LUNA-TICS TEAM ROOM: Year-round "Looney" fun.

[bg]

Unfortunately, I was knocked off the holiday challenge last week. I went into a public bathroom, tried to open a stall door, and the entire metal door broke off the hinges and landed edge-on onto the top of my foot. It wasn't broken, but the swelling and bruising is nasty. I tried rowing after it, and rowed for 5555, but couldn't walk later in the day. Now, I'm off until it heals. Bruising is going back from black to purple, so hopefully it won't be too long. Glad to see all the reindeers in our stable, though!

ouch....sending healing thoughts your way....

[Kristine Strasburger]

Unfortunately, I was knocked off the holiday challenge last week. I went into a public bathroom, tried to open a stall door, and the entire metal door broke off the hinges and landed edge-on onto the top of my foot. It wasn't broken, but the swelling and bruising is nasty. I tried rowing after it, and rowed for 5555, but couldn't walk later in the day. Now, I'm off until it heals. Bruising is going back from black to purple, so hopefully it won't be too long. Glad to see all the reindeers in our stable, though!

How sad for you. So sorry to hear this. Get well soon!

[Kona2]

Woohoo! It was a Saturday night and the reindeer were busy with their antler lighting ceremonies! Congratulations, Kristine, on achieving the 200 K Holiday Challenge Honor Board and earning your antler lights!

[Kona2]

Woohoo! Hooyah! More antler lights! Congratulations, Robert, on achieving the 200K Holiday Challenge Honor Board and earning your antler lights!!

[brotherjim]

By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Alicia Chang, Ap Science Writer – 37 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – 'Twill be nights before Christmas and high overhead, the moon will turn brown or maybe deep red. The Earth and the sun with celestial scripts will conspire to make a lunar eclipse.

Weather permitting, sky gazers in North and Central America and a tiny sliver of South America will boast the best seats to this year's only total eclipse of the moon.

The eclipse will happen Monday night on the West Coast and during the wee hours Tuesday on the East Coast. Western Europe will only see the start of the spectacle while western Asia will catch the tail end.

The moon is normally illuminated by the sun. During a total lunar eclipse, the full moon passes through the shadow created by the Earth blocking the sun's light. Some indirect sunlight will still manage to pierce through and give the moon a ghostly color.

Since the eclipse coincides with winter solstice, the moon will appear high in the sky — a boon for skywatchers. With recent volcanic eruptions around the globe dumping tons of dust into the atmosphere, scientists predict the moon may appear darker than usual during the eclipse, glowing an eerie red or brown instead of the usual orange-yellow tinge.

North and Central America should be able to view the entire show, which is expected to last 3 1/2 hours if skies are clear. Total eclipse begins at 11:41 p.m. PST Monday or 2:41 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The totality phase — when the moon is entirely inside Earth's shadow — will last a little over an hour.

"It's perfectly placed so that all of North America can see it," said eclipse expert Fred Espenak of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Griffith Observatory perched on the south slope of Mount Hollywood in Los Angeles will host an eclipse party Monday evening although rain is forecast. Telescopes will be set out on the lawn for the public and astronomers will give free lectures on the eclipse's various stages.

If clouds or rain set in, the observatory plans to stream live video of the eclipse from the Internet. Among the various outfits that will show the eclipse live is NASA, which has a camera mounted at its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

"Our event will go on rain or shine," said Griffith Observatory astronomer Anthony Cook.

Unlike solar eclipses which require protective glasses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye.

U.S. Naval Observatory spokesman Geoff Chester finds solar eclipses more exciting than the lunar counterpart. But solar eclipses tend to occur in remote parts of the world while lunar eclipses are usually visible from an entire hemisphere.

"If you get skunked by bad weather, all you have to do is wait a few years for the next one to come around," Chester said.

There are two total lunar eclipses in 2011 — in June and December. North America will miss the June show and witness only a part of next December eclipse.

[Kona2]

Whoop! Whoop! There will be a big blaze of light during flight practice this evening...all these new flyers! Congratulations, Karyn / Winston, on achieving the 200K Holiday Challenge Honor Board....and doing so with a fine half marathon! Hooyah!

[Kona2]

Woohoo! This team is on fire! Wowzer, mates - we collectively rowed a cool half million meters....plus some change...yesterday (and today is looking good, too!)...! The holiday challenge boards are filling up as teammates make it to their challenge goals! Cathie rows almost a full moon, there are several half moons filling the sky, and Jim tells us we're going to party till the lights go out with a lunar eclipse on Kristine's birthday. I've heard about teams like this... I've been in a couple of different geographies today so hopefully have all the numbers correct...almost like alternate planets....one filled with heavy snow, and freezing temperatures, gray skies....and another with blue skies and 60 degrees. Go figure Colorado.

Season meters as of 232/365 = 66,744,591 m

Total meters on the day = 513,812 m

Oars in space (participation) = 33 percent!

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

3.5 MM Danno
900 K Kristine
700 K Harold
300 K Bobbie
200 K Andrea
200 K Jack

Cathie, with 40,252 m, earns a half moon PLUS a lot of change
Kenneth G, with a posting of 30,000 m, earns a half moon plus
Ron, with a 27,022 m posting, earns a half moon
Kristine flies across the 900K mark, and the 200K Holiday Challenge Board mark, with a half marathon plus and 25,252 m
Minnie the mooner...adds some extra meters! 23,227 m
Dan E with a half moon, too, with 21,678 m! Way to row!

....Holiday Challenge Meters brought to you by:

Allie 50 m
Ashlee 1,500 m
Dalton 1,500 m
Kaylee 1,850 m
Tris 2,011 m
Mitch 4,199 m
Samuel 5,200 m
David T 6,000 m
Kenny H m Everything's coming up diamonds !
Bobbie 6,715 m....way to row across the 300K milestone!
Tony 6...7...8...9....
Brandy 7,626 m
Terri H 7,777 m....lucky repeating numbers....! Tandem repeating numbers from Terri and Kenny!
Mike M 10,000 m
Tim P 10,031 m
Jack 10,054 m....way to cross the 200K milestone!
Harold 11,500 m .... and into the 700Ks!
Jerry 12,500 m
Greg H 12,502 m
Rick 12,709 m
Rosi 13,700 m
Andrea 13,722 m
Mitch J 14,109 m
Ronnie 15,000 m ....she's on a roll!
Bruce 15,895 m
AJ 16,116 m
Danno 16,160 m
Ted 17,000 m
Jim K 19,000 m
Robert 20,000 m
Peter G 21,000 m
Dan E 21,678 m
Chris 23,227 m
Kristine 25,252 m
Ray 27,500 m
Kenneth G 30,000 m
Cathie 40,252 m

Way to row!!

[Kristine Strasburger]

How cool is that...a lunar eclipse on my birthday...I guess I better plan to stay up and see it.
Woo, Hoo to all the meters and achievements on the team this weekend! Great rowing, mateys!

[Kona2]

Woohoo and hooyah! We have another meter multi-millionaire! Congratulations, Jerry, on achieving a TWO million meter rowing season! We wish you many, many more!!

[bg]

wooo hoooo jerry...and happy birthday captain k......

[brotherjim]

Happy Birthday Captain Kristine
Congratulations Jerry on a 2 million meter season
Lunar eclipse sighting here looks bleak. Very cloudy and forecast is for cloudy tonight also. Don't know why it can't be like last night. Bobbie and I took a moonlight walk after 11 and it was very bright. Very beautiful moon.
K2, How many reindeer in our herd so far? I heard that Santa has an EXTRA HEAVY load this year and needed all the flying reindeer he could muster up.
jim

[Kona2]

Yes, checking out sleighs for the upcoming reindeer event...was a perfect snow-filled Colorado Saturday!

And, speaking of reindeer events, we have a new reindeer in the herd! Kaylee has earned enough meters to be on the Holiday Challenge board....and that means....Kaylee has freed up Electra the reindeer for sleigh duty!


....Kaylee / Electra...

Jim K sends a note that he is pursuing his passion of establishing a new team, Overcoming Disabilities, where he can encourage others with disabilities. Jim brings a unique perspective to a team, and will enjoy having his own team forum pages I believe. From a team diversity perspective, I think we all bring very special things to the team and would hope that all know they are welcome here regardless of whether they row a little or a lot. We learn from each other that everyone can rise above the challenges they are presented with in life...and that sometimes we need to help each other be all we can be. So, good luck to Jim, Ronnie and little Allie. We wish you the best, and good rowing....but we'll want to win the Virtual Challenge.

The stats might be a little goofy (goofier?) today. I had them compiled, and we've had a couple of changes in between compilation and posting. So bear with me if we're a little askew.

Season meters as of 233/365 = 61,895,887 m

Total meters on the day = 487,666 m

Oars in space (participation) = 33 percent

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

2.9 MM Ray
2.0 MM Jerry
1.1 MM Ron
800 K Mitch J

ONE Million Meter Watch:

Mike M with (53,695 m) to go!

Kristine with (97,693 m) to go!

FOUR Million Meter Watch:

Chris with (137,007 m) to go! All she wants for Christmas is her 4th million meter?!

Ray rows at the head of the herd today with a full moon plus some and a posting of 47,500 m
Jerry zooms across the TWO million meter line with a full moon and some extra with a posting of 47,455 m
Andrea posts a fine update of 31,081 m and earns a half moon
Baz posts 30K and earns a half moon and a lot of charity dollars continue to rack up!
Mitch gets a bunch of meters in and earns a half moon with 28,517 m
Karyn grabs time for a half marathon plus a warm up/cool down, gets her 200K in and says woohoo! my antlers are in lights! with a posting of 22,542 m
Cathie provides the Alaskan moon with 22,455 m and an aurora thrown in just because it's there
Bruce continues his mega-rowing (we love all these California moons) and posts 21,998 m
Minnie the Mooner...another California moon

Great rowing by all today -- those holiday challenge meters are really motivating everyone! Keep leaping through the stars!Tandem rowing again by Terri and Kenny!

Ethan 525 m
Ashlee 1,500 m....and not very many to go for the finish of her Holiday Challenge!
Kaylee 1,500 m
Dalton 1,750 m
Tom P 2,000 m
Coulter 3,015 m
Bobbie 3,500 m
Peter G 4,000 m
Tina 4,017 m
Kenny H 4,444 m
Terri H 4,444 m
Dave H (AUS) 5,000 m
Mario Jackson 5,605 m....hoo-boy as Samuel would say....this one is going to give Tris a run for Rudolf
Ross 5,833 m
Jack 6,020 m
Harold and Moggy 6,262 m
Tony 6...7...8...9 m (the 1...2....3...4....5 m are more profitable!)
Rosi 7,700 m
Mike M 10,000 m
Tim 11,171 m
David T 12,000 m
Barbara 12,136 m
Greg H 12,500 m
Kenneth G 15,000 m
Samuel 15,200 m
Dan E 16,391 m
Ron 16,719 m
Will S 20,000 m
Chris 21,097 m
Bruce 21,998 m
Cathie 22,455 m
Karyn 22,542 m
Mitch J 28,517 m
Baz 30,000 m
Andrea 31,081 m
Jerry 47,455 m
Ray 47,500 m

Keep smiling! It's a great day to row!

[Kristine Strasburger]

Jim K sends a note that he is pursuing his passion of establishing a new team where he can encourage others with disabilities. Jim brings a unique perspective to a team, and will enjoy having his own team forum pages I believe. From a team diversity perspective, I think we all bring very special things to the team and would hope that all know they are welcome here regardless of whether they row a little or a lot. We learn from each other that everyone can rise above the challenges they are presented with in life...and that sometimes we need to help each other be all we can be. So, good luck to Jim, Ronnie and little Allie.

Jim - Great idea! We wish you all the best. I am sure it will be a great team! Three cheers for Jim to send him off on this great new venture into unknown galaxies. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

[BAZzy]

wooo hoooo jerry...and happy birthday captain k......

And ditto/ditto from the other side of the date-line!!

Cheers, BBB

[bg]

Jim K sends a note that he is pursuing his passion of establishing a new team where he can encourage others with disabilities. Jim brings a unique perspective to a team, and will enjoy having his own team forum pages I believe. From a team diversity perspective, I think we all bring very special things to the team and would hope that all know they are welcome here regardless of whether they row a little or a lot. We learn from each other that everyone can rise above the challenges they are presented with in life...and that sometimes we need to help each other be all we can be. So, good luck to Jim, Ronnie and little Allie.

Jim - Great idea! We wish you all the best. I am sure it will be a great team! Three cheers for Jim to send him off on this great new venture into unknown galaxies. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

yes..all the best to jim and your team....