What is this?

I am waiting for the Duke to tell me what this is. I have posted another pic (the top one from Wikepedia) for easier ID. Then I will post more info about it.
To my surprise, my son has answered the question as to what this is. His second guess was Northern Krill, which is the correct answer. Now what is surprising is that according to the info given on Planet Earth, krill (in general) are the most abundant creatures on earth, by weight. One swarm can contain 2 million tons! That is a lot of fish food!

Coral Reef

Stunning, absolutely stunning.

Bactrian Camels

There are less than 1000 of these in the Gobi Desert.

Walie Ibex

Walia ibex are Ethiopia's national symbol, and they live in the Simien Highlands.

Mr. Warthog, I presume!

Is this a young warthog? No, actally its a red river hog!

Anyone know the location of this waterfall?

Has anyone out there ever been there?

Zebra vs Wildebeasts

Run, Stripe, Run!!

Saiga Antelope

Fifteen years ago, there were millions of these in the central Asian steppes, and now they have been reduced to nearly nothing. The reasons given? The collapse of the Soviet Union forced more hunting for livlihood, and the opening of the door to China where the males antlers are used in medicine.

Polar Bear vs Walrus

The polar bear is beginning to go after the walrus now. I spared you some of the more gruesome scenes.

Freshwater dolphins?

These are freshwater dolphins, called botoes, and they live in the Amozon! They are huge, about 2 and a half meters in length. One man had watched one giving birth, and then just down the river they were being hunted by poachers.

Elephant

One enormous dude

Frogger

Wanna play LEAPFROG with this guy?

Panda

APanda and her cub

More Planet Earth

What a spectacular view!!

Planet Earth

First off, let me say that the one DVD that I have viewed has some spectacular shots and clips. I love seeing these beautiful animals and scenery that I know I will never get to see up close and personal. This one does give several different viewpoints, not just one. (Both sides of the issues are discussed.)

I do have one problem with what was said by Dr. Betsy Dresser, Senior VP Audobon Nature Institute. She says, "... a hundred years ago, we were in horses and buggys and if somebody had said, "We're going to the moon in a number of years, before this next century," we would have laughed, and then in 1963, where were we? We were on the moon!"

I remember that it was 1969 when Neil Armstrong first took "one small step for a man" and touched the surface of the moon. I looked it up too. To be exact it was July 20, 1969 at 10:56 PM EDT. You might say, "Well, we put something on the moon in 1963." Nope. Sorry, but you would be wrong. JFK made a commitment May 25, 1961 to go to the moon. There was meeting with President Kennedy and NASA administrator James Webb Nov. 20, 1962 about human spaceflight. But we had sent no one or no thing to the moon in 1963. You can check out these and other facts here. It just seems to me that a doctor (PhD) would check the facts out before making this statement. One would think that the producers of the show would have someone else catch this mistake before at least before the DVD is made. Its not like everyone here is too young to remember that time.

OK, just one more beef. Mr. James Lovelock answers the question, "How many people should there be on the earth?" We know there are approximately 6 billion now. He says, "500 million to one billion. No more than that." How did he come up with that number? The one billion is a nice round number, I suppose. So are we going to try to bring that number down? Others discuss how this should be done. Reduce the birth rate. This is done by education and birth control, so they say. Some have said that God's command to Noah to "go forth and replenish the earth" has been fulfilled. So now, I will open it up for discussion.

Footnote: I really did enjoy watching part of Planet Earth. I look forward to watching more.

Dirty Harry

Over the weekend, I had the privilege of watching the movie, Dirty Harry. Again. I would have to say it is a classic to say the least. I haven't seen any in that series in a while, and I suppose it had been at least one decade if not more, since I had seen the original. I heard that Clint Eastwood was asked recently if he was going to make another one in the series, but he replied, "Am I going to try to chase someone down in my wheelchair?" But then again, Sylvester Stallone is coming out with another Rambo tomorrow. But I digress. So I was wondering if there are any fans out there that would like to try a bit of Dirty Harry Trivia.

Here goes:
1. What does Harry Callahan say was the cause of his wife's death?
2. What is Dirty Harry's rank with the San Francisco Police?
3. Why is he called "Dirty Harry?"
4. What is the name of the maniac serial killer? (Either his name or what they call him.)
5. What is the name of Harry's partner in the beginning of the movie?
6. What type of weapon does Harry carry? (Let nobody think that I am suggesting anything with respect to hare-kari, the practice of Japanese samurai.) I would prefer the brand name as well as the caliber.
7. What is Harry eating when he walks out into the street to foil a bank robbery?
8. At one point, Harry shoots the killer in the leg at a football stadium. Approximately what is the yard-line where he is dropped?
9. What does Harry tell bad guys that his weapon is able to do?
10. At the end of the show, how many shots has Harry fired at the killer before he puts him away?

Pepper

Have any of you ever thought much about pepper? I am a pepper lover, particularly black pepper. I suppose you all have seen these little paper packages with black pepper in them. There is only one problem with the two packages up in the sky in the first pic. Neither one has any pepper! Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. So where is the QC Dept. when you need them? One can easily see that this pepper is packaged by Sysco Corp. in Houston, TX. It wouldn't be so bad if every once in a blue moon I got one with no pepper, but almost every time I pick up as many as 4 peppers, I get at least one with no pepper. The bottom pic shows another type of package where the pepper is found in two "tubes" in the paper package. These seem to all contain at least some pepper. I suppose I should write the Sysco Corp. and see if they are even aware of this problem. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this problem?

More Andy

Now in this episode, Opie has a crush on a "girl that is somewhat older than he is." He doesn't want to tell who it is because it is a secret. Barney tries to give Opie some help with some poetry, not knowing who it is that Opie likes. In this last shot Barney has found out who it is and as you can see, he is somewhat upset at Andy for not taking care of this matter himself.
1. Who does Opie have a crush on?
2. What did Andy and Barney call Mrs. von Roeder? (Hint: She taught school on the 4th floor.)
3. , 4., 5. What are three things that Andy and Barney did to her?
6. Andy liked a girl in the 5th grade. What was her name? (Hint: She was in the upper 5th grade and Andy was in the lower.)
7. Barney tells Andy that he got Thelma Lou a really nice gift: he took her to eat at Morelli's. (They usually go Dutch.) What does Barney say they will let you bring into the restaurant?
8. Barney says at Morelli's you can get out for $1.85 if you don't get what with the deluxe special?
9. When Barney thinks he is alone at work he calls Wanita. Where is it that she works as a waitress?
10. Who is the author of the book of poems that Barney is reading to Opie while he is on the phone with the girl he likes?

Snow of '87

Here are 3 pics from that snow in '87 I was telling you about earlier. Ya think we'll ever have another one quite as nice as that? I kinda doubt it.

Another pic

Here is another pic of today's snow, taken just after I got home from work. As you can see, most of the snow has gone and we have ice on the grass and trees.

Snow!!

Some of us still get exicted about snow, but you know with all this global warming, we probably won't be able to see that sort of thing much longer. So we enjoy it while we can. The biggest snow I can remember was in 1987 when it snowed a foot and a half here in Kernersville. If I can retrieve those pics I'll post them too. Sorry, that I couldn't wait for daylight to get this shot, but I did have to go to work today.

Warehouse Tour

Over the weekend I was able to take a tour of a warehouse in Pilot Mountain, or as they say in Mayberry, Mount Pilot. It was a very informative tour as our guide was VP Old Paratrooper. As you see in the pic I was privileged to sit in the driver's seat of one of the trucks, which I had never in my whole life had that opportunity. After the tour we enjoyed the fine cuisine of Smoky D's restaurant just down the road. (We asked if we could be seated in the non-smoking section, but I don't think they had one.) The food was excellent and I highly recommend it if you happen to pass by on old 52.
The top pic was taken from the back seat of the car, so you will have to understand that it is not the best pic of Pilot Mountain. Then of course, the second pic was also taken from the back seat, but I had a side view of the mountain. You will notice a little blur on the warning sign in the foreground.

White Horse Inn

The White Horse Inn is a nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by Michael Horton, Rod Rosenbladt, Kim Riddlebarger and Ken Jones. On the air since 1990, the show features a regular roundtable discussion of Christian theology and apologetics. -from their website found here.

My two sons have helped me learn how I can download podcasts to my ipod shuffle, and listen to them while driving to and from work. I certainly don't read as much as I should and this is one way of staying somewhat aware of what intelligent Bible scholars are saying. I may have mentioned in an earlier post, another favorite, Ravi Zacharias. But I digress. The current podcast from White Horse Inn is called Christless Christianity. I would recommend this one to any Christian. The gentlemen on this program discuss how Christ is becomming less and less important in sermons in "Evangelical" churches today. One of the biggest churches in this country today preaches more on how to live your best life now, rather than the true Gospel for lost and dying sinners. What's up with that?

Gulf of Hormuz

This was taken from tonight's CBS News (with Katie Couric) and it is really incredible. Iranian speedboats in the Gulf of Hormuz threatened to blow up US ships. What's up with that?

Cell Phones

Here is a little bit of helpful info about cell phone usage while driving. I saw this on CBS Sunday Morning. Cell phones are distracting for most drivers whether they will admit it or not. How many of you have been behind someone sitting at the stoplight and when it turns green, all they are thinking about is talking on the phone. I know today we feel that we are being smarter if we do some multi-tasking, but really its not smart at all.

We played Wii

Here is a shot of Ben and Sarah playing Wii tennis, a popular game at our home. Wii is still a favorite after having it for over a year. We played some other Wii games (other than the sports) such as Big Brain Academy, but I am not as good at these games as the sports, at least in my own mind. It is humbling when the little professor comes up after a session and tells you how much (or how little) your brain weighs. I suppose the lighter it is the less you have to carry around, right?