Red Meat Rock

Thanks, Tom!

Happy Birthday, Alaska!

It's Alaska's birthday today. 51 years ago, on January 3rd, 1959, President Eisenhower signed papers officially making it a state.

And you can see Russia from there.

Well, not from Anchorage. Or Wasilla. Or especially not from the state capitol in Juneau. But as you can see from this map (if you expand it by clicking on it) on a clear day you can probably see Russia from the island of Little Diomede. A little bit of it anyway.

Happy birthday, Alaska. Keep your eyes on the skies.

01-02-2010

You may not have realized this but today's date is palindromic. Yup, that means it reads the same forward to back or backward to front. Need an explanation? Click here.

Can you believe there are people who sit around thinking these things up?

It's a new year!

2010 dawned with a bright, hopeful, sunny day here in Arizona. With it came a new idea for landscape beautification. The city has just re-paved a road across town but January 1st is no time to be growing grass alongside it. So . . . solution? Paint the dirt! Presto! A green border!

So long, 2009 - Greetings 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
There is a tradition in New Orleans to have a funeral parade accompanying the casket to the graveyard. A dixieland band accompanies with a slow, sad song. But once the body is in the ground and the cortege heads back to town, the music changes. To give you an idea of how it goes, here is a famous Dixieland Band from Hungary, of all places - the Benko Dixieland Band. Say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010!

What's the score again?

Run-up to New Year's Eve

Well, there are only three days (actually about 2-1/2) left of 2009. Soon it will be New Year's Eve. I'm trying to get into the right mood.