Today is 09/09/09, and at 9:09 MLB has been giving away prizes to commermorate the day. In honor of the day, here are all of the players currently wearing #9 on their unforms according to wikipedia:
Michael Abrey, first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles
Gregg Zaun, catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays
Carlos Guillén, left fielder for the Detroit Tigers
David DeJesus, center fielder for the Kansas City Royals
Chone Figgins, third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Jack Wilson, shortstop for the Seattle Mariners
Hank Blalock, first baseman for the Texas Rangers
Hunter Pence, right fielder for the Houston Astros
Omir Santos, catcher for the New York Mets
Miguel Cairo, infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies
Reed Johnson, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs
Hernán Iribarren, infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers
Gerado Parra, center fielder for Arizona Diamondbacks
Ian Sewart, infielder for Colorado Rockies
Juan Peirre, outfielder for the LA Dodgers
Just in case you need it for a triva question today.
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Republican Robocallers ask for help against Health Care Reform
A Republican Robocaller found me last night. The recording asked me to record a message for my congressman telling him that I was against the Democratic plan to change the health care system. It used more alarming words than I can remember now. So when the message beeped and it was time for me to record I said extemporaneously (as I can recall now) :
"Congressman Castle, this is Richard Koehler of Wilmington and I fully support President Obama's plan to reform the health care system. Please give him and the plan your full support. The health care system needs to be reformed and more people need access to health care."I think that the robot might have been expecting a different type of message from the priming that was given. I should disclose that I am on the list since I am a registered Republican, though lately that hasn't been how I vote. I just don't want to change now because I get all of these crazy messages and participate in all kinds of crazy surveys. My wife gets the Democratic ones, so as a household we are covered.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
A revelation about Pi
Found this at Neatorama who found it at Digg, but it is making the rounds of the social networks and aggregators.
Did you ever notice this about Pi:
Fascinating to take the poorly handwritten Arabic numeral expression of the first few digits of pi and find that in a mirror it incorrectly spells the word for the Greek letter in the Roman alphabet.
Did you ever notice this about Pi:
Fascinating to take the poorly handwritten Arabic numeral expression of the first few digits of pi and find that in a mirror it incorrectly spells the word for the Greek letter in the Roman alphabet.
Friday, 4 September 2009
Evolutionary Band T-short offends the masses
Shirts using the evolution of man to compliment a marching bands "Brass Evolutions" program them are apparently to offensive for the school district. The shirts ...
From the article, "Pollitt said the district is required by law to remain neutral where religion is concerned."
Too bad evolution is science, not religion.
As a Tuba player myself I am offended at the concept of a monkey or pre-human hominid playing brass instruments, but I am guessing that the parents who complained were offended by something else.
I call bullshit that he would have taken the shirts if it said Brass Resurrections. He took them because somebody complained.
(via Castro's Favorite Color)
"... which were designed to promote the band’s fall program, are light gray and feature an image of a monkey progressing through stages and eventually emerging as a man. Each figure holds a brass instrument. Several instruments decorate the background and the words “Smith-Cotton High School Tiger Pride Marching Band” and “Brass Evolutions 2009” are emblazoned above and below the image."
The band debuted the T-shirts at the Missouri State Fair parade.
While the shirts don’t directly violate the district’s dress code, Assistant Superintendent Brad Pollitt said complaints by parents made him take action.
“I made the decision to have the band members turn the shirts in after several concerned parents brought the shirts to my attention,” Pollitt said.
From the article, "Pollitt said the district is required by law to remain neutral where religion is concerned."
Too bad evolution is science, not religion.
As a Tuba player myself I am offended at the concept of a monkey or pre-human hominid playing brass instruments, but I am guessing that the parents who complained were offended by something else.
I call bullshit that he would have taken the shirts if it said Brass Resurrections. He took them because somebody complained.
(via Castro's Favorite Color)
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Dramatic changes as Lake Michigan rises over two years
Lake Michigan has risen over the past two years. I noticed it the most when we visited Peninsula Point Lighthouse on our vacation to Escanaba this year like we did two years ago. (I wish I would have take a similar picture in July of 2005 on that vacation as well.)
Above is a shot from the top of the Peninsula Point Lighthouse taken on August 26, 2007.
Above is a shot taken from the top of the same lighthouse taken on August 23, 2009. Water now covers a lot of area that was dry land two years ago.
You can tell these are lined up the same way because of the the trees in the foreground and the lighthouse (Minneapolis Shoal Light) in the background on the horizon. I am sure that the great lakes go through these cycles.
Other have noticed the rise in lake levels. Apparently low lake levels mean that cargo ships on the lakes must load less cargo and that raises costs per unit shipped. Every inch of lower lake level means 250 tons less on a 1000ft cargo ship. This adds up.
I went to the NOAA website to look for lake level data. I chose to use the Green bay, WI levels because it appeared to the be the only site with data back to August 2007 when the earlier picture above was taken and you could make the point that Peninsula Point is in Green Bay (which extends from Green Bay to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan).
In answer to a question posed while at the Point, yes, the Great Lakes have tides. You can see the fluctuations in the chart of water levels for July 4th through 6th. The levels change only a few inches due to the tides, but the levels also change due to more important effects like wind and weather. Mostly the Great Lakes experience seiches or slosh.
The next chart shows the verified level data from Jan 2007 through the present. Arrows represent the dates of the two pictures above. There is no verified data for August of 2009 yet but you can see where lake levels were only a month earlier. The difference between Aug 2007 and Aug 2009 is about 1.5 ft which is consistent with the pictures and what I saw at Peninsula Point between the two years.
Lake Michigan has been much higher in recent memory. The plot below goes back to 1995 and shows that the difference between the highest level in the mid 90's and the lowest level two years ago was about 5 ft. You can see shelves of shoreline at Peninsula Point which are consistent with water levels being much higher. Lynn also remembers the Lake Michigan water levels being higher at the family cabin when she was younger.
Some people think that the reason the lake levels have dropped is that dredging of the St. Claire river (which connects Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair, water then goes through the Detroit river to Lake Erie) has opened up a drain hole in the Lake Michigan/Lake Huron system (really one big lake joined by the Straits of Mackinac). There have been many requests for the Army Corps of Engineers to plug this hole.
I suppose that now each time I go to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I will need to travel to Peninsula Point and take the same picture since I appear to have accidentally become a historical lake level observer.
Above is a shot from the top of the Peninsula Point Lighthouse taken on August 26, 2007.
Above is a shot taken from the top of the same lighthouse taken on August 23, 2009. Water now covers a lot of area that was dry land two years ago.
You can tell these are lined up the same way because of the the trees in the foreground and the lighthouse (Minneapolis Shoal Light) in the background on the horizon. I am sure that the great lakes go through these cycles.
Other have noticed the rise in lake levels. Apparently low lake levels mean that cargo ships on the lakes must load less cargo and that raises costs per unit shipped. Every inch of lower lake level means 250 tons less on a 1000ft cargo ship. This adds up.
I went to the NOAA website to look for lake level data. I chose to use the Green bay, WI levels because it appeared to the be the only site with data back to August 2007 when the earlier picture above was taken and you could make the point that Peninsula Point is in Green Bay (which extends from Green Bay to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan).
In answer to a question posed while at the Point, yes, the Great Lakes have tides. You can see the fluctuations in the chart of water levels for July 4th through 6th. The levels change only a few inches due to the tides, but the levels also change due to more important effects like wind and weather. Mostly the Great Lakes experience seiches or slosh.
The next chart shows the verified level data from Jan 2007 through the present. Arrows represent the dates of the two pictures above. There is no verified data for August of 2009 yet but you can see where lake levels were only a month earlier. The difference between Aug 2007 and Aug 2009 is about 1.5 ft which is consistent with the pictures and what I saw at Peninsula Point between the two years.
Lake Michigan has been much higher in recent memory. The plot below goes back to 1995 and shows that the difference between the highest level in the mid 90's and the lowest level two years ago was about 5 ft. You can see shelves of shoreline at Peninsula Point which are consistent with water levels being much higher. Lynn also remembers the Lake Michigan water levels being higher at the family cabin when she was younger.
Some people think that the reason the lake levels have dropped is that dredging of the St. Claire river (which connects Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair, water then goes through the Detroit river to Lake Erie) has opened up a drain hole in the Lake Michigan/Lake Huron system (really one big lake joined by the Straits of Mackinac). There have been many requests for the Army Corps of Engineers to plug this hole.I suppose that now each time I go to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I will need to travel to Peninsula Point and take the same picture since I appear to have accidentally become a historical lake level observer.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Help to get backyard chicken raising restrictions lifted in New Castle County Delaware
Currently in New Castle County, Delaware you can only raise chickens in your backyard if you have more than 1 acre of property. Mr. William Tansey has introduced Ordinance 09-974 (.pdf link) to ease restrictions on raising chickens in backyards of New Castle County. His reasonable change allows residents to raise up to 4 hens (no roosters) on property with at least 0.5 acres.The council is set to vote on this ordinance change on Tuesday, Sept 8th, but many are already coming out against. We must change their minds. Please help me and your New Castle County neighbors by contacting your New Castle County Council member (click on their picture for contact info) by phone or e-mail today to tell them that you would like them to support this change.
I have included the e-mail that I am sending to every council member and their legislative aids below. I myself live in the 2nd district. Please feel free to use or modify my letter as needed.
Dear Councilmember (insert member name here),
Mr. William Tansey has introduced Ordinance 09-974 to ease restrictions on raising chickens in backyards of New Castle County. His reasonable change allows residents to raise up to 4 hens (no roosters) on property with at least 0.5 acres. I stand in full support of this reasonable rule regarding raising chickens in a suburban environment and I hope that you will support this change by voting for it at the next council meeting on September 8th.
In a state on the Delmarva peninsula, historically known for raising poultry, it is unfortunate that residents of New Castle County currently have such a restrictive ordinance preventing them from participating in the chicken raising tradition and allowing them to grow some of their own food. New Castle County also has the chance to join other forward looking communities by your support of an easing of this restriction.
I urge you to support ordinance 09-074 to allow the raising of up to 4 hens on property with more than 0.5 acres. I will look forward to your response on this matter.
Sincerely,
Richard Koehler
New Castle County Constituent
Comment if you send an e-mail or make a phone call. I would really like to get this passed, for the reasons stated in the letter above.Let Delawareans have their Blue Hens!
List of council members, e-mail, office phone, legislative aids, e-mail and phone (all 302 area code below).
| Council District | Name | Office Phone | |
| Council President | Paul G. Clark | pgclark@nccde.org | 395-8340 |
| CP Legislative Aid | Lynne Phifer | LPhifer@nccde.org | 395-8360 |
| 1st District | Joseph Reda | jmreda@nccde.org | 395-8341 |
| 1st Legislative Aid | Christine Roberts | croberts@nccde.org | 395-8361 |
| 2nd District | Robert S. Weiner | rsweiner@nccde.org | 395-8342 |
| 2nd Legislative Aid | Louis Hinkle | lhinkle@nccde.org | 395-8362 |
| 3rd District | William Tansey | wtansey@nccde.org | 395-8363 |
| 3rd Legislative Aid | Nellie Manlove | nmanlove@nccde.org | 395-8363 |
| 4th District | Penrose Hollins | phollins@nccde.org | 395-8344 |
| 4th Legislative Aid | Nique Traylor | ntraylor@nccde.org | 395-8364 |
| 5th District | Lisa Diller | ediller@nccde.org | 395-8345 |
| 5th Legislative Aid | Renee Bensley | rbensley@nccde.org | 395-8365 |
| 6th District | William Powers | wepowersjr@nccde.org | 395-8346 |
| 6th Legislative Aid | Ruby Dillmore | rdillmore@nccde.org | 395-8366 |
| 7th District | George Smiley | gsmiley@nccde.org | 395-8347 |
| 7th Legislative Aid | Tara Finnigan | tfinnigan@nccde.org | 395-8367 |
| 8th District | John Cartier | jjcartier@nccde.org | 395-8348 |
| 8th Legislative Aid | Christina Bloemendaal | ctbloemendaal@nccde.org | 395-8368 |
| 9th District | Timothy Sheldon | tpsheldon@nccde.org | 395-8349 |
| 9th Legislative Aid | Stephanie Rizzo | 395-8369 | |
| 10th District | Jea P. Street | jpstreet@nccde.org | 395-8350 |
| 10th Legislative Aid | Charneece Jackson | cljackson@nccde.org | 395-8370 |
| 11th District | David Tackett | dltackett@nccde.org | 395-8351 |
| 11th Legislative Aid | Susanne Hussey | shussey@nccde.org | 395-8371 |
| 12th District | Bill Bell | jwbell@nccde.org | 395-8352 |
| 12th Legislative Aid | Joseph A. Cochran | jacochran@nccde.org | 395-8372 |
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Frogs of Escanaba and Lake Michigan
While on vacation in Escanaba on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan I saw and took more pictures of frogs than I have ever taken near my house on the creek in Delaware. Here is a sampling of at least two species that I saw and stood still long enough for photography before leaping away.
These frogs were in the marsh between Lake Michigan and the cabin. They were two or three inches long. I think this is a Northern Leopard Frog. (link for Northern Leopard Frog at Michigan DNR)
These tree frogs were hidden until pointed out living on leaves and trees right in the backyard of the cabin. They were about the size of a quarter. I think these are Gray Tree Frogs, (link for Grey Tree Frog at Michigan DNR) but they seem too small, perhaps they are immature. Are they any Michigan frog experts that can confirm this?
Tree frog sitting calmly
This one was interesting as it walked up the leaf, mostly because I was too close with the camera antagonizing it.
If you look closely at this (unfortunately blurry) video you can see the frogs throat moving. I couldn't hear anything, perhaps the noise was too high or too soft, or non-existent.
I spotted this frog at the tip of the peninsula at Peninsula Point Lighthouse. It also appears to be a Northern Leopard Frog.
These frogs were in the marsh between Lake Michigan and the cabin. They were two or three inches long. I think this is a Northern Leopard Frog. (link for Northern Leopard Frog at Michigan DNR)
These tree frogs were hidden until pointed out living on leaves and trees right in the backyard of the cabin. They were about the size of a quarter. I think these are Gray Tree Frogs, (link for Grey Tree Frog at Michigan DNR) but they seem too small, perhaps they are immature. Are they any Michigan frog experts that can confirm this?
Tree frog sitting calmly
This one was interesting as it walked up the leaf, mostly because I was too close with the camera antagonizing it.
If you look closely at this (unfortunately blurry) video you can see the frogs throat moving. I couldn't hear anything, perhaps the noise was too high or too soft, or non-existent.
I spotted this frog at the tip of the peninsula at Peninsula Point Lighthouse. It also appears to be a Northern Leopard Frog.
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