Friday, March 14, 2014

Friday Morning Edition - 2456730

Happy Friday!  We have a Smörgåsbord of Stuff here today.  Let The Friday Fun begin with The Big Budda!  (Editor's Note: This is the 1,700th post since we began this blog on January 1, 2010.)
Surely someone has (or will) come up with a Zen koan for this dilemma.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/buddha-in-an-empty-bar-12-foot-statue-presents-a-challenge-of-how-to-get-it-out/2014/03/13/61d1a118-aad8-11e3-adbc-888c8010c799_story.html?hpid=z1

For over three decades, an Arizona group has staged a fun little pageant for St. Patrick's Day.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/events/2014/03/14/americans-multiethnic-yet-heritage-pageants-abide/6407319/

http://azcolleen.org/
By now, every man, woman, child, dog, cat and The Dearly Departed know that The Colorado River through Grand Canyon is on Google Street view.  It was a major "topic de jour" in social and mainstream media Thursday.  Today, we spent most of our morning digging as deeply into this story as our time allowed.  By far, the bulk of the media coverage was quite scant with the details we need.

For example, here is the Flagstaff's daily newspaper's coverage.  Talk about "scant!"  We weren't really surprised that the Daily Sun chose to write so little about the story.  But we were disappointed.  This could have been worked into a major story.  They could have printed all sorts of details and interviewed the outfitter and the boatmen and talked about the technology and on and on and on.

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/google-cameras-take-rafting-trip-at-grand-canyon/article_63b20280-aaff-11e3-b989-001a4bcf887a.html



Luckily, the Los Angeles Times filled in where the Daily Sun failed to tread.  Here is where we learn, "Google also worked with commercial outfitter Arizona River Runners  to make the extraordinary journey from Lee's Ferry to Pearce Ferry. Two Trekker cameras mounted on rafts, each weighing 40 pounds and bearing 15 camera heads pointed in all directions, snapped photos ever 2.5 seconds."

 http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-trb-colorado-river-google-20140311,0,6810119.story#axzz2vwgmARoP

Here is the best gateway link to the actual product:

http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/colorado-river/

and here are some other fun links as well.

http://google-latlong.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/explore-americas-most-endangered-river.html

http://blog.laptopmag.com/google-street-view-trekker-backpack-42-pounds-15-cameras

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5132754/the-holy-trail-using-trekker-googles-edge-in-the-next-mapping-war


From Friday's Post Register come this.

Rigby native is two-time excavator rodeo champ

By AUBREY WIEBER
Copyright 2014 "The Post-Register" Idaho Falls, Idaho.  Reprinted with permission.
In 2008, Shane Rhodehouse was wandering around the CONEXPO at the Las Vegas Convention Center when he saw people lining up to partake in an "excavator rodeo."
Rhodehouse, who grew up in his family's Ribgy-based construction business, figured he'd give it a go.
At the time, the record was 17 seconds. Rhodehouse clocked in at 14.7.
"Then I was kind of hooked," Rhodehouse said.
The excavator rodeo is an event put on by Link-Belt Construction Equipment at the CONEXPO, an international construction industry convention held every three years in Las Vegas. Contestants sign up to get in an excavator and use their skills to guide the machine's bucket to remove basketballs from the tops of three traffic cones without tipping the cones over. They also have to place the basketballs into a steel pail. The fastest time wins.
While Rhodehouse, a 30-year-old Rigby native, had never competed in an excavator obstacle course, he was familiar with heavy machinery. His father owns Rhodehouse Construction and he has been on job sites his whole life.
"I was in excavators and dump trucks since I was 1," he said. "I started operating the equipment at 7, and at 12 I was out digging out basements. When you spend so much time in an excavator, it becomes part of your body."
After Rhodehouse beat then-champion Mark Foyse, the two went back and forth all week. On the last day of the event, they were the only remaining contestants.
"He landed 11.5, then I went right after him. I did an 11.7, so I lost by two-tenths of a second."
His father, Kevin, wasn't surprised at how well his son did.
"I expected him to win," he said.
Fast-forward six years and Rhodehouse is now the two-time defending champion, having won in 2011 and again last
Online
To see Shane Rhodehouse go against Mark Foyse in 2008, go to http://tinyurl.com/pr-shane rhodehouse

Another GREAT Moab Story!



A Squirrel Scandal-in-the-making?


http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/day1-7.shtml

Well, same old, same old in the top graphic.  The little pittance of moisture you see in Arizona is actually happening today and tomorrow over in the White Mountains on the Far East side of the state.  Otherwise, the rest of Arizona is forecast to be dry, dry, dry over the next seven days.  However, take a look at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center forecast for Arizona for the next 30-day time period.  How odd!


And what would Friday be without today's really fun Dilbert cartoon?


And that's all, Folks!  http://youtu.be/gBzJGckMYO4

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