Carmichael's Position

Left -vs- Right... Brained

Hat Tip to my friend Cari--

Here's a test:  Look at the Image below.  Which direction is the woman turning? Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise?  (And yes she can appear to spin in either direction depending on your perspective).

  

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Some of us can actually get her to reverse course at will. I can do that.  I also seem to be able to see Stereograms those "3D Hidden Images" in the abstract posters pretty rapidly too. (There is a Shark in the Image below.)

Falling under the Astrological Sign of Twins I am oft accused having the Gemini trait of two personalities.  Actually I like to think of it as being flexible!  In reality I am one who explores both sides of my brain in fairly equal proportion.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what the two sides of your brain control respectively here's a brief synopsis:

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

• uses logic
• detail oriented
• facts rule
• words and language
• present and past
• math and science
• can comprehend
• knowing
• acknowledges order/pattern perception
• knows object name
• reality based
• forms strategies
• practical
• safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

• uses feeling
• "big picture" oriented
• imagination rules
• symbols and images
• present and future
• philosophy & religion
• can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
• believes
• appreciates
• spatial perception
• knows object function
• fantasy based
• presents possibilities
• impetuous
• risk taking

In this political season, I find it sort of ironic that those stereotypical traits associated with Liberal (Left) -vs- Conservative (Right) are contained in the juxtaposed sides of our minds.

So, You're Telling Me They Call You "Mariah?"

Cool commercial...  Hat tip to my fiend Tommy for calling attention to it via his Blog "Driving Fast, Taking Chances."  Yeah, I figured out the metaphor about 10 seconds into it, creative though.

Especially relevant considering who I work for now... yes I can help your company explore alternative energy options... Ping me at jcarmichael@nuenergen.com and visit us at www.NuEnergen.com .

The Mariah reference, for those of you born in the MTV generation, is in regard to a song from the musical "Paint Your Wagon."  One of the only Musicals a Heterosexual male can publicly claim to enjoy!  Hell, It starred Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin for God's Sake!  (Who both sang in the Movie!!!! No Seriously!!! They Did!!)

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008) Farewell...

One of my favorite writers, commenter and thinkers has passed, and the world will be a lesser place for it.

Bill Buckley founded one of the stalwarts of conservative thought and commentary with the publication of National Review in 1955.  And from that time has provided our citizenry excellent mentorship in the ways of Conservative Thinking.

Some of my favorite quotes are from this man.  Here are but a few:

• “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
• “Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich.”
• “It had all the earmarks of a CIA operation; the bomb killed everybody in the room except the intended target!”
• “Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.”
• “I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”

All continue to have merit... especially in today's desert of political rhetoric, void of intellect, creativity and substance.

You will be missed Bill -- albeit more so by those of us on the right... those on the left on the other hand are just bummed the news of your passing interrupted the Oprah show!  Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Goodnight Bill...

Ummm.... Yeah.... OoohKaaaayy!

I'm speechless! 

His own words... hard to confuse his stance...

What's next? In an effort to bring a re-unification to our Divided America, Barak will plan to remove both the Democrat (Blue) and Republican (Red)reference colors from the American Flag... that ought to help!

Or he could always replace the flag with this one found in one of his more fervent campaign supporters in Houston!

Yep, you can judge a man by the company he keeps...

We have a sick cat... We think... Maybe...

One of the problems with cat husbandry (calling it ownership would be one of the more catastrophic misrepresentations in human history) is that there are basic indicators that a cat is possibly sick, or those same indications could mean she's hungry, sleepy, happy, moody, just wants to go outside and catch a snowflake or two on her tongue.

Pudge, our 9 year old Balinese, displayed some very odd behavior on Saturday this past weekend.  Out of nowhere, she walked into our bedroom, turned, staggered a bit, then catching a claw in a sweater I had lying on the ground lost all semblance of balance and fell over, not in a "Crap my claw is stuck!" sort of way.  More like a high school kid after finding the key to his oldman's liquor cabinet for the first time.  I mean it appeared to me that she fainted!  Thud!

Well that got my attention right quick!  I sprang over to her picking her up briskly, she looked very disoriented wide-eyed and all that!  I quickly transported her to the bath tub (void of water!  I'm cruel to people! NOT ANIMALS!) for fear of the usual vomit that follows cat's oddities!  None was forthcoming.  She sat in the bath tub for a few woozy seconds before beginning to re-connect with the real world.  Very Odd!

A little background here, I've had cats in my family for pretty much all my life, I love cats (dogs too for that matter before this turns into some animal kingdom political metaphor!) and I've been around them in good times and in bad.  I'm very observant of their sometimes extremely subtle hints to their health, mood, and desires.  I've also not panicked at the first sign of odd behavior in these "Furry, Eating Pillows!"  Because usually what follows the most disgusting displays from a cat is a sound only a plumber could be proud of and a resulting hairball! (Why they don't refer to this as an "Esophageal Hair Turd" based on what it really resembles is beyond me!)  But Pudge's behavior this Saturday morning was disturbing to me.

As is always the case with sick cats this display of imbalance happened at 11:43am, guess... just guess what time our, 20 minutes across town, vet's office closes on Saturday's.  Yep, Noon!  So if I want to take Pudge to the translator vet, it is going to have to be at the Emergency Care Facility (Read twice as expensive as a weekday)!  I call the vet never the less, to at least identify some possible causes to Pudge's fainting, other than my leaving the downstairs TV on a Barak Obama speech, which is rumored to cause fainting in the clinically stupid!  (Of which all cats are members-- but cats make up for it in "Style Points"!)  Anyway, I digress... Shocker I know!.... by now Pudge was very much returning to sorta-normal, as normal as Pudge ever is.  After consulting with the technician we all agreed that at this point it might just be better to observe her and see if her behavior degenerates again, and look for other signs of distress, of which at that time there were none.

The rest of the weekend went without incident, other than my early rising on Sunday (05:00) to check on the little fuzz butt!  She was fine, sleeping comfortably thank you, wish I could do the same!

You see, I carry stress in my stomach, along with most of my pool team's left-over meals, and it is when I don't know how my cat is really doing that I knot up!  I've had through the weekend and still have this evening as I write this, that knot!

My lovely Bride Ginger and fellow cat husbandress (work with me people you know what it means even though it isn't really a word!  Hell I've only got 11 more months of Bushisms to use... quit celebrating Tommy!) took some time from her busy nursing job, providing care for cancer patients, to take our loved Pudge to the Translator Vet, to find out what was really bothering Pudge.  After the obligatory poking, prodding, pressing, shoving, and blood drawing... oh and evidently an un-requested stool sample production... her offerings were at this time inconclusive.  It can be 1 of literally 100's of things and we won't know even initial discoveries until hopefully tomorrow.

The frustrating part... other than not being able to speak "catonese," is that for the most part Pudge is behaving mostly normal.  I say "mostly" because she is still offering up some peculiarities from her usual script.  Take for example this evening, an uneventful night until about 10:00pm as things were beginning to wind down here at Casa-de-Carmichael, she decides this would be a good time to become vocal!  Now both Pudge and Scrunch will "talk" for no apparent reason (much like I've been accused of before) but this oration usually lasts a minute max.  Well Pudge went on longer than most Clinton Speeches!  Carrying the same relevance as one too! 

Me being the responsive Cat herder, went to see what all the commotion was about, and to perform the obligatory prodding, poking, squeezing etc... to see if a greater problem had indeed manifested... nope... for the most part once I paid attention to her she quieted down!  Did I mention Pudge is a "Chick Cat!"  Go figure!

Now, as both the Big and Little hands point north on the clock, she appears to be resting peacefully, wish I could say the same for me, my knot is still there and is becoming one a Boy Scout or Bosun's Mate would be proud to have tied.  I'm concerned, and feeling powerless, two bad tastes that taste worse together.  I continue to pray for a positive outcome for our little companion, but damn it that air of negativity keeps blowing in.  I hate that!  Not my style!

Well... just thought I'd share.  So if I appear to be a little more distracted than is my usual, please understand, I'm reading up on Catonese.

4.72 Miles Per Second!

Well that ought to put it in perspective! 

And if that doesn't work for you... try 24,933 FEET! per "One Mississippi!"

That is how fast the non-functioning NRO Satellite ("US 193") was traveling this evening when the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) firing a modified SM-3 "Standard" missile scored a HIT on it!

Oh, did I mention that was from over 133 vertical miles away?!!! 

Bravo Zulu Crew of the USS Lake Erie! 

The DOD press release follows:

---

DoD Succeeds In Intercepting Non-Functioning Satellite

A network of land-, air-, sea- and spaced-based sensors confirms that the U.S. military intercepted a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the earth's atmosphere.

At approximately 10:26 p.m. EST today, a U.S. Navy AEGIS warship,  the USS Lake Erie (CG-70), fired a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) hitting the satellite approximately 247 kilometers (133 nautical miles) over the Pacific Ocean as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph. USS Decatur (DDG-73) and USS Russell (DDG-59) were also part of the task force.

US NAVY Photos:

The objective was to rupture the fuel tank to dissipate the approximately 1,000 pounds (453 kg) of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel which could pose a danger to people on earth, before it entered into earth's atmosphere.   Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours.

Due to the relatively low altitude of the satellite at the time of the engagement, debris will begin to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere immediately. Nearly all of the debris will burn up on reentry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days.  

Now that is Skeet Shooting!  PULL!

Photos That Convey a Feeling

I play racquetball twice a week, at Green Mountain Rec. Center here in Denver.  The reason I play there and not closer to my house is that it is almost but not-quite-equidistant between me and my playing partner.  I usually play immediately after work which often is right around sunset.

Anyway, along my route (the ridge of Green Mountain) I am entertained by a magnificent vista of the entire Denver crescent  laid out before me, from Boulder to the north all the way to Pikes Peak to the south and all of the Denver Metro in-between, an impressive view to say the least. 

However even with that distraction as my eastern view, I keep finding my eyes drawn to the simple contrast of a lone Cattle Chute in a meadow to my west.

For me, there has always been something about the simple wood structure at sunset that conveyed "The West."  And I've always wanted to take a crack at capturing that feeling in a photo.  I had the opportunity the other day to make just such an  effort.  Here are the results, and I'm curious to know if you think I managed to capture more than just a "Cattle Chute."

Full sized versions of these images can be found on my SmugMug page here. 

Photos from my latest trip to San Diego

As most of you know, I pretty much consider San Diego my 'Home Town" for as much as a Navy Brat with 37 different addresses to his credit can claim one...

This last trip was to attend a Tailhook reception and then give the Managing Director of Tailhook a Briefing on the first year's performance of The "Tailhook Daily Briefing."  The Association's blog of which I am the editor.

I needed the break, and I got one.  It was a great trip.  The weather was perfect...Severe Clear in the mid 60's!  Hertz once again provided me with a Mustang, this time without the 11 inches of snow to navigate through!  And my "Travelocity" discounted hotel room was not to be believed for below $200.00 price I paid!  Here's the view out my room window!

I took the opportunity to recapture some of my 500 photos (that got lost thanks to a somewhat unsuccessful hard drive recovery... performed by a somewhat accomplished nincompoop!)... as well as take a few other new ones.  The latest collection is posted here if you would like to check out the full batch, but as I like to do here's some to tease you a bit.

Some planes... of course!  with a little Photoshop fun at Lindbergh Field.

The Beach at Coronado, to make all my snow covered friends in Colorado a bit envious.

Some of the downtown touristy stuff... Star of India and the recreation of the famous end of World War II  photo in a 30 foot statue down by the Midway.

 

And finally a panoramic of San Diego, looking a full 360 degrees from the end of the pier in the photo above.

  Like I said... A perfect couple of days in San Diego... Well, almost... If Ginger had been with me, it would have been perfect!

Again, more photos here: http://jcas.smugmug.com/gallery/4305021_nCL3k#252358952

Careful when Firing a Hand Howitzer!

I've fired many 'o weapons in my life, from growing up skeet shooting, to a number of Desert Ex's with Jim Kilroy.  I've fired literally thousands of rounds ranging from Shotgun shells of all gauges, to 30 ought 6, 44 magnums, Colt 45 longs, 7.62, and .223's.  I'm pretty comfortable around firearms (in the proper hands) and I've learned many of valuable lessons over my 41 years. 

I caught this video on the net today and was reminded of one very useful lesson from a Navy Seal Team Chief... no, not the art of "Triple Tapping" although that one is a cool one to know.  Rather his clear statement of "If the caliber of the weapon is larger than your forearm... BOLT THE F**K*R DOWN!"

Hehehe obviously a lesson not known or taught to this frail waif!  Caution, Brad Feld, Navy Bosun, Red Neck Mechanic or 9-year old "HALO-3 player" language/ Printed word follows...("R").

Skinny Girl Owned By Desert Eagle - Watch more free videos

And is it me or does this little adventure appear to be taking place in the local park?