New Netherland

Sorry for the one week absence. Did I jet to Paris or find myself in India? Nope. Just another family visit. This time to the grand state of New Jersey.

Did you know?

• The first colonies in N.J. were Dutch. "New Netherland" officially encompassed New Jersey along with New York, parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania (after the Dutch took it from the Swedes).
• The Dutch really wanted to keep this region but lost it twice to the English under Charles II.
  

From that brief look at the state's history, is it safe to conclude that that a king with the reputation as a shameless hedonist prevented New York and New Jersey from eventually legalizing pot. Oh the irony. Of course it is a bit of a stretch to qualify as a real academic theory but it makes me wonder.

Brooklyn Fire

Accidentally brought to you by Con Edison?

Okay, so you can't really see anything from these photos. But I swear that there was a giant explosion that blew a hole in the street just outside of our apartment. Flames reached 12 feet into the air and the black smoke made its way into our apartment across the street. Look fire trucks!
All of the lights started to flicker in our apartment so we powered down for a while and watched the firemen. They climbed onto the roof and inspected the nearby supermarket, Key Food, and cleared the area. We waited and watched at a distance, wondering why they didn't start using the fire hoses. I could hear the rumbling and an occasional BOOM as more flames pushed through the underground into the air above it.




What do you know, just as the fire began to die down, Con Edison trucks arrived to the rescue.




An hour later I peeked out the window to see what looks like snow flurries. Is it winter again?? Alas, no, its just ash from the fire. It can't be easy to bring electricity to the millions if residents in New York City. But, isn't that what we're paying them to do? Maybe it is time to start installing solar panels and on every rooftop.

Murky Waters Part 2

An update.

Retro Sci-Fi Skeet Shooting

Original photo of telemetering ground equipment from NASA/JPL. Caption from me.

Another Actor for President?

Nope, it isn't Arnold (he isn't eligible is he?) and forget Warren Beatty. The media is abuzz with rumors about Republican actor, Fred Thompson, who may or may not join in the ultimate popularity contest. Slate is so excited about this that they created a campaign ad for the former Senator free of charge. I'm not sure if it is funny or creepy. But it sure says something about the impact of that annoying "Law & Order" theme song, or rather note.