With the eclipse occurring Monday, I just want to remind everyone how not to view it

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^^^ Two years in a row! A lot of people were calling for Cal's head, but the AD let it be known he won't be fired... this season. If anything remotely similar happens next year, he's gone. He probably needs a Sweet !6, next year to be safe.

edit: gonna add, I'm conflicted as to who I want to win the Championship. I guess any of them other than UCONN is fine. I like NC State just because of Jimmy V, and Auburn is SEC, so I think it's required to support them, but I fucking hate Bruce Pearl. Purdue is IU's rival, and IU used to be one of our rivals(we're going to start playing them again, next season), and a longtime friend used to teach in the forestry dept., there, so I like them, too.

Probably rooting for Purdue for those reasons, and all the great memes that will come out if they win(if you are unaware- https://duckduckgo.c...ges&ia=images).

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.

I bought an optical drive to load some of my old CDs on to my computer. Going through some really old Jazz recordings, I rediscovered Jimmy Noone's Apex Club Orchestra recording of "It's Tight Like That". It was a cover of Tampa Red and Georgia Tom's song of the same name. It's on The Jazz Makers(1957) "The Complete Recordings" Vol.1.

It's hard to overstate just how popular this recording was during Prohibition in the late '20s. It sold 7 million copies- unheard of at that time! The double entendre in the title(two close friends, and the more salacious one) probably didn't hurt sales, either.

Anyway, in the late 1920s, this is what your grandparents/great grandparents were dancing to when they went down to the local speakeasy:

My daughter is a member of the Children's Museum in Indy, and that is only a few miles north of Franklin, so it's getting serious consideration. Plus, the hotel rates are much better. I'm leaning towards Cleveland, though, since the Great Lakes Science Center is having 3 days of NASA sponsored events. It's a bit farther to drive(2.5 hours vs 5), though.

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.

Damn, I was freaking out. After getting back, she went to Cancun(my ex's daughter lives on Isla Mujers). Checking her location, and she was 50 miles from Cancun out in the boonies. Turns out she is at Afterlife. It's a festival...

Looks like a good show. Wish I was there.

https://www.after.life/tulum

Wow! One of the only videos of the Foggy Mountain Boys(Lester Flat and Earle Scruggs) If you didn't know, they did the Beverly Hillbillies theme:

^^^ also "Eat A Peach"

^^^ Yellow Brick Road was one of the first albums that I bought.

I think that I forgot how much I love Elton John:

Elton John "60 Years On"

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

Have AIC Unplugged playing through, right now.

Pappy gouging is stupid high. 

 

I probably have three Four Roses glasses that came in a box set...all with tapered sides, one is slightly smaller than the others for no clear reason.  But yeah.  High rye is the way to go.

It's fucking ridiculous! Hell, after 7 or 8 years, the tannins start really leaching and degrading the whiskey, anyway. I've 6 year olds as good, or better than some 10 year olds.

Check out JTS Brown. It's 48 month 100ᵒ that's better than most 8 year olds, seriously, also it was by beloved brothers favorite whiskey- he like the cheap shit.

On topic: I bought a bottle for New Years, but never cracked the seal... actually fell asleep about 10, so I missed it all. Drinking it, now.

The Greatest entertainer ever???

Cab Calloway:

Oh mi madre:

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!

Goddamn, Louis Jordan:

 

Damn! I can see ignoring Brenda Lee, but Louis Jordan??? Damn, this is the best example of jump blues ever recorded. It's a fucking masterpiece!

Also, Rob's image from Maui:

^^^ It kind of reminds me of dance bars in the 80s; you walk in and every 40 year old in the place checks you out. That said, I quit dating a long time ago. I thought that when Rob got older, I would date again, but it just seemed too weird.

Maybe someday???

fuck it: