Adult Swim typically throws the best party of the upfront season, as much for the decor as for the entertainment. This year at the Hammerstein Ballroom, the top-ten primetime network brought in southern rapper T.I., who played a full two-hour set for the packed crowd. The bar was set pretty high—last year the company brought in Jay-Z and M.I.A. headlined the event in 2010, so people expect to have a good time when they show up.

The network has a mammoth slate set for next year. Upcoming series include Before Orel, a prequel to Dino Stamatopoulos's darker-than-dark claymation comedy Moral Orel; a blaxploitation animated comedy called Black Dynamite (based on the movie), and a Robot Chicken special with DC Comics. Stamatopoulos (you know him as Starburns, Community fans) also has more Frankenhole coming up on the network, and on May 26, the network will bring back Toonami, its popular anime block. It's a wonder more networks don't do this, by the way—it's a wildly popular genre and if you can market it correctly, young people flock to it.

The real juice was in the development slate, though. Upcoming cartoons include a project from Community creator Dan Harmon and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies writer Seth Grahame-Smith, and a Harold and Kumar show. There's also Freestyle Love Supreme from Tony-winning In the Heights star/composer Lin-Manuel Miranda.

But seriously, the decor. Guys and gals in giant owl, rabbit and cat masks wandered around posing with people and simulating sex (fully clothed—overly clothed, even) in the peep show booth. Again, this is part of the Adult Swim's new arms race with itself. For M.I.A., the peep shows were hilarious/frightening taxidermy dioramas. Now we have furry sex. There was also quite a bit of neon around the room—signage with blinking dollar signs or messages like "FREE HOLE," a Muppet-pelt orifice through which prizes were dispensed.

Harmon, SNL cast member Abby Elliott, Kristen Schaal, Seth Green and perhaps a dozen other comedians attended; by the end of the evening there was a little knot of comedy writers and performers in the back of the room, drinking and dancing. The funniest piece of gossip gleaned at the party? Apparently there's a loud contingent at Adult Swim that wants—no fooling—to bring Dolly Parton to play next year.

Adult Swim Brings Funk, T.I. Brings Noise

Early risers in southern China, northern Taiwan and southeastern Japan will get the best view, weather permitting, around dawn Monday. The eclipse will then move across the Pacific, with the western U.S. viewing the tail end.

The event, called an annular solar eclipse, occurs when the moon slides across the sun, blocking all but a blazing halo of light.

In Japan, cable cars will begin running early to give tourists an unobstructed view from the mountains, and ocean ferries will make special trips to allow viewing from offshore. Children will gather early at schools to view the eclipse with teachers. Stores are promoting special eclipse-viewing eyewear as well as ring-shaped goods of all sorts — from wedding rings to doughnuts.

In Tokyo, where a ring eclipse was last seen in 1839, the event dominated Sunday’s TV talk shows, with hosts providing viewing tips and information about special activities.

In Taiwan, the Taipei Astronomical Museum will open its doors at dawn, while Hong Kong’s Space Museum will set up solar-filtered telescopes outside its building on the Kowloon waterfront.

The eclipse will follow a narrow 13,700-kilometer (8,500-mile) path for 3 1/2 hours. The ring phenomenon will last about five minutes, depending on location. People outside the narrow band will see a partial eclipse.

An annular solar eclipse is not as dramatic as a total eclipse, when the disk of the sun is entirely blocked by the moon. As in a total solar eclipse, the moon crosses in front of the sun, but the moon is too far from Earth and appears too small in the sky to blot out the sun completely.

The rare astronomical event will give a 16.4 billion yen ($208 million) boost to Japan’s economy from the sale of eyewear, tours, planetarium visits and other items, according to an estimate by Kansai University economist Katsuhiro Miyamoto.

A city-run zoo in Yokohama, near Tokyo, will open early to show visitors how animals may react. The zoo has also set up live cameras to capture the movement of elephants, monkeys, kangaroos and penguins. Yokohama is inside the narrow band where the ring eclipse will be visible, weather permitting.

“This is a chance that comes only once in hundreds of years. The data we collect will be extremely valuable for animal research,” zoo official Yoshinori Kubo said.

In the western prefecture of Wakayama, another major viewing area, enthusiasts are organizing viewing parties at several locations.

Doctors and education officials warned of eye injuries from improper viewing. Education Minister Hirofumi Hirano demonstrated the use of eclipse glasses in a televised news conference.

Police also cautioned against traffic accidents caused by distraction during the eclipse and advised drivers to concentrate while on the road.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency is predicting mostly cloudy weather in the country’s eclipse viewing areas.

The last time this type of eclipse was seen in the U.S. was in 1994. This year’s solar show offers ringside seats at 33 national parks along the eclipse path, including the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. A partial eclipse can be viewed from another 125 national parks.

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From the Wires

Mayberry joined The Oklahoman’s sports staff in 2005 after a year at the Akron Beacon Journal, where he covered the University of Akron men’s basketball team, high schools and recruiting. Since arriving at The Oklahoman, Mayberry has become the leading authority on the NBA as the only traveling media member and the only reporter to cover every NBA game ever played in Oklahoma City.

He served as the paper’s beat writer on the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets from 2005-07, broke the news of the Seattle SuperSonics’ settlement negotiations with the City of Seattle in the summer of 2008, a development that allowed the team to relocate to Oklahoma, and has covered the Thunder since the franchise’s inception.

Mayberry and his wife, Courtney, were married in 2010 and live in Oklahoma City.

OKC Thunder: Kevin Durant’s 3-pointer caps Thunder’s comeback win over Lakers

The Iowa native (Des Moines) shared the news conference stage with Joey Gase, of Cedar Rapids, and Brett Moffitt, of Grimes, who will represent the host state in NASCAR competition near home.

“ ” — MICHAEL ANNETT

Annett and Gase will compete in the Nationwide Series event this weekend, while Moffitt tries to defend his NASCAR K&N Pro Series title at Iowa Speedway on Saturday. The state is gaining a presence in the upper levels of auto racing.

“I think the first time I came in I was sitting up here alone,” Annett said. “Now, having Brett and Joey up here, it’s pretty cool. It shows a lot for the drivers this state is bringing up right now.”

Annett, 25, has made the biggest impact of the group, placing ninth in points last season with seven top-10 finishes. He has performed well in 2012, considering his new Richard Petty Motorsports team wasn’t fully assembled until two weeks before Daytona. They have managed three top-10 finishes. He credits an alliance formed with Roush Fenway Racing, allowing them to share notes, engines and cars.

“It’s really almost like having a teammate.” Annett said. “The team is brand new, but there’s a lot of resources we had at our fingertips and that relationship is the biggest thing to a start-up team.”

He looks forward to racing at the track near his home, but doesn’t feel additional pressure running in front of numerous family and friends.

“I think there’s just more anxiety,” Annett said. “I said it before that if I put any more intensity on this race than I’m selling my guys short because they work just as hard week in and week out for me.”

Gase will make his 11th Nationwide start this week, including his debut at Iowa Speedway this past August, and his sixth this year. Moffitt has eight career K&N Pro Series wins, capturing the checkered flag at Richmond in April. He is sixth in points this season.

“Everywhere we go it seems like everyone is competitive and doing good,” said the 19-year-old Gase, noting many dirt-track drivers excel nationally. “I think Iowa is pretty good when it comes to racing.”

Iowa has been known for numerous small-town and county dirt tracks local racers call home. Iowa Speedway gave the state and upstart drivers a direct connection with the major series.

“As a little kid, when they were building the track I was like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome. Iowa’s going to have a NASCAR track,’ ” said Gase, who signed a deal in January to run with Go Green Racing and is racing this weekend with Jimmy Means Racing. “I never dreamed I’d actually be racing here.”

Moffitt said drivers from the Southeast or California dominate the top series, but he likes to see more Iowa representation. Although their paths don’t cross often, they support one another. Annett said he rooted for Moffitt while racing in Richmond.

“You always want to see someone from your area do well,” Moffitt said. “It’s great seeing these guys and [Sprint Cup Series driver] Landon Cassill, he’s out there making a name for himself. … We’re all kind of putting Iowa on the map.”

* Iowa: Race Lineup | Practice Speeds

Annett leads trio of Iowans back to home state

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM state secretariat on Tuesday termed the Onchiyam comrades who had quit CPM in 2008 and formed the RMP, as pseudo-revolutionaries. In a release issued after the secretariat meeting here, party secretariat said T P Chandrasekharan and comrades had quit the party out of their greed for parliamentary positions.

The secretariat pointed out that it was during 2008 that Chandrasekharan, a member of the Onchiyam area committee, quit the party with a group of party workers over a dispute of swapping the presidentship of Eramala and Azhiyur panchayts with Janata Dal after the stipulated period of two-and a-half years under a mutual agreement.

Venu who later quit the party was the president of Eramala panchayat since 2005.

The secretariat said there was no Marxian or ideological issues involved in the quitting of the party workers like Chandrasekharan and Venu.

The secretariat said the RMP could influence the voters to the level of defeating the CPM candidate in conspiracy with UDF candidate Mullappally Ramachandran in 2009.

But they could not retain their influence in the Assembly election as the M P Veerendrakumar-led Socialist Janata Dal candidate was defeated by the LDF candidate.

The secretariat said the CPM did not want to kill Chandrasekharan as his party RMP had become a flattened balloon.

It alleged that the UDF, a section of the media and enemies of the party were engaged in a propaganda following the gruesome murder of Chandrasekharan.

It alleged that there was reason to suspect that even the murder was part of a larger conspiracy to malign the CPM.

]]> http://www.wordsgate.com/cpm-onchiyam-comrades-pseudo-revolutionaries/feed/ 0 http://www.wordsgate.com/dig-this-dinosaur-bones/ http://www.wordsgate.com/dig-this-dinosaur-bones/#comments Sat, 19 May 2012 14:00:40 +0000 Real Time News http://www.wordsgate.com/dig-this-dinosaur-bones/ Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
-Immanuel Kant, philosopher (1724-1804)

It takes an experienced eye to look at loose dirt and quickly ascertain what is rock and what is bone. Just ask paleontologist Jerry Jacene of Red Feather Fossil Excavations, Glendive, Montana.
This is hands on history, explains Jacene. A field director with more than 20 years in paleontology, Jacene has traveled, excavated and documented historical finds in Tennessee, Wyoming, Montana and China, just to name a few places.

A dirt, rocky road will take you back, literally, 12 miles to Makoshika Breaks (aka Camp Rex) and back in time to when cretaceous mammals roamed the Badlands of Montana when it was oceanfront property. Makoshika is fifty square miles of buttes (sandstone), rolling prairies, a few pine trees, and is also a working ranch.

When our group first met Jerry, he showed us several fossils (bones, teeth, eggs and claws) he collected just for our benefit. The first clue he explained to us was that bone is porous, so if you lick it, it should stick to your tongue.

This area, known as the Badlands, used to look like the Everglades, according to Jerry, resident paleontologist.

Our camp consisted of a few cabins, a large tepee, and a modern single-story building which housed the kitchen, dining room and gathering place, with two bathrooms and two showers. In an emergency there was always the outhouse, (handicap accessible, but not the buttes). It was here that co-owner Lois prepared 1,500 meals in one day for television crews and ranchers when the Discovery Channel came out to make a documentary about the History of Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex).

The rustic cabins are bunk style and minimal electricity. You wont need an alarm clock because daybreak comes around 4 am, and it doesn’t get dark until around 10 pm. In case you forgot yours, there are sample packs of Advil and lip balm, compliments of the owners, in the cabins and in the restrooms.

In addition to daily digs, visitors can learn about branding, round-ups (even participate in their twice yearly event) and horseback ride. Approximately 500 head of cattle are on the property and 100 horses, most of them wild. Evenings are best enjoyed sitting around the campfire sharing cowboy stories and singing familiar songs.

Our dig begins the next morning after a quick breakfast, buffet style. We load up on Jerry’s pick up truck to cover some ground faster. We pass through several barbed wire fences, which have to be opened and closed by hand to prevent cattle from roaming too far. During the summer some cows will find their way into the buttes, along dangerous dry, remote areas where they are prey for coyotes and other wild animals. Donning hats, sunscreen and carrying bottled water, we make our way through cathedral buttes, and rock formations holding treasures of history. Amateurs and volunteers (students to adults) play a major role in discovering, digging and cleaning dinosaur bones and other fossils.

The most interesting and historical finds are not the big ones, like T-Rex or Triceratops, said Jacene. It’s the small finds that are the most significant. The trace fossils tell us so much more, like the environment, what they ate; the ecosystem. And how they interacted with each other.
Trace fossils – footprints, mineralized feces, stomach stones-gastroliths, and impressions left by skin or feathers.

In North Dakota tracks, similar to that of an alligator, possibly 90′ in length have been found. They are ripple marks, 2 1’2 apart and tracks from a rigid tail, 1 apart. According to Jerry, no one has seen anything like this. They don’t know what kind of animal it is.

The most common finds in this area right now are turtle shells. These are easily detected because of the pattern on the shells, this tells us there must have been water nearby. You can also find small mammals in ant hills. Ants move the earth, putting sand and dirt on top of the bones, helping preserve them.

Jerry knows the terrain in the immediate area better than nearby roads. As we hike he points out where certain bones have been found and how.

With a pair of 10×50 binoculars, I was able to see a (large) piece of bone protruding from a rock formation, said Jerry. He points out the various layers, bands in the buttes. You want to look in the dark bands, he further explained. The layers are ironstone and bentanite. Larger bones that may be protruding are due to the erosion from weather.

The excavation of one butte has brought out an arctic crocodile and a mammal bone, possibly a leg bone from a Chasmosaurus. And in another layer, Lemur teeth have been found. Oftentimes, in order to move fragile bones and preventing any further destruction, fossils are encased in a plaster jacket to preserve and relocate them.

About 16 miles away from camp is a new excavation site with the possible skull and bones of Triceratops coming out of a butte.

Inside these buttes are remains from Hadrosaurs, Chasmosaurus, and raptors.

Jerry, like all other paleontologists and students, carry a tool kit with them and a journal for taking their field notes. In this journal they will write down the location, sometimes drawings a grid, as well as the bones themselves. Depending on where fossils are found, top, middle or lower portion of rock formations, can also help determine whether or not other bones may still be there to excavate, and if there may have been water there and other dinosaurs, or a nesting area.
Bones found near the bottom usually mean most of the body of a dinosaur is not still there. These are fragments that have been eroded from the rocks and buttes over thousands, millions of years.
While hiking through dry creeks, down rocky terrain, and up steep rock formations, we occasionally stop to look at fragments of turtle, and other dinosaurs from the cretaceous period. Jerry points out where T-Rex was found, and a hadrosaurus, and a bone that would be good practice for students to work on gridding, based on how it’s resting in the dirt and the deterioration. Sometimes he will have students map the bone, by the area, and then rebuild it back at the lab or in a classroom.

Students, parents, kids of all ages can come out to look, learn, possibly earn a badge and take home part of history.

Many of the bones from this area have been shipped to museums around the country. Local residents, businesses and paleontologists are working to keep recent, new and future findings in Montana.

Jerry is also very active in helping shape the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum in Glendive. At the museum parents, kids and visitors can see, touch and learn dinosaurs through hands-on exhibits and displays. Currently under construction, the first (lower level) floor will showcase a Dino Walk, showing through models and exhibits the Triassic through the Cretaceous periods. A real working lab is located on the main level where student technicians and Jerry will work on restorations of both real and model bones for exhibit. The third floor will offer hands-on exhibits for kids and adults. All exhibits are not static or museum like. These exhibits use real bones, and the dioramas depict natural habitats of dinosaurs and their prey as best as they can based on actual findings. On display is a life-size Velociraptor, which was found in Mongolia. One wall is encased with actual bones, no model or clay replicas are housed in this section.

Both the museum and ranch are on the Dinosaur Trail which consists of about a dozen ‘actual dinosaur sites in and around Montana, North Dakota and Utah.

There have been five great extinctions in the world and very few animals or mammals are still living today. In order to survive in the animal kingdom, it must be kept simple. They must be able to adapt in order to survive. The deer, coyote and fox are going to survive, whereas, a koala bear will not. When diet changes, so does the size of animals. According to Jerry, some paleontologists believe that man is the one destroying our own land, and we are speeding up our extinction.

Dig This, Dinosaur Bones

“In their first hometown show for four years, the band will close the festival with a performance at the new Laugardalshöll Arena on Sunday November 4,” a press release from the Iceland Airwaves management states.

“Coming on the back of a globetrotting festival run, and set to feature an expanded 11-piece line-up, the show will see the band pulling material from their entire catalogue, including the forthcoming sixth studio album, Valtari.”   Tickets for the Sigur Rós special performance at Iceland Airwaves go on sale Wednesday May 16 at 12 noon GMT via midi.is. 

Click here to read more about Sigur Rós.

Iceland Review Online: Daily News from Iceland, Current Affairs, Business, Politics, Sports, Culture

Before Larry Bird’s debut in the 1979-1980 season, the Boston Celtics were already having problem that sparked from the disagreement between new owner John Brown and Red Auerbach. Auerbach was about to resign as General Manager for a New York Knicks position. But because of the strong public support for Auerbach, Brown chose to sell the team. Without Larry Bird, the team struggled through its season performance of 29-53.

The Bird’s arrival

Under a new franchise owner, Auerbach made significant changes. which he believed will bring the team into another era of fame and prominence. Bob McAdoo was traded to the Detroit Pistons for guard M. L. Carr, who shall serve as a defensive specialist. Another good choice was point guard Gerald Henderson from the CBA. As a result, Tiny Archibald, M.L. Carr, Chris Ford, and Gerald Henderson formed a highly skilled and competent back court to support Dave Cowens, Cedric Maxwell, and Larry Bird. Larry Bird was named NBA Rookie of the Year after joining the team.

The trades and drafts done by Auerbach helped form a stronger, more competent team out of Boston Celtics. The Boston Celtics gradually improved their games, which resulted in a best single-season turnaround in NBA history at that time, with 61-21 game record. Despite better team performance, the Boston Celtics lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Philadelphia 76ers.

With trade-offs orchestrated by Auerbach, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish joined the Boston Celtics along with newbie Larry Bird. These Hall of Famers led the team to becoming one of the strongest contenders for the NBA title. The 1980s witnessed the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers. Time and again, basketball fans and buyers of Lakers Celtics tickets have watched closely the play between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. This era prompted the high Celtics tickets sales, with more fans and local supporters wanting to see the one-on-one live.

In 1986, the Boston Celtics won 67 games, with a home game record of 40-1. During this time, Larry Bird also won hist third MVP title, while Bill Walton received the Sixth Man of the Year award. The Boston Celtics won its 16th NBA championship title against the Houston Rockets. After this, it took Boston Celtics a long wait before they grabbed their next championship crown in the 2007-2008 season of the NBA Finals against their arch rival, the LA Lakers.

The return of the Bird

In the 1988-1989 season, Larry Bird had to undergo surgery for removing bone spurs in his feet. Bird made his comeback in the 1989-1990 season and played 75 games. Though they made it to the Playoffs, the Boston Celtics only won the first two games in the Best of 5 Series. The three straight losses resulted in the New York Knicks winning the playoffs.

Larry Bird, among other Hall of Famers, helped boost the sales of Boston Celtics tickets. Excellent game play prompted more spectators and fans to watch Celtics games live. But after completing 13 seasons and haing won the Barcelona Olympics Gold Medal with the Dream Team, Bird retired after suffering from back injuries.

Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics

How He Came to Greensburg As John departs Greensburg, he is essentially coming full circle. You see, it was on a 2008 flight back home from Germany following a bicycle tour in Central Europe when he first read about Greensburg in an airline magazine. The article piqued his interest and he decided to visit the town to help with a Habitat for Humanity build in July 2008. He only planned on staying in Greensburg for a couple of weeks, but he liked what was happening so he decided to continue volunteering for another three weeks with Mennonite Disaster Services. This led to working with Americorps for over a year, volunteering at the Senior Center, and, finally and unexpectedly, being hired as the Interim Director for the Kiowa County Senior Center in March 2010. That job was only supposed to last a year, during which time John intended to have the new Senior Center building up and running. It didn’t quite work out that way. Essentially due to funding issues, the Kiowa County Senior Center took two years to build, finally opening for business in early April 2012.

It was a long road to hoe. In fact, some of the hoeing is not yet finished, including landscaping the grounds and installing raised vegetable beds, a project currently being completed by Younie Lawnscapes of Pratt.                                                                                          

As a case manager for the Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging, serving Kiowa, Stafford, and Pratt counties, I work with several persons who also have had dealings with John. Their comments have all been favorable about him. I would go so far as to say that he has often gone above and beyond the call of duty. From providing rides to doctor’s appointments and medical procedures and shopping or simply helping someone to obtain items not available in Greensburg, John has blessed the lives of many during his two years at the senior center. In my infrequent visits with him, I have also been impressed with his professionalism and work ethic.

But, now he is leaving, and a good chunk of Kiowa County’s population will be sad to see him go.

Since he became director, John and his board, among many others, worked diligently to place the Kiowa County Senior Citizens Center, blown away on 5/4/07, on the Greensburg skyline once again. “I basically said I would be director to restart the programs and services and oversee the Senior Center project,” John told me recently. Those programs and services resumed when the Methodist Church in Greensburg graciously offered their fellowship hall as a temporary home for the Senior Center when the church reopened its sanctuary in May 2010, and, among other programs, meals were served their five days a week until the new senior center building opened. That’s done, and John is on his way.

16,000 miles and counting … That’s approximately how many miles John has ridden on his Trek 520 Touring Bike since he purchased it in 2003. Like me, John is an avid cyclist and the call of the open road is often too loud to ignore. In visiting with him this past week at the Kiowa County Senior Citizen’s Center, John showed me a map on his laptop illustrating how he had circumnavigated the 48 contiguous United States between 2003 and 2006. After biking from northern Virginia to Halifax, Nova Scotia, he’ll board a plane and fly to Iceland, touring the country in mid July and mid August where the average high reaches only 60 degrees. That sounds good to me. Following Iceland, he and his bike will board a ferry to Denmark, with a three day layover in the Faroe Islands, and then continue on to England and Europe and other destinations now unknown. He’s funding the trip with money earned in his “past life” in New York as an investment banker.

With every ending, there is a new beginning. Subsequently, I’ll send John on his way with a couple of  lyrics I often quote. In the words of the immortal folksinger Woody Guthrie, “So long, it’s been good to know you, John,” and, with a nod to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy trails to you, until we meet again.”

Of Buildings and Bicycles and Flights Across the Sea – Pratt, KS – Pratt Tribune

Known as an annular eclipse, the moon will pass between the Earth and sun, darkening the sky and turning the appearance of the sun into a bright “ring of fire.”

It’s the first time the celestial event has graced the western United States since 1994. The next won’t be visible until 2023.

“These particular eclipses happen somewhere on the planet every couple of years, but seeing it from your backyard is pretty special,” said Dr. Nancy Muleady-Mecham, who splits her time between teaching an astronomy seminar at Big Trees State Park and working as a biology professor at Northern Arizona University.

The annular eclipse differs from a total solar eclipse in that the moon blocks less of the sun’s visible surface and the moon appears smaller.

The yellow ring around the sun will appear incomplete in the Mother Lode region, creating a “C” shape rather than a complete “O.” The moon will block out about 87 percent of the sun’s surface, Muleady-Mecham said.

“It’s going to be a little bit off the mark in our area,” she added.

In other parts of the world, the eclipse will create a halo around the moon. She said parts of Asia including most of Japan will be able to see the full annular ring. Residents of California will have to go north of Chico to see the full effect and the entire display will take about two hours from start to finish.

Muleady-Mecham said the darkening of the sky will resemble an overcast day. People won’t be able to view stars with the naked eye, however they might be able to see the planet Venus.

William Luebke, retired astronomy professor with Modesto Junior College, said the phenomenon won’t completely darken the area.

“It will look like twilight. You will just see a ring where the sun is supposed to be,” Luebke said. In fact, the name “annular” comes from the Latin word for ring, he added.

He strongly warned against people looking directly into the sun or using standard binoculars or telescopes to look at the eclipse. He said enough light still passes around the moon to severely damage people’s eyes.

People can look at the eclipse with a  pair of specially made eclipse glasses or look through No. 14 welders glass. Experts say viewers must block 99.999 percent of the light emanating from the sun to avoid eye damage.

Alternatively, Muleady-Mecham said, viewers can make a pinhole through a piece of cardboard and look at the eclipse reflected on a white piece of paper.

Cloudy skies have the potential to block the rare event, but the forecast in the region calls for clear skies and 90-degree temperatures.

The eclipse will start in China and pass over the Pacific Ocean, crossing Northern California, Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and ending in Texas.

The annular eclipse comes just two weeks after the “supermoon,” which was a full moon that appeared while its orbit was closest to Earth.

Luebke Modesto Junior College astronomy class will be at the school’s science building with special telescopes and equipment that will allow the public to view the stellar event safely.

Muleady-Mecham is teaching a natural history discovery program at Big Trees from July 13-15 that will deal with astronomical observations as well as other science topics. For more information, visit bigtrees.org.

Sun to put on a show