HOT YELLOWSTONE WEBCAM ACTION!

Rangers have cited six men for walking on Old Faithful–and two of them for urinating at the geyser–after someone outside the park reported seeing them on a live park webcast. The six men were cited for going off trail and into the geyser area last week. Park rangers also cited two of the men for illegally possessing a piece of a park natural resource, and two for urinating at the geyser. All six are scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate. The park has a camera aimed at the geyser 24-hours a day with video streaming over the Internet.

The images from the webcam are available here.

(text from ohranger.com)

The Hooded Merganser

This past weekend Kate and I went on a lovely jaunt in Sessions Woods in Burlington, CT. The weather was great, the sun was out, and the birds were singing. We got to check out a crowd of 20-30 ducks in an awesome waterfowl blind. We were equipped with my new Nikon binoculars (not a shotgun), so the view was great. Our favorite ducks were by far the Hooded Merganser. Check them out.

Male:


Female:


Information about the Hooded Merganser.

Chimpanzees Invent Brush-Tipped Tool

Read the story here and see the video below.

Down With Dope

Lance protecting Levi.



I was happy to see this guy eat snow.

Happy Birthday Ms. Hilton.

Today Paris Hilton turns 28. I am so happy I could puke.

I am engaged!

I asked my lovely girlfriend, now fiancè, to marry me. She said yes, which should have been clear after reading the first sentence. I ordered her ring on Blue Nile; easy, a lot of options (I did a-la-carte), great prices, and free overnight shipping for engagement rings. We are doing a small wedding next month with family/friends, around 20 people, followed by a honey moon in Sedona, AZ. We plan on doing a BIG wedding in the fall of 2010 with everyone and their mother, which will just be a reception/party. In May I will be moving to New Hartford with Kate, in the in-law apartment attached to her parent's house. It's a gorgeous 2 bedroom apartment, we plan on having guests over quite frequently, so inquire within. I am going to get back to work.

US Bicycle Route System - Biggest in the world!

Read the New York Times article below:

Highway Group Approves Basic Plan for a Network of Bicycling Routes

By HILARY HOWARD

Published: November 23, 2008

A blueprint for what could become the largest official bicycle route network in the world — in the end, it would span more than 50,000 miles in all 50 states — was approved last month by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The project, under the leadership of the association’s task force on national bicycle routes, has been under development for four years. A primary member of the task force, the Adventure Cycling Association (the largest membership cycling group in North America), provided mapping and staffing support. The next step for the plan, which identifies corridors that connect urban, rural and suburban areas, is for individual states to decide exactly where routes should be placed within those corridors (www.adventurecycling.org/usbrs).

Now who wants to go on a bike tour?

H-plus son rims are blowing up!!

LITERALLY!



If you are going to be doing a lot of skidding, spinning, hopping, grinding, etc. maybe you should get back to basics.

Around 18,000 marriages left up in the air!

Eight years ago, CA voted 61% to define marriage as being for heterosexual couples only. The California Supreme Court overturned that measure, Proposition 22, on May 15th of this year legalizing same-sex marriage. However, proposition 8 was passed yesterday banning same-sex marriage...again. With roughly 18,000 same-sex marriages in the last 4 1/2 months left up in the air, the equal-rights movement has taken a major blow. One word...pitiful.

Read more here.

Coming to an alley cat near you...

Brooklyn Machine Works knows what sells bikes. Very clean build, but raise the saddle Pharrell.

seen on prolly (new site)

What has two thumbs and loves brothels?

Not this guy.

So, the lesson learned here is: Don't rob brothels in Washington, DC. But if you need to, and we all need to sometimes, hang onto your machete during the sting.

Ogunquit, ME

A couple weekends ago Kate and I went to Ogunquit, ME for two nights. It was a couples weekend including Kate's parents, and her father's employee and wife. Kate and her family have been going to Ogunquit for years but this was my first time, so I was anxious to check it out (There is something about coastal/fishing towns that I am just drawn to). The last time I was in Maine was on a backpacking trip on the 100-mile wilderness section of the AT; the time before that was for away games at University of Southern Maine when I was playing soccer for ECSU. So I never made it to the coast (I somewhat recall owning a Kennebunkport t-shirt when I was younger but I don't remember going). Since this was an off-season visit there was a lot less people milling around which added to the experience. Kate and I brought our bikes up and we took a nice morning ride the first morning there to get some breakfast.

My first impression of Ogunquit was "just what I expected". Quaint, gorgeous, flat terrain, great ocean smell everywhere, fishermen (in this case lobstermen), and nautical everything. Obviously I loved it.

This is a photo from our hotel, The Dunes on the Waterfront


The next two photos are from the Marginal Way



These last two are from our boat trip out to an island with a light house (please click to enlarge the last photo)



It was a great trip and we already plan on going back next year! Hopefully we can stay longer than just two nights, but I will take what I can get.

By happy...do you mean gay?

Yes I do because it is now legal for gay couples to get married in the state of Connecticut! The ruling officially goes into effect on Oct. 28th, and there will be no appeal. Oh...and Jodi Rell opposes the ruling (obviously), apparently she never listened to Pinkerton because "everyone's a little queer".

"The lawsuit was brought in 2004 after eight same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses and sued, saying their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated."
[Read more]

I view this as a cause to celebrate for three reasons. First, I always believed gay couples should be allowed to get married and receive the same rights as straight people. The same straight people who could give two shits about the sanctity of marriage, getting divorced and re-married like it's going out of style. Second, I am a CT resident, born and raised, and I am proud to live in the third state to offer same-sex marriages. Hopefully this paves the way for more states to follow suit. Third, there are several wonderful people in my family that this affected for years. I can only imagine the happiness they are experiencing right now.

Photovoltaic paint is beyond rad!

Scientists are working on the production of energy-producing paint...SOLAR paint, on steel sheets. A lab in North Wales is starting the development of this break-through technology Oct. 30th. One important advantage these new cells have over conventional solar cells is that they can absorb light across the entire visible spectrum.

Read full article

R.I.P. Mr. Clean.

House Peters Jr., supporting role extraordinaire (except for Proctor & Gamble commercials), passed away yesterday from pneumonia. He was 92.

So, in honor of Mr. Clean, throw away those nasty cleaning supplies and read this, because if you don't you might end up like House Peters Jr....Dead!

Ironic New Job

After months of job hunting, sending out "cold resumes", shiesty businesses, and a poor summer (strictly monetary), I did some networking and got 3 job opportunities lined up. After some promising interviews I took a job with JobTarget in New London. What is ironic is that they are a software company that develop job boards (job search engines) for businesses and organizations. My official title is Technical Services Coordinator, I am a liaison between the Dev team and the partner services team, as well as the resident QA guy. Presently the developers are prepping me to be the contact person for all Search Engine Optimization (SEO) questions.

JobTarget overall:
-small (under 60 employees)
-very casual atmosphere (t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops)
-great benefits (dental and vision? yup!)
-everyone is on a first name basis (very friendly, young, and approachable CEO)
-reminds me of my favorite job, Salesnet (when I worked in Boston doing QA)
-pays for my parking ($55/month to park in the attached garage, they give me a $60/month parking stipend)
-good salary
-lots of growth opportunities

So all in all, I am enjoying my new job, and hope to make a career out of it.

Charlie Kaufman's new film...

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton.

Looking forward to October 24th.

PURE HASID LUST!

Damn those female cyclists!

Damn them all to HELL!

Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement.

Lance's Comeback to Cycling in 2009

Happy Pappy!!

The victims, both farmworkers, told deputies they were awakened by a stranger applying "Pappy's Seasoning" to one of them and striking the other with a sausage.
-FresnoBee

Whole story here.

Personally I would love some pappy's seasoning rubbed all over my body while I slumber, but that's just me. Maybe I should look for a job as a farmer out in Fresno, make my dream a reality.