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A comparison between money and stars

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There’s already been so many comparisons and attempts to put our federal spending into perspective that I found no harm in contributing one more. The point here was not necessarily to complain about our spending… but to illustrate a very interesting point.

lg_m74-galaxy
M74: The Perfect Spiral. An island universe of about 100 billion stars. Shooot, that’s tittly winks!

I was recently looking through some amazing pictures taken by the Hubble, Hubble’s Greatest Hits and, how can you not be amazed by, galaxies, stars and the thought of never-ending space?

Remember when we would read in texts about galaxies containing 100’s of billions of stars and other quantities that you could never conceive, let alone try to count to?

It then occurred to me that our country has already spent more dollars than the number of stars in the M74 galaxy above. Hmmm… only about a hundred billion stars? That’s tittly winks! I mean, this either suggests that space is small and manageable or our spending is completely out of control. Can this be true? Numbers we’ve never thought about growing up are now numbers we hear on a daily basis and need to understand how to manage.

What does this mean to us… to our children? I love life, and my country and I appreciate the small things I have and the little gifts life gives to me every day. Are these things going to be around much longer? Can I expect to stick my head out the door tomorrow and breathe clean, safe air?

When I break things down like this, I just wonder. Could you ever have imagined a higher number than one that quantifies the number of stars in a galaxy? Just some rhetoric to get your thoughts flowing, maybe to help keep what means the most to you in perspective, or perhaps just my opportunity to squeak out a rant or two. Have a great weekend!

Worlds oldest champagne opened

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1825-champagne…and I wasn’t there for it!

The world’s oldest champagne, bottled before Victoria became Queen, is still drinkable, with notes of “truffles and caramel”, according to the experts.

An “addictive” bottle of 1825 Perrier-Jouet was opened at a ceremony attended by 12 of the world’s top wine tasters.

Their verdict: the 184-year-old champagne tasted better than some of its younger counterparts.

There are now just two 1825 vintage bottles left – and Perrier-Jouet has no plans to open them soon.

Click here for the whole article on BBC.

My man, Felix Eboigbe

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When you get a voicemail that sounds like this, what else can you do but post it for everyone else’s enjoyment.

This is my man Felix, a VERY incredible Nigerian sculptor. About 6 or 7 years ago, I was introduced to Felix by another entrepreneurial client who was always looking for ways to invest his money. He most enjoyed investing his money in people that he believed in and especially the creative types. Felix is one of those types. And he brought Felix to us to make him a web site that showcased his work.

We ended up going over to his house and shooting a bunch of his life-sized pieces of sheer BRILLIANCE to build him the web site. We also got to shoot a bunch of pics of him in action with his wood chisels and blocks of wood that quickly became something of a miracle in front of our eyes. This article made it into my ‘homesteading’ area because Felix makes his living, by hand. I stand inspired to say the least.

Felix has sold his work to the likes of Bill Cosby, David Hasselhoff and many others. I was so in love with Felix’s work. I remember wanting to work out a barter to maybe trade a sculpture for the web site. But alas, since his work was bumping six figures, it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen.

The point of this post? Nothing more than to introduce you to my man, Felix whom I loved working with and still admire. He still puts on the occasional exhibition and updates his site for the next one. Visit his site to see some of the most fantastic wood sculpture you will ever witness and tell him Jason Morgan sent ya!

Cincinnati Wine Festival 2009

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This was the 19th annual Cincinnati Wine Festival. It’s grown to be one of the largest ones in the country. This year, over 600 wines and 130 wineries were present. If you are a wine enthusiast, this is the opportunity to sample hundreds of wines in one place.

Since I am always on the hunt to find wines I like, I’ve found it is very difficult without doing the tastings. The alternative is to buy full bottles which can get real expensive, real fast.

The admission for the event is pretty steep at $70 for the grand tastings… and another $35 if you wan to attend the master tastings. While it makes it a little less attractive for the person only getting into wine, it’s w ell worth it if you ar going for the reasons I do. You also get to bring home a couple $20 Riedel glasses after the event. Much of the funds go to several big charities so that too makes it worth it for me.

The food is gourmet. The Cincinnati State Midwest Culinary Institute was present with some amazing food and desserts. I got a few pics. I have a lot of respect for this school and the emerging chefs that come from it. I’ve attended several events that were served by the students and it makes me want to go back to school.

Overall, another great event. My wife and I were able to escape for the first time in a long time, and we had transportation to and from… so we did it right.

 

Canoe and hike trip, turned bald eagle sighting

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Met up with the guys for a Sunday morning canoe and hike. The typical type. We get together as often as possible just to catch up and air out the brain once a week. They mentioned to me in the past about some local eagles, but you know how you never really think much into it until you actually see one? Sunday, I was not expecting to see one. Between it and the other really awesome features of this planet that you don’t get to see on the beaten path each day, it was a pretty potent visual experience.

Of course, pics do it no liberty, but I was running on dying batteries and I can’t complain. It was kind of windy when we put in. The idea was to canoe up a tributary and then hike around the ridge on foot. As we approached the bank we would start the hike, the guys in the kayaks up front spotted the eagles in the trees. One took off immediately.

We were pretty far up the river at this point. We were very quiet and let the water float us down stream. Being reasonably still and quiet, let the bird get used to our presence. I was certain it would take flight, but, it sat there and even allowed us to pass.

I caught some acceptable pics. Also on the hike, we saw some large trees that in relation to the rest of the forest, escaped the logging industry. To see these giants nestled between all the smaller trees around them was beautifully insane. All in all, just another journal entry for a Sunday outing, but this is the kind of stuff that makes you happy to be alive.

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The queen bee doesn’t decide what happens in a colony. The workers do. They adjust her feeding to make her do what the majority says. The queen can’t feed herself.