Driving in San Francisco

July 9, 2012

Jim Reeves Personal , , Leave a comment

Have you ever driven the streets of San Francisco?  Have you ever wished you could clear them of traffic and pedestrians, and just hammer-down and fly?

Well, Ken Block did just that.

(insert usual warnings about professional driver on a closed course…  don’t you dare try anything like this yourself!) (unless you get all the clearances, insurance, backers, etc first!)

And he’s doing it in a Focus!

Ok, a car that might have started life off as a Focus, but I wonder how much of the original is left?  Or is it really just a hot-rod with the fiberglass body of a Focus?  Whatever, it looks like fun.

 

Solo Shot First

July 4, 2012

Jim Reeves Personal , , , Leave a comment

Really, George.  Solo shot first.  We have it on video tape.

When Rocket Science Isn’t Enough

July 4, 2012

Jim Reeves Personal , , , , , , 1 Comment

A rendering from the LHC that might represent a decaying Higgs boson. (Image: CERN)

WARNING:  This is so far above both our heads, that we’ll probably get cramps in our necks trying to see it.

Scientists at The Large Hadron Collider, in Geneva, Switzerland, are announcing the discovery of what appears to be the Higgs Boson.  They’re claiming “Sigma 5” confidence, which means they’re 99.9999% sure they’ve discovered evidence of a particle that behaves exactly as predicted for the Higgs Boson.  Apparently they didn’t find the particle itself, but have detected the expected decay energy of a Higgs Boson.

I’m not even going to try to explain any of it, I’d probably just get it wrong, anyway.  Go first to this site, Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy, then to this site, The Mother Nature Network, for much better explanations than I could ever come up with.

You’ve heard of this particle before.  Sure you have.  This is “The God Particle“.  See, I knew you’d heard of it.  I don’t know if this is 42 or not, or the grand unifier, but it is a huge leap forward for particle and quantum physics.

It’s also an important indicator of something else.

More

Enterprise vs. Death Star – Star Trek/Star Wars Trailer

June 30, 2012

Jim Reeves Personal , , , 3 Comments

Perhaps the most well-done video mash-up I’ve ever seen. Engage.

Shock and Awe

June 24, 2012

Jim Reeves commentary, Gay, geek, Personal , , , , Leave a comment

My chin hurts.

It hurts because it hit the floor a few minutes ago, when my jaw dropped.

As I was logging on to WordPress today to check my “dashboard”, as they call the administration pages for the blog, I noticed something that surprised me to no end.  I clicked on the little icon that indicates administrative messages waiting to be read.  Those messages indicate when someone “liked” your blog, reblogged one of your posts, or signed up to receive email notices when a new post goes up.  I’ve got 161 followers as of this writing.  It was # 161 that gave me a sore chin.

Adam Bouska is now following my blog!  (insert Snoopy dance here. In a dignified, appropriate for a 54 year old gentleman sort of way, of course. Oh, hell, never mind dignity…  full on Snoopy dance.)

Adam is the photographer behind the NOH8 Campaign, who has taken literally tens of thousands of NOH8 photos, the ones you see on websites, Facebook profiles, Tweets, and almost anywhere you see people working against discrimination.  From everyday people like you and me, to movie stars, musicians, politicians, and simply the “stars” of our society, people line up at the frequent NOH8 Campaign photo shoots that Adam and his team do across the country.

One such open shoot is coming to Fresno on July 13, and I’m going to have to finagle a way to be there, because I have to work that night.  I’ll figure out something, though.

More

Something’s changed

June 20, 2012

Jim Reeves commentary, Gay, Personal , , , , , 2 Comments

Monday June 18th, 2012 Visalia City Hall

If anyone had told me, oh, say back when I was in high school, or even for a decade or two after that, that I would end up as some kind of “community leader”, standing at the public’s podium at the City Hall, and accepting a proclamation for that community, I’d have thought they were simply nuts.

Something’s changed.

More

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask

June 16, 2012

Jim Reeves commentary, News, Personal , , , 1 Comment

It’s weird, every now and then, how things work out.

For years, various political figures have issued proclamations honoring June as LGBT Pride Month.  Whether a Mayor of a major city, or the President of the United States, the whereas‘s and the therefore‘s have highlighted the triumphs and tragedies of the gay pride movement across the United States, and marked the month in remembrance.  Some cities do it every year, Presidents (who are Democrats) issue one annually, and other government bodies sometimes do and sometimes don’t.

This is the story of Visalia’s LGBT Pride Month proclamation.

It was all quite accidental.

More

Videos taken on the Ensenada cruise

June 14, 2012

Jim Reeves commentary, Personal , , , Leave a comment

In several of these clips, I sound like an illiterate DBO.  It’s a bit embarrassing.  My only defense is these are all spur-of-the-moment videos, and I wasn’t thinking about presentation.

You can check the entire series of videos at my YouTube channel, here.

Back home, tired, and a picture to hold you over:

June 11, 2012

Jim Reeves commentary, Personal , , , , Leave a comment

I’ll post more about the cruise, later.  Right now, I need a nap!

The Lady and the Enterprise

June 6, 2012

Jim Reeves geek, News , , , , Leave a comment

The Space Shuttle Enterprise is on it’s way to New York’s Intrepid museum by barge.  It has been lifted onto the flight deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, the retired aircraft carrier now permanently on display in New York Harbor.  The Enterprise was the first Shuttle built, and used for flight and landing tests in the late 1970’s.  It was originally planned to be retro-fitted for spaceflight, and be the second orbiter, but structural refitting to bring the Enterprise to acceptable specifications became to expensive.  The decision was made that it would be cheaper to build a new orbiter (Challenger) than to disassemble and rebuild Enterprise.  Enterprise has been on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport since 2003.

More

Older Entries Newer Entries