“Watch the Perseid meteor shower tonight and have a star-gazing tea party! - Examiner”

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Watch the Perseid meteor shower tonight and have a star-gazing tea party! - Examiner Posted: 19 Jun 2010 01:42 PM PDT 2 comments Subscribe Subscribe The Perseid meteor shower is expected to occur between 11 p.m. on Tuesday and 5 a.m. on Thursday, with the greatest activity between midnight and 5 a.m. on Wednesday. Although it's already Wednesday, the show is not over yet! Why not pack some warm blankets, lawn chairs, and a thermos of hot tea tonight, and go up into the hills east of San Jose and Milpitas, to see the shooting stars? A more robust brew, like a strong Assam or Irish Breakfast, with a good amount of caffeine to keep you awake long enough to see the meteors, would be a good idea. One of the most convenient places to buy some loose-leaf Assam or other black tea is good old Peet's Coffee and Tea; there is a store downtown San Jose on Santa Clara, near Market St. A midnight snack -- tea party style, of course -- is a natural accompaniment. Not sure what snacks to bring? This is a perfect time to go to your tea party cupboard and put together an impromptu tea party! Now for the perfect star-gazing spot. According to the Yahoo news site, "the best location is far from city and suburban lights. Ideally, find a structure, mountain or tree to block the moon. Then scan as much of the sky as possible. The meteors can appear anywhere, heading in any direction. If you trace their paths backward, they'll all point to the constellation Perseus. ... Allow at least 15 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to the darkness. Then expect meteors to be sporadic: You might see two in a row, or several minutes could go by between shooting stars." Places away from the lights of the city include Mt. Hamilton, Coyote Park and Joseph D. Grant County Park, Houge Park (Twilight @ White Oaks, Near S. Bascom North Of 85) and the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch (Camino Verde and Manila Drive, Santa Teresa County Park). You might also be able to go into the foothills east of Milpitas, or on Alum Rock road, although Alum Rock Park will be closed 30 minutes after sunset. Be aware that all city parks close at dusk, so you should call the San Jose Parks and Recreation during their office hours to see if any parks will have extended hours for the Perseid meteors. There are several options for stargazing in the San Jose area, so why not get out the map and find some place? Call around to the big county parks and see if you can enter them before they close for the night, and leave much later. Or, you can set up a lawn chair and bring your tea onto your own front or back yard, and see what you can see. Relive some of your childhood and spend some night time gazing at the stars! NOTE: this entire article is copyrighted by its author. If you would like to re-post or link to this article, a title with byline, and a link back to this page are required, along with my permission. You can e-mail me at southbayladiesteaguild@yahoo.com. Thanks! Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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“NASA Prepares for Potentially Damaging 2011 Meteor Shower - msnbc.com”

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NASA Prepares for Potentially Damaging 2011 Meteor Shower - msnbc.com Posted: 17 Jun 2010 03:44 AM PDT NASA is assessing the risk to spacecraft posed by the upcoming 2011 Draconid meteor shower, a seven-hour storm of tiny space rocks that has the potential to ding major Earth-orbiting spacecraft like the crewed International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. The meteor shower risk assessment is actually more art than science, and there has been some variation in the projected intensity levels of the 2011 Draconids by meteoroid forecasters. But spacecraft operators are already being notified to weigh defensive steps. Current meteor forecast models project a strong Draconid outburst, possibly a full-blown storm, on Oct. 8, 2011, according to William Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The Draconids do present some risk to spacecraft, Cooke confirmed. They could potentially become the next significant event in low-Earth orbit as far as meteoroids are concerned, he added. Cooke and Danielle Moser of Stanley, Inc., also of Huntsville, presented their Draconid data at Meteoroids 2010 - an international conference on minor bodies in the solar system held May 24-28 in Breckenridge, Colo. The conference was sponsored in part by NorthWest Research Associates/CoRADivision, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research. Less flashy, but risk exists The yearly Draconids are not known for their bright meteor displays, Cooke said. Predicted intensity rates for 2011 span an order of magnitude, he added, with maximum Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, ranging from a few tens to several hundred as viewed by a single observer. A Marshall Space Flight Center Meteoroid Stream Model based on radar and optical observations of past Draconid showers suggests that the maximum rate will be several hundreds per hour. So why the worry? Cooke said that a significant fraction of spacecraft anomalies produced by shower meteoroids are caused by electrostatic discharges when meteoroid meets satellite. And while no spacecraft electrical problems were reported during the strong Draconid outbursts of 1985 and 1998, he said that the lack of past anomalies should not be taken as carte blanche for satellite operators to ignore in 2011. The chance of electrical anomalies is low, however, due to the Draconids slow speed, Cooke pointed out. "We're already working with NASA programs to deal with spacecraft risk," Cooke said. "I imagine when the word gets out there will be a Draconid outburst, I'll get the usual calls from comsat companies as well as government space programs," he told SPACE.com. Out on the limb The International Space Station is heavily armored against orbital debris. That being the case, "we don't expect anything to go wrong there," Cooke said. However, the Draconids will appear above the Earth's limb making it a spectacular looking out-the-windows celestial show for the space station crew. "I have no concerns about the space station. Even if the Draconids were a full-scale meteor storm I would be confident that the space station program would take the right steps to mitigate the risk," Cooke said. The most radical step would be to reorient the space station, Cooke said. "But frankly, given the flux levels, I don't think they are going to have to do that," he added. "But that's their call. I'll give then the flux levels and they'll make the decision." One measure that space station officials could take, he added, is not to perform spacewalks during the shower. For the Hubble Space Telescope, if its operators deem the risk high enough, they will point the observatory away from the Draconid radiant the point from which the shower appears to emanate. "Any time you take a mitigation strategy, like changing a spacecraft's attitude or turning off high-voltage, that incurs risk as well," Cooke said. Caution is key Each spacecraft is unique, and components have differing damage thresholds, so programs are encouraged to conduct analyses to determine whether or not mitigation strategies are necessary for their vehicles ahead of next year's Draconids. Cooke said that the spacecraft threat from meteor showers in the past particularly the 1998 Leonids produced more hype than hypervelocity impacts. "We really didn't understand what was going on," he added. "Now we have a much better feel. But the Leonids did sensitize spacecraft operators to worry about meteor showers. Perhaps, sometimes, they worry more than they should." In early 2011, Cooke said that he'll be revising his Draconid prediction also making use of data from other forecasters around the globe which will be released to spacecraft operators. "There's also an awful lot of windage in there too," Cooke added. "We're like the weather reportersour forecast changesand the general trend is always downward," Cooke said. Still, caution is the watchword. "Because we can now forecast them, we have a way of putting it. If you are hit by a sporadic [meteor], it's an act of God. If you are hit by a shower meteoroid, it's an act of negligence," Cooke said. Images - The Best of Leonid Meteor Shower Some of the Worst Space Debris Moments in History NASA Wants You ... to Help Find Meteorites Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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“Draconid meteor shower: NASA prepares for potentially damaging 2011 meteor shower - The Christian Science Monitor” plus 2 more

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• Draconid meteor shower: NASA prepares for potentially damaging 2011 meteor shower - The Christian Science Monitor
• Draconid meteor shower: NASA prepares for potentially damaging 2011 meteor shower - The Christian Science Monitor
• NASA Prepares for Potentially Damaging 2011 Meteor Shower - YAHOO!

Draconid meteor shower: NASA prepares for potentially damaging 2011 meteor shower - The Christian Science Monitor Posted: 16 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT NASA is assessing the risk to spacecraft posed by the upcoming 2011 Draconid meteor shower, a seven-hour storm of tiny space rocks that has the potential to ding major Earth-orbiting spacecraft like the crewed International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Skip to next paragraph The meteor shower risk assessment is actually more art than science, and there has been some variation in the projected intensity levels of the 2011 Draconids by meteoroid forecasters. But spacecraft operators are already being notified to weigh defensive steps. Current meteor forecast models project a strong Draconid outburst, possibly a full-blown storm, on Oct. 8, 2011, according to William Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. IN PICTURES: Meteor showers The Draconids do present some risk to spacecraft, Cooke confirmed. They could potentially become the next significant event in low-Earth orbit as far as meteoroids are concerned, he added. Cooke and Danielle Moser of Stanley, Inc., also of Huntsville, presented their Draconid data at Meteoroids 2010 - an international conference on minor bodies in the solar system held May 24-28 in Breckenridge, Colo. The conference was sponsored in part by NorthWest Research Associates/CoRADivision, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research. Less flashy, but risk exists The yearly Draconids are not known for their bright meteor displays, Cooke said. Predicted intensity rates for 2011 span an order of magnitude, he added, with maximum Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, ranging from a few tens to several hundred as viewed by a single observer. A Marshall Space Flight Center Meteoroid Stream Model based on radar and optical observations of past Draconid showers suggests that the maximum rate will be several hundreds per hour. So why the worry? Cooke said that a significant fraction of spacecraft anomalies produced by shower meteoroids are caused by electrostatic discharges when meteoroid meets satellite. And while no spacecraft electrical problems were reported during the strong Draconid outbursts of 1985 and 1998, he said that the lack of past anomalies should not be taken as carte blanche for satellite operators to ignore in 2011. The chance of electrical anomalies is low, however, due to the Draconids slow speed, Cooke pointed out. "We're already working with NASA programs to deal with spacecraft risk," Cooke said. "I imagine when the word gets out there will be a Draconid outburst, I'll get the usual calls from comsat companies as well as government space programs," he told SPACE.com. Out on the limb The International Space Station is heavily armored against orbital debris. That being the case, "we don't expect anything to go wrong there," Cooke said. However, the Draconids will appear above the Earth's limb making it a spectacular looking out-the-windows celestial show for the space station crew. "I have no concerns about the space station. Even if the Draconids were a full-scale meteor storm I would be confident that the space station program would take the right steps to mitigate the risk," Cooke said. The most radical step would be to reorient the space station, Cooke said. "But frankly, given the flux levels, I don't think they are going to have to do that," he added. "But that's their call. I'll give then the flux levels and they'll make the decision." One measure that space station officials could take, he added, is not to perform spacewalks during the shower. For the Hubble Space Telescope, if its operators deem the risk high enough, they will point the observatory away from the Draconid radiant – the point from which the shower appears to emanate. "Any time you take a mitigation strategy, like changing a spacecraft's attitude or turning off high-voltage, that incurs risk as well," Cooke said. Caution is key Each spacecraft is unique, and components have differing damage thresholds, so programs are encouraged to conduct analyses to determine whether or not mitigation strategies are necessary for their vehicles ahead of next year's Draconids. Cooke said that the spacecraft threat from meteor showers in the past – particularly the 1998 Leonids – produced more hype than hypervelocity impacts. "We really didn't understand what was going on," he added. "Now we have a much better feel. But the Leonids did sensitize spacecraft operators to worry about meteor showers. Perhaps, sometimes, they worry more than they should." In early 2011, Cooke said that he'll be revising his Draconid prediction – also making use of data from other forecasters around the globe – which will be released to spacecraft operators. "There's also an awful lot of windage in there too," Cooke added. "We're like the weather reporters...our forecast changes...and the general trend is always downward," Cooke said. Still, caution is the watchword. "Because we can now forecast them, we have a way of putting it. If you are hit by a sporadic [meteor], it's an act of God. If you are hit by a shower meteoroid, it's an act of negligence," Cooke said. Images - The Best of Leonid Meteor Shower Some of the Worst Space Debris Moments in History NASA Wants You ... to Help Find Meteorites Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999. RELATED: Streaking chunks of Halley's Comet producing Eta Aquarid meteor shower Fireball found: Chunk of huge meteor that exploded over Wisconsin located Ancient meteorites in Antarctica could reveal origins of Solar System IN PICTURES: Meteor showers Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Draconid meteor shower: NASA prepares for potentially damaging 2011 meteor shower - The Christian Science Monitor Posted: 16 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT NASA is assessing the risk to spacecraft posed by the upcoming 2011 Draconid meteor shower, a seven-hour storm of tiny space rocks that has the potential to ding major Earth-orbiting spacecraft like the crewed International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Skip to next paragraph The meteor shower risk assessment is actually more art than science, and there has been some variation in the projected intensity levels of the 2011 Draconids by meteoroid forecasters. But spacecraft operators are already being notified to weigh defensive steps. Current meteor forecast models project a strong Draconid outburst, possibly a full-blown storm, on Oct. 8, 2011, according to William Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. IN PICTURES: Meteor showers The Draconids do present some risk to spacecraft, Cooke confirmed. They could potentially become the next significant event in low-Earth orbit as far as meteoroids are concerned, he added. Cooke and Danielle Moser of Stanley, Inc., also of Huntsville, presented their Draconid data at Meteoroids 2010 - an international conference on minor bodies in the solar system held May 24-28 in Breckenridge, Colo. The conference was sponsored in part by NorthWest Research Associates/CoRADivision, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research. Less flashy, but risk exists The yearly Draconids are not known for their bright meteor displays, Cooke said. Predicted intensity rates for 2011 span an order of magnitude, he added, with maximum Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, ranging from a few tens to several hundred as viewed by a single observer. A Marshall Space Flight Center Meteoroid Stream Model based on radar and optical observations of past Draconid showers suggests that the maximum rate will be several hundreds per hour. So why the worry? Cooke said that a significant fraction of spacecraft anomalies produced by shower meteoroids are caused by electrostatic discharges when meteoroid meets satellite. And while no spacecraft electrical problems were reported during the strong Draconid outbursts of 1985 and 1998, he said that the lack of past anomalies should not be taken as carte blanche for satellite operators to ignore in 2011. The chance of electrical anomalies is low, however, due to the Draconids slow speed, Cooke pointed out. "We're already working with NASA programs to deal with spacecraft risk," Cooke said. "I imagine when the word gets out there will be a Draconid outburst, I'll get the usual calls from comsat companies as well as government space programs," he told SPACE.com. Out on the limb The International Space Station is heavily armored against orbital debris. That being the case, "we don't expect anything to go wrong there," Cooke said. However, the Draconids will appear above the Earth's limb making it a spectacular looking out-the-windows celestial show for the space station crew. "I have no concerns about the space station. Even if the Draconids were a full-scale meteor storm I would be confident that the space station program would take the right steps to mitigate the risk," Cooke said. The most radical step would be to reorient the space station, Cooke said. "But frankly, given the flux levels, I don't think they are going to have to do that," he added. "But that's their call. I'll give then the flux levels and they'll make the decision." One measure that space station officials could take, he added, is not to perform spacewalks during the shower. For the Hubble Space Telescope, if its operators deem the risk high enough, they will point the observatory away from the Draconid radiant – the point from which the shower appears to emanate. "Any time you take a mitigation strategy, like changing a spacecraft's attitude or turning off high-voltage, that incurs risk as well," Cooke said. Caution is key Each spacecraft is unique, and components have differing damage thresholds, so programs are encouraged to conduct analyses to determine whether or not mitigation strategies are necessary for their vehicles ahead of next year's Draconids. Cooke said that the spacecraft threat from meteor showers in the past – particularly the 1998 Leonids – produced more hype than hypervelocity impacts. "We really didn't understand what was going on," he added. "Now we have a much better feel. But the Leonids did sensitize spacecraft operators to worry about meteor showers. Perhaps, sometimes, they worry more than they should." In early 2011, Cooke said that he'll be revising his Draconid prediction – also making use of data from other forecasters around the globe – which will be released to spacecraft operators. "There's also an awful lot of windage in there too," Cooke added. "We're like the weather reporters...our forecast changes...and the general trend is always downward," Cooke said. Still, caution is the watchword. "Because we can now forecast them, we have a way of putting it. If you are hit by a sporadic [meteor], it's an act of God. If you are hit by a shower meteoroid, it's an act of negligence," Cooke said. Images - The Best of Leonid Meteor Shower Some of the Worst Space Debris Moments in History NASA Wants You ... to Help Find Meteorites Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999. RELATED: Streaking chunks of Halley's Comet producing Eta Aquarid meteor shower Fireball found: Chunk of huge meteor that exploded over Wisconsin located Ancient meteorites in Antarctica could reveal origins of Solar System IN PICTURES: Meteor showers Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

NASA Prepares for Potentially Damaging 2011 Meteor Shower - YAHOO! Posted: 16 Jun 2010 01:03 PM PDT NASA is assessing the risk to spacecraft posed by the upcoming 2011 Draconid meteor shower, a seven-hour storm of tiny space rocks that has the potential to ding major Earth-orbiting spacecraft like the crewed International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. The meteor shower risk assessment is actually more art than science, and there has been some variation in the projected intensity levels of the 2011 Draconids by meteoroid forecasters. But spacecraft operators are already being notified to weigh defensive steps. Current meteor forecast models project a strong Draconid outburst, possibly a full-blown storm, on Oct. 8, 2011, according to William Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The Draconids do present some risk to spacecraft, Cooke confirmed. They could potentially become the next significant event in low-Earth orbit as far as meteoroids are concerned, he added. Cooke and Danielle Moser of Stanley, Inc., also of Huntsville, presented their Draconid data at Meteoroids 2010 - an international conference on minor bodies in the solar system held May 24-28 in Breckenridge, Colo. The conference was sponsored in part by NorthWest Research Associates/CoRADivision, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research. Less flashy, but risk exists The yearly Draconids are not known for their bright meteor displays, Cooke said. Predicted intensity rates for 2011 span an order of magnitude, he added, with maximum Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, ranging from a few tens to several hundred as viewed by a single observer. A Marshall Space Flight Center Meteoroid Stream Model based on radar and optical observations of past Draconid showers suggests that the maximum rate will be several hundreds per hour. So why the worry? Cooke said that a significant fraction of spacecraft anomalies produced by shower meteoroids are caused by electrostatic discharges when meteoroid meets satellite. And while no spacecraft electrical problems were reported during the strong Draconid outbursts of 1985 and 1998, he said that the lack of past anomalies should not be taken as carte blanche for satellite operators to ignore in 2011. The chance of electrical anomalies is low, however, due to the Draconids slow speed, Cooke pointed out. "We're already working with NASA programs to deal with spacecraft risk," Cooke said. "I imagine when the word gets out there will be a Draconid outburst, I'll get the usual calls from comsat companies as well as government space programs," he told SPACE.com. Out on the limb The International Space Station  is heavily armored against orbital debris. That being the case, "we don't expect anything to go wrong there," Cooke said. However, the Draconids will appear above the Earth's limb making it a spectacular looking out-the-windows celestial show for the space station crew. "I have no concerns about the space station. Even if the Draconids were a full-scale meteor storm I would be confident that the space station program would take the right steps to mitigate the risk," Cooke said. The most radical step would be to reorient the space station, Cooke said. "But frankly, given the flux levels, I don't think they are going to have to do that," he added. "But that's their call. I'll give then the flux levels and they'll make the decision." One measure that space station officials could take, he added, is not to perform spacewalks during the shower. For the Hubble Space Telescope, if its operators deem the risk high enough, they will point the observatory away from the Draconid radiant – the point from which the shower appears to emanate. "Any time you take a mitigation strategy, like changing a spacecraft's attitude or turning off high-voltage, that incurs risk as well," Cooke said. Caution is key Each spacecraft is unique, and components have differing damage thresholds, so programs are encouraged to conduct analyses to determine whether or not mitigation strategies are necessary for their vehicles ahead of next year's Draconids. Cooke said that the spacecraft threat from meteor showers in the past – particularly the 1998 Leonids – produced more hype than hypervelocity impacts. "We really didn't understand what was going on," he added. "Now we have a much better feel. But the Leonids did sensitize spacecraft operators to worry about meteor showers. Perhaps, sometimes, they worry more than they should." In early 2011, Cooke said that he'll be revising his Draconid prediction – also making use of data from other forecasters around the globe – which will be released to spacecraft operators. "There's also an awful lot of windage in there too," Cooke added. "We're like the weather reporters...our forecast changes...and the general trend is always downward," Cooke said. Still, caution is the watchword. "Because we can now forecast them, we have a way of putting it. If you are hit by a sporadic [meteor], it's an act of God. If you are hit by a shower meteoroid, it's an act of negligence," Cooke said. Images - The Best of Leonid Meteor Shower Some of the Worst Space Debris Moments in History NASA Prepares for Potentially Damaging 2011 Meteor Shower SPACE.com offers rich and compelling content about space science, travel and exploration as well as astronomy, technology, business news and more. The site boasts a variety of popular features including our space image of the day and other space pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, sign up for our free newsletters and register for our RSS Feeds today! Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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“Protect Your Camera by Keeping it Cool This Summer Season - Associated Content”

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Protect Your Camera by Keeping it Cool This Summer Season - Associated Content Posted: 15 Jun 2010 10:34 AM PDT Summer's coming and you plan on keeping yourself cool. But you must not forget that there's a "friend" that you'll carry around a lot in the summer that needs cooling too: your camera. The summer heat can be really damaging for a camera, so you need to take care of it and protect it as much as possible. Well, that's what this article's about. You'll be learning some tricks to get your camera safe through the summer. I think one of the biggest mistake people do regarding their cameras is leaving them exposed to direct sunlight with the lens cap off and the lens pointing upwards. You should never do that; it creates irreparable or expensive to repair damages. If you're going to the beach, it is best if you use an insulated camera bag to keep it safe. If you do not own one, here's the perfect place to find out the nearest shop you can buy one from: http://www.lowepro.com/intl. If you don't have a case and for some reason you don't want to purchase one, here's the next best thing: you can wrap your camera in a light colored beach towel and that will keep it safe as well. Keeping it under a beach umbrella can help also, just remember, the sunlight exposing it's the worst thing that can happen during the summer to your camera. Don't leave your camera in the car when is parked. We all know that the temperature in a car can easily surpass 100 degrees in the summer time. If you must, the best thing to do is keep it in an insulated bag or put it place it in the trunk or under the seat. This is a good way of preventing auto theft. When buying a camera, read the manual to find out what extreme temperatures your camera can withstand. Try and not keep your camera in places that have a higher temperature that indicated. If you kept your camera exposed to the sun, don't try using it while it's still hot. You should wait until its cooler and you should also try to not move it around so much. When overheated, the camera's lubricants and glues are softened and moving it would only make a mess inside it. Now that you know all this, you can keep your camera protected from heating. Have a great summer! Sources: http://www.brighthub.com/ Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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“Why Are Some Old Movies Never Shown On TV? PART 1 of 2 - Gather.com” plus 1 more

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Why Are Some Old Movies Never Shown On TV? PART 1 of 2 - Gather.com Posted: 14 Jun 2010 12:15 PM PDT PART 1 I'm compiling a list of old movies, say from 1940 thru 1990, that are NEVER shown on TV. Feel free to add movies to this list in your comments...and tell me a bit about them if they are not widely known... A movie or two that hasn't been shown in at least 20 years (to your knowledge) on TV. Ready? Here's some of my 'Gone, But Not Forgotten' old movies: First of all, I and my friends were HUGE sci-fI/horror movie fans as kids, so I'll start with a couple of those... We even acted out a movie that we had seen over & over again on the "Million Dollar Movie"-it's the first movie on my list...   "The Unearthly" (1957) was a John Carradine movie. He was a creepy scientist (what else?) trying to give immortal life to us dopey human beings in the form of a 'gland' implanted in our necks, I believe. The results were a bunch of monsters and one blond ingenue with a bad case of leprosy or something on her face. Tor Johnson played 'Lobo' in this movie (a reprise of his ongoing character in many horror flicks).   "The Day Of The Triffids" (1963) starred Howard Keel of all people, in a fabulous movie that our mom actually took us kids to see at the drive-in. We all loved this movie. The premise is that a meteor shower one night brings spores or seeds from outer space (unbeknownst to us earthlings) that plant themselves and grow into blood-loving, people eating plants. One big catch-anyone who watched the meteor shower is rendered totally blind, therefore helpless and easy prey. (Howard Keel was in a hospital during the meteor shower having had eye surgery and his eyes were bandaged). He meets a few other people along his travels (who still have their sight as well). Warning: There is a British series based on this movie-it is NOT the same as I am talking about here.  I swore as a child, if there's ever a meteor shower, I would definitely not watch it.   "They Won't Believe Me" (1947) stars Robert Young, Susan Hayward and Jane Greer. I can't tell you too much about this movie because of all the plot twists & turns. Robert Young plays a real cad married to a wealthy woman. Robert Young was in many great movies before he did TV shows. This film is a five star mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. Robert Young was in some really wonderful movies in the 1940's, ie: The Canterville Ghost, The Enchanted Cottage and Three Comades. This film is right up there, but rarely ever on TV and to my knowledge, not in the last 30 years. This story would be a great candidate for a remake . Highly recommended by Amazon reviewers and myself.    "Play It Again, Sam" (1976) Is a Woody Allen & Diane Keaton movie in what is, I believe, their first on screen pairing. Woody Allen is a recently divorced film critic who is awkward around women. His film hero, Humphrey Bogart, appears, (amazingingly and cleverly played by Jerry Lacy) to give him some great, if not tough, advice. Always very funny, and the plot circles around the movie "Casablanca".    "Porgy and Bess" (1956) An all-star cast and the haunting musical score made this a must-see movie at the theaters. Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. This movie to my knowledge has not appeared on TV in over 50 years (if ever). Why, I don't know. Hopefully it is in a secure vault somewhere. It needs to be seen by everyone and to withhold it, is a crime. The song "Summertime" is from this movie and the wonderful cast brings to life the charactors written by George Gershwin. I know you can buy a DVD copy on Amazon but the stories about poor quality, scenes cut from it, dubbed voices and the expensive price keeps me from purchasing it. Sad because it deserves to be seen in it's entirety and exactly as director Otto Preminger intended it to be seen.   What about those fabulous programs from Masterpiece Theater? Why aren't those on the BBC Channel that my satellite company gives me? Are any of those ever broadcast in the USA? I'm referring to "I, Claudius", "The Pallisers", "Upstairs/Downstairs", "Poldark", "The Forsythe Saga", "The Duchess Of Duke Street"and "The Scarlet Pimpernel"(with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour).....really, too many to mention here. You can buy some of them, but why aren't they on TV?  Turner Classic Movies has a wonderful array of movies, old & new that they broadcast and tell great stories about. I frequently request the showing of many movies, but rarely do they air them. As I get older, I remember certain movies that I saw as a kid that I yearn to see again. How about you? Got an old classic, or not-so-classic, cult or 'B' movie that you want to see again? P.S. With the exception of "Porgy and Bess" I bought all of these movies in the last year on Amazon. Great quality, low prices and AVAILABLE.   I have started another list of 'gone, but not forgotten' movies and will post it soon...watch for PART 2   Sue G   Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Solving Walt Whitman's meteor mystery - Chicago Tribune Posted: 04 Jun 2010 04:59 PM PDT The rare event described in the poem 'Year of Meteors (1859-1860)' is indeed called a 'meteor procession.' It takes place when a grazer meteor breaks up and the pieces travel together as if in formation. Scholars have for decades tried to identify a puzzling celestial event in one of Walt Whitman's poems from his collection "Leaves of Grass." Now they've done so — using clues from a famed American landscape painter. In the July issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, a team that includes astronomers and a literary scholar, all from Texas State University, details the existence and nature of the rare event, in which meteor fragments crossed the sky in stately, synchronized fashion. The heavenly display is described in the poem "Year of Meteors (1859-1860)," in which Whitman writes of the tumultuous period leading up to the Civil War. He touches upon the hanging of abolitionist John Brown and the ascendancy of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency, and he makes two references to astronomy: "The comet that came unannounced out of the north, flaring in heaven," and "the strange huge meteor procession, dazzling and clear, shooting over our heads." Identifying the comet in the verses was easy, said astronomer Don Olson, lead author of the article. It had to be the Great Comet of 1860, seen in the Northern Hemisphere on June 18 of that year. Identifying the second event, what Whitman called the "meteor procession," proved much more difficult. "Various authors have tried to figure out what Whitman was describing. This thing has been bubbling in my mind [since] 1994," said Olson, who that year started teaching a class on astronomy in art, history and literature. Prevailing theories didn't make sense to Olson. Some scholars had thought that the poem could have been referring to an 1859 daylight fireball — but Whitman has the meteor occurring at night, and describes several flares traveling through the sky at once. Others thought the poet may have been recalling the 1833 Leonid meteor shower, which Whitman did indeed witness — but that is inconsistent with the poem's timeframe (1859-1860) and doesn't match the description. Whitman's procession lasted "a moment, a moment long," but meteor showers last for hours, even days. The breakthrough came in 2000, when Olson picked up a catalog of works by 19th-century landscape artist Frederic Edwin Church. "Scientists in general, but astronomers in particular, love Frederic Church because he was such a careful observer of the sky," Olson said. "You can see it in his paintings." Olson turned the catalog over. On the back was a copy of the painting "The Meteor of 1860." The scene clearly depicts two large balls of light passing almost horizontally across the night sky, followed by a series of smaller fragments. The astronomer recognized this as an extremely rare event that is in fact called a "meteor procession," in which a meteor breaks up and the pieces travel together as if in formation before exiting the Earth's atmosphere once more. A procession is rare, Olson said, because so many factors need to fall into place. The meteor, known as a grazer, must travel almost tangent to the Earth's surface, giving it a long, near-horizontal path across the skies. It usually has to travel between about 35 and 40 miles above the ground — any higher and it would not light up, any lower and it would likely fall to Earth. And it has to break up very soon after entering the Earth's atmosphere, or the procession-like effect will be lost. Since the 18th century, only four have been documented, Olson said. Compare that with meteor showers, which happen several times a year, he added. Griffith Observatory Director Edwin Krupp said the most important impact of this celestial rediscovery would be its literary significance. "There is a fuss about this because the literary analysis that has accompanied this famous piece of Americana, [what could be considered] the backbone of American literary tradition, has sort of been misunderstood," Krupp said. Krupp pointed to the fact that Whitman was writing about an omen-filled time that led up to America's bloodiest war. "This article allows us to reenter the minds and imaginations of people roughly 150 years ago and see that they were keen observers of nature and profoundly affected by what went on overhead." Whitman appears to use the theme of meteors as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of what appeared to be major events as well as for his own connection to life. "Year of comets and meteors transient and strange," he writes, ending with: "As I flit though you hastily, soon to fall and be gone, what is this chant, / what am I myself but one of your meteors?" amina.khan@latimes.com Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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“Bring along a tea party as you watch the Orionid meteor shower tonight! - Examiner”

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Bring along a tea party as you watch the Orionid meteor shower tonight! - Examiner Posted: 10 Jun 2010 04:59 PM PDT 8 comments Subscribe Subscribe It's that time, again: time to get some hot tea and watch an awesome meteor shower! Since the weather is getting even colder, a nice Thermos of hot tea and some substantial snacks are even more in order than they were during the Perseid meteor shower earlier this year. Extra warm clothing is also a must. There are some really tasty seasonal teas that would be perfect for keeping you awake and warm tonight. Bigelow's Constant Comment is the classic orange spice black tea, but many grocery stores are beginning to put out delicious tea blends by other companies. Stash makes some wonderful pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon teas, and many other tea companies are following suit. Some nice hot chai would also be delicious tonight, with its "warming" spices. Pull together some hot appetizers or portable hot meals (you could even cook some Lean Pockets and bring them!), and pack them in an insulated lunch bag. Hot water bottles and heavy blankets will round out the supplies. As with all meteor showers, the best views will be from hillsides and rural areas, away from city lights, although if you live on the edge of a suburb near a less populated area, you may be able to see a good number of meteors from your own back or front yard. For viewing suggestions, check out my article about the Perseid meteor shower. The Orionid meteor shower is an annual event, caused when the Earth passes through the debris field from Halley's Comet. Meteors will appear to originate from Orion, which is one of the easiest constellations to find: look for the Big Dipper, and then look near it for three stars, located close to each other in a line; that's Orion's Belt, part of the constellation. The "shooting stars" are expected to be most visible and frequent early in the morning – between 1 a.m. and dawn -- on Wednesday, October 21. The most frequent period is expected to be approximately 6 a.m.; with the longer night-time periods this time of year, sunrise will be closer to 7 a.m. so the sky should still be pretty dark for good viewing. North and East San Jose residents will probably have the best view from their back and front yards, especially those who live next to, or up in, the foothills. Alum Rock Park will probably be a good viewing area, as well, but you should call ahead and check the opening and closing times of the park, just in case. Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton will not be available for the public to use,although other areas of the mountain might. The astronomers will also be hard at work during the meteor shower, and current visitor hours have already ended (5 p.m. PST). You should call and check before you head up there. NOTE: this entire article is copyrighted by its author. If you would like to re-post or link to this article, a title with byline, and a link back to this page are required, along with my permission. You can e-mail me at southbayladiesteaguild@yahoo.com. Thanks!   Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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“Look up in the sky: Sky viewing for May 1-7, 2010 - Examiner”

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Look up in the sky: Sky viewing for May 1-7, 2010 - Examiner Posted: 12 Jun 2010 10:52 AM PDT Name: Comments: Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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“Walt Whitman Meteor Mystery Solved - AOL News” plus 1 more

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Walt Whitman Meteor Mystery Solved - AOL News Posted: 06 Jun 2010 05:33 PM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. (June 3) - The long-standing mystery over exactly what famed poet Walt Whitman saw streaking though the sky 150 years ago has apparently been solved by a team of bookworm astronomers. Following a trail that began with a 19th century painting and led to hundreds of newspaper reports, the researchers discovered that the "strange huge meteor-procession" mentioned in Whitman's noted collection "Leaves of Grass" indeed refers to a rare procession of earth-grazing meteors that occurred in 1860. "Meteor processions are so rare most people have never heard of them," said Texas State University physics professor Donald Olson, who worked on the investigation. "There was one in 1783 and a Canadian fireball procession in 1913. Those were all the meteor processions we knew of." Earth-grazing meteors unmasked Earth-grazers enter the atmosphere at low angle, from the point of view of a given skywatcher, and appear to scoot slowly and dramatically along the horizon. They're much different than meteors appearing overhead and shooting swiftly toward the horizon For years, Whitman's description had been alternately attributed to several events, including: The 1833 Leonid meteor shower, the 1858 Leonids shower and a famous 1859 fireball. But the timeframe of the poem, which is titled "Year of the Meteor," listed under "1859-1860," and includes a definite reference to the Great Comet of 1860, conflicted with the 1833 sighting. Evidence for the1858 sighting was also weakened when the date of a separate meteor shower observation by Whitman was corrected from 1858 to 1833. Additionally, a fireball is only one blaze in the sky, while a meteor procession exhibits multiple blazing objects. Olson and his team describe their astronomical investigation in the July 2010 edition of "Sky & Telescope" magazine. Painting shows the way A single painting by 19th century landscape artist Frederic Church was the happenstance clue in solving the puzzle behind Whitman's reference. Titled "The Meteor of 1860" and picturing a procession of meteors through the night's sky, the work was glimpsed by Olson on the back cover of an art exhibition catalog. Upon visiting Church's house in New England and a research library that contained old diaries of a friend, the team learned that Church lived in Catskill, N.Y., in July 1860, when the painting was produced. That date allowed the researchers to focus their study on the time period's newspapers, which surprisingly enough verified the sighting of an Earth-grazing meteor during the evening of July 20, 1860. Breaking apart in the atmosphere, the meteor split into multiple fireballs that burned overhead in skies visible from the Great Lakes to New York State. The New York Times, Smithsonian, and Harper's Weekly all covered the event, with Scientific American calling it "the largest meteor that has ever been seen." According to Olson, the eyewitness accounts from town newspapers alone totaled in the hundreds and provided enough information about the meteor's changing location for the team to extrapolate its route. "From all the observations in towns up and down the Hudson River Valley, we're able to determine the meteor's appearance down to the hour and minute," Olson said. "Church observed it at 9:49 p.m. when the meteor passed overhead, and Walt Whitman would've seen it at the same time, give or take one minute." "A really cool part is that the Catskill newspaper describes it as dividing into two parts with scintillations, exactly like the painting," said co-researcher Ava G. Pope, an Honors Program at Texas State University who contributed to the project. Despite its extreme rarity as an astronomical phenomenon and its heavy documentation in the day's newspapers and magazines, the event was forgotten by the mid-20th century, researchers said in a statement. -- Images - The Best of Leonid Meteor Shower -- Gallery - Earth's Meteor Craters -- Ancient 40-Pound Meteorite Pulled From Ditch in Oregon Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Circular-shaped objects flying in triangle formation reported from North Carolina - UFODigest Posted: 07 Jun 2010 04:56 PM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Circular-shaped objects flying in triangle formation reported from North Carolina by Roger Marsh  Posted: 08 June 2010 10:51 A North Carolina witness out watching the Leonid meteor shower on November 17, 2009, watched three circular-shaped objects flying in an "equilateral triangle" formation, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database. "I could see that they were bronze colored and appeared to be glowing against the night sky with a light similar to the dying orange sparkle of an incendiary," the witness stated. "The objects were circular from my point of view as I was looking at their underside, and had grooves in them similar to a plate or phonograph record. I saw no windows in the objects. I assumed that they were lenticular shaped in profile since I saw no antennae or spikes protruding from them, and how they resembled a plate. No city name was mentioned in the public portion of the MUFON report. The following are the unedited and as yet uninvestigated reports filed with MUFON. Please keep in mind that most UFO reports can be explained as something natural or manmade. If North Carolina MUFON State Director John Kledis investigates and reports back on these cases, I will release an update. NC, November 17, 2010 - During peak activity of Leonid meteor shower, 3 lenticular bronze objects were seen flying in an organized formation. MUFON Case # 23656. The night I saw the objects, I was up late observing the Leonid meteor shower. Not looking for any sort of unusual flying objects, I had seen earlier meteors with the usual Leonid characteristics (bright fireballs, ion trails). Soon high clouds began to cover the Northern sky where I saw the earlier fireballs. I was in a track and field complex observing the shower, so I lied down on the paved running track to get a better plane of view for later meteors. I lied down there for a while, and around 1AM the meteors began to pick up in amount. Some of the meteors were like regular shooting stars and were faint, but others had bright white colored fireballs. During this peak in meteor activity is when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye at the zenith of the night sky. At first I thought it was a few meteors, but the "objects" never faded, didn't have ion trails, and were moving too slow. Curious at this point, I looked directly at the faint objects and discovered that they were flying in an equilateral triangle formation. My next conclusion were that the "objects" were either landing lights on an aircraft or birds, but there were no blinking lights, distant jet engine noise, or flapping wings. At this point I realized I was looking at genuine UFOs. With my curiosity turned from the Leonids, I focused my complete attention to the 3 UFOs. As I did I realized that these UFOs weren't just points of light, but actual flying objects with depth! I could see that they were bronze colored and appeared to be glowing against the night sky with a light similar to the dying orange sparkle of an incendiary. The objects were circular from my point of view as I was looking at their underside, and had grooves in them similar to a plate or phonograph record. I saw no windows in the objects. I assumed that they were lenticular shaped in profile since I saw no antennae or spikes protruding from them, and how they resembled a plate. Article continues here: www.examiner.com Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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