December 30th, 2008 Olivia
Long before there was a motel in every town folks who traveled by car had to make do with whatever comforts they could carry in the primitive automobiles of the day. Normally that meant sleeping on the ground with, at best, protection from a canvas cover attached to the side of the vehicle. A few innovators went a step further, turning the car into a mobile bedroom. Henry Ford's remarkably versatile Model T lent itself to such conversions, becoming the first wheeled "camper" since the covered wagon. The car above, which caught my attention at the Model T 100th Centennial in Richmond, Indiana this year, is a charming example. It got the occupants off the ground, provided basic shelter, and included storage space for bedding, pots and pans, and the various paraphenalia needed when camping away from normal conveniences. Just to prove how practical it may have been in its time, the owners actually slept in their Model T en route to the event.
[Photo: Philip Powell]
By: Philip Powell Source
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December 23rd, 2008 Olivia
“If there are a lot of good scenes in a film, there must be a lot of good scenes that are out of the film. It’’s about miracles. In a very modest way, I think I made a miracle film, because I believe in miracles.”
David D”Arcy talks with Gonzalo Arijon about his documentary Stranded: I”ve Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains.
More recent interviews with Arijon: Chris Lee (Los Angeles Times) and Mara Math (San Francisco Bay Guardian).
By: dwhudson Source
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December 18th, 2008 Olivia
When we first started going to Fallen Timbers (that other bit of forest on the edge of the Missouri Ozarks we have) I nailed a thermometer to a white oak tree next to our fire ring. For many visits I dutifully recorded the temperatures when we arrived, at the middle of the day, and at the time we left. (That level of fastidiousness was not sustainable.)
That was perhaps ten years ago, and when we were out there recently I noticed that the tree has begun absorbing the thermometer. The tree is growing around the intruder, which is called inosculation.
I’ve often wanted to become “one with the forest” but I don’t think I want to be eaten by a tree.
You know many things. Notice how washed out that photo is. It happened that the battery in my camera was running low that day, and I saw this faded look in many of the other pix I took then. Is low battery strength a cause of this kind of image? Does anyone know?
Missouri calendar:
Look for “frost flowers” with first hard frost.
Today in Missouri history:
Spain gained control of the Louisiana Territory in the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1770.
In 1818, the Territorial Legislature adopts a memorial to Congress asking for statehood.
A great meteor shower, falling as thick as snowflakes, lighted up the sky on this night in 1833. The phenomenon convinced many that Judgment Day had come and allowed one captured runaway slave near Boone County, Missouri to make a second escape to freedom.
By: Roundrockjournal Source
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December 11th, 2008 Olivia
Last month, I asked how long the recession would last. Estimates ranged from two years to five.
Now a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia puts it at 14 months. And things are likely to get a lot worse over the next few months with forecasters predicting a couple of bad quarters ahead and unemployment in the US hitting 7.4% in 2009.
And what will it be like? The Boston Globe warns that it will be like nothing we have seen before. Cheaper televisions and more channels means it will be a more isolating experience and diminishing home prices will see more people renting apartments, perhaps in the city where commuting costs are lower. It will affect housing, health insurance, transportation and child care. Expect to see standards at universities drop and for depression and suicide rates to go up. There might even be changes in our eating habits.
Watch this space.
By: leon Source
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December 4th, 2008 Olivia
If you are the proud owner of a ultra thin MacBook Air, new Aluminum Macbook, or Voodoo Envy, then you have a hard time finding peripherals that do your machine justice. I am lucky, a cinder block sitting next to my clunker of a laptop would look pretty good. Those sexy, thin, and sleek computers look almost too nice for their own good. Iomega has heard the call and answered with the eGo External Helium Drive.
The eGo Helium is a thin and aluminum cased external hard drive that features a tapered and beveled body that measures in at just 0.63 inches thin. It has a single USB cable that supplies both power and high speed USB 2.0 data transfer The eGo Helium is obviously inspired by the MacBook Air or Aluminum MacBook, and it looks just as good as those two machines do.
Currently, the Iomega drive is available in a 320GB flavor and retails for $149.99. Personally, I would like like to see a larger capacity for the same price. But, if you are running around with an ultra portable laptop with a small SSD drive then you need an external hard drive and you can afford to pay a little bit more for style.
via ohGizmo!
By: Chris Matier Source
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