#182...Lazarus Long on the right to vote and elections.

From the Notebooks of Lazarus Long, by Robert A. Heinlein

"If you are part of a society that votes, then do so.   There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for...but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against.  In case of doubt, vote against.  By this rule you will rarely go wrong.

If this is too blind for your taste, consult some well-meaning fool (there is always one around) and ask his advice.  Then vote the other way.  This enables you to be a good citizen (if such is your wish) without spending the enormous amount of time on it that truly intelligent exercise of franchise requires."

#181...daddio update

my cool dad did a little more digging into the cruising possibilities...looks like free parking wasn't the only factor...and decided to pass on this one..

and...he already is sitting in sunny weather, poolside...so at least we will be able to enjoy the sunshine together after all - just not in the same countries - s'ok...will try for next time...

 

                                         

#180...on emerald people.

Okay, so Ayn, with all of her lovely complexities reminded me of this poem.  I've met, and know many emerald people, and I suspect that my friend, Ayn (et all) is one as well. 

I feel fortunate our paths have crossed so serendipidiously.... 

                                  This is an excerpt from the poem
                                         entitled Emerald People
                                    and was written by Bobbi Murrow. 

"There are emerald people,
earthbound dreamers,
as simple and complex
as nature itself.
Often they go unnoticed,
like acres of Silver Queen corn
amid the bounty of summer fields,
so ordinary to the eye,
few imagine the diversity of treasures
and turbulence within.

Emerald people are the nuturers
standing in the shadow of the noble;
The creators,
distorting or giving reality to life
according to life's need.
Unseen, like the eye of the hurricane,
but with no less strength then the hurricane itself,
they are all around you..."

#179.....hmm. i am accused..

of pretending on having thoughts other than vacation.....uh-huh. no really.  go ahead, check it out for yourself over at ayn's place.

i mean, what...just cause i comment a little here...comment a little there...add a pic here.....

hey..wait a minute...

#178.....born 2 blog?

well that, amongst other things...

#177...best movie line insult..

from Monty Pyton and the Holy Grail:

"Your mothahr vas ah hampster! en yewr fathahr smelt of elderberries!!!"

ah, those french....

(run away! run away!)

#176....on fermionic condensate, and insurance rates.

so john scalzi alerted us to this news item in a recent posting...scientists create new form of matter-

"The new matter form is called a fermionic condensate and it is the sixth known form of matter -- after gases, solids, liquids, plasma and a Bose-Einstein condensate, created only in 1995.

"What we've done is create this new exotic form of matter," Deborah Jin, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's joint lab with the University of Colorado, who led the study, told a news conference.

"It is a scientific breakthrough in providing a new type of quantum mechanical behavior," added Jin.

"It is related to a Bose-Einstein condensate," Jin said. "It's not a superconductor but it is really something in between these two that may help us in science link these two interesting behaviors.

....They cooled potassium gas to a billionth of a degree C above absolute zero or minus 459 degrees F -- which is the point at which matter stops moving. " (unless you're driving a car on it)

 

they call this new science?  hell, we've known about fermionic condensate for years in these parts - it's called black ice - try driving on it...it's a superconductor allright - just ask my insurance agent...

tsk...cooling things to that degree is a daily occurrence if you live here in the northeast..