Five good reasons to go on vacation (illustrated)

 

Here are five good reasons to go on vacation, with a single theme:

Hotel rooms.  

Preferably with beds (which are usually provided). 

The life and melt of Iceberg A-68A

 

A few months ago, when Iceberg A-68A was headed toward a potential collision with South Georgia Island, which had the potential to mess up the subpolar ecology of that archipelago, I posted a few snapshots from the NASA Worldview site that showed the approach -- and then the somewhat unexpected crack-up and fragmentation.

After some of the pieces went hither and yon (more hither than yon), I stopped keeping track.  Well, it turns out that quite recently, the final remnants of the formerly massive and magnificent A-68A did what all icebergs eventually do -- they succumbed to the warmth of the water, and returned to it.

The NASA Earth Observatory has graciously provided a chronicle of the birth, journey, and demise of A-68A.

Tracking an Antarctic Iceberg's Epic Journey 

Pestilence rides

 

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are still with us.  One of them in particular.

'Pestilence' by SBraithwaite

Yes, pestilence is still riding free.

‘We are witnessing a crime against humanity’: Arundhati Roy on India’s Covid catastrophe

"Where shall we look for solace? For science? Shall we cling to numbers? How many dead? How many recovered? How many infected? When will the peak come? On 27 April, the report was 323,144 new cases, 2,771 deaths. The precision is somewhat reassuring. Except – how do we know? Tests are hard to come by, even in Delhi. The number of Covid-protocol funerals from graveyards and crematoriums in small towns and cities suggest a death toll up to 30 times higher than the official count. Doctors who are working outside the metropolitan areas can tell you how it is. 

If Delhi is breaking down, what should we imagine is happening in villages in Bihar, in Uttar Pradesh, in Madhya Pradesh? Where tens of millions of workers from the cities, carrying the virus with them, are fleeing home to their families, traumatised by their memory of Modi’s national lockdown in 2020. It was the strictest lockdown in the world, announced with only four hours’ notice. It left migrant workers stranded in cities with no work, no money to pay their rent, no food and no transport. Many had to walk hundreds of miles to their homes in far-flung villages. Hundreds died on the way."

A very sad argument for gun control

 

How does this happen and continue to happen?

Answer:   easy access to guns.  TOO easy.  As has been seen before, when available, in fits of anger and moments of high emotional stress, people who own guns use them.  And then they regret it, frequently compounding the tragedy, as happened here. 

Pregnant nurse, 23, and her two-year-old son are shot dead by her husband before he turns gun on himself in murder-suicide

"On April 15, he [David Priest, the husband] changed his profile picture to an image of him kissing Paiden's pregnant belly with the caption 'My gorgeous and all-around amazing wife no matter what.' 

It is unclear what the motive was for the shooting, [Police Sergeant] Wear said, but a neighbor had reported hearing an argument before the gunshots went off."

David Priest was the stepfather of Paiden's two-year-old son;  makes you wonder. 

 

When you try to do something nice

 

Apparently, despite the travails of honeybees around the world, releasing lots of them is not a great idea, as they compete with wild pollinators.

M&S [ Marks & Spencer] faces backlash over plan to release 30m honeybees

Critics say M&S should focus on restoring native habitats instead of releasing millions of honeybees, which are just one of the nearly 270 bee species in the UK, many of which are in sharp decline. “They are actually ending up doing something that may damage the environment,” said Matt Shardlow, head of the conservation charity Buglife. 

“There are not enough wild flowers to support the populations we’ve got. It’s about creating a better countryside for pollinators, not chucking more pollinators out into the countryside – we need to get more pollen and nectar into the countryside,” he said.

Back to nature;
Katniss Everdeen would approve!

53 and easy (on the eyes)

 

Of course this is from the Daily Mail.

Playboy Playmate Donna D'Errico is 53 years old, which makes me feel older (which I am).  But she is a fantastically fine and fit fifty-three.

This is 53! Baywatch star Donna D'Errico looks VERY youthful in racy bikini snaps on Instagram

I borrowed a picture from the article to illustrate the concept.

What's next for Daenerys ?

 

Just noticed this article about Daenerys Targaryen aka actress Emilia Clarke.  Hard to separate them due to their strong association in the "Game of Thrones" world.

Emilia Clarke 'is set to star in the Marvel series Secret Invasion with Samuel L. Jackson' - amid claims Olivia Colman 'is in talks to join the show'

Marvel is doing pretty well in the streaming zone;  "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" was really good, and "Wandavision" was both good and exceptionally unique, with the plus of Elizabeth Olsen's hotness.  So Emilia should be in a good vehicle when she gets into it.

        

Lighthouse of the Week, April 25 - May 1, 2021: Swimwear and lighthouses

 

I thought I'd take a break from the lighthouses around the world for a week, and explore a different theme -- namely, women in swimwear posing near lighthouses.  Some of the lighthouses might be identifiable, but I'm not going to try.   So just enjoy the views.

Good pick

 

President Biden picked Rick Spinrad to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

That's a good pick.

Now, if he can get a bigger budget (which the President is trying to accomplish), I think Spinrad can get NOAA back on track.   Without using a Sharpie.

Biden taps ocean scientist Rick Spinrad to run NOAA

"The agency, whose budget has stagnated for the past decade, has a diverse, complex and demanding portfolio. It oversees the National Weather Service, conducts and funds weather and climate research, and operates a constellation of weather satellites as well as a climate data center. It also has responsibilities in monitoring and protecting the nation’s coasts, oceans and fisheries.

Leading an organization the size of NOAA, with about 11,000 employees, will be a first for Spinrad, as will be overseeing a budget of around $5 billion, which may swell to $6.9 billion if Biden’s request to increase spending is approved by Congress."

Highway 41 swings by Slinger

 

The Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek has official left the Milwaukee region of Wisconsin, and is not in the actual country.  And in this wilderness, there's a ski area.  Well, it does get cold and snowy in the Badger State, and if there's a slope, skiing is possible.

In the Wisconsin country, near Slinger.

Nothing too important here, but I noticed on the sign that 4 miles north of this spot, you can get cheese, sausage, bacon, and beef jerky. Nothing for the vegetarian, I guess.

Slinger is noteworthy for having a ski area (in mostly-flat Wisconsin) named "Little Switzerland". To the left, it's possible to glimpse the ski lift towers at the top of the ski area. It is NOT big.

A very short off-road excursion to get a slightly better look, and also to visit downtown Slinger. This is the best I can do for a slightly better look.

Downtown Slinger, right next to the Slinger House Pub and Grill.

Slinger High School. Take a look, then back to the highway. Couldn't find any famous alumni here either; but their team mascot is the Owls.

We are now officially on the road to Fond du Lac.

Lighthouse of the Week, April 18-24, 2021: Ischia Molo Bagno, Italy

 

If you don't know where Ischia is, that's fine, I'm about to tell you.   As you may know, the city of Naples, Italy, is surrounded by volcanoes.  The most famous is Vesuvius, for obvious reasons, but there are several other craters along with hydrothermal activity and the occasional troubling and concerning uplift, like in Pozzouli.  

Ischia is a volcanic island offshore of Naples, with geothermal activity and mud spas. It too, is volcanic;  and the volcano last erupted in 1302.  So not exactly seething with eruptive danger, but not exactly totally cold, either.   

I'm here at Ischia for a lighthouse, the Ischia Molo Bagno.  Let's learn more (courtesy of the Lighthouse Directory, naturally):

"1868. Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); flash every 3 s, white or red depending on direction. 11 m (36 ft) round masonry tower with lantern and gallery, mounted on a square concrete block base. There is a small square equipment shelter next to the tower. Tower and shelter painted red, lantern white with a gray metallic dome. According to the Faro di Han web site, the lighthouse was built in 1854 but not activated until 1868. Located at the end of the breakwater mole sheltering the harbor of Porto d'Ischia, at the northeast corner of the island; there's a great view from ferries arriving from Naples."

 Intrigued?  Here's where it is.

And here are some pictures ... but first, a model.

Can West Ham United hang on?

 

Not much drama in the Premier League, so the most interesting aspect at the end of the season is who is going to play in the Champions League and Europa League next year. Manchester City and United are locks for the Champions League, but after that it gets interesting. Current points are Leicester City at 59, Chelsea at 58, West Ham United at 55, Liverpool at 54, Tottenham 53, and Everton 52.

I'm not going to try and look at every game; the most intriguing one is West Ham United, a team which has several noted celebrity fans, recently including Keira Knightley and Seth Meyers. And as Knightley said on his talk show back in 2014:

"That's great. Not a lot of people [in the United States] will know West Ham and I should just say we are not the sort of team who win very often. I'm really glad you picked West Ham."

There are five or six games left in the season for most teams. West Ham has a fairly easy schedule after today's loss to Chelsea, with clearly the biggest game against Everton on May 9. None of their other games is against a team in the top 10 of the 20 teams in the league. That's about as good as they could ask for.

Meanwhile, the team that I follow the most, Crystal Palace, is finishing the season just about where they've been every year -- safe from relegation but far, far away from even a whisper of a shot at the championship.   And that's the Premier League's main problem, something that the stupid Super League might have addressed, slightly -- too few times have a realistic chance of winning the title.  It is somewhat like the National Basketball Association in the USA, but hockey, football, and baseball (to an extent) have less of a separation between the haves and have-less.   Just what the Tampa Bay Rays were able to accomplish last season by adding a couple of stud pitchers (though they gave them right back) shows that uncertainty is good for the sport.   And the Premier League has little of that, which is why this Champions League/Europa League chase adds a bit of interest to the last games of the season.

  

A short personal note

 

I don't know who reads my blog (I assume some people do, because each article gets a few hits on the counter), but I want to apologize for those who expect more frequent posting.  My daily schedule has changed so much that I have less time to blog during the week than I did in the past.

I hope to post more frequently soon, even this week.  But I'm never sure.   There's lots to  talk about every day.  However, I find that collecting input is taking up more time than I expected, so I have less time for output.

Thanks for reading.  Now, back to our show.

Britain has CAVES?

 

I wrote that incredulous headline because Britain isn't known for the geology that produces the spectacular stalactited and stalagmited underground flowstone cathedrals such as Carlsbad, parts of Mammoth, Luray, Jeita Grotto (Lebanon), Postojna (Slovenia), and Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes (Germany).    But just about anyplace can have holes in the ground, and Britain apparently has a few.  If you want to know more, click on the link to the article.

List of Britain's Top 10 Caves

The most well-known is probably Henrhyd Falls, and if I know anything about where Gotham City might be, it is nowhere close to there.

I guess Fingal's Cave is in Scotland, not Britain, so it's not on this list.

Playing it both ways

 

OK, one other thing about Republicans in this round of blogging. 

Republicans made a foolish bet on the Biden agenda   (italicizing and underlining are my addition)

"It is telling that soon after the American Rescue Plan passed with no GOP votes, Republicans started claiming credit for money flowing to their districts and states. If they decide to deny the administration any support for its historic infrastructure bill (which, like the rescue plan, is popular with labor, mayors, governors, small business and more), you can be sure Biden and congressional Democrats will remind voters that the new bridge or the faster Internet or the new Veterans Affairs hospital would not exist if it were up to Republicans."

They really are RePUGnant Republicans.

He's not the first to say so

 

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner has a new book out, and he apparently isn't afraid to name names and tell it like it is (and how it was).  I didn't like Boehner when he was in charge very much, and he missed some opportunities to do things the right way (a couple of time bailing out at the last minute on good deals), but compared to the people leading the Repughlican party now, he was an angel.

This is a link to the Washington Post article about the book:

In new book, John Boehner says today’s GOP is unrecognizable to traditional conservatives and dishes on his time in politics

Quotes from the article about what he writes in the book:

One:  

"He draws a direct line from anti-establishment lawmakers he dealt with last decade to Republicans in Congress who supported Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election: “The legislative terrorism that I’d witnessed as speaker had now encouraged actual terrorism.”  "

Two:

“I know what we all said at the time: Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath. In my view, Republicans impeached him for one reason and one reason only . . . Tom DeLay believed that impeaching Clinton would win us all these House seats, would be a big win politically, and he convinced enough of the membership and the GOP base that this was true.” 

Boehner acknowledges that he supported the move at the time, but in retrospect doesn’t think Clinton’s behavior rose to impeachment charges. “Clinton probably did commit perjury. That’s not a good thing. But lying about an affair to save yourself from embarrassment isn’t the same as lying about an issue of national security,” Boehner writes."

Three:

" Boehner says he was already living in “Crazytown,” and “when I took the Speaker’s gavel in 2011, two years into the Obama presidency, I became its mayor. Crazytown was populated by jackasses, and media hounds, and some normal citizens as baffled as I was about how we got trapped inside the city walls. Every second of every day since Barack Obama became president I was fighting one bats — t idea after another.” "

Telling the truth about the horror that is the current "Republican" party.  What a concept.

Can't take this sitting down

 

I love the Daily Mail, and I get a lot of what I post here from there (as well as starting points to other places and things I want to know about).   But I have no idea how they can be so careless about spelling in headlines and still run the operation that they run.  I mean, really, how much would they pay me to proofread for them?

Case in point, the following.  Yes, it's clearly a situation where we need to stand up to Russian aggression in the region, and I'll bet many world leaders are on the edge of their chairs as they contemplate what action to take.  Hopefully, negotiators will take their ... places around the table and work things out.  

The image of the headline is unedited.

The Highway 41 Streetview trek gets outside Milwaukee

 

I had high hopes of making progress on the Streetview trek through Wisconsin, but I've been slowed down in my blogging efforts.  I'm hopeful to make more progress in the following week.  So we are headed north and a slant west of Milwaukee now in this stretch.

To the right (east) of the highway for a stretch here is Currie Park, which the Menomonee River flows through.  Here's a bit of information about the Menomonee River. Note this is the one in Wisconsin;  there's another by the same name in Michigan.  

The park is still over to the right.

Menomonee River crossing.

Getting to the outskirts of the Milwaukee area.

Another Menomonee River crossing.

Lighthouse of the Week, April 11-17, 2021: Fort Charlotte, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

 

Because St. Vincent island of the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been, and still is, in the news because of the eruption of La Soufriere volcano, I decided to check if the island nation has any lighthouses.  It does, not many, and not big.  But this one is located on the wall of a historic fort.

So this is what the Lighthouse Directory says:

1892(?) (station established 1858). Active; focal plane 195 m (640 ft); three long (1.5 s) white flashes, separated by 3 s, every 20 s. Light mounted on a short mast atop a 1-story hexagonal wood watch room, the whole structure resting atop a point of the historic fort. Watch room painted blue. ... The lighthouse has been repainted since 2004; formerly it was painted white with blue trim. This is a staffed signal station. The site offers an outstanding view southwestward toward the Grenadines. Fort Charlotte was built in 1806 during the Napoleonic wars."

A couple of pictures and a video are below.

This panoramic pic looks much better if you click on it to see the fuller size version.

The best shot I found of the La Soufriere eruption

 

If you haven't been paying attention, you may have missed that the volcano La Soufriere on the Caribbean island evolved from having a lava dome-building eruption, where hot thick pasty lava extrudes slowly and relatively peacefully, to an explosive ash-releasing eruption.  

This eruption has forced evacuations from the northern part of the island (where the volcano is), and has deposited ash over most of the island.   Nobody's sure how long the dangerous explosive phase will last; it could evolve from here back to a dome building eruption, it could build and blow and build and blow, etc., or it could have one totally catastrophic gigantic massive apocalyptic climate-changing explosion that puts a caldera where St. Vincent is currently located.  (Nobody really wants that last one.)

So, there are many articles about this important event.  I'm going to link to the Daily Mail article, which had numerous pictures and three videos.  Below that is what I think is the best picture of the massive ash cloud.

St. Vincent is rocked by more volcano explosions after first eruption in more than 40 years as six-mile ash plume sees flights cancelled and 16,000 people told to evacuate

Though I can't really help, I hope the good people of St. Vincent stay safe.

As an aside, in 1902 this volcano erupted and killed over 1,500 people. This isn't exactly overlooked in the history books, but it is somewhat overshadowed by the eruption of Mont Pelee on Martinique on the same day and several hours later, which killed everybody in the city of St. Pierre except for one prisoner, around 27,000 poor souls.

Highway 41 Streetview trek sees more sights in the Milwaukee burbs

 

As promised, a couple of more sights just off Highway 41 in the Milwaukee environs.

Second sight (after the zoo) is the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds. It has a racetrack, this is the view from the north end of the racetrack.

Third sight is the Pettit National Ice Center, for a long time the only large speed skating oval in the United States, and it was outdoors, which meant variable ice conditions. It's indoors now, which means the ice is better and lasts longer (global warming, you know -- seriously).



Google Maps/StreetView didn't have a good look at the oval, so here's one. I didn't know until now that it has two hockey rinks inside the oval and a running track outside it.

Passing the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, at least according to the water tower.



The building to the left is part of Wauwatosa West High School. WWHS won the Wisconsin State High School swimming championship in 1971. No really notable alumni.

There will be more outside Milwaukee before we get into the true country.

Lighthouse of the Week, April 4-10, 2021: Phare de Nice, France

 

I've given several lighthouses from France the Lighthouse of the Week status, because France has two separate coasts, both of which have a good number of lighthouses.   This time, I'll be returning to the South of France, specifically the city of Nice.  The Phare de Nice, phare being French for lighthouse, is on a long pier next to the harbor.

The Lighthouse Directory tells us more:

"Date unknown (probably around 1950). Active; focal plane 21 m (69 ft); red flash every 5 s. 22 m (72 ft) square masonry tower with lantern and gallery, mounted on a large square stone base. Lighthouse is white, lantern red with a white roof. ... The 1928 lighthouse, the fourth on the Nice breakwater, was heavily damaged during World War II; it was replaced by a wooden tower in 1945 and then by this lighthouse."

Several pictures are below, some of them a bit artsy, which I haven't really done for awhile, and one of them with a lunar eclipse, which I've never done before.

by aiglon6 on Flickr

from aimen aishur on Twitter

More fenomenal female flexibility

 

Back in December I posted this, with several examples of a particularly provocative photographic pose.

Split Revels

I recently found another fine example of the form, acquired from Olesia.  I plan a more detailed discussion of this particular model in the approaching future.

Another good argument for gun control

 

This one pretty much speaks for itself.

Burger King customer shoots through drive-thru window 'after becoming annoyed at her long wait time' before firing 'several shots' at fleeing workers

"  'Video surveillance shows the suspect retrieve a black handgun from the vehicle, extend her upper body through the drive-thru window, and fire several shots at the Burger King workers.

'The workers fled from the gunfire through the rear door of the business and were unharmed. The suspect was accompanied by a male who was the driver of the gray sedan.'

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing."

As I've noted before, having a gun with you makes it much more tempting to use it in a moment of anger.  And it has been seen that this happens, resulting in injury and death, and not infrequently, the person who commits the attack regrets it, and then turns the same tempting gun onto their own self.

Is it really worth it to own and carry a gun when it's clear that this can happen?

I sure don't think so.

Remember what I said about the supersonic private jet?

 

In a post a couple of days ago, I mentioned that though I'm not wealthy, I'd sure like to snag a ride on a supersonic private jet.

Well, a couple of people are going to get a ride on something going considerably faster than that.

Inspiration4 announces crew for private SpaceX Crew Dragon mission

One part of this article says:

"In addition to announcing the crew, Isaacman [the billionaire who bought the mission] and SpaceX outlined the details of the mission itself. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than Sept. 15, slightly earlier than the original announcement of the fourth quarter of this year. The spacecraft will remain in orbit for three days, flying in an orbit at the same inclination as the International Space Station — 51.6 degrees — but in an orbit as high as 540 kilometers, more than 100 kilometers above the station."

I sure hope this works.

Highway 41 Streetview trek visits the zoo

 

We're going through and around Milwaukee on the Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek, so here are a few views.

OK, pay attention here. We're back on 41/I-94, but at this point 41 turns west briefly, and the combined numbers are 41-43-895. I'll spare you the interchange. Glad I'm not hiking this section.

Big curve to head north again. Right here it's called Zoo Freeway, too.

Heading north, 41 re-encounters Interstate 94. Rather than just show road here, let's see three nearby sights. The first is the Milwaukee County Zoo (remember it's also called Zoo Freeway in this stretch.) Zoo parking lot:

A view in the zoo, by the aviary.  I know Highway 41 went past Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, and I think it went by another one (Chattanooga? -- too lazy to check).  



The next two sights will be in the next (single) Highway 41 post.

A popular selfie viewpoint

 

I've noticed that for women on the beach, or on the bed, or on the floor, or on any flat surface, usually wearing either a bikini or lingerie (though that's not necessary), that a popular selfie viewpoint includes the paired curves of their backside.

It's not a viewpoint that I've gotten tired of yet.

Below are some examples.  I'm not sure they are all selfies, but they all have the same bassic them.

Sarah L. Houchens

Angela Amezcua (of "The Bachelor")

Dr. Kennedy Summers (of the Playmate of the Year)

In the above, personal trainer Lolla (@lalav_sa) demonstrates how to do this pose with and without underwear.

Alina Lobacheva 

Audrina Patridge still looks fine

 

I've seen Audrina Patridge in this commercial a few time recently, and enjoyed it every time. 

(Who is she?  you ask.  Bio here.)

I checked back in my blog, because I was pretty sure I had posted something about her sometime in its past.  But apparently not, even though she did pose nude for Playboy (a tryout) wearing an orange cowboy hat, and has been in that state a few other times for real, too.  And she's quite visually engaging in that state.  I was sure I had mentioned that.  Still, I think she looks fabulous now at 35, and should show do that again (posing nude), but I doubt she will. 

Still, she's on a bed in the commercial.  One can dream.  (She went through a messy divorce a couple of years ago and has been reported as dating someone else with a couple degrees of seriousness, but I don't know the current status of that relationship.) 

Melts in your hand (well, maybe not)

 

I found this article about a very old candy bar both interesting and amusing.

Chocolate bar given to troops during the Boer War is found untouched in a helmet case 121 years later

Basically, during the Second Boer War in South Africa (October 1889 - May 1902), the Queen of England (Victoria) gave all her soldiers a gift of a chocolate bar in a tin box with her picture on it.

So this one soldier never took a bite of his chocolate bar.  And they found it in a case with the helmet of that soldier, Sir Henry Edward Paston-Bedingfield.  And if that's not a great example of an English name, I'd have to look hard for a better one.

I guess chocolate wasn't his favorite treat, though.  Maybe he preferred Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Happy Easter!  Enjoy some chocolate!

Care for a ride?

 

I'm not wealthy;  I don't live in a big house;  I don't drive a sports car (though I had a cut-rate version once);  I don't eat in fancy restaurants;  I don't belong to a country club;  I just basically live a middle class life.  I don't envy the wealthy, though I wonder what I would do if I had a lot more money.  I hope I'd give some of it to charity and use it wisely.    So I don't wish to have the perks of extreme wealth, and I don't need them.

But I sure would like to fly in a private supersonic jet once.

Aerion AS3 supersonic airliner to reach Mach 4+ and carry 50 passengers

Note, however, that this plane is being planned.  Before that, they're going to start building a 12-passenger, Mach 1.4 plane in 2023, and they are already orders for 300 of them, including an order for 20 from Berkshire Hathaway.

Here's what the AS2 might look like.  I'll take a picture of the real one when I get to fly in it.

I don't know how I'm going to make that work, but I'm going to try and figure out a way.