Monday, November 14, 2011

Yeah, posting in November will be light

Why? Well, after having recovered from our SECOND earthquake, I'm now getting ready for the Boardgamegeek convention in Dallas. What's that? Just a nearly week long gathering for players of board games sponsored by Boardgamegeek, the best user built database of boardgames on the whole internet. Attendance tips the 2,000 mark this year.

So while I'm gone, you can enjoy the wonderful episodes of Space Station Alpha! Sadly there is no embedding, so you'll have to go and watch the episodes on the church website:

Episode 1: The Station loses life support.

Episode 2: The crew encounters Adam Zane.

Episode 3: Can the Station save Earth?

Episode 4: (Available Nov 21) The final fate of Space Station Alpha.

These are geared for kids 6-10 yrs old. Hope you enjoy them.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Now everyone will know where Sparks, Oklahoma is...

..because of last night. But a little history, first.

I live in Oklahoma City, right smack dab in the middle of the state. Also, there are a few fault lines that run through the state and we do get a lot of tremors, mostly in the 2 and below range. Earlier this year we had a 4.2 south of here that we felt and the day before yesterday there was a 4.7 in Prague. But last night.... last night. Whew.

My mom & sister are visiting for my birthday and Eldest Son and his Lovely Girlfriend were over as well. I had thought about building a fire outside, I opened the patio door and I thought I heard thunder. Odd, it's supposed to rain on Monday.

Well, the evening was closing up, Son & his Girlfriend had left, Mom & Sis were in bed and it thundered again. But it got louder...and the house started shaking...and it got louder still.. and the house shook harder. We were having another earthquake and it was a big one this time. It probably lasted about 45 seconds.

Now you may laugh at our reactions. I know we do when folks that aren't used to it encounter torrential rain, hail the size of softballs, tornadoes that rip the foundation out of the ground, months of 100+ heat. But I promise, God, that I'll never do that again. We ended up experiencing a 5.6 earthquake, centered in Sparks, Oklahoma, about 60 miles straight east of us. (The old record was 5.5 back in 1952.)

Of course, reports came in from all over as to who felt it. First was Joplin (187 miles) and Wichita Falls (187), but the we heard of Dallas (232) and Kansas City (345) but this morning I'm reading of Chicago and Milwaukee (848 miles).

Needless to say, I won't be mocking folks in the other parts of the country when they have a tornado.. not unless they call the TV news and say this...


I'm sure that Amy speaks for me and everyone else in the state.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Happy Birthday, Jonah. Happy Birthday, Michael

Yup, November 1st is Jonah Hex's birthday. Today would have been his 173rd birthday. Sadly, I didn't make him a cake, nor did I make a quick sketch. Susan, over at One Fangirl's Opinion, manages to write a heck of a post, presenting sketches and history that I hadn't seen or heard before (WWT was actually canceled? Why didn't I notice that?)

So have a slice of cake, drink a shot of something, read or watch a western, and thank everyone involved for giving us Jonah Hex.


It's also Michael Fleisher's birthday and he is 69. Happy Birthday, Mr. Fleisher.