Make Your Franklin is a “community art project” that lets folks redesign the US one hundred dollar bill and upload the results to an online gallery. The site even provides a high resolution scan (7300×3000 pixel) of a Benjamin in case you don’t have one handy (and I never do). A lot of the entries show… Continue reading Currency Devaluation
Stationary Hummer
So, say you’re a hummingbird trying to cope with 40mph+ winds, blowing dust and smoke from wildfires on the north and the south, temperatures in the 90s and humidity around 5%. What would you do? Probably the same thing this little guy is doing…perching on a tomato cage sheltered by a concrete block wall, and… Continue reading Stationary Hummer
Underwater Flight
It’s been years since we’ve been scuba diving, following a period where we took a dive trip for seven or eight consecutive years. We enjoyed the sport immensely, but other priorities – financial and otherwise – took over, and our gear is probably slowly succumbing to dry rot in our closet. It’s hard to explain… Continue reading Underwater Flight
Barn Swallows 1, Us 0
If eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, we’ve just been enslaved due to inattention. I stepped onto the front porch this morning, just before daybreak, and this caught my eye: I swear, that nest was not there yesterday at noon, when Debbie and I did our usual lunch hour tour of the front yard… Continue reading Barn Swallows 1, Us 0
Bike Shopping
Our 13-year-old Ryan Duplex recumbent tandem is starting to show its age (aren’t we all?). It’s been a great bike and over the thousands of miles we’ve had it, we’ve had to walk home only once (well, twice…but the second time was my fault, not the bike’s) due to a mechanical problem. And even that… Continue reading Bike Shopping
Trading the Real for the Fake
I daresay that Georges Seurat’s painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is only recognizable to most people in the most vague, I-think-I’ve-seen-a-poster-of-that-somewhere-before sort of way, and most of us would surely not be able to describe it sight unseen. I suppose there’s nothing inherently wrong with this; the painting is more than… Continue reading Trading the Real for the Fake
Pointy Boots
Today’s newspaper ran this AP story under the headline, “Mutant pointy boots create a craze.” When I first saw the headline, I thought, “well, so what’s new? I’ve seen lots of pointy boots on the dance floor, at country dances.” Uh, well, no. Those, my friend, are Pointy Boots. Those are “you’ll poke your eye… Continue reading Pointy Boots
The Transfiguration: The most intriguing passage in the Bible?
And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. This passage of Scripture, excerpted from the… Continue reading The Transfiguration: The most intriguing passage in the Bible?
Ant Band
OK, feast your eyes on this little jewel: That’s right – it’s an authentic Fire Ant Gazette wrist band, crafted by otherworldly artisans deep beneath the earth (in the general area of Wickett) from the finest silicon harvested by documented workers from the forests of Silicon Valley, and tinted in Classic Lead-Free Pewter to accentuate… Continue reading Ant Band
Cinemagraphs: Animated GIFs Live Again!
Before there was Flash, the primary means of displaying movement on a web page was via animated GIFs, low resolution graphics with mostly clumsy transitions. Animated GIFs have mostly been relegated to retro-cult status, with very few serious uses for the format (although done properly, with the right graphics, they provide a quite passable substitute… Continue reading Cinemagraphs: Animated GIFs Live Again!