A's Game

On Saturday we (Kate) took a break from a busy weekend of schoolwork and headed across the bay to see our first Oakland A's game of the season! The A's took on the American League defending champion Tampa Bay Rays on a beautifully sunny spring afternoon, and it ended with the good guys winning 5-2! Here are some pictures:


Here we are sporting our Matt Holliday replica jerseys, the giveaway of the day


Matt vs. Matt: Holliday shatters his bat on a Garza fastball


A beautiful day at the Coliseum


Ziggy! Everyone's favorite blogger-turned-submariner-closer, sportin' the high socks


You show 'em, Kate.

Another YTVotD

I know I know, get back to cute pictures of Banjo. All in good time, gentle reader.

But I wanted to post this so some of you could see it before Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex) or his staffers realize how far he has stuck his own head up where the sun don't shine by putting this clip on his own YouTube channel complete with sensationalist graphic at the beginning indicating he thinks he's successfully made his point. Anyways without further ado - Rep. Joe Barton questions Energy Secretary and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu on how oil got to Alaska.



I am honestly amazed. Not just that Chu had to explain that to a US Congressman, but that Barton appears to think he's made Chu look like a fool with his "so-called continental drift theory hogwash." Anyways, this will probably be pulled soon, so get it while it's hot. Too bad comments are disabled on that video, they would have been interesting to read.

Thanks to GOOD magazine again for the link - it's a good blog, check it out.

1000 miles!

Speaking of bikes, I just passed the 1,000 mile mark on my new bike! That's an unimpressive average of just over 4 miles per day over the last 7.5 months.

Fortunately I've only fallen off twice, both times being when I forgot I was clipped into my pedals soon after installing them. And to any concerned parents out there, yes, I always wear my helmet, despite a "study" that suggests not doing so actually decreases your chances of getting hit by a car.

Seemed like a fitting post for Earth Day. Anyone want to bet whether or not I can break 2,000 at my bike's 1-yr anniversary in September?

Cue the Proclaimers song . . . now.

YTVotD

Holy insane biking, Batman:



The guy is Danny MacAskill, probably the best street trials biker out there. It's filmed in and around Edinburgh, and, if you've ever ridden a bike in your lifetime, is dang impressive to watch. Especially the part with the tree at around 3:05. Watch and be amazed.

Tax Day!

Hope you got your returns in on time. Thanks to Kate, we already have our refunds! Here's a tax day-themed post for you all with an infographic from Good Magazine.

Where Your Tax Dollars Go:
Also, happy birthday to the nieceling!

Unreal Estate

There is a lot in the news recently, with the economy in the tank, about how it's a good time to buy a house and that prices are good and low. Well, unfortunately the people selling their houses in our neighborhood didn't get the memo. In fact, we - along with everyone else in our neighborhood - actually got a memo from our friendly local real estate brokers congratulating us for living in an area where housing prices are staying strong and definitely not following the state-wide and national downward trends of becoming a "buyer's market." Harrumphf.

Anyways, lest you think we are exaggerating, I present to you exhibits A, B, and C. Note - all three houses are literally between a stone's throw and a long home run in distance from our current (rented) residence.

A: House #1 - 3 BR, 2 BA, 1,600 sq ft - $968,888

B: House #2 - 3 BR, 2.5 BA, 1,460 sq ft - $935,000

C: House #3 - 3 BR, 2 BA, 1,384 sq ft - $848,000
I can vouch for the fact that while these houses are decent, and I'd be happy to own any of them, they by no means would be considered one of the "nicer" houses in the area.

Sigh. Well, so that part of the so-called American Dream (or maybe the New Zealand dream is more accurate in this case) is going to have to wait for a while...

Homemade Fog Machine

Just thought I would share one of my favorite new Physics demos with the blog. We're currently covering fluids and thermodynamics and I thought this was a really great and cheap way to demonstrate work, internal energy, and phase changes. All you need is one of those 12 oz disposable clear plastic water bottles that you have in your recycling bin (any kind).

Peel off the label so you can see through the bottle. Put 1/2 inch of water inside the bottle and put the lid on. Twist the bottle until it forms a little "bow tie" shape. It is important to do this in one fluid motion. This will make some alarming noises and feel a little scary - probably a good idea to point the lid away from people just in case.

Let go. The bottle should "bounce" back to its normal shape. Inside, you should see whitish fog form. If you take the lid off, you can make fog rings by squeezing the bottle. This will only work once per bottle.

What's happening? When you twist the bottle, you are compressing the gas inside it. This increases the internal energy of the gas, warming it up and also causing more water to enter the vapor phase. When you let go, the gas rapidly expands to fill the new larger volume of the water bottle. This quickly cools the gas and causes the water vapor to transform back into water, or fog.

Let me know if you give it a try!

Birthday Poems

For today I will try something new:
It's fun - see, Jeff did it too!
I hope it won't make you doze,
Soon we'll be back to prose
But 'till then - normal blogging, adieu!

Now I don't want to sound like a preacher,
But that Kate, she really is quite the teacher.
It's physics her students learn,
Maybe to work someday at CERN,
But that's not her only great feature.

Far from it, great qualities she has aplenty.
Of canines, baseball, and cuisine she's a cognoscenti.
I'm so happy we met
And though we've got no Corvette,
Can you name a husband who's content? (Me.)

Now I am off to make birthday cake.
Chocolate hazlenut's the kind that I'll make.
I wonder what she'll wish for...
(Probably for Carolina to swish more)
Wish me luck in my attempts to bake.

So today is my sweetie's big day,
The third day in the month before May.
(Don't tell her I told,
but 29 is how old)
So join in a hip-hip-hooray!