Bud Gillan just informed me that their article about the Bonaire Banded Box Jelly (BBBJ) has been published in Zootaxa.
A preview of the article is here.
The whole article is here.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Orion's Sword
If you've seen Men in Black, you know all about Orion's belt, ha-ha. Well, Orion has a sword too, hanging from his belt. It looks like three dim stars to the naked eye, but in binoculars or a telescope one can see that there is all sorts of stuff going up there.
Here is a picture I took late on Tuesday night from my back yard. It show the three "stars" of Orion's sword. It is a combination of a number of two minute long exposures with a 400mm lens. Clicking on the thumbnail will open a larger version.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Semi Starry Nights
We are having some clear-ish nights this week here on Bonaire. They start clear and starry, and then get progressively more cloudy. But some stars are better than no stars I guess.
I was out at Red Slave last night with the Bucklands, and while we fooled around with his camera and with the binoculars, I had my camera on a tripod taking twenty second long time exposures with a 14mm Samyang lens at f/2.8. I ended up with 64 images before we needed the tripod for Colin's camera.
That's us moving around by the cars, and my laptop and red night vision lights illuminating that part of the scene.
I turned the individual pictures into a movie running at ten frames a second, and you can see the clouds and stars move across the scene as time passed.
I'm hoping for clear skies this summer, when I'm planning on doing a much longer time lapse sequence featuring the summer milky way.
Oh, one really cool thing about the video, to me anyway, is that if you look just above the point of the peak of the roof of the last hut to the right, you can just see the faint glow of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy.
I was out at Red Slave last night with the Bucklands, and while we fooled around with his camera and with the binoculars, I had my camera on a tripod taking twenty second long time exposures with a 14mm Samyang lens at f/2.8. I ended up with 64 images before we needed the tripod for Colin's camera.
That's us moving around by the cars, and my laptop and red night vision lights illuminating that part of the scene.
I turned the individual pictures into a movie running at ten frames a second, and you can see the clouds and stars move across the scene as time passed.
I'm hoping for clear skies this summer, when I'm planning on doing a much longer time lapse sequence featuring the summer milky way.
Oh, one really cool thing about the video, to me anyway, is that if you look just above the point of the peak of the roof of the last hut to the right, you can just see the faint glow of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
How You Can Score $5000 for TWR
TWR's direct-mail partner, KMA Direct Communications in Dallas, in celebration of their home town hosting Super Bowl XLV, is sponsoring a bowl game of their own—The KMA Bowl.
They have invited nearly 300 nonprofit organizations to compete for a chance to win a $5,000 donation. Participation is easy and fun…no sports knowledge or expertise is required.
In addition to the chance for TWR to become the recipient of a $5,000 donation, each player involved has a chance to win a free iPad!
I checked out the Web site, but haven't signed up, yet. If you are braver than I am, visit the site, sign up, and let me know how it goes. :)
Go Team!!!
They have invited nearly 300 nonprofit organizations to compete for a chance to win a $5,000 donation. Participation is easy and fun…no sports knowledge or expertise is required.
In addition to the chance for TWR to become the recipient of a $5,000 donation, each player involved has a chance to win a free iPad!
I checked out the Web site, but haven't signed up, yet. If you are braver than I am, visit the site, sign up, and let me know how it goes. :)
Go Team!!!
Agentschap Telecom visits TWR Bonaire
Members of the Dutch Radiocommunications Agency are visiting the BES islands in connection with our transition from the Netherlands Antilles to the Caribbean Netherlands. There were some big meetings Wednesday afternoon. Lionel saw Joe Barker and Lauren Libby's faces on the evening TV news coverage of the events.
The members of the Agentschap Telecom were able to visit the TWR offices and studios in the morning. TWR Bonaire director, Joe Barker, and TWR International President and CEO, Lauren Libby, shared details about TWR's ministry, both here in the Americas as well as worldwide.
By the way, see the book cases in the background of the picture above. They are the book and video library of the International Bible Church. Once the IBC completes building its new church building (we hope it will finished this year!) the library can return to its church home.
For now, the library resources are available here at TWR during business hours.
The members of the Agentschap Telecom were able to visit the TWR offices and studios in the morning. TWR Bonaire director, Joe Barker, and TWR International President and CEO, Lauren Libby, shared details about TWR's ministry, both here in the Americas as well as worldwide.
By the way, see the book cases in the background of the picture above. They are the book and video library of the International Bible Church. Once the IBC completes building its new church building (we hope it will finished this year!) the library can return to its church home.
For now, the library resources are available here at TWR during business hours.Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Spiritual and Physical Enrichment
Colin and Lorna Buckland, from Claybury International, are conducting a seminar each morning this week. We're using the master studio as a giant conference room.
We had lunch at Gibi's Place on Tuesday. Yum and Yum!
We are also fortunate to have Lauren and June Libby with us for a few days. Lauren, pictured below in the blue shirt, is the President and CEO of TWR international. You can follow Lauren's adventures on his Twitter page.
Did I mention that the lunch at Gibi's was amazing. We had coleslaw and potato salad that was flavored just the way Sandra and I like it. The rice had character, and then there was meat, meat, and more meat. Lauren quipped that it was just the thing for someone on one of those protein diets! We had Bonaire style beef stew, chicken pieces, breaded fried fish, and ribs. I hardly ate anything at all that evening, even though I went on a killer bike ride after work.
We had lunch at Gibi's Place on Tuesday. Yum and Yum!
We are also fortunate to have Lauren and June Libby with us for a few days. Lauren, pictured below in the blue shirt, is the President and CEO of TWR international. You can follow Lauren's adventures on his Twitter page.
Did I mention that the lunch at Gibi's was amazing. We had coleslaw and potato salad that was flavored just the way Sandra and I like it. The rice had character, and then there was meat, meat, and more meat. Lauren quipped that it was just the thing for someone on one of those protein diets! We had Bonaire style beef stew, chicken pieces, breaded fried fish, and ribs. I hardly ate anything at all that evening, even though I went on a killer bike ride after work.Many Hands Make Light Work
We have a number of visiting volunteers at TWR these days. Pictured here, from left to right are: Colin Buckland and Lorna Buckland, who are conducting a Spiritual Formation seminar for us, Donna Gassert of our Bonaire staff, Clary Bijl and Cees Bijl, who are helping us figure out all the new Dutch tax laws, and Bob Lasster, a friend of TWR who lives here on Bonaire.
In the picture below, you can see, facing the camera from left to right, the members of our TWR team: Benny, me, Ivan, Lionel, Joe, and Rhonda.
Not pictured, because he took the picture, is Rick Riggs, an engineer who is volunteering his time to get our transmitter control system all documented and in tip top shape.
Here we are in the open office area enjoying China Nobo takeout. Yum!
In the picture below, you can see, facing the camera from left to right, the members of our TWR team: Benny, me, Ivan, Lionel, Joe, and Rhonda.Not pictured, because he took the picture, is Rick Riggs, an engineer who is volunteering his time to get our transmitter control system all documented and in tip top shape.
Here we are in the open office area enjoying China Nobo takeout. Yum!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Wedding Bells
One time Bonaire resident, Benjamin Tangeman, was recently married in North Carolina to his sweetheard, Ruth Talbott.
Below, from right to left is proud mother, Terri, Ben, Ruth, Ben's brother Cort, and Cort's girlfriend, Andrea. The serious illness and untimely passing of Ben's father, Tony, is what led to the family returning to the States a number of years ago, but God still has his hand of blessing on this family.
The wedding served as great bait to lure in a number of young people who knew each other as TWR Bonaire kids. Pictured below, from left to right are: Alison Hill, Tyler Bogart, Stephen Hill, Amy Hill, Benjamin, Melanie Hill, Tim Hollinger, Chris Hollinger, Heather Hill, Cort, and Sonja Shaw.
I'm sure that all of Benjamin's freinds from here on Bonaire join me in congratulating the happy couple.
Below, from right to left is proud mother, Terri, Ben, Ruth, Ben's brother Cort, and Cort's girlfriend, Andrea. The serious illness and untimely passing of Ben's father, Tony, is what led to the family returning to the States a number of years ago, but God still has his hand of blessing on this family.
The wedding served as great bait to lure in a number of young people who knew each other as TWR Bonaire kids. Pictured below, from left to right are: Alison Hill, Tyler Bogart, Stephen Hill, Amy Hill, Benjamin, Melanie Hill, Tim Hollinger, Chris Hollinger, Heather Hill, Cort, and Sonja Shaw.
I'm sure that all of Benjamin's freinds from here on Bonaire join me in congratulating the happy couple.
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