Free The Human Beings

I Pay Homage to Fools

2026-04-01T16:44:00.004-05:00

The merry band cavorting across this album cover were actually the creators responsible for much of the psychedelic imagery of the hippie era.

Calling themselves "The Fool", they were Dutch artists and designers who were making clothing and artwork in their own far-out, freaky style when the Beatles discovered them. The Beatles became fans and wore their trippy threads and went into business with them to open the Apple Boutique. The Fool painted a groovy mural on the Apple Boutique building (which was so freaky it caused traffic accidents) and stocked it with groovy merch.

The influence of The Fool's esthetic spread to the flower power movement of the late 60's and to the artwork on countless album covers, concert posters and to fashion. Thank goodness! I love everything about the look of that era so I'm grateful to these fools for the visuals they gave the world.

In 1968, the group even recorded their own album, "The Fool". Listening to it, all I can say is, I'm grateful for the visuals they gave the world. 😉

There are so many incredible photos of the Fools and their creations. Too many to post here. But you can see more at Messy Nessy's Cabinet of Curiosities

Fools: The leader Marijke Koger in the back with her legs crossed, Yosha Leeger with her mouth open, Simon Posthuma in star cape and Barry Finch with drum thing.

Happy Equinoctial Point

2026-03-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

Well we made it to Spring. The vernal equinox gives me a chance to stop and contemplate things like math and astrophysics and stuff, like how we've been able to calculate the exact moment when the center of the Sun crosses the plane of our planet’s equator.

The fact that we are on a planet that's knocked a little askew, and that this turvy top is moving--- always blows my mind. Until I forget and have to be reminded again. I don't feel the motion of earth's 67,000 mph rotation, or sense its tilt, (which seems crazy, but that's physics for you) and the daily sunrises and sunsets are so routine I barely give the earth's hustle any credit for them. It always seems like the sun is the one doing all the work. So I forget we're spinning on a crazy cosmic tilt-o-whirl.

With the world so divided these days, it's too bad our shared astronomy doesn't bring us more together. The equinox is a great equalizer in the sense that it means the length of day and night is equal in all parts of the world!

Except it's not entirely equal. Since the earth's atmosphere bends sunlight when it comes over the horizon, we see the sun for a few minutes before it actually rises, so the day is slightly longer than the night. That's physics for you.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

A Tip for the Tame

2026-03-17T21:00:00.001-05:00

Tired of always being such a goody-goody? Need a little charge of rebellion running through your blood?

Take your recyclables to the municipal bin---at night.

The sound of glass breaking in the dark will make you feel like a badass!!

I've Been A Recluse Of Late...

2026-03-09T21:37:00.010-05:00

...but it seems I'm coming out of my hidey-hole. More like being flushed out by the extra daylight and rising temps. I've been hibernating all winter. When I'm not falling asleep under a pile of blankets I'm huddled over a jigsaw puzzle and a cup of tea. Other than the obligatory slog through my work day, I've minimized movements and eschewed activities outside the house.

But as we lurch towards spring, I find myself shedding my heavy protections, whether I want to or not. Dressing lighter, getting out more, running unnecessary errands....just to go somewhere. Visiting a local coffee shop, and enjoying the sight of people sitting outside. And in the last two days I've found myself out in the garden and -----WEEDING!! What???

It doesn't feel like a conscious choice. I don't feel so much that I am moving, as I am being moved. Even as the world is falling apart and chaos reigns, a time when I want to go fetal and pull the covers over my head, I am being pushed out of my fusty den. Life finds a way. This must be the way the monarch feels when ejected from its chrysalis, but I don't see myself turning into any butterfly. More like a moth.

Winter Storm All Up In Here

2026-01-24T11:29:00.000-06:00

It was only a matter of time before we had to pay the winter gods for all the unseasonable warmth we had over Christmas and after the new year. Now at last they are demanding a pound of our frozen flesh as payment.

As winter storm "Fern" barrels down on us I am hunkered, bunkered and battened down. I initiated my Storm Prep Sequence days ago and I am now in a state of Storm Readiness.

I share my sequence below for those who wisely adopt it:

Load up on more food than you can realistically cook or eat and more booze than you should reasonably drink during the one to two days you'll be snowed in. Fatty meats, dense starches, chocolates of all shades, wines of all hues, whiskey, rum, winter lagers....

You must do this immediately at the first whiff of a potential storm. The goal is to hit the store before the mass panic sets in. (However, I have failed to act quickly enough a few times and have been caught up in the maelstrom. When this happens at least I do get a kick out of seeing that the Hyvee chili bean shelves have been raided, since that is my go-to when snow is coming. Cold=chili.)

Do laundry because the washer is in the garage and gets really cold and we have to unhook the hoses to the washer because they freeze and if water gets in the washer drum it freezes and we've already broken two washing machines that way.

Gas car. God forbid you should have to go anywhere, but if the power goes out the Volkswagen will become an auxiliary bedroom. (I know, carbon monoxide, yada yada....)

Charge all devices and portable chargers and round up old half-burned candles and wax nubs so that if things go dark you can check the Evergy outage map and doomscroll by candlelight.

Make "butter batter" and refrigerate so you can make hot buttered rum when drinking all that wine you bought gets old.

Leave the faucets trickling all night. Then lie awake in bed feeling worried that you forgot to leave the faucet trickling but too cold to get up to double check.

Most important step of all: Put the bowl out for snow ice cream!!!

Winter Medicinals

2026-01-15T15:37:00.007-06:00

You were outside scraping ice off your car....you had to walk through the windy tundra of a parking lot to get to the grocery store or your doctor's office....you've been chattering teeth all day and you're catching a cold.....in other words, it's the dead of winter, and you're living through it. This is a time when you need pampering and comfort, not more austerity.

Which is why dry January doesn't work for me. My body needs hot toddys, and other such medicinals. like hot buttered rum and mulled wine. People also rave about the therapeutic effects of hot chocolate with Chartreuse, which I haven't had yet in my life.

Did you know that hot Dr. Pepper is also a thing? Or it was. In the late 50's people started heating Dr. Pepper and mixing it with lemon and rum to create a cocktail called the "Schuss-Boomer", which was a term related to skiing. But the drink was enjoyed by anyone who was shivering enough to cook their can of soda. I'm going to have to try it!

But right now I'm more drawn to the whole hot buttered rum thing. I'm planning to kick off this coming weekend by mixing up a batch of the "butter batter" (softened butter, brown sugar, spices) that goes into the drink, only I'll be using it to make hot buttered whisky, since I don't have any rum.

Now you can make a non-alcoholic version with apple cider, if that's your jam, but I don't think it will have the same "warm your cockles" effect of the spiked stuff. I did hear tell of a non-alcoholic spiced rum called RumISH from Denmark that is supposed to have some kick and fire. So there is that.

Sitting around in a comfy robe sipping a hot toddy feels appropriate and dare I say, health conscious. Until it's spring. Which is why I need to do it now.

2026 comes in like....

2026-01-13T14:36:00.001-06:00

A selfish brat tossing all luck and good wishes out the window. Not caring who she beans down below with that heavy horseshoe. Shamelessly littering from her posh perch as the moon looks on in maniacal glee. Welcome to 2026!

Stellar Fellars

2025-11-19T23:44:00.002-06:00

Take this press conference of NASA space nerds talking to the public about 3I Atlas and inject it into my veins. The panel included a guy who is the lead scientist for "Solar System Small Bodies in the Planetary Sciences Division". Imagine having a great job title like that. I'd be printing it on all the business cards and stationary I could.

The biggest takeaway from the event was, "Sorry, it's just a comet. No alien invasion this time." I hope folks that are disappointed by that don't miss out on the fact that it's still pretty dang cool to see a comet from outside our solar system.

The graphic below that was shared during the NASA livestream shows where we are in relation to the comet. Not even within waving distance they say, as it will still be 170 million miles away when it reaches its closest point on December 19th.

Better luck time time. (Or should I say worse luck?) The Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) only just picked this thing up in July. So who knows what else is out there, careening towards us this very minute?

Halloween Trick From Aunt Myrtle

2025-10-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

I need to get on with my jack-o-lantern carving. Just one week before Halloween. I've always found digging out the pumpkin's innards to be such a chore. But in a recent convo with my sister she was remembering how our Aunt Myrtle didn't bother with that. She just left all the seeds and goop inside, which makes the pumpkin get pretty darn nasty. Everyone on the internet warns against this. But what says "Halloween" better than the smelly, moldering rind of a rotting pumpkin? I think it's brilliant. And a lot less work. If I get started now my jack-o-lantern should be reasonably disgusting by the time the spooks come calling next Friday night. Aunt Myrtle would probably approve.

My Happy Full Moon Supermoon Birthday

2025-10-07T03:00:00.003-05:00

Today is a special day in all the universe---my birthday!! And I'm getting the coolest most cosmic present ever. A full moon!

I hate to brag but it's not everyone who gets a full moon on their birthday. And not just any full moon, but a Harvest Moon. Because after all, I'm an October babe, practically born in a pumpkin patch. And it's not just any Harvest Moon, but a Supermoon. That's when the moon is at its closest point to the earth, so it looks larger than normal. Disturbingly larger, like something is wrong. For a second you might wonder if the earth has left its orbit or the aliens have nudged the moon closer. But no, it's not aliens.

This moon is the brightest and largest moon of the year! (So far.) Because it's my birthday!

Come Hither October

2025-10-05T17:29:00.002-05:00

Or as the winos would say, "Come Over October."

Come Over October is a so-called movement wherein you're supposed to invite friends and family to "come over" and drink all your wine.

At first glance, it sounds delightfully bacchanalistic, like something dreamed up by a merry-making band of libertines or Francophiles trying to encourage joie de vivre!

Ah, but alas. A quick dip into the Googles reveals it was created by the wine industry. They have a web site and everything, and it's all very slick, with feel-good images and words like "connection", "sharing" "friendship" and "community." It has all the joie de vivre of a corporate Christmas card.

Well I say, sure come over. I can give you a pour from an opened bottle I've had sitting in the garage that I've been needing to finish off. There could be a few cork flecks floating around it. Just drink around 'em. Otherwise, BYOB!

Photo is "Triumph of Bacchus" by Rubens. (I think.)

Facts About Colors

2025-09-05T15:42:00.003-05:00

Look around. There is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. Yet what does it all mean? Below is color explained.

Black

Black is seen as a color of domination. It is also the color of licorice and tires. Black is timeless as a fashion choice, unless the style is goth, then it's a tired cliché. Black outfits are often worn by rebels and outlaws. Villians, such as Dracula, often wear black. As do priests.

White

Brides wear white because it makes the bride easy to spot in a crowd, harder for her to run away.

White reflects light and is a popular for summer wear. It is frowned on after September, because it can repel heat and make for a harder winter.

Those choosing to wear white head to toe are usually narcissists. White conveys moral superiority, which is why nuns and priests never wear all white. Because---come on. Priests are only allowed a strip of white at their collar. White is popular in decorating because it is challenging to keep clean and therefore imbues people with a sense of moral superiority. Doctors and nurses used to wear white but not as much these days. It makes them easy to spot and too hard for them to run away.

Red

Red is considered a power color. It is a misconception, as wearing red weakens the blood. Something about its place on the spectrum activates a chemical reaction. Red is often used in play equipment and classrooms for small children, which weakens their blood and makes them more docile and submissive to teachers.

Red in decor is okay as an accent, like a spatula in your kitchen or Fido's water bowl. But red furniture or walls is a sign of mental imbalance. Red cars are popular but mechanics will tell you that red cars don't last as long. No one knows why. Possibly because the chemical reaction thing.

Pink

A spin-off of red, pink is seen as fun and youthful by some, creating nausea in others. The Pepto-Bismal brand used this association when they chose a pink color for their product. Pink is seen as a more feminine fashion choice but the little-known truth is men love to wear pink. Administer truth serum to any man and you will find this is so. This is why so many men work in offices, where it's acceptable to wear a pink dress shirt.

Blue

Blue is one of the most popular colors because it is the color of the sky and the ocean and the blood in our veins. Unless you're a Vulcan. The term "blue bloods" originated in the early 1800s from the need to differentiate nobles from the Vulcan race roaming the earth at that time. People find blue tranquil and calming, unless it's country blue all over their livingroom, and then it makes them want to punch something.

Green

We all know green is reminiscent of nature. People paint things green hoping it will look more organic or pleasing. They forget that while grass is green, so is bile. People waiting to appear on TV sit in "green rooms", which originally got their name from the fact that the anxiety of performing stirs up bile. Surgeons wear green scrubs in a nod to bile.

Yellow

Yellow is a bright, cheerful color. It is the same color as the sun. And some teeth. People lose their shit more often in yellow rooms, and babies cry more. Yellow enhances concentration, unless there is a baby around. Yellow is stimulating and hopeful, unless one is working on a legal pad. Then it's mind-numbing and soul killing.

Purple

Purple is the color of royalty, but it is also the color of bruises. Unless the bruise is 5-10 days old, then it may turn yellow. The color comes from compounds in the body called bilirubin, which by the way is the yellow pigment in bile. (See the color Green.)

My Summer Freakout

2025-08-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

I wrote a thing about how moved I was by seeing the Flaming Lips live in concert last year in Kansas City, which moved me literally to Omaha and Oklahoma City a few weeks later to catch them again on the same tour. "My Summer Freakout"was published in the August issue of The Observer, which is a newsletter for Flaming Lips fans. They also included photos I took: balloons overhead at the Kansas City concert, and the Yoshimi car ornament I made for my trip OKC.

Link is below. Then scroll way way way down to get to it.

https://mailchi.mp/cae8aa09bf98/editorobserver1gmailcom-6425307?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaffRNlwqUjc_6f6l4CkdnqAwKrnuPhCrMcVSXbevD0VTWKsd0fHIgr8OpydGQ_aem_4ji-mdxJGemcjdVOxElYQw

Sister Mary Scary Mony

2025-07-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

Visions of myself as a nun. My countenance is severe, but my head garb is stylin'.

Boring, Dependable Jupiter

2025-07-17T15:17:00.005-05:00

Jupiter is like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking up stray asteroids and saving our asses from getting hit. But Jupiter is also a dangerous pinball machine sending asteroids towards the sun and potentially into our orbit. Scientists say both things are true. I just learned about this when I was reading about Atlas 3I, the shiny new interstellar object from beyond our solar system.

Atlas 3I is not expected to mess with us, but scientists only just detected it a few weeks ago and say they'll know more when it gets closest (inside the Mars orbit) on October 30th. So far they think it's possibly the oldest comet earth has seen and six miles thick, larger than the space rock that killed the dinosaurs. Its doomsday size has spurred doomsday talk, despite astronomer's reassurances, but the surprising thing is the number of people on Reddit rooting for a direct hit. As one person said, "Jupiter will catch it or deflect it. Boring, dependable Jupiter."

Other comments on Reddit:

Can someone tell him to speed up please? You were supposed to show up a while ago dude…

Oumuamua forgot its phone. Coming back.

Please don’t arrive before the weekend. Monday is fine.

Oh thank god, end this failed experiment.

C'mon killer asteroid!

Did they read our golden disk ?

Please hit us. I’m pretty much done.

If it could hit me specifically i’d be so grateful ❤️

Please let it hit us. This planet needs a restart sans humans.

Hopefully it’s finally the meteor that will end us all

C'mon, baby. I need a giant meteor impact event to get a bingo on my card. Let's go! 👏 👏

About time we ended this lab experiment gone wrong

Okay, but hurry up?

Thank fuck I was getting tired of this existence. TAKE ME NOW, ASTEROID!!

Please... reset button.

Please be the missile aliens decided to end us with 🤞🤞🤞. Tired of watching the news

Just wipe us all out

Is it possible to alter it's course? Maybe directly into the fucking Planet.

Hurtle faster

Please take the orange one

Elon's people are coming back for him!

Please hit please hit please hit please hit please hit

I'm going home baby! They've finally come back

Please oh please just end it all

Please take out earth.... Please space thing?

At this point im cheering for the aliens.

Finally, this shitshow has gone on far too long

Come on guys don't miss.

Here come the space tariffs

Please crash this godforsaken place

Hailing frequencies open

Inshallah, it will destroy this planet and end our suffering

World Refrigeration Day

2025-06-26T08:50:00.022-05:00

Everyone chill out! June 26th is World Refrigeration Day, which gives tribute to refrigeration, air-conditioning and the heat pump sector (whatever that is). This date was chosen because it's the birthday of Lord Kelvin, the man who gave us kelvins, the unit of measurement for thermodynamic temperature. (whatever that is.)

As seen in the photo above, I have always revered the wonders of heat transfer. Now refrigeration has its own day, a web page, and bills itself as "the coolest day of the year." Well sure, few things are more popular on a scorching hot day than a fridge filled with well-chilled brewskis. How convenient of Lord Kelvin to have been born in the summer. World Refrigeration Day wouldn't have the same appeal if it was 20 degrees outside.

I will do my part and throw back a cold one to honor Lord Kelvin. Here he appears to be helping himself to a 19th century-era beer keg. All hail Lord Kelvin!

On a more somber note, I regret to say that there is also a World Sauntering Day, and I missed it! It was on June 19th and I'm only just now finding out about it. I'd say the day's advocates need to do a better job promoting it, but then what more can you expect from a bunch of saunterers. The point of the day is to slow down and not over-exert oneself. It was created on Mackinac Island in Michigan in 1972, as a reaction against the increased popularity of jogging!

It's Summertime

2025-06-21T14:10:00.001-05:00

This is both a fact and a Flaming Lips tune -- the perfect thing to blast out your car windows on a hot summer day. In this video Wayne explains how the song developed, taking us track by track from what they started out with ----the birds, and "this little organ thing" ----to the elements added later at Dave Fridman's studio that really gives the music its punch---- the drums, the French horns and strings, and the "crazy delayed bass."

I love to crank that bass up and let it reverberate as I drive down the streets of my suburban hood. Look outside!

Resurrected Post from 2011 ---When Life Was Busy & Nuts!

2025-06-04T22:15:00.002-05:00

This is the time of year I go crazy. The end of school year stuff is completely maddening. How will I keep track of it all? There are meetings, concerts, events, forms to turn in, payments due. Foodstuffs to bring. A costume to make. And somewhere in there the kids' birthdays. I am writing down all the stuff I have to remember. So this is a very boring blog post. But this is my life right now:

Tonight:
Meeting of Committee for planning 6th grade breakfast and graduation
Tomorrow:
Make sure Annabelle wears her Just Say No t-shirt to school for the Just Say No lunch.
Friday, April 22:
Take enough baked beans for 50 people to the Staff Appreciation Lunch
Chaperone the Foos Ball room at the 6th grade mixer from 7:00 to 8:30 and take two bags of chips
Turn in Girl Scout camping registration for summer camp in June with payment. NO LATE REGISTRATIONS ACCEPTED!
Saturday, April 23rd:
Soccer game
Tuesday, April 26:
Sister and mom might be back in town
Shawnee Mission East Strings Festival at 7:00 pm. Have Annabelle's concert clothes clean.
Thursday, April 28:
East area Band Festival at 7:00 pm. Make sure Lilah has clean concert clothes.
Friday, April 29:
Girl Scout camping trip. Must have all camping gear ready to go.
Saturday, April 30:
soccer game
Tomahawk choir performance in the morning AND Strings R & D forum AND/OR return to
Girl Scout campground
Wednesday, May 4th:
Music concert in gym at 7:00 pm. Not sure if that's Lilah or Annabelle.
Thursday, May 5th:
Mission Valley farewell night from 5:30 to 8:00 because idiots are closing the school.
Friday, May 6th:
Tomahawk school Carnival from 5:30 to 9:00. Help with Nacho booth and help clean up after carnival.
Take baked goods for Girl Scout cakewalk at carnival.
Saturday, May 7th:
Soccer game
Monday, May 9th:
Annabelle has 6th grade Olympics. Make sure we have stuff for her sack lunch.
Wednesday, May 11th:
Shawnee Mission East Physical Night for incoming Freshman.
Thursday, May 12th:
6th grade musical at 7:00 pm. Annabelle needs costume.
At same time ---Honors and Awards event where Lilah is receiving awards, at 6:30 in middle school gym.
Saturday, May 14th:
Soccer banquet AND wedding of friend with wedding doins scheduled all day long
Sunday, May 15th
Make-up soccer game
Tuesday, May 17th:
Middle School Spring Concert at 7:00 with band, choir and strings.
Thursday, May 19th:
Tomahawk Spring Concert with band, choir and strings
Friday, May 20th:
Lilah's birthday
Wednesday, May 25th:
Annabelle's birthday
Thursday, May 26th:
Take breakfast casserole to 6th grade breakfast
Attend 6th grade breakfast and graduation
School Skate party from 4:00 to 6:00.

NOTE: I wrote this in 2011 and now that my two daughters Lilah and Annabelle are grown, it's fun to look back on the wild ride of their school years. But I never actually published this post until now. Back then I might have thought it too dull, or too complaining. More likely, I just never found the time!

We Are Hoping Aliens Can Read This

2025-06-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

It's called The Golden Record, and we shot it into space. Though it sounds and looks a bit like an ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian artifact, in fact it's an actual phonograph record that NASA launched aboard Voyager 1 in 1977, hoping it might reach extraterrestrials. You might say it was a shot in the dark, yuk yuk.

As someone who once obsessed over my own album collection, how is it I have never heard about this hot wax before? The album was created to give any passerby aliens a snapshot of life on earth and contained images and sounds such as thunder, bird sounds, crickets, tractor noises, human greetings in 55 languages and music from Beethoven, Bach, Chuck Berry and others.

Carl Sagan was in charge of the selection committee and he wanted to include the Beatles' tune "Here comes the Sun", but EMI wouldn't allow it unless they were paid exorbitant fees. Even the Beatles themselves wanted the song included, but EMI wouldn't budge. Imagine being the record company assholes who put copyright ahead of letting aliens hear the Beatles!

And that's assuming aliens could even work the thing. NASA had kindly provided a stylus with the record, and the cover has "extraterrestrial instructions." Hmmm.....so......they will know that a record is something to "play" ?.... and to play it at a rotation speed of 3.6 seconds, because it is expressed in time units of 0,70 billionths of a second, which is the time period associated with a fundamental transition of the hydrogen atom, and anybody who is anybody in the cosmos knows all about hydrogen?....what???

An explanation of the "instructions" appearing on the cover are below but also on the NASA site here. Apparently it also tells them the location of our sun and how to find us. Not everyone thinks this is a good idea, blabbing our whereabouts to potential predator space creatures. Although again, what is the risk here? Our directions consist of a "pulsar map". And there's a drawing of the hydrogen atom (again with the hydrogen ) and something having to do with its lowest states and transitioning from one state to another, which is to be used as a fundamental time scale. And there is pure uranium decaying on the cover which will provide aliens a radioactive clock....

You can read all about the Golden Record HERE

The Trees Know Things

2025-05-14T17:28:00.004-05:00

Get this: Trees do talk to each other like the Ents in Lord of the Rings, and old trees are wise, just like in Disney movies.

These revelations came to light when scientists were monitoring trees' bioelectrical activity in Italy. When a solar eclipse occurred during the experiment, sensors showed that the older trees seemed to know what was coming hours in advance, like they'd been through it before. And they shared their knowledge with the younger trees, through signals that have been described as a "wood wide web". During the eclipse the old and young trees synced their "electromes", the electrical currents that all living things have, including us. In the trees' case, the electrome can change sap flow, which is like the a tree's blood. Even tree stumps reacted to the eclipse.

So trees aren't the mute solitary giants I thought they were. What else are they whispering to each other as I go about my business? Kind of makes me look at our neighborhood trees a little differently.

This Juicer Is Lit

2025-05-08T12:34:00.004-05:00

I just found out this old juicer from my childhood contains uranium. What?? When I was a kid I thought of it as a pretty basic kitchen item. I brought it back to KC with me after cleaning out my parents' house, more seeing it as a relic from the past than something I would use.

But I got it out the other day to juice an orange and was impressed by how quick and easy it pulverized those orange wedges with just a few twists on its pointy glass dome. Hey, I thought, this is pretty neat. A splash of lime here, a squirt of lemon there.....this could be a real game changer for my cocktails, er, I mean, my veggies and salads. And the thing is a breeze to clean.

My new appreciation for this family relic led me online where I discovered that it's a vintage 1930's juicer and it's made of uranium glass. Because why not put a potentially lethal chemical element into a household appliance? Such was the thinking of the time. Apparently UG was all the rage in the late 19th and early 20th century because it has a green color that nearly glows. (And why do you think that is?!) It fell out of use during WWII when uranium was needed for ---nuclear bombs. But actually uranium glass goes back to at least 79 AD.

I'm guessing the juicer I have goes back to my grandmother. But is it safe to use? Some folks on Reddit say it should only be used a display piece. Wiki sez the radiation can register on a Geiger counter, but most uranium glass is only "negligibly radioactive." Well then. Being one who grew up with all sorts of sketchy old Depression-era things and ate out of them, I'll take my chances.

A Half-Ton Metal Object is Falling From the Sky

2025-05-06T21:36:00.005-05:00

It's Coming! Maybe headed your way. Who the huck knows??!

A spacecraft launched by the Soviets that failed to reach Venus has been orbiting the earth for the past 53 years, and it is now plummeting straight for earth.

The experts tell us not to worry:

"We should not be be too worried."

The chance of the spacecraft actually hitting someone or something "Can't be completely excluded."

A "one in several thousand chance of hitting someone."

Since most of the planet is water "chances are good it will indeed end up in some ocean." (Uh...are there not people and sea-going vessels? And planes crossing the ocean??")

The object has a parachute to slow its descent, but they think it's no longer working. It has a heat shield that they think might still be working, which means it won't burn up in the atmosphere. Lucky us!

They think it will hit around May 10th, anywhere between London and South America. So we all get to play this game of Russian roulette!

The Soviet gift that keeps on giving.

Worm Charming

2025-04-10T11:00:00.007-05:00

Next time you want a mass of worms to come wriggling up out of the earth ---and who doesn't ---you can do it without even getting your hands dirty, using a technique called "worm grunting" or "worm charming." Basically what you're doing is trying to fool the worms into coming to the surface, which seems a bit unsportsmanlike if you ask me. You send a vibration into the ground to make them think there's a mole digging nearby, or that it's raining. You can do this in any number of ways--like driving a stake into the ground and then rubbing it with a piece of metal or hitting it with a stick. Another way is to repeatedly pat the ground with your feet, as demonstrated by this father, (with some lovely British accent) and his son in this video.

If you're fishing and need bait, that's one thing. But leave it to humans to find reasons to torment worms that are just minding their own business, and make a game out of it. Yes, in Cheshire England they hold the "World Worm Charming Championships," where contestants are given a 3 x 3 square of land to try and "charm" worms to the top. These people go nuts for 30 minutes, beating the earth like deranged monkeys, using everything from pitchforks to drums, or even trying to impel the worms with didgeridoos or saxophones. I admit it looks kind of fun, actually, though also a little demented.

Imagine being one of the judges and having to count all those worms. The winners of the 2024 championship got over 100 worms!

And what do they do with all those poor tricked worms? Hopefully some are released and can wiggle quietly back to what they were doing. It seems the worms remember all the harassment from the previous year, and move to the other side of the field to avoid being "charmed" again. Go worms!!

Fairy Go Round

2025-03-27T10:11:00.002-05:00

Annabelle brought loads of phlox to the house last weekend and we planted them around the trunks of several trees. Were we inviting fairies to the yard? I was kind of hoping so. That by planting flowers in a circle we might create a fairy ring ---a portal by which fairies can appear and disappear. But of course the notion is silly. What is referred to as "fairy rings" are circles of mushrooms, not flowers. And they spring up naturally. In places where elves have been dancing.

It's spring! ----a visualization

2025-03-20T21:01:00.005-05:00

What better way to bring the vernal equinox to life than with a meat carcass being rotated around a flame? It perfectly illustrates the earth's tilt and its effect on the seasons. But if you need more explanation, see my post from 2014, when I first shared this compelling video, honoring the vernal equinox.