Derek's having a less than stellar day today. He is in the middle of his third chemo treatment. Airdrie says that he's just beat, and has spent the day in bed.
We saw him yesterday, after he came home from the hospital from his bi-weekly infusions there. He was feeling ok at that time. Today and tomorrow he is still connected to the "take-home" drip, I suppose that's what's causing his discomfort right now. I always think of chemotherapy as "controlled poisoning" - it's really a course way to attack cancer cells. It's the only reliable method we know of, though. Much research is under way to be able to "fine tune" these treatments - looking for the magic bullet, if you like.
The B.C. Cancer Agency is in the forefront of this research. It needs all the support it can get.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A number of happenings
Sometimes a lot of things happen in a short period.
On the weekend, my wife and I drove to Seattle to meet a cousin whom I hadn't seen in 52 years. She was visiting one of her daughters, who had recently moved there. Other than exchanging a few emails in the last year, we hadn't really connected in a meaningful way.
The last time we met face-to-face was when we were both in our early teens, before I emigrated to Canada from Berlin. Later, she married an American in the armed services, became an American citizen many years ago, and moved to Texas.
In any case, we reconnected on Sunday, caught up on family history, took some pictures, and promised to visit each other more often.
It was a significant, and happy day for both of us.
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On Monday, my wife decided that it would be nice to have an intimate dinner with Derek, Airdrie, Marina and Lauren. Since they all live next door, it is easy to get together. We had one of my wife's specialties (rouladen) and various greens, rice, pudding. My wife is a wonderful cook (I married her for her cooking and her money - well, and because I love her, too). This recipe she learned from my mother; my mother always said that my wife made it better than she herself.
So, we had a nice evening.
Yesterday, I finally managed to take a short peek at comet Holmes; a short peek because I saw it through holes in the clouds only. It is very bright, and easily seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy star. It looks magnificent in binoculars, if a little unusual - I did not see a tail; it appears like a big, fuzzy ball. It's a shame that our sky is covered in clouds, and predictions are for more of the same, and lots of rain. Well, this is the Pacific Northwest - what would you expect at this time of year?
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This morning we had some sad news. My wife has three close friends, two of whom she has known since they all were kids, another "joined the club" more than fifty years ago. They all live in the city, and the four of them get together often; they celebrate their birthdays, and find many other reasons to have "a night out" with each other. They've gone through the ups and downs in their lives more-or-less together; two of them are widowed. I have known all four of them since before my wife and I got married (nearly 43 years ago). They all were bridesmaids at our wedding. The four of them are part of our family, and join in and contribute to most of our family get-togethers.
One of them, Sonia, whom my wife has known since they were both children, died this morning. We are all very sad. Her health had not been the best in the last years; none-the-less she travelled often, enjoyed her food, and was always "open" to life. It's a great loss to us all. Derek has written an eloquent note about her.
So, life has its happy and sad moments.
On the weekend, my wife and I drove to Seattle to meet a cousin whom I hadn't seen in 52 years. She was visiting one of her daughters, who had recently moved there. Other than exchanging a few emails in the last year, we hadn't really connected in a meaningful way.
The last time we met face-to-face was when we were both in our early teens, before I emigrated to Canada from Berlin. Later, she married an American in the armed services, became an American citizen many years ago, and moved to Texas.
In any case, we reconnected on Sunday, caught up on family history, took some pictures, and promised to visit each other more often.
It was a significant, and happy day for both of us.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Monday, my wife decided that it would be nice to have an intimate dinner with Derek, Airdrie, Marina and Lauren. Since they all live next door, it is easy to get together. We had one of my wife's specialties (rouladen) and various greens, rice, pudding. My wife is a wonderful cook (I married her for her cooking and her money - well, and because I love her, too). This recipe she learned from my mother; my mother always said that my wife made it better than she herself.
So, we had a nice evening.
Yesterday, I finally managed to take a short peek at comet Holmes; a short peek because I saw it through holes in the clouds only. It is very bright, and easily seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy star. It looks magnificent in binoculars, if a little unusual - I did not see a tail; it appears like a big, fuzzy ball. It's a shame that our sky is covered in clouds, and predictions are for more of the same, and lots of rain. Well, this is the Pacific Northwest - what would you expect at this time of year?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning we had some sad news. My wife has three close friends, two of whom she has known since they all were kids, another "joined the club" more than fifty years ago. They all live in the city, and the four of them get together often; they celebrate their birthdays, and find many other reasons to have "a night out" with each other. They've gone through the ups and downs in their lives more-or-less together; two of them are widowed. I have known all four of them since before my wife and I got married (nearly 43 years ago). They all were bridesmaids at our wedding. The four of them are part of our family, and join in and contribute to most of our family get-togethers.
One of them, Sonia, whom my wife has known since they were both children, died this morning. We are all very sad. Her health had not been the best in the last years; none-the-less she travelled often, enjoyed her food, and was always "open" to life. It's a great loss to us all. Derek has written an eloquent note about her.
So, life has its happy and sad moments.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Surprise comet
(click on the picture to see a larger version)
Figure 1 (from "Sky and Telescope" magazine.)
Photographer AnnMarie Jones
Location Aberllefenni, Wales, UK
Date 5th Nov '07 - pm
Equipment Canon 20D 100-400L @ 400mm Celestron CG5 mount
(click on the picture for a larger version)
Figure 3
These sequential pictures taken by Gary Seronik (RASC)
We have an unanticipated visitor in the night sky right now. I'm talking about the periodic comet Holmes. That comet orbits between Mars and Jupiter (right in the asteroid belt) and is normally very faint - too faint for many telescopes and certainly binoculars. Its orbit is tilted with respect to the plane of the orbits of the major planets and the average plane of the asteroid belt. As a consequence, the comet encounters the asteroid belt twice - once on the way "up" from "below", and again on the way "down" from "above" the planetary plane.
In the last couple of weeks, it has become very bright (relatively speaking), so that it can now be seen with the naked eye, and is certainly quite easy in binoculars. Some people have estimated its brightness at 2nd magnitude, whereas it is normally at 17th magnitude.
In astronomy the magnitude of an object refers to its brightness; each magnitude is approximately 2.5 times brighter than the next. A bright star, for instance, can be of magnitude 1, with larger numbers actually denoting lower brightness. So a star of magnitude 1 is 2.5 times brighter than one of magnitude 2, which in turn is 2.5 times brighter than a star of magnitude 3, etc. You can therefore get a pretty good idea of how much the comet's brightness has increased if you consider that its brightness has increased by about 15 magnitudes (that's 2.5 raised to the 15th power) which comes to approximately a million times. For a more precise explanation, see an article by Nick Strobel.
This brightness increase is unexplained at the moment. My hunch is that the comet collided with some asteroid or a large meteoroid. Something very similar was done artificially by deliberately crashing the "Deep Impact" probe into the comet Tempel 1.
You can find comet Holmes on a clear evening if you look to the northeast at around 8 pm (and it'll be visible all night long, as the sky turns through the hours, slowly making its way to the overhead, and later, northwest position). Make reference to figure 1 to find it in the sky. The comet is in a position in it's orbit which will keep it in the area of the Perseus constellation until about March 2008. Perhaps it'll keep up its brightness - comets are notoriously unpredictable in that regard. Use your binoculars to enhance the view. You'll probably see a fuzzy blob, quite distinct from the nearby stars.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Practical uses
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As most of you know, I'm sure, there are a number of satellites orbiting the Earth with astronomical purposes as their primary or only function. The most famous of these is the Hubble Space Telescope; who hasn't seen at least some of spectacular images that telescope has produced over the years? Above you see Hubble images of the planet Jupiter and the inside of a gaseous nebula known as M17 (In binoculars, visible as a small "blob" - both it, and Jupiter and its four big moons are easily seen from your back yard with binoculars, especially if they are attached to a photo tripod or similar support.)
There are a number of other artificial satellites making astronomical observations at electromagnetic wavelengths that do not penetrate our atmosphere (infra-red, ultraviolet, certain radio frequencies, etc...). A couple of these, the Spitzer and the Chandra space telescopes, were recently in the news with regards to "missing black holes".
Space telescopes provide data for basic research, and their resulting data sets have less direct application to everyday life, though some the published pictures resulting from their activities are aesthetically pleasing, and grace the walls of planetariums (planetaria?) and museums (musea?), and probably quite a few private residences the world over. They also have scientific value; so one can say that there is perhaps some direct effect.
There is another class of Earth satellites which very directly affect our lives - the "weather satellites". There are several which provide up-to-date weather information and make today's weather forecasts so much more accurate. For instance, here is an image picturing some pertinent current conditions relayed by one of those satellites. The International Space Station and NASA's space shuttle also have a role in this regard, many important weather pictures have been taken by people occupying these vehicles.
Information such as this helps people prepare for these occurrences, and saves many lives. While this is not astronomy activity in the strict sense, the technologies developed for astronomical purposes certainly have important applications in this field of meteorology (this name itself shows the connection, meteors are certainly considered to be astronomical phenomena).
Practical uses of science, for sure.
...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Halloween recital
Marina at the piano
The proud parents (Derek and Airdrie)
Lauren at the piano
Marina singing
Derek and Airdrie invited us to come to the annual Halloween recital which Lorraine's music students put on every year. This time, it took place at a well-known local pizza restaurant. Both Marina and Lauren displayed their great talents for all guests. A huge surprise for us was that Marina also sang ("Butterfly" was her selection). She has an amazing voice, and a totally relaxed poise in front of an audience. We were all totally thrilled. Marina must have inherited some of that talent from her dad, as well as her Great-Grandfather (my wife's father and Derek's Grandfather), who was a singer, musician, and composer.
Friday, October 26, 2007
A moonrise from the window
Having just returned from California, it is a nice surprise to have a beautiful, clear day and evening - free of all the smoke. Even more lovely was the full moon rise over the northeast mountains, as viewed from our living room window (see picture).
The full moon always appears opposite the sun in the sky. At this time of year the sun sets fairly low in the southwest (and it'll get lower still until December 21). This means that the full moon rises high in the northeast, and sets high in the northwest. In the summer, the sun rises and sets that way, and at that time the full moon rises low in the southeast and sets low in the southwest. A quick rule of thumb: summer sun equals winter full moon, summer full moon equals winter sun. You can also say that sun and full moon are always two seasons apart.
The picture on the left was taken through a double-paned window and shows some faint smudges and reflections as a result. It is actually a combination of two pictures, one exposed to show the bushes, trees and mountains, the other to show the details in the moon's "face". In the first picture the bushes and mountains are correctly exposed, but the moon is overexposed and shows no detail. In the second picture (not shown in this posting), the moon is correctly exposed, but the bushes are barely visible. Consumer type digital camera CCDs do not have the dynamic range of the human eye; the eye perceives detail in both bright and dark areas at the same time. Using Photoshop, the two pictures were combined to give the same impression that I had when I looked at the scene.
This picture is one of several which were taken from the front steps a little later. The histogram of the moon's image in this picture was adjusted to bring out the detail, and the contrast in the whole picture was increased to enhance the appearance of the bushes. This is a single picture, not the combination of two. It played no part in the combined picture above.
The full moon always appears opposite the sun in the sky. At this time of year the sun sets fairly low in the southwest (and it'll get lower still until December 21). This means that the full moon rises high in the northeast, and sets high in the northwest. In the summer, the sun rises and sets that way, and at that time the full moon rises low in the southeast and sets low in the southwest. A quick rule of thumb: summer sun equals winter full moon, summer full moon equals winter sun. You can also say that sun and full moon are always two seasons apart.
The picture on the left was taken through a double-paned window and shows some faint smudges and reflections as a result. It is actually a combination of two pictures, one exposed to show the bushes, trees and mountains, the other to show the details in the moon's "face". In the first picture the bushes and mountains are correctly exposed, but the moon is overexposed and shows no detail. In the second picture (not shown in this posting), the moon is correctly exposed, but the bushes are barely visible. Consumer type digital camera CCDs do not have the dynamic range of the human eye; the eye perceives detail in both bright and dark areas at the same time. Using Photoshop, the two pictures were combined to give the same impression that I had when I looked at the scene.
This picture is one of several which were taken from the front steps a little later. The histogram of the moon's image in this picture was adjusted to bring out the detail, and the contrast in the whole picture was increased to enhance the appearance of the bushes. This is a single picture, not the combination of two. It played no part in the combined picture above.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Smoke gets in your eyes
We have just returned from a short trip to San Diego. Most of you are aware of the extremely vicious wildfires currently affecting that area. While the location of our stay with friends at La Jolla Shores was not directly in the path of the fires, their effects could be felt, none-the-less. There was a constant trickle of fine ash particles; my wife found that the smoky smell affected her breathing, and I had an irritated feeling in my eyes. None in our group was seriously inconvenienced, but in general, the media reported a prevalence of breathing problems.
We have our share of natural disasters here, but I cannot think of another calamity short of an earthquake which would be as destructive as these fires, and so far beyond human control. The only option if you don't want to take chances is not to live in the areas subject to disasters. That's like saying that if you don't want to get rained on, move to a place where it doesn't rain. Generally, desirable locations (mountain slopes, picturesque valleys, lakeside or oceanside viewpoints, etc.) are also subject to some sort of problem (slides, floods, wave erosion, and so on...).
No enjoyment without some risk...
Here are some pictures:
an eerie sun
orange beach scene
From the plane on the way home: smoke as far as you can see.
We have our share of natural disasters here, but I cannot think of another calamity short of an earthquake which would be as destructive as these fires, and so far beyond human control. The only option if you don't want to take chances is not to live in the areas subject to disasters. That's like saying that if you don't want to get rained on, move to a place where it doesn't rain. Generally, desirable locations (mountain slopes, picturesque valleys, lakeside or oceanside viewpoints, etc.) are also subject to some sort of problem (slides, floods, wave erosion, and so on...).
No enjoyment without some risk...
Here are some pictures:
an eerie sun
orange beach scene
From the plane on the way home: smoke as far as you can see.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The next cycle
Dereks' started a new cycle of chemotherapy, which was planned some time ago. So far he has few side effects. We're glad to hear this. Derek says that is feeling reasonably well, which is wonderful, considering what he's had to go through this year.
On a different note:
A few days ago, I bought a Samsung mp3 player and a little FM tunable transmitter. The idea is to be able to play mp3 music through the car radio/cd player in my van, which can't handle mp3 natively. This seems to work quite well. Both units can work on their internal batteries, or you can connect them to an external power supply (including the cigarette lighter) for external power. The mp3 player's battery can be recharged through a USB connection to a computer.
In use, the trick is to find some unused portion of the FM band, to minimize interference from FM radio stations.
I've found one quirk: if you connect both the player and the transmitter to the cigarette lighter, there is some kind of positive feedback which generates an inordinate amount of noise in the radio. If you connect one or the other only, everything's fine. So, I'm using the mp3 player on its internal battery, and the transmitter is powered through the cigarette lighter.
The sound quality in the car is quite good. The mp3 player has a standard headphone output connector, which allows it to be hooked up to external sound equipment, with excellent results. As I type this, I'm listening to it via the computer speaker system normally connected to my laptop.
Music selections are copied to the transmitter from a computer via USB, using software which comes with the player. This software also manages (delete, sort, etc.) what is stored on the player. Capacity is 2 Gbytes, enough for about 500 music selections. At an average of about 3.5 minutes each, that translates to about 30 hours worth of music.
You can also store photos, videos, text files, and games on the player, as well as listen to FM radio or use it like a voice recorder. Versatile enough for me.
On a different note:
A few days ago, I bought a Samsung mp3 player and a little FM tunable transmitter. The idea is to be able to play mp3 music through the car radio/cd player in my van, which can't handle mp3 natively. This seems to work quite well. Both units can work on their internal batteries, or you can connect them to an external power supply (including the cigarette lighter) for external power. The mp3 player's battery can be recharged through a USB connection to a computer.
In use, the trick is to find some unused portion of the FM band, to minimize interference from FM radio stations.
I've found one quirk: if you connect both the player and the transmitter to the cigarette lighter, there is some kind of positive feedback which generates an inordinate amount of noise in the radio. If you connect one or the other only, everything's fine. So, I'm using the mp3 player on its internal battery, and the transmitter is powered through the cigarette lighter.The sound quality in the car is quite good. The mp3 player has a standard headphone output connector, which allows it to be hooked up to external sound equipment, with excellent results. As I type this, I'm listening to it via the computer speaker system normally connected to my laptop.
Music selections are copied to the transmitter from a computer via USB, using software which comes with the player. This software also manages (delete, sort, etc.) what is stored on the player. Capacity is 2 Gbytes, enough for about 500 music selections. At an average of about 3.5 minutes each, that translates to about 30 hours worth of music.
You can also store photos, videos, text files, and games on the player, as well as listen to FM radio or use it like a voice recorder. Versatile enough for me.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Giving thanks
Here in Canada we celebrate thanksgiving day in October. This year, even the weather was worth some thanks. Our sister-in-law and brother-in-law invited the whole extended family. We do have a lot to be thankful for. Dinner was plentiful - obligatory turkey, ham, several "ethnic" dishes (we counted French Canadian, Native Canadian, Danish, Finnish, German, Austrian, Scottish, Ukranian, and Carribean ancestry in the "family" tree). As usual, a great time was had by all, thanks to everyone's efforts. The dining room overflowed. We see our family expanding.
My wife and I appreciated that Derek much enjoyed the dinner, too. You can see that he has a lot of backup, if needed.
Friday, October 5, 2007
A day out
Today is a beautiful day (the weekend coming up is forecast to be lousy again). My wife suggested a trip to our favourite local winery (Domain de Chaberton) to have lunch in their famous Bistro, located right beside the grapes that produce some their wine, and to pick up some of that wine. We invited Derek and Airdrie come along and we all had a wonderful lunch. The food at the Bistro is French gourmet - my wife and I usually have our favourite meals there - mussels for my wife, and stuffed crepes for me. Derek and Airdrie had a great meal, too. Were happy to see Derek have such a good appetite.
Update:
If you're interested to visit the winery, here's the Google map:
Some "drop of a hat" decisions sure have enjoyable outcomes.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Astronomy by proxy
During these days (and nights) of lousy weather, persuing my Astronomy hobby "live" is not easy. However, the internet provides the means to enjoy what technology can do in that regard. I subscribe to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Newsletter. It notifies me of new discoveries in areas in which JPL is active. In any case, even if the weather were absolutely clear, nobody on Earth could see the things shown below, even with the most sohisticated telescopes. So, I would have to use the internet "technology options (my wording)" anyway, JPL being the "proxy". What a marvellous use of technology.
One of the technology options is a Martian satellite named "Odyssey" which is orbiting Mars capturing images and other remotely sensed data, using various instruments on board. Among the latest images are some which suggest that caves may exists in some areas on that planet. Here is one of the images (more complete news are found here):
The NASA description is as follows:
Each of the three images in this set covers the same patch of Martian ground, centered on a possible cave skylight informally called "Annie," which has a diameter about double the length of a football field. The Thermal Emission Imaging System camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter took all three, gathering information that the hole is cooler than surrounding surface in the afternoon and warmer than the surrounding surface at night.
This is thermal behavior that would be expected from an opening into an underground space. The left image was taken in visible-wavelength light. The other two were taken in thermal infrared wavelengths, indicating the relative temperatures of features in the image. The center image is from mid-afternoon. The hole is warmer than the shadows of nearby pits to the north and south, while cooler than sunlit surfaces. The thermal image at right was taken in the pre-dawn morning, about 4 a.m. local time. At that hour, the hole is warmer than all nearby surfaces.
Annie and six other features with similar thermal behavior are on the northern slope of a high Martian volcano named Arsia Mons, which is at 9 degrees south latitude, 239 degrees east longitude.
Mars Odyssey is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif., and is operated by Arizona State University. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/USGS
One of the technology options is a Martian satellite named "Odyssey" which is orbiting Mars capturing images and other remotely sensed data, using various instruments on board. Among the latest images are some which suggest that caves may exists in some areas on that planet. Here is one of the images (more complete news are found here):
The NASA description is as follows:
Each of the three images in this set covers the same patch of Martian ground, centered on a possible cave skylight informally called "Annie," which has a diameter about double the length of a football field. The Thermal Emission Imaging System camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter took all three, gathering information that the hole is cooler than surrounding surface in the afternoon and warmer than the surrounding surface at night.
This is thermal behavior that would be expected from an opening into an underground space. The left image was taken in visible-wavelength light. The other two were taken in thermal infrared wavelengths, indicating the relative temperatures of features in the image. The center image is from mid-afternoon. The hole is warmer than the shadows of nearby pits to the north and south, while cooler than sunlit surfaces. The thermal image at right was taken in the pre-dawn morning, about 4 a.m. local time. At that hour, the hole is warmer than all nearby surfaces.
Annie and six other features with similar thermal behavior are on the northern slope of a high Martian volcano named Arsia Mons, which is at 9 degrees south latitude, 239 degrees east longitude.
Mars Odyssey is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif., and is operated by Arizona State University. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/USGS
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fall is here
The weather here today, and for the next three or four days is indicative of what fall is like in this area. The sky is grey, and the rain is coming down. In anticipation of that, yesterday I went up on the roof to make sure that the downpipes are clear of debris and that the roof was ok.
Oh, the joys of Fall.
Derek and his family have taken a minivacation in Victoria over the weekend - we're glad that he's feeling well enough to do that. They are staying at a nice hotel - swimming pool and other amenities - a little "pretend summer". We'll "veg out" here today; no point in getting dressed. The granddaughters' fish need their daily feeding - we are looking after that. After all, what are grandparents for?
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