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Checked out my garden tonight: my potatoes are ready, will be harvesting on a need to eat basis until they are gone or frost is imminent.

My asparagus is coming nicely: have planted in 3 bunches, one planting per year. My first bunch should be ready next year (it takes at least 3 years for plants to get going enough (seed plantings a year or more longer)).

So in 3 years time I should have asparagus coming out my Ying Yang! Can't wait. Focused on the asparagus and potatoes due to lack of time: no cherry tomatoes this year. :(

Playing Europa universalist 4 as France currently, then watched Rocket Men with my son and wife: my son enjoyed it. Brought back memories of watching moon walks as a kid.

Keeping busy.

Maybe I'll try to submit some stories next week.
Gotta keep busy.

Browsed through my email this morning. I can't really remember when or why, but apparently, I've registered with something called academia.edu. Gave them a fake email, fake name, fake species - the works. Academia - you expect them to have some academics, right? Check this out:

Academia.edu

Dear Some Guy,

1,615 people recently read one of the papers that mentions the name "Some Guy".

A total of 819 papers on Academia mention your name.

________________________

Seriously - that is the exact text of the email. Some Guy, the "name" that I use on sites when I'm checking them out. And, apparently 819 academic papers have mentioned my personna, and 1,615 people have read at least one of those papers.

Clicking the link, I arrive at a page that states:

Mentions
818
818 papers mention the name "Some Guy" or "S. Guy"
1,615 people recently read one of them
The Mentions feature helps you find your name mentioned in papers, books, drafts, theses, and syllabi that Google Scholar can't find.

_____________________________

And, these fuckwits take themselves seriously? They hope to pass themselves off as some sub-species of academics?

Should I laugh, or should I cry?

I might be nice if I could remember why in hell I even visited their site to start with. Maybe I was researching something like 'The resurgence of troglodytes in academia'??

A BIG hand to China for finally getting tough with #NoKo! Very bold, and smart, move! Complete denuclearization very soon!

Prodigal K-pop composer enlists in South Korea’s Marine Corps

Move was kept quiet, with only Lee Chan-hyuk’s parents, agency and a few of his close friends in the know

K-pop duo band Akdong Musician’s composer and singer Lee Chan-hyuk, often regarded as a musical prodigy has enlisted in the country’s Marine Corps.

The star, 21, who plays with his younger sister Su-hyun, voluntarily entered a training centre in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. He kept his enlistment quiet from the public as his Christian pastor parents, a few close friends and staff from his agency YG Entertainment saw him enter the military world for two years.

Lee enlisted early compared to other K-pop celebrities, who usually postpone mandatory military service until their late 20s or 30s. He said he enlisted to train with others around his age “to build diverse experiences and improve my musical skills,” according to media reports.

KB Home Cuts CEO's Bonus 25% After Rant Against Kathy Griffin

KB Home’s board will cut Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger’s annual bonus by 25 percent as punishment for his profanity-laced tirade against comedian Kathy Griffin and warned he’ll be dismissed if he does anything like that again.

Mezger’s bonus for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30 will be reduced by $375,000, based on performance targets, because of “recent behavior in his personal dealings with a neighbor,” the board said in a regulatory filing Thursday, calling his conduct “unacceptable.”

KB Home cuts CEO’s bonus as punishment for his profanity-laced rant at neighbor Kathy Griffin

In audio released by the Huffington Post, Mezger called comedian Kathy Griffin a "f---ing c---," "a b----," an "a--hole" and a "f---ing bald dyke." Security cameras caught Mezger's tirade, the culmination of a series of disputes between the neighbors in a gated community in Los Angeles' upscale Bel Air neighborhood.

[...] Through a spokesman, Mezger suggested Wednesday that Griffin's history of unjustly nitpicking about noise was partly to blame for his apoplectic rant.

"Though Mr. Mezger does not believe there is any excuse for the language he used, the incident that led to his losing his temper was the result of the culmination of a series of unneighborly actions taken by Ms. Griffin and her boyfriend," said Mezger's spokesman.

Those "actions" consist of up to 10 noise complaints that Griffin and her boyfriend, Randy Bick, have made against Mezger, leading to multiple visits by police, the spokesman said. In one of those cases in which the police showed up, the spokesman said, Mezger's niece, who "has stage 4 cancer" was renewing her marital vows with her husband at the Mezger home.

I was saddened to see how bad the ratings were on the Emmys -- the worst ever. The smallest audience ever. Because they had .@SeanSpicer and .@Stephen_Colbert. LOSERS!

Had a fabulous talk with my good friend, Prime Minister @Netanyahu in NYC yesterday. Just so you understand: I never mentioned the word or the name Israel, never mentioned, in that conversation. Believe me, I never mentioned the word Israel. pic.twitter.com/jwU4e8Yk8A

Happy 70th Birthday @CIA! pic.twitter.com/CU3gOZMf7J

Wakened from its latest hibernation, New Horizons may visit additional Kuiper Belt Objects

Fuel saved during the MU69 encounter could be used to send New Horizons to a third KBO, a move that would require yet another mission extension. In 2016, NASA approved an extended mission for the MU69 flyby through the year 2021.

On Sept. 6, Stern told members of NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group that mission scientists are already searching for an additional KBO target.

“We have a fighting chance of having a second [Kuiper Belt Object] flyby,” Stern said.

Approval of another mission extension will also provide more opportunities for New Horizons to continue its distant observations of KBOs, dwarf planets, and centaurs. Stern said that he intends to request a second extension once the MU69 flyby is completed and the data collected from it returned to Earth.

Even that might not be the mission’s end. Stern foresees additional extensions beyond the one that would take it to a second KBO.

“There’s fuel and power on board the spacecraft to operate it for another 20 years,” Stern said. “That’s not going to be a concern even for a third or fourth extended mission.”

The probe will be put into another hibernation period on Dec. 22, 2017, during which it will remain until June 4, 2018, when it will be woken up in preparation for the MU69 encounter, which will officially begin in August 2018.

(486958) 2014 MU₆₉

Size comparison to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (exact size and appearance of 2014 MU₆₉ are still unknown, but it is suspected to be a binary object or contact binary, like Comet 67P)

Folks, I know you've all been worried about #Irma and especially about my estate on St. Martin, Le Château des Palmiers. Well, you have nothing to worry about, because it's A-OK! And it's available starting at only $6000 per night. I'm also looking for a buyer. I've listed it at just $16.9 million! Believe me, that represents a very, very substantial discount. Formerly $28 million. Comes with 5 acres surrounded by an 8-foot wall. Also, here's a big hand for President Macron for visiting St. Martin. He loves to shake my hand. And 95% of St. Martin was leveled. But my house is OK. No problem there. Fabulous! And a big hand to the folks in my Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Georgia, and South Carolina. All my people in the path of #Irma. Good going, you made it!