Friday, April 28, 2017

sTellar ePistle

Famous First Words: When he was nearly thirteen... Harper Lee To Kill A Mockingbird
Happy Spring Astronomy Week (April 24-28, er...half-week). I was up all night wondering where the sun had gone … then it dawned on me. / This Year's Time Travel Seminar will be held last Tuesday.
Favorite March for Science Signs: Can we try harnessing the power of Lincoln rolling in his grave?
..........I don't know what I want to say.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Moon Pie
Peace is always beautiful. --Walt Whitman
It is a rainy Friday morning. The light of the rising sun is muted by a thick layer of gray. Everything outside is wet and fragrant – damp pavement, muddy soil, dripping foliage. Puck refuses to stay with me even though nothing is falling at the moment. He barks at the world in general and stands by the door to return inside and I let him in. I travel to the backyard by myself for a morning meditation. Birdsong is not so varied this morning and seems at a distance perhaps protected by the little wood across the street. Even the local sparrow house is quiet. But a woodpecker practices percussion somewhere east. There is a light breeze that stirs the aromas and mixes them with drops of water that roll off the ends of the very green leaves of late April. It is as awaking and arousing a beverage as the coffee that waits for me inside. Two school buses pull up stop, absorb students, and move on. Three drops plop onto my face and spread a little cold chill. So I move inside. Puck is asleep on the closet floor and the decaf is filling the room with another sweet smell. Still, I doctor it up with real cream and artificial sugar. It tastes so fine going down. And now, here you are, what a morning.
Hope your weekend reaches the sky, ePistliers.
Two astrophysicists are discussing their research in a bar one evening when a drunk who overhears them. He turns and says in a very worried voice, “What was that you just said?” “We were discussion stellar evolution, and I said to my colleague here that the Sun would run out of nuclear fuel and turn into a red giant star in about 5 billion years, possibly melting the Earth.” “Whew!” says the drunk, “You really had me worried. I thought you said 5 million.”
Causing Alkynes of Trouble / Read Question Think / Resist the Orange Monster / Isen Har Ikke Agenda, Den Bare Smelter (Ice has no agenda, it only melts)
..........Honey, take me through the night.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Breakdown
Trivia Questions: Billy Martin, what can we say?
^ Any idea what Billy's birth name was?
^^ What position did Billy play when he was a player?
^^^ More or less what year was Billy most valuable player in the World Series?
^^^^ What teams did Billy manage besides the Yankees?
^^^^^ How many times did Billy manage the Yankees?
Fake Library Statistic of the Week: 100% of librarian requests to add a still to the library's maker space have been rejected by management https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
Moonbeam: The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. --Harper Lee
Why didn't the Dog Star laugh at the joke? It was too Sirius. / What kind of songs do planets like to sing? Neptunes
Evidence-Based Policy not Policy-Based Evidence / Vaccinate Your Damned Kids
..........We got smilin' politicians, got songs from rich musicians.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..It Ain't Nothin' To Me
Big Hello: Halau – Khoekhoe (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa)
Week of the Week: National Tattoo Week (April 26-30) –Joe decided to get a tattoo. “I want something to really attract women. Can you put the Good Housekeeping Seal right here?”
Something to Think About of the Week:

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Constellation 8: Octopus' Garden (April 28-30, Lincoln, NE) ...We've taken our inspiration for our eighth year in the Octopus's Garden... though we're not quite sure if it's located under the sea, or in outer space... come explore with us. http://www.constellationne.net/ ~~The Constellation I went to was stellar!
There’s just one thing I can promise you about the outer space program – your tax dollar will go further.” — Wernher von Braun / ...first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might...o, wait, it's just a satellite.
Nevertheless Science Persisted! / Peace Love Science
Some Favorite Chants from the March for Science: We need a leader, not a filthy tweeter
..........The clouds are all silver and black.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Luna
^ Billy Martin was born Alfred Manuel Pesano, Jr. in Berkeley, CA.
Almanac: It is Friday, April 27, 2017. The moon was new last Wednesday and is in Gemini. The UN has declared this World Day for Safety and Health at Work. It is Biological Clock Day, Brave Hearts Day, National Teach Your Children To Save Day, and Workers Memorial Day. InMaryland it is Ratification Day (1788). Because it is the last Friday it is also Arbor Day and National Hairball Awareness Day.
Among those born on this day were Edward IV (1442), Lorenz Ott (1748), Franz Achard (1753), James Monroe (1758), Francis Baily (1774), Tobias Carel Asser (1838), Johann Backlund (1846), Sidney Toler (1874), Lionel Barrymore (Herbert Blythe, 1878), Jan Hendrik Oort (1900), Robert Anderson (1917), Harper Lee (1926), Carolyn Jones (1929), Oliver Jackson (Bops Jr, 1933), Ann Margaret (Olsson, 1941), John Oliver Creighton (1943), Jay Apt (1949), Jay Leon (1950), Paul Lockhart (1956), and Leopold Eyharts (1957).
On April twenty-eighth parliament demanded supervision of royal spending (1376), the Edict of Worms was signed (1521), mutiny broke out on the HMS Bounty (1789), French colonies freed their last slaves (1848), Dvorak's Carneval premiered (1892), the air conditioner was patented (1914), the first commerical flight acorss the Pacific took off (1937), Thor Heyerdahl in the Kon-Tiki set sail from Peru for Polynesia (1947), Charles de Gaulle resigned as president of France (1969), the last Americans were evacuated from Saigon (1975), Billy Martin was named Yankee manager for the fourth time (1985), Chernobyl had a melt down (1986), the space shuttle Discovery 12 was launched (STS 30, 1991), and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1999).
Night Sky 4/28: As twilight fades in the west, spot Aldebaran and Mars to the lower right of the crescent Moon.
This Week: Saturday, April 29 – Save the Frogs Day, Peace Rose Day, & Sense of Smell Day
Night Sky 4/29: To the left of Jupiter by 30° (about three fists at arm's length) shines the second-brightest point in the area: Arcturus, pale yellow-orange.
Sunday, April 30 – Beltane (and Walpurgis Night), Kiss of Hope Day, & National Honesty day
Night Sky 4/30: Bright Arcturus is climbing high in the east these evenings. Equally bright Capella is descending high in the northwest.
Monday, May 1 – Beltane, Global Love Day, & National Library Legislative Day
Tuesday, May 2 – National Teacher Day & Buddha Day
Night Sky 5/2: Venus is very bright in the eastern morning sky, seen high above the eastern horizon from the southern hemisphere, and lower down as seen from the north. Mars may still be visible in the western twilight.
Wednesday, May 3 – Lumpy Rug Day, Garden Meditation Day, & Public Radio Day
Night Sky 5/3: Jupiter has passed its maximum brightness this year, but still shines very prominently in the evening and early night sky.
Thursday, May 4 – Bird Day, World Password Day, & International Respect for Chickens Day
My sibling kept asking me about the orbits of planets and the amount of area swept in any given time. Finally, I asked him, “Am I my brother's Kepler?”
Evolution: Belief is optional. Participation is not. / There's no vaccine for Stupid but we are working on it
Oceans are rising, So are we / Fund Science, Not the Wall
..........So let's get to the point.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Roll Another Joint
^^ Billy played second base for Idaho Falls (Class D Pioneer League, 1946) and for the Oaks (1947) and finally for the Yankees under Stengel's management (1950).
Funniest thing I read of the Week: Earth Day Fun Fact: 3500 trombone players can provide enough electricity to sustain a city the size of Poughkeepsie, NY for more than 30 days. --Submitted by sd of ks
Moonbeam: The history of electricity yields a well-known truth—that the physicist shirking measurement only plays, different from children only in the nature of his game and the construction of his toys. --Franz Karl Achard
Late Night Snacks: The nation’s first drive-through marijuana dispensary is opening tomorrow in Colorado. Also, down the street will be the world’s most successful DUI checkpoint. --James Corden / In honor of 4/20, Ben and Jerry's introduced a new menu item that's an ice cream waffle cone taco with fudge called a "Choloco." Or as stoners put it, "You had us at ice cream . . . And then you had us at waffle and then cone and then taco!" --Jimmy Fallon / People really get into the spirit here. Here's the thing: The truth is, if you're celebrating 4/20 today, chances are you were celebrating it yesterday. And the day before that too. Between Easter and 4/20, this has been a huge week for eating candy and rolling stuff. --Jimmy Kimmel / Today is 4/20. 4/20 is that special day of the year when everyone who smokes pot continues to smoke pot. --Conan O'Brien / Trump also weighed in on tomorrow’s special election in Georgia, saying, “The super liberal Democrat in the Georgia congressioal race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!” That’s right, “congressioal.” Someone’s being tutored by Betsy DeVos. --Stephen Colbert
I want, of course, peace, grace, and beauty. How do you do that? You work for it. --Studs Terkel
Logic is All We Have! / Back off, man, I'm a Scientist / Too Many Issues, Not Enough Sign
2,4,6,8, Everybody Vaccinate! / Get Down, Get Down, Chicago is a Science Town
..........I've been wrapped up in confusion.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Zero From Outer Space
^^^ In 1953 Billy was MVP...he batted .500 with a .958 slugging percentage.
Worthless Fact of the Week: Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmen left Callao, Peru, on a balsa-wood raft named the Kon-Tiki. They hoped to prove that ancient South Americans could have sailed to Polynesia.
Weird Word of the Week: Fizgig – a type of firework that hissed rather than banged. Mentioned by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a letter of 1799. http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-fiz1.htm
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Get short-term relief from nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Drinking several glasses of Tang eases the pangs of nicotine withdrawal. The ascorbic acid raises the acid level in your urine, clearing nicotine from the body faster. http://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/tang.html
In awe, I watched the waxing moon ride across the zenith of the heavens like an ambered chariot towards the ebony void of infinite space, wherein the tethered belts of Jupiter and Mars hang forever festooned in their orbital majesty. And as I looked at all this I thought: ‘I have to put a roof over this toilet’.”
Science is like magic but real / Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a protester
Make America Think Again / We're nerds, we're wet, we're really quite upset
...........And you know you better watch your step.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Don't Do Me Like That
^^^^ Billy managed the Minnesota Twins (1962-69), the Detroit Tigers (1971-73), the Oakland As (1980-82), and the Texas Rangers (1974).
Word Shakespeare Made Up of the Week: Gust – a brief, strong rush of wind. Titus Andronicus Act V, Scene III Marcus Andronicus: ...scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts....
Amazing Thing on the Internet of the Week: Dances of Universal Peace: The Kalama –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vNpZlpcHs8 ~~Local Dances of Universal Peace will be part of the May Day Peace Gala in Lawrence (Monday, May 1, Centennial Park West Shelter, 600 Rockledge Rd.) Dances, planting a new peace pole, and awarding the 2017 Tom & Anne Moore Peace & Justice Award. 6:30pm
Puck the Brave Episode of the Week: Here's our fearless Puck mooning alternative facts in the case of the Lying Llewellin.
How does Jupiter hold up its trousers? With an asteroid belt. / The density of Saturn is so low that the whole planet would float on the water in your bath? However, you wouldn’t want to try this experiment at home as it would leave a massive ring around the tub.
There is no Planet B / Facts you don't like are still facts /
..........Roll up your window, honey.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..It's Rainin' Again
^^^^^ Martin managed the Yankees from 1975-78, 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1988. At the time of his death, Martin was preparing to manage the Yankees a sixth time for the 1990 season
Month of the Week: May is American Wetlands Month From a Save the Wetlands Rally at KU in 2013. 

Famous Kansans: Dean and Sam Winchester, demon hunters, were born in Lawrence in 1979 and 1983 respectively. They can be seen on the tv series Supernatural. https://people.rit.edu/~anw1667/140/project2/characters.html
Today's Peace of History, April 28, 1996: Sixty-one were arrested for dismantling railroad tracks leading out of the Gundremmingen nuclear power station in Bavaria, Germany.
How many absolute relativists does it take to change a light bulb? 2 – one to hold the bulb and one to rotate the universe. / Black holes are most commonly found in black socks.
The Dinosaurs didn't see it coming either! / Turn and Face the Change
..........And revel in your abandon.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..Refugee
Masthead of the Week: fRiday ePistle April 28, 2017, ePliptic ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ News to me. Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 1800 Goodell Ct. Lawrence, KS 66046
Moonbeam: I take a deep interest, as a parent and a citizen in the success of female education, and have been delighted whenever I have been, to witness the attention paid to it. --James Monroe
Cost of War:
Tax dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 4/27/17: $770,018,519,377.
Tax dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 4/20/17: $769,314,888,731.
Tax dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 4/27/17: $820,436,807,468.
Tax dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 4/20/17: $820,416,243,607.
Tax dollars spent on Daesh conflict as of 4/27/17: $14,727,477,668.
Tax dollars spent on Daesh conflict as of 4/20/17: $14,619,330,964.
Tax dollars spent on the Pentagon Slush Fund as of 4/27/17: $148,140,817,465.
Tax dollars spent on the Pentagon Slush Fund as of 4/20/17: $147,539,068,062.
Tax dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 4/27/17: $1,757,860,450,472.
Tax dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 4/20/17: $1,756,391,059,196.
Share your smile with the world. It's a symbol of friendship and peace. --Christie Brinkley
..........and by evening see him gone.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers …..High in the Morning
The Oceans are rising and so are we! / Don't Mess with Science. We have lasers.
Did you hear about the new restaurant on the moon? The food is out of the world but there's no atmosphere. / This week astrophysicists irrefutable proof that contrary to the recent executive order, Donald Trump is not the center of the universe.
Famous Last Words: Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is. --Russell Banks Continental Drift
May Peace guide your planets
And Joy steer your stars
prairie mama
christine


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