Nemo Black's Slumberland

Cause of Tasmanian Devil cancer identified

2010-01-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

The Tasmanian Devil is closest living relative of my favorite cryptid the Thylacine. Unfortunately an infectious form of cancer is rapidly diminishing the wild population of Tasmanian Devils.

Below are some recent articles regarding developments about the facial cancer:

Here are links to both the National Geographic Profile of the Tasmanian Devil, and to the Tassiedevil - Save The Tasmanian Devil site.

Hopefully these recent developments may help scientists find a treatment for the cancer, and prevent the possible extinction of the Tasmanian Devil.

YouTube Video: Chupacabra on Cops Camera (closer view)

2009-11-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

While I have yet to be convinced that the stories of Chupacabra are nothing more than urban legend and internet myth, I do find this video quite intriguing.

Note that this animal looks a lot different from other animals reputed to be the Chupacabra. What is interesting is that the head of the animal is so large. Is it possible this is some sort of hybrid resulting from the crossbreeding of a domestic dog and coyote?

Any thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment.

Washington Weirdness: UFOs, radioactive wasps, and the wall of gum.

2009-07-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

I've gathered up a collection of interesting and weird articles from KOMONews.com, and I though now would be as good a time as any to post them, so enjoy.

UFO in the sun and military jets: Here is a classic case of mis-identification. The photo shows a large black disk shaped object directly in front of the Sun. Unfortunately for the "true believers" out there, the black dot is actually the result of CCD bakeout. That's something to take in to account next time you point your cellphone's camera at the Sun.
Hanford digs up radioactive wasp nests: When I initially read the headline for this article the first images to pop in my head were from the radioactive giant bugs from the 50's such as Them, Beginning of the End, and Tarantula. Luckily for us all the wasps are not radioactive, just their nests, so they are not mutating in to man-eating giants. Then again that could be just what the government wants us to think? Read the article and find out for yourself, and then pop some popcorn and watch your favorite 50's radioactive giant bug movie.
Ewww! Seattle gum wall a top germy attraction: OK, this one really grosses me out! I have been to the Pike Place Market lots of times, and have never seen the Great Gum Wall Of Seattle and I hope I never do. Then again this just might be worth taking some pictures of, so I can post them to Urbanspelunkers.

Now this next article is not about weirdness in Washington State, but it is a little different and it takes place in BC, so I going to go ahead an post about it. According to "3-hour tours planned on "Gilligan's Island" SS Minnow" someone in Nanaimo, British Columbia has purchased the original boat used as the SS Minnow in Gilligan's Island, and they plan to start offering tours with the boat. Here are two other links about the venture; Restored 'Gilligan's Island' boat could open for tours and S.S. Minnow Tours Again! This sounds fun enough to make a trip up North, and I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has taken the tour or knows more about the restored SS Minnow. So feel free to drop me a line if you happen to know something about the boat or you have taken the tour.

Cheers ~ Nemo

Washington Weirdness: The Lake Sammamish Seal

2009-05-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago I was reading the Bizarre Beasts section of Weird Washington, and somewhere between Lake Monsters and The Thunderbird I was reminded of a story often told by my Uncle who used to live on the Western shores of Lake Sammamish of a seal that lived in that lake. I searched through the index of the book, but could not find any reference about a seal living in Lake Sammamish.

"You've got to be kidding" I thought! Surely a harbor seal living in a fresh water lake some 10 to 15 miles from Puget Sound would be considered weird enough to be documented in a book called "Weird Washington", but apparently not. So I decided to do a researching on my own and I came across the article "Butch the Lake Sammamish Seal" by Nan P. Campbell at www.historylink.org. This is an excellent article written by someone who also lived on Lake Sammamish during the time that Butch the seal as he was known, lived in the lake.

My Uncle used to tell me that the seal had a collar on him, and Nan P. Campbell also mentions the collar several times in her article. Now this collar figures prominently in the two most plausible theories as to how Butch ended up in Lake Sammamish. Of all the theories offered as to how Butch ended up in the lake, given the collar the two that seem the most plausible seem to be that he either escaped from a circus or was let loose by his handler, or he was kept as a pet by someone who lived on the lake and somehow got loose.

Butch died in 1975, and even though I never got a chance to see Butch while visiting my Aunt and Uncle on Lake Sammamish I did find Nan's article a great chronicle of a wayward and rambunctious seal, and I think you will too so give it a read.

Cheers ~ Nemo

Washington Weirdness: Mel's Hole

2009-04-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted on my MySpace blog that I had picked up the book "Weird Washington", and that I wanted to start blogging about the interestingly weird stories and places featured in the book. Well one thing led to another and I didn't start reading the book until recently (i.e. I farted around and didn't get to it until now).

What's nice about the layout of the book is you can pretty much open it up to any page, and start reading about some interesting and weird subject here in Washington State. I know Washington has lot's weird stuff (and people), but I didn't know how weird things were. It just happens that the first page I opened up in the book was page 50 which featured a story about Mel's Hole.

Now I had heard of Mel's Hole before; an apparently bottomless hole just West of Ellensburg, Washington. I knew that a man known as Mel Waters had either appeared on, or called in to the Coast to Coast AM radio show, and spoke to then host the Art Bell of a mysterious hole where people would toss in their garbage including cars, but the hole would never fill up. That was pretty much all I knew until I read the section in Weird Washington about Mel's Hole, and also Mel himself.

From the book I learned that Mel Waters claimed to have measured the depth of the hole to something close to 15 miles, that the hole may actually be a portal to different dimensions, and that dead animals tossed in to the hole would reappear some time later alive and kicking. Also Mel claims to have found a WW2 era handgun next to the well that didn't make any sound when fired, and when the gun was held next to a radio the radio would start to receive broadcasts from the past. According to Mel he also found a mysterious red envelope with several Roosevelt dimes with a date of 1943 and a "B" mintmark. Funny thing is though, according to this Wikipedia article, the US didn't start minting Roosevelt dimes until 1946, and according to the book no US Mint has a "B" mintmark.

Mel Waters' explanation for the inconsistencies with the dimes ties into the hole being a portal to a different dimension, but I don't buy it. Nor do I accept that the hole, if it exists, is 15 miles deep (or deeper as others have claimed). Take a look at this Wikipedia article on Mel's Hole, especially the section that states that the total weight of the fishing line used to measure the claimed depth of the hole would exceed the tensile strength of the line itself.

I also have a hard time buying Mel's claims that after his first appearance on the show, before he left the US for Australia to start a wombat preserve, the government prevented him from returning to his property on which the hole was on, and that he eventually leased the property to an unnamed party for $3 million a year. Mel later claimed on another appearance on Coast to Coast that when he returned to the US (in volation of an agreement with the government) he was apparently abducted and drugged, and a belt buckle that had three of the mysterious dimes embedded in it was taken from him.

It's interesting to note that according to the book, and the Wiki article a search of records failed to confirm that Mel Waters was ever a resident of the area he claimed to live in. But that could all be part of the "conspiracy and mystery" couldn't it :)

Read the book, and check out these links, then make up your own mind about this bit of Washington Weirdness:

Mel's Hole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mel's Hole Information
Mel's Hole (melshole.com)
The Continuing Saga of Mel's Hole (melshole.org)
UWTV Program: Mel's Hole
And here's the URL for the Weird Washington book's site: http://www.weirdwashington.us/main.htm

If you do an online search for "Mel's Hole" you get thousands of hits on subject, and you from those you can make your own conclusions. If you happen upon this blog and you have an opinion on the subject then feel free to leave a comment. Don't worry, I'll approve the comment unless it's spam or a ranting flame. Cheers ~ Nemo Black

Big box + big cat = Lot's of cute fun

2009-04-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

You may have already have seen this, but it's worth one more viewing, so take a look at Big Box and Maru :)

Check out Cute Overload :D for your daily dose of cuteness ~ Nemo!

Made a major dent over the weekend.

2009-04-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to start reorganizing my spare bedroom and change it from a storage coffer to a study/computer lab. I have a long ways to go, but I made a major dent and got over some serious inertia that I have been fighting for some time.

I honestly feel I can go through the stuff much more quickly now and trim down what I have to make life much simpler, and to make things easier should I have to move.

The job search is depressing at time, but I keep plugging away and try not to get too down about it. At least now when I need to take a break and walk away from the computer for a while I can go into the spare bedroom and sort stuff for a while.

Unfortunately I overexerted my back, but most of the heavy lifting is done so I can let it rest for a while and heal up.

Sleep has been sucky, but now that the weather is turning I think I will get more energy and get moving.

Vegan cats? You have got to be kidding me!

2009-03-26T18:32:00.001-07:00

At first glance when I saw the headline below on Digg, I thought it was either a story from The Onion, or an early April Fools Day joke, but apparently it is not:

From the Huffington Post: Vegan Pet Food: Is It OK To Raise A Cat Vegan?

Are these people serious? Cat's are carnivores plain, and simple! They require a diet of 75 to 80 percent protein. It is fine for humans to choose their diet, but animals do not have that luxury. Anyone who forces a cat to consume a vegan diet should be charged with animal cruelty!

Aren't things screwed up enough in this world without having to mess with kitty's diet? I hope when these people die their reluctantly vegan cats eat them!

Looking for advice on what writing books I should keep

2009-03-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The books listed below have found homes, so please disregard this post unless you have some other books to recommend ~ Nemo

** ORIGINAL POST**

Well I didn't get that much feedback regarding what are the essential writing books, so I went ahead and compiled a list of all the books on writing that I own and I posted them below.

What I am trying to do is determine which books I should keep and which one's I should get rid of, so I really would appreciate any insights people may have about the books listed in the first four sections. I included links to the Amazon listings for each book to help you.

As for what type of writing I want to do, for now I primarily I want to write scientific and technical articles, and science fiction short stories.

By the way, I know I went way overboard, and that I have too many books, so there's no need to remind me of that. I have been collecting these books for years, and abused a lot of book club memberships to get many of them.

If you have read any of these books, or know anything about them, feel free to leave a comment or email me here. You can also send me an email if you are interested in any of the books that I am getting rid of that are listed in the last two sections.

1) Books that I intend to keep, but I still would like to know what other people think about them:
Aliens and Alien Societies (Science Fiction Writing Series) (Hardcover)
Bugs in Writing (Paperback)
Conceiving the Heavens: Creating the Science Fiction Novel (Paperback)
Cosmic Critiques: How and Why Ten Science Fiction Stories Work (Paperback)
Creating short fiction (Hardcover)
Creating Short Fiction: The Classic Guide to Writing Short Fiction (Paperback) - Duplicate, but may keep it just because.
Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated (Hardcover)
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (Genre Writing) (Hardcover)
NOTES SCIENC FICTION WRITER (Paperback)
Paragons: Twelve Master Science Fiction Writers Ply Their Craft (Hardcover)
Science Fiction Handbook (Paperback)
Space Travel (Science Fiction Writing Series) (Paperback)
World-Building (Science Fiction Writing Series) (Hardcover)
Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy (Paperback)
Zen In The Art Of Writing (Paperback)

2) Technical Writing:
Basic technical writing (Hardcover - Textbook from my days in college: 1982)
How to Write & Present Technical Information (Paperback)
On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction (Hardcover)
Technical Writing for Technicians: How to Build a Career As a Hardware Technical Writer (Paperback)

3) Fiction Writing:
Crash Course in Composition (Paperback - Textbook from my days in college: 1982)
Elements of Writing Fiction - Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing) (Paperback)
Elements of Writing Fiction - Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing) (Paperback)
How to Prepare Your Manuscript for a Publisher (Paperback)
Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law: For Authors, Publishers, Editors and Agents (Paperback)
Literary Agents: What They Do, How They Do It, and How to Find and Work with the Right One for You, Revised and Expanded (Paperback)
Punctuation Plain & Simple (Plain and Simple Series) (Paperback)
Revision: A Creative Approach to Writing and Rewriting Fiction (Hardcover)
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Sourcebook: Where to Sell Your Manuscripts (Hardcover) - 1996, some information may be out of date
Science Fiction Writer's Marketplace and Sourcebook (Hardcover)
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Paperback)
Setting (Elements of Fiction Writing) (Paperback)
Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers (Paperback)
The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (Paperback)
The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction (Hardcover)
The Elements of Editing: A Modern Guide For Editors & Journalists, (Paperback)
The Elements of Grammar (Paperback)
The Elements of Style, Third Edition (Hardcover)
The Indispensable Writer's Guide: How to Successfully Build Your Writing Career for Maximum Financial Reward and Satisfaction (Paperback)
The Right to Write (Hardcover)
The Writer's Digest Dictionary of Concise Writing (Hardcover)
The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing (Vol 1) (Paperback) - 2 copies
The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing - Volume 2 - (Paperback)
The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe (Hardcover)
The Writer's Handbook, 1992 (Softcover)
The Writers Journey: 2nd Edition: Mythic Structure for Writers (Paperback)
The Writer's Survival Guide (Hardcover)
This Business of Writing (Hardcover)
Writer's Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
Writing and Selling Science Fiction (Paperback)
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Paperback)
Writing Great Characters : The Psychology of Character Development in Screenplays (Paperback)
Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy (Self-Counsel Writing) (Paperback)
Writing Sci Fi That Sells (Paperback)

4) Miscellaneous:
How to Read a Book (Hardcover) - Has anyone ever read ths book? I got this book thinking it would help my reading, and in turn my writing, but the it is a little arcane by today's standards. I don't know if it's worth my time to continue reading it or not. (Yes, I know how to read, but I am not the fastest or most dedicated reader)

5) Below are books on writing and research that I am definitely selling, so make a bid if you want any of them:
Armed and Dangerous: A Writer's Guide to Weapons (Howdunit Series) (Paperback)
Dictionary of Cliches (Hardcover)
Interactive Writers Handbook (Paperback)
Just the Facts, Ma'Am: A Writer's Guide to Investigators and Investigation Techniques (Howdunit) (Paperback)
Lights & Sirens: A Writer's Guide to Emergency Rescue Professions (Paperback)
Modern American Usage: a Guide (Hardcover)
Modus Operandi: A Writer's Guide to How Criminals Work (Howdunit) (Paperback)
Mystery and Crime: The New York Public Library Book of Answers: Intriguing and Entertaining Questions and Answers About the Who's Who and What's (Paperback)
Rip-Off: A Writer's Guide to Crimes of Deception (Howdunit) (Paperback)
Scene of the Crime: A Writer’s Guide to Crime Scene Investigation (Howdunit Series) (Paperback)
The Facts On File Guide To Research (Writers Library) (Paperback)
The Information Broker's Handbook (Paperback)
The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers (Paperback)
The Writer's Complete Crime Reference Book (Hardcover)
The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook (Hardcover)
They Have a Word for It (Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words & Phrases)
Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (Hardcover)
Writing the Private Eye Novel: A Handbook by the Private Eye Writers of America (Hardcover)
Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing (Paperback) - Duplicate copy
You Can Write a Mystery (Paperback)
"Your Mother Wears Army Boots!": A Treasure Trove of Insults, Slurs and Putdowns (Paperback)

6) Not really related to writing, but these books may be of interest to some of you, so make a bid:
Careers for Mystery Buffs & Other Snoops And Sleuths (Paperback
Crime Scene (Mass Market Paperback)
Five-Minute Mysteries: 37 Challenging Cases of Murder and Mayhem for You to Solve (Paperback)
Journey Into Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)
Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (Mass Market Paperback

A question for writers: What are the essential books for beginning writers?

2009-03-21T15:12:00.001-07:00

I have decided to pare down many of the books that I have, but I going to so in small steps. Right now I am currently going through many of the books on writing that I have, but have never read.

Before I begin the culling of the herd, I would like to hear from others as to what books they consider the essential books for beginning writers such as myself? I am asking this on the off-chance that I may already have some of the books, so I can hold on to them now and avoid having to repurchase them later.

I realize that posting the list of books I have now might make things easier, but I would like to get some input now so as to better help me go through the books. Letting me know of your suggestions before then will help me a lot.

To help you better advise me I will let you know that I want to write both short science fiction, and scientific articles. So if you have any suggestions feel free to drop me a line. I really would appreciate it.

IT Crowd: truest moment ever!

2009-01-27T22:11:00.001-08:00

I guess I am a little behind the curve, but I just discovered the show "The IT Crowd" and I love it!

For me the clip below is so true to life:

Over a 1000 new species discovered in Mekong Delta region.

2008-12-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

According to this CNN article - "Mekong a 'treasure trove' of 1,000 newly discovered species", over a 1000 new species were discovered in the Mekong Delta region between 1997 and 2007.

The discoveries include the Laotian Rock Rat that was thought to be extinct for over 11 million years, a striped rabbit, a spider with a five foot span, and a cyanide-producing "dragon millipede".

Give the article a read, and be sure to check out the slide show of some of animals found. Apparently scientists are discovering new species at a rate of two a week.

Unfortunately many of these animals may become extinct in the near future due to development, and wars in the region.

One has to wonder if discover this many new species in the Mekong Delta, then what can they discover up in other remote areas of the world.

Cryptozoology: Pygmy Tarsier

2008-11-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

Cryptozoology is not just about Bigfoot, Nessie, or the Mothman. Cryptozoology also deals with animals such as the Pygmy Tarsier which was thought to have been extinct for over 80 years, but was rediscovered on the the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Below are a few of the recent articles about the Pygmy Tarsier:

Pygmy Tarsier Wikipedia article
Scientists rediscover pocket-sized primate
Tiny, long-lost primate rediscovered in Indonesia

The rediscovery of the Pygmy Tarsier gives me hope that my favorite cryptid the Thylacine may eventually be rediscovered in Tasmania, and this time protected from hunting. The Thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, was the largest carnivorous marsupial in modern times. Here is another link about Tazzie that I hope you will find interesting.

UK UFO files now available.

2008-11-16T16:38:00.000-08:00

This is pretty much old news, but I have been meaning to post about this for a while now, so here it goes.

Some time around October the British government released most of their UFO files, and they are now online at the National Archives: http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

I haven't had time to look at any of them, but I would venture to guess that several truck loads of black felt pens were used before these documents were released. Having said that I do feel it is a step in the right direction.

I'd like to know what others think about this so feel free to leave a comment.

Flat Earthers?

2008-08-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a little late night ramble for you!

Check out this recent Slashdot.org article titled "The Flat Earthers Are Still With Us" which references this BBC article about the Flat Earth movement.

You have to wonder if groups like "The Flat Earth Society" are hanging on for the sake of hanging on, or do they honestly believe in the flat Earth theory?

Seriously, there are more worthy conspiracy theories that one can waste their time on.

Aging impairs the 'replay' of memories during sleep

2008-07-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting URL about sleep that I need to read later today:

http://www.physorg.com/news136569569.html

It's amazing how important sleep is. Maybe I should get some :)

It's been over a year!

2008-07-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year since I have posted to this blog? Wow!, considering this is supposed to be my primary blog I definitely need to get a swift kick in the arse, and start posting here more.

I also need to keep up several other projects I have put on the back burner lately - especially the cloudymidnights site and blog which was created in part to help visually impaired people learn about astronomy. I have been very busy with the NWSFS News Blog that I maintain. I am not complaining mind you, I just wish I had another 48 hours in the day to work on all the things I have planned. The news blog is a great project and has been very helpful in my learning new skills.

I have been spending a lot of time posting to my personal blog on MySpace, when in fact I should be posting here and on my LJ blog more. My original plans for the blogs were for me to put personal "me" stuff on MySpace blog, science fiction cinima and litureature posts on the LJ blog, and fringe stuff here. Well I guess I ballixed that plan with way too much "me" on MySpace and nothing here or on LJ. I definitely have to work on that and make sure I don't wait another year to post here.

"Mos MySpace: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."

2007-03-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Apologies Obi Wan, but I just had to. The Farse is with me :)

Is it just me or has MySpace become the toilet of the internet. While I have a blog there that I use more often than this one, I actually spend more time reporting spam, phish and other mock meets (aka faux add requests.)

I am starting to burn out on reporting the abuses and to be honest, the response I have receive from MySpace is a joke. Apparently they monitor how often an add request is denied and if it hits a certain percentage, then they take action. It would be better to just have a button on the add request form, that one can select for abuse, but then again, that solution may be abused too.

I keep getting the same spam messages from some young thing in GA. who's advertising her IM, apparently for those who are into one-hand-typing ;) There there are the jerks who modify the code in their profile so you cannot delete them or attempt to redirect you to the "Adult Content Viewer" which malware. Do a search no "MySpace Adult Content Viewer" and check out how many pages you will find.

I've come to accept that all of this is part of the WWW (Wild Wild Web) and that MySpace is the Skid Row of the internet. Of course that makes me a bum, but at least I am not a whore :)

More movies.

2007-02-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

I added quite a few movies to the Classic 50's Sci-Fi Movies page over at Slumberland site.

Other than that, I haven't done much else with the page. I have been trying to get back in touch with a lot of my old friends that I used to know, but have only been able to contact a few. I am hoping to go to Norwescon this year and maybe attend a few writer panels.

Updated Slumberland Home.

2007-01-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

Well it's not much but I updated the Slumberland Homepage and added some links. I will be taking most of what I blogged about Operation High Jump and the mythos surrounding it and posting to a page there.

Blogging not clogging!

2007-01-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well I guess the first UserFriendly Strip of 2007 sort of hit a nerve with me, and I have decided to stop being a clogger and instead become a blogger.

I've been blogging a lot on my MySpace blog, mostly about changes I am trying to make with my life. This isn't the usual New Years Resolution stuff. I've been working on these changes for years and I am starting to see sun light at the end of the tunnel.

I guess I am going to have to learn how to balance several different blogs. This blog is still going to be for the fringe stuff like Nazi UFOs In Antarctica conspiracies and the like, but it will also be for some general thoughts and such. I am going to also develop my Google Pages site to collect a lot of the fringe links I have.

As for the fringe subjects I will be posting about, I have to say I am not a "true" believer, just someone who's interested in the subjects and taking an objective look at them. Now I guess I better put up some sort of disclaimer regarding the Nazi UFOs In Antarctica. My interest in this particular subject has to do with the mythos that has developed around it and has nothing, I repeat NOTHING, to do with supporting any Nazi movement, which I vehemently do not support. I just wanted to make that clear.

There will be more later, but that's it for now.

Finally getting started.

2006-11-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

Some of the things I will be posting about in this blog will be my thoughts about things on the fringe that interest me. This will include subjects such as UFOs, government conspiracies, and cryptozoology. I am not a diehard believer in these subjects, but I am interested in reading and studying about them.

The one thing that intrigues me, is the mythology on the internet that has growm around these subjects, specifically how they are perpetuated and often blown out of proportion by those posting about them.

Of these subjects, my current favorite is what I call "Nazi UFOs in Antarctica" which is my pet phrase for the myths and misconceptions surrounding the US Navy's Operation High Jump from 1946 and Nazi Germany's interest in Antarctica both before and during WWII. If you do a web search with Google using the phrase "Nazi UFOs in Antarctica" you will come across some really interesting and at times entertaining sites. Most of the sites do mention Operation High Jump which was an expedition led by Admiral Byrd in 1946. Many sites claim that this expedition was actually an assault on a secret Nazi base that the Germans had been set up near the end of the war. Besides the Wikipedia article above, here is another factual link regarding Operation High Jump. Nazi Germany did have an interest in Antarctica and actually claimed an area that was named New Swabia, but I doubt it was ever developed into a super secret base with uber-troopers, super submarines and UFOs that many of the sites out there comment about.

Iwill be posting more about this subject at the Slumberland site. There I will delve more into this subject, and list some of the sites that I feel best represent the how the facts have been distorted and those that offer some interesting ideas. Though I am some what skeptical about this particular subject, I am open to the fact that there may be more to it than meets the eye.

It's lonely out there in cyberspace.

2006-07-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it's about time to actually use this blog for what it's intended for - to write about my personal life.

I've been venturing out amongst the social sites and posting a profile in hopes of making some new friends, but haven't had much luck. I had been on Friendster for a while, but traffic there seems to have died down quite a bit, though I still maintain a presence there. I think Myspace is where everyone and I mean, EVERYONE! seems to be posting their profiles.

I've been on Myspace for a while and have sent some posts to people in hopes of making some new friends, but nobody seems interested. I sometimes wonder if they are just not interested or are they scared off for some reason. More than likely, they have real lives and don't spend all their time on the computer like I do.

I was able to hook up with Lawrence M. Schoen who is a someone I know from Friendster. He's a writer which is something I have hopes of becoming one day. I have quite a few stories floating around in my head and on pieces of paper all over the house. Once I get organized, I hope to get back into writing again.

Well, that's enough for now.