Don Woods

Don Woods (c. 1927 – June 12, 2012) was an American meteorologist and cartoonist. He was the first television weatherman in Oklahoma to hold a degree in meteorology. He started his Oklahoma career in 1954 on Tulsa's ABC affiliate television station, KTUL. He used a cartoon character called Gusty during his weather forecasts every night, drawing on-air, with a reference to recent weather as the focus of his simple line-drawn character. Woods used Gusty to demonstrate how to be weather smart during thunderstorm and tornado activity. At various times, Gusty would also be drawn swimming, fishing, water skiing, or playing American football.

Gusty was a responsible individual — raking leaves in the fall, mowing the grass in the summer, or sometimes just relaxing with a good book. Every night during the weather forecast, Woods would announce a winner for that night's original Gusty. The Gusty drawings became one of the longest promotions for KTUL, lasting from the mid-1950s until Woods's retirement in 1989. 

Gusty drawings are installed in Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Woods's work was part of a 2010 exhibition on Oklahoma cartoonists at the Oklahoma History Center. Woods has received numerous local, state, and national awards and recognitions. Perhaps as a testament to his love of weather, Don Woods taught at Tulsa Community College for a time. And as for a sign of recognition for his influence on those that watched his weather reports, and Woods' live drawings of Gusty, a special honor came to him in April 2005, when Gusty was named Oklahoma's state cartoon.

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers (which are strong in tension) embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or it is defined more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere such as in tree roots or in other plants such as shrubs. In a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up for themselves. It also mediates the transfer of water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber.

The earth contains about one trillion tonnes of wood, which grows at a rate of 10 billion tonnes per year. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy. In 1991, approximately 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction.

A tragedy of errors and stubbornness.

Dec 12-13, 1862. Waves upon waves of Union soldiers facing a firing squad of Lee's troops. Burnside couldn't stop himself from perpetuating the slaughter. The Angel of Fredericksburg helped the dying, risking death himself. Then, a rare display of Northern Lights cast their magic over the fallen troops. The only maneuver that worked for the Federals was their retreat. 6,000 dead in a day. And every night I sleep in this house from which Confederate sharpshooters tried to stop their tragic advance. If only they had stopped the Feds, or the Feds had stopped themselves....

The Daily Howler

Let’s repeat what we’ve told you for years. If we couldn’t observe such inane conversations, it would be hard to believe they were humanly possible. When you were an idealistic kid in high school, had it ever so much as crossed your mind that humans engaged in conversations like this? Had it ever crossed your mind that adult humans could be half this stupid?

The Pope's Alarm Clock

Pope Paul VI was presented with an alarm clock in 1923. It served him faithfully for 55 years, waking him promptly at 6 o?ck every morning. On Sunday 6th August 1978, the alarm clock rang, apparently of its own accord; at 9:40 p.m.-it was the very moment that the Pope died.