The Seminole County Fair

I visited the 2009 Seminole County Fair a few weeks ago in the parking lot of the Seminole Towne Center Mall in Sanford, FL. My definition of a county fair must be different than Seminole County's, because I would consider this event a carnival. It needs farm animals to be a fair (besides from a pony)...

Cedar Waxwings, Robins, & Mockingbirds

Two years ago, a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew through my backyard and devoured a Beauty Berry Bush that somehow planted itself in the yard. They were soon joined by a few American Robins and some Mockingbirds and by the end of the day, the plant was picked clean of berries. When I saw the feast going on, I got my video camera out and this was the result (make sure you hit the High Quality (HQ) button):

Since that flock of Cedar Waxwings visited, I've yet to see another one. The robins migrate through Central Florida every year, and if you're at the right place at the right time, you'll see them. This year, the Beauty Berries have been completely untouched. From what I understand, birds only eat these berries if there is nothing else around because they are so acidic, but I'm still waiting for the Cedar Waxwings to pay another visit...

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-119)

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS 119) launched on March 15, 2009 at 7:43 pm. I drove out to Titusville, FL to watch the launch, and it is very nice to be able to hear the noise that the shuttle makes.





As it got darker, the contrail left by the shuttle started glowing with wonderful colors from the setting sun. Of course, these could have something to do with all of the nasty chemicals that the shuttle spews out in that smoke refracting the light, but it was still nice to look at. In contrast with Titusville's older buildings, this could have provided some great pictures, but I'm not entirely happy with how they came out.



Here's a video of the launch.

Cady Way Trail's Tied Arch Bridge

I've been meaning to go bike riding along the Cady Way Trail for a while now, specifically over the bridge crossing 436, but it seems I never have my bicycle when I'm in the area. Recently, I was riding along Colonial Drive and happened to have a unicycle in the car, so I decided to see how far I could get before dark. I started at Fashion Square Mall, not quite knowing exactly where the trail traveled. I eventually made it to the bridge and made it my turn around point. It ended up being my longest ride ever on a unicycle (just over 8 miles), but I had fun!

The bridge over 436 is a basket-handle tied arch bridge. This basically means it's and arch with the roadway suspended by vertical cables. It's a very nice looking bridge that I would rate near the top of my favorite Central Florida pedestrian bridges.

Here's some of the strangely fascinating engineering details of the bridge...



And the view of the car dealers and fast food restaurants below on 436:

I need to come back with a bicycle and ride along the rest of the trail. From what I saw of Cady Way, it's nowhere as nice as Seminole County's trails, but it's still an interesting ride.

Kepler Telescope Launch on a Delta II Rocket

The Kepler Telescope launched on a Delta II rocket at 10:49 pm on March 7, 2009. Kepler sounds like a very interesting project, and lets hope it finds plenty of earth-like planets. You can read more about it on NASA's website.

I think I'll go turn on my SETI@home software now and leave you with these two fifteen second exposures of the launch: