Memorial Day 2017

I'm doing something different this Memorial Day. I'm gonna remember one guy, an 18-year-old kid who drowned in the surf at Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944. His backpack was too heavy, and he was too seasick from the ride to shore. He wanted to be a hero, wanted to keep America free and all that claptrap fog of war shit, but all that happened was he died. His family tree has one limb missing; he didn't get married, have kids; he didn't get to see Donkey Kong, or HDTV, or feel central air conditioning, or buy a pack of smokes at a 24/7 convenience store. He's dead. Forever.

I don't know if it matters, but thanks, kid. Thanks for trying.

The French at Normandy always remember

Kiwis in Space!

The launch site is on North Island's Mahia peninsula.

Very interesting deal, here. We're talking about launching small, low-cost creative boxes called cubesats - only a few kilos each, with photographic, weather and agricultural capabilities. New Zealand is well away from commercial air traffic patterns, so there would be little cause for launch delays because of busy skies, and the Kiwis are uniquely positioned to achieve north-south orbit.

Read all about  it, see more pictures, just click here.

Me, a sharp knife and a pineapple - GO!

Wifey gave me a chore today: cut and dice a pineapple. That's not a skill I learned on South 17th Street in Newark, but Google rescued me!

Lest we forget... the glories of the Roman Empire - Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont du Gard is the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts, and, along with the Aqueduct of Segovia, one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 because of its historical importance.

The aqueduct bridge is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometre (31 mi) system built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at Uzès to Nîmes. Because of the uneven terrain between the two points, the mostly underground aqueduct followed a long, winding route that called for a bridge across the gorge of the Gardon River.

The bridge has three tiers of arches, stands 48.8 m (160 ft) high, and descends a mere 2.5 centimetres (1 in) – a gradient of only 1 in 18,241 – while the whole aqueduct descends in height by only 12.6 m (41 ft) over its entire length, which is indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve, using simple technology. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 40,000 m³(8,800,000 imp gal) of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. It may have been in use as late as the 6th century, with some parts used for significantly longer, but a lack of maintenance after the 4th century led to clogging by mineral deposits and debris that eventually choked off the flow of water.

After the Roman Empire collapsed and the aqueduct fell into disuse, the Pont du Gard remained largely intact, due to the importance of its secondary function, as a toll bridge. For centuries the local lords and bishops were responsible for its upkeep, in exchange for the right to levy tolls on travellers using it to cross the river, although some of its stones were looted and serious damage was inflicted on it in the 17th century. It attracted increasing attention starting in the 18th century, and became an important tourist destination.

It underwent a series of renovations between the 18th and 21st centuries, commissioned by the local authorities and the French state, that culminated in 2000 with the opening of a new visitor centre and the removal of traffic and buildings from the bridge and the area immediately around it. Today it is one of France's most popular tourist attractions, and has attracted the attention of a succession of literary and artistic visitors.
(from Wikipedia) Thanks to Facebook's Johnny Haddo for the pic that prompted this post.

Vocabulary, word a day

A first for me - a word I wish I never heard of:

Possibly Photoshopped,
but it makes the point.

kakistocracy - government by the worst element of a society, coined in 1829 by Thomas Love Peacock , an analogy of its opposite, aristocracy, from Greek kakistos "worst," superlative of kakos "bad" (which perhaps is related to the general Indo-European word for "defecate;" see caco- + -cracy.