JamesSavik

The Huntsman spider was terrifying enough...

You recycled all the boxes! Don't worry little buddy- we'll get you some moar.

I have the good fortune of being friends with a delightful young couple from Florida. We'll just call them Luke & Carter. We love classic rock and seafood and being blessed by living where we do. There's really not anywhere like the Gulf Coast. Sure- it gets blown away every 40 years and we have to rebuild it but what the heck. It's worth it. We have a long on going conversation thread where we talk about life, music, art and other assorted stuff that's shiny. Here's a snip that touched me. Luke: wanna stay in love with my sorrow. Carter: Yeah, great song Me: There's a line in Lithium that goes- anything is better than being alone. Nothing could be further from the truth. Being with the wrong one is far worse than being alone. Watching someone become someone else from drinking or doing drugs. Being that guy yourself. It's a long climb back to humanity from that hole. Carter: You're back Unca James Luke: Yeah Me: Next time I see you guys Imma gonna hug you so hard

Happy birthday! There must be something good in the water of British Columbia. edit: sorry- wrong Hunter

Oh people are thinking about it really, really hard. Part of the reason the SSC in Texas (canceled) and the LHC in Switzerland were built was to do the hard physics required to make fusion happen. So far, no magic bullet. There is so much to do if we don't say it's too hard and quit.

Kitty p0rn?

Pets 360 Article The Internet loves cats. The Internet also loves hot guys. So it was only a matter of time until someone, very wisely, decided to combine both of these wonderful things, primed for mobile viewing on Instagram. At long last, there is an Instagram page devoted entirely to attractive men holding, playing with, and generally looking even cuter with kitties. It's called, fittingly, HotDudesWithKittens. The photos range from everyday guys showing off their cats to models and actors (including the likes of Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, and Blake Shelton) posing with their feline friends. The account was started by a college student, who tells Pet360, "I love cats!" adding, "I was inspired to create this account when my cat passed away." (Hey, if there's anything that's going to make you feel better, we're pretty sure this is it.) HotDudesWithKittens

First Light It is stern work, it is perilous work, to thrust your hand in the sun And pull out a spark of immortal flame to warm the hearts of men -Joyce Kilmer Cape Verde, Oregon 2019 July 04 1300 PST What had once been on old barn was completely unrecognizable. Scientific instruments of all descriptions surrounded a concrete vault called the pit. The pit contained the equipment to make the experiment work. It also protected the human participants in

Cape Verde, Oregon 2019 July 04 1300 PST What had once been on old barn was completely unrecognizable. Scientific instruments of all descriptions surrounded a concrete vault called the pit. The pit contained the equipment to make the experiment work. It also protected the human participants in the experiment with a foot of lead and six feet of hardened concrete. Once it was sealed, it could only be viewed by remote cameras in the control room above. The vapor of condensation washed over the pit as liquid nitrogen flowed through the pipes bringing the superconducting coils to their optimal temperature. Dr. Victor Keller looked at the checklist on his clipboard and gave the order, "Begin charging the containment field." Keller's assistant manning the containment control console Michael Brenner, a 16 year old junior at Cape Verde High, started the program that begin building the magnetic bottle to contain the reaction. After thirty seconds he said, "Mag field is at thirty percent and building." Bruce Fields, a writer for the small towns paper asked, "Dr. Keller, if you could do this in an old barn, why isn't someone else doing it?" Keller answered, "They don't want to. This will change the world Bruce and everyone is invested in the old world. We've had the tech to do it since the nineties. The tough part was the superconductors and I built those myself." Keller looked at his clipboard and said, "Where are we Mikie?" Brenner replied, "Sixty-two percent and building fast." Keller said, "OK Sal, start charging the laser capacitors and prepare for a full burn." The young lady at the Firestarter console began the sequence to bring the laser system to full power and answered curtly, "Charging now. Expect full power in two minutes." Brenner went down his checklist and said, "Hydrogen injection." Brenner's son Matt replied, "Injectors to standby. Ready to prime the reactor." "Lasers at full power on standby." "Containment field is at 120% and I can run it higher for you if you think we need it." Brenner said, "This is it. Begin hydrogen injection." Down in the pit a thin stream of liquid hydrogen gas began flowing past the osmium flow regulator and flashed to gas in the vacuum of the containment field. Brenner said, "Building... building ok, slow to one third. Partial pressure is nominal. Begin firing the laser." The lasers light emitting diodes flashed a stream of coherent light at exactly the right wavelength to be absorbed by the hydrogen and the temperature began rising sharply in the reaction chamber. Brenner said, "Chamber temperature is at 1000 degrees kelvin and rising fast. 1500. Hydrogen is fully ionized. 2000. 3000. We have plasma. Fusion reaction detected. Reaction is coming up, smartly. Cut injection to 5% and hold." The team watched the purple fire of the reaction in the monitors as humanity's first self sustaining hydrogen fusion reaction took hold. There was not a single word save the hum of machinery. Brenner said, "F+ 30 seconds and containment is nominal." Keller said, "It's working. Reaction yield is holding at thirty-two mega-joules per second. Call it, all stations." "Containment is nominal." "Lasers off and retracted." "Injection is off. There's enough plasma to drive the reaction for an hour." Keller said, "Remember this guys. We were here for history. Thermal transfer to heat sinks.Bruce- if this were a production reactor, we would be using that heat to drive steam turbines." "OK let it ride. The reaction should last an hour on the fuel in the containment vessel. Then we vent our plasma, write up our results and publish." And once again, the world changed because a few geeks in a garage figured out how to do what "they" said couldn't be done.

Through a Glass, Darkly General George S. Patton, Jr. Through the travail of the ages, Midst the pomp and toil of war, I have fought and strove and perished Countless times upon this star. In the form of many people In all panoplies of time Have I seen the luring vision Of the Victory Maid, sublime. I have battled for fresh mammoth, I have warred for pastures new, I have listed to the whispers When the race trek instinct grew. I have known the call to battle In each changeless changing shape From the high souled voice of conscience To the beastly lust for rape. I have sinned and I have suffered, Played the hero and the knave; Fought for belly, shame, or country, And for each have found a grave. I cannot name my battles For the visions are not clear, Yet, I see the twisted faces And I feel the rending spear. Perhaps I stabbed our Savior In His sacred helpless side. Yet, I've called His name in blessing When after times I died. In the dimness of the shadows Where we hairy heathens warred, I can taste in thought the lifeblood; We used teeth before the sword. While in later clearer vision I can sense the coppery sweat, Feel the pikes grow wet and slippery When our Phalanx, Cyrus met. Hear the rattle of the harness Where the Persian darts bounced clear, See their chariots wheel in panic From the Hoplite's leveled spear. See the goal grow monthly longer, Reaching for the walls of Tyre. Hear the crash of tons of granite, Smell the quenchless eastern fire. Still more clearly as a Roman, Can I see the Legion close, As our third rank moved in forward And the short sword found our foes. Once again I feel the anguish Of that blistering treeless plain When the Parthian showered death bolts, And our discipline was in vain. I remember all the suffering Of those arrows in my neck. Yet, I stabbed a grinning savage As I died upon my back. Once again I smell the heat sparks When my Flemish plate gave way And the lance ripped through my entrails As on Crecy's field I lay. In the windless, blinding stillness Of the glittering tropic sea I can see the bubbles rising Where we set the captives free. Midst the spume of half a tempest I have heard the bulwarks go When the crashing, point blank round shot Sent destruction to our foe. I have fought with gun and cutlass On the red and slippery deck With all Hell aflame within me And a rope around my neck. And still later as a General Have I galloped with Murat When we laughed at death and numbers Trusting in the Emperor's Star. Till at last our star faded, And we shouted to our doom Where the sunken road of Ohein Closed us in it's quivering gloom. So but now with Tanks a'clatter Have I waddled on the foe Belching death at twenty paces, By the star shell's ghastly glow. So as through a glass, and darkly The age long strife I see Where I fought in many guises, Many names, but always me. And I see not in my blindness What the objects were I wrought, But as God rules o'er our bickerings It was through His will I fought. So forever in the future, Shall I battle as of yore, Dying to be born a fighter, But to die again, once more.

I remember how cold it was at Stalingrad.

Black holes eat each other. Scientists excited by the belch.

What was it like? Story from Arkansas Times Story from PRM ___________________________________________________

For me, it's this one...

You are missing the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room... It wasn't music or fashion that defined this era for us. 1996

Cajun (or more properly Acadian) came from a completely different root language- it's sort of derivative of French.

After Bush and Obama, you think of Clinton as the good old days.

just a stiff is more like it