Thursday, November 29, 2007

Rembering Louisville.

I used to live in Louisville, Kentucky for a time. Got to know it a little. Not like a native mind you, but it was a good place to live for a time. Every year, they have a horse race. Basketball is a second religion. Did I mention they have a horse race?

Now, you wouldn't think that a sporting even like this would have an effect on an airport, but think again. Think of all the rich people who buy the tickets for something like this. Then, think of a sport in which the jaded rich have an investment in and think chaos at the airport. Also, think of a sport in which the Ultra rich are involved in. This brings in your oil barons from ever which way and the Hollywood celebrity types.

What happens to the airport? To give a little background, Louisville International Airport (yes it is an international airport) is one of the busiest in the world in terms of cargo volume. In General, it comes in second or third WORLDWIDE in terms of the movement of cargo. (In terms of Passengers it ranks in the 60's). However, moving cargo is the big thing for Louisville. UPS owns the airport with its operations covering the southern half of the airport. UPS flies in several hundred aircraft a night, loads them and sends them back out in the morning. So, given this, what does the Kentucky Derby do to Louisville?

One runway literally becomes a parking lot for all the planes coming in. Little hard finding parking spaces for 300 corporate jets. Taxiways, aprons, and hardstands are filled to capacity. Every rich horse owner in America and beyond is there. Fortunately, this happens on a weekend, so the disruption is mitigated somewhat. Also, it happens during the day, so UPS operations aren't hit there. All those rich folks park on the other side of the field, away from the UPS guys.

Locally, its an excuse to barbecue. Everyone has a cookout or gathering where the race is watched or listened to. Three things are the old business in Louisville: Tobacco, Horse Racing and Whiskey. (All of which seem to represent vices of some sort or another.) Usually, one is asked to place a token bet on a horse. (Mine always lost). Then you throw washers, eat a lot of steak, hamburgers and fried chicken. After being suitably stuffed and enjoying the race, you go home and hope that the others on the road haven't imbibed themselves on too much mint julep.

Louisville is the home to many of the vices. These exist side by side with the churches too, which leads to some oxymoronic situations in the city. Like some places in Texas I have lived, you can't walk very far without encountering a topless bar and a church. Oh, those people can say they don't go to those places, but we all know they do. The ironic thing about these places, the topless bars I mean, is that they don't serve alcohol. Yep, that's right, no alcohol. I can say honestly that in all the time I was in Louisville, I never went to any of these places, but I have friends that did and that's where I got the scoop. Anyway, it just seems a little silly that you can't get a drink, but they do sell soda. (Oh, by the way, its COKE. Everything is a Coke. Strange that Yum Brands who run Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut all have there HQ there and they primarily sell Pepsi, but I digress).

There is a vibrant offbeat community, driven by a good local bohemian area that is slowly being gentrified like many areas of its like in the country. This has led to a local movement to "Keep Louisville Weird."

All in all, its a nice place to live. People are friendly. The weather is nice, if a bit sticky in the summer. I want to go back to visit someday. Hope all my friends there are well.

So, that's my little review.

Birthday Calculator

I saw this on Diane's Blog and took the test myself. Interesting things you find out.

1 July 1964

Your date of conception was on or about 9 October 1963 which was a Wednesday.

You were born on a Wednesday
under the astrological sign Cancer.
Your Life path number is 1.

Your fortune cookie reads:
There is no limit to love's forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2438577.5.
The golden number for 1964 is 8.
The epact number for 1964 is 16.
The year 1964 was a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/13/1964 and ending 2/1/1965.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Dragon.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Woodpecker; your plant is Wild Rose.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Paopy, the second month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 21 Tammuz 5724.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 22 Tammuz 5724.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.17.10.14.13 which is
12 baktun 17 katun 10 tun 14 uinal 13 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Wednsday, 20 Safar 1384 (1384-2-20).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 29 March 1964.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 3 May 1964.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 12 February 1964.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 17 May 1964.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 24 May 1964.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Monday, 7 September 1964.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Saturday, 28 March 1964.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 11 February 1964.

As of 11/29/2007 9:11:35 AM EST
You are 43 years old.
You are 520 months old.
You are 2,265 weeks old.
You are 15,856 days old.
You are 380,553 hours old.
You are 22,833,191 minutes old.
You are 1,369,991,495 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:

Liv Tyler (1977)Ruud Van Nistelrooy (1976)Missy Elliott (1971)
Pamela Anderson (1967)Princess Diana (1961)Carl Lewis (1961)
Michelle Wright (1961)Alan Ruck (1956)Dan Aykroyd (1952)
Deborah Harry (1945)Karen Black (1942)Genevieve Bujold (1942)
Twyla Tharp (1941)Jamie Farr (1934)Jean Marsh (1934)
Leslie Caron (1931)Olivia DeHavilland (1916)Charles Laughton (1899)

Top songs of 1964
I Want to Hold Your Hand by BeatlesCan't Buy Me Love by Beatles
There! I've Said It Again by Bobby VintonBaby Love by Supremes
Oh, Pretty Woman by Roy OrbisonThe House of the Rising Sun by Animals
Chapel of Love by Dixie CupsI Feel Fine by Beatles
She Loves You by BeatlesI Get Around by Beach Boys

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 6.20587084148728 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

Your lucky day is Monday.
Your lucky number is 2 & 7.
Your ruling planet(s) is Moon.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.
Your opposition sign is Capricorn.
Your opposition number(s) is 8.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 215 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 44 candles.

Those 44 candles produce 44 BTUs,
or 11,088 calories of heat (that's only 11.0880 food Calories!) .
You can boil 5.03 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1964 there were approximately 4.2 million births in the US.
In 1964 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1964 in the US there were approximately 1,523,000 marriages (8.5%) and 393,000 divorces (2.2%)
In 1964 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1964 the population of Australia was approximately 11,280,429.
In 1964 there were approximately 229,149 births in Australia.
In 1964 in Australia there were approximately 86,013 marriages and 7,917 divorces.
In 1964 in Australia there were approximately 100,594 deaths.


Your birthstone is Ruby

The Mystical properties of Ruby

Ruby is said to open one's heart to love.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
Carnelian

Your birth tree is
Apple Tree, the Love

Of slight build, lots of charm, appeal and attraction, pleasant aura, flirtatious, adventurous, sensitive, always in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, scientific talents, lives for today, a carefree philosopher with imagination.


There are 26 days till Christmas 2007!
There are 39 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waning gibbous.

Copyright © 2006 Paul R. Sadowski (http://www.paulsadowski.com)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

From Truthout.org: The End of America? Naomi Wolf Thinks It Could Happen

By Don Hazen
AlterNet


Wednesday 21 November 2007

An interview with author Naomi Wolf, whose new book, "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," may confirm your worries about democracy in America.

If you think we are living in scary times, your worst fears may be confirmed by reading Naomi Wolf's newest book, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot. In it, Wolf proves the old axiom that history does repeat itself. Or more accurately, history occurs in patterns, and in order to understand where our country is today and where it is headed, we need to read the history books.

Wolf began by diving into the early years leading up to fascist regimes, like the ones led by Hitler and Mussolini. And the patterns that she found in those, and others all over the world, made her hair stand on end. In "The End of America," she lays out the 10 steps that dictators (or aspiring dictators) take in order to shut down an open society. "Each of those ten steps is now under way in the United States today," she writes.

If we want an open society, she warns, we must pay attention and we must fight to protect democracy.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112107R.shtml

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Today is Veterans Day.

Today is a day not just for parades. I remember marching those parades. It was a toss up if I was going with the ROTC or the Band. I like ROTC because I didn't have to wear the silly uniform. Seriously though, today is the day that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th year of the 20th century, we said enough of a war that was killing the best and brightest of us. Sting wrote a song called Children's Crusade telling about that war. They called it the "War to End All Wars." Well, that didn't happen. Man is still man. I guess as long as we have hands, we will kill. However, we must honor those who die for us. Because without them, we do not enjoy the freedom we have. They are special to us. This is the day we celebrate the end of that war. Veteran's Day, here in the US, Remembrance Day, Armistice Day... Just remember the cost of war and those that fight for our freedoms. War is not some game, but real people killing other real people. I wish our leaders would remember that when they send boys to die. The vast majority of soldiers in war today are in their 20's, late teens. God bless them.

STING LYRICS

"Children's Crusade"

Young men, soldiers, Nineteen Fourteen
Marching through countries they'd never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a Children's Crusade

Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed

The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation

Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History's lessons drowned in red wine
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade

The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation

Midnight in Soho, Nineteen Eighty-four
Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, such bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade

About Me

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I am interested in CNG vehicles because they are good for the environment and aren't powered by dead Marines. I still have a little hope for the world. Read the musings and enjoy.