It's Rhyme Time with Pat Hatt - Challenge Participant Feature!

Today we have a special Challenge participant – Pat Hatt from It’s Rhyme Time! Pat is the author of over twenty books and a rhyming genius who has posted every day for two years straight. The cats keep him straight at his zoo, so no need to stage a coup.

Your Challenge theme was poetry, which is the focus of your blog. Was it any different following the alphabet and did anything tie the letters together?

I consider myself about as much of a poet as the cat. He is probably even better at it than Pat. So for theme I'd go with rhyming nut. That works better for my hut. Difference you ask? Well I guess it was more on task. Most never know what is going to show. At least with the A to Z they knew what letter would be posted at my sea. I wanted to tie them together but such a thing I could not weather. The cat ate the string I was going to use. So I just went with whatever was brought on by my muse.

Since you already post daily, was there anything challenging about participating in the A to Z?

I always joke the A to Z is a break because a little less random I have to be at my lake. So for posting wise easier is true. Grab a letter and post what comes due. What is challenging though is getting daily to every other blog high and low. Going to 100 a day is fine for me thanks to being able to do it at work like thee. But when it's like 100-200 every single day even on a Saturday, it can get a bit rough. But my OCD is tough. And I find a way to read and have my say.

What letter was your favorite?

I had fun with most at my coast. But U with Unite was probably my favorite one that took flight. A bit crass and even made a video come to pass. Can't beat that. Those kind of posts are much enjoyed by the cat.

What is Whoopdi Friggin Doo?

Whoopdi Friggin Doo kind of randomly came into view. It was just a saying that was used. Some felt abused others amused. Then some were confused. Basically means who gives a "you know" when something comes that curls a toe. Unless it is another toe curling act, then whoopdi friggin doo you might want to retract. Anyway, then came a new voice in my head on display. So Robbie Raisin was born. Hey, it beats zombie porn. And he hosts the show singling out commenters from a previous post who stopped and gave a comment below.

Who is Tarsier Man?

This nut annoys the cat at his hut. He thinks he is great and being the next Superman should be his fate. Damn thing can pop out his eyeballs to look around. He can even burrow into the ground, make his ears stretch like that Stretch Armstrong guy and now he can go all Dumbo with his ears and fly. Fighting off The Mailman, The Astronaut and the likes of The Weiner Man must be so rough. Boy, his life must be tough. The loon even has a theme song. The cat will scratch you if you sing along.



Oh and just so you know, if you call and want him to beat your foe, long distance charges still apply, even if doesn't get there in time and you die.

What is floccinaucinihilipilification?

I may tell you but first can you say it? I bet you'll say more than Whoopdi Friggin Doo as out comes the spit. Floccinaucinihilipilification is basically the foul word that rhymes with spit, or at least a bit. It means utter worthless crap. Like a Mars map. An empty litterbox? Holy socks? The end of a toilet paper roll? Just let your brain take a worthless crap stroll.

Did it bother the cat that R was about Rats? (Hey, I rhymed!)

Nah, the cat was not bothered at all. He can suck it up with no matter what appears on his wall. Reading the commentators get grossed out by the sight of all the rats was enough for him. See, you can rhyme. Just don't rhyme and sing or things may get grim.

If you participate in the Challenge next year, will you have a theme or wing it?

Oh the cat will be there and by the end of January I'll have A to Z done at my lair. Staying three months ahead is the way to be because then posting everyday is easy. If I can think of a theme that isn't too confining I may go with one. Otherwise just wing it and have some fun.

Now after that ninja wannabe you should be able to rhyme up a storm at your sea. No excuses allowed but like a mime you may draw a crowd. Is that good? is that bad? Maybe if you're understood it won't be so sad. Finally my interview has come to pass now I'll go bother someone else with my little rhyming ass.

But I am a Ninja…!!!

Thanks, Pat!

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm, and his blog can be found HERE

Why do the truly stupid rule our world?

Why do the truly stupid rule our world?

 

NASA celebrated its 55th anniversary by shuttering websites and furloughing most of its 18 000 employees as a U.S. government shutdown took effect on 1 October. But future space exploration missions stand to suffer the most from the shutdown's impact.

 

The U.S. space agency will likely halt work on satellites or spacecraft that have yet to launch, according to NASA's shutdown plans ….. the shutdown could delay the upcoming Mars MAVEN mission beyond its scheduled launch on 18 November and possibly push the mission back until 2016—the next time when Mars and the Earth will be aligned in the best positions for the spacecraft to reach the red planet. Reference

Now I’m really upset! And still the Congress are about the only government workers getting paid. Unbelievable!

 

But not to worry. Once again, it’s the private sector that will lead us into the 21st century, not the bungling buffoons in Washington people waste their time and energy supporting.

 

Four decades ago, NASA's Launch Complex 39A was at the center of the Cold War race to the moon.

 

Now the mothballed launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which dispatched Neil Armstrong and his crew on their historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, is the focus of a battle of another sort, between two billionaire techies seeking to dominate a new era of private space flight.

 

A fierce competition for control of the pad by digital entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos has led to a government probe and congressional lobbying, delaying NASA's choice of a partner.

 

Musk's 11-year-old Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX, already has two U.S. launch sites for its Falcon rockets at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and California's Vandenberg Air Force bases.

 

Musk, the co-founder of Paypal and chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc, also plans to build a site, probably in Texas, for commercial launches and wants Pad 39A for Falcon rocket launches to ferry cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.

 

Blue Origin, the company formed in 2000 by Amazon.com Inc. founder Bezos, is working on a suborbital reusable spaceship called New Shepard.

 

SpaceX has a backlog of more than 50 customers for Falcon rocket launches, including 10 more cargo runs to the International Space Station for NASA and satellite launches for commercial firms and foreign governments. The company also has two U.S. Air Force launches that are considered trial runs toward potential bigger contracts.

Blue Origin plans to evolve its rockets and spaceships for orbital flight as well and has proposed running Launch Complex 39A for multiple users while it continues to develop its technology. Reference

 

For a related article on SpaceX, please CLICK HERE.

Question: Need I ask? Who will lead us into the 21st century. Governments? Or private industry?

Road Trip Pit Stop - Time to Refuel Your A-to-Z Engine!

Beep, Beep! Who else is still awake on this alphabet route? 

Photo by Little Peppercorn

After running low on gas and making multiple pit stops, I nearly fell asleep at the wheel. Good thing I have two partners – Tina Downey at Life is Good and Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse to share in the driving duties as we move along through the A-to-Z Challenge list, stopping by the blogs we missed in April, to pay them a visit before the next challenge rolls around. Although I put the car on cruise control, I did manage to read more A-to-Z Reflections posts and visit some blogs located in the first half of the sign-up list.

During my visits, I found that some people either stopped blogging after the challenge or kept new blog posts coming sporadically until early-to-mid Summer. Still, the last posts that were published on these blogs were worth a looksee. I also came across some places on the list with blog posts that were cool to read, yet, difficult to leave a comment on. For those of you who are still on this Road Trip with Tina, Shannon and I, this is likely not a surprise, as you’ve probably encountered similar situations during your blog visits. 

When I started this road trip, I planned to visit at least five blogs per day, keeping in tune with the recommended visits of the April challenge. Now, I’ve reduced that number to one blog per day. I figure that way, it will be much easier to fit a visit to a new blog into my schedule – and – if I encounter non-active blogs or blog posts where leaving a comment feels like I’m participating in some type of three ring circus with no instructions, my Road Trip efforts are still time well spent.

Photo by Hayley Bouchard

As co-host, I want to try to also make sure that your time is also well spent, so in the name of efficient fun, here is some roadside assistance to stay on course if you find yourself running low on gas or hit something on the road that caused a flat in your tires at this stretch of our Post A-to-Z Adventure. 

Now, I’m no Allstate or AAA, but these blog visiting methods can be especially useful if you’re taking the one-and-done approach, or a similar one, that I’m using for the A-to-Z Road Trip.

Pick a Number – Think of a number…any number during your day and then visit the blog on the list that corresponds with this particular number.  You could also make this a theme and visit all of the blogs that fall under a specific area of the number table such as every hundredth or so (102, 202, 302, 402 and so on).

Heads or Tails? – Visit a blog that is among the low numbers (1-100) on the sign-up list and then visit another blog that is among the high numbers (101-500 and up) on the list. The number range doesn’t matter…you determine what is considered “low” and what is considered “high” just so long as two blogs on both ends of the list get a visitor today (or tomorrow or whenever you’re doing your A-to-Z Road Trip visits).

Hit the Reflections – If you haven’t read all of the 2013 A-to-Z Reflections posts, visit blogs on that list. That way, you’ll know that the blogs you’re visiting are run by people who finished the challenge – or at least attempted to complete it.

Funny Names – Scroll through the signup list and visit blogs with names that either make you laugh or fill you with curiosity. These are usually the types of blogs where, at first glance, you have no idea what the topic or theme of the blog is about such as Big Girl Panties (#264 on the list), Buttered Toast Rocks! (#365) or Cabin Goddess (#432).

Photo by Zach Dischner

It’s all about making it fun. If we make this road trip as simple and as fun as possible, we’ll have enough gas to keep our cars steady and well maintained…at least until the next Check-in. Now, the only thing left to do is call Allstate and tell them that you don’t need them because you’re in better hands. Ha!

Cheers to all!

~Nicole

@MadlabPost