Schmidt Meister's Grab Bag

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

The Antikythera Mechanism

What is it? It was found at the bottom of the sea aboard an ancient Greek ship. Its seeming complexity has prompted decades of study, although some of its functions remained unknown. Recent X-rays of the device have now confirmed the nature of the Antikythera mechanism, and discovered several surprising functions. The Antikythera mechanism has been discovered to be a mechanical computer of an accuracy thought impossible in 80 BC, when the ship that carried it sank. Such sophisticated technology was not thought to be developed by humanity for another 1,000 years. Its wheels and gears create a portable orrery of the sky that predicted star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The Antikythera mechanism, shown above, is 33 centimeters high and similar in size to a large book.

“The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–01 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100 BC. The degree of mechanical sophistication is comparable to a 19th century Swiss clock. Technological artifacts of similar complexity and workmanship did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks were built in Europe.”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

To LegoGeeks:

www.scientificamerican.com/video.cfm?lineup=1406165298&id=704706701001

[Schmidt Meister]

The Angry Man

For all the interest group pandering that shapes modern American politics, the group that may well decide the election has come down to the demographic of “The Angry Man.”
The Angry Man is difficult to stereotype. He comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from sophisticated urbanite to rural redneck, Deep South to Yankee North, Left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.
No matter where he’s from, Angry Men share many common traits; they aren’t asking for anything from anyone other than the promise to be able to make their own way on a level playing field. In many cases, they are independent businessmen and employ several people. They pay more than their share of taxes and they work hard. Damn hard, for what they have and intend to keep.
He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the Christmas party for the employees at his company, three sets of braces, college educations or a beautiful wedding or two. Not because he was forced to, but because it’s the right thing to do.
The Angry Man believes the Constitution should be interpreted as it was written. It is not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of appointed judges and political winds.
The Angry Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun and use it in defense of his home, his country and his family. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone if necessary to achieve those goals gives him only momentary pause.
The Angry Man is not, and never will be, a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina. He got his people together and got the hell out. Then, he went back in to rescue those who needed help or were too stupid to help themselves in the first place. He was selfless in this, just as often a civilian as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter. Victimhood syndrome buzzwords; “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” don’t resonate with The Angry Man. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him.
His last name, his race and his religion don’t matter. His ancestry might be Italian, English, African, Polish, German, Slavic, Irish, Russian, Hispanic or any of a hundred others. What does matter is that he considers himself in every way to be an American. He is proud of this country and thinks that if you aren’t, you are whole-heartedly encouraged to find one that suits you and move there.
The Angry Man is usually a man’s man. The kind of guy who likes to play poker, watch football, go hunting, play golf, maintain his own vehicles and build things. He coaches kid’s baseball, soccer and football and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a couple of friends, drill an oil well, design a factory or work the land. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the power plant so that you can keep the lights on while never knowing everything it took to do that. The Angry Man is the backbone of this country.
He’s not racist, but is truly disappointed and annoyed, when people exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their ethnicity. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they’re willing to work hard and play by the rules. He expects other people to do the same. Above all, he has integrity in everything he does.
The Angry Man votes, and he loathes the dysfunction now rampant in government. It’s the victim groups being pandered to and the “poor me” attitude that they represent. The inability of politicians to give a straight answer to an honest question. The tax dollars that are given to people who simply don’t want to do anything for themselves. The fact that, because of very real consequences, he must stay within a budget but for some obscure reason the government he finances doesn’t. Mostly, it’s the blatantly arrogant attitude displayed implying that we are too stupid to run our own lives and only people in government are smart enough to do that.
The Angry Man has reached his limit. When a social justice agitator goes on TV, leading some rally for Black Lives Matter, safe spaces or other such nonsense, he may bite his tongue but, he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school, he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and law enforcement.
But when government officials are repeatedly caught red-handed breaking the law and getting off scot-free, The Angry Man balls-up his fists and readies himself for the coming fight. He knows that this fight, will be a live or die situation, so he prepares fully. Make no mistake, this is a fight in which he is not willing to lose and he will never give up.
Obama calls me a Clinger
Hillary Calls me Deplorable
Bill calls me Redneck
BLM calls me Racist
Feminist call me Sexist
ISIS calls me an Infidel
Donald Trump calls me an American

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

Damn, I don't know, he looks pretty high ....

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

Guarandamntee the funniest toilet paper gif you will ever see ...

[Schmidt Meister]

Modified

[Schmidt Meister]

March 1st ... National Pig Day. Have you kissed your pig today

[Schmidt Meister]

His Master's Voice

One of the most famous late 19th and early 20th-century advertising icons was, apparently, a Jack Russell terrier, the very same one who was a model for a painting called “His Master’s Voice.”
The image was the foundation of the logo for many gramophone and recording brands like HMV, EMI, RCA, Victor Talking Machine Company, and more. The curious dog which looks and listens to the gramophone goes by the name of Nipper.

Nipper (1884–1895) was born in Bristol, England, and was a mixed-breed Jack Russell Terrier. The playful dog’s tendency to bite the backs of visitors legs earned him the name.
When Nipper’s first master, scenery designer Mark Henry Barraud, died penniless in Bristol in 1887, Mark’s younger brothers, Francis and Phillip Barraud, took care of Nipper in Liverpool. In Liverpool, Barraud noticed how Nipper often curiously examined the phonograph (the cylinder record player) that they had at home. The little dog was puzzled by where the voice came from, and Barraud found it very amusing.The aspiring painter, Francis, sparked the hilarious idea of painting Nipper on canvas, depicting him absolutely confounded and wondering how the sounds could be coming out of the unusual object.
“It certainly was the happiest thought I ever had,” says Francis, commenting on how entertaining it was to watch Nipper stare and listen to the phonograph. The scene was, no doubt, inscribed in Barraud’s mind that even three years after Nipper’s death, he was determined to paint the little dog on canvas.

After he had finished the painting on 11th February 1898, which honored Nipper’s natural curiosity, Barraud thought to himself that maybe the Edison-Bell phonograph company would find his work useful. Sadly, the company turned down Barraud’s offer, skeptically stating “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs.”
Barraud named the painting “Dog looking at and listening to a Phonograph,” and eventually he decided to rename it to “His Master’s Voice.” At one point, he tried his luck exhibiting it at the Royal Academy, but without success. “No one would know what the dog was doing,” complained many advertising companies and clients.
Finally, on May 31st, 1899, luck smiled upon Barraud. When he went to borrow a brass horn to replace the black one on the painting from the Maiden Lane offices of The Gramophone Company, a manager of the company, Barry Owen, suggested replacing the phonograph with a Berliner disc gramophone, and then the company would buy the painting.
The painting would become a highly successful trademark of the Victor, HMV, and its many branch companies, as a registered trademark on July 10th, 1900.
For many years, the original oil painting was in Hayes, Middlesex, on a wall in the EMI boardroom.
The slogan “His Master’s Voice,” along with the painting, were sold to The Gramophone Company for 100 pounds; 50 pounds for the slogan, and 50 pounds for the painting itself.
The painting’s first advertising debut was in January 1900, on the Gramophone Company’s advertising literature. However, “His Master’s Voice” did not feature on the Company’s British letter headings until 1907. The painting and title were finally registered as a trademark in 1910.

Oddly enough, there have been slight mishaps and revoking requests which led to the brand’s label as null and void. Emile Berliner, the highly successful inventor of the gramophone, asked permission of the slogan’s copyright from Barry Owen, the man who accepted Barraud’s request.
EMI paid the price of the careless legal handling and lost the trademark’s rights. Eighty years later, with the grand arrival of the CD, which forced the companies to start central manufacturing throughout the world, EMI Classics gained the position as the main “heir” to the “His Master’s Voice” slogan.

Today, the “His Master’s Voice” trademark is only used by EMI as a marketing brand for HMV Shops. Nevertheless, it is still recognized by many and remains in the Top 10 of “Famous Brands of the 20th Century”.

As for Nipper, although he was definitely not a purebred, he never hesitated to take on another dog in a fight. With undying vigor and enthusiasm, he loved chasing mice and pheasants in the local park.
The Jack Russell Terrier died from natural causes and was buried in Clarence Street, Kingston, near the Thames. His grave is in a small park full of magnolia trees.
Nipper Alley, a road near Nipper’s final resting place in Kingston, was named in his honor on 10th March 2010 to commemorate his ever-curious look of wonder.

#1 - His Master's Voice - Francis Barraud Painting Nipper

#2 - His Master's Voice - Francis Barraud’s Original Painting Of Nipper (1884–1895) Looking Into An Edison Bell Cylinder Phonograph

#3 - His Master's Voice - 1921 Victor Talking Machine Company Advertisement

#4 - His Masters Voice - Refurbished Edition With The Berliner Disc Gramophone

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

Bighorn Sheep in the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

[Schmidt Meister]

Somebody wrote a cartoon to go with the picture that's been on the internet for a while, lol. (I modified the text to fit the cartoon better, imo.)

[Schmidt Meister]

Walking away is sometimes harder than doing battle ...

[Batesmotel]

1 hour ago, Schmidt Meister said:

Walking away is sometimes harder than doing battle ...

I have a lot of old friends who have been downgraded to acquaintances and family members I avoid at all cost. The relationships became one sided and just not worth the drama. 

[Schmidt Meister]

19 minutes ago, Batesmotel said:

I have a lot of old friends who have been downgraded to acquaintances and family members I avoid at all cost. The relationships became one sided and just not worth the drama. 

I sympathize ... I recently had to do the same with someone very close to me ..... it's still hurting. But I couldn't stand the mental torture of the relationship.

[railfancwb]

On 3/2/2022 at 4:59 PM, Schmidt Meister said:

Bighorn Sheep in the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

A beautiful, relatively unknown, state park. In fact most state parks are relatively unknown and thus under appreciated. 

[railfancwb]

1 hour ago, Batesmotel said:

I have a lot of old friends who have been downgraded to acquaintances and family members I avoid at all cost. The relationships became one sided and just not worth the drama. 

Wonder how many “divorces” are de facto and not de jure, reflecting such situations. 

[janice6]

On 3/1/2022 at 4:24 PM, Schmidt Meister said:

Actually.............................................................  text me.

[janice6]

On 3/2/2022 at 4:48 PM, Schmidt Meister said:

Saw one at a mall in Boston.  It was a handmade copy and the blades consisted of the necessary tools for brain surgery.

[21 shooter]

On 2/19/2022 at 9:33 AM, Schmidt Meister said:

We actually don't kill them here unless they are posing a direct threat to life or limb. We relocate them when we come across them, we live in a heavily wooded area and relocating is a simple process. It surprises me how many people will go out of their way to kill a snake, not even knowing what kind it is or where it is. I've seen people back up or run off the road to kill a snake crossing the road. It makes no sense to me.

Most of them get a pass unless they get to close to the house.  Black snakes are great for eliminating a rat problem.  One family I knew had a big but old 2-story house that had a black snake as a resident when they bought it and to date nary a rat has been seen.  And he had a name!  Some folks though had quite the reaction when they realized the decoration on the mantle was alive.  

Putting your hand on a tier pole in a tobacco barn and feeling something slithering under it greatly increases one’s acrobatic abilities.  This was usually the first barn of the year.  First primings can be interesting when you swat an unseen snake with a leaf of tobacco, usually resulting in both parties vacating the immediate area.  Water moccasins aka cotton mouth, do not get a pass.  They have a nasty disposition.  Until now I had forgotten about those fun days.  

[21 shooter]

On 2/26/2022 at 8:19 AM, Schmidt Meister said:

The Antikythera Mechanism

What is it? It was found at the bottom of the sea aboard an ancient Greek ship. Its seeming complexity has prompted decades of study, although some of its functions remained unknown. Recent X-rays of the device have now confirmed the nature of the Antikythera mechanism, and discovered several surprising functions. The Antikythera mechanism has been discovered to be a mechanical computer of an accuracy thought impossible in 80 BC, when the ship that carried it sank. Such sophisticated technology was not thought to be developed by humanity for another 1,000 years. Its wheels and gears create a portable orrery of the sky that predicted star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The Antikythera mechanism, shown above, is 33 centimeters high and similar in size to a large book.

“The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–01 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100 BC. The degree of mechanical sophistication is comparable to a 19th century Swiss clock. Technological artifacts of similar complexity and workmanship did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks were built in Europe.”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

To LegoGeeks:

www.scientificamerican.com/video.cfm?lineup=1406165298&id=704706701001

First I have heard of this and it’s most interesting.  There are many things that are hard to explain.  Wouldn’t the  inventor be surprised that  some future generation would eat what’s known as tide pods?  

[Schmidt Meister]

5 hours ago, 21 shooter said:

Most of them get a pass unless they get to close to the house.  Black snakes are great for eliminating a rat problem.  One family I knew had a big but old 2-story house that had a black snake as a resident when they bought it and to date nary a rat has been seen.  And he had a name!  Some folks though had quite the reaction when they realized the decoration on the mantle was alive.  

Putting your hand on a tier pole in a tobacco barn and feeling something slithering under it greatly increases one’s acrobatic abilities.  This was usually the first barn of the year.  First primings can be interesting when you swat an unseen snake with a leaf of tobacco, usually resulting in both parties vacating the immediate area.  Water moccasins aka cotton mouth, do not get a pass.  They have a nasty disposition.  Until now I had forgotten about those fun days.  

I agree about the cottonmouths, they don't seem to need a reason to be pissed. I've had several uncomfortable moments because of them. Cottonmouths and Yellow Jackets are bad news.