A brief note about Serdnova Anastasija

 

Serdnova Anastasija (it feels to me like that name should be reversed, but that's how it shows up just about everywhere) is a talented artist who paints watercolors. Many of her watercolor paintings are of nude women. I have featured work by the late Steve Hanks here on this blog a few times, and I think his are better than hers, but her work is very good and she shows faces -- Hanks didn't. 

She has an Instagram page, which show her work, and apparently there's a difference between painting and photography, because her nudes are there.  It is also very, very easy to find a lot of examples of here watercolor nudes, and even to purchase them for display in the home.  Where in the home?  That's certainly up to you, and probably depends on what kind of home you live in and who lives there.

An example of her sensual/erotic, but not nude, work is shown below. 

U.S. Open (tennis) at the half-way point

 

Yes, a timely post (which means by tomorrow September 1, it may be outdated and wrong).

My favorites are already out of the tournament on the women's side (lovely Rybakina and crazy Ostapenko), so the betting odds would be on Swiatek and Sabalenka. Since I always like to see the underdogs triumph, I have to pull for Jasmine Paolini again. Mother-of-two Caroline Wozniacki is still in it (but she won't win), as is yet-to-fulfill-her-promise Jessica Pegula (who might win).  Coco Gauff is still in it too, and has to play fellow American -- who seeds these things? -- Emma Navarro.

On the men's side, with the major upsets of Alcaraz and Djokovic, top seed Jannik Sinner would still be favored. But I'd like to see one of the three T's from the USA -- Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, or Francis Tiafoe -- make it to the final. The network wants Taylor Fritz to make it to the final so they can keep showing Morgan Riddle in the stands; see the example below.

Oh great. An omen.

 

There is a bright comet heading toward Earth.

Sorry, this is just not the right time for an omen of impending calamity.   (But I hope it's bright and beautiful and that I can have a chance to avoid urban light pollution to go see it in all its glory.)

Bright comet headed toward Earth could be visible with the naked eye
The incoming comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS might become as brilliant as Venus during its close approach to Earth this fall, potentially making it visible to the naked eye.

Here's a view of it from July 9.

 

According to the article from whence this view came, judging how bright it is (let alone seeing it) isn't easy. But apparently it's still intact.

'Doomed' comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS survives brush with sun — may be visible to naked eye this fall

However, this headline is misleading, as the comet's closest approach to the Sun is on September 27. It hasn't brushed the Sun yet -- so there is no foreknowledge or prophecy about whether it will survive the close approach.

Yet I hope it does, even if it does forebode our impending doom.

More on the Olympics: Quincy Hall's win in the 400 meters

 

One of the biggest surprises of the Paris Olympics track and field (ahem, Athletics) was Quincy Hall's win in the 400 meter race. The Washington Post had a great article about the race, and about him.

Quincy Hall, to whom nothing’s been given, took the Olympic 400 meters

"The latest American track hero of the Paris Olympics was self-made. Hall attended College of the Sequoias out of high school. He trains without partners, often by himself while talking to the coach he met at junior college, Curtis Allen, on the phone. Hall switched full-time from the 400-meter hurdles to the 400 meters just two years ago. On Wednesday night, as he ran a victory lap in bare feet, he considered it the best decision of his life."

"Hall thought about the people who doubted him. He thought about his two brothers who died young. He thought about the mother who raised him — “his heart,” high school coach Caesar Morales said. He thought about his two daughters — Abri, 7, and A’lani, 2. He thought about the hot practices running by himself. He remembered how it felt when he worked two jobs to pay tuition at a junior college."

If you didn't see it, it was an amazing finishing sprint after a punishing hard pace (full video at the link). He's not the most elegant runner, but he sure has guts and heart. He deserved the medal, and I hope it brings him a long measure of satisfaction -- but I hope he stays hungry for more.

Lighthouse of the Week, August 25 - 31, 2024: Cape Borda Lightstation, Australia

 

This is strange. I said in last week's post that Australia doesn't have many lighthouses, yet this week I have another lighthouse from Australia (last week's lighthouse was also in Australia). 

I have different strange ways of finding lighthouses to feature, and some of them are random searches. That's what this one was. I searched on the phrase "boxy lighthouse". That was interpreted as square lighthouse, and this one popped up. It is indeed square (actually, cubical to be precise).

This is where it is, on Kangaroo Island near Adelaide. 

National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia calls it a lightstation, so that's what I called it in the title. 

Google Search succintly tells me this:

"The Cape Borda lighthouse was built in 1858, and is the third oldest remaining in South Australia. It's also the only square stone lighthouse in South Australia and only one three lighthouses in Australia to retain a Deville lantern room."

So let's go see what the Lighthouse Directory has on it. By the way, Kangaroo Island actually has six lighthouses.

"1858. Active; focal plane 155 m (510 ft); four white flashes, separated by 2.5 s, every 20 s. 10 m (33 ft) square cylindrical stone tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. Rare 14-sided Deville lantern room. The original fog signal cannon, restored in 1999, is fired every day at 12:30. The principal keeper's house and relief keeper's cottage, previously available for overnight accommodations, were closed due to the bushfires of 2019-20. The former stable and storage building now houses the Cape Borda Heritage Museum. ... This lighthouse, South Australia's third oldest, is the traditional landfall light for Adelaide, marking the southern entrance to Investigator Strait and Gulf St. Vincent. Located at the northwestern point of Kangaroo Island."

I'm going to have to find a picture of that lantern room.  Below are a couple more websites for this one.

Cape Borda Lighthouse (Lighthouses of Australia Inc.)

Cape Borda Lightstation - Flinders Chase National Park (Kangaroo Island)

Now, about the lantern room. They don't let people up where the light is (though there is one picture showing the lantern/light). But -- the lantern room has 14 windows, so it's visible in the pictures where you can get a good view of the light. So take a look. 

You didn't think I'd forget the cannon, did you?

Just a little about the Olympic men's 1500 freestyle

 

I haven't said much about the recent Paris Olympics, and there was quite a bit to say. But I finally got around to saying a little bit about the men's 1500 meter freestyle, which American Bobby Finke won, setting a new world record in the process.

It was a little unexpected, a lot amazing, and totally heroic. Finke took the lead on the first 100 and never gave it up, which is not his style.  And he said that he was in a great deal of hurt being chased, but he maintained the furious pace he started on, and then there was this (from the Washington Post article about the race):

"Somehow, after 29 lengths of the pool, Finke dropped an ungodly split of 26.27 on the final 50 meters. For context, that was faster than the closing 50 of any of the eight swimmers in the final of the men’s 200 free a week earlier, a far shorter race that is more akin to a sprint than a test of endurance. It was borderline superhuman."

So, in truth, he deserved it.

The sheer number

 

While reading an article about a British company that recycles tents abandoned at music festivals, I discovered the sheer numbers of how many tents are abandoned.

That's pretty amazing -- and disgusting.

Abandoned festival tents upcycled into clothes

Here's the number:

"The Association of Independent Festivals estimated that 250,000 tents are left at music festivals each summer, with most of them being sent straight to landfill."

250,000? 

My first thought was that there are a lot of deserving kid's groups, camping groups, college clubs, and other types of organizations that could use those tents. My second thought was that these barely-used tents could be distributed to make better conditions for homeless people, at least temporarily.  My third thought was that there must be a lot of stores selling tents in Britain -- or a lot of Amazon deliveries.

In any case, the company, Retribe, makes clothing out of a few of the recovered tents. But not many of them.

There has to be a better way (and the article mentions that one company is going to try and rent tents to reduce the number of the abandoned ones). 

And I do hope there's a better way, because this is ridiculous:

Updates on the Sycamore Gap tree

 

Just less than a year ago, the Sycamore Gap tree in Hadrian's Wall in England was cut down by vandals. There are worse words that I could use for them, but I'll stick with that. After it was cut down, the tree was taken away, cut up, and the wood will be used to make a monument to what was there.

But also, seeds from the tree were recovered, and they are sprouting. That's good news, part One.

And the good news part Two is that there are actual sprouts on the stump of the original tree. There are some longer videos available about that, but I'll link to a short one on The Weather Channel.

Felled Sycamore Gap Tree Sprouts New Growth

It will obviously be a long time before there's a full-size tree there again. But at least both humans and nature are trying to bring it back.

Well, I'd like to go see all 10

 

I knew most of these existed, but not all of them. 

I am, in all likelihood, not going to visit any of them in person (I've been close to the Bonneville Salt Flats, but didn't actually see them up close and personal), though I'd like to. I would think that there's an outside chance I might see the Giant's Causeway, but I'd rather go to Iceland than Ireland, if I had the chance to choose. 

But I'd really like to see the Lençóis Maranhenses of Brazil.

One cinematic note:  Mount Thor (also known as and perhaps more correctly known as Thor Peak) is featured here, but the one that James Bond para-skied off of at the beginning of The Spy Who Loved Me was Mount Asgard, about 10 miles north of it. That would be a heck of an eco-adventure trip, but I have heard tell that the mosquitoes up there are legendarily awful. 

10 Natural Wonders That Don't Seem Real

The Andes are losing their glaciers

 

This shouldn't be news, because the world is getting warmer due primarily to human emissions of greenhouse gases. Effects of this are everywhere, but one of the most obvious, as well as sad, disheartening, and worrisome, is the melting of glacial ice. This isn't just for the snow for show, as in beautiful and unique scenery -- this also has consequences of water resources for millions of people.

Though for a few weeks I haven't battled with climate change skeptics and deniers on Twitter (hard for me to call it X), I'm going to return. It's hard for these chaps to deny that glaciers are melting, but they both make up reasons for that happening that reduce the involvement of humanity, while at the same time claiming it really isn't important.

Wrong on both counts, but they specialize in being wrong.

So, moving forward, here are the results of a new study, analyzing Andean glaciers (that's the mountain range in western South America, if you're not sure), as many of them are tropical, meaning between the Tropics of Cancer (about 23 degrees North) and Capricorn (23 degrees South). That means they are icy where Earth is warm, and thus they are rare. And also, they are prone to the effects of warming at altitude, where they are. All of which means they're melting.

And the study shows that they're melting more than they have for a long time.

Tropical Glaciers in the Andes Are the Smallest They’ve Been in 11,700 Years
Four different glaciers along the Andes range no longer have hospitable conditions.

"After studying rare chemicals called beryllium-10 and carbon-14 in bedrock—like the ones in the samples Mateo collected—researchers found that these bedrock locations in the Andes had never been without glacier cover for at least 11,700 years. As such, these tropical glaciers are now smaller than they’ve ever been since the dawn of human civilization."

Slowly disappearing

 

This could be crazy

 

I don't know about you, but I had to read (and write at least one paper about) the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot. 

It wasn't easy to write a paper about, because frankly, I didn't understand it. I'm not actually sure that the play is meant to be understood. 

Here's a review from 1956. I don't think much has changed about it since then.

Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot'

The reason I'm bringing this up is that Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, who starred together in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (and maybe a sequel? I don't want to search to find out) are going to star in a re-staging of the play on Broadway.

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter to Star in ‘Waiting for Godot’ on Broadway

" In “Godot,” Reeves will play Estragon and Winter will play Vladimir, who banter and bicker while waiting for a mysterious figure who never arrives. “Those characters take solace in their companionship as they stumble toward the void,” Lloyd said, adding, “that’s going to be the central thesis of the production, with Keanu and Alex’s own friendship.” "

It could definitely be interesting, even with aspects of crazy, even if you don't understand it, which I'm pretty sure you won't.  Go get your tickets. 

Promo image:

Protect the ephemeral

 

Interesting article here in the American Geophysical Union's Eos journal about the remarkable importance of ephemeral (which is to say, they don't flow all year) streams to the nation's water supply. The Supreme Court of the United States should take note, but I doubt they will.

More Than Half of Contiguous U.S. River Water Comes from Ephemeral Streams

The finding has potential implications for water regulations, which currently do not cover these seasonal streams.

"In 2023, the Supreme Court revisited the matter in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, this time removing the “significant nexus” language and narrowing the law’s scope to just relatively permanent bodies of water such as rivers and lakes, as well as those with a continuous surface connection to them. That means that ephemeral streams, which are not, by definition, “relatively permanent,” don’t count.

[Yale hydrologist, study lead author] Brinkerhoff argued the new research shows we may need that more expansive definition, however. With half the water in rivers coming from ephemeral steams, significant amounts of pollution resulting from underregulation could come with it."

Yes, of course. Something you would think the SCOTUS would consider.

But not this SCOTUS.

"Perennial, intermittent and ephemeral streams/rivers. In perennial and intermittent streams/rivers, ground water contributes consistently to the adjacent vegetation (illustration by G. Zaimes; based on Baker, 2002). In ephemeral streams/rivers ground water does not contribute to adjacent vegetation. Water for the adjacent vegetation originates from excess local rainfall or snowmelt events. The blue line represents the top surface of the ground water level (water table) while the light blue dots represents soils saturated with water."

From: "Understanding Arizona's Riparian Areas" by George Nick Zaimes, Mary Nichols, Douglas Green, and Michael Crimmins.

Lighthouse of the Week, August 18-24, 2024: Casuarina Point Lighthouse, Australia

 

When I first saw pictures of this lighthouse, I could not believe that I had not featured it as a Lighthouse of the Week before. That's because a) it's really unique and distinctive, and b) Australia doesn't have that many lighthouses despite having a very large coastline, given that it's surrounded by water and all. 

So, this post will be about the Casuarina Point lighthouse. It's located on the western coast of Australia, in Bunbury, south of Perth. That means that it's located here. I included Perth on the map for visual navigation. If you zoom in you can see that it's located in a geographically interesting area. 

Let's get the lowdown on this Down Under light from the Lighthouse Directory.

"1970 (station established 1870). Active; focal plane 43 m (142 ft); three white flashes, separated by 2.4 s, every 15 s. 25 m (82 ft) round cylindrical tower with lantern and gallery, painted in a black and white checkerboard pattern; base is black. The height was increased by 10 m (33 ft) in 1971 by adding a new section above the base. ... The first Bunbury lighthouse, a 3 m (10 ft) wood tower, was built on Marlston Hill about 365 m (400 yd) east northeast of the present site. It was replaced in 1901 by a temporary skeletal tower, and then in 1903 by a 9 m (30 ft) cast iron tower ... In 1959 the cast iron tower was raised in height by 6 m (20 ft) by replacing the lantern with a cylindrical extension and a new lantern. The 1959 lantern and the added section were incorporated into the present light when it was built in 1970. The rest of the 1903 lighthouse was demolished"

More websites:

Casuarina Point Lighthouse (Lighthouses of Australia)

Bunbury Lighthouse (Tourism Western Australia)

Now for some pictures. Did I mention it's painted like a checkerboard? THAT'S why I'm surprised I never noticed it before.

Seems classic, but it was contemporary

 

Perhaps like me, you thought that the Italian dessert tiramisu (if you thought about tiramisu at all) was a classic Italian dessert that had existed for hundreds of years, or at least since humans started brewing coffee.

WRONG.

I found out the basic history of tiramisu when I read the story about the passing of the Italian chef who created it.

Tiramisu is a ubiquitous dessert. We have this Italian chef to thank.
Roberto Linguanotto, who died Sunday, is credited with creating the popular coffee-flavored dessert in the 1970s.

"Linguanotto says he accidentally dropped mascarpone in a bowl of eggs and sugar, liked the taste, and the pair worked from there, adding coffee and ladyfingers. They added the dessert to Le Beccherie’s menu in 1972. From there, it spread across Italy and, eventually, the world."

He might not actually have been the creator, though. Read the story, see what you think, and enjoy a slice of tiramisu, too, while you ponder.'

Let's revisit the childless cat ladies

 

From the Washington Post's Catherine Rampell:

The real reason Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment is so outrageous
The Republican nominee for vice president says Democrats are ‘anti-child.’ Please.

Quoting liberally:

"[Vice Presidential candidate Just Duncy] Vance, who sometimes supports tax breaks for parents, claimed on Fox News that Harris has called for “an end to the child tax credit.” This is an outright fabrication. Harris has advocated for expanding the program, and she has highlighted its poverty-reducing potential all over the country.

Meanwhile, Republicans’ draconian positions on abortion have, perhaps paradoxically, also made it more difficult for Americans to expand their families when they wish to do so, even when they don’t need IVF or other assisted-fertility treatments.

That’s because obstetricians, fearful of legal liability if they provide the emergency reproductive care their patients might need, have been fleeing red states. As a result, some hospitals have shut down their obstetrics wings entirely. This has made prenatal care and delivery more complicated and more dangerous. Already, states’ antiabortion laws have jeopardized the lives and future fertility of women who have been denied care for ectopic pregnancies and other complications.

At the federal level, Republican lawmakers have also spent much of the past year trying to cut funding for WIC, the long-standing federal program that provides food support to poor pregnant women, new moms, infants and toddlers. In other words, since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, Republicans have literally schemed to take food away from hungry babies."

So let's do this again. 

Nikki, let's hope it doesn't come to that

 

I excerpted this from the Washington Post, and as the Democratic National Convention gets underway, it's worth thinking about, especially undecided voters who like living in a democracy.

Haley explains her support for Trump despite her past criticisms

Here's the troublesome quote from the interview with Jake Tapper:

"Tapper also asked Haley about saying earlier that she did not know if Trump would follow the Constitution if elected to a second term. Haley replied: “I hope that he does.”

Anyone with actual integrity would state flat-out that Trump isn't worth the risk if you have any doubts about his allegiance to the Constitution. 

Right, Nikki?

Cartoonist Michael Ramirez summed it up nicely. 

Real vintage champagne

 

Underwater archaeologists / shipwreck hunters found a ship in the Baltic Sea. It's not a really old ship (as might be possible in the land of the Vikings), but it had something on board that would make looters and plunderers really happy.

That would be about 100 bottles of unopened champagne.

Now, it's not clear or obvious if the champagne is drinkable; but they may go back to find out.

Divers discover 19th-century shipwreck laden with 100 champagne bottles

"Factors such as the integrity of the cork and storage conditions underwater could influence the state of the champagne, Bester said.

How well a wine ages “largely depends on the quality of the wine in the first place,” Bester said. “If these wines were top-quality vintage champagne, then the chances are higher that some might survive.”

Bottles on the bottom

Kate's bag

 

OK, so I saw actress Kate Beckinsale on TV at Wimbledon, looking stylish, and sitting with Hugh Jackman. The Daily Mail covered that. 

Former co-stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale cuddle and whisper into each other's ears as they are reunited at Wimbledon

But what they didn't cover very well, which I got a better look at on TV, was Kate's handbag/purse, which very successfully imitates a black teapot. 

So I found it.  

Dark Delights Crossbody Bag

So take a closer look. It has skulls on it. Was Kate perhaps subtly referencing her starring role as Selene in the Underworld series of movies, or perhaps, knowing that she would be meeting up with Hugh, making a statement about the movie Van Helsing, in which they starred together? 

I don't know, and never will.  But it's a great bag. 

And since we're on the subject, here's Selene.

A place to give your donations

 

Quick plug here for The Seneca Project.

Send your money.
And vote for what matters -- freedom.

Boom is still moving forward

 

I'm still waiting for my ride on the supersonic jetplane. But it might be possible sooner than thought possible.

Boom Supersonic shares progress on Overture airliner and Symphony engine

"“Following XB-1’s successful test flight, we’re accelerating. Overture features an all-new flight deck, incorporating extensive pilot feedback, resulting in a flying experience that is both innovative and instantly familiar. Our Symphony engine has quickly progressed through design into hardware rig testing, and with a fully operational engine core on track for next year, our rapid development approach is pacing ahead of schedule,” Scholl added."

Let's fly away

Just before the Democratic national convention

 

The Democratic National Convention starts Monday (two days from now as this is written) in Chicago, and Kamala Harris is likely to be the nominee for President of the United States.

This is what was happening about a month ago.

Biden flips the script — and Republicans forget their lines
It’s a disoriented GOP that must ask: What now?

"Democrats of all varieties — progressives and centrists, party veterans and insurgents, Black, White, Latino and Asian American — have rallied around Vice President Harris, Biden’s choice to succeed him. Nobody came forward to oppose her (except perhaps Sen. Joe Manchin, who isn’t even a Democrat, and gadfly Marianne Williamson). Assuming that overwhelming embrace continues, Democrats will be nominating the vigorous, 59-year-old vice president to run against the erratic, 78-year-old Trump, the oldest major-party nominee in history."

And it shows.

Are we tired of Leonardo DiCaprio's young girlfriends yet?

 

As is well-known, actor Leonardo DiCaprio dates 'em young.  And he's got a remarkable record of dating young, attractive women. I won't try to list them all, it would take too long.

Are we tired of this pattern? Well, Leo's not, and the tabloid press keeps bringing them to our attention. So I guess we have to live with it.

Currently he's in a relationship with a 26(!)-year-old Italian long-legged lovely named Vittoria Ceretti. I wouldn't expect the Daily Mail not to cover her when she's on the beach with a friend, and they didn't disappoint me.  While Vittoria is the featured paparazzi attraction, her friend has some photographically attractive assets as well.

Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti flaunts her model figure in a tiny pink bikini as she cools off with a dip in the sea during Italian holiday

See what I mean below.

Lighthouse of the Week, August 11-17, 2024: Farol de Alfanzina, Portugal

 

It has been awhile since I posted anything here (on the blog), but I still have room in this week for the regularly-scheduled Lighthouse of the Week.  This one popped up on Bing, and it's in a great setting on the coast of Portugal. 

It's a farol (Portuguese for lighthouse) and this is the Farol de Alfanzina, which is so far south it's on the southern coast of Portugal and not the western coast (Portugal doesn't have an eastern coast, of course). The southern coast of Portugal is only about 140 km, less than 90 miles, long.  The Farol de Alfanzina is about in the middle between the western end and the Spanish border, which would put it here.

The Lighthouse Directory has this to say about it:

"1920. Active; focal plane 56 m (184 ft); two white flashes every 15 s. 23 m (75 ft) square masonry tower with lantern and gallery, attached to the front of a 1-story keeper's complex. 3rd order Fresnel lens in use. The faces of the tower are covered with white tiles; lantern painted red. ... Located on a rocky promontory off the N530 highway about 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Lagoa."

Another website:

Farol de Alfanzina (World of Lighthouses)

Pictures are below.

A new record? Not sure yet

 

This Daily Mail article describes the discovery of a message in a bottle that might (emphasis on might) be the oldest message in a bottle ever found.

Woman discovers world's oldest message in a bottle from 1876 while walking along Jersey Shore - complete with fascinating handwritten message

The current record holder (confirmed) was found in Australia and was 132 years old. This one could be 10 years older.

Here's the bottle and the message. The finder has done research establishing how old it might be; I'm not sure what steps would be taken next to certify the record.

This needs to get more traction

 

Maybe I'll put this on Twitter soon and see if it catches on.

So what ties them together? GUNS

 

Looking back at the attempt to shoot President Trump by a shooter with no apparent political motivation, and the Las Vegas shooting (which killed 60 and wounded numerous), also with no clear motive, the question is, what links them; what do they have in common?

Quick answer:  GUNS.

The attempted assassin of Trump owned a gun (or borrowed it from his father), and was in a gun club and practiced shooting. The Las Vegas mass shooter had an arsenal in his hotel room.

In this country, guns that can kill and wound a lot of people fast are readily available and the culture is fascinated with them. Even I'm fascinated by movies with guns (one of my favorite movie endings is in The Girl in the Spider's Web, which features several deaths by gunshot).

So if you have a gun, or guns, preferably the mass death kind, and you're disaffected, or depressed, or in debt, apparently you become tempted to see what they can do, and what you can do with them.

And if you look at even more mass shootings that didn't have a clear motive, many carried out by people with some form of mental illness or disturbance, the same connection is apparent. For some people, when anger or boredom or fear or dissatisfaction kick in, having a gun allows these emotions to have a dangerous form of expression.

That's why common-sense gun control measures are vital. Look at what the disgusting Supreme Court did. They reinstated bump stocks that allowed the Las Vegas shooter to turn his hotel room into a machine gun nest. So the only vote that makes any sense this November is Harris and Walz, for lots of reasons, but one of them is common-sense gun control.

Lack of motive in Trump attack frustrates public, but fits a pattern

"Barring a breakthrough in the investigation, Crooks appears poised to join a string of high-profile attackers with no discernible ideological driver, or with influences from a mixed bag of beliefs. That outcome is frustrating for a nation struggling to make sense of the event, analysts say, but it fits into a pattern of bloody episodes that defy categorization along a traditional left-right spectrum."

Not your average duck rifle

Lighthouse of the Week, August 4-10, 2024: Head Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada

 

After a brief foray into Spain, I'm returning to the numerous lighthouses that are in Canada southwest (mostly south) of Saint John, Canada, in the province of New Brunswick; just over the border with Maine (USA).

The lighthouse (or light station, as the map shows it) this week is Head Harbour, which the Lighthouse Directory says is one of Canada's most well-known and oft-photographed lighthouses. Which should mean that finding pictures of it won't be difficult.  

First, though, let's locate it on the map.

Then let's get the basics from the Lighthouse Directory:

"1829. Active; focal plane 17.5 m (58 ft); continuous red light. 15.5 m (51 ft) octagonal pyramidal wood tower with lantern and gallery, connected to a keeper's house by a covered walkway. Fog signal building (1914) and other light station buildings. Fog horn (4 s blast every 60 s). Lighthouse painted white with one red vertical stripe and one red horizontal band forming the pattern of St. George's Cross, the symbol of England. ... This is New Brunswick's oldest lighthouse, one of Canada's best known and most photographed lighthouses, and one of the few light stations in the province that has all its original structures. The Friends of Head Harbour Lightstation, founded in 2000, are working to improve access and restore the buildings. In 2006 the Friends painted the entire light station. ... Located on a rocky islet off the northernmost point of Campobello Island, which is accessible by bridge from Lubec, Maine."

Websites:

Head Harbour (East Quoddy), New Brunswick (Lighthouse Friends)

Head Harbour Light Station (Canada's Historic Places)

And then ... pictures! But first, a video:

So where did it come from?

 

It turns out that not all the red spots spotted on Jupiter were the Great Red Spot, probably.

Here's an interesting paper about that.

The Origin of Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Plain Language Paper Summary:

"Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) is probably the best known atmospheric feature and a popular icon among solar system objects. Its large oval shape, contrasted red color and longevity, have made it an easily visible target for small telescopes. From historical measurements of size and motions, we show that most likely the current GRS was first reported in 1831 and is not the Permanent Spot observed by G. D. Cassini and others between 1665 and 1713. Numerical models show that the GRS genesis could have taken place from an elongated and shallow, low speed circulation cell, produced in the meridionally sheared flow."

So, let's hope it persists awhile longer. 

I shall not say "Out out damned spot!" anon.

The Great Red Spot, imaged by Juno

Like grains of sand through the hourglass

 

This post is about sand, or actually, the lack thereof, in certain places where sand is expected.

The beaches of the future are going to surprise us

"Beaches will only require more nourishment as worsening storms wash them away, sea level rise makes it harder to keep sand in place, excessive groundwater extraction causes land to sink and the rivers that once deposited sand on the coast dry up. Already beaches near San Diego and San Clemente, Calif., are shrinking by an average of 4.75 feet per year. Without them, nothing separates the fury of the ocean from the homes, resorts and other buildings that dot the shore.

Even finding sand has grown more difficult; many offshore reserves are already depleted, forcing dredging vessels to venture further offshore to find sand and dig it up from the ocean floor. In some places sand has to be transported by the truckload from inland at considerable extra cost — or even purchased from other countries. The Jewel Grande resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, for example, imported sand all the way from the Bahamas to build up its beach before it opened for business in 2017."

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
And more sand too, while he's at it.

Because time and tide wait for no man, and while we're waiting, the beaches are eroding.

If the superheated ash cloud doesn't kill you ...

 

... the earthquakes will.

At least, if it's a really big bad eruption, like what happened when Vesuvius went berserk in 79 AD and sent its volcanic wrath over Pompeii and Herculaneum.  Sure, lots and lots of unfortunate Romans were either burned and suffocated or entombed in a pyroclastic flow; BUT if that wasn't the cause of their demise, it turns out the falling walls and collapsing roofs from earthquakes associated with the massive cataclysm also scored some fatalities.

That's what the article is about.

Skeletons discovered at Pompeii show earthquake added to disaster

"Pliny the Younger lived through the eruption as a teenager in Misenum, about 18 miles west of Vesuvius, and described earthquakes the night after the eruption began as “so intense that everything seemed not only to be shaken but overturning.” He also recorded a quake at daybreak — which shook the ground so much that chariots that had been wedged in place with stones were jarred out of place.

But scientists had not discovered direct evidence of earthquakes until they found walls that failed in ways inconsistent with volcanic explanations. Then, they found the skeletons. The first individual’s body was riddled with fractures to the ribs, skull and pelvis. The second individual’s legs were buried under a wall fragment, but he was also huddled on his left side with a hand protecting his head. Scientists think he could have been trying to shield himself.

The new find adds detail to the horror that unfolded early morning on the second day of the eruption, after most of the magma had erupted. A caldera formed when part of the volcano collapsed, causing a dangerous second phase of the eruption and an earthquake, Cioni said. The new evidence raises the possibility that earthquakes could have added to the hazard, as the ground shaking stressed roofs laden with pumice rocks."

It was not a good day.

Lighthouse of the Week, July 28 - August 3, 2024: Górliz Light, Spain

 

While featuring the Cape Higuer lighthouse last weekend, I noticed and noted a picture of this new (and it is new) lighthouse on the same Lighthouse Directory page.  So I decided to feature that one this week.

So this is also on the Basque coast, and it's located here. Faro de Gorliz, also known as Gorlizko Itsasargia

Now let's learn about it:

"1991. Active; focal plane 165 m (541 ft); three white flashes, in a 1+2 pattern, every 12 s. 21 m (69 ft) 10-sided cylindrical concrete tower with lantern but no gallery; 3rd order Fresnel lens. Tower is white concrete; lantern painted black. ... This modern lighthouse, the first in its location, marks a prominent cape on the northeastern approach to Bilbao. It was built as part of the Plan de Señales Marítimas 1985-89, a national plan to upgrade coastal aids to navigation."

Cool, right? The pictures are even cooler.