IBC Classrooms

The new classrooms at the International Bible Church are almost finished.  Here is now they looked this week.  Walt says that the floor space is about 1/4 that of the main meeting room.

Washington Park

They are fixing up the roads in Washington Park.  The roads are still pretty bumpy, but they are actually much improved.  Well, at least from the entrance as far as Slag Bai.  The road back out of the park is still full of ruts from the rainy season.

The cows were chowing down, not as close to the road as the last time I rode by.  A cute calf has been added to their number.  It was right in the road a few weeks ago.  I was worried that its mother would take exception to me as I rode by.  I saw a few teeny tiny baby goats this week too.

There were still a few Pelicans hanging out by Bisé Morto.  They've been there since mid Feb.

Slag Bai was looking nice.  You can see the road grader that's been cleaning up the roads at the left edge of the shot.

Moon and Planets

It has been amazingly cloudy for weeks and weeks.  That's great for working outdoors and for bike riding.  But not so good for stargazing.
We lucked out tonight and had a nice view of the moon right next to Venus, with Jupiter loitering below, right above the trees.

You can also just barely see the Pleiades a little to the upper right of the moon.

Close Up images of the Moon

One question I often hear in connection with my public astronomy sessions or my astro photos is, "can you see the flag the astronauts left on the moon" or variations on that theme.   Well.. no ground based telescopes can see details that small on the moon, but the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite can.

NASA has just released some images taken from about 25km above the moon's surface that show the flag, the astronauts footprints, the lunar rover etc.

I did some searching around to see if I could find hi rez versions of the images and came across the University of Arizona's LROC Operations Center web site.  It has all sorts of interesting stuff.
Here is a link to a page with press release images.  Click on these helpfully labeled press release images to see them larger.  Click on March 5 and March 6 on the calendar to see Apollo landing sites.

This browse gallery page has larger images.  They are in long narrow strips that recorded the lunar surface as the orbiter passed over it.  You can zoom in on these images to see the details shown on the press release images.  And you can download these huge image files as well.  I'm going to try cropping some of these images to create hi-rez lunar desktop wallpaper for my computer.

Cutting Edge Communications

TWR Unveils New Digital System
Whether you call it a digital warehouse for the Kingdom, a tool for leveraging Christian media content or simply a game changer, LinguaDMS is all about revolutionizing the way ministries deliver their message to a global audience.

The cloud-based system is aimed at providing TWR partners and other ministries with a cost-effective tool for managing, archiving, re-purposing and enabling distribution of digital files, including videos, audio, images or text. Content can be stored, called up, and readied for presentation in formats compatible with any of the communication technologies already in use around the world – from websites and smartphones to Internet radio and terrestrial broadcast outlets – and new devices can be added to the mix as they are developed.

More formally described as a customizable digital-asset-management solution, LinguaDMS grew out of a desire to mine TWR’s vast store of media content – nearly 60 years of Christian broadcasts in more than 200 languages. Although TWR has increasingly broadened its outreach to incorporate the Internet in recent years, LDMS also enables TWR to assist other ministries with their digital asset management and in delivering their content to multiple media platforms.

You can learn more by visiting the LinguaDMS site.

This technology is already working in the background to supply the audio files and program scripts for the Project Hannah Website and iPhone app.
English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese content is up and running now.  The Project Hannah team is working on getting the Papiamentu version of the Women of Hope radio program online soon.

EOZ Official Opening

The EOZ works with students who need special tutoring and guidance before being slotted back in a standard classroom setting.
The EOZ have spruced up the former TWR office wing very nicely, and have been working with kids for some months now.
Today was the official opening, with speeches and presentations, and refreshments.

They also unveiled a couple of great flags.

You'll need to click on the pix to see the flags better.








A really talented group of kids provided music for the festivities.

The building in the background is the office wing where the EOZ is located.  The building on the left houses the TWR studios and offices.

Sleeping Dogs and Couch Potatoes

Our dogs love vegging out with their owners while we watch TV.

You may wonder, do they shed hair all over the place?  Yup.  But the tile floors are easy to clean.  Last year, Sandra brought a new puppy back from Florida as carry on baggage.  We then used the dog carrier as a dog crate, since he liked it so much.  Then he outgrew the carrier and Ethan built us a puppy pen.  The puppy kept growing.   So now we are on PuppyPen Mark II, and he's not a year old yet.  He still likes his personal space, and even goes in there to sleep on his own.  Notice the open door.

Speaking of watching TV.  Yesterday and today there was not One, not Two, but three International cycling races on our TV system here.  Whoo whoo.  It was a great feeling, Saturday, to be splatted out in classic couch potato fashion, chowing down on carbs and nuts, while watching the riders on TV peddling their legs off.  Didn't feel guilty at all, having already put in three and a half hours in the saddle myself, riding out to and around Washington Park, and then back home on the main East road.

The riding in the park was great, with overcast skies (no sunburn) and a cooling wind.  However, on the way out of the park it started pouring down rain. Between the park and Rincon, the rain was so fierce that it was stinging my face and arms.  I took the paved road home from Rincon because the rain soaked dirt roads would have been like peddling through mashed potatoes.  When I got home, Sandra reported that it hadn't rained a drop in Hato!

In addition to the great bike racing, a major TV highlight today was the "Serie A1" pro volleyball match from Italy.  The number one team, Trentino, started their 6 second string players against the number two team, Cuneo.  And they managed to win the match!  It was epic stuff.

The Donut Man

Bonaire now has a donut shop in the center of town.  Perhaps that is what lured Rob Evans, the Donut Man to visit Bonaire.  ha-ha

Rob took time from his diving to visit us the International Bible Church for the Tuesday evening Bible study.  He also stopped by on Sunday morning and did a brief presentation for the kids (and young at heart) who were present.
You can see Rob in action on YouTube.

Weekend Update

Did you get to see the Moon, Venus and Jupiter all together?  It was pouring down rain here on Saturday evening, but we got a peek or two between the clouds.  It was very cloudy on Sunday night too, but we did get a glimpse or two.

Remember the pictures I posted last week, of the men who were fishing along the cliffs at the water's edge?  Well, when I rode by this week, there were no men, but at least twelve pelicans were hanging out there.  So it is pretty save to say that the fish were still around.  I didn't bring along a camera on this last ride, but I would have loved to have gotten a shot of all those pelicans lined stationed along the cliff edge, drying their feathers in the early morning sun.

New Google Eearth Images of Bonaire

I was just on Google Earth the other day to check something out and whoa, they've just added some new imagery of Bonaire for 2012.  It was actually shot in January of 2011 and is crystal clear, especially in Washington Park, where clouds used to cover up some of the main areas I wanted to see.

The newest imagery begins about half way between the TWR offices and the center of town, on the West coast and cuts straight across the island to the East coast just north of the Punto Blanku chicken farm.

I can see our trusty Suzuki Samurai (20.5 years old now) and you can find the International Bible Church at 12.169629 north latitude and 68.284764 west longitude.
The picture was taken before Siegfried and his team cleaned out the bushes and put in the new dirt for the parking area, but the buildings look about right.

The 2010-2011 rainy season was a huge one and I think that you can tell that one part of the road around Goto Lake was still under water on Jan. 17, when the image was made.

"Rain Rain Go Away" or "Planetary Parade"

It is a rainy Friday here on Bonaire.  I really hope it clears up tomorrow because Venus, Jupiter and the Moon will be putting on a great show Saturday and Sunday evenings.
The Moon will be close to Venus on Saturday night and close to Jupiter Sunday night.  This grouping of the two planets and the Moon should look really nice.  You can also use the Moon's close proximity to the planets to identify Venus on Saturday night and then to identify Jupiter on Sunday night.

You can also use the Moon to look for Venus before sunset on Saturday afternoon.  If you are in western Europe, Venus will be more or less directly to the left of the moon.  In North America, Venus will be to the lower left of the Moon.  This article at Sky and Telescope explains it and has a nice diagram.

I've seen Venus during the daytime here on Bonaire.  But always in the morning when I can first locate Venus in the dark and then track its progress across the sky relative to some fixed object.  One time I could find Venus until about noon.

Flamingo Fight

I shot this one back in 2008.  The flamingo in the foreground came rushing up on the one in the background while he was foraging for food under the water.  Sort of an aquatic ambush.  Much squawking and flapping ensued.  I was bummed that I didn't get a video of the encounter because I found it truly fascinating behavior.

But when I was reviewing my pictures last week, I realized that these frenzied flamingos were flashing their fine feathers, and I hadn't totally failed after all.

Carnival Monday

This past Monday was a holiday here on Bonaire.  Some of us, who weren't nursing Carnival related hangovers, took the opportunity to get out and enyoy the great outdoors.  I had just done my weekly Washington Park bike ride the previous Saturday, so this Monday holiday was a great opportunity to get in some extra miles.

I have occasionally been known to haul full size cameras and lenses around on my rides, and some of the images have been worth it.  But this time I went with a small camera in a zip lock bag that I could drop into one of my bike jersey pockets.  Playa Funchi, above, was looking very peaceful indeed.

These guys opted to get in some quality fishing time.  Fishing from the edge of the island with a hand line can be quite dangerous in some parts of Bonaire.  But the seas were calm and the fish were biting at this spot.

Bise Morto is just a bit south of Playa Funchi.  This is a spot that I've never dived or snorkled.  We'll have to rectify that soon.

I feel Loved

I was leaving some feedback for some eBay vendors the other day and found this message.

It made me smile.
Sometimes we can find things we need for the radio station on eBay when we can't find it from a traditional vendor. 

Birthday Boy

Wai-Man Chan, from the China Nobo restaurant celebrated a birthday this weekend.  So as is the tradition here on Bonaire, he brought along a cake to share with all his friends at the International Bible Church.

Also pictured is his daughter, Grace, who was visiting Bonaire for the occasion.

Raising the Roof

The new classrooms at the International Bible Church are coming along nicely.

Above, James and Walt discuss how the roof beams will be placed.

James, foreground, and his wife Cindy, background are spending their vacation time to help build the IBC classrooms.  This is the fourth year that James has volunteered his time like this!

Meanwhile Epi has been plastering the window openings to the exact size needed, so that the windows will slip right into place.

By Thursday noon, the roof panels were all in place!

Mystery Solved

Udo Lusse commented on my post from yesterday about the mystery objects and solved the mystery.  Click on "comments" below that post to see the comments.

Here is a photo of the tool Udo refers to in his comment.  I've used it in the past, but didn't realize how the brushes fit in with it.

What Is This?

Dave Pedersen was going through our technical stock and found a bunch of what we think are brushes.  The both have the same type of ferrule on the end.
Can anyone tell us what they were used for back in the day?

Ring Around the Classroom

Walt and his handy helpers finished blocking up the walls for the new classrooms at the International Bible Church.  Below you can see them setting up the forms for the ring beam and the corner posts.  What you can't see is the steel re-bar inside the forms which helps tie all the walls together into a solid structure.

The poured the beams on Thursday as I recall.  After our monthly Saturday morning mens meeting today, we helped collect all the small pieces of wood and loose nails lying around, so that no one will injure themself on Sunday.

In the above photo, some of the plywood forms have been removed and you can see the concrete beams connecting the various block sections.  Most structures here on Bonaire are constructed in this manner.

Youth Sunday

January 29 was a fifth Sunday of the month, which made it Youth Sunday.  The young people plan and lead the service and I always enjoy it.

Attendance is increasing in 2012.  There are lots of "snow birds" here right now, and more and more local people are finding their way through our doors as well.

There was a nice breeze blowing through the hall this past Sunday.  Early birds pick seats by the three large double doors on the East side of the building in order to get the maximum air flow.