Where am I? #14

Here

Where am I #13

Here (no. 12)

Where am I? #12

Here

Where am I? #11

Here

Where am I? #9

Here

Dandelion Wine

“Yahoo called me eight weeks ago,” he said, voice rising. “They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? ‘To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.’ “It’s distracting,” he continued. “It’s meaningless; it’s not real. It’s in the air somewhere.”

Ray Bradbury interview in the NY Times.

A different time, the same words.

I've been reading, The Forger's Spell, an interesting non-fiction book about a man who forged and sold a faux-Vermeer to Hermann Goering. A chapter about Goering contains a comment he made to a psychologist at Nuremberg:

The people can always be brought to do the bidding of their leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for their lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.

There's something familiar about that thought . . .

What does it mean to "be educated?"

Why is someone considered educated if they understand the work of Shakespeare but not the second law of thermodynamics? Two cultures.

Think even smaller

50 years of the Mini

Old Photos from Japan

More here

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians

"A tour de force in American cinema."

"Not to be missed in this lifetime or any other lifetime."

"Unequaled, unparalleled, unrepeatable."

"An indescribable expression of humanity in an inhuman world."

"Will forever shine in the pantheon of film arts."

See it today!

Social consequences of a poor economy

"During a prolonged period of unemployment a few years ago, I also happened to be living in the suburbs. Gas prices weren’t what they are now, but I rationalized many other reasons why I shouldn’t bother to meet up with friends in the city. Too late, too many errands, too much else. I kept mainly to myself during those months.

Thinking back, I realize it was that I didn’t want to burden others with my frustration. Facing the inevitable questions discouraged me. How do you explain what you did all day, apart from sending resumes out? “Yeah, still looking.” Small talk is so much more aggravating without any positive news."

So true . . . more here

Accents

If you have any interest in accents, check out this site with a large database of examples from around the world.

"Yonda in da castle of my fadda."

Where gnomes go to feel safe

Gnome hats are loaned free of charge! Find out more here.

Take the A-Boat

If you're tired of flying . . . London to NY in 3 days, 12 hours.

Accent?

If you were born in the U.S. and don't possess a strong regional accent, it's probably hard for others to determine which accent you have. This 18 question survey determined that my accent was from "Eastern New England." It went on to note, "Whether or not you pronounce r's, you have the sound of Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine about you." I was born just outside Boston.

Try it here.

Roman tracks

The Romans left traces of their civilization across Europe, Africa, the Near East and, possibly, beyond . . . select each photo to read more.

Spite Houses

"When I lived in Washington in the 1940s, there was a house called the "Spite House." It was only one room wide and was supposedly separated from a full-size house after a family quarrel. Do you have any information on it? I've never been able to find anything in any of the books about Washington oddities." Answer.

Scenes for the Russian subway

Off to balalaika lessons.

And, more.

Abandoned carnival in China

More.