A Visit to Moore's Lake

I took my lunch hour at Moore's Lake today, and took along my camera.

Moore's Lake is a state-run fishing/boating access point just south of Dover. It includes a very cool dam/spillway and fish ladder.

I found it a very pretty place.

Jury Duty!

I reported to Sussex County Superior Court at 9:00 a.m. this morning to start my latest round of jury duty.

Here in Sussex, we serve in the jury pool for two weeks. During that time, we’re on-call to be picked for a trial. If we get picked for a long trial, we’re there for the duration. Otherwise, we’re back into the pool.

My jury duty started on August 15 and runs through the 26th. We call a special phone number each evening and a recording tells us whether to report or not the following morning. We were not asked to come in until today and today appears to be our only day of duty for this week. Next week? Who knows?

We were there today for a quick orientation to jury duty and for 40 of us to sit as a jury pool for the Court of Common Pleas. I wasn’t among the 40 chosen randomly and so by 10:30 I was headed north to my office.

I looked around the courtroom this morning at what is meant to be a random cross section of Sussex County residents. I think it was. A few young folks, a fair number of retirees; some African American, some Latino, the majority Caucasian.

I would be willing to wager that I was the only – or at least one of the only – folks there who was hoping to sit in the jury box for a trial. Most folks are resentful of an intrusion into their routine; they spend the time worrying about work or wishing they were back home.

I think it really is a part of our duty as citizens to serve on juries. We should vote. We should speak up on issues (after first learning about them). We should serve our jury duty. The legal system really does depend on us; I’m glad to serve.

Also, from a selfish point of view, I’m fascinated by the legal process. I’d like to watch a trial from up-close, without being a defendant, a witness, or a victim.

So, we’ll see what next week brings. If I do get on a jury, though, I won’t be blogging about it. Maybe I will post about it after it ends, but then only about the experience and not about any details of the trial. I think that that would be inappropriate.    

Where Did the Big Flame Go?

We went out to dinner this evening with my brother Matt and his wife and kids. We went to Tokyo Steak House, which is one of our favorites.

Tokyo Steak House is a hibachi-style restaurant, with table settings around a large central grill. The food is cooked in front of you by a chef who mixes-in showmanship, knife tricks and egg-juggling. He slices. He dices. He sprinkles-in spices. The food is very good; the chef’s show is a large part of the fun.

It used to be the case that that show started with a great cloud of flame. The chef would create a puddle of some flammable liquor (Sake?), light a smaller puddle off to the side, and connect the two with a final squirt of the liquor. A flash of flame would rise up into the vent-hood starting the show off with a bang.

This evening, and the last time we were there a few weeks back, there was no introductory flame. I have to wonder, why?

Are there safety concerns? Was there an incident? Did someone loose a substantial hank of hair to singeing? I just don’t know.

I have to say that I miss it. They won’t lose our business; we like the place very much.

But I do miss the flame.

Because You Never Know What the World Will Offer You

Question: Why do you always carry your camera with you?

I found myself behind this truck running lunchtime errands in Dover the other day. Thank you world.

Dead Bug

Dead Bug
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

When I got into my car this afternoon, the car's thermometer read 102 degrees. It had been sitting in the sun in a barren parking lot for four hours, so no surprise.

When I got in I found this insect lying dead, spreadeagled on the armrest between the driver's and passenger's seats. It appeared to have been overwhelmed by the heat.

I think it was a mosquito, in life, so I didn't shed any tears.

Portraits of Bert

I've been trying to capture a decent portrait of our older cat, Shoe (aka Shubert or Bert).

He's a handsome cat, but that glossy black coat is tough to photograph.

Finally, I went to the Canon web site and downloaded a copy of the PowerShot S30 User's Manual (I have one on a shelf somewhere; I'm just not sure where). I think I found some settings that might work.

So I took a few photos and added them to my cat collection.

A Return?

The person who was behind Delatacit, which shut down and almost re-started under curious circumstances last year, is apparently sitting in as guest blogger while Mike, author of Down with Absolutes!, goes on vacation.

It's an interesting idea: bringing in someone to keep things going while you refresh and recharge.

I don't think it would work in my case here at Mike's Musings. Who else knows enough about the minutiae of my day-to-day life?

Where's Christina?

Sunday afternoon, we dropped Christina off at Camp Pecometh, a Methodist summer camp on the Chester River, outside of Centreville, Maryland.

Camp Pecometh seems a nice place. Colleen had done a few sessions there and Christina did her first sleep-away -- a mini-camp -- last year. She's a perfect camper; she jumps right into the society in the cabin and makes friends easily. I think she'll have a very nice time.

Odometer Milestone

I rolled 22,222 miles on my Prius today. I noticed while on a back road, so I was able to safely snap a photo. When I rolled 20,000 the other week, I was out on the highway and not able to pull off in time.

Declaration of Revocation, by John Cleese

We can take refuge in humor, and satire such as John Cleese's Declaration of Revocation is a good example. In it, he revokes our independence and provides a prime example of poking fun at both sides of an issue. In this case, the common language that divides the US and Great Britain, along with other factors.

It appears to date from the innocent, pre-9/11 days after the first Bush election. It should be taken as nothing more than a pleasant bit of biting social commentary.

Found by a Fountain

I was taking photos of the fountains in the courtyard at Delaware Technical and Community College, in Georgetown, when I found this sailboat. It was one of two that someone had been sailing in the fountains before I got there.

I wonder what knowledge and notes were soaking away into the paper as it sat there?

I was at Del Tech to pick Colleen up from her first Academic Challenge class. This is a program for Sussex school kids that lets them take advanced level courses and, if they stay with the program from eighth though twelfth grade, earn college credits.

Some Lyrics I Like

I like music with tight, poetic lyrics in language that sings even without the music or the vocalist.

Here's an example that's been in my head lately. It is the middle section (give or take) of Sarah Harmer's Lodestar:

Out in the night,
out on the water,
We pull the boat back to shore.

Breathing the air
in the stillness of the bay.

Intensity of stars
reflected in the water,
Silently ignite.

The oar dips in
to oil like water
and we,
Are away.

Under the moon,
In the great black night
with no lodestar,
In sight.

It helps that the music and the singing are lovely, but I think these lines stand pretty well on their own.

Gannett News Makes an Error

It is a small one, but I think worth correcting.

In a story on Joe Biden's appearance last night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Biden raises his hipness quotient, reporter Jennifer Brooks writes:

Stewart broadsided the state of Delaware: Isn't it time, he wondered, for someone to "buy the entire state indoor plumbing?"

Wrong.

Stewart asked if someone shouldn't buy everyone in Delaware "indoor carpeting." Senator Biden responded something like "I thought somebody already did." To which Jon Stewart replied with something about "that spring-y feeling underfoot" in the state.

I think Miss Brooks was projecting her own prejudices about the First State? I'll give her credit and assume it was a Freudian slip.

UPDATE: I sent Ms. Brooks an e-mail this morning calling the error to her attention. Here's her response:

I was in the studio and mis-heard Stewart, then got stuck in a hotel room that didn't subscribe to Comedy Central. Weak! Carpeting makes a lot more sense than plumbing, actually. A correction is already on the way to the paper. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. I'm going to go bang my head against the wall now.

Good for her! Though I don't think she should bang her head against anything. Also, I hereby strike-out and retract my catty remark from this morning. I shouldn't post before my first cup of coffee.

By the way, I think the whole exchange was really about DuPont carpet products, but that part of it got lost in the banter.

Local Dolphin May Get SAG Card

According to the News Journal, Hollywood stars may be filming in Lewes!

The paper reports that Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker are planning to film a scene at Cape Henlopen State Park on Wednesday, August 3, and may also film in a shop in downtown Lewes.

Parker, star of HBO's "Sex and the City" will only be in town briefly. Mayor Jim Ford is quoted:

"“She'’s just here for a day trip unless she falls in love with Lewes and stays. Who knows?"”

Why not? Lewes is, officially, a City.

The scene at the State Park is to be a converstion between the two stars while they are sitting on surfboards on the ocean. According to Mayor Ford, "a dolphin pops up and grabs his foot."

I think you have to have a speaking part to get your SAG Card, but maybe foot-grabbing is "speaking" among dolphin actors?

Kidding aside, this is cool. I wish I were taking the day off.

Boots on the Prowl

Boots on the Prowl
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

Despite my uncertainty, below, I plan to keep taking digital photos. Sometimes you get lucky.

This is Cool, but...

The Flickr site has a neat new tool for exploring the multitude of photos that are posted there each day.

They've come up with a way to measure what they call "interestingness." They use that metric to find the most interesting shots on the site.

This is great. The photos this finds are inspiring and fascinating.

But they are also, frankly...daunting.

Bummer(s)

I'm saddened by what's happened with Raphael Palmiero of the Baltimore Orioles. I tend to believe him when he says he didn't knowingly use steroids. But, according to the news guy just now, so does President Bush. So, now I just don't know....

Meanwhile, Karen and the girls and I have been watching Hell's Kitchen this summer. This evening was the finale, and the winner was ... Michael. harrumph.

Clearly, this kid can cook, but his approach to the game of this contest was disappointing. In short, he wasn't averse to sabotaging his coworkers to get ahead. Yes it was a competition. Yes, he was trying to win. But I just don't like seeing him get ahead by being a jerk.

Seventh and Eighth Golf Games in 2005

Games seven and eight were part of our week in Vermont.

We are joined on our annual trip to the great north by my golf-buddy Andy Southmayd and his family. Andy and I try to get out for several games on various courses around the Tyler Place. Andy is great at researching what courses there are in that area and finding ones somewhat off the beaten path.

Our first game, on the Monday, we went across Lake Champlain to Rouses Point, New York, and played at the North Country Golf Club. We played with Rich Catanese and Rich's wife's brother-in-law Paul, who were vacationing with their wives' family further down the Lake at a place called Eagle Camp.


North Country is a pretty wide-open and forgiving course. We had a fairly good time and my play was only moderately bad; I had a few good holes and scored at least one par.

We got caught-up in the middle of what appeared to be a week-day women's tournament which went off as a shotgun start. We found ourselves ahead of a fast-moving threesome and ended up skipping several holes to get out of the way.

On Friday, we headed out again. This time, we went east to Richford Country Club, a wonderful nine-hole course just about a few thousand feet south of the US/Canada border.


What I love about this course is its rolling, up-and-down, wooded, mountainside aspect. None of the nine holes is at all flat. The views are sweeping. There are woods and exposed boulders to challenge you.


This is the eighth hole, looking back downhill towards the tee. This green itself appears on the Google Maps site to be about 1,500 feet from the border.

When we played here several years ago, the woman in the pro shop told us that, before 9/11, Canadian members used to simply hike over the border and through the woods to play. Now, they have to go through the border-crossing at Richford just west of the Country Club.

Another fairly good round. Andy was hitting well and I was starting to find a short, but straight and dependable, drive with my three-wood.

Once again, we didn't manage to make all 18 holes. This time, things got crowded and slowed down and we wanted to be back at the Tyler Place in time for lunch. We quit after 15 holes.

For the last 6, we teamed up with an older, retired couple from Canada. Very nice people and course regulars from who we had a few tips.

Golf in Vermont. I can recommend it!

Ten by Ten

This is an experiment in structured random searching.

1. I start with a Google search of the word "ten."
   
2. I take the tenth result (Late Show with David Letterman) and find the tenth word in the first block of body text and do a search on that word: musical.
3. Tenth result: Musical Traditions Internet Magazine. Tenth word: come.
4. Tenth result: We Come in Peace. Tenth word: my. (Rule violation #1: I had to use the words in the title blocks on this, a Flash site.)
5. Tenth result: WebMDHealth. Tenth word: can.
6. Tenth result: CanTeach. Tenth word: of.
7. Tenth result: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tenth word: understandably.
8. Tenth result: USAToday: US Airways seeks court OK to end pacts with two unions. Tenth word: its.
9. Tenth result: MathDL. Tenth word: publication.
10. Tenth result: International Consortium for the Advancement of Academic Publication. Tenth word: ICAAP.
    

And the final (tenth tenth) result is: The Journal of Distance Education.

Some caveats.

I presume that this same search approach undertaken at a different time will yield a different end result, since the top ten results of Google searches should be expected to change over time.

Finding the tenth word on any given page may be somewhat subjective. I have chosen to try to find the tenth word in the first block of "body text" I can identify. I tried to avoid words in titles and subtitles.

So who else will try this and share their results? Maybe someone can do this on Yahoo and see what they find? Perhaps starting with "nine?"

Curiouser and Curiouser

Lily 1
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

This photo that I posted on Flickr last night is shown as having been viewed 115 times already (as of 6:45 this morning).

That's well off the scale of "views" for most of my photos. Only one has more views over time.

I can't see any obvious reason for this. I'm proud of the shot but didn't think it was that special. No one has commented on this shot on Flickr and I don't see that anyone has tagged it as a "favorite."

I'm going to have to look into this....