The Air Zoo adds Michigan Space Science Center

The Michigan Space Science Center opened at the Air Zoo this past Saturday. Admission to the exhibit is included in the general admission to the Air Zoo ($19.50 for adults). Many items from the now defunct Michigan Space and Science Center that was located in Jackson are housed in this new 17,000 square foot attraction. The Jackson location closed in 2003 and it is nice to see most of the exhibits find a new home. I remember visiting the Michigan Space and Science Center as a kid and eating freeze-dried ice cream like the astronauts. The novelty of the ice cream almost made up for the crummy taste. Almost.

Anyway, the Michigan Space Science Center exhibit includes -

• Lunar Leap – Hopping craters like an Apollo astronaut, guests will be able to get the feel of lunar gravity—1/6 of the Earth’s.
• Space Sick – Erratically swirling circles make the viewer feel dizzily space sick. A rocking platform adds to the disorientation. Visitors will understand the feeling that many astronauts feel during their first few days in weightlessness.
• Gyro – Visitors will experiment with large locked and un-locked gyroscopes to see how they work and why they are important for guiding rockets and spacecraft.
• Action vs. Reaction – Guests will be able to learn about action/reaction by loading tennis balls into the chamber of an air cannon, which will be mounted to a cart on a track. When the cannon is fired, the action of the ball being shot out of the back causes the cannon to roll forward (reaction). By varying the pressure, visitors will see the relationship between action and reaction.
• Also in the exhibit are a number of original space artifacts such as a Saturn V rocket engine, full-size replica of a Gemini space capsule, a Gemini crew-training simulator, Russian Cosmonaut suit (from Alexandr Kaleri, the last commander of the MIR space station) and Ann Arbor astronaut Jack Lousma’s space suit.

Visit www.airzoo.org for more information.

Incredible wheelchair ride in Paw Paw

By now, most everyone has heard the story of 21 year old, Ben Carpenter, and his 50 mph wheelchair ride through Paw Paw while stuck to the grill of a semi truck. Well, here is a brief interview of the young man who miraculously survived the ordeal without a scratch.

If the player does not appear, click here.

Free Fishing Weekend is June 9-10

Hey everybody! The weekend weather looks great for most of Michigan and thanks to the DNR and other official offices you will be able to fish June 9-10 without having to purchase a license. Of course, all other fishing regulations apply so please abide by them. This is a great program and a great way to introduce kids (and even adults) to the joys of fishing. It sure beats having the kids in front of the big black dummy box (that's the tv, folks).

Fishing always reminds me of this song -

Elizabeth Mitchell “Crawdad” You get a line I'll get a pole, honey You get a line I'll get a pole, babe You get a line I'll get a pole And we'll go down to that crawdad hole Honey, oh baby mine.

Get up now you slept to late, honey Get up now you slept to late, babe Get up now you slept to late The crawdad man done past your gate Honey, oh baby mine

What you gonna do when the lake runs dry, honey What you gonna do when the lake runs dry, babe What you gonna do when the lake run dry Sit and watch those crawdads fly Honey, baby mine.

You get a line I'll get a pole, honey You get a line I'll get a pole, babe You get a line I'll get a pole And we'll go down to that crawdad hole Honey, oh baby mine Honey, oh baby mine Honey, oh baby mine Honey, oh baby mine

Learn how to build a raised bed and make great compost for your garden

I have just completed two new web pages (they call them 'lenses' at Squidoo) at Squidoo with a gardening theme. Follow my step-by-step instructions to build your own raised bed garden at www.squidoo.com/Raised-Bed-Gardens/. I have created a companion eBook as a PDF that you can download here (right-click and then choose 'save as'). At the Raised Bed Gardening page I also show you how to grow potatoes in a container, how to winterize your raised bed, and how to build your raised bed for under $10.

At the Lazy Man's Guide to Compost I show how to build a simple compost bin on the cheap, what to put in your compost (as well as what not to put in), my recipe for 'Lazy Compost', why you should screen your compost, and the gardener's secret source for a great garden - Compost Tea. Learn all about Compost.