Calling occupants of interplanetary most extraordinary craft AKA Carl Sagan FT. Stephen Hawking...

Regular viewers of BTOG are familiar with my obsession for astrophysics (observational and/or theoretical).

No doubt concepts describing black holes, dark matter, superstring theory, cosmology, etc. are indeed fascinating yet mindbogglingly abstract and necessarily overtaxing on the ol' gray matter.

Today's video of the day, a rare jam session between my two of my boyhood heroes (former American astronomer, exobiologist, cosmologist, 1970's TV superstar host/guru Carl Sagan, and the illustrious Theoretical Physicist, former longtime Lucasian Professor of Mathematics (Cambridge), Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics, best-selling author Stephen Hawking) is meant to illuminate and elucidate any concerns or confusion you might have with regard to these concepts.

As always, here at BTOG, we make continuing education a priority.

Eldoret, Kenya

bit of catching up... hope you didn't miss the recent lunar eclipse. it was a beauty, eh? couldn't resist taking out the ol' camera. man, i'm a geek...

[ed. note: Eldoret, located at N0 30.954 E35 16.439 in the Rift Valley, has been one of the hot spots for recent post-Kenyan election violence. looking back at the brief time i was there, there was absolutely no signs of inter-tribal rivalry or conflict that has set Kenya on it's current path of tragic self destruction. i'll comment further in the Nairobi postings.]

Long day on the bus, but I finally made it to Eldoret.

Eldoret has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Without violence I guess it's like a mini Kampala. Chaotic and major air pollution. My lungs are not liking it.

My return to Kenya feels kind of weird. Like the first time I was here, I already have an urge to get out. Is it just me? Or, is it really that bad? I'm getting some bad vibes. The people just seem more desperate. Compared to Uganda, the population seems much poorer. Men were sifting through mounds of garbage on my way to the hotel.

I'm gonna have to give it a chance. Just exercise caution...

The saving grace of Eldoret seems to be the local Creamery as reported in the Lonely Planet. I went this aft after checking in. I thought I could taste some of the different cheeses they made. When I asked the counter guy for samples, he just gave me the usual dumbfounded face scrunch. He did know what chocolate ice cream was. So, I bought a small tub (half a litre) and took it "home". It was soooo good. It'd been so long since I had 'scream. I ate the whole damn thing. I feel a lil' sick from it right now...

Tonite should be interesting... the club next door has got the house music cranked. really cranked. I think I booked myself into a brothel. Oh, lucky me...

Tomorrow should be really interesting. It marks my return to the place where I started my pathetic travel career, Nairobbery. Sorry, I meant Nairobi. This time I feel somewhat more confident. Pack light, no night time romps and hopefully, I escape within a week unscathed.

Quote of the trip (so far): "good but not better..." - Indian guy running a petrol station (where I was waiting for the bus) on the outskirts of Jinja commenting on how he felt about living in Uganda. He and his parents immigrated from India. I'm not very good with cliches but I think that's a good example of "out of the frying pan and into the fire" or at best a lateral move.

Out of Canuckistan, Mar 2/07
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hodge podge...

total eclipse of the sun.

so, did y'all catch the eclipse yesterday? don't worry, it may as well have been a million miles away unless you were in the saharan desert.



i'd like to see an eclipse before i croak. so, i did a bit of research. if i were to do it on the cheap, i'd have wait till 2017, according to the above map. it's suppose to soar right over my sister's house in portland.

i feel a road trip comin' on my friends, if i'm still alive in 2017.

either that or we'll all observe it over calgary in 2044 while gathered around my death bed.

earth day quiz

hmmm...time for another internet quiz. according to the folks at Earth Day headquarters, if everyone on the planet lived like little ol' me, it would take 4.2 earths to support our lifestyles.

click here for your own eco-foot print.

predictions...

life for palestinians ain't gonna get any better under the new israeli regime. i thought they were going to set the permanent israeli borders after talking with their partners in peace. man, was i dumb.

based on darryl sutter's theory of dividing the last 28 games of the regular NHL season into 4 series of 7 games thus simulating the number of series required to win the stanley cup...i predict the calgary flames will bow out of the 2006 NHL playoffs in the second round.

hotel rwanda.

mega depressing yet powerful movie. genocide is pretty nasty. rwandan massacre hits a little close to home. i was in tanzania when it happened. what the hell was i doing? i knew about it before i left canada. i was probably doing something stupid like being on safari or something.

i'd like to visit rwanda someday. i've read travellers' accounts. the border guards are supposed to be really cranky. no one talks about 1994. who can blame them?

anyway, excellent film. i was blubbering pretty good at the end of it.

religious holidays are ok...

what happened to worshipping the moon?

happy non-denominational birthday (whose statutory holiday status started off as a pagan ritual) to the son (whose middle initial is H) of a super omnipotent being!

i, as one of the unfaithful infidels, don't mind being greeted with "merry christmas".

i treat xmas as a season where i get to have fun with LB and LG.

i eat alot, and i mean ALOT, during christmas.

my sister's going to be home for christmas. i like that.

greeting me with "happy holidays", "season's greetings", "happy channukah" or even "hey, schlimazel..." is ok.

people shouldn't spend so much on christmas presents.

i'm rather apprehensive about the big mall crowds.

they should split xmas. people with surnames that fall between A and M should take a day off a week before Canada Day. the rest of the people would celebrate whenever it's most convenient for them.

christmas lights are pretty but when a whole block of houses are decorated with "icicle" lights (you know the kind i'm talking about) it gets rather tacky.

i won't be watching college bowl games...

i plan on getting whupped by LG playing air hockey after xmas dinner.

i'm hoping for a white christmas. i like snow especially during the winter.

amazing race prediction.

i believe that the family of grown up siblings will win tonite's amazing race on CBS. second place finishers will be the trailer trash family from florida. third will be the 3 cute sisters and their pops.

my heart says the 3 cute sisters and their pops.

thanksgiving...

feeling a bit under the weather lately. my tummy doesn't feel so well. having an open ended alimentary canal is a mixed blessing.

shout out...

i just wanted to welcome my friend dillan to the world of macro photography with his purchase of a Canon 105 mm f/2.8 EF macro lens. live life large in a very small world, my friend.

run for your lives!!!!!!!!

© 2004 thinsoapy films

i hope everyone had the chance to see the spectacular lunar eclipse last night.

thanx dave and gina for the swell picture.

if you haven't already bookmarked it, the RASC (calgary chapter) has all the info for such celestial events... i'm such a science geek.