He Came Back For A Short Visit

April 14, 2011

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Yep, Space Cadet Jimmie Joe popped up for a quick visit this morning.  At 4:50 am, to be exact.

That’s when the International Space Station was visible gliding across the sky from my driveway again.  Nothing more than a bright star, moving across the heavens.  But I know what it is, and so does Space Cadet Jimmie Joe.  When the ISS makes it’s appearance, you can be sure he will, too.

Science fiction novels, movies, the Jetsons, Star Trek, Johnny Quest.  Isaac Assimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Orson Scott Card, Carl Sagan.  Jimmie Joe is from a certain time, the 60’s and 70’s.  Things sometimes looked bleak back then, but they also held potential.  The Moon.  A Space Station.  Mars.

In 50 years we’ve gone from the first human in outer space, six manned expeditions to the Moon, and now a permanent presence in an orbiting laboratory above the Earth.  In 65 years we went from the first airplane to landing men on the Moon!

Space Cadet Jimmie Joe pops in from time to time to see how things are progressing.  He’s excited about the internet, my iPhone, the laptop I’m writing this blog post on, and all the cool futuristic stuff he sees, but he’s really disappointed that the flying cars haven’t made their appearance yet.   I am too. After all, promises were made.  To both of us.

I hope Space Cadet Jimmie Joe never gets so disappointed that he stops making his visits.

I’d really miss him.

 

Display Sites Chosen For Retired Shuttle Fleet

April 12, 2011

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NASA Administrator (and former astronaut) Charles Bolden, in a ceremony at one of the Shuttle Processing Facilities, announced Tuesday the locations where the retired Space Shuttle Fleet will be displayed.

Enterprise, the first Space Shuttle, used as a test platform which never went into space, will be moved from the Smithsonian Institution‘s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, to New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Shuttle Discovery will be displayed in Enterprise’s place at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Shuttle Endeavour will be at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Shuttle Atlantis will remain at the Kennedy Space Center, on display at the Visitor’s Complex.

Retirement of the Space Shuttle Fleet leaves the United States without the capability to send people into orbit.  Any access by astronauts will be on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.  The Constellation program, which was to be our follow-up to the Shuttle has been defunded, leaving the United States hoping that successful commercial vehicles can be developed in the future.  Until such vehicles are developed, at an unknown point in the future, the United States can only send unmanned rockets into space.

A Tale of Two Leaders

April 10, 2011

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Last night I attended the annual Public Safety Communications Association Dispatcher Of The Year banquet in Fresno.  The yearly event recognizes dispatchers from area agencies, and highlights the often unsung heroes who toil behind the scenes to support deputy sheriffs, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics.

Last night’s event was started off by opening remarks from two of Fresno County’s top law enforcement officers.  Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims, and Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer spoke to the assembled dispatchers, family, officers, deputies, paramedics, firefighters, friends and supporters.  This blog is about the difference between those two presentations.

Margaret Mims, Fresno County Sheriff

Police Chief Jerry Dyer, Fresno PD

One speaker used the entire time at the podium to talk about dispatchers, the other started off talking about dispatchers, but veered off the night’s topic halfway through and instead turned to speaking about themselves and their religion. I’ve not seen the first speaker in person before, but I have had to sit through the “god talk” from the second at previous banquets. You can probably guess who’s talk I preferred.
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QueerVisalia.com undergoing upgrades!

April 8, 2011

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QueerVisalia.com is currently undergoing an upgrade, and will be up and running in it’s new incarnation soon!  The new format allows users to register (free) and upload content themselves.  This will allow for a more reader-driven blogsite, and we look forward to local input!  Check it out!

QueerVisalia.com

 

9 Million (via Queer Landia)

April 7, 2011

Jim Reeves Personal 1 Comment

Remember, 9 million who will come out and say so…
And we’ve still been around since humans have been humans. Maybe even before.

9 Million A new study by The Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law shows 3.5% of American adults are gay, lesbian, or bisexual, including 1.8% of American adults who are bisexual. From the study:  The analysis suggest that there are more than 8 million adults in the U.S. who are LGB, comprising 3.5% of the adult population.  This is split nearly evenly between lesbian/gay and bisexual individuals, 1.7% and 1.8% respectively.  There are also nearly 7 … Read More

via Queer Landia

We’re here, we’re queer, and we’ve been here forever.

April 6, 2011

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Five thousand years after he died, the first known gay caveman has emerged into the daylight.

According to archaeologists, the way he was buried suggests that he was of a different sexual persuasion.

The skeleton of the late Stone Age man, unearthed during excavations in the Czech Republic, is said to date back to between 2900 and 2500 BC.

His body was positioned in the grave like a woman, but his head was pointing in the direction reserved for men.  Items buried with him have only been seen in the graves of females.

While still only speculation, the idea fits the evidence.  Burial rituals were very important to the people of this era, and we have learned a lot about their culture from their remains, and what they chose to include in the graves.  The position of the person in society influenced the burial, and items interred with the deceased spoke to the life they lived.

This man was buried in such a way as to suggest he might have been what we today would call homosexual, or transgender.  He was buried with respect and honor, with concern for his journey to the afterlife.  He clearly was not an outcast, and was treated with the respect anyone in his village would have received.

We’re here, we’re queer, and we’ve been here forever.  It’s so simple, even the cavemen understood it.  It’s a shame so many “modern” homo sapiens don’t.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374060/Gay-caveman-5-000-year-old-male-skeleton-outed-way-buried.html#ixzz1ImWiGZSd

UPDATE:
or, maybe not… here.

Shuttle Retires At 30

April 5, 2011

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From the first flights of the Enterprise, to the final voyage of Endeavour,  it’s been a grand 30 years.  Over a hundred missions, the construction of the International Space Station, the launching and servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the tragic loss of two Orbiters and 14 astronauts,  the Space Shuttle Program has always been a part of my adult life.  It’s difficult to imagine it not being there any longer.

What’s Real, and what’s imaginary? The Internet might not help

April 2, 2011

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This is just too cool.

J.D. Reeves Snow & Lace The National Grid

March 31, 2011

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Second cousin J.D. Reeves of Oklahoma plays some original acoustic guitar.

Find his other released music at SnowandLace.com

Solar System Geek: Mercury, brought to you in living color!

March 30, 2011

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Photo Credit: NASA

Yes, actually, that is in color.  Here’s the scoop, at Bad Astronomy. (and a bigger image, too!)

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