Week 29 of 2011 - Music To My Ears

Vinyl.
This is how my ears heard music when I was young(er).

These were dug out of the far depths of the basement for the pic of the week. They haven’t been moved from that spot since I moved in here over 12 years ago and I have no idea when the last time any of them were actually played. Back they go!

SUPERMOON

Last night we had a Supermoon.
The moon looked this way because it was just 211,565 miles away from the earth.
That's the closest its been since March of 1993.

32/52: Light

Light from my lamp.

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While it is common for the term headlight to be used interchangeably in informal discussion, headlamp is the technically correct term for the device itself, while headlight properly refers to the beam of light produced and distributed by the device. (Wikipedia)

Square hamburger history

Today in 1969 Wendy's first restaurant opened in Columbus, Ohio.
Frostys soon to follow.
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Others things that turned 40 this year:
NASA moon walk.
Sesame Street.
Woodstock.
Conclusion of 'no UFO evidence' by Project Blue Book.

This is Halloween

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A.K.A. All Hallows Eve.

The celebration of the dead on the eve of

All Hallows (A.K.A. All Saints Day.)

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We celebrate Halloween with candy and All Hallows with stomach aches.

Satisfied goals

Nothing like taking a long vigorous walk on a crisp autumn evening through the fallen leaves...

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to the drugstore for a (limited edition) candy bar.

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What makes a good goal?

Traditional goal-setting wisdom states a good goal must be:

a) written - I wrote about it here in This is Eric's Blog.

b) challenging - It was a long walk in the dark.

c) believable - Does anyone not believe me?

d) specific - Walk, buy, eat

e) measureable - 1.9 miles out and 250 calories in

f) have a specific deadline - before primetime television starts

Sweets Day

Now THAT would be a holiday!
I guess it would be the same as Halloween tho.
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But this "Sweetest Day" that is celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast is:.

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Sorry... not a holiday here at This is Eric's Blog.

Casual Friday

An American and Canadian custom which has spread to other parts of the world where some offices celebrate by allowing workers to wear more casual dress.

Fun!

(Whatever.)

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I prefer underwear only Fridays.

Autumn evergreen

I came across an evergreen in full fall colors today:

Evergreen: having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the year.

Good Tips

Last night Alton Brown (American food personality, cinematographer, author, actor, and all around funny guy) spoke to a sold out crowd on the campus of Oakland University.

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His final bit of wisdom is shown is this crummy cell phone pic:

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I personally would save the good beer until everyone left!

Patriot Birthday Day

Today in 1722 Samuel Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts. An American revolutionary patriot, statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
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Or you may know him from The Boston Beer Company.

We the people

Today in 1787
the United States Constitution was signed.

aka Constitution Day.

Wither starts

Rudbeckia hirta starts to dry and shrivel as if it's the start of the autumn season.
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Or just in need of some water since it's been summer like warm still.
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Probably a little of both?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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And it's
Patriot Day!
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I knew it was 9/11 but I didn't realize it had a new name. Is the name new or is This is Eric's Blog just behind on the times? They kind of sneaked a new celebration in on me and I almost missed it. Sorry! But Google missed it too so THERE!
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As I look further I see the day was designated as a holiday in December 2001 by that last Republican President. I must have blocked out those eight years.

No cats? How about Fair Animals

Today is 9/9/09 - so here are 9 things:
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1 - Is there any significance, really? It's just another day here at This is Eric's Blog. Some say the world will come to an end today. I better hurry up and post this just in case!
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2 - Since cats are known to have 9 lives (and today being 9/9/09) it has been declared "A Day Without Cats Online." I wonder if it's only today or every 9/9 regardless of year.
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3 - On this day in 1850 (NOT a 9/9/09) California became the 31st state.
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4 - Update: I'm done wondering about #2 since I never post pics of cats anyway. Well except for the zoo pics and those are big cats.
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5 - Today is the last repeating single digit date until 1/1/11. (Do not confuse it with 10/10/10... which I think I like a lot.)
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6 - There used to be 9 planets in our solar system. Sorry Pluto.
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7 - Two weeks until fall, or Autumn as some call it.
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8 - I forget what eight was for.
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9 - Here is a collage of State Fair Animals due to the no cats rule:

All State Fair pictures from the last three days were taken with an ever-more-portable Sony Cybershot P200 that fits in a pocket.

Laboring

It's a holiday!!!

A yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

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and looks like today is also the LAST day ever for the Michigan State Fair which has been held every year since 1849. Too bad we can't help out a fair like we bailed out all the poorly run banks and auto companies. Just saying...

50/50 Hawaii

Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono.
(The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness - Hawaii state motto)
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August
21st
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50 years ago today Hawaii becasme the 50th state of the U.S.A.

Early morning shower

Long ago Perseus may gave slain Medusa but tonight (or early tomorrow morning) his constellation will be showering down on Earth. In other words, the peak time to see the Perseids Meteor Shower will be tonight between midnight and dawn. Put on some coffee because it's going to be a late night out!

Today in Windy City History

Today in 1833 Chicago incorporates as a village of about 200 peeps.

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But they didn't have a big shiny Bean back then did they!

(I mean the Cloud Gate.)

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The pic is from a cold windy day in December 2006. Right now it's all about the bean and not when the pic was taken.

Hottest day so far!

Today was the hottest day so far this year (here at This is Eric's Blog headquarters that is). They say it "feels like" 105.

Heat index or apparent temperature is the combined air temperature and relative humidity in an attempt to determine the human-perceived equivalent temperature. To calculate this use the following equation:

Or just call your local weatherman. That's easier!

Howl at the moon.

Last night was a full moon and here in the Detroit area we had clear skies and cooler than usual weather. A fellowette Blogspot blogger MargaretPANpipes posted on Monday that we take a photo of it from wherever in the world we are. Here it is from a few miles north of Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

I never had good luck with photoing the moon before so first I hit Google to read up on camera settings. Found good info at TZPlanet.com. Seems that I was assuming that since it was night time I should expose for a nighttime scene. Come to find out that is untrue since the moon is actually very bright (so you should wear shades). Here it is with my Canon PowerShot G9. Not spectacular but the best I've done to date and pretty good for a point-and-shoot camera. Just wish I could zoom closer.

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Update: Operation Moon Watch participants ranged from Australia, The UK, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ontario, Michigan (me), Missouri, California and Hawaii. Details at the moon seen round the world.