Author: paultmorrison

15 Days Until Blackburn Challenge

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This has snuck up on the Rubber Duck so she is doubling her work outs.

And a One and a TWO, OK all done. As always if you are tracking Blackburn, the timer to the starting gun is here. And a map to track Rubber Duck is here.

Rubber Duck promises to have a real time Rubber Duck tracker so you can track her progress around Cape Ann and meet her at the Greasy Pole. She promises to be there before the beer runs out.

Of course, to check out the names of the 224 plus paddlers just go to the Cape Ann Rowing Club website or go to their page here and the link is in the middle of the page.

Registration is still open but do it today or else you might have to settle for just cold beer, the pulled pork and the massage but not get the uber cool T-Shirt. If the Rubber Duck can do it …

Rockport Lattof Farms Open: and That Means Monkey Bread

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Lattof Farms is open and I was able to obtain the first Monkey Bread of the season for the Mug-Up on Sunday.

Up Close and Personal:

Lattof has all sorts of healthy fruits and vegetables but for buttery decadence you cannot beat Monkey Bread.  Now here is the trick. They have a new glassed in cabinet in the same spot right hand side as you look at the Farm Stand. (To the right of RD in photo.) Monkey Bread is snapped up shortly after exiting the oven so you might find me trolling back and forth up and down the hill going to the dump, visiting the police station, back to Broadway. The Monkey Bread arrives somewhere between 9AM and 10AM on Saturday and Sunday morning. But can you see it in the glass cabinet as you drive by? I think so. Top Shelf. Drive slow and get someone else to scope it out as you go by.

Rubber Duck: Extra Credit for the first person to identify where the placemat came from.

Alicia Jello Shots with Cherries

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This was the beginning of the end for my diet which ended with Mamie’s pastries and in the middle was one lobster tail too many.

Check out the mirror.

Fun Fact: there is more than one GMG contributor who could tie a cherry stem into a knot with their tongue.

Breaking News: Sky will be Dark over Cape Ann Tonight!!

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Well duh, you say, the sun goes down followed by dark pretty much every night. But if you look at that clear blue sky over your head right now with a breeze that will die to a gentle puff from the north by morning and the crescent moon does not rise until 2:54AM that means it might be really really dark. So go look at the stars tonight*. (*see end of post for update!)

If you go down to Good Harbor Beach on the bridge end and look to the twin towers on Thacher the 11% waning crescent moon will rise at 2:54 AM and maybe a half hour later it will look like this (from earthsky.org)

Just replace those buildings with the lighthouse towers.

Next week I will be posting about an amazing local organization that has no dues, no overhead, but plenty of great members who all share a love of stuff up in the sky. The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club or GAAC (like the sound a cat makes getting rid of a hairball oh now you’ll remember). GAAC has a website, a Facebook Page, and a Tweeting Twitter account to stay up to date on their telescope meet ups on Halibut Point or their telescope parties (one just last week) at Bearskin Neck (best line, a tourist kid upon looking at Saturn’s rings “Is that real or is that painted on?”)

These dudes and dudettes know their sky. I learned more in an hour on Bearskin than I did earning my Boy Scout Astronomy Merit Badge. In twenty minutes, Saturn, Mars, binary stars, two galaxies in one eyepiece, M13 (a pantload of stars) and a half dozen more of those things Mister Messier thought were pretty cool to look at. (Actually they annoyed him as he looked for comets but that’s another story.)

GAAC members meet at St Paul Lutheran Church in Lanesville, at 8:00 pm on the second Friday of every month.

EXTRA EXTRA Even More Breaking News: GAAC will be setting up for the sunset at 8:22PM TONIGHT in the field across from the parking lot at Halibut Point. Spray on bug spray before you come, a red flashlight if you have one and don’t trip over tripods. You’ll see cool stuff not of this world and Rubber Duck will be there.  Astronomical twilight is 10:38PM

How to make Special Joey Smoked Paté

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1) Catch a fresh Sea Robin off the coast of Gay Head.

2) Prepare the Sea Robin. (You may have to double-click to see animation, NSFW).

3) Get Stella. Hey come back here! Wait, hold that pose.

Stella prepares special ingredient.

The rest is standard paté making except for extra zing just leave the bowl out where Stella can admire it like she is doing with these muffins.

What to do with Round Rocks? Make Art.

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The backyard came with a bunch of round rocks. Sort of out of place. The cut granite left over from quarrying is cool but these round ones want to be back on a beach. But at 80 to 180 pounds they aren’t going anywhere fast. Sue wanted them to be sprinkled past a garden so it would look like a dry riverbed but that didn’t work. Now she wanted them out.

What to do? 30 yards was as far as I was going so Ted and I rolled them out of the way into a nice pile. They still looked kind of stupid but then a lightbulb went off.

Why not make some art? What do you think? Ted is taking the under that they won’t be upright next weekend. I’m taking the over because I think they will last forever.

ps. If you bet the under and then sneak over and push them over Rubber Duck may have a webcam set to record motion. Great for the Cat Birds. Are the Cat Birds more funny then usual this year? They are acting like they got into some ripe catnip.

Last Quarter Moon Last Night

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A thin photo of the waning quarter moon taken at moonrise at midnight. Off to the right are the lights marking the Rockport Breakwater.

Rubber Duck Fun Fact #1: The moon is in its last quarter. But if you were standing on the moon what would the earth be? … Give Up? … First Quarter.

Rubber Duck Fun Fact #2: At dawn the moon will be straight up above us. It is also the direction that the earth is moving as it goes around the sun. We are moving so fast that if the moon suddenly stopped in its tracks we would smack into it within four hours. That is why you can see better shooting stars after midnight closer to dawn because we are facing into space in the direction we are traveling. You get more bugs smacking into your windshield than your side windows.

JJ Jinglenuts Week

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This coming Saturday marks two years since the passing of the most famous GMG cat and internet phenom (besides lolcat), JJ Jinglenuts. Joey on 6/9/2010.

So this week we can post our favorite Jinglenuts story. One that I have is that Joey posted several times how JJ liked to clean his junk. Several times.

And then just a few minutes later JJ is wishing everyone a Happy Easter by licking Easter cookies.

My dog Stella is scratching her head on this one.

Breaking News: Space Shuttle in New York Harbor

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A GMG blog favorite Tugster is following the voyage of the Starship Enterprise as it travels through New York Harbor. CLICK FOR MORE.

Sugar Magnolias Knocks it out of Park with Fresh

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Just getting back from a successful fishing trip to the other Cape, Sue and I were walking down Main Street Gloucester on a rainy Saturday, hungry. Since I had a cooler of striped bass, bluefish, and fluke, we were not interested in fish since that was all we would be eating this weekend. So when we looked at the Sugar Magnolia’s menu we skipped over the haddock and fries and the crab cakes and other tasty seafood which would have been our first choices. Instead we decided to split the Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wrap and the Mediterranean Steak Tips with hummus and tabouli served in lavash with side orders of cous cous and quinoa.

So how do you make a crispy buffalo chicken wrap amazing? Everything was fresh down to the lettuce but especially the homade buffalo sauce. This was not a shot of Frank’s Hot Sauce but a fresh made mystery that was tangy and with the crispy of the chicken was over the top. Same goes for everything else. It’s obvious that Sugar Mags makes all their food fresh. How can you get wild about hummus and cous cous? When it’s fresh that’s when. I don’t get out much so I had to ask Sue what quinoa was. Some type of grain but when mixed up with some other stuff it is wicked pissah. Get that side. Oh, and whatever they did to that lavash is sinful. It had to have been on a grill with a little butter and it made the steak tips with whatever the secret sauce just sing.

Sorry, no photos as I was too hungry and by the time I thought of it I had trashed both plates. So I’ll stick in a photo of what happened to the fluke. An 18 inch fish pulled out of the fast moving rip off Martha’s Vineyard.  Sue did a flour dredge, then egg, then panko, then into hot oil. The tortillas got the same hot oil treatment then some fresh salsa and some hot sauce for some tasty fish tacos.

The bluefish is already in a soy, sugar, salt, bay leaf, brining away, and will make it into the smoker then into the Cuisinart for the ever popular Rubber Duck Smoked Bluefish paté in time for next Sunday’s GMG Mug-Up.

Blinded By The White Dodgeball Trophies

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This is to go along with Craig’s amazing Dodgeball Movie.

Since Ed Collard can’t carry the big trophy around all day and is having it mounted on the top of the House Doctor van this is what he whips out if you find him in Stones Pub.

Kayaking and Fishing now possible.

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Ever since I went kayaking with Adam Bolonsky and he caught a pretty large bluefish I have been reticent about fishing out of a kayak. It took him quite some time to make sure the sharp toothed fish was dead as could be and he could put it in his boat. Adam is a bit more comfortable in a kayak than I am. What if after getting the fish along side and bleeding she struggles and you flip your kayak? You are then in bloody seas with a really angry blue who also likely has friends who want to do a little feeding frenzy.  Um, no. I cannot walk on water though I might try in this case.

But this week I saw a Boga 30 fishing tool, some call them lippers, for sale. 30 bucks off. Cool, I got it and tried it out with some stripers this morning. I think it is my new favorite tool. With the undersized stripers it was a cinch to gently hold the fish and take the hook out and release. This one yard long fish I kept for dinner. Although the boga can weigh the fish I forgot to write it down. We caught the limit and were back before breakfast.

I’ve smoked bluefish but never striper. I just downloaded a smoked stripe bass recipe and will try it out and hopefully bring some results to next week’s GMG Mug Up on Sunday.

 Now I will see if I can do this from a smaller boat. In the kayak I’ll tie it to the boat or attach a lobster buoy. Don’t want to lose it.

2012 Essex River Race Roundup

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For race results this link downloads a nice excel spreadsheet.

My race roundup: Nice day, I did not fall in, the beer was cold and the hot dog was tasty. The band did a nice job on some Fleetwood Mac covers a la Stevie Nicks. I finished in 1 hour 18 minutes 37 seconds. John Karoff who won my division finished in 58 minutes 29 seconds. If I had twin 150 Evinrudes maybe I could cut 20 minutes off my time. I happened to be chatting with John as we waited for the start since he had the same boat as me and I mentioned something about wishing I had gone kayaking at least once this spring before today. He said he had gone once, to something on the Charles River, a 19 mile race with many half mile portages. Meaning he had to pick up his boat and run to avoid dams and waterfalls. It was then I knew that although he seemed quite pleasant he was a mad man and was not surprised he took first place.

Other crazy people. Will Rich of Bayview and SUP The Coast fame (as in he paddled standing up all the way from Key West to Maine) finished first on a SUP board. It looks like there is a motor under his board, his time 1 hour, 2 minutes, 32 seconds. Crazy.

A James Tarantino of Gloucester rowed a banks dory to a time of 1 hour 24 minutes 6 seconds. A banks dory is about as opposite as you can get from most craft in this race. No carbon fiber, kevlar, teflon composite. A banks dory is made from large trees and  300 pounds of cod in the stern would not slow them up by much. The cod may add a minute or two to Jimmy T’s time.  That would be a good addition to the race. Then we could have a nice fish chowder at the finish.

OK, so who did the course the fastest? Borys Markin was sitting on something called a HPK single, or High Performance Kayak. These are long, thin, razor blade shaped, space age fiber crafts that I think if I sat in one I would be in the drink within a minute. Borys finished the race course in 42 minutes 41 seconds.  This is one of the reasons why I attend these races. These faster craft start the race after my division. So during the first 30 minutes of the race, packs of fast boats scream by one after another. As they do I try to imitate in some small way the technique they are using to paddle.  But not entirely. If I kept their cadence up I would blow a seal in less than a minute, but still instructive.

On to the Blackburn Challenge, just 55 days to go. Saturday July 14.

I would be negligent if I did not add that the Cape Ann Rowing Club did another amazing job with the Essex River Race. They make it fun for the normal as well as the athletically off their rocker types. Everyone who paddles in either the Essex or the Blackburn have come to expect a smooth race with nary a hitch and CARC keeps pulling it off.

If you go to the Blackburn Challenge website there will be photos posted over the next week or so. I don’t have anymore photos so I will just post a gratuitous photo of Homie biting Rubber Duck’s butt. (Homie doesn’t want her to race anymore.) 

Essex River Race this morning.

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Rubber Duck thought it would be a nice day to paddle down the Essex River and back.

Ten minutes before Rubber Duck gets to go the Stand Up Paddlers are moving to the starting line.

Several times during the race I heard from the shore, “Hey, there goes Rubber Duck from Good Morning Gloucester!”

Beautiful day for a paddle and I got out of my kayak without falling in the water. Bonus.

Essex River Race, this Saturday, May 19th

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A crowded schedule of things to do this coming weekend what with the Motif #1 Day going full bore in Rockport. Art, music, food, all day. To get the most out of the day you could check out The Essex River Race sponsored by (The Cape Ann Rowing Club) bright and early. The race heats start at 9:30 AM. (If you are racing, get to the captain’s meeting at 9 AM at the Essex Ship Building Museum.)

The Essex River Race is open to all seaworthy human or rubbery waterfowl-powered rowing and paddle boats. Participants’ crafts usually include Banks dories, fixed seat singles, doubles, multi-oars with cox, multi-oars without cox, sliding seat singles & doubles, single & double touring kayaks, surfskis.

Still time to enter. Only 27 bucks and you get a T-Shirt and a good start to the season.

New Moon this Weekend Sunday May 20

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Kim just posted shots of the Super Moon fifteen days ago. Stumbling around in the dark to get that shot can be a trial but her shots make it worth it.

But there is another moon out there that doesn’t get as much glory as the full moon and that is the new moon. That’s when the moon is right on top of the sun so you cannot even see it. So how do you take a photo? The trick is to get out there before sunrise when the sliver of a fingernail moon rises before the sun. It can be just as cool as the full moon and since no one usually even notices it since it is pretty much impossible to see once the sun is up, it makes it that more special.

The details:

Thursday morning May 17 moonrise 3:18  AM 14% of moon left, sunrise at 5:17 AM

Friday morning May 18 moonrise 3:47 AM 8% of moon left, sunrise at 5:16 AM

Saturday morning moonrise 4:18 AM 4% of moon left, sunrise at 5:16 AM

On Sunday the new moon rises just after the sun so no way can you see it. Now here is the killer. The moon moves around quite a bit where it rises during the month. This weekend that little sliver will be rising right between the twin towers of Thacher if you set up out on Good Harbor Beach on the bridge end. Get out out there. Low tide is at 4:30 AM on Friday. You could get a nice shot across the wet sand to the towers. Too far inland or at the other end of GHB and the moon rises behind the headland.

Saturday morning with only 4% left will be tough to shoot. The sun will be up and you’ll have a very small window to photograph it. Friday morning may be epic. And if you get the shot on Thursday and Friday you will be warmed up for exactly where the moon will be on Saturday. Very few people ever see the sliver of moon the day before a new moon.

Rubber Duck Quick Tip: the minutes tick off and where is the damn moon? Just a wee bit of fog or moisture will obscure the faint fingernail as the twilight starts brightening the sky. I’ve often missed the moonrise then picked it up when it is five moon diameters above the horizon. If you roll out of bed and hear the fog horn just go back to bed.

For the super serious: bring a compass. The moon rises at 76, 70, then 66 degrees on Thur, Frid, Sat, respectively. For the non serious, that would be east.

For the super super serious, download The Photographers Ephemeris and map your location. It’s free.

Rubber Duck Leftovers

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I don’t know where you been laddie but I see you won first prize!

There are fresh teeth marks in that duck’s butt. Now I know when it happened but by who?

Rockport Beach and Dump Stickers Now Available

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Today was the first day for stickers and Rubber Duck made it in early with no line and no waiting. Bring car registration and a tax bill (if your registration is not Rockport) along with a check or cash to Town Hall Conference Room A (that’s downstairs).

Monday and Friday from 10AM to 2PM during the month of May and June. Learn something new every day: as a residence be sure and bring a dime for the meter in the Town Hall lot. Quarters do not fit.

So early we headed over to Bean and Leaf for a treat and a coffee.

John Coonley (father of Josh) showed the Rubber Duck around while Haley hid because she was having a “bad hair day” (Rubber Duck could not tell). Find Bean and Leaf on Twitter the web and Facebook so you can find out the secret word and good promos.

A new Beach Sticker on your car and almost ready for summer. Now all we need is Mister and Misses Bathroom Sign to go up at the Rockport Info Booth and it’s official.

Did You Know: Rubber Duck Debugging

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From the Rubber Duck Debugging Wikipedia Page:

Rubber duck debugging, Rubber Ducking, or the Rubber Duckie Test is an informal term used in software engineering to refer to a method of debugging code. The name is a reference to an apocryphal story in which an unnamed expert programmer would keep a rubber duck by his desk at all times, and debug his code by forcing himself to explain it, line-by-line, to the duck.

To use this process, a programmer meticulously explains code to an inanimate object, such as a rubber duck, in the expectation that upon reaching a piece of incorrect code and trying to explain it, the programmer will notice the error. In describing what the code is supposed to do and observing what it actually does, any incongruity between these two becomes apparent.

 

Homie programming in FORTRAN.

The Cupboard is Open

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I hope. My seasonal opening notes say that The Cupboard opens the first Thursday in May. So has anyone had the Fish Sandwich with cheese in 2012?