Doubles to celebrate the Winter Olympics 2002 Salt Lake City, USA A complete report by Richard Harshaw

The 33 Doubles Winter Olympics began with great festivities today and a flurry of observing activity (not to be confused with the snow flurries at the Alpine Events venue).  Yours truly, the reporter on the scene, for ESSN ("Exceptional Star Splitting Network"-- not to be confused with ESPiN) made the rounds at the end of the day and offer this report for our viewers.

Ambience of Saline Pond Village
As is fitting for the Winter Olympics, the air this night was crisp and cold with high humidity.  In fact, the humidity was so high that at one point, I thought the stars were getting dim-- "Hmmm," I mused, "high clouds moving in?"  I checked the corrector plate of my C11 and discovered to my horror a glaze of frost on it!  I quickly unplugged my heater cable from the 12-volt battery, thinking it had malfunctioned, and plugged the 12-volt hair dryer I carry as a backup dew remover.  I flipped the switch to "On", expecting that high-pitched whine, but instead got only ear-shattering silence.  "Rats!" I mumbled (a line I learned in the famous Kevin Kustner film "Mumbles with Glass"), "my battery is dead."

But not to worry.  Years as a Boy Scout in my errant youth taught me to always "Be Prepared!"  So I went to my famous gadget caddy and pulled the 120-volt hair dryer out of its storage bin and used it to defrost my photon collector.  (To those of you in Europe, Americans use ridiculously low voltages so their conductors and transformers have to be larger and the people who make them can therefore charge more for their products.)  I had to repeat this ritual twice more during the night, chanting as I did, "I must recharge my battery, I must recharge my battery."

I was ready to have a real Ball of a time and what Struve overhead but our local gaggle of Candian Geese!  These lovely swan wannabes (Americanism for "want to be") have taken up residence at a small pond about 1.5 km from my observing site.  Why they did not fly farther south this winter is beyond me, except that Saline Pond Village has not been that cold this year.  Saline Pond Village is in the middle of the Great North American Flyway.  Every year, millions of Canadian Geese have the sense God gave a goose and leave their hostile northern clime (hint to Mary Flanagan) and seek warmer climes farther south, much like the blue-hairs who populate our states of Florida and Texas.  But that's another topic.

Anyway, these Swan-Lake Wannabes did a beautiful rendition of the famous Baillaud "Swan Lake" as they flew over, honking like a bunch of tuba players.  Their breast feather oils caught the amber glow of our street lights and reflected them back to the ground, producing a ghostly orangeish image of these beautiful birds flying in their vamous "Vee".  As usual, one leg of that Vee was longer than the other.  (Do you know why this is?  If you don't, email me privately and I'll tell you....)

Shortly thereafter, my Cocker Spaniel, Abbe, came outside to relieve herself, then quickly trotted back indoors.  She does not like the cold that much.  Whereas she was Knott ready for the night, I certainly was!  I was itching to See something!  I was prepared, I had Donnered my warmest clothes, I had my charts ready--- I was going to be one Smart observer at this Olympics.

The Airy was, as I said, cold and crisp and rather damp.  The seeing this night was not that great-- about 5 out of 10 (making the closer pairs very difficult, even with my C-11), but the transparency was great-- about 8 out of 10.  The instrument I used was a Celestron C-11 on a GM700 mount with digital circles (meaning I had to Doolittle to locate and observe these wonderful pairs!).  The eyepieces (EPs) I used and their resulting magnifcations will be given in the individual event reports below.  The observations were all made between 0130 and 0400 on February 8, 2002 UT from a suburban location at an altitude of about 975 feet (297 meters).
 

THE SKI JUMPING VENUE
First up for the night was the Ski Jumping event, featuring four outstanding jumpers from around the world.

First off the great ramp was an American jumper, M 40, sponsored by William Schaart.  M40 began his descent down the ramp, gathering speed, and then was soon airborne--- but with such an awful form!  The judges were aghast, and I overheard many people talking of the clumsy American jumper of two games ago, "Eddy the Eagle" (not to be confused with "Eddy the O'connor").  He landed with a loud thud, almost losing his balance.  His two dim stars were so far apart, it is hard to believe that Messeur Messier actually included this character in his catalog!  He was viewed with a 25mm EP giving 115x.  Both stars appeared white to me.

Messier added it to his catalog on October 24, 1764 while searching for a nebula mistakenly reported by Hevelius in 1660.  (Hevelius may have made the same mistake as Messier of seeing this faint pair as a nebula.  In fact, he described it as a "nebulous star."  However, Mallas and Kreimer assert that Hevelius actually observed 74 UMa, a 5th mag star more than a degree away.)

Much has been made about this being one of Messier's mistakes, but his own description is plain on the subject:  "Two stars very close to each other and very small... they are difficult to distinguish with an ordinary telescope of 6 feet [f.l.]."

The object was viewed again at Pulkovo Observatory in 1863, when the separation was 49" and the PA was 88.

The stars have different proper motions.

The judges, aghast at the awkwardness of the jump and the thought that M40 had the nerve to enter a world-class event, prompted them to give him a low score (not helped much by his dismal jump of only 27 meters).  He received from the judges a score of 3.62 out of 10.00, with the Swiss judge giving him a -2.98!  (It was later discovered that he had a double identity no less-- Winnecke 4!)

The next jumper in this event was the distinguished Alpha UMi, another American entry sponsored by Mr. Schaart.  This entrant fared much better than poor Mr. M40, jumping an impressive 114 meters.  "Polaris" (as his friends call him) is also known as STF 93 or 1 UMi.  This observer noted colors of white and blue, but others have reported yellow and blue, or yellow and white.  (With spectral classes of F8 for the primary and F3 for the companion it is hard to see how any colors but white for both stars would be seen.)  Judge Flammarion took the cake though by calling them yellow and bluish-white and calling them a "difficult" pair. I did not think they were that difficult, but seeing the companion was not exactly a walk in the park.  I used a 25mm EP which gave 115x.

Star A is a spectroscopic binary and a Cepheid with a 3.9698 day period.  The A star is 10 times as massive as the Sun and was  found to be a binary by William Herschel in 1779.

Polaris is a member of the Pleiades Group.

First measure:  18.3" @ 210.

The judges gave Alpha a score of 7.96.

The third ski jumper was another American contestant, Tau 1 Hydra, sponsored by Mr. P. J. Anway.  I had to move far to the South to see this jumper in action.  My 25mm EP (115x) showed an uneven pair, white and pale violet, almost lavendar.  The jump was a good one-- 116.2 meters-- earning him a score of 8.04 from the judges.

A fourth jumper was to jump that night-- Eta Per-- but was not ready to jump at his appointed time, so I will have to try to see him jump later this week.  (This star is sponsored by the Italians lead by Sr. Zofolli.)

Results to date in Ski Jumping:
    First place-- Tau 1 Hydra, 8.04
    Second place-- Alpha UMi, 7.96
    Third place-- M40, 3.62
 

THE NORDIC COMBINED EVENT
A difficult event, involving cross country skiing and steady rifle shooting, this event has historically been dominated by Scandinavian athletes.  But this year, the judges had to struggle to decided which of two non-Scandinavians deserved the medal!

The pair STF 948, sponsored by the Italian team of Bassi, was impressive in the 9mm (339x) EP, offering two extremely close white stars, then, a little farther out, an orangish-tinged star, and finally, way out there at long rifle range, a tiny pimple of light that looked white if it had any color at all.  (Some observers report all three as W; others see Y, B and B, or bW and rO.  Webb saw them as gW, gW and B.  Hunt saw Y, Y and R.)  This made for a very delightful view, and when one adds in a faint field pair about 15 minutes to the NW (which I stumbled over getting to this pair), the overall score was quite good, with a time of 1hr 16min 13.26 sec and a shooting score of 96 out of 100.

The other heavy hitter in this event this year was the Australian entry sponsored by Team O'connor, STF 1316.  This pair needed Fox-like eyes to resolve, but was easily accomplished in my 25mm EP, where the colors looked white and pale blue to me.  Further use of my Fox-like eyes revealed an interloper, about 12th magnitude, close by at about 8 seconds in PA 350 or so.  Clever job of camouflage there!  Team O'connor had a better time than Team Bassi, but a lower shooting score (1 hr 13min 9.56 sec and 91 out of 100).

The slight edge in shooting gave the gold medal to STF 948 and the silver to STF 1316.  One of the closest finishes for this event in recent history!  Said one of the judges, "Howe close can you get!!"
 

GIANT SLALOM
This exciting event was dominated by two powerful players, one Italian and the other American.

The Italian skier was part of Team Morini and was named Kappa Lep.  In my 9mm (339x) EP, this fellow offered white and white or very pale lilac stars.  His form was not that impressive, but he attacked the long chain of flags (a zig-zagging line of stars running north of Kappa) with energy and courage.  He actually made turns inside two gates, costing him precious time, and ending up with a total time (counting penalties) of 44.67 sec.

The American skier (sponsored by Harshaw) was South-Herschel 73.  Before his run, a bystander was overheard to say to a fellow bystander, "Abetti beats Kappa!"  "Oh, yeah?" said his friend.  "You're on.  Say, five bucks?"

With that, Sh 73 left the starting block and blistered the trail, missing no gates, but cutting one gate a little wide.  His colors of yellow and bluish-violet caught the eye of this observer (in a 25mm EP) and two tiny, dim stars just to the east glinted off his helmet like distant headlights of a car.  (Webb saw them as Y, pV.  Other observers have reported a bewildering range of colors, including Y and G, Y and bG, Y and pB, D and bG, Y and dB.)  His time was 44.22 sec, giving Sh 73 the gold and Kappa the silver.
 

MOGULS
I've always felt that the moguls were a strange Alpine event, more like watching a factory test shock absorbers than a real sport, but it is part of the Olympics, just like synchronized swimming is part of the Summer Games (and I don't know WHY in the world THAT is considered a competitive sport....)

The first skier, STF 1084, was sponsored by Team Harshaw of the USA. Navigating a treacherous field of moguls (the field here is very rich!!), my 25mm EP revealed a rich orange Spandex ski suit on the main skier and reddish-orange or (at times, given the variable seeing) even white skis.  (Dumb combination in my opinion-- not at all fashionable.)

Things were going well for STF 1084 until he took a tumble near the end, but he recovered well enough to post a respectable time of 49.73 seconds.

However, the other American entry, h3750, sponsored by Bill Becker, took no falls.  In my 15mm EP (193x), he revealed himself to be wearing a yellowish-white ski suit with orange (not sure) skis.  A much better fashion statement to my eye, and a better time too-- 42.64 seconds.

Gold went to h3750 and silver to STF 1084.
 

ICE HOCKEY
This sport, played fast and furious on crowded ice, has traditionally been the domain of the eastern European teams. Who can ever forget the dynamic power of the Red Army team during the Cold War (despite the "miracle of Lake Placid"), or the gritty determination of the Swedes?

But this year's hockey tournament was won by an upstart British team!  The story is dramatic in the telling.

In Round 1, the American team, lead by Jim Jones, skated to a 3-1 win over the team from Aruba.  Known as OS 64 (or variably was STT 64), this group looked marvelous in its brilliant backdrop of the Pleiades, lying only 5 min southeast of mighty Atlas and 12 minutes east of the famous "Chevron".  In my 9mm EP (339x), the team displayed white, orange (maybe) and reddish-orange stars, with the two orange-tinted ones skating in line behind their leader.

However, in Round 2, OS 64 fell to the B team from the United Kingdom, STF 470, lead by the great English hockey coach, Tim Leese.  This spunky team, lead by the powerful one-two punch of a yellow primary and deep blue secondary (as they appeared in my 25mm EP) took the show with their brilliant colors.  At times, the arena lights played off the secondary skater's uniform and it seemed to change from deep  blue to turquoise to sapphire to cobalt and back to deep blue, a feat that drew many "Oooohs" and "Ahhhhs" from the crowd and gave us all great Joy.  Webb saw them as Y and B or Y and G.  Secchi called the colors, "magnifici, superbi".

STF 470 pummeled the American team 5 to zip in a furious battle of checks and counter checks (but the Czechs did not field a team this year) and maintained a nearly perfect kite-shaped formation just to the north.

Advancing to Round 3, the medal round, STF 470 ran into the other English buzz-saw team, from the A squad, STF 950, also coached by Mr. Leese.  This team was, to put it simply, awesomely brilliant in its hard-fought and deserved win over STF 470.  The STF 950 team skated together as if one skater and in my 9mm EP showed me a white captain and a yellowish-orange or pale orange wing man.  The arena (the famous Christmas Tree Cluster) was jammed to overflowing with specta-stars.  This team was so well rehearsed I could even notch them at 115x (25 mm).  At one point, however, a fan jumped out of the stands and tried to skate with team STF 950 (this fan being an 11th magnitude interloper about 10 seconds north of the captain).  This star complex is part of the Mon OB1 Association, and is listed as star #131 of NGC 2264.  The primary is a spectroscopic binary and an infra-red source.

After three gruelling periods, STF 950 ended up with a 2-1 victory over STF 470.

Final results of the Hockey tournament-- Gold to STF 950, silver to STF 470, and bronze to OS 64.
 

SPEED SKATING
This contest of personal stamina, endurance, and speed is still in progress, but as of this writing, the American skater Beta Mon (P. J. Anway) is way out in front.

In my 25mm EP, Beta offered one of the best views of double stars I've ever enjoyed, showing me a brilliant bluish-white primary accompanied by two yellowish friends, set in a very nice scattered field of fairly bright stars, reminding me of the flash bulbs you often see in these darkened arenas as the skaters go whizzing by.  This system was discovered by William Herschel in 1781 and first measured by F. W. Struve in 1831 (2.5" @ 102).  Herschel called it "one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens."

The AB orbit takes 17,000 years and the AD orbit 29,000.  Star A is a spectroscopic binary and both stars are rotating so fast (346 and 331 km/sec at the equator) that they have thrown off gaseous rings.  The orbital period is 12.6 years.

Beta burned up the 5000m track with a blistering time of 5min 32.06sec.  This pace is well below the world record.

The Italians fielded a speed skater (coached by Ilario Melandri) named Theta Aur, who, in my 9mm EP at 339x showed up as a pair of white stars, very uneven, and not too exciting to view.  In fact, in making his last turn on his final lap, Theta (who up to that time was threatening the American's lead) crashed into the wall, taking a terrible spill, and ended up crossing the finish line, bruised and battered, in 6min 12.09sec.  He was seen to be very Madler about his fall, especially as he hit the wall with his face, resulting in one awesome Scheiner on his right eye.

The Australian skater, ADS 8202, coached by the tuba-toting Eddy O'connor, will skate later in the week, as he was not to be found behind the trees and houses of my suburban location at that time of night.
 

PAIRS SKATING
One of the favorite spectator events at the Olympics, this year's competition proved to be no less thrilling than those of the past.  First up was the Italian pair of Palmieri and 38 Lyn.  These two put on a brilliant technical display (viewed through my 9mm EP at 339x), including an awesome death spiral between the two unevenly matched (for size) skaters, and scored an average of 9.45 for technical merit.  But on the artistic side of the ledger, the story was different.  There, the judges (particular the judges from Tonga, the Banana Republic, and The Lesser Ant Hills) were brutal, giving an average artistic score of only 5.17, bringing boos and hisses from the onlookers.  One fan in particular got into a bad Hussey fit, throwing a buffalo chip out onto the ice.  This, of course, brought out the Zamboni machine for a 15 minute delay while the ice was resurfaced.  Overall score for the Italian pair-- 7.86.

The next pair to skate hailed from the United States and was coached by the Irish-Norwegian Mary Jean Flanagan.  Her pair of STF 900 took to the ice amidst the strains of the Battle Music from The Lord of the Rings (not to be confused with the Lord of the Dance or Dances With Wolves, or, for that matter, Dances With Wolf359).  Skating to a stunning artistic program that included no less than four triple sowchows and three triple axels, this pair (as seen through my 25mm EP) was splendid in their Gold and Pale Blue costumes, looking at times like a miniature Gamma Andromedae as they whirled and spun their magic on the ice  It looked for sure as if they were headed for Olympic Gold when, 20 seconds from the end of their program, STF 900 A through 900 B for a triple lutz, which turned into a triple klutz as B came tumbling to the ice on her derriere, which made A Burnham up with anger.  This technical flaw cost them the Gold, as they ended up with an overall score of 9.13.

Flanagan had a second pair of skaters in this year's event too, Kappa Pup.  As I viewed this pair through my 25mm EP (115x), I was stunned by the near flawless perfection of their routine as they, both clad in white sequinned costumes, whirled and twirled and lutzed and axeled their way into the fans's hearts.  In a dramatic display of sheer strength, the Primary was seen to Holden up his partner in an overhead lift and carry that went the length of the ice and back, a feat never before seen in Olympic Games-- and which, due to the new rules about no overhead lifts or placing of the man's hands on or near the woman's thighs or groin, cost them a 0.10 point deduction, dropping them from an awesome 9.26 to 9.16.

Next up on the ice as the Spanish team coached by Jose Fernandez, the brilliant Iberian skating teacher.  His pair of STF 1460 began with great promise in my 25mm EP, showing off two exquisite white costumes of spandex.  They skated well technically, but seemed to lack artistic flair.  (It was later discovered by this reporter that the leader of this pair was Aitken from a bout with the flu, so this could explain the lack of energy he displayed on the ice.)  Scoring in the high nines on technical merit, the pair stumbled with mid-eights on artistic intepretation (they danced to Ravel's Bolero, by the way).  Final score:  8.99.

A special bonus occurred when the crowd, dismayed at the low artistic scores, chanted for an encore until the judges nodded their approval.  The encore turned out to be a faint and large spiral galaxy about 28 minutes SSW of STF 1460.  This galaxy was NGC 3319, a large 11.1mag galaxy of extremely low surface brightness and either a 12th mag star superimposed over the nucleus, or that "star" was the nucleus.  All in all, a difficult object, but great study in depth perception!

The last couple to skate was also from Spain, under the tutelage of the esteemed Senor Luis Arguelles.  His team of STF 1282 treated the packed house to a dazzling display of technical skill and artistic passion, skating to the haunting strains of the Adagio from Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.  During the steamy climax of this elegant movement, Mr. STF 1282 held aloft his partner on a one-handed lift and hold that went the length of the rink, and since he supported her weight by placing his hand under her stomach, received no rules deductions.  Upon completing their masterpiece, the rink floor (FOV) was littered with dozens of bouquets of flowers, and when the score was posted-- 9.96-- the place came to its feet with a mighty roar of approval and shouts from Utah cowboys shouting out "Oly! Oly!"  (They thought they were saying ole, but got confused and shouted out the name of their favorite beer.)

Gold Medal-- STF 1282 (9.96); Silver Medal-- Kappa Pup (9.16); Bronze Medal-- STF 900 (9.13).
 

ICE DANCING
I still cannot figure out how such suggestive action became part of the Winter Olympics, but the arena that night was packed with almost every bachelor and cowboy in Utah.... Oh, never mind all that.

The competiton featured five world-famous pairs, one of which (Eta Cas) will have to skate later in the week due to the transformer for the arena blowing up before the competition could be completed.

First on the ice this night was the Italian pair of STF 1273 under the coaching of Cristina Mazzotti.  Ms. Mazzotti's skaters have always been known for their creative choreography and energetic skating, but this night was not to be theirs.  Using my 9mm EP (339x), I detected a yellowish-white large star with a much smaller white star in a very difficult position-- she was hard to hold with the eye given the turbulent skies this night.  Things were going well for this pair until he turned an edge on his skate and made his turn too sharp, falling to the ice and taking her with him.  The resulting score from the judges was only 7.94, and Mr. STF 1273 became so incensed, he starting Arping at the judges about it until they ended up disqualifying this dynamic couple. It took three hours to calm the crowd down before the next pair could skate, and the judges from Nebraska and Afghanistan had to leave the judges's box and watch the competition from a protected area as they were being pelted with rotting tomatoes, cabbages, and horse grenades (a common staple in cowboy-infested Utah).

The next two pairs were both from Espana.  They were STF 1027 (coached by Senor Arguelles again) and STF 928 (coached by Senor Juan Ryan).

The sultry pair of STF 1027 skated first and were resplendent in their reddish-orange costumes (as seen in my 25mm 115x EP).  They executed many demanding and intricate maneuvers, including a stunning triple axel between two potted trees placed on the ice, and a creative move wherein the lady swung her partner at waist height by holding onto his skate blades-- a feat never before seen in Ice Dancing (and probably never to be seen again, as one blade broke off before the move was completed, ending in costing the pair a 0.30 deduction).  Final score:  9.13.

Senor Ryan's team was up next, and STF 928 skated a nearly flawless routine, he decked out in a white costume, and she in a lovely cream gown.  Their routine, set to the music of Aaron Copland's Salon de la Mexico, was restrained but elegant and showed complete mastery of the ice.  The judges (even the ones from Nebraska and Afghanistan) awarded them an overall score of 9.89!

Just when it was thought it could get no better, onto the ice stepped the American pair of STF 590, coached by Mary Flanagan and Jesse Ventura.  Skating to the pounding music from Il Traviatta (and we do mean pounding, as in the "Anvil Chorus"), this pair, clad in gold for him and powder blue for her, dazzled the crowd with a stirring and brilliant performance, including a quadrupel lutz followed by a triple toe loop.  There was certainly no Jonckheere as this pair dominated their field, even finishing with a soft and dramatic ending--- the galaxy NGC 1646, quietly nestled away between two bright stars some 12 min NNE of STF 590.   A difficult find (due to the glare of the brighter western star), this faint streak of light was seen best in the 9mm (339x) EP.  Four of the judges awarded this pair perfect tens, and the rest gave them 9.95+, for a final total of 9.98 and the Gold Medal.

Final results, Ice Dancing:   Gold Medal-- STF 590 (9.98); Silver Medal-- STF 928 (9.89); Bronze Medal-- STF 1027 (9.13).
 

TWO-MAN BOBSLED RACING
At last, a real man's sport!

These guys flew by me so fast, all I could really glimpse were their two helmets, nearly in contact, and reflecting light from myriads of lamps and camera flashes.

Usually the track gets faster as more and more racers descend it, and tonight was no exception.  The first team up, the Spanish team of Rafael Barbera and Burnham 87, had some trouble hitting the second big curve a little high and getting into soft ice, costing them precious hundredths of a second.  As they blew by, my 5mm (639x) EP revealed two heads bobbing back and forth like clappers in a bell (hence the term "bob" sled??), one helmet painted yellowish-orange and the other white.  (Why they did not get matching helmets is beyond me.)

Their time down the 2 km track was 71.3226 seconds, a good time, but not in the medal range.

Next down the chute was the American team of Bodin and STF 1348.  As this team approached me in the 25mm EP (115x), I suspected duplicity.  Switching to the 9mm (339x) confirmed that there were indeed two men in the sled, each wearing white helmets.  They found a better line on the famous second curve and ended up taking only 70.0034 seconds for the run, and a possible medal.

Next, another Spanish team (Barbera and STF 644) came whizzing by at over 112 km/hr and, with my 5mm EP (at 639x) was just able to detect two heads, both clad in cream, shoot by like a rocket.  The track was ablaze with the Scheiner of dozens of Scheiner pairs as they came by, but none of the Scheiners could hold a candle to STF 644, who finished the course in 70.0002 seconds!

The last three racers of the night were from the Netherlands, and it was soon obvious that the Netherlands team has been doing some intensive off-year practice.  The first team, under the coaching of the great Bob Hogeveen, was STF 1355, a talented pair of young Dutchmen wearing white helmets (at 9mm, 339x) and so well-drilled that as they shot by me, their helmets appeared to be nearly in contact, forming an almost perfect "figure 8". Such a formation reduces drag, of course, and their time showed it-- 69.3019 seconds.

Hogeveen's second team, STF 1770, was almost as good as his first, but was 0.0036 seconds slower (finishing with a time of 69.3055 seconds).  This team, under a 9mm EP at 339x, showed me colorful helmets of orange and yellow or cream.  But they went by so fast, that they were mostly a blur.

But the Gold Medal went to the last racers of the night, Hogeveen's STF 1045, a seasoned team sporting cream and pink helmets (as seen at 115x with my 25mm EP) and held their line so steadily that I could easily detect them as separate riders with my low power occular.  They skillfully navigated the fastest part of the track all the way down, deftly avoiding rough spots and bumps (of which there were many by that time of the night), and finished with a time of 69.2022 seconds!

So the Netherlands swept the medals in the two-man bobsled with these final standings:  Gold Medal-- STF 1045, Silver Medal-- STF 1355, and Bronze Medal-- STF 1770.
 

PARTING WORDS FROM SALINE POND VILLAGE
This year's Winter Olympics 33 Doubles has been an exhilirating experience, despite some mishaps and bad tumbles by some of the athletes along the way.  I will file this report via the World Wide Webb now and go inside and Pourteau myself a nice glass of Rumker and chase away the chill in my bones.

Gold to each of you, and Go, Stars, Go!

Richard Harshaw
Kansas City, MO  USA

"The gentle light of a distant double star
     must needs pour into mine eye,
Or I shall wither, bent and twisted,
     fall me down, distraught... to die."