Snowstorm on a comet

It’s snowing… on a comet! Actually, this INCREDIBLE animation is a series images from the Rosetta spacecraft, taken from a distance of about 13 km from the comet 67/P Chuyurmov-Gerasimenko, and put into an animation by Twitter user landru79. As the spacecraft moves around the comet we see the landscape change, but you can also see stars moving in the background, and flakes of ice and dust much closer to the spacecraft flying around! It’s like something from an old movie, *but it’s real*.

I took his original animate GIF and repeated it; the first two clips are at fast speed, the next two at medium, and the last two at slow speed, so you can track what’s going on.

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Bag of Randomness for Monday, April 30, 2018

  • This past weekend my buddies from high school and college spent time together to select a recipient of a scholarship named in his honor. Our social activity was axe throwing. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do after back surgery, but it was fun. I was fine for about the first eight throws, but the hardest part was bending over to pick up any axes which didn’t stick to the board.
  • Here’s something a bit wheels-off about the axe throwing facility, it’s BYOB. A bunch of frat boys and older folks brought in a few cases of cheap beer. Furthermore, people are throwing axes directly behind us. We had a fear those folks would accidentally lose the grip of their axe as they were winding back. Safety was definitely stressed by the staff, but I’m not exactly trusting of alcohol and sharp deadly objects being launched in the air.
  • Two of my friends are pastors, one has been a pastor outside the city limits of Mineral Wells for fifteen or so years and could write a book about some of the uncommon requests he gets. For instance, an older woman once called and said, “Would you come over and shoot my dog? My husband is out of town and it got hit by a car and I just can’t do it myself.”
  • To avoid any spoilers I took the family to see Avengers: Infinity War and we loved it. No spoilers from me, I promise. It was a long movie, two-hours, and forty-minutes. But unlike the last Star Wars movie, I didn’t think they forced any new characters on us and every scene served a purpose to the plot, unlike the casino scenes.
  • I usually avoid the theaters and crowds in general, but every now then I’ll find a film I really want to see because I’m a sucker for how the audience will react and when they will spontaneously applaud. What a compliment to the makers of the film. Not one person was connected to the creation of the film yet the audience still feels the need to applaud, and it happened about three times.
  • I was offered an opportunity to go to this year’s Army/Navy game but had to turn it down because I’ve sacrificed a good amount of paid time off from work because of my surgery. Bum deal, it would have been cool.
  • I think it’s very heroic looking, and I like that it’s done in black and white – Carrie Fisher “Slave Leia” unused promotional photo. 1982
  • One week ago today, President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron planted an oak tree on the White House lawn. The tree is now gone. The gifted tree originated from the site of the Battle of Belleau Wood in Belleau, France, in which U.S., French, and other allied troops fought the Germans during WWI. Some speculate the tree will be back in October when it has a better chance of surviving.
  • I had no idea North Korea has their own time zone, they decided to be a half-hour ahead of South Korea and Japan, but have recently said they plan on going back to the same time zone as the rest of the area. I know the bigger and more hopeful news is that North Korea is going to let U.N. and U.S. nuclear inspectors in, but that timezone thing stuck out.
  • The Atlantic – North Korea’s Secret Christians – South Koreans are proselytizing in the adamantly atheist country using thousands of illicit radios smuggled over the border.

https://twitter.com/mikedee718/status/990439890289557505

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The Bread Tags Business

Tucked away in the town of Yakima, Washington is a factory producing an unassuming, yet wildly prolific global product, one that you’ve used your entire life—bread tags. The tiny piece of plastic keeping your bread fresh is all thanks to one family. Through the company Kwik Lok, the Paxton sisters have been carrying on their grandfather’s legacy, selling over a billion bag clips every year.

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, April 27, 2018

  • DaughterGeeding’s class took a trip to the Dallas Arboretum. Somehow she fell into a pond, the lone kid to do so.
  • I had no idea that Rebel Without A Cause and Giant were both released after James Dean’s death, and East of Eden was released just six months before the fatal car crash. Dean was nominated for an Academy Award for those first two.
  • Anytime I think of James Dean I automatically start singing the “Rock On” song. The YouTube link I provided is from an old “Night Tracks” episode. Gosh, I haven’t thought of “Night Tracks” in eons.
  • “It’s déjà vu all over again.” – The Browns pick a Heisman winning quarterback with questionable character as the number one pick and the Jets pick a quarterback from USC with their first pick.
  • I love the community aspect the NFL draft brings. It’s not quite what MLK dreamed, but you have all these people from different socioeconomic backgrounds from all across the country gather together to root for laundry.
  • Mother Nature treated this big NFL event better than the Super Bowl hosted here.
  • I guess Roger Goodell will be forever booed no matter what he does for the rest of his life.
  • Hey Jerry, how about using these curtains on game day?
  • It was neat seeing Jason Witten, Troy Aikman, and Roger Staubach open the draft by throwing footballs into the crowd, but why the heck did Captain America throw the ball into the Pittsburgh Steelers section? You gotta love the guy, he holds no hard feelings. Few people are as sincerely genuine as Roger Staubach. But I’ll be honest, Dirk has become my all-time favorite local athlete.
  • I heard Charlotte Jones Anderson say they were trying to bring a political convention theme to this draft, which I guess is a nifty idea.
  • I actually thought the NFL Draft wouldn’t be that popular here. The Metroplex isn’t like New York, Chicago, or Philly. But then again, we are full of transplants so many fan bases are around.
  • The high-tech exterior of the Dallas Omni would change and display the team who is on the clock.
  • There has been talk of Aikman becoming a GM one day for an NFL franchise. It will never happen in Dallas. Aikman has even talked about fit himself but said he doesn’t want to go from the booth to the GM role, he’d like to take more of a junior role to learn the in and outs, and it would be something he’d do after his girls are out of high school. I think he’d normally turn down doing any draft coverage, it’s a lot of work. Fortunately, Fox is doing first day prime time coverage and it’s in his current hometown. Things couldn’t have worked out better for him to dip his toe into the waters.
  • Speaker Paul Ryan forces out the House chaplain, angers lawmakers
  • I’m still convinced Kim Jong Un is only showing signs of being more peaceful because China forced him to visit for an ass-chewing. North Korea is nothing without China’s support financially and militarily. I’m also convinced China told North Korea that current U.S. leadership is unpredictable, there’s no telling what can happen military wise, and they wouldn’t get any support should the poop hit the fan. Some of you may think that’s criticism of our current president, but it’s really a compliment. You know my love for presidential history. Several books I’ve read said the Russians were only willing to work with Reagan because they thought he was crazy enough to use nukes.
  • I never thought Donald Trump would be more respected than Bill Cosby. I know variants of that have been said before, but it really is amazing. It was also comedic when this happened, “Cosby stood up at one point and yelled at Steele: “He doesn’t have a private plane, you asshole.”
  • Miss America 2005 marries girlfriend in Alabama
  • Boerne, TX – Texas town holds .5K – not 5K – for underachievers
    • Instead of slogging through all 3.1 miles of a typical 5K, “fellow underachievers” will gather in Boerne May 5 to run what amounts to 0.31 miles, or 1,640.42 feet.
    • “A possibly fully staffed, or not staffed at all, (a) medical tent will be in place, you know, just in case. 546 yards is nothing to take too lightly,” the event’s Facebook description reads.
    • In case runners get tired, a coffee and donut station will be set up at the halfway point for carb-loading and energy. This is also the designated smoking area.
  • Relative’s DNA from genealogy websites cracked East Area Rapist case, DA’s office says
  • SNL’s “Weekend Update” anchors, Colin Jost and Michael Che, have been named to co-host the 70th primetime Emmy ceremony. Jost is a little too smug for my liking.
  • Three things I wanted to point out in retired astronaut Scott Kelly’s recent Reddit Ask Me Anything –
    • What was the most uncomforting thing about space? – The fluid in your body gets redistributed to your head, so you have this congested feeling for a year.
    • Is breaking wind 10x worse in a space suit? – You’d have to ask my brother
    • How was it to sleep in space? – It’s hard because you’re level of relaxation is the same whether you’re trying to sleep or work. You’re not anymore comfortable when it’s time to go to sleep. For example on earth when you sit you’re more comfortable because of gravity. You can’t do that in space.
  • U2’s new tour will start next week and Tulsa is ready.

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