kelson

kelson, 1 month ago to Astronomy

Plural of Eclipse

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/53640868001/

For a lot of reasons, we didn’t arrange another road trip to see today’s total eclipse like we did in 2017 (which was amazing, by the way!). It was only partial out here in California, and not even with as high a magnitude as the one last October.

But we had clear skies, so we broke out the eclipse glasses from 2017 again. After testing them first by looking directly as a bright indoor lamp to make sure there were no scratches. And I’d heard that colanders make interesting patterns (each hole works as a pinhole camera) much like overlapping leaves do, so I brought that out — as you can see, it worked quite well!

I do kind of regret not being able to get out to see this one as total. Partial eclipses can be really cool, especially if you have multiple ways to observe them, but XKCD has a point. There really isn’t any comparison to experiencing totality, and it doesn’t come through very well in photos.

I bet northern Spain is already booked for 2026.

It is interesting to think that solar eclipses happen every year — usually twice! — but they’re not always total, and they’re only visible from a small part of the planet at a time. And sometimes that’s a slice of, say, Antarctica or Siberia or out in the middle of the ocean. Not rare for the planet, but definitely rare for any given location.

On one hand, it’s no wonder people used to see them as omens. With travel and communication slow (and in many cases impossible) in the ancient world, if you’re only going on what’s been seen in your area, it seems super-rare and unpredictable. On the other hand, cultures with sophisticated enough astronomy like the ancient Babylonians were able to calculate the eclipse cycle thousands of years ago!

One bit of funny timing: We’ve been catching up on the last season of The Magicians. Today we got up to an episode that…well, let’s just say the moon figures in it!

#astronomy #eclipse #history #shadows #solarEclipse

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2024/04/plural-of-eclipse/

kelson, 2 months ago to random

I Voted, Primarily

Last Friday, I dropped off my ballot for today’s primary election. I’ve got to say, I really appreciate the new approach in LA County of mailing everyone eligible a ballot, maintaining permanent drop boxes at relevant locations (libraries, etc.), and opening some polling places early to accept completed ballots.

MUCH more convenient than needing the time on one specific day and, in elections with a lot of turnout, waiting 45 minutes, an hour, or longer.

The longest I’ve waited was when I was living in Orange County, either 2003 or 2004, and they actually had to apply the “if you’re in line at closing time, you get to vote” rule. Someone brought a box of to-go coffee from the Starbucks down the street (I think Starbucks might have donated it, too?) and was offering it either to the poll workers or to those of us still in line.

The first election in which the county implemented early voting and flexible polling places (instead of requiring you to get to the specific place on your sample ballot) was also the week before COVID-19 hit the area. Now that I think of it, they still didn’t send out an actual ballot by mail unless you requested one. That changed that when it became clear COVID wasn’t going to just blow over before November. Since then some of the smaller, local elections have been mail-only.

Four years….WTF

#2024PresidentialCampaign #election #voting

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2024/03/i-voted-primarily/

kelson, 4 months ago to random

Googly Eyes! Googly Eyes Everywhere!

Sign saying Please Clean Up After Your Pet with a silhouette of a pooping dog and a red NO circle drawn around it. Someone has placed googly eyes on the dog.

#googlyEyes #signs

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2024/01/googly-eyes/

kelson, 5 months ago to nature

Do Not Taunt the Native Plants

Sign in front of some scraggly bushes: Endangered butterfly Habitat. Please do not bebother, bend, break, bulldose, collect, cross, crumple, crush, cut off, cut through, enter, harvest, knock down, molest, pick, pluck, plunder, ruffle, slice, snap, snatch, steal, thrash, trample, traverse, tread upon, tromp on, uproot, vex or walk through the California native plands: and exert such precautions required to ensure your two and/or four-legged beloved progeny comply as well. -- South Bay Parkland Conservancy www.southbayparks.org

Along the Hermosa Beach greenbelt. The South Bay Parkland Conservancy has been restoring parts of the habitat near the south end of the trail to support monarchs and other endangered butterflies.

#nature #plants #signs #words

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2023/12/do-not-taunt-the-native-plants/

kelson, 10 months ago to apple

Location, Location, Location

Took the Macbook in for battery service yesterday. Fortunately it was easy to tell which store to bring it to!

Related

#apple #apple-store #mall #store

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2023/06/mac-apple/

kelson, 1 year ago to Halloween

Halloween, the TL;DR Edition

A teal pumpkin carved with the silhouette of a deer's head and antlers.

Oddly quiet night here. Big change from last year when everyone seemed to be going all-out because they finally felt like they could.

#Halloween #Pumpkin #TealPumpkinProject

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2022/10/halloween-tldr/

kelson, 4 years ago to Starwars

Artoo Has Been In Low Power Mode

Sign with R2-D2 and the text: Large electronic devices must be turned off and stowed.

Sign spotted near LAX.

Update: Replaced with a clearer photo. The original one was backlit during late afternoon.

#LAX #R2D2 #StarWars

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2019/11/artoo-low-power/

kelson, 7 years ago to Halloween

Teal Pumpkins Go Retail

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ6YMZDACXJ/

Cool: Michael’s is selling plastic teal pumpkins for people who plan on offering non-food treats for allergic trick or treaters as part of the Teal Pumpkin Project. You can still paint a pumpkin teal, of course, but this simplifies the setup. (Are we really that close to Halloween already?)

#Allergies #FARE #FoodAllergy #Halloween #ImportedPost #Pumpkin #SeeAlsoInstagram #TealPumpkinProject

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2016/09/teal-pumpkins-retail/

kelson, 9 years ago to Starwars

Order 66, Extra Crispy

A paper receipt from a fast food restaurant, saying 'Your Order Number 66' and 'There's no substitute for quality!'

Appropriately, the kiddo was wearing his Darth Vader shirt.

#receipt #RevengeOfTheSith #StarWars

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2014/10/order66/

kelson, 10 years ago to sandiego

Death Star Window

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/9332630650/

Partway down the central escalator at the San Diego Convention center, you can look down the long cylindrical skylight that makes up the roof of the lobby, rings forming the appearance of concentric circles. Years ago, a friend of mine referred to it as the Death Star Cannon shot, and it’s a popular one to take, both during Comic Con and at other events.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/9329829709/

At this year’s Comic-Con International, I found myself looking at the windows surrounding the stairs instead. My first thought was to mix things up with the classic cannon shot, but when I got home and looked at the results, I realized: This really does resemble the windows in the Emperor’s throne room. It’s still a Death Star shot, but a different part of the station!

If you’d like to see more photos or read more about my experience at the convention, check out https://hyperborea.org/journal/2013/07/comic-con-2013/.

See Also: Convention Photos & Write-Ups

#ComicCon #ImportedPost #SanDiego #SDCC #SeeAlsoParallelLines #StarWars #window

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2013/07/death-star-window/

Looking along a long, semi-open tube in a building, with the Comic-Con banner in the center.

kelson, 10 years ago to art

The Mutant Three-Eyed Fish of San Pedro

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/8931440263/

On the side of the road between Angel’s Gate Park and Point Fermin Park. A little ways downhill there was a one-eyed octopus.

Originally posted to Instagram with a slightly different photo taken on my phone, filtered to disguise the fact that the phone camera just wasn’t very good.

#art #fish #ImportedPost #LosAngeles #mural #SanPedro #weird

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2013/06/mutant-fish/

kelson, 11 years ago to Starwars

Party like it’s 1977…

Star Wars Toys Party on the Fisher Price Record Player.

Believe it or not, the record player is new. It turns out there’s a whole subset of the toy market for retro toys. It’s a bit different under the hood – I’ve had to fix it once already, and it’s actually chip-driven, not classic music box works. I figure it’s probably cheaper these days to make it with fewer moving parts.

#ImportedPost #SeeAlsoFacebook #StarWars #Toys

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2013/05/party-like-its-1977/