Good morning.

Wednesday looks to be a beautiful April day: sunny with a high of sixty-three.

Private space exploration keeps advancing:

A private spaceflight company will launch its third robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station next week.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s unmanned Dragon vehicle loaded down with supplies is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 14. This will be SpaceX’s third official flight to the station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to fly 12 missions to the orbiting outpost using the Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket. You can watch the SpaceX launch live on Space.com via NASA TV starting at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT) on April 14. Launch is scheduled for 4:58 EDT (2058 GMT).

Below, see a video of the highlights from the first SpaceX mission to the International Space Station:

On this day in 1865, soldiers from Wisconsin witness Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House:

1865 – (Civil War) Confederate Army surrenders
Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant caught up with Confederate forces commanded by General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The 5th, 6th, 7th, 19th, 36th, 37th and 38th Wisconsin Infantry regiments were among the troops that had helped corner the enemy there. The 36th were present at the court house and witnessed the formal surrender ceremony.

From Puzzability‘s canine-themed series, here’s Wednesday’s game:

This Week’s Game — April 7-11

Dog Eared

We’re barking orders this week. For each day, we started with the name of a dog breed. Then, for the day’s clue, we broke it down into a series of words that, when said in order, sounds like the original breed. You’ll probably need to say the words out loud to get the answers.

Example:

Chair, mensch, ebb, hurt

Answer:

German shepherd

What to Submit:

Submit the breed (as “German shepherd” in the example) for your answer.

Wednesday, April 9

Holding, leash, heaped, auk

Good morning.

On Tuesday, Whitewater will have a one-in-five chance of afternoon showers, and a high of fifty-four. Sunrise today is 6:25 AM and sunset 7:29 PM. The moon’s in a waxing gibbous phase with 63% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks & Rec Board meets this afternoon at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1974, a new home run record —

…Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Al Downing….

On April 8, 1905, Wisconsin does what no one else in America had done previously:

1905 – First High School Basketball Tournament
On this date Fond du Lac won the Lawrence College Invitational, the first high school basketball tournament held not only in Wisconsin, but in the United States. [Source: Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association]

Here’s the Tuesday game from Puzzability‘s Dog Eared series:

This Week’s Game — April 7-11

Dog Eared

We’re barking orders this week. For each day, we started with the name of a dog breed. Then, for the day’s clue, we broke it down into a series of words that, when said in order, sounds like the original breed. You’ll probably need to say the words out loud to get the answers.

Example:

Chair, mensch, ebb, hurt

Answer:

German shepherd

What to Submit:

Submit the breed (as “German shepherd” in the example) for your answer.

Tuesday, April 8

Caw, curse, penny, hull

Good morning.

Monday will have a high of fifty-six. Sunrise today is 6:28 AM and sunset 7:27 PM. The moon is in its first quarter.

Every so often, I’ll have chance to play through a video game. (Right now, I’m going through BioShock on the Mac, ported to OS X by Feral Interactive. Yes, it’s old, but it’s highly-regarded and holds up very well.)

Moderate knowledge of gaming aside, I had no idea that there were two video games on the market about goats. As it turns out, there are.

In Double your goat: Ars reviews the latest in goat video games, Ars Technica reviews Goat Simulator and Escape Goat 2.

Both are available via Steam, but only Escape Goat 2 is available for Windows, Mac, or Linux systems. Here’s what a commenter to the reviews had to say about Goat Simulator:

I bought Goat Simulator and all my friends thought I was stupid. Maybe…but not for buying G.S. As soon as they saw me playing it, they wanted to try. I said, “nope, you said it was stupid.” Go buy your own. So they did.

That comment’s a solid recommendation, really. If you’re in the mood for simple fun, one of these goat video games might be the answer.

On 4.7.1776, America wins a victory on the seas:

On this day in 1776, Navy Captain John Barry, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turned Captain Barry into a national hero and boosted the morale of the Continental forces.

Puzzability‘s series for the week is about dogs. Here’s Monday’s game from Dog Eared:

This Week’s Game — April 7-11

Dog Eared

We’re barking orders this week. For each day, we started with the name of a dog breed. Then, for the day’s clue, we broke it down into a series of words that, when said in order, sounds like the original breed. You’ll probably need to say the words out loud to get the answers.

Example:

Chair, mensch, ebb, hurt

Answer:

German shepherd

What to Submit:

Submit the breed (as “German shepherd” in the example) for your answer.

Monday, April 7

Meany, chirp, who, dull

Good morning.

Sunday will be a sunny day with a high of fifty-seven degrees.

On this day in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey appears in theaters:

Originally entitled A Journey Beyond the Stars, Kubrick’s film was released in April 1968 as 2001: A Space Odyssey. Jumping seamlessly from Africa in the Pleistocene Era to a space-shuttle cabin some 4 million years later, the film clocked in at around three hours and contained less than 40 minutes of dialogue. Stretches of absolute silence or of the sound of human breathing (mimicking the external and internal experience of being inside a space suit) were interspersed with grand orchestral scores, including work by both Richard and Johann Strauss. Kubrick intended 2001 to be a primarily visual–rather than verbal–experience, and the scarcity of dialogue and languid pacing only enhanced the impact of the film’s impressive visual effects.

Though 2001 received many negative reviews when it was released–The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael, for one, called it “monumentally unimaginative”–its prestige grew over the years and it is now regarded by many as Kubrick’s masterwork and one of the most significant films of the 20th century. Its sweeping visual style and psychedelic special effects directly influenced space blockbusters such as George Lucas’ Star Wars movies. At the 41st annual Academy Awards in April 1969, the film did not receive a nomination for Best Picture, though Kubrick was nominated in the Best Director category; he lost to Sir Carol Reed for Oliver! Of four nominations, 2001 won one Oscar, for Best Visual Effects.

On this day in 1831, the Sauk leave:

1831 – Sauk Indians Leave Illinois & Wisconsin
On this date, in the spring of 1831, the Sauk Indians led by Chief Keokuk left their ancestral home near the mouth of the Rock River and moved across the Mississippi River to Iowa to fulfill the terms of a treaty signed in 1804. Many of the tribe, however, believed the treaty to be invalid and the following spring, when the U.S. government failed to provide them with promised supplies, this dissatisfied faction led by Black Hawk returned to their homeland on the Rock River, precipitating the Black Hawk War. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

Good morning.

We have a sunny day ahead in Whitewater today, with a high of fifty.

On this day in 1792 — the first presidential veto of legislation:

George Washington exercises the first presidential veto of a Congressional bill on this day in 1792. The bill introduced a new plan for dividing seats in the House of Representatives that would have increased the amount of seats for northern states. After consulting with his politically divided and contentious cabinet, Washington, who came from the southern state of Virginia, ultimately decided that the plan was unconstitutional because, in providing for additional representatives for some states, it would have introduced a number of representatives higher than that proscribed by the Constitution.

After a discussion with the president, Jefferson wrote in a letter that votes for or against the bill were divided along perfectly geographical lines between the North and South. Jefferson observed that Washington feared that a veto would incorrectly portray him as biased toward the South. In the end, Jefferson was able to convince the president to veto the bill on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and introduced principles that were liable to be abused in the future. Jefferson suggested apportionment instead be derived from arithmetical operation, about which no two men can ever possibly differ.” Washington’s veto sent the bill back to Congress. Though representatives could have attempted to overrule the veto with a two-thirds vote, Congress instead threw out the original bill and instituted a new one that apportioned representatives at “the ratio of one for every thirty-three thousand persons in the respective States.”

Washington exercised his veto power only one other time during his two terms in office. In February 1797, the former commanding general of the Continental Army vetoed an act that would have reduced the number of cavalry units in the army.

On this day in 1974, a great player comes a regular:

1974 – Robin Yount Becomes a Brewer’s Regular
On this date Robin Yount became the Brewers’ regular shortstop at 18 years of age. Yount proved to be a great advantage to the team and in 1992 became the 17th player in history (and the third-youngest) ever to reach 3,000 hits. [Source: Milwaukee Brewers]

Good morning.

Rain or perhaps even a bit of snow awaits us today, with a high of forty-two. Sunrise is 6:32 AM and sunset 7:35 PM. The moon is a waxing crescent with twenty-five percent of the its visible disk illuminated.

Eye of the Storm is a video documentary of the resulting auroras from a solar flare as seen in Iceland. Impressive, truly –

On this day in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.

Here’s the final, Friday game in Puzzability‘s Breaking Bad series:

This Week’s Game — March 31-April 4

Breaking Bad

You’ll be gathering a rogues’ gallery this week. For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the name of a well-known movie villain.

Example:

Regular / pen point / starts a poker pot

Answer:

Norman Bates (normal / nib / antes)

What to Submit:

Submit the character name and the smaller words (as “Norman Bates (normal / nib / antes)” in the example) for your answer.

Friday, April 4

Cadillac product / gasoline or coal / business end of a knife / bride’s headwear