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Scenes from Space #8

As storms seem to be in the news a lot lately, I thought this image would be appropriate. It is an image of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, as seen by Voyager 1 when it flew by Jupiter in 1979. This storm has been observed from Earth for hundreds of years, and is big enough to fit three Earths inside of it!

Posted under News by Joel on September 30, 2005 06:13 AM | Comments (0)

Lazy Afternoon

Lori and Sean were just hanging out today, and took some cute pictures. You can't see it in these pictures, but Sean is getting his third tooth! I can feel the point of it coming through his gums.

Posted under Photos by Joel on September 28, 2005 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

Scenes from Space #7

This image of the Cat's Eye Nebula was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. It's a classic planetary nebula, and shows the final phase of a Sun-like star. Astronomers think that this is what could happen to our Sun... in about 5 billion years.

Posted under News by Joel on September 23, 2005 05:54 PM | Comments (0)

Model Roller Coasters

I stumbled across this link the other day - Working Model Roller Coasters - and just had to share it with everyone. This guy build model roller coasters, and has lots of construction pictures and videos of the coasters in action on his site. Very cool!

Posted under News by Joel on September 22, 2005 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

Scenes from Space #6

I've never personally seen the Northern Lights, but I'd love to someday. The Northern Lights - also called the Aurora Borealis - are caused by the interaction of solar flares from the the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field. They look like they are really close, but they actually occur 100 kilometers or more above the Earth's surface. September has been a great month for Northern Lights, because the Sun has been particularly active lately.

Posted under News by Joel on September 16, 2005 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

Dad is Great....

He gives me the chocolate cake!

It's a week of firsts! Sean got his first piece of cake today. When I gave him his first taste of chocolate frosting, he gave me the funniest look. Like a future alchoholic must look after their first taste of booze. He made a big mess, but he had a great time. If he wasn't in love with me already, he sure is now!

by the way, did anyone catch the Bill Cosby reference?

Posted under Photos by Joel on September 12, 2005 07:17 PM | Comments (2)

Sean in the News - Good & Bad

Sean has been in the news again, for better or worse....

Posted under Projects by Joel on September 11, 2005 06:32 PM | Comments (0)

First Ice Cream Cone!

Sean got his first ice cream cone today! John, Michelle and Christian came over for lunch, and brought an ice cream cake for dessert. On top of the cake were miniature ice cream cones, complete with ice cream inside. We gave one to Sean - it was the perfect scale for him! He loved it!

Posted under Photos by Joel on September 11, 2005 06:22 PM | Comments (0)

Scenes from Space #5

Of the four major moons of Jupiter, Io is the innermost. The most interesting thing about Io is that it is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. But these aren't Earth-type lava-spewing volcanoes. Volcanoes on Io emit sulfur dioxide and molten sulfur, which is what gives Io it's amazing coloration.

Posted under News by Joel on September 10, 2005 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

Kerplunk Radio - Episode 2

I give you episode 2 of Kerplunk Radio! This episode is all ska, so bust out your zoot suit and dance like a fool! The bands featured in this episode are all indies. Right-click the "download mp3" button and choose "save-as" to save the show to your computer before listening. Here are the artists on this show (all of these artists can be found on garageband.com);

1. Starpool - It's Alright		5. No Torso - Fatal Fraud
2. The Clintons - Fan of the Bean		6. Endive - Unoriginal
3. Uptown Creepers - Sometimes		7. The Naked Citizens - Da Lingo
4. Elbowdrop - 4 Hour Cold Shower		8. The Ninjas - Robot Pirates

Posted under Projects by Joel on September 5, 2005 07:17 PM | Comments (0)

Kite #5 - Genki

My newest kite is a half-size Genki. Genkis are a high-aspect ratio kite, and fly really well in light winds. I built this one as a test, because I've got an idea for a kite of my own design that would use the Genki design as a leaping-off point. I tried it both with and without a drogue tail. I think I may have built the tail a little undersized for this kite though, as it didn't really change the flight angle at all. This kite is about 6 feet wide and 2 feet tall. The kite I am planning will probably be at least twice as big!

Posted under Projects by Joel on September 4, 2005 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

Scenes from Space #4

This image of the Helix Nebula was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This image has always freaked me out. It's like a great big scary eyeball staring at us from outer space! In actuality, its just the gaseous envelope ejected by a dying star. This image always reminds me that the universe is a beautiful place, and is always full of surprises.

Posted under News by Joel on September 2, 2005 07:05 PM | Comments (0)

Kite #4 - Rokkaku

This was my second attempt to get this kite to fly. The first time I had to really struggle to keep it in the air, and it gave me a lot of grief. This time I was more careful setting it up and getting the bridle lines and tow point adjusted correctly, and it flew beautifully. But egads - those Roks can pull! I'm going to need to upgrade to a stronger flying line. Several times a gust caught the kite, and I could hear the line humming as it got near it's breaking point. If I can learn to set this kite up reliably, this will probably be the kite most capable of lifting a camera for some aerial photos. My camera rig is almost finished, and I hope to try it out for the first time this weekend. I'm very excited to see how it goes! By the way - it's tough to get a sense of scale in these pictures, but this is actually a pretty big kite. It is about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Traditionally - in Japan - these kites are built 8 feet tall!

Posted under Projects by Joel on September 1, 2005 09:22 PM | Comments (0)