New isolated tribe discovered in the Amazon

UPDATE:
This story was a hoax!
------------------------------
Judging by the warriors taking aim at the aircraft that photographed them, they wish to remain 'uncontacted.'

It amazes me that in this day, there are tribes of indigenous people living in the jungles of Brazil that have not been contacted or touched by modern civilization. Since this tribe has not been contacted, we have no idea of their background or what language they speak. It does appear that after first seeing the plane, they donned red war paint and brandished weapons for the plane's repeated passes. Fascinating.
Every effort needs to be made to protect the environment in which these people live, which remains threatened by logging and cattle farming.

BBC Story

More Photos and Interpretation

Yet another awesome paella party

Paella, wine, music, and everyone in the pool. It was great.

This paella was awesome, 3 lbs shrimp, 2 lbs scallops, 2 lbs mahi-mahi. Trim with mussels, lemons and roasted peppers... all in buttery Valencian saffron rice, wow. So good.

After a while, Silviu, BJ and Taylor gave an impromptu farewell performance of Tequila flamenco.

It was great to welcome Julie, Michelle, Mandy, Andrea, Javier... all who just finished their first year as MTSU staff. Tana came in Renaissance garb, directly from the Ren Faire. Don Rung came from Sewanee.

Soon after, most everyone was in the warm pool and hot tub.

What a great night. Party hardy.

First day of class

I love teaching Music Appreciation in summer session. On the first day of class, I come in early and sit in the class, posing as a student. I chat with the members of the class, ask them why they're taking it, what their major is, and, what they've heard about the professor... heh. Then I start to bitch loudly about the professor being late... after a while, then, I get up and start handing out the syllabus... surprise!! I can only do this on the first day of the class. What fun! (I'm in the center of the photo, staring at the camera).

This is my only opportunity to interact with a class of students that are not music majors. I love the curriculum. We cover music elements and basic music theory, and then so many styles... folk, religious, jazz, pop, blues, Native American, Latino, Klezmer, Cajun, Indian, Japanese, to name a few... and then after all that, we tackle European Art Music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the present. A lot of stuff. With the help of youtube, the Naxos Listening Library, and various videos, the class really is fun. (and ... it's quite good extra $$$$ too ! )

I've noticed some interesting phenomena about the students in general and myself as an instructor over the years of teaching this class. First, the students in general seem to lack a broad vocabulary. (Almost no one knew what the words 'prolific', 'vernacular', or 'virtuosic' meant). Second, international students writing in their second language often write better than many American students! And... I always seem to learn the names of the female students much more quickly than the male students. Hmmm....

Third generation track athlete graduates

My brother's son Kris, third generation track athlete, graduates from college.

My brother (on the right) polevaulted 16'1" in highschool, a New York State record that stood for around 25 years. My dad (on the left) set a college polevault record of 14'4" just after the fiberglass pole was invented. The world record during that time was only 15'8".

Is that a good lookin' family or what?

I'm trying to get my brother into running 5k races. We'll see.


A local (Binghamton, NY) newspaper did an article on the Yelverton family of legacy of track athletes. The thing is, we had such good genes, we never really trained hard in high school. I didn't know what painful training was until I started seriously training for 5Ks.

200 mpg Volkswagon by 2010

The next generation of fuel efficient cars is coming

As reported in an earlier post, these new ultra efficient cars seem to be coming from Germany.

Volkswagon's VW1L is said to be going into production in 2010. This car is designed to get 285 miles per gallon but in actual driving conditions, will likely average at only 200 mpg.

It holds two plus cargo in a front and back seating arrangement and is powered by a fuel injected 299 cc single cylinder diesel. With the primary goal here being economy, the car is ultra light at 640 lbs. - made of magnesium and carbon fiber. It has just 8.5 horse power and is said to be quite peppy but will do just 74 mph top speed... but what do you expect, it gets nearly triple the mileage of most motorcycles.

To achieve an amazingly low drag coefficient, cameras replaced side view mirrors and the ride is very close to the ground.

If gas gets in the $7-8 dollar a gallon range, cars like this could get established in the US and hopefully, American car makers will respond similarly with more fuel efficient cars or they'll become extinct.

What I don't understand is why my 19 yr old Honda Civic hatchback gets the same or better mileage than the new Civics? It doesn't make any sense!! The new Civics have 1.8 L engines and average about 35 mpg. My 1989 Civic has a 1.5 liter engine and gets 38-40 mpg. Why aren't the new Honda's more efficient? At 45 mpg, even the hybrids are only slightly more efficient than my old beater. I don't understand why a great car company like Honda isn't doing significantly better than they were 20 yrs ago in fuel economy?

10 years ago, the most fuel efficient car in America was the Chevrolet/GEO Metro that got 47 mpg. Why doesn't Chevy make a car like this now? Dumb! Seems like we'll be seeing a huge jump in fuel economy in the next decade and hopefully, car companies will follow the lead of those crafty Germans.

Sat May 10, 08 - risk of severe storms tonight in Mid-TN

The Storm Prediction Center has designated Mid-TN as 'moderate' for severe weather on Sat, May 10, 08. Probably tonight.

From the SPC:

THE COMBINATION OF THE MODERATE INSTABILITY...40-60 KT OF EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR AND RELATIVELY STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR INDICATES THE POTENTIAL FOR INTENSE SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF TORNADOES /SOME SIGNIFICANT/...VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS FOCUSED PRIMARILY ALONG WARM FRONT AND EVENTUALLY ALONG/AHEAD OF DRYLINE.

The severe threat is moreso for AR, and northern MS & AL.
Sounds like fun.
UPDATE: 5:49 pm CDT, Sat May 10
Here's a GRLevel2 Radar shot of a tornadic thunderstorm approaching Jonesboro, AR
Will update through the night

Return to the pavement

After watching my training shoes sit idly by the door for 3 weeks, I returned to running this week ... in small measure.

Been doing leg raise exercises - 3 sets of 20-25 in between lap swimming in my pool and abs on the deck. The knee feels good afterward. After the pool workout, I run a short distance to complete a light workout. I started with a 7:12 mile on Tues, did a 6:22 mile tonight. At 148 lbs tonight, just 6-8 lbs heavier than race weight, combined with not running for 3 weeks, whoa... Holy cow, do I feel fat and sluggish.

I'm pretty sure my knee issue was the result of a ligament strain, not directly related to running or repetitive use, but to the power exercises I did when trying to change my training regime to sprint training this winter. I have a natural weakness in my ligaments as I have had shoulder surgery in high school (football, wrestling) and 17 yrs ago, an acl replacement (on my good knee) after a skiing accident. I think I've found a good regime to get my knee back and into shape to do some running this summer, but I doubt I'll race again til the fall. If, after a month or so, my knee is not 100%, maybe I'll pay a visit to my knee man Burton Elrod. He did a great job on my left knee back in '91, it's been perfect ever since.

Cruzin' through the gorge

Monday cruzin'

Through the Tennessee River Gorge from Chattanooga back to Haletown.

Cinco de Mayo 2008, gorgeous day!

Cat plant

My cat Emma recently celebrated her 10th birthday.

Here she is lounging on a spider plant.

Comfy?

Happy birthday, Emma.

A friend said to me once, "why can't we age like cats? They always look the same when they get older."

Wolf spiders - they definitely bite

The wolf spider is very common spider around TN. Bill learned first hand today that they give a painful bite.

I reached into the strainer basket of my pool today to clear out the debris - mostly seeds dropped from the trees. On my left thumb, I felt a sudden wicked sting, I was certain that I'd been stung by a red wasp. But no, I looked into the basket and there he was, the little bastard - a wolf spider, just a bit bigger than a silver dollar (leg span). He paid the ultimate sacrifice for his misgiving. The bite was no big deal. It stopped hurting after a few minutes, but the thumb swelled and now after an hour, the swelling isn't so bad. It's almost back to normal.

Wolf spiders don't spin webs like other spiders. They are carnivores and hunt for their prey using speed and venom. I've observed a few times in the spring, females carrying what seems like dozens of tiny spiders on their bodies. These spiders can be controlled effectively with chemical sprays.

This spider bite was was nothing compared to a yellow jacket attack I had a few years ago. I was mowing my lawn and several bees came out of the ground and attacked. I was bitten several times in rapid succession as I fled the area. It happened so fast, I never saw them. I actually felt a slight fever and a slight tightness in my chest an hour after that attack. That was amazing. I didn't want to suffer another attack so I later I returned to kill the nest.

UPDATE:
After maintaining this blog for 7+ years, among the thousands of posts, THIS post on the wolf spider is the single most visited blog post in the history of this blog.   It has been accessed 10s of thousands of times.  Why is it people are so interested and fascinated with this creature?

Watching the thermometer tonight

With about three dozen potted tropical and annual plants outside here at Bill's TN Paradise, I'm not really happy about the frost advisory tonight (4/29/08) for Middle Tennessee.

I really don't expect a serious frost tonight, I'd say 37 F. at the lowest. It was 39 last night and the plants did fine. At 1:30 am, it's still 43.3 degrees, so I'm not too worried

I may plant my tomatoes tomorrow. I have 2 hybrid cherry trees to plant as well.

Local gardeners tip - the Mulch Co. on Lascassas Pike in Murfreesboro sells this stuff called "topsoil compost mixture." It sure looks good but I swear the stuff is toxic. I had planted two large healthy Leyland Cypress trees into that stuff last spring and even with all the watering, they both died - $300 down the drain and no warranty (since I bought them from a private nursery). I dumped half a trailer load of it out back and not even weeds will grow in it. Avoid this stuff!

If you want the best for your vegetable garden, use this stuff available at Home Depot called "mushroom soil". I usually till several bags of it in my vegetable garden.

The Collins Gulf in spring -- wildflower season

The Collins Gulf Trail on Monday, April 21, 2008.
(click photo to enlarge)

About a mile from Sutter Falls down the Collins Gulf trail near Gruelti-Laager, TN on the Cumberland Plateau, there is one of the best spring wildflower displays in the state. This year was no exception.

I love the Collins Gulf Trail and claim it as part of Bill's TN Paradise because it is the most remote part of the Savage Gulf Natural Area and it's the trail that you're least likely to see anyone. The Collins Loop is my favorite area hike, about 16 miles. (I put up a web page about this hike with photos). Most people that visit Savage Gulf walk the paved mile trail to Stone Door. It's been years since I've been to Stone Door since it's become a tourist spot. Even worse, there is a development going in at Ranger Falls area of Savage Gulf. However, the Collins remains wild, rugged and natural. It was a gorgeous day for a hike with Tana.

Pool opens - summer starts

It's not officially summer yet, but for me it is! The regular academic year ends this week at MTSU and my pool is open and heated... so that means summer vacation here at Bill's TN Paradise!

MTSU had their yearly plant sale and I stocked up with annuals: impatiens, begonias, ferns and other tropicals. Plus, I put out all my tropicals for the season, assuming that it's a good bet we won't see another frost.

Not only are the plants great looking, they also provide a screen giving the pool complete privacy. (Much of the time when it's hot, I can't be troubled to wear much clothing).

Heating the pool has become much less expensive with the electric heat pump as opposed to the old propane heater. I keep the pool around 87 F, and it costs only about $50-75 a month with the electric heater. It was 3 times that with propane heater or more.

All things are back to normal at Bill's TN Paradise after the electricians put back my main electrical service that was knocked down by a falling branch (insurance claim) ... and, I fixed a leak in my hot tub by gluing a complex series of PVC connections. Whew, that saved a $250 service call.

Looking forward to getting my tomato garden started. I ordered several of these "giant tree tomato" plants. They're supposed to grow 8 feet in 3 months. We'll see if they pan out.

Happy spring and happy summer vacation!!!!

MTSU Guitar Student wins - big time

MTSU Guitar student Silviu Ciulei has just been awarded a full tuition scholarship and a $10,800 stipend to attend Florida State University School of Music for his Masters Degree in Guitar Performance. This is the largest package ever offered by FSU to an incoming Masters level student. The award includes a Graduate Assistantship and a Dean's Fellowship. FSU is one of the finest graduate guitar programs in the US and has placed a great number of it's guitar grads in full-time University teaching positions throughout the US... including me.

Silviu also won Third Prize this weekend at the Appalachian State Univ. Guitar Competition, his second consecutive prize in this competition. This is the Fifth consecutive year that an MTSU student or grad has won a prize in this highly competitive national competition. Some of the programs represented by students in this competition include: Cleveland Institute, Peabody Conservatory, Cal. State Northridge, Manhattan School of Music, etc... it is a big time competition, one of two annual national level competitions in the southeast.

I can't believe it's been 5 years since I met Silviu backstage in Constanta, Romania after my concerto performance with the Black Sea Philharmonic. I knew right away that this kid was extraordinary and wow... has he grown. Since coming to the US, he's gained 4 inches and at least 50 lbs... and some guitar chops to boot.

It's great to see another MTSU grad leave the nest with a huge scholarship. He'll be in good hands at FSU with my old teacher, Bruce Holzman.

Season in review - running Nashville 5k races

It's actually pretty amazing I ran a PR with a slight knee strain. There is no doubt that in a week or 10 days it'll feel 100% and I will be tempted to run. Coach ruined his knee by being stubborn and trying to train through minor pain and he doesn't want to see me do the same. That's why he was pretty adamant about giving it at least 3 full weeks. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, my first day in the pool swimming laps.

The reason I wanted to run in the first place was not to win, but to be fit and be able to run all my life. I did enjoy the races but no point in doing it again until I'm 100%. So, when many are getting geared up for the summer running season, I'm quitting!

As a brand new distance runner, it was a decent "rookie season." I know I'll never be an elite runner, but I'm happy to have participated and to have improved with every race. I ran eight 5ks in just over four months.

My season in review:

Age Group GOLD MEDALS - '08:
(45-49)

Nashville Zoo Run 5K
Runnin' to Beat the Blues 5K, Nashville
Runnin' to Beat the Blues Mile (overall Gold)
Nashville Purity 5k

Other Awards - '07:

Second Prize - Jingle Bell 5K, Nashville
Third Prize - Frostbite 5K, Hendersonville

5K personal record - 19:36

Purity 5K - eighth straight PR, another Gold

But very little gain...
19:36
First Prize in my age group (45-49)
(12th overall out of 360 runners)
RESULTS

It was a hard run with a wicked headwind on the second 1.5 miles on the Greenway levee by the river.

This PR was my smallest gain ever, just one second faster than my previous race. It left me a little depressed, disappointed, feeling that even with a hard effort, no significant gain ... a feeling like I've come to the end, this is it, the best I can do.

Again, I ran a dumb race. My first mile was an insane 5:42. It felt pretty easy. I thought I was in better shape, I thought I could hang for the last mile, but I died, as usual. I was passed by several runners and I only passed one myself in the sprint to the end. If it weren't for that last painful sprint, I would not have had a PR. My knee held up ok. It's not 100% but it stopped hurting after the first few hundred meters. I was also around 2 lbs heavier today than last race (142 lbs) , I'm sure that didn't help.

I don't know if a headwind really makes a difference in a racer's time, but it sure made it feel harder psychologically. Maybe I'll do what coach says and get a heart monitor and take a more clinical approach to training. Coach thinks that I should take 3 weeks completely off to give the knee strain a chance to recover.

I can't complain, it's been a great season. Three age group Gold medals in my last four 5K races (Zoo Run, Beat the Blues, Purity Dairy Dash), and a Gold in the Beat the Blues mile (after my 5K). To this day I still have NEVER run a 5K race that was NOT a PR !! So, the pressure is still on if I choose to race again. It will take a lot of hard work and a fast race course to improve. Maybe I'll just retire "undefeated" ... it's not a competition against anyone, I compete with myself and so far, I've won every time. (Again important to note, there were faster guys in my age group that were counted in the overall masters results).

Thanks to Dirk for the encouragement and advice, thanks to Theresa for running with me (miss you), thanks to Zane for the inspiration and advice, thanks to Jimmy for the camaraderie and competition, and to Lisa ... who instigated this life changing pursuit for me on a suggestion that I should try and run my first 5k back in Dec.

Last race?

So, this weekend might be my last 5K race... the last for a while. Whatever ... it would be good to end with another PR.

I had a few good days of training this week but cut today's intervals a little short. 6 fast halves instead of 8 - I jogged 2, ran 6.

Here was my week:

Sunday -
two miles in 12:36 (6:18 pace)
- rest 10 min -
one and a half miles in 9:35
- rest 10 min -
mile in 6:01
-------------------
Monday - off
some moderate hiking
-------------------
Tuesday -
6 miles in 43:07
(7:11 pace)
-------------------
Wednesday -
1/2 mile warm up
6 halves with 3 min rest/walk in between
2:38, 2:49, 2:50, 2:50, 2:52, 2:49
1/2 mile jog warm down
-------------------
plan for the rest of the week -
Thurs - off
Friday - two miles - easy, one half - fast
Saturday - Moosic City 5k as I push myself in hopes of one more PR.

There are two races closer to home but I think this run will be more competitive and is certified and chip timed so, I'll be up early Sat.

A high school track friend of mine told me that distance running of a mile and up is all about guts and determination, and not much about speed. I disagree. We have a team member who ran a 4:25 mile in high school. I can't imagine putting 4 consecutive 65 sec quarters together. That IS speed. But for old guys like me with mediocre ability, guts and determination can go a long way.

Burgess Falls by boat

Burgess Falls, April 7, 2008.
Can you see the faint rainbow over my head? I was getting soaked. It felt great. The falls were really rippin' today. An excellent way to spend a Monday afternoon.

A rare approach by boat today. It may be the last time I get up there by boat this year. I hope not, but I hear that the USACE will be keeping the lake low for dam repairs.

I love this place, hope I'm able to return. I've never been here any other way than by boat... although I hear some people drive here in cars. (boring... long drive).

Kudos to Tana, for taking the photo and her bravery in climbing the trail from the base of the falls. It was her first time on my boat and we were pelted by fierce spray as we climbed the steep narrow trail to the top. I'd never seen the falls so powerful and so much spray. Awesome.

Back home. Nice trip, good concert - mission accomplished

Saturday, I performed at the Seventh Annual Radford International Guitar Festival at Radford University in VA.

Also performing on the festival were Carlo Barone (Italy) , Jorge Caballero (Peru) and the Mayes Duo (USA).

I was happy my concert went well since I was playing a substantial and challenging program. I was happy and flattered that Joseph and Kathleen Mayes stayed an extra day to see my concert. Joseph is the President of the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society and invited me to pursue a concert on their series. He had positive comments about my playing.

Such a rainy trip, never saw the sun until I got back to TN today. I hauled ass back, making the 400 mile mile drive in 5 1/2 hrs.

I stopped at Hurricane Bridge over Centerhill Lake and took this photo of my MTSU car. The Impala ran good.

The lake looked higher than I'd seen it in a while so I checked and YES!! It is now high enough access Burgess Falls by boat... and since I have tomorrow off, that's where I'll be - right here.

It's really great to be home and to get this concert behind me and few $$ for my efforts. It almost feels like this is the start of my summer vacation even though we have 2 weeks of school left.

-----------------------------
Even while on tour I managed to get a 45 min tempo run in with some hill repeats in those beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

Today, I did my scheduled ball buster workout:

2 miles at race pace: 12:36
6:01, 6:35 -mile splits

10 min rest

9:35 mile and a half (3:11 avg/half )
2:55, 3:21, 3:20


10 min rest

6:00 mile (3:00 avg/half )
2:51, 3:08

I couldn't seem to put 2 consecutive sub 3 min halves together today. Probably because I'm a few lbs heavier, thanks to Pam Trent's wonderful after concert dinners. I'm really dubious that I have another PR in me if I run Sat. If I do, a PR will have to be a gut-wrenching effort.

On the road again, two ways

I'm off to perform my last guitar concert of the season at the Radford University International Guitar Festival. I'll be featured among some great players in including the awesome Jorge Caballero.

Radford, VA looks like a gorgeous little town. Happy to have a University car to drive the 400 miles each way.

--------------------------
It's like living a double life...
Yes, and I also hit the road again today with a hard running workout:

3 miles in 19:30
- 10 min rest -
2 miles in 13:18
- 10 min rest -
1 mile in 6:08

Coach calls this workout "AT1 + AC1" - must be a secret torture code.

Ouch! I can't keep this level of training up for too much longer. I think I will stop racing in May and pick it up again in the late fall. Is another PR possible? I guess I'll find out in the Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash 5K on 4/12.