Monthly Archives: February 2006

Homesick

Marie at Blue Ridge Blog has posted a photo album of her recent ramblings in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where half of my family is from. The photos are, as usual, lovely. And Harley (her dog) is a badass. Enjoy.

Pompeii of the east

I happened to catch a program on this about a month ago on cable and was completely riveted. An expedition to the site of the largest volcanic eruption in modern times has uncovered a lost kingdom. More than 100,000 people died when Mount Tambora erupted on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa in 1815. Remains of [...]

Distressing and kind of awesome

This freaks me out a little bit. The idea that the results of the plague could have caused the Little Ice Age is incredibly interesting, difficult to prove, and very distressing. Pollen and leaf data support the idea that millions of trees sprang up on abandoned farmland, soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This [...]

A rocket on two wheels is the next best thing to a spaceship

Wow. I would hate LOVE it if all of the cyclists around here had thrust rockets on their bikes. That would be GREAT. Really. I mean it. Seriously, you guys. The cyclists do a lot of darting in and out of traffic as it around here, but imagine how much MORE fun to would be [...]

‘Tis only right you should quake before my … snickersnee?

The (Merriam-Webster) Word of the Day for February 24 is: snickersnee \SNIK-er-snee\ noun: a large knife Wow. I bet you’d never have to brandish said snickersnee because the word would certainly strike terror in the heart of your enemy. I mean, it has both snicker and snee (snickers and nee?) in it. Them’s fightin’ words. [...]

Hillbilly is unveiling a remote controlled version that is just as tough

Consider yourself warned. Actually, that subject line is according to Googlism, which I found via Sisiggy. Here are some of the other results for your reading pain pleasure: hillbilly is working on the computer hillbilly is someone of appalachian ancestry” who has succeeded within the region or outside it hillbilly is hillbilly hillbilly is worth [...]

An open letter to people who do not clean all of the snow and ice off their cars

Dear fellow drivers: It has come to my attention that many of you do not deem it necessary to clear all of the snow and ice off of your cars before hitting the roads. This, my friends, is a mistake … a sometimes fatal mistake. It is also a seriously dumbass mistake. If you plan [...]