Lionfish, Yum, Yum!

Some of our friends here on Bonaire are active Lionfish hunters.  They got into it a few years ago when the evil Lionfish of doom first started showing up on Bonaire's reefs.  It is hoped that enough Bonaire divers can band together to keep them from completely overunning the reefs and wiping out native species.  After a while, it was discovered that, unlike my childhood hero, Charlie the Tuna, they taste good.

Here is a video I just saw that talks about the Lionfish problem and introduces a Lionfish cookbook.

Adobe Youth Voices - Bonaire 2013

Back in 2012, a couple of the Bonaire Youth Outreach Foundation young people finished up near the top of the world-wide Adobe Youth Voices competition.

So there was lots of excitement a week ago, when the BYOF held an event at the Plaza Resort to let the young people present their efforts for 2013.

Here are links to a few of my favorites:

The Francees brothers spent their Easter week vacation making a  music video.  This one already has quite a few views on YouTube.

Jeanviêr Janga did a very creative piece about changing your community for the better, one act of kindness at a time.

Angelo Alberto's moving mini documentary, "Marshal," is insightful, I think, and communicates very effectively.

There are links to a bunch of other projects, as well as clips where the young people talk about their work, on the AYV Bonaire channel.  Scroll down the page to see the various clips.

Teeny tiny Moon

We ventured out this evening and got a couple shots of the crescent moon setting behind the TWR antenna towers.  Not sure how these will look on your screen, but its worth a try.

Bonaire Birdcam

I don't think I've mentioned this in the past. (and I'm too lazy to go back and check....)
There is a great live web cam at a bird feeding station that has always had great bird activity, each and every time that I've looked at it.
If you are into birds, be sure to check it out.

Goats on the Move

Every once in a while, a herd of goats wanders past the TWR offices and studios.

Tower Painting

It's tower work time again.  The guys are climbing high, cleaning, painting, and replacing rusted out cross braces.

Can you find them in the picture?













Below is a shot of some of their manly tools, with my cell phone in there for scale.

Ivan is busy preparing the new parts for the tower.

 

Hear from one of our Radio Listeners

Here on Bonaire, we don't often get to meet the members of our international audience. So I'm pleased that TWR's web site is currently featuring the story of someone who heard our signal.  The following is a dramatic, but certainly not unique tale.

When Carlos was just 13, he joined the drug trade in the mountains of Colombia.  Over time, he became a specialist in the processing of cocaine with the largest “kingdom” in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range.  One day, Carlos was clearing vegetation by himself deep in the Colombian jungle and he badly sliced his leg with a machete.

Carlos says, "The blood did not stop. I thought that surely someone would help me, but nobody came. I was on the floor, unable to stand.  Then I saw a little radio in the room, so I turned it on. A man began to preach. I almost looked to see if he was standing beside my mattress speaking to me personally! He talked about my whole life: Today something happened to you, but that's minimal compared to all the evil you have done. It is just a warning. Don't run from God anymore.

That night, alone with an injured leg and a radio, I gave my life to the Lord."

 

You can listen to Carlos' story online,  or download the complete text as a pdf file.

 

IBC Baptism

We had a brief seaside baptism service after the morning worship service today.

If you are here on Bonaire, you are more than welcome to join us for a Good Friday service at 7:30pm. 

 

We'll have an Easter sunrise service up on Seru Largu at 6:15 am, followed by a potluck breakfast at the church around 7:45, and the morning worship service at 9.

Return of the Donut Man

Rob Evans, aka The Donut Man, was back on Bonaire recently, and visited with us at the International Bible Church.  Like many others before him, Rob has found that Bonaire is a great place to recharge one's physical, emotional and spiritual batteries, so to speak.
For more on the Donut Man, check out my post from last year.

Recycling on Bonaire comes of Age

If you been on Bonaire the last few years, you've probably seen these yellow bins for recycling glass. 

 Now there are new improved bins for separating out different types of class.  Clear glass, like Prego pasta sauce bottles.  Brown glass, like Amstel bottles. And green glass, like Heineken bottles.  The bins for glass can be found at stores and restaurants all over the island. 

Selibon has just set up a most excellent recycling center on Kaya Industrial, just west of the Warehouse Supermarket.

There are clearly labeled bins and dumpsters for all sorts of materials.

Here's a bin for cell phones and small electronic devices.

Recycling Part 2

Here are some more of the recycling bins at the Selibon site on Kaya Industrial.  There was also an inside section for large batteries, appliances, and large electronics, like TVs.

What Country is that Anyway?

Our son, Richard, just showed me a great video clip that cleverly explains all the mysteries surrounding Holland, The Netherlands, the Dutch Caribbean, the Caribbean Netherlands, etc.
I loved it.

Check it out.

New Improved RCN Web Site

I was just checking out the new improved Web site of the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland. (RCN)  I guess you could call the RCN the central government of the BES islands, Saba, Sint_Eustatius, and Bonaire.

The recently reconstructed site was easy to navigate and contained an abundance of interesting and useful information.  There is a spot on the top right corner where you can choose to view the site in English, Dutch or Papiamentu.

TWR Celebrates 59 Years Today

59 years ago, the TWR's first radio programs went on the air from Tangier, Morocco.  And... about this time ten years later, test broadcasts began to emanate from the new Bonaire transmitter. 

So in 2014, TWR - International will be celebrating 60 years, and TWR- Bonaire will be commemorating 50 years of broadcasting.  Whoo whoo.

We're already rooting through the audio and pictorial archives in preparation for our 50th.  Sandra was here back then, but doesn't remember much from those days.

You can listen to an excerpt from that first broadcast from Tangier, 59 years ago today.

CPR/AED and First Aid Class

A bunch of us from TWR attended an all day class given buy August Albertus of the Alpha Environmental, Health and Safety Training Consultancy. 

August knows Benny from when they were both kids. He's since been all over the world in connection with EH&S planning and training.

Here's a shot of Benny writing his exam.

 

There were lots of dummies (not us) and other training aids.

Another Mystery Object

Dave Pedersen found this in one of the engineering labs.  It has a magnetic base and articulated joints giving about a zillion degrees of motion.  We have no idea what it was used for.  Any ideas?

Update: Well... I found out what this is used for.  So after you make your best guess, you can scroll down to the end of this post to see the answer.  :)  Any creative suggestions for what other uses we might find for this gizmo are always welcome.

As always, you can click on the pictures to see larger versions.

Here it is with different lighting.

Here is a close shot of the magnetic base.  You can see my reflexion in the chrome push button!

Here is a wide shot of studio three, which has become the printer room and photo center

 

FLASH!  I did a little searching online and found that this is used to hold a dial indicator for measuring stuff.  Our unit has more attachments than the ones I saw pictured online.  I suspect that one would never use this device with all those arms attached at the same time.  We seem to have a particularly complete set of  attachments.

You can see the magnetic bases Eclipse makes and some of the attachments at this web site.  The manufacturer has details and some small pictures too.

 

 

Comet Lemmon

Comet Lemmon recently passed through the Southern Cross from top to bottom.  Here are a few pictures taken here in Hato around 6am on Monday.

The first wide shot has lines to show the Southern Cross.  There is glare from the water plant on the left side.  The stars are looking much nicer on the right side where the sky is darker.  There is an arrow showing the comet.  It is to the upper left of the foot of the cross.

Then next shot (below) is cropped quite a bit compared to the above image.  Can you find the Southern Cross without the lines?  And the comet?  If you click on one of these pictures, you'll see the full size images.

Here is a crop of the bottom three stars of the Southern Cross, with an arrow pointing to the comet.

These were 8 second exposures I think.  The last view is somewhat similar to what one would see in binoculars.

 

Merry Christmas

It is a snowy Christmas Eve in PA.  We went to a memorable candlelight service at Calvary Church on Landis Valley Rd. here in Lancaster county.

Sandra is checking out the lobby tree here at Willow Valley Manor North.

The outdoors Christmas lights look extra pretty with some snow mixed in.

Plentious of Poinsettias

I went with my dad to Frysville Farms, in Ephrata, today to pick out a giant Poinsettia plant for the hall by their apartment.  I'd put a link to their web site, but I don't see one on their brochure.  I wonder if Mennonites do Internet

They had lots and lots of Poinsettias, that's for sure.
This is one end of the greenhouse.











Here is the view looking from the other end of the room.  I was amazed to see those purple plants along the left wall.  We have the exact same plants growing in our planter on Bonaire.  They grow like crazy down there.

Hot Wide Angle Lens Tip

This is the fully manual 14mm lens that I've used for just about all the astronomy photos that I've posted in 2012.  My lens is called a Rokinan, but this Bower is made by the same company.  It works well for astro photos, even wide open at f2.8.  At f4, it is excellent.  I focus using live view.

My hot tip is that B and H photo has it on sale for $299 right now, for most DSLR systems.  The link is for the Canon compatible one, but the other ones are the same price too.  I've got nothing to gain financially if you buy one, but I'm making this plug 'cause I consider this lens an very good bang for the buck.