The Old Dog Barks

Mystery Girl #13

Born in the 40′s, Mystery Girl #13 had her greatest success in the early and mid 60′s. Her father was no doubt a great help in starting her career, but an Academy Award showed there was something more than nepotism involved. In fact talent ran rather deep in the family as her sister also was an actress of note.

With the decline of the studio system she fell off the “A” list. After a brief retirement from 1975 until 1981 she continued making pictures and TV appearances up to the present. Her son is the lead guitarist for a double platinum selling rock band that I had never heard of. So who then is Mystery Girl #13?

To take another look at last week’s Mystery Girl click the link. To find out who she was, and a week from today who this weeks Mystery Girl is, — Go Here! You can also click the link on the sidebar and work your way up from the bottom and try to guess the names of all the Mystery Girls.

I posted a few weeks ago about the Government’s web site used to solicit quotations. Here is another recent entry:

NATIVE AMERICAN MEDICINE MAN
Solicitation Number: RFQP04021000018
Agency: Department of Justice
Office: Bureau of Prisons
Location: FPC Duluth

Synopsis: Aug 17, 2010 4:13 pm

The Federal Bureau of Prisons, FPC Duluth, Duluth, MN, intends to make a single award to a responsible entity for providing the services of Native American Medicine man to the inmate population as outlined in the statement of work. The anticipated date of the award will be approximately October 1, 2010 subjected to funds availability for the next fiscal year. The duration of the contract will be from the date of award through 09/30/2011. The contractor shall perform all services at FPC Duluth, in the Religious Services Department, located at 6902 Airport Road, Duluth MN, 55814.

The contractor will conduct Native American ceremonies and provide instruction to inmates in the Native American Faith.

The contractor will supply all of their own religious garments and books. The contractor will control, supervise, and be responsible for all government materials and equipment and will ensure that such equipment and materials are used only for legitimate program purposes.

The contractor will provide 4 sessions per year. The sessions will either be on Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Pipe ceremony) or on Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (sweat ceremony). The day and time of these services is subject to change with agreement of the religious services department and the contractor. A session will consist of 4 hours to include entry and exit.

There is a long list of topics the Medicine Man is to deal with and here are a few.

General Topics for Contractors – Native American:
3. Medicine Wheel
4. The Sacred Pipe
5. Sweat Lodge
6. Elders
7. Circle of Life
8. Traditions/Rituals
11. Fasting
12. Smudging
13. The Drum
15. Dances
16. The Medicine Pouch
19. Ritual Objects
21. Eagle Feathers
29. Herbal Medicines
32. Traditional Games

I wonder what smudging is, or maybe I don’t want to know. It’s a shame with unemployment so high they only need one.

Based on a Robert Heinlein 1941 story, that along with a second short, “Common Sense”, formed the novel length“Orphans of the Sky”, this is the first fictional use of the “Generation Ship.”

The book jacket shown is the 1964 hardcover edition. Out of curiosity I checked my own copy, and found I have the 1965 Signet 1st edition paperback, which cost all of 50 cents at the time.

The Old Dog Network presents,“Universe.”

This is a copy of a post I just put up at the Junk Science Forum.

How unreliable in wind power? Slate Magazine Reports:

Blown in the Wind
The U.S. should stop wasting billions to subsidize unreliable wind energy projects.
By Robert Bryce
Posted Monday, Aug. 16, 2010, at 1:38 PM ET

“They like everything big in Texas, and wind energy is no exception. Texas has more wind generation capacity than any other state, about 9,700 megawatts. (That’s nearly as much installed wind capacity as India.) Texas residential ratepayers are now paying about $4 more per month on their electric bills in order to fund some 2,300 miles of new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from rural areas to the state’s urban centers.

“It’s time for those customers to ask for a refund. The reason: When it gets hot in Texas—and it’s darn hot in the Lone Star State in the summer—the state’s ratepayers can’t count on that wind energy. On Aug. 4, at about 5 p.m., electricity demand in Texas hit a record: 63,594 megawatts. But according to the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s wind turbines provided only about 500 megawatts of power when demand was peaking and the value of electricity was at its highest.”

The article shows wind power’s problems and cost, override any benefits, and without even mentioning any of the perceived ecological downsides.

To quote from a linked article (and this Slate piece has many,) in 2006 the Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported , “Using 2006 data, ERCOT has determined that 8.7% of the installed wind capability can be counted as dependable capacity during the peak demand period for the next year.”

And even that 8.7 number was higher than the recent peak demand period where only a bit more than 5% of installed wind capacity was available. Read it all!

This is the last of the science quiz from the Telegraph, questions 16 -30.

16 How is the fossilised resin of coniferous trees from the Middle Tertiary period better known?
17 Monotremes are egg- laying mammals, the order comprising echidnas and which other animals?
18 What number on the Beaufort scale is given to a “strong breeze”?
19 The diet of which birds creates their pink plumage?
20 What colour are the flowers of the primrose?
21 Which alkane, chemical formula CH4, occurs naturally in oil wells, marshes and the emissions from cows?
22 What does the mathematic sign >= mean?
23 Which black and white bird of the crow family has the scientific name Pica pica?
24 What facet of human anatomy did William Harvey discover?
25 In weather, regions of high pressure are also known as what?
26 Which London structure was designed so it could act as a giant telescope, although it proved unsuccessful in this role?
27 Centre of a long-standing industry in Cornwall, how is kaolin also known?
28 In which spacecraft did Yuri Gagarin become the first man in space?
29 Where in the body are alveoli to be found?
30 Riboflavin is an alternative name for which vitamin of the B Group?

This last section of Science Quiz #1 was not easy! I missed 18, 20, 25, 26, and 27.

This is the last of my science quiz, if I put up another I will need to write the questions myself. Should I do that I could score quite well.

The answers to this weeks questions are below the fold. After you look hit home or your back button to return to the blog.

Read More >>

Time for another Rockets and Missile Post. This looks promising, wonder what it costs? Anyway I want one!

Some parts of Cochise County are too hot to handle.

CNSNews.com reports: – Sheriff Larry Dever of Cochise County, Ariz., one of four Arizona counties contiguous with the U.S-Mexico border, said Friday that the U.S. Border Patrol has pulled back from parts of the border in his and neighboring counties because manning those areas has become too dangerous.

He pointed out that in Pinal County, 70 miles north of the border, the Bureau of Land Management has put up a sign along a drug smuggling corridor to warn American citizens away from the region because it is too dangerous.

Sheriff Dever’s larger point is that it’s time the Federal Government put a stop to this. The Federal Government’s larger point is?

This is another original radio play by Ernest Kinoy, one of the best from X-1. Kinoy also scripted the television movie “Victory at Entebbe” won an Emmy for the second episode of the miniseries “Roots.”

Along with X-1, the Old Dog Network presents,“The Castaways.”

I’ve mentioned before how many readers of the Old Dog Barks are from Russia. In an attempt to better understand their needs I have taken to reading the Google Translate version of Saratov.com on a daily basis. Here is some of the News from the week ending August 17 that I though all of our readers might find interesting:

In the Chelyabinsk region legislated quotas for graduates

In the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk region in three readings passed the law on employment quotas for the employment of graduates of educational institutions of vocational education, a REGNUM correspondent reports News. Thus, the company ordered to report quarterly to the employment service of the motion of vacancies.  If exempt workplace, the employer will be obliged to employ graduates.

Saratovets put out the fire and modestly disappeared

In Saratov, the spread of forest fires in the past two weeks Kumysnoy clearing duty avtopatruli traffic police.

Criminal case against the son of the Mayor Balakovo

The criminal case against the son of the Mayor Balakovo, having lost to death a woman stopped.

Land squandered his capital, resources ended prematurely

22 August mankind will have to declare “ecological bankruptcy”

Morgue Saratov Overcrowded Because of the Hot Weather.

The number of deaths, coming to the city morgue, Saratov, increased by 26,1% – up to 937 people.

Drinking chocolate makes people more kind and generous

In the course of research on the effects of glucose on the brain, scientists have found that increasing its concentration, drives away negative thoughts, resentment and desire for revenge.

Cher returns to the scene with new album

Singer Cher (Cher), leaving the big stage the past 10 years, has decided to once again briefly detained and released a new studio album.

I found the Global Warming story particularly interesting and that news about Cher — I never would have known about it if I had to rely on my local paper.

Mystery Girl #12

Born in Rowena Texas, the second of three children. Her father died when she was four. One of the best students in her high school, winning top prizes in spelling, writing and public speaking, she dropped out and married a month before her 16th birthday. Going into the depression she would make a name for herself as one of the first media “Bad Girls.” To paraphrase a verse from a poem she wrote shortly before her death:

You’ve heard of a woman’s glory
One spent on a “downright cur”
But you can’t always judge the story
As true, being told by her.

Finding fame alongside her lover, before they died in an auto accident on a desolate road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana in the year 1934; 20,000 people attended the funereal. Her years as a celebrity were limited but books and movies still tell the tale of her life and times.

Who was Mystery Girl #12?

To take another look at last week’s Mystery Girl click this link. To find out who she was, and a week from today who this weeks Mystery Girl is, — Go Here! You can also click the link on the sidebar and work your way up from the bottom and try to guess the names of all the Mystery Girls.

Mystery Girl #13

Haley Mills

Mystery Girl 13 was guessed correctly as Haley Mills. Way to go! Mills Academy Award was a special juvenile award for Pollyanna.

As a singer she was truly a “One Hit Wonder”, reaching the number eight spot on the charts for “Let’s Get Together”, a song never played on the radio anymore and one I had not thought about yet the tune came to mind as soon as I read the words!

Mystery Girl #12

Bonnie and Clyde

We each of us have a good “alibi”
For being down here in the “joint”
But few of them really are justified
If you get right down to the point.

Mystery Girl #12 and "Gun Moll" Bonnie Parker met up with the wrong man; the Wiki says it was love at first sight:

"There are a number of versions of the story describing Bonnie and Clyde's first meeting, but the most credible version indicates that Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow in January 1930 at a friend's house. Parker was out of work and was staying in West Dallas to assist a girlfriend with a broken arm. Barrow dropped by the girl's house while Parker was supposedly in the kitchen making hot chocolate."

"When they met, both were smitten immediately . . . She remained a loyal companion to him as they carried out their crime spree and awaited the violent deaths they viewed as inevitable."

Hit the link for the complete version of Bonnie's poem "Suicide Sal".

Mystery Girl #11

Amelia Earhart 1932

You've probably heard of Mystery Girl #11, her name Amelia Earhart, and likeness are iconographic. And as an aviation pioneer her record is legendary. You know she was the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic.

But did you know that four years previously, in 1928, she had been the first female to fly the Atlantic as a passenger? Or that "In 1931, flying a Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro, she set a world altitude record of 18,415 feet?" Or that in 1935, Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California?

Read the Wiki Article for more details of an amazing life, one ending too soon when her plane disappeared in an around the world attempt in 1937.

Note: The names and details concerning newer Mystery Girls will be added to this post on a weekly basis.

The Old Time Radio Program for today, Friday August 13, 2010, is Asimov’s “C-Chute.”

Along with X-1, the Old Dog Network presents,“C-Chute.”

My turn at a brain twister!

Many in my and Wes’s age group grew up on the pulp SCI-FI of the late 40′s, 50′s and 60′s. So anyone in that group knew the name of Leigh Brackett who was quite prolific in the short story and novella publication length of that period.

SCI-FI was her (yes her) hobby! In her day job as a screenwriter for Hollywood she penned fully or as a partner three of the most iconic Westerns ever filmed.

Three part question here and until someone gets them all I will start dropping hints exactly one week from today.

Who was the Title Star of all three films?

Who was the Director of all three films?

What are the names of those three films?

And the kicker (Tie Breaker)!

In what order were those three films released?

Google is legal to use WIKI is not!

Don, you should get this in a heartbeat!

Meteor and the Milky Way

Best viewing of the annual Perseids Meteor Shower should be from 11:30 PM. to 5:00 AM. your local time. In a good year you can see 20 to 60 per hour. It is clear for me and I will be watching.

Look here for the 2010 guide.