That Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea?  The names “starfish” and “sea star” essentially refer to members of the Class Asteroidea. There are 2,000 living species of starfish that occur in all the world’s oceans, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian as well as in the Arctic and the Southern Ocean (i.e., Antarctic) regions. Starfish occur across a broad depth range from the intertidal to abyssal depths (>6000 m).

Starfish are among the most familiar of marine animals and possess a number of widely known traits, such as regeneration and feeding on mussels. Starfish possess a wide diversity of body forms and feeding methods. The extent that Asteroidea can regenerate varies with individual species. Broadly speaking, starfish are opportunistic feeders, with several species having specialized feeding behavior, including suspension feeding and specialized predation on specific prey.

Starfish are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. Most species are dioecious, with separate male and female individuals, but some are hermaphrodites. For example, the common species Asterina gibbosa is protandric, with individuals being born male, but later changing into females.

Male and female sea stars are not distinguishable from the outside; one needs to see the gonads or be lucky enough to catch them spawning. Each arm contains two gonads, which release gametes (a cell that fuses with another cell during fertilization) through openings called gonoducts, located on the central body between the arms.  (excerpt from Wikipedia)

As a lifelong avid tidal pool explorer, I love coming across a starfish.  This is the first one I had found since moving to Cape Ann, and it remained in this same spot for a couple of weeks.  I didn’t check for gonads, so don’t know if it is a he or a she, or both.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

Photo by Sharon Lowe

Say There! Band heads down to Latitude’s Minglewood Tavern for a night of Music for all you Rockn’ Rollahhs, Show starts at 9 come down early and chow down, food is top notch and drinks are splendid. 25 Rogers St. Gloucester, Have Mercy Everybody,  Maybe it will be warm enough so’s that Uncle Jeffrey can take out the Orange Car to pass out earplugs,  Have to talk to Blakey to see if he can have his own orange parking space…… Luv U,MO’C

http://www.myspace.com/mikeoconnellmusic/music/songs/eyes-wide-open-demo-64500622

http://www.latfortythree.com/groove.html

I totally love Mike O’Connell,

If you love the Allman Brothers you will love the Mike O’Connell Band. Not only does the band do a mean “Whipping Post”  they go into some pretty wild rock, leaning to the more psychedelic side, as well.  You should hear some of the guitar solos. Mike and the band have been known to lay down some  hot Southern Rock and I mean smokin hot. At most of the gigs they offer up some  ZZ Top, Tom  Petty and even  reggae stuff.   I remember a while back at the Dog Bar when the band did a couple of Door’s tunes “Riders On The Storm and “Soul Kitchen” it blew me away. I was thinking this is way better than the Doors, really and it could never be reproduced like that again, and it hasn’t.  It was just one of those moments. There are some originals on his music page that I wish he would share more often.  “Eyes Wide Open”, “Hard Bargain” and “Stars” are a  just a few.

Joanne

Hi Friends–here’s the next installment of the Gourmoo Cook Off that I participated in last December in sunny southern California.  This episode is the second of five and I had so much fun filming it and cooking for the judges–Enjoy!

Hello Joey,
My wife and I were in town a couple of weekends ago and had stoppped by the dock hoping to have a chance to meet you. We have been coming to Gloucester since around 1988. We wanted to thank you for all that you and your group do to keep those of us from out of town up to date on all the happenings around town. We are from upstate New York and first came to Gloucester for a one day whale watch trip, and have been coming every year since at least once and sometimes up to four times a year. We sometimes say we started coming to Gloucester before there was a Tourist Information Center at Stage Fort Park. We always stay at Cape Ann Marina Resort and relied for many years on those fine folks to give us directions and hints on what to see and do. My wife is an avid bird watcher,and we are yearly members of the Mass. Audobon, Trustees of Reservations and the Federal Preserve on Plum Island. We enjoy your site everyday, and I especially

enjoy Paul’s Art Rocks and hope someday to find one. So far I have been able to guess just about everyone. I was really surprised that two weeks when I finally fired up the laptop that the rock was not found at the Paint Factory until late Saturday afternoon. We be back in a couple weeks and maybe I’ll get a chance to find one. Take care and if you see a silver SUV around town with your (sticka) on the side window and New York plates toot your horn, so I can shake your hand.

Jon & Carol Stack

That the original statue of Our Lady of Good Voyage is on exhibit at the Cape Ann Museum? Originally dedicated in 1893, Our Lady of Good Voyage was built for the Portuguese community in Gloucester, after they petitioned the Roman Catholic Church for the establishment of a place to worship dedicated to the Madonna. Large numbers of Portuguese immigrants migrated from the rugged Azores Islands and began settling around Gloucester’s Inner Harbor as early as 1829 to work in the city’s active fishing industry. By 1888, approximately 200 Portuguese families lived in Gloucester making it the largest Portuguese colony on the East Coast. According to the story of Our Lady of Good Voyage, a stranded fisherman in the rough Atlantic Ocean broke one of his oars and could not return to his homeport. He sought help from the Madonna and the sea miraculously calmed allowing him to reach port safely.

A fire destroyed the original church in 1914. Prominent architect Halfdan M. Hanson designed and immediately began building the existing, unique Mission style church, which replaced the earlier church. It is the only Mission style church in Gloucester. Modeled after a church in the Azores, Our Lady of Good Voyage consists of two distinct sections: the two-story main worship space that is of a cruciform plan and an L-shaped rectory that extends from the northwest corner of the main worship space. The rectory, which was built between 1872 and 1884 as a separate building, was incorporated into the new church. Resting on a granite foundation, the building is covered in a buff-colored stucco. Flanked by two identical bell towers, the central bay of the façade is pierced by the main entrance at the first level. A rose window adorns the second level, above which rises an ogee pediment supporting a pedestal and a statue of Our Lady of Good Voyage, who holds a boat in her left hand as a symbol of a safe voyage. In 1922, bells were installed in the towers. These bells, still in place today, were cast by John Taylor & Company of England-the same foundry that cast Phildelphia’s Liberty Bell.

Our Lady of Good Voyage is located at 142 Prospect St. in Gloucester and is an active church. For further information, call Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish at 978-283-1490.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

It’s a busy week , so let’s get going! This thursday  at the Rhumb Line, Fred is proud to present John Keegan®, martini expert, and leader of men. Best known for leading “Madhouse” over any musical cliff he encounters, Johnny K. is the MAN, pure and simple. He’ll be bringing  his ants with him, and we’ll be crawling all over you!  Side effects include the apoplectic John Hyde, jazz snob and loving husband, on Keyboards and beret, the inimitable Jeff Casper, the friendly drummer, on skins and plumbing advice, and of course, Greg T. and Myself. Do not driveuntil you know how John Keegan® affects you. Now, Monday, for those of you who the Republicans blame for not working, C’mon down to the Rose Baker Senior Center. From 1 to 3  in the afternoon, the OLD SALTY JAZZ BAND does its thing. It’s FREE! We play music written for the Pharoahs and beyond. We’ll never give up! It’s a blast! We’ve got Charlie Sheen in a cage! He really doesn’t have a problem…honest! But, wait, there’s more!  Next Tuesday nite is Fat Tuesday, and to celebrate Mardi Gras, Lat 43 has  hired yours truly with my band of brothers to cerebrate the onset of Lent. I’m giving up olives. The band consists of Gid Loring, walking encyclopedia of swing  (and Trad jazz) on Trumpet and vocals, Frank Stadler, on Keys, John Hicks, on Guitar, vocals and banjo, Benny Goldstein, on reeds and myself, on bass and vocals. Come see why I drink! They won’t let me name the band! Who could blame them! Mark Earley was gonna play but he’s got all these chicken parts clogging up his horn. So he’s on the DL. We don’t need him! http://www.madhouseproductions.com/www/cover.html http://www.musicco.com/en/page/artist-details.cfm?idArtist=18

QL-02Qw7RtA 2.pdf
http://www.goodmorninggloucester.com Do you get it?

That the discovery of fire, or, more precisely, the controlled use of fire was, of necessity, one of the earliest of human discoveries? Fire’s purposes are multiple, some of which are to add light and heat, to cook, to clear forests for planting, to heat-treat stone for making stone tools, to burn clay for ceramic objects. The controlled use of fire was an invention of the Early Stone Age (or Lower Paleolithic). The earliest evidence for controlled use of fire is at the Lower Paleolithic site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, where charred wood and seeds were recovered from a site dated 790,000 years ago.   From Archeology.com.

This is a modern fire, hopefully the last one I will light this winter.  I thought the burning wood with the hole in it looked like a flaming lumpfish from hell. 

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

 

HOPE

We all have Hope, whatever your going through.

I hope I’d win Powerball. Maybe Next Time.

“Hope never abandons you; you abandon it”

George Weinberg “Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”  Thich Nhat Hanh quotes (Vietnamese     “Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength “When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.” This post is for a few good friends who are going through difficult times. Maybe for myself  and you also.

 

Although it may look like it, this is not snow we are getting today.  Today’s weather forecast was for freezing fog and snow mist.  Freezing fog occurs when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white soft or hard rime.  This is very common on mountain tops which are exposed to low clouds. It is equivalent to freezing rain, and essentially the same as the ice that forms inside a freezer which is not of the “frostless” or “frost-free” type. The term “freezing fog” may also refer to fog where water vapor is super-cooled, filling the air with small ice crystals similar to very light snow. It seems to make the fog “tangible”, as if one could “grab a handful”.  Snow mist is frozen ice crystals.  Semantics, I know, but they didn’t call it snow.  If you look closely at what has fallen, it does have a different appearance than normal snow.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

O’MALEY MIDDLE SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS DEPARTMENT

Beauty & The Beast, Jr.

4 performances over 2 weekends

Friday, March 4, 2011 at 7:00 PM              Friday, March 11, 2011 at 7:00 PM

Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 1:00 PM              Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 1: 00 PM

Seventy sixth, seventh and eighth grade students are in the cast and crew. (please see the enclosed cast/crew list for names of students in the show, which has been double cast). They have been rehearsing for an hour after school once or twice a week since September to ensure that these performances will meet the standards set by our past productions. You are sure to be impressed and inspired by our young performers as they sing, dance, and act out this heartwarming story. The performances are an excellent showcase of the end product of our Performing Arts Department’s elective after school training programs in Music (Chorus), Dance, and Theatre. The production builds upon the skills and talent of our designers as well – Russell and Melissa Hobbs (set design & construction), Camilla MacFayden (scenic designer/painter) and Linda Stockman (costume designer/builder). They have engaged our students in the technical aspects of theatre.
Tickets ($7 adults/ $5 students and senior citizens) can be purchased at all school lunches and will go on sale a half hour before each show time. We will be collecting non-perishable items throughout the run of the shows to donate to the Cape Ann Food Pantry.

Winter is nature’s way of saying, “Up yours.”  ~Robert Byrne

Henry Allen

Director

www.HenryAllen.org

That there are some women out there who know little about the mechanics of their vehicles?  I am one of them.  I can change an air filter, check my fluids and add as needed, put air in my tires; but beyond that I am useless.  My van (Annie) and I have a good relationship, and she is very dependable and good to me; but on occasion, she needs professional care.  I have always felt a little threatened by car mechanics.  I think it stems from the way their eyes glaze over and then roll back in their heads a bit when I try to mimic the strange sound or behavior my baby is exhibiting.  It makes me feel like they can tell me anything in the world is wrong (at whatever price they feel they can get away with charging), and I won’t know the difference.  After losing my tailpipe in the Callahan Tunnel in Boston one day (a dreadful, scary sounding thing to happen inside a tunnel where you can’t pull over or do anything but keep on going, watching and hearing your tailpipe clanging down the road behind you and then disappear from view in the rearview mirror, all the while hoping no one will hit it and get a flat tire), I discovered Baron’s.  Since I knew what the problem was and could explain it in terms he understood, Baron didn’t glaze over, fixed Annie’s problem quickly and at a very fair price.  I felt secure, knowing I had found a mechanic I could trust. 

Last week after my excursion with Debbie Clarke to visit Masconomet’s Burial site, I stopped at Market Basket.  As I started heading home, I hit my brake and it went down to the floor, with only a bare amount of stopping power if I pushed really hard on the brake pedal.  I crept home over the hilly and winding roads to Annisquam, rolled to a stop and parked.  I immediately called Baron, who was getting ready to go on vacation, was overbooked and couldn’t see her, but did say it was my brake lines that had gone.  He suggested I call Billy next door, who it turned out was also getting ready to go on vacation and couldn’t help.  I didn’t know where to turn, so I asked Debbie for a suggestion.  She recommended Linsky’s Service Station at 159 Maplewood Ave.  I called them and reached Doris who told me to have Annie towed over and they would take a look and give me an estimate.  I called AAA and they sent a couple of sweet guys from Tally’s over to tow her.  Baron had already given me best and worst-case scenario estimates, so I had an idea of what I could be looking at, the worst case not being something I could manage.  Later in the day Doris called to tell me that the two rear brake lines were gone, and very sweetly and almost apologetically told me it would cost $148.00, $2.00 less than the best case estimate Baron had given me.  I was thrilled and told her to go ahead with the repairs. 

My girl now stops, she was fixed quickly and at a price I could afford (and I believe a very fair price), and I felt so comfortable dealing with Doris and Linsky’s Service Station that I had to send out this kudos.  Big up Linsky’s!  And thanks.  By the way, Linsky’s has been around since 1953, longer than me (not much, but still longer), so I’d say they have long proven themselves to many people to be a good, fair service station.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com