Henry's Webiocosm Blog

Labels: botany, photography, time-lapse, wildlife

A few days ago we had our annual family pumpkin carving contest again. It was alot of fun as usual. The dynamics of the contest changed this year with the expected results. The above jack-O-lanterns were only from members of my household. My wife and I carved our own pumpkins as expected. Hers is the toothy one on the far left. It won first place out of a total of nine entries. Her work has improved greatly over the last couple of years. Mine was the one with the sword through it which was made from the cut out portion of the mouth. It suprisingly only got fourth place. Now here is where things changed from previous years. My five year old drew his design for me to cut out which is the standard of our family for his age. It came in dead last and is the third from the left. Traditionally children too young to understand the meaning of this activity like my 23 month old are allowed to have a parent design and cut their pumpkin. However, this year due complaints from other jealous family members that this gave me 2 entries, we compromised on letting my 5 year old draw the the others while I cut it out. He used the same design as with his but I interpreted it a little differently and the result earned a second to last place finish and is seen on the far right. Happy Halloween to all!

Labels: entertainment, halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, photography

I have tried to do some time-lapses of the night sky. Some have been okay, but not really worth showing off. This one from William Castleman is probably the best that I have seen.

You should probably go to his website or his YouTube page and check out the larger HD versions.

Labels: astronomy, photography, stop motion, time-lapse

Yesterday, while preparing to go a football game, I became excited, thinking about all the old friends I would see. Then I thought about all the hands I would be shaking. After hearing several reports of local influenza activity, I became just a little worried about getting the flu myself. That's when I had the idea; you'll get nothing but a set of knucks from me brother. So I decided to make an image to help spread the idea. I know I am not the first to think of this as a more sanitary version of a greeting or high five, but I couldn't find anything on the web presenting it this way, so here you go. If you prefer the term fist bump, here is a blog sized version and here is the larger version. Feel free to pass on these links or even to hotlink the images if needed.

Please keep in mind, I am not trying to add to the hysteria we are facing with the novel H1N1 (swine) flu (I've already dealt with plenty of that). I just think that during this time of year, it is good to minimize unnecessary contact, wash hands frequently, and to keep your hands out of your eyes, nose and mouth especially when you have been out in crowds.

Labels: entertainment, flu, health, influenza, internet, medicine, public service announcement, swine flu

I got the idea for this cartoon after recently attending a statewide conference for family physicians. During one of the gatherings a senator had to field some questions from some of the physicians regarding their patients concerns over euthanasia and 'death panels' as part of the new healthcare system. My initial thinking while formulating the above scenario was mocking the hysterical reactions to health care reform, but it also reflects my concern for the inefficiency we might get if we let the government take over our health care.

Labels: comics, entertainment, fear mongering, health reform, medicine

I just shot this yesterday, I think it turned out great. It was made from the top floor of the Double Tree Hotel looking over the Arkansas River in Little Rock Arkansas. The Main Street Bridge, I-30 Bridge and Alltel Arena in North Little Rock are seen in the background.I used my Canon PowerShot S3 IS and GBTimelapse software. I took a picture every 20 seconds and playback is at 30 fps. It is my first time-lapse done in HD so be sure and check it out on the full screen in HD mode.

Labels: photography, time-lapse

Well I guess I got what I asked for, a good close game, exciting until the very end.

As far as my sole prediction, I feel like I did pretty good. I predicted the Steelers would win over the Cardinals 24-20. I was on the money with the spread of 4 points for the right team, but with a final score of 27-23 I was off by 3 points for each team.

Congratulations to the six time champion Steelers.

Video of the Game Winning Touchdown

Labels: sports, Super Bowl predictions

Due to the extreme ice storm, causing massive power outages, I have had very limited access to the internet for the last several days. This is not a complaint, because so many have had it so much worse than I have. I am just mentioning that as a reminder and as an explanation for why I will only have one prediction this year...........

The Steelers will win over the Cardinals 24 to 20.

I have mixed feelings about this game. I like Pittsburgh and I think they probably are a better team, but I would love for Kurt Warner to go all the way. I mostly just want it to be a close game until the very end.

Enjoy the game!!!!!!!

Labels: sports, Super Bowl predictions