, last erupting in 1999 - the 20th time in its history.
Yet despite its unstable reputation, Phillip Southan, owner of Bigfoot Hostel and Green Pathways Tours, which developed the sport, said all safety precautions are taken.
"The volcano is very active," he said. "But the biggest risk is the risk is getting some scratches if you fall off.

I think I'll just be a spectator at this sport...

Happy Birthday, Danielle

Youngest Mensa member

Speaking of smart kids....

A two-year-old girl who can name 35 capital cities has become the youngest member of Mensa.
Elise Tan Roberts, who can recite the phonetic alphabet and count to ten in Spanish, has an IQ of 156, making her smarter than ex-Countdown maths whiz Carol Vorderman.
The toddler, from Edmonton in north London, can already spell her name aloud, read the words mummy and daddy, name all three types of triangle and reciting the alphabet.
Mensa, which welcomes the top 2 per cent of the population based on IQ, normally tests children aged ten or above, but accepted Elise after a child psychologist found she was in the top 0.2 per cent of her age in the country on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

Newborn speaks

A newborn baby has started talking in the Russian city of Norilsk, amazing his parents and the obstetricians, who nevertheless claim pre-natal education can work miracles.
According to the Yoki.ru website, the baby boy pronounced his first word right after he was born, distinctly saying: “Papa!”
In just a few minutes, newborn Stepan said: “Mama!”
The next day, when the boy’s mother was telling him that his dad was about to visit them at the hospital, he asked: “Who? Papa?”
The boy’s mother, Lisa Bazheyeva, is just 17 years old.
The obstetrician who helped her in labor confirms the proud mother’s report.
“I heard with my own ears that the newborn baby spoke!” said Doctor Marina Panova, adding she had never seen anything of the kind in the 23 years that she worked at the maternity clinic.
“Newborns just can’t pronounce syllables as complicated as that,” she said.
“The fetus can learn while still in the mother’s womb. If a mother talks to the fetus, entertains it as if it has been born already, the baby is usually born gifted,” Panova said.

Only in Russia...

29 nails

An X-ray shows nails embedded in the skull of 27-year-old Chen (Anthony) Liu whose decomposing body was discovered in Sydney's Georges River in November 2008. Police believe Chen was killed by being shot repeatedly in the head with a high-powered nail gun.

And I thought being cannibalized by your siblings was cruel.