A few weeks ago I posted a story connected to this photo:

It was widely viewed and many comments were added to the original entry. Well, we now have an update on the REAL story around this plate due to an email I received from Bob Nelson last night.

FICTION – The photo of the steel blue Mini Cooper with the (M)ORONS plate in front is done very well, but is a fake. I know, because I created that particular piece of artwork. I had to convert pieces of real letters and numbers (from a sample once shown on the Department of State website) to form letters that I didn’t have. The result was a nice, though fabricated, plate. Look closely at the R and the N… they look good, but they’re merely bits and pieces of other letters/numbers. Even the S is slightly distorted. Compare them to the REAL plates shown below. Someone took my fabricated artwork and skillfully plugged it into the Mini Cooper picture. I was proud of my handiwork, but never expected it to make the internet circuit.

FACT #1 – The (M)ORONS plate really does exist, and is owned by SPAR10 PL8S member Patrick Maguire. There is also a (M)ORONZ plate. I own that one. Here is what the REAL plates look like…

FACT #2 – Someone in California will make you a plastic plate for the front of your vehicle that looks just like the fake one above. I’ve seen it… and from a distance, it looks terrific! But on closer inspection, you realize it is heavy plastic, not embossed aluminum. I will try to get the name of this person who makes it, and post the contact information here.

Read the rest of the entry from Bob’s website.

But if you just read that and left it alone, you’d be missing some great stuff on Bob’s website. I particularly liked his license plate gallery (here’s a screenshot of the gallery and a close up of the two MORONS MORONZ plates:)

Close-up of the MORONS/Z plates from the gallery


But wait, there’s more. Bob also toured and took photos at the license plate prison factory at Adrian, Michigan, here’s a sample from the that collection:


Great stuff Bob, thanks for the note and thanks for the laugh, I think that Morons plate is pure gold!

A colleague of ours has been exploring Panama recently and brought Rancho de Caldera to our attention. It’s a small resort set in the mountains of Panama with nine cabins and it’s largely energy independent. Despite being close to a volcano, geothermal systems are not part of the harvest system (even for heating/cooling), rather it is solar, wind, and micro hydro harvest backed by a battery bank and supplemented by a generator. The operator estimates that between 4.5 – 5 kW of electricity are generated per hour (1 kW from hydro/wind and the balance from solar.)

Solar Panel Array next to Powerhouse

Photo Credit: Rancho de Caldera

Battery bank in Powerhouse

Photo Credit: Rancho de Caldera

Extremely sad news was reported from the San Francisco Zoo last night. One of the five tigers at the Zoo escaped and killed one visitor and badly injured two others. Officials are not yet certain how the tiger escaped or how long it was on the loose. When officers responded, the animal and its victims were found by the Terrace Cafe (for those of you who have been to the zoo, this is the cafe by the Little Puffer train station and the bear exhibits.)

This same tiger was involved a little over a year ago in the mauling of a zoo keeper which resulted in upgrades to the cat house. Tatiana was shot dead by responding police officers on the scene and the zoo is closed today.

This incident hits close to home for me because I take my daughter to this zoo at least two times a month…I’m not sure how this will affect our future visit schedule. Sad for the victims, their families, the zoo, and the tiger.

Norad has teamed up with Google to track Santa in real-time. My daughter loves it! Santa was last seen captured on video over the pyramids in Egypt. Check out the Norad Santa site for the latest information. Here’s a screenshot:

HT: Laughing Squid

Photo Credit: The Plugin Site
I’ll be back posting in a couple of days, for now, sayonara and have a great holiday!