2024 Halloween Imaging in November

Halloween this year was on a Thursday. I incorrectly guessed that people would keep their Halloween decorations into the weekend. Besides a few people having already started taking in items, a few balloons were deflated.

Imagining I might take good daytime images, initially hoped to capture more striking nighttime versions. Having less stamina than in the past, and also seeing dismantling of decorations lessened ambition for an evening pic excursion.

In the last day of movie-making, I shoehorned a few clips and pix from the rest of November during the rest of November. Look for a li'l Thanksgiving and Halloweenish Christmas peeks.

Lesson learned for 2025—take pix and videos a few days before Halloween (daytime for one session, nighttime for another session).

Visit past Halloween videos ("Halloween Decorations Galore!") and related blog articles.

Last of the Cedars Downed

Upon moving in, the cedar trees numbered 11. Arborgeddon (in 2023) wiped out maybe five. The last cedar became weakened maybe a year later; it could fall and harm or worse in a bad moment. Got it cut and removed mid-September.

The video revisits some memories of Arborgeddon damage. A segment shows abbreviated cutting and removal of the last tree. Besides wanting to document the majestic tree's demise, I wanted to closely view the cedar stump surface.

Based on meandering to view previous cedar stumps, I wasn't sure what the surface would look like. The center part is heartwood, prominently "ringed" by the sapwood.(It measures about 9" x 12".) Anything about the shape and colors remind you of anything? For more info about tree anatomy that also mentions barks and cambium, with ID-labeled image, visit "Anatomy of a Tree".

 

The irregular perimeter made me wonder how weak the trunk itself might have been. That stump doesn't resemble the nearby one, also a cedar. They both look like their trunks had been lacking in solid mass.

Visit my other articles and videos of cedars, now in the past. No longer any cedars to hack at errant branches and their needly, junipery foliage.

• "See Dere Cedar Stumps, Plus One, Sizing Up" article | video
• "See Dere Cedar Stumps" article | video

Related: "2023 Ice 'N' Arborgeddon" article | video

Revisiting Lemon Poppyseed Mini-cupcakes

My first batch of lemon poppyseed mini-cupcakes was in June 2012. Coincidentally, I used the same lemon cake brand and poppyseeds. The two emphases were as follows:

• Regular-size vs. mini-cupcakes made using aluminum pans that had round wells
• Separation methods between the cake batter and pan wells

This time, I triedd using silicone pans with square wells. One panful, I used scoops/spoon to dispense batter. The other panful, I pitcher-poured. (Pitcher dispensing is so much faster!) I also enriched the recipe with an extra egg and used milk instead of water. Richer flavor and body.

Wellll, the session did not go anywhere as well as I'd hoped. Various websites touted non-stickiness of silicone, and that the physical flexibility would allow quick release of baked items.

Alas, throwing caution to the wind, my un-oiled pans, filled with ~95% batter, yielded cringeworthy amounts of baked cake in the wells. The hoped-for flick-of-the-wrist cake releases kind of worked. They were fugly, better served in dim lighting.

The video shows straightforward steps that worked well until I got to the dispensing, baking, and cake extractions. (Pay attention to the kitchen versions of road caution signs.)

Calories and Sodium

The yield was from filling the cupcake wells higher than I should have. I have a recollection that I'd wound up with 77 at another baking session. Another wrinkle to the calculations is that much of the cake stuck to the pans. More units, fewer calories each. Same amount of units but successful detachments from pans, more calories each.

I did not list poppyseeds in the table. Google results show negligible stats for calories, sodium, or practically any other noteworthy nutrient.

Silicone Pan Resources That Seemed Persuasive at the Time

• "Silicone vs Paper cupcake liners"
• "How To Use a Silicone Muffin Pan?"
• "Webake Mini Brownie Pan Square Silicone Baking Mold for Keto Fat Bomb, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Blondie"
• "24-Cavity Metal Reinforced Silicone Mini Muffin Pan by Celebrate It™"
• "Good Question: Help! Why Do Cupcakes Always Get Stuck In These Silicone Muffin Cups?"
• "What are the advantages of silicone molds?", subsection of "Grease the silicone mold - is it really necessary? - Wisefood"

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Related: "Lemon Poppyseed Mini-cupcakes"

Betty Crocker Butter Pecan Cake Mix Cookies, MImicking La Moderna Marianita Cookies

It'd been awhile since I'd baked cookies using cake mix. Betty Crocker caught my eye with the Butter Pecan cake flavor. The sale price of $1 was compelling. I tried to duplicate La Moderna Marianita pecan flavor cookies, cheap at about 68 cents for a roll of 28 cookies (6.5 ounces).

The Marianita cookies are crunchy and don't contain actual pecans. The flavor has a hint of pecan nut skins, smidge of bitter aftertaste. For attempting crunchiness, I had hoped baking at 325, not 350, and baking cookies longer than typical cookies would work. I also hoped that the BC's reduced amount of powder (from 15.25 to 13.25 oz) wouldn't affect the outcome.

Wellll, the lessons learned for the next time will be to raid some other cake mix box for two ounces of powder to add to the recipe. The dough didn't firm up like in other cake mix cooky dough. It was stickier and harder to load into my cooky press and dispense. Also, next time, I'll try baking the cookies at least 13 to 14 minutes. Sure, I like soft and chewy, but I was trying to obtain the Marianita crunchiness.

View the video for step-by-step process. See the final image for comparison of a plateful each of BC Butter Pecan cake mix cookies and La Moderna Marianita pecan flavor cookies.

Making cookies at home take way more time and energy than buying shelf-stable store cookies. Be sure to block out time for gathering ingredients, equipment, mixing, dispensing, baking, and cooling. Oh, yeah, remember cleanup time and effort!

Cookies and other wheat-dominant products have gotten pricey over time. On the good side, the ingredients for the project came to less than $2: $1 for box of cake mix, 29 cents for 1/3 C oil, and 50 cents for 2 eggs. The yield was 42 cookies. FWIW, cookies baked at home seem to take longer to consume than store-bought. More appreciation for the effort expended? Definitely tastier!

Calories and Sodium

As a side thought, I considered adding chocolate chips. Doing so would have added extra calories (~30C/cooky) and cost ($1.50 additional for project). Mmmm, butter pecan flavor with chocolate chips! Related: "Low-effort Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies" (article, video)

La Moderna Resources

La Moderna cookies are a niche item at HEB. I've not been inclined to seek other products from this Mexico-based company. Memory aid that Moderna is one of the big-name Covid-19 vaccines.

• La Moderna manufactures pasta and soups as well as cookies. Amusingly, La La Maderna's cooky page does not include the pecan flavored ones.
• "La Moderna Marianitas Cookies", 71 cents for 6.5 oz Nutrition info claims 6 servings, 5 cookies per serving. I counted 28 cookies.
• "La Moderna Pecan Marianitas, Authentic Mexican Pecan Cookies, Fun Snacks For Kids, 6.53 Oz, Pack Of 20"

Get the Most Out of Shampoo/Lotion Bottles, Etc.

Got frugality inclinations? How about extracting the last of shampoos and lotions near the bottom of their bottles? My topic is primarily modifying and repurposing suitable size/shape plastic bottles so they can hold those almost-empty bottles upside-down. With gravity, the positioning of dispensers with remaining slo-mo fluids does away with numerous bottle tip-overs, shakes, and/or flow waits.

Additional slo-mo fluids besides shampoos and lotions include mustards and liquid hand soaps. (The liquid soap hack is repurposing a soda bottle top into a funnel, described farther down.)

Cutting A Prospective Empty Bottle for "Cradle Cup"

The modifications of bottles require careful handling when cutting. I used an xacto knife and pair of scissors (not shown).

I rinse and air-dry a suitable empty plastic bottle. (Suitability means the empty "cup" cradles the product bottle vertically with only a little extra gap.) With an xacto knife, I slowly poke short, horizontal slits into the upper portion of the bottle until the top portion detaches or becomes loose enough to easily remove. I then use a pair of scissors to gingerly trim the cup's edge neatly.

Rant about Some Shampoo and Lotion Dispensers

Ever wonder if shampoo and lotion companies deliberately package their products to have the consumer waste the last drops? Most bottles have press open/close lids or fliptops for easy dispensing. Less convenient dispensers are screwtop caps and pumpers. Least convenient are bottles that manufacturers have attached snapped-on dispensers.

J & J Baby Shampoo exemplifies the worst of dispensers--snapped on pumper. The top requires prying off, and the straw is too short, making end-of-product extraction difficult. Suave shampoo is flip-top, but the top also requires prying to remove it.

J & J travel size shampoo is cute. It has a flip-top dispenser. However, the mouth diameter is so small that only an eyedropper would fit, making refilling impractical.

My advocacy for cuppish bottles doesn't address snapped-on dispensers for some shampoos. About all I can advise is the following steps:

1. Use as much of the shampoo as possible. Inverting the bottle is helpful, maybe even with a modified cup.
2. Pry the dispenser off.
3. Add a little water to make the shampoo easier to pour out.
4. If the bottle is a suitable size/shape, cut it open and reuse it for holding inverted product bottles.

Beyond Shampoos and Lotions

I have emphasized bottles for shampoos and lotions. Another item that is suitable for upside-down cradling is a mustard bottle. Coincidentally, I found a salad dressing bottle to be a good size and shape for the cradling cup.

A specific use I have for another cradle cup is for placement of a small bottle of baby oil at the sink. The cup's slightly larger size and wall prevents the smaller bottle from tipping over.

Prospective Cradle Cups

If you already stand your low-supply bottle upside down, do you position the bottle amongst other containers? Lean it into a corner? Use a cuppish item? Want ideas? Look the kitchen, pantry, and bathroom for prospectives for plastic bottle cradles. Some existing and prospective examples:

Soda Bottle Funnel Frugality

Liquid hand soaps, imho, are way too concentrated. Undiluted, they tend to run out fast. For a long time, I used a standard funnel to pour half of one bottle into another, then add water. The process was slow for both pouring the full strength liquid and adding water.

It occurred to me that a 2-liter soda bottle might have a mouth diameter that fit the liquid soap bottles. Voila! If you dilute your liquid hand soap and haven't tried this hack. the video includes the info.

My method for making the funnel is similar to making previously mentioned holders. The soda bottle material is much thinner than previously referenced plastic cradle cups. (I made a second funnel as an example for method, which I discarded afterward.)

The modifications of bottles require careful handling when cutting. I used an xacto knife and pair of scissors (not shown).

I rinsed and air-dried an empty 2-liter soda bottle. Halfway up the bottle, I used an xacto knife to slowly pierce some touching horizontal slits. The gap became long enough for pressing the wall and easily slipping in scissors. I then cut and neatly trimmed the edge.

Ready to squeeze out more of your liquidy products? Hope I've provided some food for thought.

See Dere Cedar Stumps, Plus One, Sizing Up

 

This topic is a followup to March's "See Dere Cedar Stumps" (article, video). At that time, I noted nine cedar (ashe juniper) stumps. Six of those trees got damaged and needed removing only last year because of Arborgeddon in my area (article, video).

During a recent backyard weed-pull session, I saw that I overlooked yet another cedar stump. I took a new set of pix. For good measure, I used primarily an 18" transparent drafting scale and a wooden yardstick. Previously, I used a metal tape measure that was unwieldy although doable enough.

For this set of images, I emphasized ascending cut-surface spans, scaling the images in reference to each other and also including span dimensions. View the images from smallest to largest spans, which range from just under 8" to almost 23". (The plus-one stump is mid-range size—~12 1/4.) Note the stumps' irregular perimeters, and lack of roundness and symmetry.

"Ashe Juniper" mentions "easily recognized by its irregular shape, fluted, twisted trunk". The site describes it in deeper detail for characteristics and environs. Various images round out the info.

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Related: "See Dere Cedar Stumps" article | video

April 8 2024 Total Solar Eclipse (44-sec capture)

Why only 44 seconds instead of reported totality of 2 minutes and 35 seconds? Clouds interfered with and distorted the capture, eventually totally obscuring the corona after ~43 seconds. My entire recording was 2 minutes and 26 seconds, but the viewfinder showed only darkness from about 44 seconds till the end. The video shows real-time speed (~44 seconds), then half speed.

Eclipse Day Decisions Made For Better or Worse

I couldn't order the weather. It was fickle for a good amount of Texas, including my viewing site, Austin. Weather forecasts and updates seemed to constantly change. Inclinations to travel were tempered by fears of encountering vehicular multiple-dimpling and hail-caused car window smashings. Also, destinations required real time to reach; available time required for traveling eventually evaporated. We stayed put.

From hearing stories about past eclipse events. area population swelling and travel would be challenging for residents and visitors alike. Highways and smaller roads could result in no-gos from traffic overflow or collisions or combinations. News frequently broadcast alerts about having certified solar glasses, stocking up on food, ensuring full gas tanks, and preparing for hours-long departures afterwards. We took the advisories seriously.

I should have thought of using a tripod for my Canon IXUS 180 (PowerShot) camera. As much as I tried to hold it steady, it shook. After I truncated the recording from 2 minutes and 26 seconds, I manually aligned the frames using GIMP. The process was similar to how I aligned the October 2023 annular eclipse frames.

Article:"Partial Annular Solar Eclipse Oct 14 2023, Austin"
YT video ~35 sec): Side by Side Eclipse Views, Austin Area Oct 14 2023"

Another should-have-done was aiming the camera downward a few seconds before totality, turning it on and starting to record, then aiming the camera upward. I would have captured the timer beeper for start of totality. (I did manage to capture the timer's end-of-totality beep.)

GIMP and OpenShot Image Processing

In short, I used GIMP, with grid display to align the images in layer views. The task was much more difficult than October 2023 annular eclipse because of moving-clouds distortions and obscuring. Several times, the view transitioned from disk to arc to smudge, in different directions and varying focus qualities. Clouds! Consolation is that some of the corona was viewable, and we got no rain.

As for OpenShot, I had help with converting the clip to individual frames, then re-assemblling the edited frames into a view-stable disk-centric movie. Turns out that trying to use OpenShot to assemble the frames froze the tool. We used ffmpeg in a command window.

Extra Touches

Some features I hadn't tried ever, or in a long time:

• I used some OpenShot's capabilitiese to crop, scale down, and move an inset movie of a kitchen timer.
• I extracted about 50 seconds of audio in OpenShot, then opened and edited it in Audacity. I added it to the video, along with the image of the graph.
• I created an outline circle to note the major visible prominence at 4 o'clock position.

If I Knew Then, ...

I discovered many of my actions generated a lot of heat before light. Glad to have learned shorter steps eventually. A thought kept me going for creating the video. I'd never think about processing another eclipse set of images. Not inclined to go to another eclipse site any time soon.

"Can’t get enough of the total solar eclipse or got clouded out? Here are the next ones to watch for" provides some years to consider next US eclipses.

The next U.S. taste of totality comes in 2033 when an eclipse brushes Alaska and Russia. And in 2044, one will cross Greenland and western Canada, touching swaths of North Dakota and Montana. ... An eclipse on the scale of Monday’s event won’t happen again until Aug. 12, 2045.

"Future Eclipses" provides some info in tables for future solar and lunar eclipses. Long haul to get there.

See Dere Cedar Stumps

 

While recently pulling out spring weeds, I noticed some of the cedar stumps didn't have round, smooth perimeters as I'd expect. Turns out that all nine stumps looked different from typical cylindrical tree trunks of live oak and Spanish oaks. Interestingly, these cross sections also looked different from each other.

While poking around on the web, it turns out that these trees are also known as ashe juniper trees. (A long time ago, I was told that these trees were cedars.) I'm keeping the theme title, but keeping in mind that the tie-in to junipers is the foliage.

Cedars and Junipers

The following resources indicate that the cedar tree and stumps in the backyard to be ashe junipers.

"Cedar vs. Juniper: Why we call it ‘cedar fever’ when cedar isn’t to blame" focuses on "fever". The accompanying video provides good videocam panning of the trees. About 15 seconds into video, the tree resembles the lone remaining backyard "cedar" tree. Notable: "the tree was finally formally identified as ashe juniper in 1932."

"How Austin’s most hated tree benefits humans and the environment" states "Though not technically cedar, the Ashe Juniper trees have been referred to as cedar since the first settlers arrived in Texas, and the name stuck." The accompanying video shows several trees that resemble the ones in my yard from pre-arborgeddon in 2023.

"Ashe Juniper" shows a good image of tree bark, accompanied by description that suits the cut-off trees well.

The tree is easily recognized by its irregular shape, fluted, twisted trunk, and dark green foliage. ... Its bark is gray or reddish-brown often with white patches. ... Another identifying characteristic of the bark, especially on mature trees, is its shredding into long narrow strips.

"CEDAR 101" explains mountain cedar as "technically, it is Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei). The name 'mountain cedar' comes from its visual similarity to Eastern Red Cedar and its preponderance in the Hill Country, or Edwards Plateau ecoregion, of Texas." The image of stacked logs provides various looks of cross cut edges. The site describes how the lumber is sized and graded for selling.

"Numerous Juniperus, but Neither Were Cedar!" is longish and detailed. About 2:29 into the video, the narrator holds up a small branch and states "This is an ash(e) juniper. This is the most common tree in Austin."

"A Forest Grows Under Ashe Juniper" includes the phrase "Ashe juniper (commonly called cedar)" in the video description

"Ashe Juniper is Native to Central Texas" includes historical and current info about ashe junipers.

Some Juniper/Cedar Cross Section Views

Besides the stacked logs image at Cedar 101, you can view additional cross sections. Some are comparable to the stumps in my "See Dere Cedar Stumps" video.

• "1" - 2.5" Red Cedar Log Bundle, ..."
• "Eastern Red Cedar (Juniper) r/firewood"
• Etsy's "Cedar Stumps" has loads of images for viewing. I've pasted links to some of the more interesting specimens.
• "16" x 3" Red Cedar Cookie, Slab, ..."
• "Red Cedar Log 319"
• "Very large thick unique red cedar wood slice ..."
• "Red Cedar Stump ..."
• "Red Cedar wood cookie slice ..."
• "Need some advice on drying and preserving these large juniper tree rounds " is a non-etsy page showing a multi-lobed cross section.

Additional Localized Resources

"7 Types of Cedar Trees in Texas: Identification Guide (Chart, Pictures)" provides info on seven types of cedar trees. I initially thought that my cedars were alligator cedars. I changed my mind when I saw the bark resembled organized mosaic tiles. BTW, the rock cedar (Juniperus ashei) apparently is another name for ashe juniper.

"What Kind of Cedar Grows in Texas? | Cedar Tree ID | Brush Management" contrasts ashe juniper, redberry juniper, and Eastern red cedar trees.

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Related: "See Dere Cedar Stumps, Plus One, Sizing Up" article | video

Cruisin' with Cartoons

I thought about a dozen cartoons that have aired on "Toon In With Me" in the last few years. They are entertaining for having themes from even before WWII. Viewing them across generations provides different perspectives of childhood, parent-agehood, and oldsterhood. Despite mostly 2D looks, these animations are amazing in indicating movement, character looks consistency, and great imaginations for improbable realities.

What kind of improbable realities? How about characters that get totally destroyed in scenes, yet recover to perfect health and wholiness within seconds? Violations of laws of physics with backgrounds that snap out of rigidity and back to immovable state? How about constant uses of dynamite, TNT, office safes, anvils, and the like for attempted destruction between adversaries? Such cartoons and items include the following characters: Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny and adversaries (Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Tasmanian Devil, ...), Tom and Jerry, and Tweety and Sylvester.

Thinking of various gadgets WRT to Wile E, the devices from Acme always fail him. Ordering delivery of a chicken meal would be more effective, filling, and less harmful to his health. Expanding thoughts wider about cartoons, some specific ones come to mind, with or without the usual weapons of personal destruction that I've mentioned.

Note: Links for cartoons are for full versions. Most are from YouTube. Ones from Daily Motion have slightly different play and audio controls; be sure to click "unmute".

Spider and Fly Interaction, Fly Saved By WWII Regulation

For "Meatless Flyday", the spider has four arms, four legs. Gloved hands show three-fingers and thumb most of the times. Feet are shod. In one instance, his shoe is cut open, exposing five toes. He counts his now five-digit hands to confirm full counts. The fly has two arms (gloved fingers) and two legs (three toes per foot). Comically improbable--a horseshoe magnet strong enough to attract the fly with ingested buck shot AND kitchen knives.

Note that the spider's cut-open-toe shoe and hand digits around the 4:00 mark. Also noteworthy is WWII-type references to meatless day—"Meatless Monday Then and Now", and nighttime blackouts ("Blackout (wartime)").

Another cartoon with nod to WWII, "LOONEY TUNES (Looney Toons): A Tale of Two Kitties (1942) (Remastered) (HD 1080p)" shows a Victory Garden and lights-out policing. The cartoon includes destructive devices that only temporarily disable Catstello while annoying Babbit in their mission to capture a proto-Tweety. Violations of laws of physics are rampant, especially during the last few minutes.

The two cartoons I've described show loads of violence and little music. Several of the following cartoons engage in both music AND violence, but not sax and violins.

Hungarian Musical Presences in Cartoons

"Cartoons using Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" shows compiled snippets. "The Concerto Controversy | Plagiarism Accusations Between Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes" provides background to two very similar cartoons that feature Hungarian Rhapsody #2. Star piano players are Bugs Bunny and Tom Cat, respectively. The video also includes additional content about cartoons' cultural impacts.

"Brahms – Pigs in a Polka – Hungarian Dances 5, 7, 6, 17" provides details about Hungarian Dances music and order. The embedded cartoon link points to a YouTube video, but "LOONEY TUNES (Looney Toons): Pigs in a Polka (1943) (Remastered) (HD 1080p)" is more complete.

Three Pigs Segue to Jazz

"Three Little Bops (starring Joe Bezek)", from 1950s has loads of jazz from the three pigs and wolf. The story bears some resemblance to the familiar pigs and wolf story. No house constructions, but wolf blowing anyway.

Another Three Pigs Twist, Mashed Up with Little Red Riding Hood

"Bugs Bunny E078 The Windblown Hare" stars Bugs Bunny in a mashup of the three pigs with wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. The lesson is that defrauding Bugs results in consequences.

Little Red Riding Hood Variations

"Little Red Riding Rabbit" shows twist of Little Red Riding Hood ending up as the least sympathetic character. Both Bugs Bunny and the wolf ultimately leave her in dire straits. Apparently, several cartoons vary in their approaches to Little Red Riding Hood. Warner Brothers and Walter Lantz (Woody Woodpecker) have additional variations Of LRRH and wolf, fineable on the web.

Violations of Laws of Physics In Popeye Adventures

Oddly enough, Popeye cartoons, despite loads of violence, don't seem to resort to dynamite. Surroundings (roads, trains, ...) seem to become elastic in many stories. BTW, Olive has elasticity in spades. In instances, she twists like a corkscrew, spans chasms with skinny legs that rival Mr. Fantastic, and frequently moves her limbs spaghetti-ishly. An example of laws-of-physics violations is "Popeye 147 I'll be skiing you 1947". It starts out with ice skating, but transitions to skiing, with amazing Olive Oyl improbable flexibilities not seen in other cartoons. A St. Bernard rescues Popeye with spinach so he can rescue Olive from the ever-growing and downhill rolling snowball. Bluto gets kissed by a she-wolf on the slopes and Florida.

A Valentine Story for Multiple Generations

"Don't Look Now (1936) (HD)" is a Valentine Day theme of Cupid and youngsterish devil with opposing goals upon arising. The story has something for youngsters and grownups. The cartoon sprinkles a few adult themes, such as planted "evidence" of infidelity among courting couples and false accusations of paternity.. Lots of music throughout.

A Couple of Single Working Women and Their Abodes

Betty Boop and Olive Oyl cartoons have shown them having their own careers, businesses, and residences. Some cartoons show them living in apartments or houses—no roommates, siblings, or parents. Betty does own Pudgy, her dog, which occasionally exhibits human mannerisms.

Couple of business examples:

• Olive and Popeye open a diner together as partners in "Popeye The Sailor Man - We aim to please".
• Betty Boop shows her auto repair business in "Betty Boop - So Does An Automobile 1939 // Colorized HD". Numerous autos are animated to display human movements and behaviors.

Rec'ed for Multiple Viewings

The following cartoons are great entertainment that invite multiple viewings, for absorbing details and also re-viewing fun stuff. They have great plot development, loads of music, and lots of innovations with devices and gadgets. Action-packed nearly throughout the adventures.

• "Betty Boop - Grampy's Indoor Outing (1936)"
• "Popeye the Sailor - Cartoons Ain't Human"
• "Rabbit Of Seville (1950)"

Generational Reaches

Whether you watch classic cartoons as first timer or old timer, favorites will form memories of happy entertainment. Oddly enough, some cartoons almost seem new if not viewed in many years.

Sycamore Tree Sight, Seed Pod Pickapart

For a few weeks this summer, my stemmed orb-like object lay on the floor. I wasn't sure what to expect if I were to poke and prod it. My video starts out showing showing a sycamore tree and leaves. The latter part shows my exploration and pickapart to fuzzy fibers and, eventually, snipped-apart center.

With poking around the web, I quickly concluded the item was not an acorn. Somehow, I was able to focus (grin) and conclude the object was a sycamore seed pod, aka sycamore seed ball, aka sycamore ball. I myself decided on "sycamore tree seed pod".

Sycamore Resources—Trees, Humongous Leaves, Orb-like Seed Pods

"Sycamore Tree" provides overall info and basic images for sycamore trees. The split-open seed pod shows a good view of the "fuzzy interior"."Sycamore, American" shows a picked-apart seed pod similar to mine. Compare the leaves that both sides use for emphasizing size. Note the white bark shots.

Leaves figure prominently in "Everybody hates sycamores?". The leaves look nice, but the video speaker describes their downsides.

"The Sycamore Squeeze", published February 2022 mentions that time period as good for squeezing a sycamore seed ball.

If a seed-ball isn’t ready, bring it inside a house for a day or so. Dry air hastens the squishable stage. When it gives, it’s ready to take.

Still pictures in the article and the accompanying 's video confirm the object to be a sycamore tree seed ball. FWIW, I had begun cutting into and prying stuff apart before I realized I could squeeze the fuzz off.

"Sycamore Tree seed pod explosion in slow motion" shows the crushing of a sycamore seed pod. The pre-crush object looks like my object, but not the separation of parts!

Portraits of Wildflowers, with Multiple Sycamore Items

Portraits of Wildflowers primarily provides flora content and macro pictures. To my delight, I did a sycamore search and found several articles and images that greatly helped me ID sycamore trees, leaves, and seed pods.

"Sycamore seed ball" described the seed pod process.

These start out hard and firm but eventually, in a way that’s reminiscent of cattails with seeds attached to fluff, they loosen to the point that a touch—be it of a hand or of the wind—causes them to unravel.

"Sycamore seed balls and drying leaf" and "Sycamore leaf and clouds" blog titles perfectly describe their accompanying images. (¡Mira! ¡Mira!)

"Whose woods these are I just don’t know*" is an intriguing blog title. The content itself provides a good description of sycamore tree characteristics to go with the image.

Reaching Way Back for Sycamore Tree Climber—Zacchaeus

My recollection of first hearing of "sycamore" was as a child singing about Zacchaeus climbing a sycamore tree to view Jesus. Google provides loads of info for "zacchaeus song", much of the info surrounding Zacchaeus himself.

Q/As are handy with summaries, such as who Zacchaeus was, why he climbed a sycamore tree, how short he was, why he changed his treatment of people WRT tax collection, moral lesson, etc. Google "zacchaeus in the bible" and "how did zacchaeus change after meeting jesus".

View YouTube results for "zacchaeus was a little man song" for several versions of the children's biblical song. ("Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man" is illustrated and includes a second verse.)

Sycamore Tree in Relatively Recent News

A recent news account of a sycamore tree chopping made news in September 2023. The article includes historical info about the locale and tree's age. From "Famous 'Sycamore Gap tree' in northern England found cut down overnight; 16-year-old arrested"

The tree, which is about 300 years old, was located next to Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans beginning in 122 A.D. to mark the northern limits of Roman Britannia.

In Closing, a Far-reaching Sycamore Resource

"Sycamore Trees: Leaves, Bark, Types – Identification Guide (Pictures)" has exhaustive content and images of sycamores, mostly about ones in some US states and Mexico. One item that particularly piqued me was the info and image comparison between a sycamore and maple leaf.

GIMP-adding Newest Saturn to 3-Saturn .xcf File

My previous topic, "2-Saturn Composite, Anticipating Future Edge-on Rings" inspiration came from my curiosity about Saturn's upcoming rings edge view, anticipated in March 2025. Because of Saturn's position behind the sun at that time, however, we won't be able to view or capture images of it then.

That article includes basic Saturn info and resources. The video "2-Saturn Composite Image, GIMP Revisit" shows numbered steps for creating the composite comparing Saturn images taken 9/2/2021 and 11/22/2023.

This time around, the topic is about having found a GIMP-editable (.xcf) 3-Saturn composite with images from 2015 and 2018 as well as 2021, then adding the image from November. The video shows the steps in using GIMP for the process. Main GIMP tools for setups and usage are layers, measurement, grid, move, and draw. Saving and exporting are must-do's for successful outcome.

2-Saturn Composite, Anticipating Future Edge-on Rings

We recently pic'd Saturn, then recalled another imaging session (from about 26 months before. I wanted to compare images, then create a composite. The 2-Saturn composite image shows Saturn on 9/2/2021 and 11/22/2023. The orientations differ, and the newer Saturn's set of rings angle narrower than the rings of the earlier Saturn. During the image creation process, I had became curious about when Saturn's rings might "flatten", maybe disappear from view.

I thought about the steps I used in my process. Having used GIMP recently, and PaintShopPro earlier, I decided to make a slide show of the steps.

 

Some Saturn Resources

To acquaint myself with my orb target, I ran across a few basic resources. NASA's "Saturn: Facts" provides good overview. EarthHOW's "7 Planet Saturn Facts: Beyond its Signature Rings [Infographic]" includes more details and tantalizing images, especially the infograph. "How long does it take Saturn to orbit the Sun?" states "approximately 29.46 Earth years, or 10,755.7 Earth days, to complete one orbit around the Sun". This site provides a nice list of q/a's. Saturn has an unusual feature besides its rings: NASA's "Saturn’s Strange Hexagon" explains "a bizarre six-sided hexagon feature encircling the entire north pole".

"Saturn’s Rings Will Temporarily Disappear From View in 2025" (published November 13, 2023) explained the rings' next "disappearing act".

In 2025, Saturn’s rings will be invisible from Earth for several months. ... Saturn’s rings are so thin that they seemingly vanish when viewed edge-on. And as Earth and Saturn travel around the sun on their respective orbital paths, our planet reaches this particular vantage point like clockwork, roughly every 13 to 16 years. ... the rings will disappear from sight in March 2025.

The following image represents three Saturn images, the existing duo, and a phantom representation for March 2025. The last image indicates planet tilt and edge-on rings. FWIW, Saturn is not in the night sky around that time frame, and the sun's angular alignment to Saturn WRT Earth's position endangers eyesight.

Partial Annular Solar Eclipse Oct 14 2023, Austin

Our area (Austin) was fortunate enough to behold a partial solar eclipse, clear skies and all. Texans in San Antonio, about 100 miles to the south, got a fabulous annular eclipse because of that area being in the zone of annularity.

My video combines two views of the same image frames used. One portion shows the sun aligned, and the other portion shows the sun drifting south a little as the mount was not perfectly polar aligned. I used tweaked versions (stationary sun, sun/moon movement) to build the side-by-side version.

The actual eclipse lasted over three hours. The resulting videos were each about 36 seconds. Over 900 frames made up each video segment. It was a learning process to prep and compile. Methodology for aligning the sun images using GIMP, my graphics editor, evolved over a few days. I used grids, circumscribed squares, circles, squares and circles, disk shapes.

I aligned using edges, then picking different edges as the moon advanced along its route.

Eclipse Resources

"What Is a Solar Eclipse?" and What Is an Annular Eclipse?" illustrate and simply explain solar and annular eclipses:

For an overview of the two main types of solar eclipses, Schreiner University's Eclipse Path site provides overall info about solar eclipse paths for October 14 2023 and April 8 2024. The NASA composite and Schreiner's video simulations for the two featured eclipses are view worthy. Nice to also see a short section about eclipse viewing safety.

"Types of Solar Eclipses" succinctly contrasts the three kinds of solar eclipses:

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. People located in the center of the Moon’s shadow ...

An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but when it is at or near its farthest point from Earth. Because the Moon is farther away from Earth, ...

A partial solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth but the Sun, Moon, and Earth are not perfectly lined up. Only a part of the Sun will appear to be covered, giving it a crescent shape.

Reaching Back to the August 21 2017 Solar Eclipse

"Eclipse Map — August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse" shows the path of totality as far away from our area, thus, why our eclipse image showed a crescent-moonish sun.

Box Cereal Eatins--Dry 'N' Milked

Boxed cereal consumers! Do you always consume yours with milk? Do you also consume some cereals dry, like they're munchies? I've done lots of dry munching on sweetish, often chocolatey cereals. I've tapered off on the grazing for a few years, but am not totally immune to the temptations.

The other day of store trek got me to thinking about cereals I'd loved to munch on but supplies indicate discontinuation or inconsistent availabilities at my supermarket.

• "Post® Shredded Wheat Spoon Size® Honey Nut Cereal" are available at WalMart, apparently. I might need to trek there to get my longtime yearning met.
• "French Toast Crunch", which has come and gone and come and gone.
• "OREO O's® cereal", thankfully made a comeback a few months ago after being gone for maybe a year or two.

HEB has stocked various lines of "Filled Squares", knockoffs of Kellogg's Krave cereals. Before Krave, HEB stocked a Mexican filled-square cereal that was delish and inexpensive. And better stuffed than Krave. Back to HEB's Filled Squares, the flavor I really craved was caramel-filled. Disappeared. Dang! In any case, I'm hoping to run into "H‑E‑B Sweet Creamy Filled Squares" some time soon.

My thoughts meandered to the entire stocked cereal cupboard (9 separate brands). Some are healthful with high amount of fiber, for the sensible grown-up focus. Others appeal to the palate (sugar!) despite little fiber.

 

The lineup in my video shows stagings of current cereals and some empty cereal boxes that represent a few recent consumptions. FWIW, the visuals could nudge you to think about the angel and devil that tug you to consume healthful but kinda boring cereal vs. yummy appeal-to-taste buds cereals that are less healthy to eat.

Frequently Used Kitchen Items--Vintage, Newer

 

I've taken a trip down memory lane for kitchen items that I blogged about in mid-2015. I still use a goodly number of them. "Ancient" ones include a Tupperware measuring pitcher, a Wearever air popcorn popper, and an Osterizer blender, I've replaced some items that broke or have improved capabilities or both reasons. I've accumulated a few newer gadgets since the 2015 articles.

Several kitchen items have shown up in various articles and YouTube videos I've produced over the years, mostly WRT to baking cookies or cakes. The star of my YouTube videos is my Osterizer blender, which is approaching 45,000 after being up since mid-2016. ("Stuck Blender Blade?" shows diagnosing and unsticking my blender blade assy, then reassembling and testing it.)

My composite pic in "Frequently Used Non-electrical Long-time Kitchen" l shows non-electrical implements and gadgets.

 My composite pic in "Frequently Used Electrical Long-time Kitchen Items" shows mostly small electrical appliances.

 Back in 2015, I used a still-images Kodak camera (1760 x 1168 resolution shrinkable to 640 x 425). In contrast, my more compact Canon takes varieties of stills and videos that surpass the Kodak, which broke after over 10 years of use. My video shows hands-on handling of the kitchen items, something of a show-and-tell session. Some viewers might actually recognize or have some of the same objects. Interestingly, some show up on the web with "vintage" in descriptions.

From "Vintage vs. Antique vs. Collectible | What’s the difference?"

Antiques have to be at least 100 years in age. That is what makes a true antique according to respectable dealers. Vintage can be anything from 20-99 years old and generally capture a sense of nostalgia that’s relevant to the culture in some way.

I've identified the items in the video. In case you don't recognize any or had anything similar, ask someone who's older if they owned such an object. Maybe they still have theirs!

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Frequently Used Non-electrical Long-time Kitchen Items (June 2015)
Frequently Used Electrical Long-time Kitchen Items (July 2015)
Frequently Used Kitchen Items--Vintage, Newer (article, video)

Rebirth: Year-end 2009 Same Song Titles

This article is a tweaked version "Year-end Fun-AT-tix and More Same Song Titles" that Blogger pulled in May because of some citation links that had been ok in late 2009. In reviewing my copy of my article, I could see Blogger's reasoning. I decided to improve the article by revising the citations, but also inserted YouTube hyperlinks to artists' videos.

Fun-AT-tix was my wordplay on phonetics, but I also used the base syllable "phon-" to talk about homophones. (I wrote about homophones in a previous article.). I wanted to use "fun@tix", but I have a feeling that Blogger/Blogspot might have an issue with the "@" sign in the article title.

Holiday Songs of Same Titles, Different Songs

The first part of this article is about homophones in year-end holiday songs and/or their lyrics. (Well, the words completely or closely approach homophones anyway.) I think a lot of songs are probably so popular and ingrained in many of us that we don't consider the possibilities of different spellings of words. I've listed some songs below for rumination.

Note: People who are poor spellers or ESLers might consider NOT looking to this article as a learning tool for correct spelling. :-)

• Santa Claws Is Cumin to Town (Sandy Claws has been done to death.)
• Gin Gull Bells
• Sy Lent Knight
• O Holey Knight (also spellable as O Wholly Knight)
• O Little Town of Beth La Hem
• A Way in a Manger
• Hark the Harold Angels Sing (The actual title makes me think of Shelly Fabares' Johnny Angel from 1962.)
• Rudolph the Red Knows Rain, Dear
• Angels We Have Herd on High
• Joy to the Whirled

One holiday song that has long mystified me for title strangeness has been Angels We Have Heard on High. The title appears ONCE in the entire song, yet "Gloria" is sung repeatedly, extendedly (glo, o-o-o-o-o, o-o-o-o-o, o-o-o-o-o, ree-yuh) and often. In talking about "Gloria", I'm now revisiting songs with same titles but are different songs--"Same Song Titles, Different Songs", an October 2009 article. In keeping with the holiday theme for now, the following songs fulfill both holiday and non-holiday categories:

Gloria

Gloria by Van Morrison/Them (1963) is actually titled rationally; there is no doubt who or what the main thought is—"Glo-ree-a. G-L-O-R-I-A, …" and on and on and on. Laura Brannigan's version (1982) has "Gloria" throughout the song, also leaving no doubt as to the topic name. As for Angels We Have Heard on High, "Gloria" gets a lot more air time than the actual song title's words. I say rename the song to Gloria and really confuse people!

Joy to the World

Joy to the World by Three Dog Night (1971) dominated the rock and roll airwaves and took over JTTW consciousness for awhile. In one Christmas special I saw many years ago, a group of elderly people were introduced to sing Joy to the World. Instead of the religious version, they launched into "JER-I-MY-AH WAS A BULL-FROG, WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE, …", etc. Wish I could remember what the show was or could easily find it on YouTube. Hilarious and entertaining!

Auld Lang Syne/Same Old Lang Syne

Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg (1980) is a bittersweet song that actually contains a pastiche of Auld Lang Syne as delivered by most bands on New Year's Day (popularized by Guy Lombardo).

Non-holiday Songs of Same Titles, Different Songs

Candy Man/Candyman

For people who hear the song and pay less attention to whether it is one word or two, aurally, it's three sound memes—can-dee-man. The notable versions are from Roy Orbison (1961), Sammy Davis, Jr. (1972, song used in original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Christina Aguilera (2007), and Aqua (1997, song AKA Lollipop, not to be confused with the Chordettes' Lollipop from 1958 or Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop from 1964).

Cherish

Both the Association's version (1966) and Kool and the Gang's version (1985) are slow, with love and devotion lyrics. The Association version indicates a silent sufferer, however, contrasted to KATG's version of public pronouncements.

Sunny

Neil Sedaka (1965) and Bobby Hebb (1966) both sing of rain and pain, then of love. Two very different styles for similar themes, Neil's is very melodic and Bobby's has jazzy arrangements.

Color My World

Two songs with the same song title could hardly be more different from each other. Petula Clark's peppy, horns-laden version from 1967 contrasts with Chicago's slow, flutey version from 1970.

Fever

Peggy Lee (1958) might have the best-known version, also popularized by the McCoys (1966) and Rita Coolidge (1973). More recently, Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert separately recorded and released Lady Gaga's version.

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"Rebirth: Year-end 2009 Same Song Titles"
"Same Song Titles, Different Songs"

Soda Pop Layer Cake Followup

In mid-May, I made my first-ever soda pop layer cake, which uses only cake mix and soda pop. Most recipes I'd spotted showed cupcakes or sheet cakes as end results. My layer cake came out rich and tasty, but low height. It tended to be more crumbly than cakes that call for cakes. Nevertheless, it was yummy!

My followup soda pop layer cake is as low-height and delish as the previous one. BTW, a little goes a long way. Despite the low profile because of less cake volume, the flavor is more concentrated. A twelfth serving of the soda pop cake seems as satisfying as a tenth serving of a standard cake mix cake that calls for eggs, oil, and water.

This time around, to lessen time and effort for sifting the cake mix powder and stirring/dispensing the ingredients, I used more efficient implements.

Calories and Sodium

The ingredients are same as the previous cake. The soda pop, despite a different label, is the same.

Using soda pop (140 C) instead of box's ingredient adds of egg whites (51 C) and oil (400 C) saves loads of calories. Even more calorie savings if passing on standard recipe that calls for water, oil (533 C), and eggs (210 C). If using standard box cake recipes and frosting, the total calories bump up ~450 to 750 calories. Noteworthy: Using diet soda instead of sugar soda saves about 10 to 15 calories a slice. Rec: Indulge with the sugary stuff.

Future Followup Soda Pop Cakes?

I might pass on trying my Tupperware sifter for future cake, as the capacity is only one cup. I'd need to reload the gadget maybe up to four times. BTW, I became curious about the cake mix powder texture WRT sugar. Ingredients don't elaborate, but I suspect the sugar is a finer granularity than packaged granulated sugar.

My other consideration for followup soda pop layer cake might be trying the Betty Crocker mixer method of 30 seconds low followed by 2 minutes medium. Rather than doing a video/blog project, I'd add a dated section to this article comparing results for machine mixing vs. whisk stirring.

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Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum
Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm
Video: Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich

Soda Pop Layer Cake Followup (article, video)

Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm

This article emphasizes post-recipe thoughts and additional soda pop cake musings. Read "Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum" for resources and refs. View the video for step-by-step recipe.

Post-recipe Thoughts

I perused and collected some comments from two Betty Crocker sites after the cake bake.

"Cake Baking with Soda Pop" confirmed my guess about less cake result with soda pop cake recipe. Additional excerpted comments follow.

[Q] Why when we made this batter did we only get 1 cupcake tin? When we make the batter the normal way we get 2 cupcake tins of cupcakes.

[A]Because you have less batter. When you add eggs,oil, water etc you have a larger volume of batter. So more cupcakes.

[regular soda vs. diet comment] Regular soda did not make it too sweet. Diet soda is sweeter to me as far as taste."

[Q] Does the 1 [to] 2 minutes of beating not beat out the CO2? When making beer bread, it’s just stir gently until we’ll mixed.

[A] In this case, the batter will still hold enough gas to rise.

[Q] Can you make a sheet cake or layers with this method?

[A] we did not test this recipe with a pan or with a sheet cake method, therefore, we recommend using the [cupcake] cake tin.

From "Two-Ingredient Soda Pop Cupcakes"

[comment] We made the recipe exactly as it was written and made sure to use the electric mixer as directed.

[comment] The carbonation is required for this recipe and we do not recommend using flat soda."

Additional Soda Pop Cake Musings

The cartoon host advocated that both cake mix powder and soda pop be room-temperature. Over time, I've observed that warmer soda bubbles up more violently and longer than cold soda. As I keep cake mix in the pantry, powder temperature is no problem.

Numerous recipes I'd read or viewed show cake mix powder poured directly into a bowl, unsifted, before pouring the soda pop in. In one case, the baker might have improved her process by sifting first, as she bemoaned needing to squash powder lumps during the stirring.

I've occasionally run across recipes that call for sifting. I've sifted when I want to divide powder portions before weighing, such as for zebra or marble cakes. I've noticed bits of small particles trapped at the bottom of the strainer.

I've seen mixing processes range from gently stirring for 30 seconds or less to hand mixer for 1 minute low followed by 2 minutes medium to tilt-head KitchenAid mixing (speed and duration not easily determined). I intend to try electric mixing, but maybe after i try making a followup cake by shortening both the sifting and mixing process.

Musing Followup Cake

For a followup soda pop cake, I want to shorten the sifting and stirring processes.

Sifting took more time and effort than I expected. Planning to try a different strainer and larger spoon. Stirring was also more time-consuming. Planning to try a French/piano whisk instead of flat whisk. My Tupperware measuring pitcher (8 cups, 2 liters) would be helpful mostly for the pour/dispense stage, as I'd easily eyeball batter amount for each pan. Still likely to also use digital scale.

Alternative sifter (Tupperware tubular with crank handle), which I haven't used in many years. It's worth a shot for another soda pop cake iteration. I see online availability, several missing parts. An eye-catcher, for $24.99.

After making the followup cake, I might try using a mixer. Fingers crossed that I don't wind up with pancake-height layers!

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Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum
Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm
Video: Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich

Soda Pop Layer Cake Followup (article, video)