Kevin Riley

Iris is a wonderful songwriter, and her voice and delivery are unique. Thanks for posting this. 🙂

Something like “and the murder rate doesn’t include the way you killed Auburn’s football program.” 🙄

Yes Daniel, if Trump were to be elected pope I do think he’d go to live at the Vatican. That place is just cram-jammed with golden decor, and that seems to be Donny’s special fetish.

My wife is in favor of Benedict Cumberbatch—she’s always in favor of Benedict Cumberbatch. 🙄

I’m thinking Michael Sheen would be quirky fun.

DOGE was never about savings. It was always about surveillance.

Over the weekend, we released new details—and now whistleblowers are coming forward too. What’s becoming clearer by the day: DOGE isn’t a government efficiency program. It’s a data weapon aimed at the American people.

Hi Jaz! I love your young planetary scientist enthusiasm. Stay excited and inspired. 🪐

This is the dream

This is not a smart man.

Yeah, Shell isn’t American; he’s Dutch royalty! 🥸

“…the inauguration is a great American tradition…” Was Tim Cook paying attention to Trump’s last inauguration? Doesn’t he recall the dystopian picture of the US Trump’s speech portrayed? I remember being gobsmacked by the imaginary hellscape he described. It was then I knew we were screwed for sure.

Through winter clouds the crescent moon with Venus to the lower right, about 3 degrees away.

Through the rushing clouds and between the swirling snow squalls: hey, I gave it a shot. I’m grateful I was able to see it at all. Lots of clouds around until Sunday.

Sorry for going on so long. I’m sure my frenetic speculation is like nothing that’s in the book, but it is fun to think about.

I’m really looking forward to reading the book!!

Would there be an atmosphere after the initial outgassing? If people do land, they’d drill through the rind and pump liquid from the softer cheese for refining into water for drinking and fuel. Cheese could also extracted to eat, and since it’s an organic compound they can use the cheese for fuel.

In the vacuum of space the surface of the choon (cheesy moon) will desiccate and become a hard rind. That will darken and lower the albedo. If the soft choon does undergo gravitational compression, the expression on the harder rind could be interesting—wrinkle ridges at least. Fun to think about!

When it’s in new moon phase and aligned with and obscured by the sun. One of the characters says that the moon is just entering the waxing crescent phase, so that makes sense. However, the moon isn’t usually easily visible until a couple of days after new moon.

pegged pants - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

I watch a lot of TCM, and pegged pants are occasionally referred to in movies from the 1930’s, ‘40’s and ‘50’s. They’re talking about pants with cuffs that are tailored that way. It’s a fashion term that’s been around a long time. Wiktionary has an entry w/photo: en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/pegged_...

Nice shot, John. It’s cloudy AF here in Pittsburgh. We haven’t had any decent light since Monday, and I’m miffed that I missed the latest aurora. More clouds and snow on the way—brrr.

The clouds are on fire—sunset, Pittsburgh, 12/7/2024.

From Pittsburgh; I wish I had a better foreground, but this was unexpected.

Watched the first three episodes last night—really fun. I like that Sally Struthers is playing an interesting character.

Wispy Comet Atlas below a cloud bank.

Comet Atlas from Dormont, with St. Bernard's steeple on right.

I was excited for Comet Atlas in October, but I wasn't able to get away to a dark site. As usual, the iPhone came through and grabbed it out of the light polluted skies.

Hell’s Hollow Falls—broad and swift.

In August my son and I went to McConnell’s Mill SP. We hiked in the gorge a bit, then went to Hell’s Hollow Falls:

Adams Falls in Linn Run SP. A narrow ribbon of water surrounded by greenery.

Summer was busy with work and not much happened. In June I did get to take a ride east to Ligonier and Linn Run SP with my dear friend Liz. Here is Adams Falls in the SP. Over summer and through fall we had quite a lack or rain--our local falls have not been at their best.

Top of Kinzua Bridge--wood, train tracks, wooded hills in the distance.

Kinzua Bridge structure--large, black triangular steel trusses.

Over Memorial Day we went to Bradford, PA to visit relatives. On the way home we stopped at Kinzua Bridge State Park:
www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/F...

May 10th aurora--columns of light.

May 10th aurora--columns of light.

Then a month later the great aurora of May 10th happened. We drove an hour north of Pittsburgh, to Moraine State Park. It was amazing. I had never seen the aurora before, so it was incredibly special to me. I'm never making it to Iceland, so this was my big chance.

Solar eclipse--diamond ring.

Total solar eclipse with corona.

Here are a couple of photos.

Diamond ring effect and total eclipse.

I haven't been on here in a long time, so let's get caught up. For the 4/8 solar eclipse my son and I drove from Pittsburgh to Wapakoneta, OH--birthplace of Neil Armstrong. We parked in an Aldi lot--easy access to snacks ☺️. It was wonderful. We're so lucky to have seen 2 total eclipses in 7 yrs.

The eclipse is in two days. The forecast for Erie, an easy two hours from Pgh, keeps getting worse. The forecast for western Ohio seems to be deteriorating, too, though not as bad. Indiana looks OK, but out and back in one day would be rough. If I could only teleport to Maine… Arrgh. #eclipseangst

On the evening of Feb. 21st at about 7:50 PM a bright fireball streaked across the skies of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and up into Ontario. Of course, it was my rotten luck to have gone into the house just ten minutes earlier after arriving home from Aldi 😢.

Molly—furry black dog

Let’s start my new account off with a pic of my sweet Molly dog. She just turned three on Feb. 1st.