The Newsletter of Mid-Hudson Mensa
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Mid-Mensan
The Newsletter of Mid-Hudson Mensa |
July/August 1999 |
| Paws for Reflection | Ron McMurdy, Fabien and Miss Ella |
Greetings Everyone,
I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who helped Mid-Hudson Mensa by working at the Information Tent at the Hudson Valley Balloon Festival. The list is long, but these people deserve recognition for their efforts: Bill Zigo, Alan Hauck, Bibi Sandstrom, Eric Kollenberg, Vehig Tavitian, Les Herring, Charlie Rovner, Jim Jelacic, Joanne Schultz, Betsy Burke, Stephanie Walker, and last but certainly not least, Bill Hughes who is Balloon-meister of the event and gave us this opportunity to make some money for our scholarship fund.
THANK YOU, EVERYBODY!!
Locally, I have to report that I accepted Bob Naborney's Resignation from Mid-Hudson's Executive Board. Bob noted that he has suffered from some health problems lately, and feels that this is prohibiting him from participating on the board. Bob has been a consistent participant on the board, and his presence will be missed. I'm sure you all will join me in wishing him a speedy and complete recovery.
With the Balloon Festival behind us, we now turn our attention to upcoming events, like the Camping Weekend, our Annual Picnic, and our very own Autumn in New York RG. We can always use help in the planning and implementation of these events, so if you're willing and able to lend a hand, foot, paw, whatever... please attend one of the planning meetings. And if not, please attend the event and help make it a rousing success!
At the national level, the elections have been concluded and the winners announced. Bob Beatty is the new Chairman, Jean Becker is the new 1st Vice Chairman, Russ Bakke is the new 2nd Vice Chairman, Dan Burg is the new Secretary, and Jim Werdell is the new treasurer. In Region 1, we have a new RVC, Deb Stone, from New Hampshire.
It's been a while since marmots were mentioned, so it must be time for the critters to pop up and make their presence known. For the uninitiated, marmots, also known as groundhogs or woodchucks in the east (and as marmots in the west), are an unofficial mascot of Mid-Hudson Mensa. A marmot sighting can be the pinnacle of excitement on an otherwise boring day. So keep your eyes open, the marmots are out there just waiting to be spotted! I was going to say that the editor is VERY interested in marmot sightings, so call him, anytime day or night, to report your marmot sightings!! But I figure he'd delete this part!! [Ron, all anyone has to do is e-mail me at ron_mcmurdy@juno.com - Ed.]
Have a wonderful summer everyone!!
| From Under The Marmot | Bill Zigo |
I am very pleased to announce that our newsletter has received a record
seven newsletter award nominations.
This is more than we have ever received before in a single year. They are for the following:
Entertainment - Humor
Entertainment - Puzzles and Games
Entertainment - Theme Issue(s)
Presentation - Details
Services - Membership Recognition
Individual Achievement - Puzzles and Games - Jim Jelacic,
for “Trivia” and “TV Trivia” (I think this is something like Jim’s 5th nomination)
Individual Achievement - Artwork - Alan Hauck,
for his cover art for our “Inside Jokes” issue (Alan is also a repeat nominee over the past years)
Congratulations Jim and Alan, on your individual achievement nominations.
And I would like to thank all the contributors to our newsletter for the
consistently high-quality materials you submit, which allowed our newsletter
to receive the other nominations.
| Insults To Our Intelligence |
J
Even though our May Pizza SIG site, Bazzano’s Pizzeria in Pleasant Valley
earned an honorable mention rating, it also became our first Pizza SIG site to
earn an “Insult To Our Intelligence” because of a sign over the counter. The sign said:
J
There’s a radio station in the Hudson Valley which advertises itself as
“Playing the hits of the 80's, 90's and today.” I guess we changed decades already!
| Snappy Science Snippets | Andi Weiss Bartczak, Ph.D. |
In 1990 a meeting of herpetologists and ecologists concluded that massive die-offs of many species of frogs in Australia, Central America and North America were a symptom of larger environmental problems in our world. They compared frogs, which are vegetarians as tadpoles and carnivorous as adults and have permeable unprotected skin, to canaries in coal mines that died when the air was bad, warning the miners of danger.
However, a decade of research on pollutants, increased ultraviolet light from a thinning of the ozone layer and global warming couldn't link major and sudden frog declines to any one environmental factor. But the stresses caused by those factors may lower the resistance of frogs to whatever is killing off entire species.
The pattern of death may also indicate an emerging (new) disease. Last year scientists began to find that the dead frogs were lethally infected with a fungus. The fungus prefers cold and wet habitats, which explains why warm weather observers saw no frogs die.
We need to heed the story of the frogs. Environmental stresses like pollutants and increased ultraviolet radiation can lower resistance, increasing the death rate from new or not-new diseases. Inhale some PCBs from the Hudson, eat some artificial colors and pesticide residues and blend with stress from work. Who knows the results?
(Reference) Science Vol. 284, 4/30/99, p.728
| Pun of the Month | Jim Jelacic |
This one was from Paula Greenspan of Hyde Park:
A little boy was in a relative's wedding. As he was coming down the aisle he would take two steps, stop and turn to the crowd (alternating between the bride's side and the groom's side). While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and growl at the top of his voice.So it went, step, step, "GROWL" step, step, "GROWL" all the way down the aisle. As you can imagine, by the time he reached the pulpit the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard.
The little boy, however, was getting more and more distressed from all the laughing and was also near tears by the time he reached the pulpit. When finally asked what the roaring was all about, the youngster said, "Well, I'm the Ring Bear!"
Send your favorite groaner to
PUNS c/o Jim Jelacic.
| Are You Game? | Bill Zigo |
Every once in a while, when I need a dose of mental masochism, I play Robo Rally™ by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.. This is an excellent game to play if you are good at moderate challenges in logic, planning several moves in advance and not throwing game pieces against the wall when the unplanned happens.
Robo Rally is a rally-type race for robots. The game provides eight different robots with interesting histories and personality quirks, though that is primarily for entertainment purposes. The object of your game is to guide your robot through a somewhat complicated and sometimes deadly maze, to pass through a series of checkpoints. On each turn, you are given nine program cards. Each has a simple instruction on it, such as move forward one, turn left, turn around, or move backward one. Each player secretly selects five cards to play, in a particular order, to determine the player’s robot’s course that turn. As the robots move around the maze, they have to deal with moving conveyor belts, wheels which change the direction they’re pointing, “pushers”, which push the robot onto a different square, laser beams, deep pits, or crushers which can turn your robot into a coffee table if the robot lands there the wrong time.
As if this isn’t enough, the robots move somewhat simultaneously. Each player’s robot executes its first program card (called a register) before any robot executes its second program card (when it matters, each program card has a unique number, highest numbered card is executed first). If two robots collide, the Laws of Motion also come into play. After each player has executed a register, any robot with a line of sight on another robot may fire a laser beam at that robot, inflicting a point of damage. When a robot has incurred a specific amount of damage, registers become “locked” which means that card is frozen and MUST be executed every turn in that position, until the robot’s damage is repaired. This can be accomplished by either landing on a square with a wrench on it, or shutting your robot down for a turn. If the unfortunate occurs, i.e. your robot is destroyed, takes maximum damage, falls into a pit, or is carried by a belt off the board, your robot - or rather its clone - restarts at the last checkpoint it had reached. But be careful, the number of clones is limited.
The game comes with several map boards, each with a unique theme to its maze. As few or as many of these boards may be combined in any pattern. Another enjoyable addition is Option Cards. If a robot lands on a square with two wrenches, instead of healing two points, the player may opt to equip the robot with a special power, chosen at random from the Option deck.
Robo Rally can be a very intense game, usually lasting at least half an hour
per maze board in play, longer with a larger number of players (up to eight
can play). You don’t need computer programming skills to play, but the logical
thinking associated with it can help. It’s primarily a game of skill, though
there is some randomness to it, such as the cards you are dealt each turn,
plus the unpredictability of your opponents.
| Tele-Teasers | Bill Zigo |
Decode the phone numbers to determine the clues.
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This month's theme: Parts of a Car.
Answers near the end of this newsletter.
| CryptoGrams | Jim Jelacic |
Easy:
RFRBJDOLWT SXVRC DX OLV GOX OECDURC
GOLUR OR GILDC. DOXVIC IUFI RPLCXW
Hard - no punctuation, grouped in 5:
JAGEJ ACVDT DPRND JSRGM VWJNU WRNRV
DKZOV JBPVW RVPJO PFJEW APORJ ETDZO
CGA
Answers near the end of this newsletter.
| “Simple as A, B, C...” TV Trivia | Jim Jelacic |
You can’t get any more basic than this! Here are shows starting with letters or initials. Match each with the star who played in it.
The A Team
B.L. Stryker
C.P.O. Sharkey
The D.A.
E/R
The F.B.I.
I Spy
J.J. Starbuck
L.A. Law
M Squad
N.Y.P.D. Blue
S.W.A.T.
T. and T.
V
WKRP in Cincinnati
X Files
Robert Conrad
Robert Culp
David Duchovny
Richard Dysart
Steve Forrest
Dennis Franz
Elliott Gould
Gordon Jump
Lee Marvin
George Peppard
Burt Reynolds
Don Rickles
Dale Robertson
Marc Singer
Mr. T
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Answers near the end of this newsletter.
| Trivia, July '99 | Jim Jelacic |
Greetings, Fellow Trivians! Here are the answers to May’s questions:
Q20: Which state is known as “the Badger State?”
A20: Wisconsin.
Q21: Who wrote and performed “Honky Cat” and “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word?”
A21: Elton John.
Q22: Who organized the peace conference in Portsmouth, NH ending the
Russo-Japanese War and eventually won a Nobel Peace Prize because of it?
A22: President Theodore Roosevelt.
Q23: Who won the Pulitzer in Drama in 1996 for the play “Rent?”
A23: Jonathan Larson.
Q24: London has the FT-SE, Frankfort has DAX and Japan has NIKKIE.
What does New York have?
A24: New York Stock Exchange. The others are foreign exchanges.
(I accepted the Dow Jones Industrial Average even though I was
looking for the exchange.)
Q25: According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
Driver’s Manual, there are two situations when you can pass a car
on the right. One is when the car ahead is making a left turn.
What is the other?
A25: When you are driving on a one-way road that is marked for two
or more lanes or is wide enough for two or more lanes, and passing
is not restricted by signs.
Q26: Identify the world’s longest suspension bridge. (Submitted by Dave Cardall)
A26: The 12,828 foot Akashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan
(the Verrazano-Narrows bridge is 4,260 feet long).
Q27: Where were the 1900 Olympics held? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)
A27: Paris
Q28: How much did it cost to mail a 1-ounce letter first class in 1899?
(Submitted by Bill Zigo)
A28: 2 cents.
The winners are Tom Rankin and Frank Wolfe with 9 correct answers. Elizabeth McAllister had 8, Ed Quinn had 7 and Les Herring had 6 correct answers. Bill Zigo, ineligible this year for winning last year, had 9 correct answers. Sorry, Cathy R., your answers for April were too late. But if you’re keeping score, you had 7 of 9 correct.
And now, this month's questions:
Q38: Founded by English Puritans in 1630, from what city did Paul Revere start his famous ride?
Q39: What famous actor was miscast as Genghis Khan in the 1956 forgettable movie, “The Conqueror?”
Q40: What US general said, “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer?”
Q41: Arrange these Shakespeare’s plays in chronological order of their composition: The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, King Henry the Fifth, and The First Part of King Henry the Sixth.
Q42: In what constellation would you find the star Betelgeuse?
Q43: According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Driver’s Manual, eight of ten accidents happen at speeds of less than which mph - 25, 40 or 55?
Q44: How long can a sperm whale hold its breath? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)
Q45: If chemistry follows its predictions, what will the atomic number of the next noble (inert) gas be? (Submitted by Bill Zigo)
Q46: Who is oldest: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd or Porky Pig? (Submitted by Bill Zigo)
Send your answers and questions (with answers and references) to
TRIVIA CONTEST c/o Jim Jelacic
by July 31.
| What's Up? Current Topics in Astronomy |
Tom Rankin, President, Mid-Hudson Astronomy Assoc. |
Last month, I mentioned 2 planets and Astronomy Day. Did anyone check out any of these events? By the way, Regulus was occulted by the moon in May, and my wife and I witnessed it disappear and reappear about an hour later. Pretty cool!
July/August: Well summer is here! It's the “dog” days of summer, which has its origins in astronomy. It was believed that Sirius, the brightest star, also called Alpha Canis Majoris, (meaning the primary star of the big dog), contributed a heating effect to the Earth. It was thought to be strongest when Sirius was closest to the sun, which is early July. Being the “dog star”, Sirius lent its name to this expression which has persisted for thousands of years.
Venus is still visible quite nicely in the West after Sunset, as is Mercury at the beginning of the month. By the beginning of August though, Venus may be hard to see, and in early September, it will be visible in the morning sky.
Other July/August Events:
07/06 - The Earth is actually farthest from the Sun today! The Earth's tilt
dominates over its proximity to the Sun for heating effects.
07/10 - The Moon is near the star Aldebaran
07/12 - Venus is near the star Regulus
07/15 - The Moon is near the star Regulus
07/15 - The Moon is near Venus
07/17 - Venus is at its brightest
07/27 - The Delta Aquarids meteor shower peaks
08/04 - The Moon is near Saturn
08/06 - The moon is near the star Aldebaran
08/11 - Total Eclipse of the Sun, visible in Europe and Asia
08/10-14 - The Perseid meteor shower is visible
Astro News:
Studies of stars similar to ours located in other clusters reveal that our sun must be unusually calm right now. Are we just getting lucky?
More brown dwarfs (objects larger than planets but not quite large enough to be stars) have been discovered, raising the total from 1 to many now known.
According to findings made by the ISO spacecraft, star formation may be strongly influenced by magnetic fields present in large clusters of gas.
A new class of Aurora has been discovered that only occurs during the day. It is caused by eruptions on the sun called coronal mass ejections.
Eta Carina, a nearby erratic, massive, blue star, has doubled in brightness in just the last year, and may be about to undergo another disturbance similar to the one that made it the 2nd brightest star in the sky, back in 1846.
Astronomers at NASA and CMU have discovered “middle-weight” black holes, objects not formed by either star or galaxy collapse. What formed them is still a mystery.
Upcoming MHAA Events (for Southeastern New York State):
07/09 - 8:30 PM Outdoor meeting at Wilcox Park (Venus, Mars, Milky Way)
07/16 - 8:30 PM Outdoor meeting at Sam's Pt. (Milky Way, Venus, Mars, Mercury?, Moon)
07/20 - 7:30 PM Indoor meeting at SUNY New Paltz LC 112 -
The speaker will be discussing the summer sky with slides and explanations
08/06 - 8:30 PM Outdoor meeting at Wilcox Park (Mars, Uranus, Milky Way)
08/10-14 - Perseid Meteor Shower watch -
Call the Hotline for details!
08/17 - 7:30 PM Indoor meeting at SUNY New Paltz LC 112 - Speaker TBD
Call (914) 485-5669 for the MHAA Hotline: Information, Astronomy News, etc. Would you like to borrow a telescope from the Club for a month? Let me know. We've got several “loaner” scopes that are very easy to use. We have lots of other Astro stuff to lend as well.
Next Time: September brings the fall constellations.
MHAA Home Page: http://jump.to/mhaa
Puzzle answers follow, a page or so onward...
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Easy:
Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.
Thomas Alva Edison
Hard:
Any man who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined.
Sam Goldwyn