So right now it's Victoria Day. (Yeah, I don't really know what it is either - Queen Victoria's birthday? Probably.) Anyhow, there are fireworks going off everywhere, and we're just watching them from the deck.
But that reminded me - what is Memorial Day? And what are you supposed to do on it? Will there be fireworks? Also, is it the Friday or the Monday?
Thanks fellows. :)
Memorial Day is a week from today. I think its in honor of people who died in war, or people who fought in war. Kind of like veterans day, but a little more all-encompassing? whatever, its a national holiday so no school (but i'll be on my senior trip to Colorado, so who cares!?)
Quotebut i'll be on my senior trip to Colorado, so who cares!?
fun! I'll be in Mammoth Cave National Park! :)
Thanks for the info, Eisey.
mammoth cave is fun
i have a wonderful story to tell about that place
one time my geography class went on a field trip to mammoth cave and somehow we sabotaged the place and got "removed" from the vacinity..
apparantly someone "stole sunglasses" from the gift store
i remember going to school on a monday and seeing a black guy, who was known as a hustler, wheeling and dealing sunglasses. it was hilarious.
very national lampoon-ish.
Why would anyone need to buy (or steal) sunglasses at a cave? ???
I've been to Mammoth Cave a few times, and don't remember it being very bright.
Meg - there's a really good book of poems about Mammoth Cave by a former guide/park ranger named Davis McCombs. The book is Ultima Thule - you should check it out if you have a chance (and if you like poetry)
QuoteMeg - there's a really good book of poems about Mammoth Cave by a former guide/park ranger named Davis McCombs. The book is Ultima Thule - you should check it out if you have a chance (and if you like poetry)
That is very cool to know. I wonder if we can get it here... (Did you mention his name once in the books thread where you were talking about KC writers? His name sounds familiar.
Darnit. You can't even find it on google. Maybe it'll be in the gift shop... I always like to read books/poetry about places when I'm in the place. (Or visit places that are mentioned in books.) Thanks for the tip!! :)
(What does Ultima Thule mean exactly, anyhow...)
Hey EC, make sure you check out the above ground portions of Mammoth Cave National Park as well. There is a huge network of hiking and mtn. biking trails. Really cool sinkholes and sinking streams everywhere.
If you're in the bluegrass...you should consider going to Red River Gorge as well (about 2.5 hours east). Yo.
Yo back - thanks! :)
(Hey, what's a sinkhole?)
Here's the book @ Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300083173/qid=1116958986/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-7879919-3432825
Here's "ultima thule" acc. to the OED:
"the highest or uttermost point or degree attained or attainable, the acme, limit; the lowest limit, the nadir."
Geez, why couldn't i find it? Man, I seriously think my brain is broken today. I have made a LOT of mistakes. (thanks tundra!)
sinkholes are where the ground kind of opens up or shifts way under ground, causing a weak spot on the sruface and the surface just kind of falls in. Imagine those traps that hunters use where theres a leave covered tarp over a hole and youw alk on it and it falls in. this of it like that, only a hell of a lot bigger and everything on top just gets jacked
Quotesinholes
That is one of the best typos EVER. ;D
want.to.go.home.from.work.c'mon.dvd.burner.stop.buggin'.
fix'd! 8)
:-[ But it was awesome!
ah, well...i didnt want any explanations of what one of those was...
Yeah just to second what Eisey said--to get really high-tech, sinkholes are caused by calcium carbonate leaching and weathering in thick limestone bedrock. Around Mammoth Cave there is literally tons of thick limestone that is perfect for caves and sinkholes--it's called karst topography. Wow, I guess I really am using my bachelor's degree in geology.
QuoteYeah just to second what Eisey said--to get really high-tech, sinkholes are caused by calcium carbonate leaching and weathering in thick limestone bedrock. Around Mammoth Cave there is literally tons of thick limestone that is perfect for caves and sinkholes--it's called karst topography. Wow, I guess I really am using my bachelor's degree in geology.
GOOD WORK!! Wow. That's awesome. You have a b.a. in geology? That's very cool.
Hey, as cool as the other side of the pillow.
Yeah, if anyone has any other rock questions just shoot.
QuoteYeah, if anyone has any other rock questions just shoot
What's up with that new White Stripes song? Do They Might be Giants count as a "rock" group? If Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck had stayed together in Yardbirds, would they have created the world's greatest "rock" band?? All this and more...
totally kidding here. I've got a green rock in my house that my geology professor couldn't identify...
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
ha.
Hey moose, what is the difference between a crystal and a rock? Is a crystal a type of rock? How about stalagtytes and statagmytes - what're the differences?
Good questions....good questions. Well, it's been a while but as I recall a chrystal is a form of mineral. Minerals have a "chrystalline form." Minerals are made up of a certain chemical composition (like calcium or barium, etc.).
Rocks on the other hand may have several minerals that make up there composition. Then you have the whole pressure and temperature thing but they may get confusing.
Stalagmites are cave formations rising from the ground up, stalagtites form from the ceiling down.
Are you ready to rawk...........Springfield?
the way i remembered the two was that StalcTITEs hang on TIGHT to the ceiling, and there was some other thing about stalagmites. But the stalactites are the hangy-downy ones
Well, the guy at Mammoth Cave said yesterday that stalactyte has a "c" for ceiling, and stalagmyte (I'm totally spelling this wrong but I only have 45 minutes left on the computer) has a "g" for ground. Which is helpful.
And fucking hell are they cool. They're caused by drops of water that leave their mineral deposit as they leave the surface, and the ones on the ground are from the drops. Then, sometimes they join up and are called columns. There are things called curtains as well.
It's all extremely wicked. :)
(hey everyone)
Right on EC, you are a cave expert. A regular spee-lunck-er.
There is a cave in Alabama where a hollow column was formed. During the tour, our guide said that you can beat on it like a drum. 10 min. later, the guide informed me that I was holding up the group. But, the resonance of the column and being in a cave...I didn't want to leave.
Now, my rock question. Rocks contain minerals. You need vitamins and minerals to supplement the body. Can you get this by sucking on a rock? Logic hard at work and not working at all.
I never studied geology, but my mom said that she used to get so mad because she was always emptying rocks out of my pockets. I still collect rocks to this day. I have "road-dogs" from all of my trips and was blessed with rocks from Galloway Bay(?) Ireland, Madrid and Africa. Nope, don't want a T-shirt, just bring me a cool rock.