The Blind Shall Not See (via Tulare County Atheists) September 9, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in Personal.Tags: broken-dam, god, Humor
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Shuttle Geek – Discovery Rolls Out For Final Mission September 9, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in commentary, geek.Tags: international space station, NASA, Space Shuttle, sts 133, Discovery
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The Space Shuttle Discovery is moved into the Vertical Assembly Building today, in preparation for the next Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. This may well be the last flight of Discovery. STS 133 While there is a new system on the drawing boards, it will be years before the United States has a manned spacecraft after the shuttles are retired. In the meantime, we will rent space on Russian rockets to get our astronauts into space.
Asteroid Geek – In Space, Nobody Can Hear You Coming September 8, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in commentary, geek.Tags: 2010 RX30, asteroid near miss, remote telescope, space
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But they can sometimes see you…
On Wednesday, September 8, 2010, asteroid 2010 RX30 sailed past Earth at a mere 154,600 miles away. That’s just over half the distance to the Moon!
The images above were taken at the Mayhill, New Mexico Observatory’s 0.25 meter telescope at 12:45 am by Italian amateur astronomers using the Global Remote Astronomy Telescope Network. Details at Wired Astronomy.
Whoosh! I thought I felt something brush past me this morning!
(well, drat. The image is supposed to be an animated gif, but for some reason it’s not animating! Go to the Wired Astronomy page to see the asteroid actually moving across the image)
UPDATE: 9/09/2010 1330 hrs PT
A couple of people have asked about the size of the asteroid, so after a bit of Google work, the results are in. 2010 RX30 is 10 to 20 meters across (32 to 65 feet). In comparison, the rock that hit Arizona 50,000 years ago was about 45 meters (150 feet) across.
2010 RF12, an asteroid 6-14 meters (19 to 45 feet) across slipped past us later the same day (5:12 pm EDT) at a mere 49,000 miles. The Goa’uld may be practicing!
Astronomy Geek – Firing Lasers At The Stars September 7, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in commentary, geek.Tags: black holes, lasers, The Very Large Telescope, Chile, Milky Way Galaxy
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In an attempt to destroy the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, scientists at The Very Large Telescope in Chile fire a laser at the monster eating the galaxy! Ok, not really. The laser is actually used to compensate for atmospheric instability, allowing the telescope to adjust for the clearest image possible.
Some geek about the joke… even if they were firing at the black hole, the laser light would just get sucked in like everything else. Plus, it would take about 35,000 years for the beam to get there, assuming it didn’t spread out to nothingness well before it got anywhere near the targeted singularity.
Black holes are weird, and science is cool!
Read the Bad Astronomy blog about it all here.
Oakland Threw Me A Birthday Party! September 6, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in Gay, Humor, Personal, Pictures, commentary, video.Tags: Reeves, Oakland Pride, Chaka Khan
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How’s this for a birthday bash? Oakland’s gay community got together and decided to throw a big street party in honor of my birthday!
Such thoughtful folks! And so many adorable men! Even Chaka Khan was there!
Sorry about the audio, iPhones just can’t handle loud bass. Or just plain loud, for that matter.
Here are some random pictures from the day…
It’s That Time Of Year Again September 5, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in Personal.Tags: 53, birthday
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That ain’t even right!
Summer Creeps Back September 4, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in Personal, commentary.Tags: summer in Visalia
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Yesterday’s heat. Temps are creeping up again. But it’s still a “dry” heat.
Gods of the Stadium September 9, 2010
Posted by Jim Reeves in Gay, Pictures, commentary.Tags: rugby, François Rousseau, Dieux du Stade
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Ok. It’s official. My favorite sport is rugby. Don’t know a thing about it, and don’t care that I don’t.
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