Lion's pride: January 2015

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Remembering the Apollo 1 tragedy 48 years ago

It was 48 years ago yesterday, Jan. 27, that every eye in the nation were turned to Cape Canaveral, Florida. That was where NASA's Apollo 1 rocket was wheeled into complex 34 for a launch rehearsal test before its scheduled Feb. 21 blastoff. That February launch was to be the first manned orbital test flight of the command capsule that would eventually take men to the Moon. Just moments before the countdown to the launch rehearsal finished tragedy struck.

The leading news story after that incident probably went similar to the follow. Breaking News: Shortly after 6:30 EST tragedy struck at Cape Canaveral, Florida taking the lives of three American heroes. United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonels Virgil Grissom & Edward White along with United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Roger Chafee where trapped in the Apollo command capsule as a fire consumed the craft during a launch rehearsal.

Virgil Grissom first enlist in the United States Army Air Corp in 1943 before his high school graduation the following year. He filed for and was given an honorable discharge after the end of WWII. It was then that he went on to Purdue University earning a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering. He then re-enlisted in the United States Air Force where he flew in 100 combat mission as a wing man. In 1953 he was sent back to the states where he to become a flight instructor at Bryan AFB. He also earned a bachelor degree in aeromechanics and served as a test pilot before receiving an invitation from NASA in 1958. After becoming one of the “Mercury seven” astronauts Mr. Grissom went on to pilot both Mercury 4 and Gemini 3.

Edward White's military career started as a student at West Point where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1952. After graduation he entered flight school as a second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. After returning from a stint in West Germany, Mr. White attended the University of Michigan where he earned his masters of science in aeronautical engineering in 1959. He went on to become a test pilot where logged over 3,000 hours of flight time. Mr. White was recruited into NASA as the 2^nd group of astronauts in 1962. His first mission was as the pilot for Gemini 4.

Roger Chaffee started out his career going through the ROTC route where in 1953 he enrolled in the Illinois Institute of Technology. He transferred from there to Purdue where he earned a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1957. That same year Mr. Chaffee was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy. In 1959 Mr. Chaffee earned his Naval pilot's wings and was assigned to photo reconnaissance squadrons as a Lieutenant Commander. During his time in photo reconnaissance it was rumored that Mr. Chaffee was one of the pilots that flew the secretive U2 spy plane. In January of 1963 Mr. Chaffee became one of the 3^rd group of astronauts and Apollo 1 would have been his first trip into space.

3 places to watch the Superbowl in Seattle

When Jermaine Kearse caught the winning touchdown in the Seattle Seahawks thrilling win in NFC championship, all of CenturyLink field and thousands of fan across Washington State roared. There was plenty of celebrating and chatter on social media about our team would be headed for the Superbowl in Arizona.

As soon as the cheering over that win died down the mad scrabble started to get travel and ticket packages to go to Arizona to see the Seahawks play in their second straight Superbowl Since there is such a limited number of tickets it left thousands unable to go and watch their team in person. Leaving them to look for locale places to watch and cheer the Seahawks on the victory over the New England Patriots.

Boud's Pinehurst pub

Seahawks fans can gather at Boud's Pinehurst pub located at 11753 15^th avenue north east in Seattle where you can spend the Afternoon & Evening celebrating. You can start off your pre-game party when the first happy hour there starts at 2 pm where you can dine on some of your favorite tailgate fare like Kobe slider, nachos, tacos and chips & salsa. Then, at 3:30 you can watch the game on the 6 high definition televisions. After the Seahawks victory then you can have a celebratory drink or two, play some pool and party with other Seahawks fans.

Summit public house

Perch in Seattle's capitol hill district you will find the Summit public house located at 601 summit avenue east. There you can start you Superbowl celebrating at 11:00 am with breakfast and maybe a drink or two. Later you can watch the game in high definition on one of the large screens.

Auto battery bar

In the heart of downtown Seattle just outside of the University district you will find the Auto Battery bar at 1009 east Union street. The red brick building you find there doesn't look like the typical bar because it use to be an auto garage. Once inside though you will see that it is indeed a sports bar where you can come in and watch the Superbowl on any of the 9 flat screen TVs. As your watching the game you can sip on drinks with names, such as, spark plug, tire iron and anti-freeze or choose from a large selection of beers. As you watch the game use the free wi-fi to tweet your comments or post to Facebook.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

4 bars Seattle for outdoor dining

The greater Seattle metropolitan area has a reputation as being rainy, overcast and cold. For the most that reputation is well earned especially from the months of September to March. It makes the Seattle metropolitan area the last place that you would expect to find a bar with outdoor seating. For that reason people that travel to Seattle, and the surrounding cities, probably think we are a little crazy to have so many bars and restaurants with outdoor seating.

It is a little know fact outside of Washington State that in the rest of the year there are actually plenty of nice days that make drinking and dining outside a pleasant experience It is one of those secrets that we don't like to let outsiders in on to keep the outdoor spaces to ourselves.

Eastlake

The Eastlake bar & grill located at 2947 Eastlake avenue east in Seattle has plenty outdoor seating overlooking beautiful Lake Union. It makes a great place to spend a nice sunny Summer day eating a burger and drinking a beer as you look out at the sailboats cruising along the lake. The Eastlake bar & grill does serve much more than than just the above mentioned items. They also offer Chicken skewers, a good selection of gluten free items along with plenty of cocktails, wines and a nice selection of tempting desserts

Daniel's broiler

On the 21^st floor of the Bank of America building in the city of Bellevue is Daniel's broiler. While there you can take a seat in one of the two out decks. There you can dine on Oysters Rockefeller, pan-seared wild Salmon, Ribeye steak or some of their other fine fare while sipping on one of their several cocktails. All the while enjoying the breath taking view of the Olympic Mountains and the Seattle skyline.

Pink Door

In downtown in the historic Pike Place district you will find the Pink Door where you can sit out the deck, dine on some fine Italian food, sip a glass of wine and look out over beautiful Elliot bay. They have lunch and dinner menus full of antipasti, paninis and other classic Italian dishes. For those that want to make it a complete evening out there are even cabaret shows.

AQUA by El Gaucho

Hidden on Seattle's waterfront is AQUA by El Gaucho out on the end of pier 70. Once there you can dine on some fine seafood while sipping wine or cocktails with names like toews in the surf, bee-keepers Manhattan and aqua stormy all while sitting outdoors with a view of Elliot bay.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

how to win a game in 3 minutes

In one of the most thrilling comebacks in the history of the playoffs, the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC championship for the second year in a row.

The Green Bay Packers had the opening drive of the game where they marched right down field until Richard Sherman intercepted the ball in the end-zone. With that turn it looked as though it would turn into another easy game for Seattle but that was not to be. Not long after getting the ball Russell Wilson threw the first of four interceptions. Green Bay quickly scored to start off what would be the worst first half the Seahawks have experienced since Russell Wilson became the starting quarterback in 2012.

In the third quarter the Seahawks finally managed to get on the scoreboard when punter Jon Ryan threw a touchdown pass, on a fake field goal, to back up tackle Gary Gilliam. It seemed to be the one big play to ignited the Seahawks but it was not to be as there no more scoring on either side. The 3^rd quarter ended with the Packers leading by 9 points.

Not long into the 4^th quarter the game seemed to be getting out of reach as the Packers kicked a field goal to extend the lead to 12 points. The score remained 19-7 for most of the 4^th quarter. Then, with less then three minutes left in the game something unbelievable happened. The Seahawks' offense caught fire and scored a touchdown to close the gap to 5 points. It was thrilling but it looked like a case of too little too late. The Seahawks showed us they had more up their sleeves when they recovered an on-side kick, which is rare, and quickly score another touchdown with a 2 point conversion to take a 3 point lead. It looked like the Seahawks would win in regulation but the Packers tied the game with a last second field goal.

With the game headed for overtime the Seahawks won the coin toss. Seattle received the kickoff where they picked up where they left off. After a couple of quick strikes Russell Wilson threw a 35-yard bomb that landed right in the hands of Jermaine Kearse for the winning touchdown to send the Seahawks to the Superbowl for the 3^rd time in team history and the 2^nd in a row.

Friday, January 16, 2015

NASA finds lost Eroupean Mars rover

In a press conference this morning the ESA (European space agency) confirm that NASA found their Beagle 2 rover that has been lost for over a decade. It was on Monday, Jan. 12, the HIRise camera on NASA's MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) spotted what they suspected was the missing rover. After studying the images over the course of the week it was confirmed that is was indeed the Beagle 2 rover.

"The history of space exploration is marked by both success and failure," UK Space Agency Chief David Parker said in a statement. "This finding makes the case that Beagle 2 was more of a success than we previously knew and undoubtedly an important step in Europe's continuing exploration of Mars."

The story started on June 2, 2003 when the Beagle 2 rover was launched from Balkonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan. The rover rode on a Soyuz-FG rocket as part of the ESA's Mars express mission to take soil sample and collect data for signs of life. After a 6+ month long voyage the rover was deployed into a Martian orbit on Dec. 19 and was never seen or heard from again. It was never known if the rover completed the the decent to the planet surface or lost in space.

"To be frank, I had all but given up hope of ever knowing what happened to Beagle 2," said former Beagle 2 mission manager Mark Sims, of the University of Leicester, in the UK Space Agency statement. "The images show that we came so close to achieving the goal of science on Mars. The images vindicate the hard work put in by many people and companies both here in the UK and around Europe and the world in building Beagle 2."

Shortly after the rover went missing the conspiracy theories started flying on what could be the reason behind the disappearance. These theories ranged from a cover-up to hid data showing life and man-made structures, the United State destroying it to alien abduction. The truth turned far less dramatic though when the NASA images showed that the rover did in fact make its Christmas land but just failed to open up its solar panels and communication array.

"Beagle 2 wasn't a failure by any stretch of the imagination," Sims said. "We trained a whole generation of engineers and scientists in Mars exploration."

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

3 unique tours you will find in Seattle

Most people that live outside of Washington State have some pre-conceived notions about Seattle. They think the only things to see and do there are go to fish markets, coffee shops, the Space Needle and take a ride on ferries. The last thing on their mind is coming to Seattle to go ghost hunting, see and hear about history, ride an old fashioned trolley car and explore micro breweries. Troughs are just some of the things you will experience on some of the unique tours you can go on when you visit Seattle.

The historic underground

The underground tour starts when you enter a restored 19^th century saloon. Once inside you you will get a brief history of movers and shakers of Seattle in the 1800s. From there you will travel 8 feet under the streets of the historic Pioneer Square. For the next 70 minutes you will see the ruins of the old city before the fire of 1889. Tour guides will also regal you with stories of the coming and goes of everyday life in a 19^th century logging community. When you emerge from the underground you will be in Rouges gallery souvenir shop where you will be able to purchase momentos of your adventures.

Spooked in Seattle

Since 2004 actual paranormal hunters will take you on a 90 minute tour where you visit some of the most haunted places in the greater Seattle area. They will also regal you with tales of actual hauntings. If that is not enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck you will also see & hear some of the actual evidence they have collected on their investigation. Even if you are a strong sceptic of the supernatural you just might become a believer after this tour.

Tour the city on a trolley

For those that would like a more relaxed tour Seattle offers a variety of tours on an old fashioned trolley car. You and up to 34 friends, or strangers that will soon be friends, can tour downtown Seattle, tour the wineries in the neighboring city of Woodinville, tour the Christmas light display during the holidays or a number of other tours. If the offered tours do not appeal to you the trolley is available for private charters.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Amazon inks a deal with Woody Allen

Today Amazon Studios announce their biggest signing to-date when Academy award winning director and writer Woody Allen inked a deal. The deal has Seattle-based Amazon committing to atleast one season of a yet unnamed 30-minute series written, directed and produced by Mr. Allen. The 30-minute series will be a first for Mr. Allen who is best known for movies like Sleeper, Annie Hall, The purple rose of Ciaro and Blue Jasmine.

“Woody Allen is a visionary creator who has made some of the greatest films of all-time, and it’s an honor to be working with him on his first television series,” said Roy Price, Vice President of Amazon Studios, in the press release announcing the deal. “From Annie Hall to Blue Jasmine, Woody has been at the creative forefront of American cinema and we couldn’t be more excited to premiere his first TV series exclusively on Prime Instant Video next year.”

Writing for Amazon is a return to Mr Allen's roots when he started his amazing career 60 years ago as joke writer for television. After begin a contributing writer on some of the biggest shows of early television Mr. Allen went on to be a stand-up comic before writing Broadway plays in the 1960s. In the closing years of the 1960s Woody Allen started the next phase of his career where he found most most of his fame as a writer, director and actor in over 50 movies.

In the neurotic style we have come to identify Woody Allen with he made the following statement about his signing with the Seattle-based company, “I don’t know how I got into this. I have no ideas and I’m not sure where to begin. My guess is that Roy Price will regret this.”

Amazon is hoping to build on the recent success they have had when they won their first two Golden Globe awards for the dark comedy Transparent.

Friday, January 9, 2015

SpaceX set for pre-dawn launch Saturday

For the last 3 months NASA has been struggling to get supplies and groceries to the ISS (International Space-station). If all systems are go an unmanned mission with Space X's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule will liftoff from cape Canaveral on Saturday morning at 4:47 am EST. The launch will be the fifth attempt, the third by SpaceX, to get over 5,100 pounds of supplies and groceries to the ISS.

"Certainly, there's a little bit of disappointment because it had fresh fruit and those types of things that we're all interested in getting," Space station commander Butch Wilmore said in an interview with The Associated Press after the postponement. "But they'll get off the ground here in a couple of days and it will all be great."

Once the rocket has been successfully launch and the first stage separates SpaceX carry out a feat that has not been attempted with a space vehicle. They will attempt to land the re-usable rocket on a 300 x 100 foot (91 x 30 meter) platform anchored in the ocean just off the coast of Florida.

“This would have an impact on the entire industry,” SpaceX Vice President Hans Koenigsmann told reporters.

SpaceX was originally schedule to launch on Dec. 18, 2014 but engine trouble forced them to scrub the mission and reschedule for Jan. 6, 2015. The Jan. 6 launch was scrubbed within a minute of launch because of actuator problems. After that launch was scrubbed it was rescheduled to take place this morning until it was determed that they would not have the problem fixed in time so the launch was pushed to Saturday.

The first two attempts were made by Orbital science Corporation in late October. The first one was called off when a boat sailed into the safe zone around the Island of Virginia where the launch was to take place. The second attempt ending when the unmanned rocket explode just seconds after it liftoff. An investigation determined that explosion was cause by a flaw in an engine used on the rocket.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

8 great books to keep your mind busy

There is nothing quite like reading a good book to help you relax after a long day. Once you open the cover, or turn on the e-reader, and start reading you are transported to other worlds, a different time or learn about subjects that interest you. What ever genre of book you like it is always a great way to break the daily doldrums.

Reading also offers some benefits for your everyday life. By keeping your brain active it helps with your cognitive skills needed for all aspects of life. A good book can also be beneficial to your health by lowering your stress level.

The following is a list of books that you might not have heard of that I reviewed:

Mategual Island is the first book in a paranormal mystery series. In the first book Bill and Karen Anderson take their twin daughters Sophie and Terri to the little Island off the coast of Maine. Not long after the family move into their new home they learn of the Indian legend surrounding the property. Later that evening Sophie and Terri find and old box containing artifacts that seem to fit into the legend and Bill find mysterious symbols in the basement. It is then that events start happening that turn everything upside down for Bill and Karen.
Creedor is a wonderful science fiction fantasy that will carry you away into a world of wizards, an epidemic, a political coup and mysterious invaders.
Omniverse by Liam Parker is a great trilogy that will take you world where you are caught between fantasy and reality in an eternal struggle of good and evil.
For love or loyalty in the first book in a historical fiction trilogy that chronicles the Campbell family. In the first book deals mostly with indentured servitude and young love.
Dark biology by Bonnie Doran is a romantic, suspenseful and out this world science fiction novel that will keep the reader well engaged from beginning to end
John Smith: The last known survivor of the Microsoft Wars by Roland Hughes is not your typical post-apocalyptic piece of fiction but also a well written piece of philosophy.
Fiona Thorn and the Carapacem Spell by Jen Barton is a delightful work of children's fiction and adventure.
Memories with Maya by Clyde Dsouza is a technology thriller, with some romance and erotica, that will take you on an intense journey along with Daniel, Krish and Maya as take virtual reality to new heights.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Flaw in engines caused October explosion

Earlier this week we finally learned what cause NASA's Antares rocket explosion on October 28, 2014. It turns that when Orbital Science Corp. built the rocket they used old Soviet-built rocket engines that NASA had in storage for the last 50 years.

The engines had a "fundamental flaw in the materials," said a top manager for NASA's contracted rocket builder, Orbital Sciences, in a 2013 interview with an agency historian. The Soviet engines were built in the 1960s and 1970s in a failed attempt to take cosmonauts to the moon.

According to an article written by Melody Pettersen of the Los Angeles Times, government documents show that NASA had known for years that there was a potential flaw in the engines. The documents show that in 2008 a NASA committee issued a warning that these engines hold a “substantial” risk if used. The warning goes on to talk about the cracks that might have developed that could lead to fuel leaks that can cause a catastrophic failure at launch.

“They were never designed to be in storage that long,” said the Orbital manager, Ken Eberly, deputy director for the rocket program.

The explosion, on that October day ten weeks ago, destroyed millions of dollars in supplies headed to the ISS (international spacestation), the rocket and launch pad. The revelation that NASA knew of this flaw raises some questions about their oversight committee.

Why did NASA allow the use of these engines? The answer might be that a press release by Orbital Science Corp. speaks of a successful test after refurbishing the engines. Even with the success of this test there was still reason for concern when a subsequent x-ray showed that the refurbishing wasn't as solid as first thought and could still be a great risk to the mission.

In November the investigation into the explosion first started to focus on the engines. This prompted the CEO of Orbital Science to admitted that a fatal flaw inside the engines could have been the cause.

"While still preliminary and subject to change, the current evidence strongly suggests that one of the two AJ26 main engines that powered Antares' first stage failed about 15 seconds after ignition," Orbital president and CEO

David Thompson said during a conference call today. "At this time, we believe the failure likely originated in, or directly affected, the turbopump machinery of this engine, but I want to stress that more analysis will be required to confirm that this finding is correct." He later added, "We will likely discontinue the use of the AJ26 rocket engines that had been used on the first five Antares launch vehicles unless and until those engines can be conclusively shown to be flightworthy,"

Friday, January 2, 2015

Review: Return to Mateguas Island

Return to Mateguas Island: a tale of supernatural suspense by Linda Watkins is the second spine tingling book in her Mateguas Island trilogy. The battle that started in the first thrilling book continues but this time the stakes are higher. This time Karen is not only battling for her family but for the future of mankind. Luckily for her she won't have to make the stand alone as she receives some help from unsuspected places.

This time it is twins Sophie and Terri that are determined to find out what happened that day 10 years ago when their dad disappeared. It is not long before they are transporting us, along with their mom and step-dad, back to that little Island of the coast of Maine. Soon after arriving we find ourselves back on the thrilling roller-coaster ride we experienced in the previous book. This time around there are more characters, twists, and clues that take us even deeper into this mystical realm that plagues the swamp, surrounding property and those that live there. With each page you will find yourself drawn in so deep that you find your heart pounding as you experience these terrifying supernatural events that haunt both Karen and her daughter Terri.

Ms. Watkins does a great job with her uses of with creating an air of mystery around some of characters to make us guess at to just what part they play in the struggle about to unfold. A good example of this was when close to the end of the first book when we find out Maggie is pregnant with Bill's child and the mysterious time lapse she experiences. Then, some of the things that come out in her thoughts further make us wonder what role she will play and will it be for good or evil.

I would recommend this book for anyone that likes folk lore, supernatural stories, mysteries or want to relive that feeling of when you were younger and would tell scary stories around the campfire.