Miscellaneous Interesting Stuff

The weather has made it a little hard to get out and do stuff, so I thought I'd dump some interesting stuff I've collected recently.

First Person Rally Driving
Rally racing is one of my favorite sports.  It's a great combination of technology, speed and beautiful surroundings.  I'd be a rally driver (or at least try it) if I didn't have a nagging need to eat and pay bills.  French rally driver Simon Pagenaud mounted a camera to his helmet during some practice runs and posted it to YouTube, which I now present to you.

Rubber Band Gatling Guns
Do I really need to say more?

Wood-N-Boom

Maybe a Better Sleeping Bag
I've never had a sleeping bag that really fit.  I'm a restless sleeper and I always get knotted up.  Maybe this sleeping bag would be better?  I may find out the next time I get a new one.

From Uncrate

Bonus Track:
The Doubleclicks are are a two sister geek music powerhouse.  They recently started a push to publish a bunch of new music.  Here is there latest:

I got to meet them on the third JoCo cruise (even danced with Aubry at a swing dancing class) and they are super nice people.  They are worthy of listening to.

Jon.

Space Ranch!

So I just got back from my latest vacation: Space Ranch in Tuscon, AZ.  Space Ranch is the third in what should be a long line of trips for the outdoorsy nerd put out by Science Getaways.  Science Getaways is the effort of the Bad Astronomer himself Phil Plait and his wonderful wife Marcella.  (Actually, it is the effort of Marcella and her wonder husband Phil.)

Along with the all the adventure of an Arizona Ranch with a healthy dose of Space.  Here is what we did:

Astronomy
The very first night we broke out two telescopes, an 8 inch Celestron and an 11 inch Celestron.  Among the thing I got to see are the cloud stripes of Jupiter and a super nova.

Hiking and Bird Watching
The next morning a group of Ranchurians (our secret name for each other) want with the ranch naturalist.

Giant Telescopes

That evening we took a ride to the Mount Lemon Sky Center where our guide Adam describe the various things that the telescopes on that mountain are used for as well as various ways we amateur astronomers can view the sky.  Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy, so we could not see the stars and planets through the big scopes.  We did get to see them up close.

31 inch Sky Center Telescope

60 inch Near Earth Asteroid Scope

While we are there we got to see an excellent sunset from the top of the mountain.

We even got to see cosmic rays drawing trails in a super cooled alcohol cloud.

Charlie Walker, Astronaut
Charlie Walker is an astronaut who flew on three space shuttle missions as a Payload Specialist.  He gave a talk about his experiences that was very fun, but more than that he was available the rest of the trip.  When he was not giving his talk he was another Ranchurian, interacting with all the other guests as friends.  He and his wife are genuine, interesting people who I am grateful to now know.

Geoff Notkin, Meteorite Hunter
Geoff Notkin is best known as oneof the host of the TV show Meteorite Men.  More recently he has worked on another TV show called The STEM Journals.  His talk was about meteorites (obviously) and some of his experiences hunting for them.  The next day he was even kind enough to bring out his equipment and show us how to use them.

While we did not expect nor found any meteorites, we did find five frontier era bullets (and the target they were shot at).

Here is myself having a picture with him.  He (and his fiance) is a super nice person who loves sharing his passions with others.  Another person I am happy to have met.

Oh, yeah, The Bad Astronomer
Not to be outdone by the other speakers, Phil Plait broke out one of his fun astronomy talks.  I've know Phil for a few years now and I never get tired of hearing him give a talk or interacting with him on a regular basis. If you ever has a chance to hear him speak you should go hear him speak.  His love of science and astronomy is infectious.

Let's Not Forget Friends
I would be remiss if I did not say something about my fellow travelers.  Some of them I've know from past trips, some of them I've known from past trips, some I met for the first time here.  All of them are friends and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

So, another amazing vacation and a wonderful adventure.

Bonus Track
Today, lets have some actual music for my bonus track.  For your consideration, AC/DC's Thunderstruck as performed on a cello. It got this from nerd new site Geeks Are Sexy.



Jon.

Raven Cliff Falls

On Saturday I want hiking with my daughter Rebecca at Raven Cliff Falls (in the Mark Trail Wilderness).  It's a little bit north of Cleveland Georgia, fairly easy to get to.  It is one of my favorite hikes and we usually do it at least once a year.

The trail is about 2.5 miles to get to the main falls.  There are several moderate sized falls and peaceful shoals as you hike along the creek.  The trail is in good shape, with a few small water crossings, roots and rocks.  There are a few short steep sections, but you get a good stretch of flat path after them to recover.

You can access the creek and it's falls easily all along the hike, which can be rare anymore.

 The main falls flow through a split down a 60 foot granite cliff.  It is an impressive sight that itself is worth the trip.

But there is more there if you are feeling a little adventurous.  Running along the cliff is a rock field you can climb up.  (These next pictures are all looking up at a 45 degree angle.)



If you climb up the rock field you will find a path through another crack in the cliff face.

The top half of the path changes from stone to exposed roots.

It is an easier climb that it looks, and any active hiker should not be afraid to try it.  (I am not a trainer or an expert.  Please use your own best judgment if choosing to do this.)  If you do go up you will get somewhere that not everybody does.

I only look moderately grumpy in that last pic.

Bonus Track:

Today's bonus track is a sad one.  There is a lot of upheaval in the world right now.  Syria is still a shambles, Venezuela is collapsing under popular protests, Egypt is still not quite right.  Finally, Kiev in the Ukraine is literally on fire.  Here is a picture someone put together showing a before and after.

Image from Imagur/Reddit

There is so much going on in the world.  If you don't know about these things then please, please, please go look them up.  I think that everyone should at least be informed about them.

Jon.

Grumpy Faced Selfie

Over the weekend I went on a quick hike at Sawnee Mountain Preserve, a local nature park here.  It's close and I can get a quick hour hike in.  At the top of the mountain is a rock outcropping called Indian Seats.

You Can See My House From Here (Well, One I Used To Own)

While I was up there I figured I'd take a selfie with the view in the background.  I'm allowing myself to be inspired by a friend of mine, Brett Haddock, who declared 2014 the Year of Awesome Selfies for himself.  Here is how mine turned out.

I Am So Happy To Be Here

Believe it or not, that is my neutral, placid face.  I am actually in a pretty good mood in that picture.  My face is not just that expressive, it does not change much with my emotions.  Unless I'm really juiced (happy or sad) I tend to just look a little grumpy.  I have learned over the years to force my face to be more expressive, but I have to be conscious about it.  (Plus it still looks a little fake.)

I am the poster child for "don't judge a book by its cover".  Even so, I still fall into that trap more times than I should.  I'm going to keep that picture handy as a reminder.

Bonus Track:

I've started taking the last paragraph of my posts to highlight someone or something I've come across in my file that has made it more interesting.  Today, since I mentioned Brett Haddock in the post, I'm highlighting something cool he is doing.  Brett has a parody account on twitter - @nsa_pr.  He can be funny, snarky and sometimes crude pretending to speak for the NSA.  More importantly, he is lending his voice to the very important discussion about freedom, privacy and security that is long overdue in this country.

Jon.

Icepocalypse 2014: The Refreezening

Again.  Really.

On the positive side, we handled it better this time.

Just two weeks after an admittedly small ice and snow storm stranded thousands of motorists and shut down the city for days, another bigger storm comes and shuts us down again.  A big difference between then and now?  Earlier warning and better preparation.

The weather forecasts several days ahead of the storm clearly pointed to some kind of storm coming this week.  Exactly how bad, or exactly when shifted a little, but it was clear that it was coming.  Because of this (and because of the disaster that happened last time) the schools and local governments reacted early and "pre-closed" the state.  Instead of the mass of parents rushing home to meet their kids busses at the same time as masses of busses hit the road, everywhere the roads were ghostly quiet, like a winter version of the Walking Dead.

The roads were still bad, worse than a couple of weeks ago.  And worse still, hundreds of Georgians lost power in the depths of the cold.  (It is worth noting that North Carolina and Virginia are dealing with this now, and the rest of the Atlantic coast tonight.  Stay warm folks.)  Some areas in east Georgia got a half inch or more of ice.  ICE.  I experienced ice that bad before.  It is surreal seeing pine needles coated with ice as thick as your fingers.

As Phil Plait (The Bad Astronomer) points out, this storm neither proves nor disproves climate change.  What I can say is this is the third winter event in Atlanta this season.  (See today's Bonus Track.)  Only a few years ago we had a drought that gave us the first real chance of actually running out of drinking water.  When I first moved to Georgia in 1987, this kind of weather was a once every few years event.  Weather in Atlanta now bears little resemblance to what it was back then.  Even still this is not enough to prove or disprove anything by itself.  I will gladly add it to the pile of evidence though.

Bonus Track:

Today's bonus track comes from Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer.  Among other things he blogs about Astronomy, Science and other things at Slate.  One of his recent posts was about this storm:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/02/12/southeast_snowstorm_another_bruiser_hits_the_us.html

In case you are one of the very few people reading this who does not know who Phil Plait is, here are some reasons why you should read his work:

• He is excited about all things science, and his passion shows in his work.
• He finds the best space pictures.
• He is one of the leading voices in the pro-vax community.  (Anti-anti-vax?)
• He is a genuinely good person.

My family and I have had the pleasure of spending time with Phil and his family.  They attract other good people to them and I can say that they are the kind of people I want around me.

Stay warm.

Jon.

 

Icepocalypse 2014

This winter has been one of extremes.  Here in Atlanta we've had highs of 70+ degrees and highs of 16 degrees. Topping of this winter (hopefully) was the two inches of snow that brought Atlanta to a halt.

There is a saying, "it's not heat, it's the humidity".  Living in Atlanta, I can vouch for this saying.  In the same vein, "it's not the snow, it's the ice".

I grew up in northern Indiana.  A place that expects and knows how to deal with snow.  I understand how people in northern states look down on us living in the south when we "overreact" to even the slightest snow buildup.  While I cannot deny that the Atlanta area could do a better job dealing with winter weather, there are some good reasons we don't:

• It only happens once every other year. (Though climate change may fix that for us.)
• Buying and maintaining specialized equipment is expensive, given how infrequently it is used.
• Who doesn't want a day off?

But, more than that, is the ice.  For whatever geographic / weather reasons any true winter precipitation results in at least some icing on the roads.  Sometimes a lot.  Last week's snow left both streets in my neighborhood plus the main road iced completely over for a day and a half.  The ice did not completely go until several days later.

It is the ice, even risk of ice, that shuts Atlanta down.  For good reasons, mind you, driving on ice is truly dangerous.  Normally, Atlanta shuts down early, just in case.  This time was different.  Schools met in the morning, as normal.  People went to work, as normal.  Then, all at once, every school system announced they were closing early.  Parents had less than a half hour notice that their kids would be at their doorsteps waiting, whether the parents were there or not.

So, in the space of half an hour, the entire city of Atlanta and the 13 county metro area got in their cars and headed home.  On ice.  With poor visibility.  Disaster.

On a nicer note, here is a picture of my dogs frolicking in the snow.

Bonus Track:

I have a friend who is a photographer.

Actually, I have several friends who are photographers.  Once couple, both with cameras, just had a baby.  My Facebook feed runneth over with cute baby pictures.  But I digress.

My friend Jason Bechtel, an excellent photographer, recently went to Jackson, WY.  He took many great pictures of winter wonder.  It reminded me of the trip my family took a few years ago.  Jackson in the winter is a place you should visit.

Jason blogged a bunch of pictures at his tumbler.  Go have a look.

http://chargingskies.tumblr.com/

Jon.

One Week of Weather

In the span of one week I experienced weather from single digit temperatures and bitter wind chill all the way to 60 degrees, tornadoes and house shaking thunder today.  An entire season's worth of weather in only a few days.

Atlanta, where I currently call home, is not built around the concept of cold.  Not the kind of cold I grew up with in Indiana.  We don't insulate our houses here in the same ways, you can't easily buy a true winter coat and you would be hard pressed to justify the expense.

But it happened at the beginning of January.  Luckily we did not get any ice, but even still I had friends lose electricity and have water pipes burst. The main floor of my house struggled to keep 64 degrees in the house.

And now, this morning, I am writing this just after the first line of what would normally be a spring thunder storm.  Wind, lightning and thunder here, nearby two tornados moving at the speed limit over others.

Atlanta has always (for as long as I have lived here) had surprising temperature spans but this borders on ridiculous.  But unusual weather is now the norm here.  Just a few years ago it was so hot and dry over the summer that Atlanta was at actual risk of running out of water.  Since then years where it seems the rain never stopped.

This last December hundreds of record highs were recorded, this week dozens of record lows.  But that is what happens when you pump more energy into a system.  It gets more erratic, harder to predict. 

Sounds like another line of storms rolling in.

Jon.