I decided to enjoy the recent Thanksgiving holiday by not spending a lot of time on the computer, thus no posting. I wasn't able to completely stay off computers - my parents get their Internet from New Wave Communications, and so I had to help Mom get her iPhone talking to New Wave's email. This task was complicated by New Wave's truly horrible ( Read more... )

Like the label on the tin says:

1) So, NASA has discovered a Tatooine-like planet orbiting two stars. "Tatooine-like" is a bit of a stretch as the planet is Saturn-sized, but the discovery proves that close double stars can have planets.

2) My sister is working to ensure no military veteran goes homeless. Her latest problem is housing for ( Read more... )

1) More good news on the bio-fuel front: using E.Coli to speed up fuel production

2) A long but interesting article on how saltpeter was used to make ice cream.

3) Just a reminder the "Climategate" was a crock: Michael Mann cleared AGAIN of all wrongdoing.

4) David Brin with some interesting thoughts on Seasteading and World Government5) The ( Read more... )

Yes, Virginia, we do grow grapes and make wine in Illinois. Actually, not just in central Illinois, but throughout the state. We actually have a long history in winemaking, starting when the French settled what is now Peoria in 1778. Prior to Prohibition, most Americans got their wine (and beer) from relatively small and local sources ( Read more... )

Saturday's Bar Stool Golf outing in Westville was a nice way to spend a day. The weather was cool but dry, and the six bars of Westville (down from over 10 in my childhood) are all within a short walk of one another. But today, a weird dream involving me fighting zombies in a Medieval setting (I had a sword and was using a flaming torch for light) ( Read more... )

I'm down in Westville, and this morning, while Those That Shop went shopping, Dad and I went to Cayuga, Indiana to shoot trap and skeet. We shoot at the Illiana Gun Club, a small operation on the county fairgrounds. The building has been there nearly forever, and my Dad worked as a trap puller there when his Dad was running the gun club in the ( Read more... )

I'm down in Westville. For various reasons, I drove down this morning rather than last night. Which caused me to wonder why I would even consider driving down Wednesday night. No traffic, daylight, and it's not like we do anything Thursday morning. In fact, since the big dinner is at 2, I can even sleep in - assuming I pack the night before. ( Read more... )

My maternal grandmother has a twin sister, my great aunt. The local newspaper did an interesting write-up on them. You can read the article here. From the article I learned that ( Read more... )

I'm back from my visit to Westville for Labor Day. The Labor Day parade, oldest in the state, celebrated its 100th marching with a two-hour-long extravaganza. There were all sorts of other events in the offering, making this weekend extremely hectic. One of the unusual and accidental things that we did was watch half of an International ( Read more... )

My high school has two class reunions. Our class has one, around Labor Day, which is the unofficial homecoming day for Westville. The high school also has an alumni banquet, held in June, which is open to all classes. At that banquet, the 50th year class is honored, and gets a free meal, courtesy of the 25th year class. I'm just back from that ( Read more... )