John Atkinson Gets a Shout Out in The Guardian
Although to paraphrase Mason Williams on winning an Emmy Award, "It's like being kissed by a girl with bad breath—you appreciate the honor, but . . . ."
Wes Phillips
You Want Facts?
Nationmaster.com's got 'em. Amazing go-to resource for maps, stats, and factoids.
Ay Yi Yi Robot
Watched I Robot while practicing work avoidance yesterday. What a steaming pile of crap based on the title of a book with the same name! You know a movie's in bad shape when even it sqaunders Will Smith's considerable charm, but I Robot's biggest flaw was that it abandoned almost everything from Asimov,except the three laws (good) and a very 1940's view of what robots would be. Who needs mechanical manservants when everyday objects perform more and more of our chores?
The Blimp, The Blimp!
I'm fascinated by blimps. I've also always wondered why they weren't used more for hauling cargo, especially stuff that didn't fit neatly into road-width containers. National Geographic says I'm not the only one.
The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation
This is perfect. Read while drinking at great peril to your monitor and keyboard.
Words and Pictures
Addicting website featuring Don Ellis' stunning photographs and words (sometimes) and layout (mostly) that "clarifies" the statement.
You Were There
Beethoven conducts Fidelio, Louis Spohr remembers in the February 7, 1865 edition of The Guardian.
Who You Calling Savage?
Hilarious rant by anthropologist Roger Sandall over Lynn Truss' Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of Everyday Life. I have to confess I haven't read TTTH, not least because I didn't enjoy her hectoring Eats Shoots and Leaves. Geeze, if you're going to write a book about the failure of everybody to observe proper grammar, wouldn't you want it to be copyedited to a fair thee well? Ms. Truss didn't proof her proofer—and all I could think as she wagged her finger was that she should have washed it first.
Ghost Town Gallery
Beautiful photographs of ghost towns.
Zombie Roaches
Ampulex compressa is a wasp that uses its stinger to temporarily paralyze and then hot-wire a cockroach so that the wasp can "drive" the larger critter home, where it can lay its egg on the roach host and seal it into a nursery. When the egg hatches, the larva chews its way into the host, where it feeds itself and then spins a cocoon.