I recently watched a couple of episodes of Chicago Fire, and couldn't help noticing Jocelyn Hudon. I discovered she's been on the show since 2012.
The show has been on since 2012?
And she's been on it that long? She started as a teenager!
I can't catch up on all those episodes, but it would be interesting to watch her evolve in the role.
Meanwhile, here on some on- and off-set photos.
In just a couple of weeks, the National Zoo in Washington, DC will provide the first time the public can view a newly-born baby elephant (born on February 2).
See the first baby elephant born at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in nearly 25 years
They voted on a name:
The Public Has Spoken: The National Zoo's New Elephant Calf Is Named Linh Mai
The calf will first be viewable on April 22, Earth Day, on the Elephant Cam, which will be back online that day.
Below are a couple of pictures of the pachyderm tyke.
In case you're interested, with a hopefully successful Artemis II launch and mission slated to happen today, here's the National Academies of Sciences report on how to explore Mars, if humans actually get there.
A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars
I'd sure like to see Olympus Mons up close. Instead, we have to rely on great satellite views like this:
Just read about the idiotic Trump administration's plans to move the U.S. Forest Service to Utah, and while doing that, to close down thirty-one research sites.
The utter disdain of this administration for the value of science is appalling -- but we've known that for years. Yet to see it demonstrated again and again and again causes constant angst and pain for the loss of what sometimes has been long-standing research, and well, forests don't grow overnight.
Trump plans to move Forest Service headquarters to Utah and shutter research sites
"The Wilderness Society also pointed to Trump’s prior attempt with the BLM, saying that resulted in many staffers leaving who had valuable years of management experience. The group said this could end up hollowing out the Forest Service.For example, here's a description of their Experimental Forests and Ranges.
Many regional offices will close in the reorganization, and their services will shift to hubs in New Mexico, Georgia, Colorado, Wisconsin, Montana and California. Instead of maintaining multiple dispersed research stations with their own leadership, the agency will anchor its research at a single location in Fort Collins, Colorado."
"This research network provides an incredible wealth of records and knowledge of ecological change in natural and managed forest and grassland ecosystems across the United States. Hosted on a combination of public and private lands, the network provides a home for long-term science and management studies in most major vegetation types of the United States. Individual sites range in size from 47 to 22,500 ha."
If you want to see where they are in the Rocky Mountains (and nearby): Experimental Forest and Range Locations
Yes, the IDIOTS are going to shut that down.
Donald Trump decided to close the Kennedy Center he named after himself for 2 years, basically because nobody wants to play the venue he named after himself.
Here are a couple of quotes about how it got to this point.
"On Sunday, Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees funding for the Kennedy Center’s building, questioned the motivation for the planned closure in a video posted to social media, suggesting that the president was just “covering up the financial disaster he’s created there.”
" “This man has destroyed the place,” she said in the video. “He’s run it into the ground financially; he’s made it a place where performers don’t want to perform, and individuals don’t want to attend performances.”
Glamor model Cristy Ren doesn't take herself too seriously, but she has looks that require serious attention. Two recent captures are shown here. It's not hard to find her with a search: her name is sufficient but other descriptive words and provide more detail.
Even though the 2026 Winter Olympics and all of their drama (some of which was pretty dramatic) ended a month or so ago, but this article about former Olympic venues provides some historical perspective. I've actually been to one Olympic Games, and visited several places that hosted them, including both swimming venues for the 1936 and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Sadly, now that we are in an era of temporary venues built in big stadiums (as will happen in 2028 for swimming in the Olympics) there won't be as many shrines to former athletic heroism to visit.
So, this list is interesting:
5 of the Oldest Olympic Venues Still in Use
The five of them are:
Regarding Ryde Pier, "this heritage structure on the Isle of Wight remains a popular local landmark more than a century on — not least because it’s the second-longest seaside pleasure pier in the U.K., after the Southend Pier. During the 1908 Games, spectators gathered at the end of the pier to watch yacht races, all of which were won by the Great Britain crews, to the delight of the crowd.This is Ryde Pier (actually, the end of it):
