The airshow is one of the biggest events of the year in the Washington DC metro area, but it's always kind of melancholy and bittersweet time for my family. We don't attend, and haven't been to an airshow since 1988.

I suspect that others' thoughts go back as well, since comments on the original Flugtag '88 series of posts increase as this event approaches.

Read the posts, read the comments. Count your blessings.

Posted by: Ted at 06:13 AM | category: Links
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In 1815, Mount Tambora, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, erupted in the largest and most powerful display ever witnessed by mankind. The eruption itself and associated tidal waves killed 88,000 people.

If we reduce all the ash from Tambora to dense rock equivalents and include all ash flow tuffs that formed at the same time, we come up with about 36 cubic miles of rock. Quite a bit compared with the destructive U.S. eruptions of Mount St. Helens in 1980 that produced about 1/4 cubic mile.

Wow. Except, that's not the scary part. Geologists have been studying a geologically active region that has in the past underwent events of unimaginable power, dwarfing even Tambora. That place is called Yellowstone.

The volume of volcanic rock produced by the first Yellowstone caldera eruption was about 600 cubic miles—about 17 times more than Tambora, and 2,400 times as much as Mount St. Helen's, an almost incomprehensible figure. One more statistic: Ash from Tambora drifted downwind more than 800 miles; Yellowstone ash is found in Ventura, California to the west and the Iowa to the east.

Yellowstone was created by three separate volcanic geologic events. The last may have removed the southern portions of the Washburn mountain range.

Read that last sentence again.

Here's a simple analogy:

Imagine a bottle of carbonated water lying in the sun. Pick it up, shake it vigorously, maybe tap the cap...boom, it blows off. Instantly the pressure in the bottle drops, the dissolved carbon dioxide exsolves into bubbles and an expanding mass of bubbles and water jets into the sky. In a few seconds, the event is over. Wipe off your face and check the bottle; some of the water remains, but most of the gas is gone. This simple scenario is a scaled-down analogy of what happened 600,000 years ago in Yellowstone when the volatile-rich upper part of the magma chamber vented and erupted the Lava Creek Tuff.

And a simplified reconstruction of the real thing:

Nearer the vents, fiery clouds of dense ash, fluidized by the expanding gas, boiled over crater rims and rushed across the countryside at speeds over one hundred miles per hour, vaporizing forests, animals, birds, and streams into varicolored puffs of steam. Gaping ring fractures extended downward into the magma chamber providing conduits for continuing foaming ash flows.

More and more vapor-driven ash poured from the ring fractures, creating a crescendo of fury. As the magma chamber emptied, large sections of the foundering magma chamber roof collapsed along the ring fractures, triggering a chain reaction that produced a caldera 45 miles long and 28 miles wide.

Yellowstone is three separate but overlapping caldera, and the area is still extremely active in the geological sense. So a reoccurance isn't necessarily imminent, but at some point, it will happen.

Victims of the Mt. St. Helen's eruption were found with their lungs, sinuses and mouths full of ash. We've already seen how relatively minor that eruption was. Here's what you'll experience if you happen to be too close to the action.

Hot ash flows are fascinating. Driven by expanding gas, they are really clouds of hot glass shards and pumice plus expanding gas whose turbulence keeps everything flowing like water.

Not that you'd experience it for more than a fraction of a second. Merciful, that.

So there you have it, the scariest thing I've ever read, and I meant that literally. The full text is here: Yellowstone Calderas, and I have Transterrestrial Musings to thank for the nightmares.

Posted by: Ted at 05:54 AM | category: SciTech
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Fridge meme from Elisson... Early next week Amigo, best I can do.

Posted by: Ted at 05:49 AM | category:
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Even the ones who aren't hockey mask-wearing psychopathic serial murderers. But if you want a rundown on most of the Friday the 13th franchise, you're in luck, because Pete gives his take, right down to "best killing" in each flick.

I've still got an unopened copy of the original on my shelf, a gift for Christmas.

Posted by: Ted at 04:55 AM | category: Cult Flicks
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Maybe the US should head north and provide a little (re)democratization in Canada. The political situation there has gone way beyond farce.

I'd love to see a contingent of Iraqi peacekeepers patrolling the streets of Ottawa.

Posted by: Ted at 06:11 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Today and tomorrow and, hell, I'm gonna be swamped until Monday at least...

Weg noticed that someone is proposing to make a Ray Bradbury short story into a movie, and hopes that they'll do it justice. I hope so too. Personally, I hate Bradbury with a passion, but he's done a few stories that I like, and one of them is A Sound of Thunder. Head on over to her place and read the background, plus she provides a link to the story online. It's a good read.

Moving from Science Fiction to science fact, the guys at Random Nuclear Strikes point the way to a nifty experiment in reality vs. Hollywood-reality. We've all seen the bit where the guy confronts a padlocked door or gate, whips out his pistol and, kapow!, removes the lock with a well-placed shot. Does it really work that way? Head on over to Life, Liberty, Etc. to read about the test and see pictures of the results. Way cool.

Rich puts up the best analysis of each episode of Survivor that I've seen on the net. I've never watched an episode, but his posts were good enough to know what was going on.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Minor Perfidy has overplayed their hand and it's now obvious that they desire nothing less than world domination under Canadian financial control. A most excellent writer who began as a commenter, became a blogger, then returned to commenting only has now been assimilated into the MoMP collective. As such, the call has been put forth:

...think of clever and mildly (mildly!) deprecating snippets to include in the random list of capsule bios that appear under every ministerÂ’s name...

Take 'em up on their generous offer to mock Patton before you actually read any of his posts. It's the Democratic way!

Oops, almost forgot. Buckethead posted his take on the blogmeet/demolition derby we had last Saturday night.

Nic is posting uber-cool pictures!

Gotta run. See ya when I get a chance.

Posted by: Ted at 05:41 AM | category: Links
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The butler did it.

Posted by: Ted at 04:30 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Michele:

News Editors need to dig deep into their values and go back to a place before news was a commodity; before news became earnings, ratings and subscriptions competition, to a place where a News Editor's role is once again that of a vanguard and protector of the truth. For that is what the American people want, and that is what our system of democracy demands.

There's more.

Posted by: Ted at 11:31 AM | category: Links
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I haven't heard a whole lot so far, but I'm really beginning to like the music of Lisa Loeb.

Posted by: Ted at 11:27 AM | category: Links
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1 I liked that "Stay" song of hers, but...Well, that's where the fascination ended.

Posted by: Derek at May 18, 2005 04:13 PM (wEVXE)

2 I thought she was pretty hot on Saturday Night Live.Haven't heard too much of her stuff beyond that though.BTW,the dude in the pic named Dweezil is Frank Zappa's son.He does the voice of Ajax on the show Duckman.

Posted by: Russ at May 18, 2005 04:20 PM (ObxzR)

3 Lisa Loeb?!

She was a cutie ten years ago.

I know nothing of her music. But, jus' judging by her choice of eye-glasses, she's one politely ornary chick.

My kinda gal!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 18, 2005 11:27 PM (gStd8)

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And Gir provided not one, but two!

Posted by: Ted at 11:17 AM | category: Links
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My "official" email address has changed over on the sidebar. The hotmail account has been gradually overrun by spam, so I'm making the switch to Gmail. You'll still be able to reach me at the old account, but be aware that my response might be delayed because I'm not checking it as often as I used to.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Wondered what was up with that... I emailed stating I'd borrowed your google bomb and even did a post about it, and never heard back if you minded... I don't like doing things w/o asking permission first. :-P

Posted by: John at May 18, 2005 08:40 AM (GuDvW)

2 I don't mind at all, just hadn't had a chance to let you know. Saw the post and your email this morning, but had to run and can't access the hotmail account from work, so I was going to respond tonight.

That's me, a day late and a dollar short.

Posted by: Ted at May 18, 2005 09:12 AM (blNMI)

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There's been quite a bit happening around the ol' household the last couple of weeks.

First up, my son is looking for his own place. He's been living at home for almost a year now after doing his hitch in the Navy, and I've decided that it's time for him to get out there and tackle the world on his own.

Yep, I threw him out.

He's looking at places to live nearer his work (he's got a pretty good job, but the commute from our house is a real bitch), and the plan is for him to be out by the end of the month. Call it tough love, but sometimes if you don't kick 'em out of the nest they never learn to fly.

Secondly, and even more exciting, is related to that odd little post about googling 36CC and 36HH. Our health insurance has approved a breast reduction for our oldest daughter, Robyn. She is, ah, over-endowed* shall we say, and has suffered from chronic back pain since the age of 14. Thanks to the foresight of our wonderful family doctor, it's been documented the entire time. Robyn is just shy of 21 years old now, and my health plan has agreed that physical therapy and other non-surgical methods have been ineffective, and that in the long run a reduction would be best for her health. I can blog this because she said it was ok, plus she's already called all her friends** and relatives to let them know. Yep, we're all excited and happy for her.

So my household shall soon be rid of three big boobs.

Oh look, I made a funny.

*At 36HH, she left Barbie in the dust long ago.

**So far my favorite reactions*** have come from some of her male friends, who suggest that she should wait awhile before going through with it, because "you might like them that big when you get older". That, my friends, is looking out for your fellow man.

***My second favorite reaction comes from some of her female friends, who freak out when they find out that dad is taking her to the hospital because mom can't get the day off of work.

Posted by: Ted at 12:08 PM | category: Seriously
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When putting together your color pallete, don't forget that about 1 in 12 people who visit your site will be color blind.

Here's a good page with ideas on how to incorporate color blind awareness into your design.

Posted by: Ted at 11:59 AM | category: Links
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One of my little foibles is that I hate to mispronounce someone's name. I won't remember it (I'm terrible with faces and names), but I'll absolutely work on the pronounciation until I get it right before forgetting it.

A couple of blogging friends have names that I'm sure I butcher, even if only in my mind.

Boudicca - I pronounce it "bow (like the front of a ship) dee-cha", and the emphasis goes on either of the first two sylables interchangably, for no good reason.

Prochein Amy - In my mind, I say "pro-cheen", rhymes with protein. Dunno if that's right or not.

There are others too, but mostly I can suss 'em out if I don't know right off how to say it. So there ya go, I fret over mispronouncing names. Weird, eh?

Posted by: Ted at 06:03 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 These are my guesses:
Boudicca - Bodiqua.
Prochein - Pro-sheen. Like Indochine, or Prairie du chien.

?

Posted by: shank at May 17, 2005 10:56 AM (+H1yK)

2 pronouncing names correctly is a good way to avoid embarassment and I'm a big proponent of that. I worked as a P.A. announcer for a pro hockey team for a while, a lot of odd names on every roster. It's usually the ones that look tame that really get ya. There's nothing worse than mispronouncing a player's name when they're sitting 4 feet from you in the penalty box. Rest assured that they will correct you in a heartbeat.

Posted by: Derek at May 17, 2005 11:05 AM (wEVXE)

3 Boudicca: "Boo-DEEK-ka"
Prochein: "Pro-Chay'n" (the ' is there because it's not quite three syllables. Run it together quickly, like if you were drunk...)

And if you're ever curious, it's "Den-EE-ta" ;-)

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at May 17, 2005 01:18 PM (nwO5C)

4 Denita, I never doubted about how to pronounce your name. I can say that now without feeling stoopid because I was already saying it correctly.

Posted by: Ted at May 17, 2005 06:14 PM (+OVgL)

5 Opps, I was even saying Prochein wrong!!!! LOL!!! www.dictionary.com was not much help!

Posted by: Amy at May 18, 2005 07:28 PM (tPzR0)

6 Ted--COOL! It's surprisingly rare for someone to get it right on the first try, despite what seems to be rather cut-and-dry phonetics. Three years later I still have neighbors that pronounce my name "Den-EYE-ta" or "Dih-NET-ta". For many years I had a kindly old lady who lived down the street from my childhood home, who insisted on calling me "DON-ee-ta".

To say the least of the myriad derisive derivatives... Just be glad "Ted" isn't hard to fob up or turn into a nasty insult... ;-)

As for the others, did anyone find out how they're actually pronounced?

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at May 19, 2005 12:31 AM (aLqE1)

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The headline reads "At Least 24 Iraqis Killed; 50 Bodies Found".

Uh, yeah. In my school 50 was more than 24.

Posted by: Ted at 05:52 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 maybe they all weren't iraqis.

Where do you bury the survivors?

Posted by: shank at May 17, 2005 10:57 AM (+H1yK)

2 I didn't think of that, although I'd suppose the survivors would bitch if they tried to bury them.

Posted by: Ted at May 17, 2005 06:16 PM (+OVgL)

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Who remembers Peaches and Herb? Here's a little bit of Shake Your Groove Thing:

Let's show the world we can dance

Bad enough to strut our stuff

The music gives us a chance

We do more out on the floor

Groovin' loose or heart to heart
We put in motion every single part
Funky sounds wall to wall
We're bumpin' booties, havin' us a ball, y'all

Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah
Show 'em how we do it now
Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah
Show 'em how we do it now

I'd pay money to hear William Shatner sing that live.

Posted by: Ted at 11:32 AM | category: Waxing Lyrical
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This is the final prep week. Starting Friday evening, Mookie and I will be immersed in students and rockets. It looks like over 500 students and teachers will descend on our little corner of Virginia to launch raw eggs and see if their designs are successful enough to snag a share of the scholarship money. Most importantly though, these teams are the finalists, each scored well enough in the qualification round to place in the top 100 of over 750 entered teams.

The goal is difficult, and just getting a successful flight was a huge challenge. These kids are flying amazingly complex rockets, and making it look routine, that experienced rocketeers seldom attempted just a few years ago.

Speaking from experience, whoever said that you learn more from failures than successes, knew what they were talking about. Every team that attempted the challenge this year learned a lot about technology and various sciences, even if they never got their designs to work correctly. This year.

From the final status update:

This year we will have more media coverage, much more NASA/industry participation, and more elaborate site facilities than in previous years. Neither Senator Enzi [Wyoming - RJ] nor Homer Hickam can make it, but we are optimistic about the new NASA Administrator making it. The Marines are sending a flyover of helos from the Presidential helo squadron as part of the opening ceremony. We have a great HPR demo lined up for the end of the day, and Steve Humphrey and Paul Rodgers have built a full-size replica of Goddard's original rocket to fly as an afternoon demonstration flight as well. Goddard was a physicist, and our event co-sponsor this year is the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Kids and rockets, you can't go wrong with a combination like that. I'm gettin' excited!

Posted by: Ted at 11:21 AM | category: Rocketry
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It wasn't.

I remember looking at my watch and seeing it was nearing 9pm when we dashed for our cars through the rain. At this point, we'd been standing around under cover for at least a half hour.

The game resumed at 9:40pm after the storms rolled on out.

So those tickets we all bought aren't any good. I'm mildly annoyed at the length of the delay, because by then most everybody had to have left the stadium. Then again, I realize that minor league teams probably have a razor thin profit margin and will do most anything to avoid rainouts. Oh well, at least we got to see a good inning and a half of baseball.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Last year on May 11th, I posted this picture, showing a small flower bed in my front yard and describing what I was hoping would happen.

Here's the same bed this year, taken this morning (in the extended entry). You don't need a lot of space for a spectacular flower bed, especially if you go vertical with it. more...

Posted by: Ted at 01:52 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Sometimes when you get together with friends it doesn't matter what's going on, nothing is going to spoil a good time. Raging flood? Lash the cooler to a tree so the beer doesn't wash away. Alien invasion? Lash the cooler to a tree so the beer doesn't get captured. You get the idea.

Last night's get-together was just such an evening for me. Mookie, oldest-daughter Robyn and I arrived at the stadium to find Dawn already there. A few minutes later near simultaneous calls from Victor and Buckethead came in, letting us know that they were stuck in traffic but on the way.

We managed to get a block of seats, and when the game started an actual baseball game was just background to the great conversations going on all around. Altogether, it was Victor and Nic, Buckethead and his lovely wife and son (who was seeing his first ballgame), Dawn, Mookie, Robyn and myself.

The sky had been threatening for quite awhile, and the first wave of thunderstorms had missed us, but the second wave rolled in during the second inning. The groundscrew unrolled the tarps and everyone in the stands headed under cover while the lightning put on quite a show.

I have no idea how long we spent together, packed in with the rest of the crowd under the grandstands, waiting out the rain. It didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon, so we headed over to a restaurant for more great conversation over drinks, chips and guacamole.

Nic easily told the funniest story of the night, about recognizing people in old photographs. I'm still chuckling over that one. I'll add links to the others blogs if they give their version of events, because I very much skimmed over lots of what went on.

Damn people, lets do this again real soon. Saturday, June 25th is already marked on my calendar for another game.

Dawn tells her version here, it involves emperiled children, road rage, and a seriously screwed up back bumper.

Nic and Victor decided to get most of their adventures out of the way early in the evening.

I gotta tell you, Victor's is *much* bigger than mine. In fact, I'm a girly-man in comparison to the tool that Victor totes around.

Also, I'd like to thank Buckethead publicly for his foresight and wisdom. While buying souvenirs (jeez that word looks wrong, but the spell checker ok'd it), he picked up a miniature bat for his son, but thought of the potential for damage and put it back down. Instead they bought him a set of those inflatable thunder sticks. Later, his son whacked me right in the strike zone with it. Recap: thunder stick = hilarity; baseball bat = I might still be in the fetal position.

Posted by: Ted at 08:34 AM | category: Links
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