Chili and Pepper....
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It's been awhile since we've opened up the TVGuy mailbag, so let's start our engines and get roaring out of the gate with a positive, well-written missive that will be sure to get us thinking...
>So you don't like bicyclists? Go F*ck Yourself...
--(comment from Blogger - Aud123)
TVGuy: Not exactly the tone I'd been hoping for... perhaps another...
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>Your an ass.
--(comment from Blogger - heysus)
TVGuy: Yeah, not getting off on a positive note here... I got a lot of flak from my blog entry stating that many bicyclists didn't follow the rules of the road... and observing the ones in Boulder the past few weeks they seem to have it down pat.. but Denver's bike riders pedal as if they are drunk, entitled and just plain rude...
Oh, and "heysus"? It's "you're", not "your".... drop me a note and let me know how that GED went for you... I hear that can be a tricky test....
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>I read you were getting a new TVCat... if so, has he fit into the TVGuy family as well as his predecessor?
--kathy44@******.com
TVGuy: Well, we got two cats.. we had "Chili" picked out but then a stray kitten basically jumped in TVGal's purse... his name was "Pepper", and if that isn't the Feline Gods telling you something, I don't know what is...
Their pictures are above, but I'll add another below.. you tell me, are they getting along??
They've been nothing short of a delight... the "TVCat" moniker has been retired in honor of Yellow Kitty... but I'm sure some sort of nickname will manifest itself at some point....
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>You're on a desert island. You have a case of 1 alcoholic beverage and 1 non-alcoholic... your choice? (If you choose water I'll vomit onto my keyboard.)
--catherineD@****.net
TVGuy: I'm tempted to choose water just so you have to buy a new keyboard....
Before I answer, this is a good spot to again state that these emails are just segments of a larger email... if someone just emailed me the above question with no explanation we'd all have to agree I have pretty strange friends..
Anyway...
Non-Alcoholic is simple... my favorite beverage on this planet has been and shall always be Apple Juice. Oh sure, Orange Juice gets all the good press but AJ kicks its butt both alphabetically and flavorically.. (I know that isn't a word but it sounded fun in my head so sue me...)
Nothing is more refreshing to me than AJ and that's been true for the better part of four decades now and I see nothing coming down the pike to change my mind...
However...
Favorite Alcoholic Beverage? It changes so often that I'm not comfortable picking one for all eternity (how long am I on this island anyway?)....
But two weeks ago TVGal and I were out and about and a waitress recommended a Strawberry Beer to us... it was 9 dollars (!) so I balked but she talked me into it... I've stated it publicly many times and I'll do so again.. I like fruity beer. Sue me.
And this one (Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Ale) was the finest one of its kind, and there might not be one even close enough to rank number two. We had one again last night with dinner and TVGal's smile went on for about 20 minutes...
It's utterly delicious. And that's all I've got to say about that....
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>How's the 12 week fitness regimen going?
--JT55@*****.com
TVGuy: Well, it's not at all actually... had some wrist pain which prevented any serious exercise and summer's minefield of tasty treats stopped it pretty fast in its tracks...
But TVGal and I have a trip in October and we need to get in shape pronto... so today is actually day One of 63.. a 9 week serious attempt to get into something resembling swimsuit shape... And since being accountable to all who stumble across this blog does seem to motivate me... my weight / fat percentage as of this morning...
Day 1:
Weight 216.2
Body Fat%: 23.8
That's about as much as I've weighed this century... 223 is my high, and my recent trip to Vegas didn't help matters (screw the gambling, damn the food out there is just crazy good...)
So I have 9 weeks to get at it.. wish me luck...
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>Do fish get thirsty?
--mlc1992@*********.com
TVGuy: I know that this is one of those "funny" questions that pop up from time to time, but I'll do some research in the TVGuy laboratories and come up with a definite answer, okay?
Here's what I've come up with so far...
Experiments have been performed to evaluate the effects of temperature-induced changes in functional gill lamellar surface area on the distribution of ionocytes and branchial chloride fluxes in goldfish (Carassius auratus). In fish acclimated to warm water (25°C), the ionocytes were scattered along the lamellae and within the interlamellar regions of the filament. In cold water (7°C), the ionocytes were largely absent from the lamellae and filaments but instead were mostly confined to the outer regions of an interlamellar cell mass (ILCM) that formed within the interlamellar channels. Using a time-differential double fluorescent staining' technique, it was determined that in fish transferred from 25° to 7°C, the ionocytes on the outer edge of (and within) the ILCM originated predominantly from the migration of pre-existing ionocytes and to a lesser extent from the differentiation of progenitor cells. Despite the greater functional lamellar surface area in the warm-water-acclimated fish, there was no associated statistically significant increase in passive branchial Cl– efflux. Because the paracellular efflux of polyethylene glycol was increased 2.5-fold at the warmer temperature, it would suggest that goldfish specifically regulate (minimize) Cl– loss that otherwise would accompany the increasing functional lamellar surface area. In contrast to predictions, the numbers and sizes of individual ionocytes was inversely related to functional lamellar surface area resulting in a markedly greater ionocyte surface area in fish acclimated to cold water (5219±438 compared with 2103±180 μm2 mm–1 of filament). Paradoxically, the activity of Na+/K+-ATPase (as measured at room temperature) also was lower in the cold-water fish (0.43±0.06 compared with 1.28±0.15 μmol mg–1 protein h–1) despite the greater numbers of ionocytes. There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of Cl– uptake in the two groups of fish despite the differences in ionocyte abundance. It is possible that to maintain normal rates of Cl– uptake, a greater ionocyte surface area is required in the cold-water fish that possess an ILCM because of the unfavorable positioning of the ionocytes on and within the ILCM, a structure lacking any obvious blood supply.
I hope that answers your question....
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>I saw a picture on your Facebook page that had a lightning bolt hitting Denver during the daytime... how on Earth did you do that? Any help you can give is greatly appreciated...
--amy*******@yahoo.com
TVGuy: I'm assuming you meant this one.....
Pretty happy with that one, not going to lie... at night you would just put your camera on a tripod and take 3-8 second shots during a storm and you're bound to get some good bolts... during the day you can't do that so just do what I did... take 100 pictures one after another and hope to get a bolt in the shot...
You could get Neutral Density filters and get all crazy, but shooting lighting during the day is like trying to catch a bullet out of a gun with your hand... hard to do and painful to attempt...
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Off to the midwest next week.. St. Louis, Indianapolis, Monmouth, Davenport and Chicago... yes, I know, why travel when the humidity and temperatures together will be well over 1 billion percent?? It's the only time I could go... but I'll enjoy seeing some old friends, eating at Bazbeaux Pizza (ah, the memories) and taking about 1,283,435 photos... Ill update the blog when I return.. until then, keep those letters coming... unless you're a psychotic bicyclist....
Andy: I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well...
--"The Shawshank Redemption" (1994)
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