With apologies to Vincent

(click picture for full image)
I was reading an article about the Chinese space program online at www.astronautix.com and the sidebar had a quote from Vincent Van Gogh. I don't think there was a connection (they put a lot of different things on the side bar of their pages), but it inspired me to "edit" his Starry Night Over the Rhone. The rocket is a real one that Liv built and launched for some science fair projects.

Braves vs. Twins World Series

Sorry about the Twins...I would have enjoyed rooting for them after the Brave's usual October swoon. There were almost as many Cub fans at the Atlanta stadium last night as Braves fans, and they hung around afterwards to celebrate...well, it's football season, and at least you all have a good team...Have fun...

J.

Thanks for the recommendation - we're going to stay at Thomsonite this weekend for 1 night. We'll let you know how it is!

Highly recommended: http://www.thomsonite.com/

It's right on the lake within Cascade State Park and about 10 miles south of Grand Marais. Very nice and reasonable too (some of the places within Grand Marais itself are very expensive). Every unit is different.

Quick question for those of you who went up to the north shore recently. Where did you stay, and would you recommend staying there? How much was it?

Maria and I are planning on going to the North Shore/Lutsen next weekend, and would like some ideas of where to stay that aren't too expensive.

Braves VS. Twins?

I hope so! I'd love to see another 7 game victory by the twins.. :) And I bet we won't even need help from some off-balance Brave base-runners this time..

Cheating? If certain Braves are too weak to stay on a base, maybe they should develop some muscle.

Joel and I are driving back and forth to St. Francis for the "Sound of Music" pit orchestra six nights this week. We both have colds and would rather not be staying up 'til midnight, but we should have thought of that before we joined up.

Swedes...May he live 100 years, or maybe it just seems like it...

How is everyone doing? Are any of you all stoked about the Major League playoffs, and the possibility of a repeat of 91? No cheating this time!...

J.

Ja, må han leva

Here are the English words for the Swedish Birthday song:


Yes, may he (she) live, Yes, may he live,
Yes, may he (she) live till he's a hundred years old.
Yes, may he (she) live, Yes, may he live,
Yes, may he (she) live till he's a hundred years old.


[click on the words to see lyrics in English and Swedish AND hear the tune. Thanks, Paul!]

Eight thumbs up for "Urinetown"

Last night we saw the touring production of "Urinetown" and all thought it was very good, although hard to describe. Paul asks if it's the same thing as "Georgetown" (think about it).

Thanks for hosting the communal birthday party, Matt and Janelle. Peter forgot to mention that Paul taught us how to sing the Swedish 'happy birthday' song--much livelier than the English-language one.

Rocket Swedes

Livvi'i:Aren't the Swedes a little slow on the uptake with the whole lunar mission thing?

Hardly! They're displaying elegance, cleverly building an efficient rocket. They piggybacked off of a rocket launching a bunch of satellites (thrifty Swedes!). Ion engines like this (also used by NASA in Deep Space One) are very cool (if you like this kind of thing). Getting to Mars with one would be slower, for example, but it would only need .8 kilograms of fuel for every kilogram going to Mars (instead of 3.5 Kilos for ever Kilo being sent with a chemical rocket).

Cool pic (pics) Peter!

Happy September Birthdays!

We all had a great time over at Matt and Janelle's house for the September Birthdays. We had pizza, cake and played Trivial Pursuit till late. The game ended up with two teams tied..

Happy birthday Paul, Janelle and Tom!

Liv's Update

Aren't the Swedes a little slow on the uptake with the whole lunar mission thing?
Just got back from a retreat today where I was a teen mentor for the confirmation students. It was a lot of fun. Sorry I couldn't be at the b-day party, I heard it was off the heezy.
----Livvi'i

Swedes in Space!


The first European Lunar mission - built in SWEDEN - is under way!

Of course it's a smart one! that is, the ship name is SMART-1.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

 _   _ 

| | | | __ _ _ __  _ __  _   _ 

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            |_|   |_|    |___/ 

 

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(No, I don't know why I used squirrels - I guess because the Ascii Art dictionary only had a map of Sweden.)

(and Peter - scroll down a little to find a report about anyone ... heading to the north shore this year.)

So Tom, when can we expect the next chapter in your book/blog?

Fall is upon us! Trees are turning colors, and the weather is getting cooler. Look at the beautiful splash of color on the trees outside my work!



Is anyone planning on heading to the north shore this year to see the leaves? I think the entire family should go to Lutsen or somewhere on the north shore some year for a family getaway.. what do you think?

Happy Birthday

to Lynda... I hope you had a wonderful day.
to Tom... How well I remember 23 years ago today! A very happy day, indeed.
to Janelle... 11 days late... best wishes to you too!
I went to my first Twins game of the year tonight. Two home runs, a triple and a great catch in right field.
Looking forward to Saturday. Our cross country team is hosting a big event in Powderhorn park earlier in the day... teams from 5 states coming.
This really is Nancy... you can tell by my style of speech.

the day when the clowns came in from their long years of crying

hello all of you buckeroos out there. how are you all doing. this is nancy of course, if you hadnt already guessed by my style of speech. just kidding gang. this is stevie. so liv and norris I guess this is where you yell things like "raise da roof" and dance around all ghetto. peace out cousins. happy birthday to all my peeps in radioland. peace

Happy Birthday, Lynda and Tom!

        _____ 

       q o o p          | 

       q o!o p     |   _|    |                          --\\ 

       d o!o b    _|  (@)   _|   |                    --    X 

        \!!!/    (@)       (@)  _|                   /    // 

        |===|                  (@)                   /  // 

        |!!!|        Happy Birthday....           \\/ // 

        |!!!|              To....  You|           --\X 

        |!!!|                        _|       \\--   /\ 

        |!!!|               |       (_)        /\\  / 

        |!!!|              _|                //   XX 

       _|!!!|__           (@)               / O //  \ 

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 \     =======     //  \   /  // 

  `.    ooooo    .;'    \\/  / 

    `-._______.-'         \\/ 

                            \ 

(yes, I know the Recorder and Guitar aren't quite the right scale)

Don't like your job, and wish you had something better? Remember to count your blessings, it could be worse!