The End is Near!

But the Blog goes on!

Say good-bye to Blogger

As February 12 approaches we, and that I mean the staff at Roadside Mysteries, have felt the need to change our publishing platform after 2 years of blogging with the device known as "BLOGGER" (See logo above). While we found it to be a useful and fairly simple blog interface, the current trend seems to be more toward a robust server-sided application that we could mess around with (not to mention be current with all the local blogs in the area).

More important, the folks at BLOGGER are planning to shut down FTP support for their user base and claim that only 0.5% of active blogs are published via FTP (FTP, or File Transfer Protocol lets you transfer files over the internet). FTP has been around a while; The first time the Bugman used it was in 1978 when he worked at Gould Electronics.

This blog uses FTP data transfers, therefore we could either:

1) Begin using the BLOGGER MIGRATION TOOL due to be available on February 22.

2) Switch to some other publishing tool.

Since either option means learning something new, we decided to go with option #2 and see what happens. So we have decided to go with...

Say hello to WordPress

WordPress is maybe 4 years younger than BLOGGER and it seems that of all the open source blog publishers out there, it appears to be the most widely used. What really sold us on WordPress was the installation. We usually dread this process because we do not install on our server very often and we easily forget the process (like setting up MySQL and importing PHP files; when's the last time we did that?) But the installation process was super easy! If the rest of the package is anywhere near as good as the installer, we're going to have a party!

Anyhow, if you want to see the new blog before the opening date, you can go here. It will probably change a few times in the next few weeks, but it's there for the world to see.

We picked February 12 as the GO-TO date because it will be the 2nd anniversary of this blog. The original blog HTML code and images will be retained on our server and it will exist as an archive. The blog URL will re-direct you to the new blog on the 12th of February. Get ready for it!

Bark in the Dark

On the night of an extremely bright Full Moon:

going Eastbound on Oak Street

the event: "Bark in the Dark"

It was another dog walk in Fort Collins. This time it was to benefit the Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado.

The African drum group "Fale" provided entertainment

In addition, the World Famous Samba band "Bloco em Foco" performed (i.e., even more drum music!)

Surfin' Bird

People showing off their birds:

It was Bird Day at Bath Nursery

Here is some kind of owl

Duncan Madog didn't get too close!

There was also something called "The Thunderbirds" show. Please note that it was not the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds; just some kiddie parrot show!

Another Roadside Survey

Collecing data on Colorado highways:

It's a data collection system on wheels!

It's just the thing "Roadside Mysteries" could use to check out stuff. You know: Take terebytes of data along the Roadside and then mine the hell out of it for Mysteries!

A Pathways Services Data Van

Pathway provides automated road and surface condition data collection products and services. "We provide technology to the transportation industry to aid in information upkeep about road conditions. " It's the kind of van that Team Roadkill would die for.

They could be using the van to collect data on the Harmony bridge crossing Interstate 25 seeing as they need to start repairing the bridge like any day now. Hint: Stay away from that intersection for the next six months!

Grooving again

At the Foothills Drum Circle:

The Bugman leading the group with conga drums

Facilitating drum circles is not new. I used to do it in Palatine for years. I thought that I would be doing it in Colorado too, and apparently I am. It's the second and fourth Tusedays of the month at 7:30 pm at the Foothills UU church. I didn't come up with the name "Foothills Drum Circle" but it looks like the name was not used anywhere before, so it is officially the "Foothills Drum Circle™ " and since the "Foothills" could mean a fairly large area of Northern Colorado, this could get out of hand.

Bloggers blog Blog

At the Comfort Inn off Interstate 25:

It's a meeting of Bloggers!

The local Fort Collins bloggers had a meeting through their Meetup group so I decided to join in and see what's what. The topic of the day: "Content is King"; Hot Damn!

Lacking content for today's post, this is it.

It was a fairly orderly meeting. About half of those attending were first-time bloggers who wanted to learn more about being a part of the blogosphere. I think that’s a good thing; I probably could have used some encouragement before I started out. Now it’s too late!
The content discussion quickly turned to ways to increase readership and then it seemed to border on increasing revenue. If I look at the very first posting made nearly two years ago, I said “Hey! We've got a road trip coming up, and so why not keep a blog about it so that we can go back later and use it to figure out what we have done!”. That sort of keeps the content to “whatever” and limits the readership to only two people. Haven’t figured out how to make any money doing it yet. Maybe I’ll go to some more of those meetings!

ESL at the Fort

On the west side of where the original 'Fort Collins' parade grounds were located:

Reading and writing comprehension for ESL students are taught.

I couldn't help but notice this copy of an illustrated version of Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' in the ESL library. I looked but did not find a copy of Don Marquis' 'Archy & Mehitabel' ; I would think that that would be a better title for someone's English as a second language attempt. However

Can anyone say 'Kafkaesque Illustrations'?

Those of you who may have come across a Mad Magazine once or twice in your life might recognize the work of Peter Kuper, who is responsible for the cartoon illustrations in 'SPY vs. SPY'.

"Gregor! Get Up! You're going to be late for work!"

I've got to get a copy for our guest bathroom. It takes only minutes to read and as Kafka himself once said, "A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us". Attaboy Franz!

There is a video selection as well!

I noticed right away that they have a copy of the 1968 American comedy film 'The Producers' written and directed by Mel Brooks. Hell, just thinking of Zero and Gene and Dick makes me laugh! Did you know that Dustin Hoffman was originally cast to play Franz Liebkind in the film? ... and one of the manuscripts that Max Bialystock dismissed as being 'Too good' was none other than Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis'?

FOCO-MOCA Simplexity

This month (and next) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Fort Collins:

"Balancing Plasmas Generated by Magnetic Field Pressure"

Or something of that nature. It's part of the new exhibit at the FoCo-MoCa called "The Mind and All it Creates" by artist Todd Siler.

There's a "Lithium Blanket" in there somewhere!

"Whereas conventional solid plasma-facing materials for a magnetic fusion blanket’s first wall restrict maximum power density and require frequent replacement, a liquid has no crystal structure to be damaged by thermal stress or neutron bombardment. To advance objectives of higher power density and reduced maintenance, thick liquid flowing walls blanket concepts eliminate solid plasma-facing materials and instead present a liquid free-surface directly to the plasma with no intervening solid material. One thick liquid concept is the Electromagnetically Restrained (EMR) Lithium Blanket, in which an approximately one meter thick shell of liquid lithium metal almost completely surrounds a fusioning tokamak’s toroidal plasma discharge, absorbing plasma particles, neutrons and other radiations while breeding tritium and collecting high temperature heat for power generation."1

I believe "Lithium Blanket" would make a great name for a rock band. (It's also interesting that a guy named "Woolley" came up with the idea). Dr. Siler will be back in town for the next "First Friday" gallery walks to help answer some of my questions I should think.

1 Woolley, et al.

Extended coverage of FoCo-MoCa continues:

In the utility room of FoCo-MoCa

Levels and Hammers!

Just like I have at home. Apparently they don't use those Laser Picture Level gadgets to hang artwork.

Tribal Drums

At the Catalyst Tap Room:

Candid Drum Photo

On the First and Third Wednesday there is a crowd of drummers at the Catalyst Tap Room. I placed my Minolta DiMAGE Z1 digital camera on the head of my djembe drum to take this picture.

Alley Art, Volume 1

UTILITY BOXES

Transformer Cabinet

There are seveal themes here and I would assume it's by the same artist. There is a certain 'blue aura' that suggests spirituality, religious emotion or perhaps latent schizophrenia. The enclosure hinges are painted to look like crayons that follows the theme above and is continued in the example below.

Communication Utility

From a distance it looked like a caterpiller; that is probably why I was drawn to it.

The MLK "Parch"

In Fort Collins, not Denver:

Not a parade, not a march...

In Denver they call it a "Marade" the combination of the words March and Parade. All the newscasters are calling it a Marade, so Marade it must be.

Lots of people were there

Including Duncan Madog and his friend Ken

The Mystiq is Gone!

in Old Town Fort Collins:

After 10 years, the Mystiq is moving out

But it's more like a transition sort of thing... The former martini bar wants to attract an older crowd. "We will be bringing country back to downtown Fort Collins," says owner Tony Campana whatever that means. It looks like they will also have rock 'n' roll, reggae and salsa as well.

100 Octane Club

I guess that means the the ethanol will be a better grade than before. It makes sense. Us older types demand it!

The Truth About Sex

Yet another Science Cafe

with Dr. Gerald Callahan

This evening it was CSU Professor Jerry Callahan from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology & sometimes the English department.

Jerry with some hand-outs

"When it comes to sex, it's not all black and white." The evening hand-outs were illustrations from this artical taken from the New England Journal of Medicine. WARNING! They are a bit graphic, so be warned!

The lecture was at Dempsey's in Old Town Fort Collins which has been a mystery to us because whenever we pass by Dempsey's at night, the place looks dead. We usually see just the bartender talking to the kitchen help and NO CUSTOMERS! The Science Cafe packed them in, but when the lecture was over, the place was vacant! Very strange.

Bas Bleu behind the scenery

On stage at the Bas Bleu:

Set Building Time!

It was time for Jeanne and I to help out with the local Bas Bleu Theater group and build some scenery. The work was for a play called "The Moving of Lilla Barton" which we have scheduled our newcomers group to see February 7th.