Starship Asterisk*

owlice wrote:
Orin, do what I do: shop online!

orin stepanek wrote:

bystander wrote:Orin, I wish you would please just keep that stuff up there in Nebraska. We don't want it down here in Oklahoma.

Glad I don't live in the Twin Cities! They had 17 inches of snow in 18 hours!

rstevenson wrote:Yesterday the temperature was -3C; this morning, +5C; this evening, +11C; by Wednesday night they say it'll be -6C. Now that's a serious C-saw of the sine-wave sort if I ever saw one.

Rob

Sam wrote:
I'm [mostly] glad I live in the Twin Cities! We had 17 inches of snow in 18 hours! Lots of fun to go play in [just not much fun to shovel cars out of].

I made a snow fort up on my roof to watch the Geminids from (blocks out some of the city lights and wind), but the only problem is the temperature: high of 5°F during the day, and my sleeping bag's only good down to 15°. I managed to stay out for about an hour last night until I couldn't feel my toes, and another half hour before realizing I'd rather walk than see a few meteors. Tonight I'll probably buy some foot/hand warmers.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=282 wrote:
<<In 1911, the Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse was built at the eastern end of the extended western breakwater. The conical, cast-iron tower incorporated the keeper’s quarters and was fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens. In 1916, a one-and-a-half-story fog signal building was added. The fog signal was affectionately known as the “cow” because of the deep mooing sound it made. In spite of its whimsical name, the whistle was a valuable asset to sailors, as its signal penetrated twelve miles — two miles farther than the beacon on the west pierhead. The 1911 West Pierhead Lighthouse still welcomes vessels large and small to Cleveland with its modern beacon that flashes an alternating red and white light every five seconds.>>

orin stepanek wrote:Hi Art! Light house becomes an ice house! Not where I'd want to live.

Céline Richard wrote:
However, it is so beautiful, with the flying of the seagulls, the changing of light with the timorous sun's rays, and the huge waves sometimes taller than the lighthouse! I would be glad to be able to sea an ice lighthouse like this one, near my home. Thanks a lot for posting this video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light-House wrote:
<<"The Light-House" is the unofficial title of the last work written by Edgar Allan Poe. Biographer Kenneth Silverman believes Poe began writing "The Light-House" between May and August 1849. The work was never officially titled. He did not live to finish it, and had barely begun it by the time of his death in 1849.

The story is told as a series of diary entries, the first being New Year's Day, 1796. The setting is somewhere near Scandinavia, possibly in the Norwegian Sea.

• On January 1, the narrator records that it is his first day in the lighthouse, and records his annoyance at the fact that he had a difficult time getting the appointment to man it, even though he is of noble birth. He records that a storm is in progress, and that the ship that brought him "had a narrow pass". He also dwells on the concept of being alone, and how much he looks forward to spending time alone, just him and his dog Neptune, so he can write his book. He briefly comments that he hears some echo in the walls, thinking they may not be sturdy, but catches himself and claims that his worries are "all nonsense", alluding to a prophecy made by his friend DeGrat, who got him the appointment to the lighthouse.
  
  On January 2 he describes the sea as being calm and uneventful, the wind having "lulled about day-break", and expounds on his passion for being alone.
  
  On January 3 he describes the day as being calm and placid, and resolves to explore the lighthouse. He again begins to worry about the safety of the structure, but tries to reassure himself. The last line reads, "The basis on which the structure rests seems to me to be chalk..."
  
  A heading for January 4 follows, but there is no text.

It is uncertain how the story would have ended and there is some debate if "The Light-House" was intended as a short story or a novel. Silverman speculates that the work might have been complete in its two-page form and the final blank entry implied the narrator's death. It is likely the last fiction work Poe wrote.

Themes of foreboding, isolation and paranoia are apparent in "The Light-House". Its style is very straightforward and plainspoken, in contrast to the more elaborate and decorated prose of Poe's earlier stories, implying a shift in Poe's writing style which the author did not live to realize.

Like many of Poe's works, "The Light-House" has been studied autobiographically. The lighthouse keeper, then, stands in for Poe himself, who is expressing his own feelings of being alone and isolated and questioning if he can survive. It is very similar in theme to the later and also unfinished short story "The Burrow" by Franz Kafka. Both involve a reclusive narrator who obsesses over the safety of his enclosure, though Kafka's work was much closer to completion and, consequentially, much more elaborate. Given the obscurity of Poe's story, it is very unlikely that Kafka had read it.>>

neufer wrote: "The Light-House" is the unofficial title of the last work written by Edgar Allan Poe. Biographer Kenneth Silverman believes Poe began writing "The Light-House" between May and August 1849. The work was never officially titled. He did not live to finish it, and had barely begun it by the time of his death in 1849.
(...)
Like many of Poe's works, "The Light-House" has been studied autobiographically. The lighthouse keeper, then, stands in for Poe himself, who is expressing his own feelings of being alone and isolated and questioning if he can survive.
It is very similar in theme to the later and also unfinished short story "The Burrow" by Franz Kafka. Both involve a reclusive narrator who obsesses over the safety of his enclosure (...)
Art Neuendorff...

owlice wrote:It is cold here, only 36°F, which is our forecasted high for the day. Windy, too. I'd like a bike ride, but with the wind, that's not going to happen.

...WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
LATE SUNDAY NIGHT...

THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
LATE SUNDAY NIGHT.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...POSSIBILITY OF 5 OR MORE INCHES.