Evil Twin Spotting

Hurts my eyes just to look at the picture above.

Or maybe it's just that my eyes are strained from burning the candle at both ends.

Maybe I'll eat a home-grown tomato to see if that helps.

Icarus flew too close to the sun and lost his wings. I wonder, is this how Venus de Milo lost her arms?

Although I doubt I am in the right location to be able to see this occur, I think I am going to look for it anyway...  I feel like I always miss out on the neat stuff that happens... lollot try to get some rest...  and don't forget that burning the candle at both ends makes the candle butn out much more quickly.

I understand one of the ethnic groups was going to send a rockt ship to study the Sun. When told it would burn up if it came too close to the Sun, they said "Don't worry,we'll go at night"

Somehow Frankie Avalon's syrupy song of the early 1950's keeps fogging up my mind'S lens, keeping me from focusing on our Evil Twin's scientific place in contemporary discussion.....

Oh Venus. Hey Venus. Make my wish come true. Frankie Avalon was some smooth singing cat and later in Beach Blanket Bingo one lucky dude to get Annette the subject of boyhood fantasies in those days. I wonder if Planet Venus needs the infamous "Letters of Transit"  like those obtained by Signor Ugarte (Peter Lorre) and given to Rick in order to make her latest celestial transit in front of Mr. Sun. I hope we continue to dream big when we look up at little dots in front of our closest star and learn about atmospheres where somehow some way some day we humans could continue to do what we do best- explore and boldly go where no man has gone before. SUPPORT NASA!!!   

...still waiting for the first green cheese mined on the Moon, might go good with a fresh tomato

One of the engineers in my family (we have 3 so far) graduated in aerospace engineering...literally a rocket scientist.  Now he is head of R&D for a local company that develops instrumentation for various applications but mostly for the ag business and weather monitoring equipment.  Even though he's no longer working on space projects he is still facinated by astronomy and is always telling us about these things. We were in my parents backyard for the eclipse and we were sharing some eclipse glasses but also trying out different camera obscura techniques to watch the eclipse, it was pretty darn cool.  We're all keyed up for the Venus transit next week.  Even though I don't have any mad geek skills, I'm still a geek at heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFiDqP_rrEs
TT for you and all the folks who don't have this in their mind.

Bobby Vee singing Venus in blue jeans would be even more annoying.
 

Just for you, Hazel!! "Venus In BlueJeans!"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emqtsP1hJOU&feature=related

Jimmy Clanton may not be Bobby Vee, but he is trying to pay a compliment to his gal, so let's give him some credit....He could have been singing about Hazel! or one of us other ladies of the Eye!!

I will check on our local planetariums, Fernbank Science Center (which just survived the budget cutters' ax ) and Tellus Science Museum planetarium, to see if they have special viewing set up to indirectly see this Venus passing the Sun phenomenon!! Once or twice in a lifetime deserves some respect.

The Drake Planetarium in Cincinnati will be having a really interesting program on Tuesday, June 5th, about the Venus transit. Dr. Drake, the astronomer for whom the planetarium is named, will be there and giving a lecture, and there's going to be all sorts of displays about rare celestial events, as well as safe ways for people present to observe the transit. Unfortunately, I have to work, and if I didn't, I'm sure that it would probably be cloudy just when time was optimum for me to get a glimpse... that's just the way my luck runs.

My forlorn tomato plants are a tiny bit perkier today, and there three little leaves are a bit bigger. The Darling Man and I went to Monnin's Fruit Farm and bought two quarts of the best strawberries I've tasted all season so far, and got the pricing on the pick your own. $1.99 a pound, which is comparable to the supermarket price, but the quality of the berries is a hundred times better. So I'm going to take my buckets to the farm on Monday after my dentist appointment and get about 10 pounds of berries and spend the rest of the day making jam. After we left Monnin's we went to the Covered Wagon Farmer's Market and picked up some dried apple snitz for snacking and visited their new garden center and for $3.00 got six more tomato plants, 3 grape tomatoes, and 3 Roma. They were started back in February and so they are of a good size and I'm hoping they take transplanting well. Maybe having some competition will make the shrivelled ones take note and start growing properly! LOL! They need to because I'm all out of the tomatoes I canned last summer... and now I have to use store bought to make chili for supper tonight.

Anyway, I hope everyone here is having a good weekend so far, and that any folks around the Southwest Ohio area are enjoying the beautiful weather.

I wonder how the first camera obscura actually came about. Cultural Anthropolgy would strongly suggest an accident; sun shining in through a crack,falling on a semi clear surface, and being noticed by one of those genius grade people. Genius,as I've stated before,was around before the award ceremony. Observant Indigenous people made the planting of crops a science....without the interwebs.....

Astronomy Magazine recommends #14 welders glass or goggles to view the Transit.  If you can see it, you should watch -- it won't occur again until 2117.  More information both at the NASA site and http://www.transitofvenus.org/.
 
Gotta go prop up my tomatoes after last night's big wind storm.

Hmmm. All very interesting. I am musing about what when where why in history Venus became synonymous with beautiful tomato, er.. woman...and in this day and age of google and wikipedia, there is no excuse to muse rather than find out, but I am feeling soooooo low pressure system languid I think I'll just muse for a while longer. Plus Miss Computer here (aka The Old Gray Mare) does not always play nice.

Eat hearty.

and welcome Miss Allen!

If I am understanding this corectly you can watch the transit here.
http://sunearthday.gsfc.nasa.gov/webcasts/nasaedge/

I would like to say that I am sitting here wondering, and wondering, and wondering about this rare solar occurance.........but i would only be stretching the truth trying to increase my appearance of thoughtfulness and interestingne when all i really want to do is watch the clouds float by and enjoy the weather.

Besides, I would not wish to decieve you good folks either.

Peace out

P.s..... It looks like an eye floater to me.

Headed out with a picnic basket to Kix Brooks' Arrington Vineyards in a few for vino, jazz, cigars and food. Should be almost cloudless so top down and in the high 60's low 70's so perfect for kicking back on the blanket and looking up at the planets, the stars, and the heavens. "The future astronomical public will not be satisfied unless all practical use is made of the transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882."
George Airy-...Hmmmm.

To all those who look forward to such a view and wouldbe astronomers........i hope it happens in your part of the world and srpasses allofyour expectations and hopes.

I think the rarest sighting i would like to behold wouldbe a walk-off homer by the Chicago Cubs in game 7 of a World Series. The long, pent up cheers of past, present, and future Cub fans would be heard galaxies far, far, away.

Meanwhile,i have a place that i spend the weekends to get away,well everyday actually, where some good physical labor always seems to be ontbe menu. I call it 'this Ol' House'

Today is full of white clouds streaming past a blue sky with a warm sun and cool breeze........and all ya gots to do is be here,

sic transit gloria cubbies!

Yesterday evening, we saw a double sun/sun dog/parhelion just before sunset! Incredible.