Awake

Lunar Eclipse on a Full Moon

Alan M. MacRobert (Sky and Telescope) writes, "The only slightly problematic area will be near the West Coast of North America, where the partial phase of the eclipse will begin just a few minutes after sunset and moonrise. But if you have an open view low to the east, even this situation will only add to the drama. As twilight fades, westerners will see the shadow-bitten Moon coming into stark view low above the landscape, and by the time totality begins, the sky will be getting quite dark and the Moon will be fairly high." (October's Ideal Lunar Eclipse, Sky and Telescope

Actually, the view from the west coast (Beaverton, Oregon) was stunning. I was at a children's program at church when the director came in and told us we could see the eclipse which was viewable right outside the door of the room we were in. Later, at about 9 pm (PST), we saw the white of the moon rather quickly appear and makes it way back over the surface. It was very exciting to watch. I only wish I had had my camera with me! This picture from Sky and Telescope will have to do. The colors in this picture are a little more vidid and saturated than what I observed. It was amazing, but would have been even more so with a telescope, I imagine.

Sky and Telescope - October's Ideal Lunar Eclipse

Hot and Steamy: Mount St. Helens Puts on a Little Show

For those who are interested, I've been filing my Mount St. Helens related posts in the Creation category.

Static shot, 10/27/2004, 3:28 pm (click on image to go to VolcanoCam):

HRW's End Caste Discrimination Resources out of date?

I found a collection of resources on caste discrimination on Human Rights Watch's site:

HRW: Campaign Against Caste Discrimination

It looks like it's been a few, if not several years since this information has been updated. I wonder if they would be open to partnering with some friends I know who are well aware of the current situation regarding caste-based discrimination and in particular discrimination against Dalits in India. I also wonder if my friends would be willing to partner with them. This would be a partnership probably limited to the exchange of current and pertinent information and stories about the situation, but a partnership nonetheless.

Another idea and perhaps a more feasible one is to add the kind of resources that HRW provides to a site or section of a site devoted to this area of the world. The type of resources provided could be background information, reports from conferences or symposiums, photo galleries, links to endorsed campaigns, and suggestions to readers for getting involved (donations, letter writing, etc.)

Just a thought.

Girls, Chores, Bicycles, and getting to school in rural India

An Ambitious Dream for a Girl in India: Schooling (washingtonpost.com)

This story describes the challenges of 15-year-old Seema Mahato, a "lower-caste" girl in rural India who struggles to attend school with intense family pressure to share housework and fieldwork duties.

Registration required.

On hold

Here are the books I have on hold at the library. (Future commuter reading/listening fodder.)

The art of the start: the time-tested, battle-hardened guide for anyone starting anything

by Kawasaki, Guy, 1954-, Portfolio, 2004. Date Placed: 10/11/2004. Active, 6 of 9

Recommended by Don Schenck here

City on a hill

MM Essential Records, pc2000. Date Placed: 10/21/2004. In Transit, 1 of 1

Checked it out before, checking it out again. Played at the portland dhop from time to time at a session with kathleen.

Hilary Hahn plays Bach

by Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Sony Classical, p1997. Date Placed: 10/21/2004. In Transit, 1 of 1

Hilary was featured on violin in The Village soundtrack, which I enjoyed thorougly. I especially loved playing it for the Dadoo in his mini and watching him practically jump through the sunroof on track 4. ;)

Life for rent

by Dido. Arista, p2003. Date Placed: 10/21/2004. Active, 13 of 13.

Checked this CD out the first time on recommendations from Shawn and someone else I found through Andrew Jones' site, who had it on their "now playing" sidebar; they both had some thoughtful things to say about the album, so I thought I'd check it out. I'm checking it out again because I still don't have the money to buy it on iTunes.

Religion and public life in the Pacific Northwest: the none zone

AltaMira Press, c2004. Date Placed: 10/20/2004. Active, 6 of 6

Recommended by my brother, Brant, (marrying Jackie Dec. 10). Brant just started taking classes at Fuller Theological Seminary's Seattle extension campus. He called me the other day to tell me of this book that was mentioned in his Theology of Christian Community and the Ministry of the Church class. The "none zone" subtitle refers to the fact that most of the people surveyed in the Northwest regarding their religious affiliation answered, "none of the above."

And so I wait.

Bush v. Kerry Debates: Free iTunes Download until Election Day

Download the presidential debates off iTunes for free until election day.

Hat tip: Jamie via this entry about the iTunes affiliates program at 37signals' Signals vs Noise weblog.

Commuter Reading - Joothan: An Untouchable's Life

Having received a note from a friend of mine regarding a recent Caedmon's Call tour supporting the Dalit Freedom Network, I searched my local library's catalog for something interesting in the area of Dalits. I may have found it in Joothan: An Untouchable's Life, by Omprakash Valmiki, translated from the Hindi by Arun Prabha Mukherjee. I haven't made it through the extensive introduction yet, but published in 2003, I hope it proves to be the valuable contribution to Dalit literature the introduction hails it as. The whole thing about this autobiography and Dalit literature in general reminds me of studying slave narratives in my African-American literature class at Biola. This particular area of study impacted me personally, especially when I traced my own roots back to a slave plantation owner in Virginia who, according to the geneological data I'd obtained, was not above fathering a dozen or so children by a slave or indentured servant (not sure which) living and working his land. At the time of my discovery, I regarded it as a sobering reminder that the perpetuation of injustice can in reality be so easily interwoven into people's lives that wrongdoing appears as natural as a day's work. Indeed, it seems that the most outrageous injustices in the world are, to many, merely the norm and therefore regarded with facile impunity. Yet, it is the writers, the singers, the shouters and the healers in this world who will make known the absurdity of injustice.

Happy awakening.

In the sun

I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in

May God's love be with you
Always
May God's love be with you

I know I would apologize if I could see your eyes
'Cause when you showed me myself I became someone else
But i was caught in between all you wish for and all you need
I picture you fast asleep
A nightmare comes
You can't keep awake

May God's love be with you
Always
May God's love be with you

'Cause if i find
If I find my own way
How much will i find
If I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
You

I don't know anymore
What it's for
I'm not even sure
If there is anyone who is in the sun
Will you help me to understand
'Cause I been caught in between all I wish for and all I need
Maybe you're not even sure what it's for
Any more than me

May God's love be with you
Always
May God's love be with you

~Joseph Arthur, "In the sun"

Pumpkin Patch Pics Posted

(Say that five times fast!)

Once again, we went to that place in North Plains with the train and the boat and of course, the pumpkin patch. Pictures posted at the Gallery:

Pumpkin Patch 2004

New online book for PHP absolute beginners

(This message is for PHP beginners, though those of you already using PHP might find this resource to be of interest as well.)

I thought I would pass along the link to this new online book on PHP, Practical PHP Programming by Paul Hudson. This online book looks to be an excellent starting point for those of you interested in learning PHP. The author states, "This book assumes no PHP programming skill at all — you will be taught from scratch in that respect."

Incidentally, if you are interested in learning PHP, the php.net site and this online book are probably where you want to start (and naturally, are good references for those already using PHP).

Practical PHP Programming by Paul Hudson

Comments, etc. about the book can be found on the PHP blog, Dynamically Typed. (This is where I found out about the book. Thanks, Harry.)

Wow, Sarah

Found this inspiring gem on NetNewsWire: ongoing. I agree, if you have iTunes, stop everything and watch this. (For those without iTunes, go here.)

Ideas, ideas, ideas. Mmmm good.

Wow.

USGS takes it down a notch

"Following yesterday morning’s steam-and-ash eruption, seismicity dropped to a low level and has remained low." Alert Level was changed from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2. [Current seismic data webicorder - St. Helens - south-ridge]

Click image to enlarge:

Current Update: Mount St. Helens Alert Level Change

Also, found this is an interesting page under "Archive of Interesting Webicorder records": Mount St. Helens Volcanic Advisory (Alert Level 3) Webicorders and Spectographs

Today's a bit overcast, so VolcanoCam images have been mostly obstructed by clouds and fog. But here's a pic of the newly forming lava dome:

Ash: A Jagged Little Potential Electricty Conductor

Ash particle, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, magnified 200 times Last night I found some fascinating and informative details about volcanic ash on this USGS site:

Volcanic Ash, What it can do and how to minimize damage

For instance, did you know that volcanic ash...

• does not dissolve in water
• is not soft like sand, but very abrasive and corrosive
• conducts electricity when wet
• is formed by the force of escaping gas when it violently shatters solid rock

Exciting, huh? Being a geology hobbyist and living in the Ring of Fire definitely has its perks.

VolcanoCam Animated Loop of Images

This guy Brian McNoldy put together this neat little app that loops through today's VolcanoCam images. Very nice!

Johnston Ridge Observatory Webcam Loop

St. Helens Venting Steam and Ash

St. Helens Venting Again (KOIN 6 News)

9:25 am

9:59 am

10:19 am

2:29 pm

2:54 pm

VolcanoCam Gallery for this morning's steam eruption

10:14 am

10:29am

10:59am

Mt. St. Helens is erupting!

Mom was sure right about this one. (And the scientists too, I suppose. ;-)
Here is a static captured image of the eruption. For the live webcam, go to my Mt. St. Helens Online Resources entry.

Mount St. Helens Most Definitely Rumbly in its Tumbly

A unique tremor type was detected this afternoon which the USGS guy on TV says is basically is the sound of liquid churning beneath the surface. (Eeww. Creepy magma sounds. Cool!) The liquid is of course magma and the Volcano Alert Level was raised to 3 (the highest level.)

I got the scoop from Joe across the hall in the kindergarten class. I teach the 4s and as I was waiting for my class to arrive, Joe told me what was happening. I guess I opted out of that Google News Alert too soon. But as long as one has access to an active grapevine, who needs e-mail alerts? Thanks, Joe!

Guess ma is gonna be right about this one. It looks like its just a matter of time before the mountain does whatever it is that it's gonna do.

I'm thinking an ash eruption with plenty of steam and a side of lava creeping down the mountain. Maybe a few rogue projectile boulders for good measure. But, hopefully debris flows and flooding will be left out of the story this time around.

And we wait.

Mount St. Helens Online Resources

• Current Updates, Press Releases and other information/links (The Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network)
• Mount St. Helens Seismicity Information
• Seismicity Webicorder Maps and Station Lists: Mt. St. Helens
• Mount St. Helens Special Conditions (Gifford Pinchot National Forest)
• A plethora of Mount St. Helens information and links (USGS)
• St. Helens Real time seismic activity Scroll down to find the station name, then click on today's date to see the data
• VolcanoCam
• Mt. St. Helens Satellite Imagery (NOAA Satellite Services Division)

Update: Live VolcanoCam (courtesy Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument):

Update: Location of Earthquake Monitors (HSR, JUN, CDF) on St. Helens:

Ma says it'll blow again

Correction: This is the current seismic activity for Mount St. Helens...Cool!

NOTE: PNSN crater station SEP (the one below) was broken or destroyed in the blast. Mt. St. Helens - Base Station:

Mt. St. Helens - South Ridge:

Mt. St. Helens - June Lake:

Soon after hearing from the office grapevine that Mount St. Helens erupted, I received than e-mail from my mom:

Mt. St. Helens Just blew off a plume of smoke. It looks pretty neat from our building!

It did not, however, look neat from our building. In fact our view is obstructed by the World Trade Center. So I went outside to head for the waterfront to see if I could see anything. As I was walking down the street, I ran into Michael, (who was running) and, more importantly, had the digital camera in tow. Ah ha! So I told him as we ran across the street, that my ma says there's a good view from her building, about 5 minutes down the waterfront just past Riverplace. This was hopeful information because nothing was visible from where we were; we were too low. So we made it to mom's building and she took us up to a corner office with a patio on the top floor. Sure enough, you could see where the mountain was supposed to be (and you could see it faintly) but it was just a lot of dirty air. We missed the plume.

So then Mom gave us some anecdotal history of the last time St. Helens erupted and finally said as we parted, "It'll blow again."

So we wait.