shorpy.com

go waste some time

ruins

what a great park this must be --- in minneapolis no less

traveling dog

guinness is generally an excellent travel companion---especially on the way back when he was kinda tuckered out --- the scenic shot is from santeetlah gap, elev. 2660--- and below that is an image of one of the several really fine corn fields up that way

big trees

me and the dog drove up to n.c. today to see one of the only old-growth forests left in the east, part of the joyce kilmer-slick rock wilderness---400 yr old poplars were worth the drive---there are huge eastern hemlock, too, but nearly all of them were dead or dying from wooly adelgid---

failed structures

according to the ajc, the parking garage, the center bay of which fell down, was only 7 yrs old --- built by the same construction company that was trying to build the botanical garden's "canopy walk," which also fell down, killing one person, injuring 18, last december --- they were fined for that

the race is on

40th running of the peachtree road race, back in piedmont park --- 55k tired sweaty people --- the last of them will straggle through in early afternoon --- but it's a fine day to run, if you like that sort of thing

war of the holes

"i guess i'm just a b-hole kinda guy"??????

spring street

collapsing concrete parking decks squash cars --- even though it was just one out of seven bays that fell down, it's still fairly amazing that nobody was hurt---they weren't able to start retrieving cars until today, including all of those in the rest of the garage that didn't collapse which nobody had been able to yet get at

old structures

we also stopped off to gawk at the covered bridge over red oak creek in meriwether county --- built in the 1840s by horace king (1807-1885), a freed slave who built a bunch of bridges in west georgia, although this is the only one that still exists --- it's also the oldest and longest covered bridge left in the state --- you just gotta hate younguns with spray paint, but better that than matches i guess

endangered spaces

me and dog went down to see spruill bluff state park this morning --- the army corps has wanted to put a dam there for a long time --- the shoals and bluffs west and northwest of thomaston mark the fall line for the flint river as it breaks into the coastal plain --- gov. carter stopped the project in 1974, but once the engineers get an idea like that in their heads, it'll have nine lives at least

self-watering plants

The Desert Rhubarb can hold 16 times more water than its rivals and has developed a unique ability to effectively water itself in its barren habitat. Researchers were confounded by the metre-wide plant's giant leaves, compared to its desert counterparts, whose tiny leaves stop dangerous moisture loss. But they found the plant's large leaves are the key to its success, because they are covered in microscopic streams through which water can be channeled.

hahaha

the skyline

a fine summer day in atlanner --- unless i'm mistaken, the third building at the "12th and midtown" development has topped out --- this will be the skyline for the next few years

nightmare

As the months have gone by since John McCain revealed his total cynicism and contempt for America's national security by selecting one Sarah Palin to be a potential vice-president of the United States, we have learned that every single ghastly attribute we discovered in the campaign is worse than we thought at the time.

read the whole thing and then just pause for a moment and really think about it: president sarah palin

alice in wonderland

tim burton's alice will be out next year--- should be great

sunday driving

clara meer

i think the lake is having some water-quality issues

going, going, gone

what's up with all the 50-year-olds dying all of a sudden?

remember stonewall

Action would be even better. It’s a press cliché that “gay supporters” are disappointed with Obama, but we should all be. Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened there 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.

and obama ought to remember his campaign promises

dust to plastic

i told robert today that michael jackson could wind up on permanent display under glass--- sure enough: he's going to be "plastinated"

Von Hagens said that he spoke with representatives of the Jackson family 'many months ago' and it was agreed that his body will be plastinated and placed next to Bubbles, his late pet monkey who was plastinated a number of years ago and is exhibited at The Body Worlds & Mirror Of Time exhibition at the O2 Centre in London.

gawd

extreme exhibitionism

22---count 'em---22 live cams all over his house, plus a weather scroll that gives you all the relevant readings from a weather station on his roof--- you can even turn his lights off and on ---seriously--- there is something slightly messed up about this, but i can't quite put my finger on what it is (thx robert)

pool party

it's not right not to be anticipating a parade tomorrow

hypocrisy watch

. . . Inglis sees an opening for the Republican Party, a chance to “lose the stinking rot of self-righteousness” and “to understand we are all in need of some grace.”

hear, hear

wow

A bird-bone flute unearthed in a German cave was carved some 35,000 years ago and is the oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered, archaeologists say, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture.

the 80s died today