deamonstar

gravity is a psuedo-force much in the same way that centrifugal force is a psuedo-force. it is caused by the temporal inertia of mass (its tendancy to remain at rest in a given moment in time) being accelerated through space-time. the acceleration is provided by the accelerated expansion of the universe. as a body of mass exists in space, the 'outward' expansion of space tries to push the body of mass through time as well. as space expands, it encounters resistance from the temporal inertia of the body of mass resulting in a curvature of space-time around it. other bodies of mass are not actually 'pulled' towards another body of mass, so much as space-time is expanding around them. 'realatively' speaking, the distance between the bodies of mass will become less... in a sense, it is the function of a percentage of the realative distances between the two bodies of mass as compared to the mean volume of space at a given moment in time. (of course, other factors such as total mass and velocity and trajectory influence the behaviours of the various bodies of mass which interact with each other.) for further reading follow this link... gravity

I have GOT to get one of these!!! 0-60 in 2.8 seconds, 0-100 in 6.3 seconds. the published figure for the Ferrari McClaren F1 is 0-60 in 3.2 seconds... you do the math! http://www.tigerracing.com/cars/z100main.htm

when I was a teen-ager, I had contracted a rare (and fatal if left untreated) strain of salmonella which caused violent dry heaves (vomitting without anything coming out) which felt like all of my muscles in my body were being torn out among other associated pains that I don't care to mention. the doctors at the hospital couldn't identify the cause of my illness for several days so they called in a specialist in diseases and he discovered that I had the weird salmonella. in the mean time, I was given medications to treat most other common causes of food poisoning but, those medicines had little effect on the strain that I was infected with. the specialist told me that I was lucky that he was called in when he was because if the doctors would have waited another day or two, I would have been beyond treatment. another painful experience... while at work one day, I was on the roof of the house which was slightly damp from the previous nights rain. I was lifting lumber up into a window to where we were working when I turned and slipped on a spot that was a bit more damp than the rest of the roof. I fell only one story to the hard packed ground below, landed on my feet and tried to roll out of the fall. I got up and found that my feet hurt like the dickens! I went to the doctors office to get x-rayed. turns out that I bruised the bottoms of my heel bones. and as the swelling in my feet got worse, the pain also became worse... enough so that I couldn't walk for a day or so. but, the worst pain that I ever experienced happened at work also. we were setting steel I-beams with a crane that day. we were short-handed as 2 people called out of work that day leaving us with just myself, two others and the crane operator. I was on the ground strapping the I-beams to the crane. since the I-beams were sitting on the ground, I had to lift up one end by hand so that I could put a wooden block underneath of it so I could put the strap around it. well, anyways... I was lifting a 14 foot I-beam a little too close to its center when I heard and felt a sickening crunching sound that came from my lower back. it didn't hurt much at the time, just slightly sore. a few days later, I was putting on the plywood for the roof when I had turned slightly and felt a 'POP' in my lower back. my legs gave out and I fell back on my butt onto the roof where I was standing. ohhh the pain was terrible but, I managed to climb down the ladder. I was walking to my truck so that I could go to the doctors office but, the pain was getting worse by the second. I was crawling before I got half-way to the front door before the pain was too much to bear. I rolled over onto my back and just layed there. it didn't help that, at the time, I was also suffering a bout of bronchitis. I was coughing every few seconds. and the muscles were of course spasming with every cough. this only made the pain worse. my boss called an ambulance to come get me. it hurt terribly when they rolled me onto my side to get the back-board under me so that I could be carried out. the drive to the hospital was no better. every small bump in the road was exaggerated ten-fold by the pain that was screaming in my back. at the hospital, the doctors determined that I didn't break my back but I had a collapsed disk that was compressing the nerves in my spine. the doctor gave me a shot of Demeral (a powerful pain killer) in the leg. the shot itself hurt pretty bad too, that was one of the largest needles that I've ever seen. the pain of it injecting the drug into me caused me to clench and that only made the pain in my back even worse. the doctor said 'let the demeral work for about fifteen minutes then, I will come back to check on you.' when he came back he asked if the demeral helped... I told him that it didn't help at all. so, he tried another shot into my other leg... same thing... OUCH!!! still to no avail did the pain subside. about an hour after the shots of demeral, the pain still excruciating, the doctor gave me a prescription for 1000mg of ibuprofin to be taken every 4 hours, 700mg of percocet to be taken every 4 hours or as needed for pain and two 500mg of robaxin every 4 hours, and then sent me home to rest. after taking the medications, the pain itself was still terrible but the drug induced haze allowed me to sleep. I couldn't move for two days (well actually, I did manage to crawl to the bathroom to releive myself of bodily functions even though the pain was still nearly unbearable even with all the drugs... hey, when you gotta go... you gotta go!). after that, crawling was about the only locomotion that I could muster for a whole week. the drugs dulled the pain enough for me to walk after that first agonizing week. after the second week, most of the pain was gone except for an almost throbbing soreness that would come about after the drugs wore off between dosages. after the third week I was feeling much better and so, returned to work. I still had some of my prescription left over and was able to actually enjoy the high it gave me without the pain in my back. the accident with the I-beam has left me with a permanat injury. every now and then if I turn slightly in the wrong way, my back still goes out and causes me terrible pain (though nowhere as bad as that first time) which I can get a prescription from my doctor for. and as a matter of fact, we worked ouselves pretty hard this past week at work, and now my back is pretty sore right now. on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the least and 10 being the worst pain. I would say that the back injury was a resounding 13+!

I watched the whole show. it was spectacular! saw it naked eye, with binos and through my 8" scope. great with each one. took a few pictures by way of eyepiece projection with my digital camera. the photos didn't come out as well as I would have liked... probably due to its fast shutter speed (which is not adjustable). editing the photos only resulted in very minor contrast improvement, but not significant enough to make quality prints of. anyway... I had a great time with the observing. my 5 yo son was just as entusiastic as I was. my 12 yo son (who has NO interest in astronomy whatsoever) even came outside and thought it was pretty cool and also liked the view of m47 through the binos and the double cluster through the scope. I am so glad that I got to see this one considering the previous one was clouded out at my location. can't wait till the next one! well... I guess it's almost time for some good meteor showers! clear skies!

just picked up two books from a friend of mine... "Knight of the Black Rose" by James Lowder and "Specter of the Black Rose" by James Lowder and Voronica Whitney-Robinson. both of which are a part of the Ravenloft series of fantasy novels.

brian greene's book "the elegant universe is very good... as is kip thorne's book "black holes and time warps".

go for the cobra. scrap the stock manifold and slap on a gt40 head in its place, get some good roller cams, throw on some meaty 50s in the back and hold on tight!

I just finished reading "The Templar Revelation: the Gaurdians of the Secret of the True Identity of Christ" by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. it's a real eye-opener which caused me to re-read the Gospels with much more scrutiny. this is now one of my favorite books.

I built a trebuchet once. it was 12 feet tall and I launched bricks and chairs over my neighbors lawn into the alley behind our houses... LOADS of fun!!!! there is an old guy in the UK somewhere with entirely too much money and free time who built a GIGANTIC trebuchet out of telephone poles. he launched a flaming piano and a car with it. he has plans to build an even larger one using steel-tube roller-coaster support colums so that he can launch a double-decker bus!!!!!! I have GOT to get me one of those!!!!!

go here for thousands of other choices of avatars... http://www.gamespy.com/avatars/index.asp

go here http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph?sstr=100377&s_sb=Search&c_time=%2B20031013000000.000%2C%2B20031028000000.000%2C0%2C1%2Cd%2C%2CC&c_loc=500%3BGeocentric%3B0.%2C0.%2C0.%2Cm&c_quan=0108c0101%2CJHA%2C%2C0 be sure to click all appropriate links to enter your pertinent info. then click "generate ephemeris" to get your map with coordinates in any way that you want from alt/az or ra/dec or what ever... hope this helps.

this one is my favorite. it is far too long to post here though... rime of the ancient mariner

might is right might was right when caesar bled upon the stones of rome, might was right when genghis led his hordes over danube's foam, and might was right when german troops poured down through paris way, it's the gospel of the ancient world and the logic of today. behind all kings and presidents - all government and law, are army-corps and cannoneers - to hold the world in awe. and sword-strong races own the earth, and ride the conqueror's car - and liberty has never been won except by deeds of war. what are the lords of hoarded gold - the silent semite rings? what are the plunder-patriots - high-pontiffs, priests and kings? what are they but bold master-minds, best fitted for the fray who comprehend and vanquish by - the logic of today. cain's knotted club is scepter still - the "right of man" is fraud: christ's ethics are for creeping things - true manhood smiles at "god". for might is right when empires sink in storms of steel and flame; and it is right when weakling breeds - are hunted down like game. then what's the use of dreaming dreams - that "each shall get his own"? by forceless votes of meek-eyed thralls, who blindly sweat and moan? no! a curse is on their cankered brains - their very bones decay: go! trace your fate in the iron game, it's the logic of today. the strong must ever rule the weak, is grim primordial law - on earth's broad racial threshing floor, the meek are beaten straw - then ride to power o'er foemen's necks let nothing bar your way: if you are fit you'll rule and reign, is the logic of today. you must prove you're right by deeds of might - of splendor and reknown. if need be, march through flames of hell, to dash opponents down - if need be, die on scaffold high - in the morning's misty grey: for "liberty or death" is still the logic of today. might was right when gideon led the "chosen" tribes of old, and it was right when titus burnt, their temple roofed with gold: and might was right from bunker's hill, to far manilla bay, by land and flood it's wrote in blood - the gospel of today. "put not your trust in princes" is a saying old and true, "put not your hope in governments" translateth it anew. all "books of law" and "golden rules" are fashioned to betray: "the survival of the strongest" is the gospel of today. might was right when carthage flames lit up the punic foam - and when the naked steel of gaul weighed down the spoil of rome; and might was right when richmond fell - and at thermopylae - it's the logic of the ancient world - and the gospel of today. where pendant suns in millions swing, around this whirling earth, it's might, it's force that holds the brakes, and steers through death and birth: force governs all organic life, inspires all right and wrong. it's nature's plan to weed-out man, and test who are the strong.

sorry 'bout the size. I know it's awfully big.

this may interest some of you...