Sunbeams illuminating a coastal forest in Port Orford, Oregon

Chuggnutt!

Category: Imagery

  • Amazing accident

    My wife found this somewhere: the most amazing car accident ever. Damn. I’m just speechless.

  • Thongs

    Thongs, flipflops, whateverWhen I was growing up, thongs were the semi-sandals that you wore on your feet, pictured to the right. Nowadays, they’re called “flipflops” and if you call them “thongs” in public, you get sharp looks and people think you’re having a stroke when you try to explain what you were talking about.

    Sigh. The times, they are a-changin’.

  • Mt. Hood and the Moon

    Tim Bray has posted an amazing photo of Mount Hood that he took from a plane—his description is “Mount Hood paying its respects to the moon” and I think that’s entirely appropriate. Worth a look.

  • Flowers

    Here are some pictures of various flowers in my yard that I took today at lunchtime. No particular reason, other than I like them and since we’re moving soon, I figure I’d better get pictures while I can.

    They’re not the best quality pictures out there; it was awfully bright when I was taking them, and I’m definitely not as skilled as some people. And I certainly should be better at identifying various flowering plants and trees; unfortunately, whatever rubs off never seems to stick for any decent amount of time. Anyway, the pictures:

    King's ransom in dandelions
    (Click to enlarge: 165K)
    We have an embarrassment of riches in dandelions this year. This is a small sample. I’m very, very tempted to pick as many as I can and try making dandelion wine; the only problem is, I just don’t have the time to sit down for a couple of hours to do so.

    Small flowering tree with pink-purple flowers
    (Click to enlarge: 214K)
    No, I’m not sure what this is. Maybe a cherry?

    Bright red flower
    (Click to enlarge: 216K)
    Bright splash of color on an otherwise green and brown background. The worst part is, I’m sure I know what this is…

    Blooming crabapple tree
    (Click to enlarge: 212K)
    A crabapple tree blooming. It’s particularly fragrant.

    Blue flowers
    (Click to enlarge: 211K)
    Could these be bluebonnets? At any rate, we have a good number of these and I think they’re pretty cool.

    Purple flowers
    (Click to enlarge: 296K)
    These are in the bed in the front yard.

  • Piri Reis Map

    Here’s a link to a good image of the Piri Reis map. For all you mystery-history buffs out there.

  • Bayer

    Here’s an interesting bit of trivia I unearthed last week: in trying to prove to somebody at work that aspirin is a coal tar derivative, I found out that Bayer developed and registered the drug as a trademark in 1899.

    By itself, that’s not so interesting, I know. However, it turns out Bayer also discovered, trademarked and marketed another drug: heroin. “From 1898 through to 1910 it was marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough medicine for children.”

    Yikes. Of course, then the thought of “Bayer Heroin” kept me amused for a bit:

    Bayer Heroin

  • Button Trendsetter

    After I last posted about the buttons (see “Button Sites” from March 14) on Web sites, and the button maker, I’ve noticed that others are taking notice, and it’s popping up elsewhere:

    Damn, I’m ahead of the curve! I must be some kind of trendsetter!

    … and if you believe that, I have some lovely oceanfront property in South Dakota you might be interested in…

  • Those small web buttons…

    I’ve been noticing recently the proliferation (mostly on blog sites) of those small image files that are 80 pixels wide by 15 pixels high, are generally two-tone in color and use a simple old-school-looking font. Like these:

    RSS 2.0 button ORBlogs.com button

    And I’m wondering, what’s the story? What are they called, exactly? (I’m thinking either “buttons” or “badges.”) Who’s making them? I think they’re pretty cool, actually; clever, simple, and elegant, and a damn good graphical meme that’s working it’s way around my brain. I just haven’t been able to find out anything about them online, and I’m getting really curious.

    So I’ve started “collecting” them, saving any news ones I come across into a “badges” directory on my computer. I’ve got 42 already in two days. (Hmmm, 42. Coincidence?)

    So, what’s the scoop? Anyone know?

  • Trap

    Watch out for the icicle trapI snapped this picture today because I found it morbidly funny. (Click the image to view the full 768×1024 version.)

    The view is from the end of the deck, looking at the back door that leads to the garage, which right now is our main access to the trash can. I’m now wondering how many times I’ve been standing underneath that wicked spike, throwing garbage out without ever thinking to look up.

  • More Snow

    Over the New Year holiday we ended up with even more snow—I measured 13 inches total today, and I’m sure when these photos were taken (on Thursday, the first) it was deeper than that (before it melted down).

    Snow in my front yard, covering shrubberyThis is looking into my front yard from the driveway (it’s diagonal, though, so the house you see is the neighbor’s). The two mounds are the conifer shrubbery entirely buried, which my brother suggested putting hats on and calling them snowmen.
    (Click the image to view the 640×480 image.)

    Even deeper snow on the patio table Deep snow on the patio table
    On the left is the patio table on the deck again, giving the pictorial update on the snow depth. I’ve included the older patio table picture on the right from my previous post, so you can see the comparison.
    (Click the images for the 640×480 versions.)