July 10, 2008
As I bleat in protest
An "only in Tennessee" story that has appeared on a number of news sites and blogs simultaneously sparks alternative-fuel hope and puts a damper on an innovative overgrowth control program. [Doug] Mizell's spent the...Posted by joe lance on 8:06 PM
May 1, 2008
Out of season today: oysters and open fires
Happy May Day, or International Workers' Day; but before you go building a huge bonfire, shucking oysters, and slithering around a maypole — as fun as all that sounds — remember that your fire...Posted by joe lance on 9:08 AM
April 22, 2008
Happy Earth Day
Despite the pollen, I am doing some of my work from home on the deck this morning. The temperature is magnificent, and the backyard songbirds are only occasionally drowned out by sirens on Brainerd...Posted by joe lance on 11:04 AM
February 20, 2008
Bark at the moon
If the clouds would just hurry up and move out of the way, I'd go out and try to catch some of the lunar eclipse that's been scheduled for tonight....Posted by joe lance on 9:17 PM
January 16, 2008
HUGE BREAKING NEWS: frozen precipitation
My colleagues in Maine, and my former schoolmates in Massachusetts and Michigan, would get such a kick out of local news in Chattanooga this evening. The TV stations have multiple reporters stationed at different...Posted by joe lance on 6:07 PM
November 25, 2007
Did scientists really shorten the life of the universe?
Via Pith in the Wind, here's part of a Telegraph report: [C]osmologists claim that astronomers may have accidentally nudged the universe closer to its death by observing dark energy, a mysterious anti gravity force...Posted by joe lance on 3:38 PM
November 15, 2007
Kimball voters, go to Jasper
Due to last night's tornado (which I "watched" on my computer screen in the form of severe-weather radar, and thus knew Kimball was in trouble before the TV said so), the polling place for...Posted by joe lance on 10:54 AM
October 30, 2007
Commissioner seeks new road through protected forest, tells rare flower to grow elsewhere
I've been searching local news sites, but it seems that the Chattanoogan.com is beating everyone else at covering an important story, through a breaking news item as well as a string of opinion letters....Posted by joe lance on 12:55 PM
October 9, 2007
You'll have to be really high to see the colors
Oh, calm down. I'm referring, of course, to local TV weatherman Brian Smith's post today on where one can see autumn colors, and how much: Here is the latest from the USDA Forest Service:...Posted by joe lance on 8:55 PM
August 24, 2007
Water? From the Sky?
Something very unusual is happening outside....Posted by joe lance on 6:28 PM
August 21, 2007
I'm Going to Plant Cacti and Lay Pretty Gravel..
..and call it a day. Once every few years during my childhood, we'd drive to Phoenix (from, and back to, Virginia) for the Winter holidays, as my grandfather retired from the USAF at Luke,...Posted by joe lance on 6:31 PM
July 21, 2007
Great Blue Heron
The fam went to Chattanooga's beautiful Riverpark on Memorial Day 2007. I have some pictures from that event. This is one of a series capturing a Great Blue Heron having some lunch. In...Posted by joe lance on 9:44 AM
July 17, 2007
Kitten Adoption Alert
As a courtesy to a friend, I am here to announce the existence of a really cute pair of kittens that are in need of a home. We can't take them, because our cat...Posted by joe lance on 7:49 AM
June 28, 2007
Eagle Bluff
So, the Bald Eagle has been removed from the Endangered Species list. In related news, Canada called, and they would like their eagles back. (They asked very nicely.)...Posted by joe lance on 7:42 PM
June 23, 2007
Make Bourbon, Not Auto Fuel
Venerable area environmentalist Denny Haldeman has written a lengthy but very readable column regarding the misguided emphasis our local, state and national leaders (and in this instance I use the term loosely) are placing...Posted by joe lance on 2:43 PM
June 11, 2007
Big Owls
For years, I've heard — and, rarely, seen — shadowy, large fowl in the woods between our house and Brainerd Road, without knowing their exact identities. First came the call. Early one morning, about...Posted by joe lance on 11:50 PM
June 4, 2007
When gadgets and the info they bring us are too much
It pays to read down through the comments to a web article, because the collaborative impulse creates a more complete, more complex and, though this is subjective, more interesting work than the original. This...Posted by joe lance on 9:08 PM
March 28, 2007
The Pileated Piper
Or, "where's the politics, man?" Sorry. Falling down on the blog. But seriously, I have a daily adventure with my new camcorder, the two-year-old, and this Pileated Woodpecker that haunts the wooded hillside behind...Posted by joe lance on 6:00 PM
March 16, 2007
friday pelican blogging
This is more of a test than anything else, so keep that in mind. You may want to turn down sound, as the original audio is merely slowed down. Enjoy....Posted by joe lance on 8:17 AM
January 6, 2007
January porch-blogging
It's the 6th of January, Christmas Eve for the orthodox types, and there are gnats or some other type of flying insects "bugging" me as I sit and read blogs on my porch in...Posted by joe lance on 4:23 PM
January 5, 2007
With Apologies to Pete Townshend, and to Libertarians Everywhere
I distinctly remember the looks on my college classmates' fresh faces as we sat around the conference table in the honors seminar course on Ethics, and I announced that, after having read the latest...Posted by joe lance on 10:41 PM
December 13, 2006
House of SAD and Fog
There's little doubt about one member of the family, but I'm beginning to think that all three of us may in fact have at least a touch of the Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD....Posted by joe lance on 1:06 PM
November 11, 2006
Futility
It's very windy out, and the magnificent hardwood leaves that have until now graced the hillsides with golden glory are now tumbling across same hillsides in the stiff breeze. Somehow, one of my neighbors...Posted by joe lance on 1:10 PM
September 22, 2006
The Last Day of Summer
That strangely calming electric sensation in the air is probably a combination of today's New Moon and tomorrow's Autumnal Equinox. (Disclaimer: I'm not a licensed astrologer.) Seriously, though, it seems as if even the...Posted by joe lance on 8:20 AM
September 12, 2006
And the Idiocy Award Goes To..
..people "retaliating" for Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin's death by killing and mutilating stingrays. I just don't know where to begin with this; and, hopefully, I'd be preaching to the choir anyway, so think your...Posted by joe lance on 1:06 PM
September 9, 2006
Lies, Bribes, and Now Rabies?
This Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration story keeps growing tentacles. Allegations of "soring" (a most inglorious term with which I was heretofore unfamiliar) caused a spate of disqualifications, which led to cancellation of the entire...Posted by joe lance on 6:42 PM
August 24, 2006
Astronomically Big News
Pluto is no longer a planet. It never really was. Discuss....Posted by joe lance on 2:38 PM
July 29, 2006
Perhaps the coyotes operate out of check-cashing firms
Marti Rutherford is nothing if not industrious. She doesn't rest after a single episode. I haven't even had a chance to point toward the Pulse story on the cash service industry debate at the...Posted by joe lance on 10:10 AM
July 12, 2006
How I Know It Is Summer
As if the stifling heat and suffocating humidity weren't enough, I also experience an uptick in strange, prescient dreams and other so-called "paranormal" happenings. July and August are the "hottest" months wherein this type...Posted by joe lance on 5:23 PM
May 17, 2006
For All You Treehuggers
An Inconvenient Truth will be shown at the Bijou Cinema in downtown Chattanooga on Friday, June 30. Here is a listing of screening dates nationwide. I'm not suggesting that, if you're a scorched-Earth type,...Posted by joe lance on 3:46 PM
February 3, 2006
Just In from the "Duh" Desk
The Chattanooga Times Free Press carried a Knight Ridder story that says pets have emotions....Posted by joe lance on 12:44 PM
November 25, 2005
Some Diversity of Thought - A Left-Brained Response to "Right Minded"
Nearly two weeks ago, Mark A. Rose took issue with the Tennessean's editors for their anti position on "Intelligent Design" as a component of science education. Rose took the opportunity to re-post his "five...Posted by joe lance on 1:51 PM
September 20, 2005
Rita Ballou
DOPPLER RADAR DATA...SATELLITE PRESENTATION AND PRESSURE FALLS FROM THE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT RITA HAS REACHED CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE STRENGTH ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. Source...Posted by joe lance on 11:02 AM
September 18, 2005
Bienvenue Philippe
I'm glad that people who know what they're doing are watching the oceanic and atmospheric developments. I looked at the satellite images a few days ago, and I was concerned about a formation that...Posted by joe lance on 10:53 AM
September 9, 2005
"I am but mad north-northwest"
OPHELIA IS A PECULIAR CYCLONE. ...OPHELIA MOVING AWAY FROM THE U.S COAST...FOR NOW... PRESENT MOVEMENT TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST NOTE...ERRORS FOR TRACK HAVE AVERAGED NEAR 250 NM ON DAY 4 AND 325 NM ON DAY...Posted by joe lance on 2:40 PM
September 6, 2005
Nate and Sixteen
Here we go: The National Weather Service has issued warnings for Eastern Florida (Melbourne) related to Tropical Depression 16, which is expected to reach Tropical Storm status tonight (and will be called Ophelia). More...Posted by joe lance on 3:58 PM
May 13, 2005
Friday Bird Blogging, Lo-Tech Style
These days, when I take the dog out in the morning, it is just getting light enough to see some amazing fowl activity in the wooded strip just behind the house. Unfortunately, it is...Posted by joe lance on 7:54 AM
April 30, 2005
Uncommon House Guests
The previous owners of our house did a good thing by finishing the basement. Some of their choices were, well, different than ones we might have made, such as a bathroom with brown fixtures,...Posted by joe lance on 8:20 AM
April 16, 2005
Floating Larvae
I walked into the back yard yesterday evening and stopped just short of bumping into a caterpillar that was hovering in mid-air at about chest level. It moved around a bit, and swayed, and...Posted by joe lance on 8:25 AM