Its Cousin

Yeah, it was a great time. Met some cool people, too. I was expecting a nightmare, leaving, but it was a breeze... even leaving the track was easy. I guess they have perfected traffic control since they have so much practice every May. Made it home in four hours. The last time it took 12 or 13.

 

edit to add: We set-up on the lawn behind the in-field museum. Most of the activities happened down on the start/finish line, but those down there had sit on the tarmac(or in the grandstand), and the crowd was pretty large. On the lawn there was maybe a thousand people, no one was packed in, plenty of room to move about, and the bathrooms were close(and porta-potties even closer). The little gift shop/store, surprisingly, had drinks and snacks at normal price, whereas the vendors down front were charging about 250% above($2.00/bottle water vs $5.00/bottle). I brought a small scope, three pair of binocs, and filters for all of it, plus various other optical accessories and mounts- no mounts in the grandstands, so that made the lawn choice easy, and of course, chairs.

 

Hopefully, I can make it another 21 years for the one 2045. I kind of doubt it, and even if I do, it will be in August in the South. I'll be a very old man, then... maybe by then someone will invent personal air conditioners.

Thoroughbred strip club in Louisville.

 

Saw probably a 90% eclipse a few years ago, from campus.  Looking forward to the full experience.

 

Prepare to have your socks knocked off. Saw a pretty good analogy describing a similar situation... 95%totality verses 100%totality is analogous to going to Disney World, parking in the lot, and then leaving without going in. Sure, you saw it, but you didn't experience it.

 

It throws your mind for a loop. We are used to it taking 30-45 minutes  every evening for it to go from sundown to dark. During the eclipse, it happens in 3-4 minutes! You can literally see it getting darker. Even though you know what's going on, it still fucks with the mind, and everything has a weird silvery glow. And, the temperature change in those last few moments... it's pretty weird. During totality, be sure to look around a bit too- it's crazy seeing twilight on all horizons. Seeing the Sun's corona is a bonus on top of everything else. And, the "diamond ring".

 

If you have a pair of binoculars, be sure to use them during totality to get a good look at the corona- you will also likely see some large orange/red solar flares jutting off the Sun's surface contrasted against the silvery corona. Binocs will really highlight this difference. If you don't have any, it will be worth it to grab a cheap pair from Amazon or Walmart- you won't regret it!(I have 4 pair, but justified buying a new pair of 12x56 ED roof prisms for the occasion- I've wanted them for a while but couldn't justify spending the money since I have pair of 10x50 Leupolds and 7x50 Fujinons- both porro prisms).

 

If you do use binoculars, be sure to set the focus before the eclipse so you don't waste time trying to figure it out during totality. Probably best to focus them on a star the night before- stars are point sources of light, so you can get perfect focus using them. If you forget, focus on a distant object that morning.

 

We've decided to make Indy our primary destination(it's close, and serviced by interstates). Rob wanted to go to the Children's Museum, and while they do have a lot of programs that day, they don't have a lot of outside viewing options. The Speedway is partnering with Purdue and NASA for the event, so that is the destination. It's enormous, has a series of technical lectures for those more advance, and talks/programs for those with less experience/kids. And, it's cheap as hell($20/ticket; kids get in free) and one of three official NASA  broadcasting sites.

 

Hopefully, the weather will be fine, so the plan is Indy, but we're ready to drive west to Illinois or north to Cleveland if the morning's weather report require a change.

 

It should be a blast. We sat in traffic for 13 hours after the last eclipse, and it was worth every minute of it, but that was western Kentucky with little infrastructure. Indy shouldn't be nearly as bad.

The eclipse is 59 days away. Trying to decide between Carbondale Il, Vincennes In, IU at Bloomington, Franklin In, or Cleveland. This time, instead of fighting, what will be, another MASSIVE clusterfuck of a traffic jam, I'm going to get a hotel for the weekend/Monday and wait it out.

 

Carbondale has a NASA sponsored event, as does the John Glenn NASA Research Center in Cleveland, so it will likely be one of those.

 

Anyone planning anything? If not, you should- it is one hell of a spectacle that you will remember for the rest of your life... it's a mindfuck to your senses seeing everything go from broad daylight to darkness in a few minutes, and then seeing twilight 360 around you. Also, seeing the solar atmosphere is pretty fucking cool, too.

 

I tried making reservations about a year ago, and none of the hotels would do it, now they're charging $600/night... assholes!

I have a paleo-related sub on Reddit and someone posted this looking for an ID.

 

It was found on a beach near Cancun.

 

 

 

There's only a few critters that have teeth with 3 roots like that. They are all primates.

^^^ Almost make me believe in God... almost

Damn! It's good, but I hate Jane's character arc. She was a fucking bitch; she wanted to ruin everything that they had built. One of the best things that happened in the series was her demise.

 

Bitch!

Also, Rob's image from Maui:

 

For what it's worth, Brenda Lee is the first show I ever attended. I think it was 1966

 

I guess tonight is the night. I went to the liquor store and the parking lot was full. Well, fuck that! I'm not walking half a block, so I decided to head to the grocery store around the corner to pick up my favorite libation. Get there and the line was out the door. Well, shit! Figured I would join the line since it seemed to be moving fairly fast.

 

I thought that maybe they were checking IDs at the door(this store is on campus and the liquor dept. has its own separate entrance). After making it inside, people were still queing up, so I finally ask if anyone knew why we were waiting in a line. Turns out they were having a lottery for an upcoming release of Pappy van Winkle. If you don't know, Pappy is a highly sought after bourbon that's near impossible to find, so the best way of obtaining a bottle is to put your name in a lottery for any up coming releases.

 

Sometimes, I hate how popular bourbon has become... I use to be able to pick a bottle of 15 year old Pappy for $16, now it's a hundred if you can get it, or pay 4 or 5 times that from what is essentially a scalper.

 

When informed the line was for the Pappy lottery, I responded "fuck that, I don't care for wheaters, anyway". Grabbed a bottle of Four Roses that was on display(it was one of those Christmas deals they always have this time of year with something thrown in the box like a tumbler or something- this one had a silicon mold for making rose-shaped ice cubes), and got the hell out of there.

 

I think some of them were actually offended that someone wouldn't like Pappy, but I like a robust high-rye whiskey. Preferably made in Anderson Co., hence, the Four Roses. My intent was to grab a bottle 101º. Maybe, the next time.

Oh shit! Turkish parliamentarian's call for Allah's wrath against Israel ends with his heart attack while still at the rostrum.

 

https://www.reddit.c...ref_source=link

There was a big ol' flock of hens out in the open just along the timber line pecking around at grubs and such, the other day. I figured the tom was hiding away in the trees making sure it was safe before he showed himself.

 

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving, all!

I didn't do it, again. I start doing something else, forget about it, and the next thing you know, it's midnight already. One of these days, though, I'm going to do it.

Well, it's been over a year since I've drank anything. It hasn't been deliberate; I just haven't gotten around to it. I've thought about having a few, and actually planned on drinking once or twice, but I guess I just got bored with ideal.

 

So, let's see if I can fix that. Since, it's the holidays, I thought that I would imbib my old favorite, Wild Turkey(in college, my friends claimed that I single-handedly paid for the renovations they did at Austin Nichols back in the 80s). Went to my favorite booze store's website to check the options, and there are a shit-ton, these days, but goodamn, the prices. The neuveau-bourbon drinkers have driven the prices through the roof.

 

I used to be a wheater kind of guy, so Maker's was my drink, back then. Wild Turkey, then, kind of had a boorish unkempt stigma associated with it, but a friend of a friend convinced to buy a bottle one night, and it's been love, ever since... my fondness for the kicken' chicken transcends its potency and inebriating abilities, it is a genuine enjoyment of the rich flavor and almost hyper-sweetness. A julep made from 101º requires no syrup to provide the sweet; just a splash of water and some mint.

 

So, will tonight be the night??? Hell if I know, but I plan to knock a few back... maybe I'll go with something from Nelson Co.(no, not the aforementioned wheater). Knob Creek is looking good.

 

edit: hmmm... this looks good- https://www.totalwin...04&igrules=true

Daniel Cameron has lost the gubernatorial race in Kentucky. He relied heavily on Trump’s support for the race. Trump even filmed a commercial for him in the last couple of weeks.

All the guy did was attack ads. One of them even photoshopped an image of Beshear onto an image of drag queens. All of his ads linked Beshear to Biden, some of them were fucking disgusting, and all of them contained blatant lies.

Beshear ran a mostly positive campaign focusing on his achievements, rarely attacking Cameron.

Everyone that knows Beshear said he’s a genuinely nice person, some have even said he’s too nice to be in politics.

I guess Cameron saw polling that indicated the people were getting tired of his attacks since his last campaign ad admitted that Beshear was “a nice enough guy”, but he was too soft… it was too little too late.