VIDEO SHORT: 3 Amazing Tricks from Steve Frayne

Our friends Merle and Lyle in Canada sent this video to us, and it's amazing. Magician Steve Frayne does three tricks in this short video that will amaze you! Dynamo (born Steven Frayne; 17 December 1982) is an English magician, best known for his documentary show Dynamo: Magician Impossible. He is currently appearing in the second series of Magician Impossible, which began in July 2012.
Dynamo was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He grew up on Bradford's Delph Hill and Holme Wood estates.He first learnt to perform illusions from his grandfather and developed the skill during trips to New Orleans. Wanting to innovate, Dynamo combined elements of dance and hip hop culture into his routines

IN THE NEWS: Kansas secretary of state says gays are free to leave

Well, although gay marriage was voted in this month for the residents of Washington State, Maine and Maryland, the center of the country is rabidly opposed to any rights, let alone protections against discrimination. In fact, the Kansas Secretary of State was a total bigot. I have to wonder if he goes to church on the weekends and says how good of a person he is toward others. Disgusting.
Read below.

Kansas secretary of state says gays are free to leave
Voters in two Kansas cities repealed LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances last week, after which Secretary of State Kris Kobach said that those who don't like the state’s conservative bent can move elsewhere. "There are true cultural differences between voters in Kansas and voters in New York or California. ... If a person wants to live in a San Francisco lifestyle, they can go there. If they want to live a Kansas lifestyle, they can come here," Kobach said. The Kansas City Star (Mo.) (11/10), The Wichita Eagle (Kan.) (11/10)


http://www.kansas.com/2012/11/07/2558845/opposition-leads-in-early-returns.html#storylink=cpy

From the NEWS: AZ Woman Runs Over Husband for Not Voting GOP

Sick and Twisted

When George W. Bush won a second term I was distraught, but I didn't flip out. Yes, I expected things to not be good (and they weren't), but I didn't try to run someone over, or move out of the country, or sign petitions to secede from the Union. There is so much INSANITY going on now because the President won re-election and I don't get it. He's already been in office 4 years and the economy has been slowly recovering (considering many countries are in an economic mess, it's understandable the recovery is slow- but it's recovering!). Anyway, people like this obviously have a few screws loose and need to be put away. This is just sick.  - Rob 

Arizona woman runs down husband with car for not voting (for Romney): police

PHOENIX | Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:47am EST

(Reuters) - An Arizona woman, in despair at the re-election of Democratic President Barack Obama, ran down her husband with the family car in suburban Phoenix on Saturday because he failed to vote in the election, police said on Monday.
Holly Solomon, 28, was arrested after running over husband Daniel Solomon following a wild chase that left him pinned underneath the vehicle.
Daniel Solomon, 36, was in critical condition at a local hospital, but is expected to survive, Gilbert police spokesman Sergeant Jesse Sanger said.
Police said Daniel Solomon told them his wife became angry over his "lack of voter participation" in last Tuesday's presidential election and believed her family would face hardship as a result of Obama winning another term.
Witnesses reported the argument broke out on Saturday morning in a parking lot and escalated. Mrs Solomon then chased her husband around the lot with the car, yelling at him as he tried to hide behind a light pole, police said. He was struck after attempting to flee to a nearby street.
Obama won the national election with 332 electoral votes compared with 206 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Arizona's 11 electoral votes were won by Romney.
(Reporting by David Schwartz.; Editing by Mary Slosson, Cynthia Johnston and Andre Grenon)

El Nino Now Not Appearing This Winter!

EL NINO IS NOW NOT FORECAST TO APPEAR THIS WINTER! 

Early data in Sept. indicated that we could have a developing El Nino this winter, but NASA Ocean surface temperature data has shown that the "warmer than normal" pool of water in the eastern Pacific Ocean that changes the course of the Jet stream and storms in the Northern Hemisphere, has not materialized. SO- Although I've told folks that if we had an El Nino winter, it would be colder and snowier, now there's no need to worry about it. It looks like an Average Winter for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S.  

   The full article from CBS News' "Our Amazing Planet" website is below, and my friend and climatologist colleague Dr. Bill Patzert is quoted in it.  - Rob

Story: http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3756-no-el-nino-forecast.html 

Adios, El Niño. Forecasters have called off predictions for a wet winter in the West, finally acceding that ocean temperatures in the Pacific show no signs of the infamous El Niño phenomenon.

Weather experts at the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) first warned of developing El Niño conditions in June. An El Niño is the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which results in major droughts in Southeast Asia and wet winters for the southwestern United States. In a boon for the battered Northeast, an El Niño would have meant less wintry weather there.

But in the following months, sea-surface temperatures failed to warm enough to shift global weather patterns. In early October, the CPC dropped the odds of an El Niño from 70 percent to 55 percent.

Finally, the CPC, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), called off the El

Nino forecast Thursday (Nov. 9). "The previous El Nino watch has been discontinued as the chance of 

El Nino has decreased," the CPC said yesterday in its monthly report.

This image is based on the average of 10 days of data centered on Oct. 13, 2012. It depicts places where the Pacific sea surface height is higher than normal (due to warm water) as yellow and red, while places where the sea surface is lower than normal (due to cool water) are shown in blues and purples. Green indicates near-normal conditions.
CREDIT: NASA/Jason-2

While chances of El Nino seem nil, the CPC said tropical ocean temperatures may still remain above

average.

Instead of El Niño, NOAA predicts that the neutral phase of the El Niño/ La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO)index will prevail. Jokingly called "La Nada," it is the neutral middle ground between El Niño and La Niña (associated with cool water in the equatorial Pacific).

El Niño expert Bill Patzert first pegged the La Nada back in June. "The equatorial Pacific is neutral, with no El Niño developing... not even a hint," said Patzert, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in June. Even as ocean temperatures warmed slightly, Patzert said he maintained the call.

"The atmospheric support never developed, and I was saying weak El Niño maybe, but basically La Nada," Patzert told OurAmazingPlanet in an email. "I wanted an El Niño, but I just couldn't make it happen."

La Nada makes storms more difficult to predict. Without ENSO's influence on storm patterns, forecasters lack a predictable guide for winter temperature and precipitation throughout the United States. For example, El Niño means more rain and snow in the south and the phenomenon even calms hurricanes in the Atlantic.

TWO DOG RESCUES and 2 DOGS THAT NEED HELP: Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue and Tickled Pink Weimaraner Rescue

We work with Dachshund and Weimaraner rescues and this week, two dogs came in with serious injuries that need funding to get surgeries. The stories are heartbreaking. Below is the info if you can help. Thanks, Rob and Tom

 Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue

Website

http://www.c2cdr.org

Check out the 'Fundraising & Gift Items' section of our website: http://www.c2cdr.org/index_about.html
Donate thru paypal:  CCDRDonations@c2cdr.org    PO Box 147,      Jacobus, Pennsylvania 17407

Donate thru our Facebook Cause page: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/136697?recruiter_id=24540173

OSCAR GOING INTO SURGERY:   Oscar will be having surgery tomorrow to have his right eye removed. It has chronic glaucoma caused from trauma. The vet says he must've been abused or hit by a car before he was found as a stray and then came to us from a shelter. The trauma is what caused him to be totally blind. Oscar is such a sweet boy, and so good with his nose and ears that he can almost convince you that he can see. Please keep Oscar in your thoughts tomorrow. Every penny donated to Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue goes to help dogs like Oscar!

Tickled Pink Weimaraner Rescue

Tickled Pink Weimaraner Rescue has had an almost overwhelming number of dogs come in recently. With the increasing number of special-needs Weimaraners we have in rescue, our volunteers have put together some Wish Lists for individual dogs. 

CACTUS PETE RECOVERING FROM SEVERE TRAUMA: Cactus Pete's health is poor. He's a senior Weimaraner that was chained outside his entire life. He was beaten and abused. He came to the rescue with a broken leg and many abrasions. He has been doing better since he came to the rescue, wagging his tail and wanting to snuggle. He may now be facing kidney issues, and tests are underway. There are fans who have asked if they can send anything Pete's way, and surely these items will be useful. Thank you. http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/VEPEFUHU6GB7/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o_T1-1 ♥

    12231 Academy Road NE, Suite #301-214,  Albuquerque, New Mexico 87111

 Email     contact@weimaranerrescue.org Website       

http://www.weimaranerrescue.org

http://www.tickledpink.petfinder.com

TOM'S ARCHITECTURE BLOG: Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

Here's the latest entry in Tom's Architecture blog. This time it features: Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

I have never been a fan of Frank Ghery’s work.  Once again, he has elicited my total shock and abject horror by successfully managing to win yet another commission of a monumental project:  designer/architect of the proposed Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.  

As with his proposed design for the addition to the Corcoran Museum (not constructed), his concept for the memorial is grossly out of scale, demonstrates the inability to make proper material selections, exhibits a tremendous waste of resources, is unsympathetic to the environment (The proposed site is on Independence Avenue, directly across from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum), lacks contexturalism, and is not a welcomed addition to the urban fabric.  

The images below have been taken from the internet.  Note how small the scaled figures (which represent people in the model) are in comparison to the huge piers.  Although the Department of Transportation Building by Edward Durell Stone is no prize, it does not warrant screening in this manner.   

Joke of the Week: The Spoon

Last week, we took some friends to a new restaurant, 'Steve's Place,' and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket.
It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket.
Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I inquired, 'Why the spoon?' 'Well, 'he explained,'the restaurant's owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour.
If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift.' As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it with his spare. 'I'll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now.' I was impressed.  I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter's fly.
Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I asked the waiter,
'Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have
that string right there?' "Oh, certainly!' Then he lowered his voice.
'Not everyone is so observant.
That consulting firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the restroom.
By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39%. I asked quietly, 'After you get it out, how do you put it back?' 'Well,' he whispered, 'I don't know about the others, but I use the spoon.'

Singing Dog: Franklin

Tom and Franklin singing together

 Tom taught our Dachshund Franklin to sing whenever Tom sings "You are my sunshine," and here are some pics of the singing event!  Maureen and Ruthie were treated to the impromptu concert during their brief but fun visit here.

the duet continues

sprite wondering what that noise is!

Dolly and Franklin resting after the concert

Superman's Home Planet Krypton 'Found'

From, SPACE.COM:   A prominent astrophysicist has pinned down a real location for Superman's fictional home planet of Krypton.

From Superman #14- Krypton Found!

Krypton is found 27.1 light-years from Earth, in the southern constellation Corvus (The Crow), says Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium in New York City. The planet orbits the red dwarf star LHS 2520, which is cooler and smaller than our sun.

Tyson performed the celestial sleuthing at the request of DC Comics, which wanted to run a story about Superman's search for his home planet.

The new book — Action Comics Superman #14, titled "Star Light, Star Bright" — comes out Wednesday (Nov. 7). Tyson appears within its pages, aiding the Man of Steel on his quest.

"As a native of Metropolis, I was delighted to help Superman, who has done so much for my city over all these years," Tyson said in a statement. "And it’s clear that if he weren’t a superhero he would have made quite an astrophysicist."

You'll have to read "Star Light, Star Bright" to find out just how Superman and Tyson pinpoint Krypton. For amateur astronomers who want to spot the real star LHS 2520 in the night sky, here are its coordinates:

Right Ascension: 12 hours 10 minutes 5.77 seconds

Declination:  -15 degrees 4 minutes 17.9 seconds

Proper Motion: 0.76 arcseconds per year, along 172.94 degrees from due north

Superman was born on Krytpon but was launched toward Earth as an infant by his father, Jor-El, just before the planet's destruction. After touching down in Kansas, Superman was raised as Clark Kent by a farmer and his wife.

Now Superman will apparently know exactly where he came from.

"This is a major milestone in the Superman mythos that gives our super hero a place in the universe," DC Entertainment co-publisher Dan DiDio said in a statement. "Having Neil deGrasse Tyson in the book was one thing, but by applying real-world science to this story he has forever changed Superman’s place in history. Now fans will be able to look up at the night’s sky and say, 'That’s where Superman was born.'"

Visit from Maureen and Ruthie : Part 3: Barb Mallon Event

goat man and Barb

 On Saturday, Oct. 27th we all went to Barb Mallon's Double Medium event, with medium Charles Filius and Tarot Reader Tim Boyd. Some people dressed in costume. It was quite an event to remember. I (Rob) got to do the introductions for everyone and got a message from a young man that was killed in a car accident.

Rob and Barb

Rob and Barb Mallon