Hard Boiled Eggs - 17 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 219

Micah 6:8
Luke 11:11-13
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Technically one should call them hard cooked eggs, as the egg itself isn't boiled, but rather is immersed in boiling water. Furthermore, there are many ways to cook them that don't entail boiling, including baking, steaming, and grilling them.
At any rate, when I boil eggs (please pardon the imprecise language here) I always add a bit of vinegar to the water. This serves to soften the shell slightly, making for easier peeling. I hadn't shared this secret with many people before today, and (based on recent traffic data for my blog) I still won't be sharing this secret with many even after today. Oh well, such is the life of a blogger. At least I know someone in Portugal will know how to cook eggs better than they had before.

Here are a couple fun (and partially not fun) facts for you:
Born on this day, October 17, 1979: Finnish race car driver, Kimi Räikkönen, and his twin brother Rikki Tikki Raikkonen. (His brother seems to have been generally ignored.)
On this day in history, October 17, 1814: The London Beer Flood. When vats of beer at the Meux and Company Brewery burst, city streets were deluged with over a million Imperial pints of beer. (That's nearly 1.3 million US pints.) The nearly 5 yard tall wave of porter swept through the area, killing 8 people, some of whom were gathered for a funeral.
    

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Rice and Cats - 16 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 218

Micah 6:8
Exodus 20:4-5
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I came across this news item in a marketing and advertising newsletter:

Mars Food has announced it will change the name of Uncle Ben’s by early 2021, rebranding it as Ben’s Original and removing the image of Frank Brown from the packaging. New YouGov BrandIndex data suggests that the changes to the brand have been positively received. Following the announcement, Uncle Ben’s Word of Mouth Exposure score grew 9.6 points to 12.3. Its Reputation score also increased 6.1 points, while its Impression score also increased by 6.9 points.

So what happens the the family of Frank Brown, now that they won't be receiving the royalty checks from the use of his image on the packages? Frank was a Chicago area maitre d'hotel whose portrait has been used for decades. (One supposes today's reformers consider him too ignorant to have been offended by his portrayal as himself.)


In perhaps less contentious news, today is Global Cat Day, so felicitations to our feline friends. Further, today is also National Boss Day. Coincidence? I think not.
Let me refill that water bowl for you, boss.

 

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Neutron Stars - 15 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 217

Micah 6:8
Matthew 19:6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I found it interesting that shortly after that black hole spaghettification piece a couple days ago, here comes an oddity from the collision of a pair of neutron stars. After they merged (as detected by the gravity wave), the light died out after a few weeks, but the X-rays continue long after the event. We detected the gravity wave in 2017, and the light emissions ended a few days later. (Please note: I use the term "we" quite loosely. Frankly, I don't remember noticing anything of the kind back then.) The X-rays, however, are still coming, and there's not a good, standard explanation out there yet.

My hypothesis - and you are reading it here first - is that the merged body of those neutron stars has joined a heretofore-unknown-to-science class of stellar bodies: neutronium stars. These are stars whose matter is compressed so tightly that the neutrons are actually fusing and releasing X-rays. I would expect a fairly large spray of tachyons and netrinos as well, with a possible periodic emission of Higgs bosons based on the rotational period of the neutronium star, so here's hoping the folks at CERN are awake, and that the neutrino detectors in Antarctica are pointed in the right direction to confirm my conjecture.

 

Here's some more neutron-related video action for you.

Bonus material:
On today's date in 1817 Polish/American general Tadeusz Kościuszko died. If you don't know of his involvement with these United States, you should take a look at a map. Look at Indiana, for instance. There sits the town of Warsaw in Kosciusko County. Keep looking around - you'll find lots more places named after and for Tadeusz all over the place (and may with their individual altered spellings).

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Pooh - 14 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 216

Micah 6:8
2 Kings 2:19-24
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is special because Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared in print on this date in 1926. Today is also (perhaps because of that as well?) National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work and School Day.
I've never actually had a teddy bear, but I do have one here in my office at UM GP (it's Bubba With Eyes, the number two bear in Christian's life), so I should be good for today.

In unrelated news (unless you read the second scripture reference above - did you realize that changes every day, and that it's carefully selected to address whatever it is I'm blathering about here?) it's also Be Bald And Be Free Day. Again, this is a nice nod to Christian and me, so both Bubbas are happily guarding their bald charges today.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Spaghetti - 13 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 215

Micah 6:8
Revelation 6:12-14
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Astronomers have found a star being sucked into a supermassive black hole.(click here for a good article on this development.) Perhaps the best thing coming from this study is the word Spaghettification. The article illustrates this concept with this picture:

That's pretty cool, but I had a couple other pictures in my mind when I read of the way this black hole was spaghettifying the star.

Not only did Walt Disney give us a great visual for this, but the BBC on 01/04/1957 gave us a brilliant documentary on the spaghetti harvest in Ticino, Italy. Rather than watching that dreadful movie "The Black Hole" today, why not seek out either of these. That's good viewing.

You might also want to look up Larry Niven't short story, "Neutron Star" that gives a pretty good description of a trip through a very steep gravity well. Granted it's not a black hole, but it's the next best thing (so to speak).

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

12 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 214

Micah 6:8
Psalm 100
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

 

 

Today is Columbus Day and Canadian Thanksgiving, both of which should put us in mind of history and faith.

Whatever your opinion of Columbus, it's unlikely that these United States would exist in their current state (whatever your opinion of that current state) had he not set out to find a passage to the East by going West. A large part of his motivation seems to have been the spread of the Christian faith, along with financing the expansion of Christendom throughout the world by exploiting the riches he anticipated finding in the Orient. (I guess we're lucky that the way the voyage turns out in Philip Jose Farmer's Sail On! Sail On! was not the way it really happened.)
Canadian Thanksgiving, much like our own, is a time to be thankful for the gifts of Providence. After all, to be truly thankful, one must have someone to thank.

 

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

11 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 213

Micah 6:8
Psalm 106:1-6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

As mentioned yesterday, we're actually meeting to worship inside the church building in the sanctuary! Masks and physical distancing will be enforced, but we'll still be worshiping together! Note that you must have registered already in order to join us, so please join us online if you didn't.

Today's stream is here.

That and all our previous videos are available on our YouTube channel here.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.