Classic Misunderstanding: Transit of Venus

There has been great excitement and also great misunderstanding about this celestial phenomenon called the Transit of Venus.

The transit of Venus occurs when the planet Venus' orbit causes it to appear as a small, dark disk moving across the face of the Sun. It happens with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. Observations of the 1639 transit were combined with the principle of parallax, to provide an estimate of the distance between the Sun and the Earth and thus the size of the Solar System. (cf. Wikipedia)

This image shows Venus at the start of its transit of the sun.

NASA / Reuters

I was going to get a pair of binoculars and build a projection camera for the event, but because it was cloudy on the East Coast, the kids and I watched it on the NASA Edge Ustream. It was still an awesome spectacle that won't be repeated until 2117.

Scientists and people from ages past have been continuously fascinated by this phenomenon. However, there has been some confusion by us moderns about just what a "Transit of Venus" might be, so the crack staff at WBN research department offers the following clarification on a Classic Misunderstanding:

Classic Misunderstanding of the Transit of Venus

You're welcome.

What?

Civil War Mockumentary

If you've ever sat through a Ken Burns documentary -- love it or hate it -- you are going to be delighted by this Documentary of watching The Civil War documentary.



Popcorn please!

Overheard In My House

The yeast got put in the wort and the not-yet-beer needed to be agitated.

Of course it's Very Naughty to joke about such things, but when he said, "Of course I'm good at squatting down and shaking things. I have children.", I couldn't help busting out laughing.

Blogger MashUp Meets Freaky Friday

So, LarryD has blogger’s block and he’s drinking beer. Isn’t that my job? Or rather, isn’t my job causing that? (Except for the beer part, I would have had one anyway.)

In the meantime, I’m feeling just the slightest bit snarky. And it’s Friday. Could this be a Blogger Freaky Friday?  Have LarryD and I switched places for a day?  What would that look like? ...

Welcome to Acts of the A-Pasta-See, where we pair experimental cooking with made-up religion. Today’s match-up is with Sister Patricia Owens O'Flannary, OP. 

Sister Patricia is busy writing on the social justice of different wheat sources, saying “It doesn’t matter if you don’t know your Semolina from your Durham, it’s the soul of the wheat germ that’s important. Durham has developed a “naked, free-threshing form” over the centuries which I’m sure is terribly important. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. I may devote an entire crystal meditation session to it.”

Meanwhile the Seven Sons of LarryD are whipping up a 7-layer dip in preparation for the un-cancelled 2011-2012 Football season. “Dribble! Dabble! We need more guacamole and less refried beans. Add plenty of cheese, Lumpy and Jumpy; each layer of our True Faith Dip represents one of the 7 sacraments. It’s like heaven on earth.”

... or something like that.

Ok, LarryD, your turn. Which blogger(s) would you Freaky Friday switch with, and what would it look like? Or you could do a “blogger mashup” of two or more peeps on your sidebar.  Go on, it’s just for fun!

Anybody else want to give it whirl? Jump in the combox!

Not Dead Yet

I'm not dead yet, just working some loooong hours. Yeesh, I'm tired.

John Cleese: The Scientists

Go ahead. Laugh.

Rule 42

After I told her for the 42nd time to eat her oatmeal, 3 year-old Nib responded, "I want to get big, Daddy. But not in the ceiling."

Reminds me of this from Alice In Wonderland.

The King then read from his book: "Rule forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."

"I'm not a mile high," said Alice.

"Nearly two miles high," said the Queen.

"Well, I sha'n't go, at any rate," said Alice.

Lift

If you add beer, that about covers it.

Star Truck

Because I wanted to laugh ... Animaniacs!

Turn In Your Man Card

Funniest thing said all day was by my brother.

He just upgraded the SUV to a full blown family wagon. Yes, that's right, he got a mini-van. Welcome to my world, bro.

A co-worker asked if he had to turn in his "man card" as part of the trade-in at the dealership.

"Yeah, it's all part of the transaction. They burn it right there in front of you. It stings at first, but then they give you some waterproof mascara ..."

Now he's rolling in his own Swagger Wagon.

Front Fell Off

These fellows make about as much sense as any of the other talking heads out there, which is to say not much - only they're funnier.

New Zealand satirists John Clarke and Bryan Dawe talk oil spills.



h/t man with black hat

XKCD CLI

This one is really for geeks only. http://www.xkcd.com/unixkcd/

Hilarity ensues.

Quotable

We were talking about the rarified and highly contentious world of academia and publishing; the footnotes of many books reveal constant sniping of adherents of one school of thought against another in some niche subject.  

These professors can be petty and backbiting about some esoteric point that the rest of us have no idea what they are talking about. That's when I was informed about the conventional wisdom on the subject:

"The fights are so bitter, because the stakes are so small."

Propeller Hat Moment

Sigh. People think security geeks have no sense of humor. They do, it's just ... arcane.