Dairy of a Madman

Duct Tape Wall Tapings

He was a stand-up Marine, a beloved cop, and a local hero � until the government branded him part of the largest kid porn ring in history.

Where Have the Moon Trees Gone?

The trees were grown from seeds that astronaut Stuart Roosa took with him on Apollo 14’s mission to the moon. Roosa had been a smokejumper — a firefighter who parachutes directly into wildfires — before becoming an astronaut.

Astronauts are allowed to bring a dozen personal items, with a maximum total weight of 1.5 pounds, on their missions. Typically they opt to carry coins, jewelry, stamps and other items suitable for souvenirs.

But a slice of fabric from the Wright brothers’ original plane flew aboard Apollo 11, a piece of Captain James Cook’s Endeavour ship was in the Apollo 15 lunar module, an astronomical apparatus built in Persia in the 17th century was onboard a Columbia shuttle, and Story Musgrave took a chunk of rock from Stonehenge on his 1990 flight.

When Roosa blasted off on Jan. 31, 1971, he took a six-inch metal cylinder containing seeds from redwood, loblolly pine, sycamore, Douglas fir and sweet gum trees. According to mission records, the seeds orbited the moon 34 times.

Back on Earth, the metal tube burst during decontamination procedures. There were fears the seeds were too damaged to germinate. But virtually all survived after being shipped to Forest Service labs, eventually resulting in hundreds of moon trees.

Some went to national landmarks like the White House and Independence Square in Philadelphia. Others went to local governments; the then-mayor of New Orleans, “Moon” Landrieu, put in a special request. Some were given to foreign heads of state. But plenty of the trees ended up in out-of-the-way places.

Williams says no one tracked where the trees were being sent and the location of most of them is still unknown. Williams’ website encourages people to contact him with possible moon tree sightings.

“I really like the fact that these trees can be anywhere, and I’m sure there are a lot out there in local parks, small college campuses and next to buildings that people are walking by every day without realizing it,” Williams said.

Most of the moon trees that have been reported have a marker of some sort; without identification, there’s no difference between them and standard-issue Earth trees.

CNN.com - Showbuzz - September 12, 2002
De Niro searches science scripts
NEW YORK (AP) — Robert De Niro and his Tribeca Film Institute partner, Jane Rosenthal, are looking for scripts with scientific or technological themes for possible development.

The scripts, due November 1, should have a leading character who is a scientist, mathematician or engineer. Each submission should include a feature-length script, a short synopsis up to two pages, and the writer’s resume. Science fiction story lines won’t be accepted.

Two writers will be chosen in the first year of the program, and will receive financial support and insight from filmmakers and science experts. At least one script will be read at the second annual Tribeca Film Festival in spring 2003, and the completed film will screen at the 2004 festival.

“What we’re doing here is really looking for the next ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ ‘Memento’ or ‘Good Will Hunting,”‘ said Doron Weber, program director of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which is a partner in the program with Tribeca Films.

Scripts should be sent to the Tribeca Film Institute, 375 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013, Attention: Tribeca/Sloan Film Program.

From the http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/09/12/ar911.sept11.lottery.ap/index.htmlAssociated Press:

ALBANY, New York (AP) — On the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, a date known as 9-11, the evening numbers drawn in the New York Lottery were 9-1-1.

“The numbers were picked in the standard random fashion using all the same protocols,” said lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman. “It’s just the way the numbers came up.”

Lottery officials won’t know until Thursday morning how many people played those numbers or the total payout, she said.

For the evening numbers game, the New York Lottery selects from balls numbered zero to nine circulating in a machine at the lottery office. Three levers are pressed, and three balls are randomly brought up into tubes and then displayed.

-km

Ignore Laura Bush, kids. She has no idea what she’s talking about. She’s from TEXAS, for cryin’ out loud — they probably took the kids to executions for family time.

It’s your world. Welcome to it.

km

9/11: �American Idol� seizes the day
AT THE PLACE where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous �I have a dream� speech, where Marian Anderson was invited by the FDR administration to sing �America� after the Daughters of the American Revolution snubbed her for being black, the �American Idol� winner will make his or her appearance during the day-long ceremonies commemorating the first anniversary of the attacks � six days before the first single by the newly minted superstar is released.
The terrorists have won.

Scientific American: How to Build a Time Machine
Time travel has been a popular science-fiction theme since H. G. Wells wrote his celebrated novel The Time Machine in 1895. But can it really be done? Is it possible to build a machine that would transport a human being into the past or future?