the volcano/frankenstein connection

I did a web search on tsunamis and came up with this tidbit. The biggest volcanic explosion in recorded history was the eruption Mt. Tambora on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia in 1815. It blew 150 cubic kilometers of crud into the air. The ash in the atmosphere lowered temperatures around the world [...]

disaster

Someone captured a series of photos recording the first of the tsunami waves washing though the area around their hotel in Thailand. The man visible in the water in a couple of these photos was rescued.
http://www.pbase.com/issels/phuket_tsunami&page=all

Here’s an independent group that monitors charities and reports on which ones make good use of their money. [...]

end times

Hard to tell the satire from the serious these days, but either way, this web site is a great example of good old-fashioned cult nuttiness. It’s dangblog’s site of the month: http://www.raptureready.com/. Turns out that the petroleum supply is one of the factors in whether the Christian rapture is near. So is [...]

bosendorfer

That Bosendorfer piano that I play every week at my teacher’s house–I’ve learned that the wood of the sounding board, like the wood in the Stradivarius violin, is made of spruce from Italy’s Flemme Valley. The wood is seasoned for up to five years before it goes into a piano. The keys are made from [...]

drei, vier, funf, sechs, sieben, acht

It was so dark and rainy that the world was black and white all day. When you looked out the window people were hustling mysterious packages from car to house. It’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” all over again, or just Seattle Christmas. I guess you could do a whole metaphorical spin on that, in [...]

go for it, aibo

This is Buddy, standing in front of a tiger-striped foot rest. Buddy is a used Aibo. He’s an artificial intelligence dog designed to coexist with humans. He was a present for Maggie. As soon as Buddy learns how to walk a little better and expand his vocabulary, we’ll take him out for visits with other [...]

brass

I was trying to talk to the robot dog when Scot called and suggested I head down to Ballard’s Penny Cafe and hear Joanne Klein sing. Robot dog or live music…I had to think for a moment, then went for the jazz. Joanne has just finished a long stint playing the wicked queen in the [...]

rotk revisited

Over the course of three days I watched the four-hour “Return of the King” extended DVD. I liked it better this time than I did in the theater. I don’t know why. I don’t think it was the extra 50 minutes–although there’s nothing like watching Christopher Lee take a long fall off the tower of [...]