Archive for January, 2008

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Rainy Day Thoughts

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Dice

When the weather forecast suggests a 50% chance of rain tomorrow, it means this:

In the past when conditions were similar to today, it rained tomorrow 50% of the time.

What this doesn’t tell you is how often it will rain tomorrow: will you have periods of an hour or two with no showers?

But just as you’re thinking about this you notice that the wind is forecast for 10, 20, 30mph during various parts of the day.

So even though the sun is shining for a moment right now I won’t try to fly today.

Instead, I’ve returned to assembling my T-Rex 450 kit.

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Posted in Home | 2 Comments »

Photo Fun

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

Lady Pilot

[This post is obsolete. The new gallery software was too temperamental and I’ve taken it offline and restored the old, reliable, gallery.]

With the help of a robotic script and all too much fiddling, I’ve copied all 750 or so the Ups & Downs photos into the new Photos section.

Why bother with this upgrade?

Mainly because I now have more publishing flexibility, including the ability to publish albums within albums. So, for instance, I moved the Return of Pickleweed Red and Fast Boats albums into the 2007 Photos: December album.

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Posted in Elsewhere | 2 Comments »

Smash & Crash

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

Wing to Wing Combat

A few days of crummy weather coupled with an itch to improve the Ups & Downs photo gallery gobbled up my attention span this past week.

I flew Thursday and Friday, hammering out a number of small wing combat sessions with Dave and Bruce. We had some satisfying collisions and are gradually sculpting a set of Combat Rules, none of which is retroactive.

The rules so far:

The goal is to hit an opponent’s wing and cause it to cease flying while you stay in the air.

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Posted in Baylands | 4 Comments »

Harmless Tool or Alien Probe?

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

Alien Probe?

From “The War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells, performed by Orson Welles & the Mercury Theatre, broadcast on CBS Radio Sunday, October 30, 1938:

“War of the Worlds” poster
We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man’s, and yet as mortal as his own. We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.

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More Rain!

Tuesday, January 8th, 2008

Rain Forecast

I hope the plants and the frogs and the ducks and all mud-loving things are enjoying themselves. ;-)

Posted in Baylands | 3 Comments »

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