Yesterday, I helped the technician that works on CDX-U, Jim, investigate a problem with the power supplies that run CDX-U‘s toroidal and vertical field coils. When we enable the power supplies, big switches in the basement close, connecting our field coils to the power supplies. Sometimes, the toroidal field (TF) switch starts feeling unhappy and it trips a breaker. So we have to go down stairs, hit the breaker, and watch the switch start working again.

So anyway, as we go down into the basement, which is cleaned out and well lit now that NCSX is going to be sharing the facilities with us, we pass a dead mouse in the middle of the floor. Jim tells me the mouse has been there for a good two weeks. It’s still there today, so I took some pictures of it.

It reminds me of the dead bird we found last year up on a girder in the ceiling the room where the Robicon power supplies are. That bird had been there for quite some time. He’s still there. He’s our watch bird.

I’ve been trying to write some music around which to frame Mike’s poem from a little further down.

These lines in particular really got to me:

“a structure
structure-less
sought where it isn’t
mown ”

“Against
the grass uncut
as mist falls
bending
light over
wrappers and cans
round beneath the rusted bridge
where a man hangs
by a cable”

” maps litter the backseat
taken from the center
where the man speaks a history
that turns in and over itself
wrapping me by”

I think there’s a song in there. A really pretty/creepy song.

Also, I need to get this whole new site thing figured out so I can post the newest recordings we’ve been working on. We’ve settled on the name Dash Eight (a nod to Piedmont/Chesapeake air and the Wico./O.C. Regional airport at which Mike and I always seem to end up…) That’s right- we have a name for real this time! Website can’t be too far behind, can it? Stay tuned. For a while.

I really hope Kerry brings up the whole pretzel issue at tonight’s debate. I think the Kerry campaign has forgotten about this wonderful incident. Even better, Kerry should bring the President a bag of pretzels to share at tonights debate.

I have been trying to fall asleep tonight but something keeps me awake. We hear a lot about the Iraq war but what about the multi-million dollar space defence system that protects us from nukes (CODE NAME = STAR WARS). Ronald Regan and his power rangers are the ones to thank for this system. This system, though classified – uses lasers, missles, hot steam, and compressed air to keep America safe. After all this system ended the cold war! I only wonder if GW has been keeping this system up and running or is he treating it like the Hubble?

The death of Superman is upon us on October 12, 2004. I write this as I am in my 37th hour of mourning. Many have asked how Superman died. While I don’t know the details – I do know the person responsible. George W. Bush. Yes, GWB played a role in the death of Superman. You see, Superman requires stem cells in order to maintain his existence on earth. I have seen Superman testify this fact to the United States Congress so I know this to be true. Unfortunately, President Bush failed to allow researchers to start new lines of stem cell research. Instead Superman and the scientific community have been forced to use only existing stem cells. This presents a horrific problem in that there are limited amount of existing stem cells and therefore limiting scientific exploration and Superman consumption is able to occur. Now Superman is dead.

What next? That is a good question. Personally I am thinking about moving to a more Super-Hero friendly country such as Canada. Stay tuned!

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, pg. 4, by Michael Chabon.

The amazing thing about Boo Berry is that it appears to be marketed as a “healthy” cereal by General Mills. Anything that turns your milk purple or was inspired by circus peanuts can’t be healthy.

Of course, with all of this talk about Boo Berry, obviously we are going to have to try Franken Berry and Count Chocula. It’s only a matter of time before all of the old forgotten cereals from our childhoods are rediscovered and sampled. Even some that I never had when I was little, like CoCo Wheats and
King Vitaman. We used to be able to get King Vitaman at Food Lion, but I haven’t seen it up here in NJ. Fortunately, even though Quaker Oats doesn’t acknowledge King Vitaman on their web site, you can buy King Vitaman through the Quaker Oats online store.

On the last trip or two to the grocery store, Mike and I noticed the addition of 3 cereals in the cereal aisle, each for the low price of $2.50. The items of interest were none other than the Boo Berry, Franken Berry, and Count Chocula. Not having seen these products all year only to show up the month before Halloween makes me think they are “seasonal” cereals.

So, we picked up a box of Boo Berry. As appealing as Boo Berry seem to be as a kid (I never had it then), it manages to combine the worst aspects of Fruity Pebbles and Lucky Charms. Not only is it loaded with those little cruncy marshmellows that Lucky Charms has, instead of the plain toasted oat bits, the “meat” of the cereal is little purple ghost-things. The marshmellows are enough to turn your milk colors; I can’t imagine what the Fruity Pebble-like powers the purple bits might have over your milk.

I must admit, we did eat the box, though it was eaten more like a candy. I couldn’t stomach the thought of actually eating it with milk during anytime of the day, much less first thing in the morning.

The Boo Berry link is of unknown quality. It is blocked here at the lab because it is in the “Tasteless” category according to Websense. Makes me wonder, since the Boo Berry Worship Cult is not filtered.

One thing I noted during my cereal research this morning was the lack of information about these products on the General Mills web page. Certain cereals on the page (Cheerios, Trix, Chex, and Wheaties to name a few) are broken out as brands, while all the rest cereals are stuck under the “Big G Cereals” brand.

Another thing I learned in my cereal research was the origin of Lucky Charms:

The cereal was invented in 1963 by then vice-president of General Mills, John Holahan. Holahan claimed to have gotten the idea for the cereal when he happened upon some orange marshmallow peanuts, a candy common in circuses at the time. Holahan cut up several of the peanuts and sprinkled them over Cheerios, another oat-bit cereal, and he “knew we had a winner.”

How disgusting is that? Circus peanuts…