Off Topic!, For all our "general" off topic tendencies Options

[CoAstY]

My garden is mad crazy with stuff blooming right now. I almost have the effect I'm always hoping to have, one of those three season gardens with some kind of flower at all times. I also know I'm not nearly as good at planning that kind of stuff as I would hope to be at this point in my gardening life, but, I'm coping.

I'm 5'9", not a tiny woman in any way. I constantly get asked to retrieve things from the high shelves at the grocery store by more "normal" sized women (their words, not mine) when they can't reach. The point being, I've got lilies nearly as tall as me, and I ain't short.

A couple of years ago a friend from work had her hubby redesign their patio and that meant digging up tiger lilies and she asked if I wanted some. The yard was still in the early stages of what do I want so I took a bunch and split them between the front and back of the yard around this ancient cherry tree and they were anemic the first year, but they were still getting their legs under themselves, so, you know...

Last year they were thicker, more flower stalks, more flowers and they were just about four feet tall, and I commented to my friend about how tall they were. She never had that height in her garden, but then they got full sun there.

They are fully five and a half feet tall. Higher than my sister's head. No joking. Huge flower clusters at the top too. I feel like I'm living in the rain forest with the stuff growing right now. The daisies are either already flowering or maybe a week away. My Oriental lilies are happily percolating away at the back of the yard, also over four feet in height and some with more than a dozen flowers at their tops. Coreopsis is opened and the hydrangeas are just out of this world covered in gorgeous shades of blue and purple.

I cut the butterfly bushes down to about eight inches on the suggestion of a radio call-in gardening show guru. Did that at the end of March and figured, they're plants. They'll either grow back or they won't and if they don't, whaddaya do? They are each well over six feet tall and have hundreds of baby bracts on them. When those boogers open that yard will be thick with butterflies. They'll be taking numbers to get at those flowers like the yard's a butterfly delicatessen and it's half priced hoagie day!

Now if only the rain would be more regular so I wouldn't have to watch the stuff wilting from day to day between storms. I hate watering!

We've had a drought for the last five years here .. this last week and a half we've had rain, rain, and more rain .. the most rain in a short period of time in 30 years .. parts of my area are in flood .. the young drivers are learning not to tail-gate in the wet, the hard way. I had no power so no heater (its winter here) for two days and when my power came on ..my hot water system burst its seams .. so off to buy new .. $900 poorer .. I now have hot water ..yay.

So if you would like me to ship some of that H2O stuff, just give me a sec and I see if I can find some waterproofing to wrap it in and I will send it on over...ok

And I can't plant anything because the poor things would probably drown .. and we still have Level 4 water restrictions.

[krodgers]

I would like to wish all the Gemini's HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Last day for gemi's!!! Have a great da all!!!

[laureng]

Krodgers - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kathy

I would like to wish all the Gemini's HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Last day for gemi's!!! Have a great da all!!!

My post got lost in the previous page. Happy Birthday, Kathy!

[krodgers]

My post got lost in the previous page. Happy Birthday, Kathy!

Thanks Lauren! I'm so old!! HELP!!

[EYEballer]

Happy Birthday, KR!

[abfirefighterchi...]

My garden is mad crazy with stuff blooming right now. I almost have the effect I'm always hoping to have, one of those three season gardens with some kind of flower at all times. I also know I'm not nearly as good at planning that kind of stuff as I would hope to be at this point in my gardening life, but, I'm coping.

I'm 5'9", not a tiny woman in any way. I constantly get asked to retrieve things from the high shelves at the grocery store by more "normal" sized women (their words, not mine) when they can't reach. The point being, I've got lilies nearly as tall as me, and I ain't short.

A couple of years ago a friend from work had her hubby redesign their patio and that meant digging up tiger lilies and she asked if I wanted some. The yard was still in the early stages of what do I want so I took a bunch and split them between the front and back of the yard around this ancient cherry tree and they were anemic the first year, but they were still getting their legs under themselves, so, you know...

Last year they were thicker, more flower stalks, more flowers and they were just about four feet tall, and I commented to my friend about how tall they were. She never had that height in her garden, but then they got full sun there.

They are fully five and a half feet tall. Higher than my sister's head. No joking. Huge flower clusters at the top too. I feel like I'm living in the rain forest with the stuff growing right now. The daisies are either already flowering or maybe a week away. My Oriental lilies are happily percolating away at the back of the yard, also over four feet in height and some with more than a dozen flowers at their tops. Coreopsis is opened and the hydrangeas are just out of this world covered in gorgeous shades of blue and purple.

I cut the butterfly bushes down to about eight inches on the suggestion of a radio call-in gardening show guru. Did that at the end of March and figured, they're plants. They'll either grow back or they won't and if they don't, whaddaya do? They are each well over six feet tall and have hundreds of baby bracts on them. When those boogers open that yard will be thick with butterflies. They'll be taking numbers to get at those flowers like the yard's a butterfly delicatessen and it's half priced hoagie day!

Now if only the rain would be more regular so I wouldn't have to watch the stuff wilting from day to day between storms. I hate watering!

Planted more vegetables this year than new flowers. Bi-colored corn, blue corn, pumpkin, cantelope, watermelon, beans, beets, eggplant, carrots, lettuce, blue potatoes. All of which are growing wonderfully, got some beans already. Oh, and tomatoes in a 'Topsy Turvy' planter.

Last Comic Standing proved a theory......Canada, and Australia have at least one thing in common with the US. Some of it's citiznes are very funny, and the rest well hopefully never quit their day jobs!! LOL!!

9 Firefighters died at a stripmall/furniture store fire in Charleston South Carolina. Their age were 24 to 56 years old. The roof collapsed on them, a real danger that you know exists everytime you pack up and go in. Please keep their friends and family in your thoughts and prayers.

[Mari Welsh]

9 Firefighters died at a stripmall/furniture store fire in Charleston South Carolina. Their age were 24 to 56 years old. The roof collapsed on them, a real danger that you know exists everytime you pack up and go in. Please keep their friends and family in your thoughts and prayers.

When everyone else is running away, Firefighters are running in, knowing every fire could be The Big One. I don't believe there is anyone finer than The Bravest. Godspeed to them.
Mari

[stefanl]

9 Firefighters died at a stripmall/furniture store fire in Charleston South Carolina. Their age were 24 to 56 years old. The roof collapsed on them, a real danger that you know exists everytime you pack up and go in. Please keep their friends and family in your thoughts and prayers.

It doesn't hurt any less to learn about these nine brave souls being lost than it did to learn about those lost on September 11th. Firefighters and police officers should be cherished, not just because of what they do, but because they are still willing to do it knowing the danger to themselves.

[stefanl]

I wasn't sure if this should go here or OT. We've all been talking about this off and on. This is in today's Washington Times.

Fred Dalton Thompson decides to run for president, as he has hinted(including a wink and a nod to Jay Leno last week), the "Law & Order" co-star will wreak havoc on the prime-time schedules of TNT, USA and, less seriously, NBC.

The Federal Communications Commission requires that broadcasters provide equal time to all candidates. If Mr. Thompson, who turns 65 in August, officially joins the race for the Republican nomination, networks carrying any of the actor-politician's entertainment programs will have to either fork over equal time to the 10 other Republican contenders or take Mr. Thompson's shows off the air. Democrats need not apply for equal time with Mr. Thompson, unless he wins the nomination.

The politician-turned-actor-turned-politician ended his membership in the "L&O" cast this spring. Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy is rumored to be in line for a promotion.

The former U.S. senator from Tennessee (1994-2003) joined "Law & Order" in 2002 as District Attorney Arthur Branch, a New York politician with a drawling Southern accent. He also pops up in various "L&O" spinoffs and has a string of films to his credit, including "In the Line of Fire," "Days of Thunder" and "The Hunt for Red October."

A quick survey of the TV schedule reveals about 25 hours of "Law & Order" reruns airing this week on TNT alone. That doesn't count frequent marathons on the weekends. USA carries even more hours of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which features Mr. Thompson's character more often than not, and Bravo runs seven hours of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" on Sundays.

Mr. Thompson appears in more than 100 episodes of the "L&O" series and its spinoffs, although usually in relatively brief one- to three-minute segments. However, the scenes can be pivotal, with the D.A. grousing orders to his prosecutors and tossing out sage, countrified one-liners.

Mr. Thompson formed an exploratory committee to advise him on a run for the White House. He has not yet formally declared his candidacy, however. NBC/Universal Television, which owns the syndication rights to the "L&O" franchise, finds itself in an awkward holding pattern with more questions than answers.

Read the rest of the article at this link.

[laureng]

It doesn't hurt any less to learn about these nine brave souls being lost than it did to learn about those lost on September 11th. Firefighters and police officers should be cherished, not just because of what they do, but because they are still willing to do it knowing the danger to themselves.

Amen. Their families, friends, co-workers are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Lauren

[devca]

I wasn't sure if this should go here or OT. We've all been talking about this off and on. This is in today's Washington Times.

Fred Dalton Thompson decides to run for president, as he has hinted(including a wink and a nod to Jay Leno last week), the "Law & Order" co-star will wreak havoc on the prime-time schedules of TNT, USA and, less seriously, NBC.

The Federal Communications Commission requires that broadcasters provide equal time to all candidates. If Mr. Thompson, who turns 65 in August, officially joins the race for the Republican nomination, networks carrying any of the actor-politician's entertainment programs will have to either fork over equal time to the 10 other Republican contenders or take Mr. Thompson's shows off the air. Democrats need not apply for equal time with Mr. Thompson, unless he wins the nomination.

The politician-turned-actor-turned-politician ended his membership in the "L&O" cast this spring. Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy is rumored to be in line for a promotion.

The former U.S. senator from Tennessee (1994-2003) joined "Law & Order" in 2002 as District Attorney Arthur Branch, a New York politician with a drawling Southern accent. He also pops up in various "L&O" spinoffs and has a string of films to his credit, including "In the Line of Fire," "Days of Thunder" and "The Hunt for Red October."

A quick survey of the TV schedule reveals about 25 hours of "Law & Order" reruns airing this week on TNT alone. That doesn't count frequent marathons on the weekends. USA carries even more hours of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which features Mr. Thompson's character more often than not, and Bravo runs seven hours of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" on Sundays.

Mr. Thompson appears in more than 100 episodes of the "L&O" series and its spinoffs, although usually in relatively brief one- to three-minute segments. However, the scenes can be pivotal, with the D.A. grousing orders to his prosecutors and tossing out sage, countrified one-liners.

Mr. Thompson formed an exploratory committee to advise him on a run for the White House. He has not yet formally declared his candidacy, however. NBC/Universal Television, which owns the syndication rights to the "L&O" franchise, finds itself in an awkward holding pattern with more questions than answers.

Read the rest of the article at this link.

[devca]

Stefanl,

I have been following the Spector trial and as my go to
forensics expert I have a question for you.

Dr. Henry Lee, an expert for the defense, is expected to testify that blood can travel six to seven feet, making it possible for Spector to have been standing across the room when Clarkson was shot.

Can that be true? Lynne Herold, the LA sheriffs Dept. criminalist
testified 2-3 ft for the mist-like drops on the Sleeves and Lapels,
of Spectors jacket

I realize Dr Lee is being paid to testify, but would he stretch the
truth? I have admired him for many years and now am getting a bad feeling about this.

Do you have any insight as a teacher on how far blood can travel?

Thanks,
Dev

[stefanl]

Stefanl,

I have been following the Spector trial and as my go to
forensics expert I have a question for you.

Dr. Henry Lee, an expert for the defense, is expected to testify that blood can travel six to seven feet, making it possible for Spector to have been standing across the room when Clarkson was shot.

Can that be true? Lynne Herold, the LA sheriffs Dept. criminalist
testified 2-3 ft for the mist-like drops on the Sleeves and Lapels,
of Spectors jacket

I realize Dr Lee is being paid to testify, but would he stretch the
truth? I have admired him for many years and now am getting a bad feeling about this.

Do you have any insight as a teacher on how far blood can travel?

Thanks,
Dev

Good question, Dev, and the answer depends on the size of the drops that are being described.

The high speed impact, mist-like drops that Lynne Herold is describing do not fly nearly as far as larger sized blood droplets. If Spector has droplets of blood on him that are larger in size, they would have survived the trip through the air for the longer distance of six to seven feet. A gun shot would result in mostly mist-like drops with some larger sized droplets as well.

Wound type, directionality and angle, type of trauma responsible for producing the spatter are all factors that need to be taken into account when answering that question. And yes, Dr. Henry Lee is the go to guy for blood spatter analysis. He practically invented the concept and has written several books on the subject.

How much blood was found on Spector's clothing, how large those droplets were and where on his clothing they landed are all factors to consider. Were there only a few larger sized droplets (2-3 mm), those would carry away from a gunshot wound. Were they found on the clothing of his torso or his legs? As the blood explodes away from the body the angle of trajectory would increase in size and they would probably hit farther down the body, rather than at 90 degree angles away from the site of the wound.

Why was he hit at all? I would imagine that the largest component of the spatter would be carried away from him, assuming he's shooting across a space of six to seven feet, toward the victim. If he's getting hit by back spatter, it may be either respiratory spray (larger in size than gun shot misting and coming from a severed trachea or bronchi) or it was arterial spurt, which can travel several feet.

There is an interesting tutorial on the IABPA website concerning blood spatter analysis that explains how to determine the position of a victim when spatter was produced. I haven't found anything that discusses exactly how far each of the different sized droplets is capable of moving through the air, although physics says the larger the drop the farther the distance because of momentum.

Linda

[EYEballer]

Good question, Dev, and the answer depends on the size of the drops that are being described.

The high speed impact, mist-like drops that Lynne Herold is describing do not fly nearly as far as larger sized blood droplets. If Spector has droplets of blood on him that are larger in size, they would have survived the trip through the air for the longer distance of six to seven feet. A gun shot would result in mostly mist-like drops with some larger sized droplets as well.

Wound type, directionality and angle, type of trauma responsible for producing the spatter are all factors that need to be taken into account when answering that question. And yes, Dr. Henry Lee is the go to guy for blood spatter analysis. He practically invented the concept and has written several books on the subject.

How much blood was found on Spector's clothing, how large those droplets were and where on his clothing they landed are all factors to consider. Were there only a few larger sized droplets (2-3 mm), those would carry away from a gunshot wound. Were they found on the clothing of his torso or his legs? As the blood explodes away from the body the angle of trajectory would increase in size and they would probably hit farther down the body, rather than at 90 degree angles away from the site of the wound.

Why was he hit at all? I would imagine that the largest component of the spatter would be carried away from him, assuming he's shooting across a space of six to seven feet, toward the victim. If he's getting hit by back spatter, it may be either respiratory spray (larger in size than gun shot misting and coming from a severed trachea or bronchi) or it was arterial spurt, which can travel several feet.

There is an interesting tutorial on the IABPA website concerning blood spatter analysis that explains how to determine the position of a victim when spatter was produced. I haven't found anything that discusses exactly how far each of the different sized droplets is capable of moving through the air, although physics says the larger the drop the farther the distance because of momentum.

Linda

Never thought I would be interested in this stuff, but that's quite interesting. Ever consider being a consultant or something on CI dealing with blood splatters, etc.? (the stuff that Bobby likes to point out to the others)

[stefanl]

Never thought I would be interested in this stuff, but that's quite interesting. Ever consider being a consultant or something on CI dealing with blood splatters, etc.? (the stuff that Bobby likes to point out to the others)

They've already got professional police officers as technical advisors to do that for them. I just teach the stuff.

[Not_saying]

Did anyone recieve an email from the nbc forum ?

[peachybc]

Yes, I did, apologizing for this morning porn Spam.


PeachyBC

[stefanl]

Did anyone recieve an email from the nbc forum ?

It was supposed to be boardwide about the stuff that was posted this morning. It was pretty vile stuff.

[Not_saying]

Yes, I did, apologizing for this morning porn Spam.


PeachyBC

UH I'm glad I didn't see it then .

Aye Caramba

No need for you to apologize peachy .
Something tells me it was hard for ya all to keep up with .

I sympathize with what you had gone through last night.

[EYEballer]

Yeah, I received an nbc notice too and had no idea what they were referring to and apologetic for; I'm glad I missed the vile stuff then. I guess they cleaned everything up by the time I logged in.