Skyehaven’s Cool Thing of the Day

Get in on the ground floor, and fix it!

(ht: The Agitator)

Most of us have seen marble run kits. There’s lots of mix and match ramps and things that hook together to channel a rolling marble from the top to the bottom. Often they look far more interesting than they really are, the bits don’t quite fit together quite right, they’re rickety and really not quite as much fun as they should be.

Here’s a new twist on that idea that might just alleviate most of those complaints. I’m 30-mumble, and I can say with complete honesty, “Do want!”

Unless you happened to run across them in Las Vegas or at Disney years ago, you’ve surely never heard of Toxic Audio. I have a thing for a cappella anyway, but even if I didn’t this group would blow my mind. If you like what you hear below, be sure to check their schedule to see if they’ll be anywhere near you. I’ve yet to catch a live show…it’s on my list of things to do. In the meantime, have a go at this:

I recently changed the background on my computer at work, because I came across this image and loved it that much. So I was poking around tonight and figured out the artist,Julian Beever. From an accident on a work site in Vienna to giant Coke bottles, he offers a little bit of everything, in chalk and in 3D. Definitely worth a look!

This’ll make anyone feel humble.

Earth Rise

From the comments at YouTube

Everyone who’s played with tempera paints knows what happens when you mix colors. But did you ever try to unmix colors? With the right set up and materials, it can be done!

This article and picture from space shows the very beginning of a volcanic eruption and the shockwave clearing space around it in the atmosphere. Yet another reason that the space program rock – how else are we going to see the top of natural phenomena that extend tens of thousands of feet into the atmosphere?

Sometimes, having a ‘satiable curiosity is darned uncomfortable. But since my curiosity is insatiable, it’s difficult to stop watching, looking for new information, no matter how heart breaking the images are. Lessons I’ve learned over the last few days while watching the events in Iran:

• Cigarettes are in indispensable part of your jump kit if you’re going to protest and expect tear gas to be deployed. The smoke helps dispel the stinging pain. On a related note, small fires can also be set to assist more people at one time.
• Saran Wrap can be used to treat gunshot wounds to the chest (sucking chest wounds) until they can be seen by a doctor.
• Wailing needs no translation. It’s understood, no matter what in what language it’s being uttered.
• Allahu Akbar isn’t just a chant employed by those who seem to want to destroy the Western way of life…and when uttered as a plea, few phrases are as gut-wrenching.
• Marg bar dictator means “Death to the Dictator”.
• Beautiful women remain beautiful, even in death

I’m not posting links to the videos from which I’ve learned these things. Some of them are graphic and horrible and I want to keep this blog PG13 at worst. If you haven’t already seen videos coming from Iran and really want to know what I’m talking about, a quick search of youtube will provide you with links that you never wanted to see.

Remember, once something has been seen, it can’t be unseen. And there are images from the last few days that I’d give anything to unsee.

While I generally don’t like to get into politics around here, the ongoing events in Iran have captured my attention. And amidst all the horror, and confusion, and quiet courage of the people in the streets demanding change there are small moments of connection, where a few voices cry out in anguish…and are answered.

Rough translation, courtesy of HuffPo:

“Allaho Akbar!” Such haunting video. Midway through, you’ll hear a woman’s voice, whose words were translated by emailer Lily:

The woman in this video is saying something that really touched me. She is saying that they can take our phones, our internet, all our communication away, but we are showing that by saying “allaho akbar” we can find each other. She ends it my saying that tonight they are crying out to god for help.

I will grant that I’m unsure if the devil we don’t know (Mousavi) will be any better than the one we do know. What I’m sure of, is that the people of Iran who are peacefully protesting have a right to be heard. And here I’m doing my part to help ensure that, even if their government hasn’t heard or isn’t listening, other people are.

If you have a few minutes to kill, head on over to the best puzzle/brainteaser website

I’ve found in a while. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find words in a 3 x 3 square.