This post is being published at the exact moment of the 2020 northern hemisphere summer solstice. Welcome to a new season and a new tilt on the old earth. May it bring good fortune, new outlooks and better times. As always you can find more at http://www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes
Science
Manhattanhenge Marching
On this blog I have featured Manhattanhenge many times. How the New York City cross street grid perfectly frames the rising or setting sun four times a year because of the axial tilt of the earth. How the great Neil DeGrasse Tyson named it as a hat tip to the great Stonehenge of antiquity. The … Continue reading Manhattanhenge Marching
Social Distancing Sunset Manhattanhenge tomorrow
It is here again, (tomorrow, Thursday, May 28, 2020) that date when the setting sun aligns exactly with the east-west streets of the main grid in Manhattan. It has to do with the tilting of the earth on its axis that create our seasons. I've written about this before and you are welcome to look … Continue reading Social Distancing Sunset Manhattanhenge tomorrow
National Telephone Day in the age of COVID-19
During this lockdown period it is likely your screen time is increasing tremendously. Wonder how that played back in 1918 for the last pandemic when the telephone technology was relatively new. Take a look at this ad: A new way to stay in touch even in that early day. But not every home had a … Continue reading National Telephone Day in the age of COVID-19
Happy Odd Earth Day
Happy 50th anniversary of Earth Day in a most unusual time. With much of the world on stay at home orders for the last month research shows marked reductions in pollution all around the globe. We've always known that Earth's real problem is people. It took the current pandemic to make it demonstrably apparent. How … Continue reading Happy Odd Earth Day
A comprehensive New York Times look at COVID-19 – and a couple of cute takes
Stuck inside, one of my obsessions has been reading about the global pandemic to find meaning and thoughtful insights about our future, instead of the noise and conspiracy theories that abound. The New York Times this weekend published a thoughtful and detailed look at next steps. If you are not a subscriber you should still … Continue reading A comprehensive New York Times look at COVID-19 – and a couple of cute takes
Happy Spring 2020
The Spring Equinox happened last night at ten till midnight. That means that this morning, Friday, March 20, 2020, is the first sunrise of the spring (in the Northern Hemisphere) as this post is published. We need a new season and we need to get outside even as we shelter in place. Keep your social … Continue reading Happy Spring 2020
National Pi Day
This is one of those national days based on reading the date. Thus March fourteen is also read as 3.14, the first three digits of the mathematical constant used to calculate the area of a circle. Handy thing. And, of course, in English a homophone of the delicious dessert pie. Thus a mania for baking … Continue reading National Pi Day
A whole new world
Exactly a week ago I fretted about what would happen if the spreading COVID19 infection hit the theatre industry. Yesterday it came true. Broadway has been shut down for at least a month. But it is much worse than that. Professional basketball and hockey have been suspended. College basketball playoffs, which at first was going … Continue reading A whole new world
Spring ahead tonight
Stop complaining. Every year when we advance the clocks for Daylight Savings Time, I hear moaning and groaning from nearly everyone. Oh, you're going to lose an hour of sleep tonight like it is the very worst thing that can happen. Look, you owe it. You got an extra hour sleep last fall and now … Continue reading Spring ahead tonight
I’m Worried
Not that I might catch the COVID-19 virus. I understand the science and know the odds of me specifically becoming ill are very small (especially as I don't get out as much lately). I'm worried that the worries of the general public will harm the theatre business. Not just Broadway here in New York but … Continue reading I’m Worried
NYC Plastic Bag Ban starts tomorrow…
Starting tomorrow, March 1, 2020, New York will outlaw stores giving out plastic bags in most cases. If you need bags, you must pay 5 cents each for paper bags. We certainly currently have too many single use plastics that accumulate in landfills, litter our streets and get snagged in our tree branches. It won't … Continue reading NYC Plastic Bag Ban starts tomorrow…
First MANHATTANHENGE of the new decade
Grab your camera or your smart phone and wake up early tomorrow New Yorkers. Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 7:20 AM will be the first Manhattanhenge sunrise of the year, and in some reckoning, the new decade. (for more on that topic stop by https://walterthinnes.blog/2020/01/01/happy-new-year-the-decade-question/) For you Big Apple newbies this is the date (one … Continue reading First MANHATTANHENGE of the new decade
Winter Solstice
In the northern hemisphere today is the Winter Solstice. On the dark side it is the longest night and shortest day of the year. On the bright side it only gets sunnier from here through summer with lengths of day steadily increasing. It has been celebrated for many ages and often used for reflection of … Continue reading Winter Solstice
National Train Your Brain Day + Footnotes #13
Today is National Train Your Brain Day when you are challenged to test yourself with puzzles and riddles. What does that have to do with my long recent health travails? Simple. After nearly dying from severe septic shock and going through three operations in eight days I emerged physically exhausted. As I awoke, slightly dazed … Continue reading National Train Your Brain Day + Footnotes #13
Happy Autumn
Today, September 23, 2019 at 7:50 AM, exactly as this post was published, the season turned to autumn. The seasons change, time passes, we continue whirling through space on this amazing planet of ours. Treasure it, treasure your time here, treasure tomorrow. We are blessed to experience any small part of it. May God bless … Continue reading Happy Autumn
September is Sepsis Awareness Month
Please pardon me for not being in touch for the last couple of weeks. If you know anything about sepsis you know it can be a devastating energy draining event that can rob you of any ability to do anything. If you don't know much about it, don't choose to go deep within it around … Continue reading September is Sepsis Awareness Month
Make travel plans to see Manhattanhenge
There are many reasons to come to Manhattan: to see a Broadway Play; to visit a world class museum; to experience maddening subway delays. Or maybe to take a picture of the sun perfectly framed in our concrete canyons. That phenomenon is known as Manhattanhenge, a name bestowed by our own Neil deGrasse Tyson (from … Continue reading Make travel plans to see Manhattanhenge
EXPOSED! – Tootsie Roll Pops!
My Exposed! Series tackles a vexing subject each month and scientifically dismantles it. We've done Chapstick tubes and Pez Candy Dispensers so far. This month we tackle the age old question of "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" You know the genesis of this … Continue reading EXPOSED! – Tootsie Roll Pops!
Chapstick EXPOSED! (or at least opened up)
I don't about you but I have never finished a Chapstick before it is used up. Those tubes always seem to disappear half used and I need to buy another. At the end of this cold weather season I realized the Chapstick I was using stopped pushing up that little beeswax stick. Time for an … Continue reading Chapstick EXPOSED! (or at least opened up)
Happy Earth Day
Earth Day has been with us since 1970 and small steps have been taken since then. Bigger things are necessary if we are to save our planet. So many people think of forests and pastures in connection with Earth Day but I think we should think of cities instead. The co-op where I live in … Continue reading Happy Earth Day
Winter Solstice
Today is the Winter Solstice, the middle of winter where the planet begins tipping back toward a six month march to summer. Sure, it is officially the first day of Winter and there will still be cold weather ahead but this will be the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Days will … Continue reading Winter Solstice
Bundle Up! December Sunrise Manhattanhenge Returns!
On Wednesday, December 5, 2018 comes the last Manhattanhenge of this year. Readers of this blog will remember, and you can find them in the history, the explanation of the science of this phenomenon. Briefly, the orientation of our cross streets aligns with the rising or setting sun to be framed in the concrete canyons … Continue reading Bundle Up! December Sunrise Manhattanhenge Returns!
Franken-Ribs achieved
I call them Franken-Ribs because they take several complex operations to come to life. I live in a small New York City apartment and so do not have a deck, a yard, a grill, or a place to install a standard smoker. Under these limitations I decided to play with how I could make the … Continue reading Franken-Ribs achieved
Korean War Armistice Remembrance
Sixty five years ago this morning at 10 AM the Korean War Armistice went into effect. Technically we are still at war with North Korea and I am certain much will be made of that anniversary attendant with the recent theatrics surrounding the conflict. Maybe something will actually be accomplished. It is called America's Forgotten … Continue reading Korean War Armistice Remembrance
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