The Arecibo Image (decoded)

By Jack Brummet, alien lore ed.

Like the famous gold record on board the Voyager, the Arecibo message is yet another attempt to contact our cousins Out There.  The Arecibo Image is a short binary message the U.S. beamed into outer space. When decoded, it creates an image like something from a 1980's videogame.

Dr. Frank Drake, of Cornell University, wrote the message, with help from Carl Sagan, and others. The encoded message has seven parts. 

It will take 25,000 years for the message to reach its target of of stars (and, presumably, an additional 25,000 years for the return trip for any reply). Interestingly, the stars the message is aimed at will no longer be there when it arrives. According to a Cornell News press release of Nov. 12, 1999, the real purpose of the message was not to make contact, but to demonstrate the capabilities of newly installed equipment.

Here is a key explaining the various parts of the image.

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Oscar Pistorius's new roommate

From a Redditor:

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Poem: Dodgeball

By Jack Brummet

We play dodgeball,

But can’t see the ball.

We bob and weave

Through unseen hazards and shoals

And almost always feel less safe

Than we actually are.

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ASCII Art: Abe Lincoln, Mona Lisa, Mickey Mouse, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Brummet

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Lopsided barter: a $160,000 diamond for a gram of marijuana

Illustration by Jack Brummet, story from The Smoking Gun

Walter Morrison, 20, a United Parcel Service baggage handler at the Phoenix's airport, was hoping to find envelopes of cash and planned to steal random parcels, but then he stumbled upon ca package containing a diamond (later found to be worth about $160,000). Police recovered the diamond and charged him in September.  Morrison said he traded the diamond to a friend for a gram of marijuana (worth $20, retail). [The Smoking Gun, 9-26-2014]

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The Seahawks 13th Man is Losing Ground

By Jack Brummet

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Painting: Zag

By Jack Brummet

click to enlarge

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Alien Lore No. 266 - UFO over the moon?

By Jack Brummet, Alien Lore Ed.

Crow Tripplehorn, a moon observer who shoots high definition videos through an 8-inch telescope -- captured intriguing footage this month of a UFO flying above the moon's surface. 

On Tripplehorn's YouTube page, he pledges to "never run deceptive or misleading clips on this channel. I strive to shoot the highest quality UFO and anomaly footage possible with the equipment at my disposal." 

Well, we all know the veracity of UFOlogists, but this guy actually sounds fairly sane. The intriguing thing about the video, according to Tripplehorn, is that the object shows enough variation in the navigation that it could not be a satellite.

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Drawing: Faces No. 922 - Cousins

By Jack Brummet

[Pen and ink and Sharpie on 2'x2' Muslin, digitized & shopped]

click to enlarge

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Andy Warhol Shopping

By Jack Brummet, American Art Ed.


Andy Warhol, shopping at Gristede's, 1965. Notice at least four of his iconic objects in the cart. This must have been a publicity shoot?  Photographer is apparently Bob Adelman.

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Seattle mechanaphile has had sex with 700 cars

By Mona Goldwater, Social Mores Ed.

A story in The Mirror provides details of Edward Smith's love life as a mechanaphile:

"A man who has had sex with over 700 cars has revealed how he had his first physical experience of car love with a Volkswagen Beetle.

"Edward Smith, 63, told Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden on This Morning how he was “tempted one night to step outside” to make love to the neighbour’s car as a young teen, having first become attracted to cars in 1965.

". . .Edward is sexually attracted to machines – and as well as having sex with cars, has also had a relationship with a helicopter and planes, claiming they are all better than women. 

“I began an interest in the beauty of cars when I was turning just 15 years of age,” revealed Edward, from Washington in the US.  Go here to read the entire article in The Mirror and see the brief video clip (SFW more or less).

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ATIT Reheated: Boats along the Palomino/La Matuy beach in Colombia

By Jack Brummet, Colombia Travel Ed.

All along the fantastic and deserted beach we lived on at the eco-palapa joint near Palomino (no electricity, internet, etc.), property lines were often demarcated by old dinghys, prams, canoes, and rowboats. . .often with amazing textures, colors, and half-baked repairs. . .

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