Pages Tagged “Category: Strange World”
Blog Posts
- Plane Hopping and Foxtrot
When wild jackrabbits roamed the fields of LAX. (Los Angeles Times)* From time to time passengers in giant air liners are amused when giant jacks race the plane on take-off. Until now, none of the rabbits has left the ground. I’m reminded of all the rabbits we used to see near UCI in the 90s, […]
- And Then… We Buuuuuurn The Hydrogen!
A while back, I mentioned one of the exhibits I remembered from a childhood visit to the Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry (now the California Science Center) in the 1980s: …a multi-screen cartoon about energy sources and engine types called “The Water Engine.” (Each screen has a character talking up internal combustion, flywheels, […]
- Elemental States of Matter
It’s interesting how well earth, water, air and fire map to solid, liquid, gas and plasma. People recognized the four states of matter, but for ages they interpreted them as ingredients instead of structure.
- On Gasoline Prices
Me, driving a smallish gas-fueled car in the 2000s: Wow, gas has gotten expensive these days, but at least I’m not spending too much per tank. Me, driving a hybrid car in the 2010s: Yeah, gas is still expensive, but I’m still not spending too much per tank, and I think I’m filling it less […]
- They’re Made of Meth
You know the old joke about “drugs would be cheaper?” The Adderal shortage has gotten so bad that Mexican pharmacies are selling counterfeit pills to tourists…made of meth. (I should clarify that it’s the counterfeit pills, not the tourists that are made of meth.) — Update: Sadly, science fiction author Terry Bisson (who wrote “They’re […]
- The Other Name Was A Little Sus
IEEE has finally renamed their sustainable tech conference. Now it’s IEEE SustainTech Expo.
- More like “Sea ODDer”
This sea otter likes long swims along the coast, kelp forests…and stealing surfboards. (Story at LA Times)
- Lost Cities and Alien Skies
You wouldn’t think that books about astronomy and archaeology would have a lot in common, but Four Lost Cities and Under Alien Skies pack some odd similarities.
- Prioritizing Trees vs Urban Heat
Combining data on current urban tree cover, heat, health, income, energy sources and more to determine where planting new trees would most help.
- Lizards on the Fence
~95% of lizards I’ve spotted since joining iNaturalist have been Western Fence Lizards. (Occasionally they’ve even been on fences.) Once I found one that was identified as a Great Basin Fence Lizard! When I looked it up, it turned out to be a subspecies of Western Fence Lizards.
- Wait, Bees are…Fish?
California’s endangered species law doesn’t cover insects. But the fish and game code is a bit broader than intended in its definition of fish.
- I know tastes are supposed to change over time, but this is ridiculous
For a couple of days my sense of smell went really wonky. It never went out completely. It was more like taking an audio equalizer and readjusting the sliders so that some frequencies are barely audible and others are louder than they should be. And maybe shifting tracks out of sync while you’re at it.
- What Lies Beneath
If you’re stuck with plumbers digging up your dining room floor a few days before Halloween…you might as well make the most of it!
- Odd Geese
Grooming geese: Nature’s panorama fail. Seriously, though, I was determined to get some decent photos of these two geese because they are unusual. They’re clearly Canada Geese in terms of body shape and the pattern of markings. But every other goose of this type that I’ve seen has had white patches on the sides of […]
- More Clocks than Time
Walking around the house last night, setting all the clocks to Daylight Saving Time before bed, I found myself thinking: Why do we have so many clocks, anyway? They used to share one clock for a whole town! OK, that’s not feasible these days, but every time we switch into and out of DST I […]
- Dyatlov Pass
New(ish) theory: small avalanche with a large chunk of snow could have caused the blunt-force injuries and led them to evacuate the tent in a hurry.
- 2020: Overachiever (The Monoliths)
November 23: Helicopter pilot finds “strange” monolith in remote part of Utah. November 25: Using Google Earth to look for the Utah monolith site. One candidate that matches the landscape seems to have something vertical that appeared between the 2015 and 2016 images. No coordinates in the article. Attempt no landings there. December 7: After […]
- Snakes on a Bus
A Manchester (UK) man boarded a bus wearing a snake wrapped around his neck and mouth. Officials’ comments on what constitutes a suitable face covering: “While there is a small degree of interpretation that can be applied to this, we do not believe it extends to the use of snakeskin – especially when still attached […]
- Devovid
Bizarre story (how could it not be?) in the LA Times on Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh’s experience with Covid-19 and the delusions he experienced at the height of the illness during two weeks in the ICU. Among other things, he became convinced he’d written an entire new Devo album and hallucinated the band performing it […]
- So, who had “rain of chocolate” on their 2020 bingo card?
A broken ventilation system in a Swiss chocolate factory led to cocoa powder raining (or snowing, if you prefer) down on nearby towns. The company says one car was lightly, and possibly deliciously, coated. It has offered to pay for any cleaning needed but hasn’t yet been taken up on the offer. — AP I’ve […]
- Murder Hornets? Really?
Remember the opening from the 1980s Flash Gordon, where the villain has a dashboard with buttons labeled with various disasters? He used it like a sound effects board: Press the Earthquake button and it would trigger an earthquake. Press the Hurricane button and trigger a hurricane. Press the freaking Hot Hail button and it would […]
- Theater for Nobody
This is fascinating: A college theater production of Sophocles’ “The Women of Trachis,” a rarely-performed Greek tragedy, was interrupted by the pandemic. It’s been transformed into a one-night only automated performance featuring video clips of the actors (each sheltering in place at home), collected by TikTok and iMovie and assembled by the director to be […]
- Looking Back at Camp Myford
I’ve been looking through photos from back when we could, you know, go places and found a set from the hills above North Tustin during a year that we got enough rain to turn the hills green. There were some really clear shots of Peters Canyon, Saddleback, and even some south Orange County hills that […]
- The Shrinking Outdoors
Last weekend, a lot of people in the Los Angeles area tried to go hiking, or to the beach, or otherwise outdoors…to the same places. Which ended up creating the crowds that the shutdown was supposed to prevent, just in different places. 🤦♂️ So over the last few days, various cities, counties and the state […]
- CA Lockdown Confusion
On Thursday, Los Angeles County ordered that everyone stay at home except for essential activities like buying food, getting medical care, taking care of someone, or going to an “essential” job. Later that evening, California issued a similar order. But something was unclear: The county specifically mentioned that the guidelines didn’t apply to just going […]
- Lack of Audience
Back in my college theater days, I remember one of the teachers remarking that what sets theater apart from other types of events is the audience. A sporting event with no one watching still counts for the rankings and records. A play without an audience might as well be a dress rehearsal. Well, sporting events […]
- The Visible Housing Timeline
I saw an article about open space preservation efforts in Newport Beach, and decided to look up the area on maps’ satellite view. Looking around nearby areas in Newport, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, etc, I realized: the timeline of residential development in central Orange County is actually visible. Newer neighborhoods have bigger houses than […]
- Tenacious Tree
I finally stopped to take a photo of this tenacious palm tree. I’m not sure whether it was planted or if it just took root next to the support pillar back when the Green Line was new two decades ago. It’s clearly not actively maintained, judging by all the old dry fronds still attached, and […]
- Treetop Tomatoes
Is this the weirdest place I’ve seen a volunteer tomato? It’s certainly up there! *sorry* *ok, not sorry* 🙂 Originally posted on Pixelfed. Observation on iNaturalist. Update: There’s also a black nightshade of some sort and a ficus growing out of the same tree, which you can sort of see in the medium-zoom photo. Update […]
- Talk About an Understatement!
Several local cities will send out SMS notices for emergencies and “avoid this area due to collision/police activity/etc.” All weekend they kept sending reports about an intersection being closed due to a “traffic collision” Saturday morning. One alert mentioned a vehicle had crashed into a building. What all of the alerts failed to mention, and […]
- Stairs to Nowhere
Oddly enough, this isn’t anywhere near the Winchester Mystery House.
- Doom and Gloom are Not Enough
Doom and gloom alone aren’t enough to help us deal with climate change, or any of the other problems we face. Fear sustained turns to despair, and to inaction – because why bother? We have to celebrate successes to keep hope alive so we can keep going. We do need to know what we’re up […]
- Hawk or Dove?
Usually, iNaturalist’s AI is pretty good at narrowing down a plant or animal to a genus, but sometimes it can get confused. Like this pigeon sitting on a silk floss tree branch. It was “pretty sure” it was a hawk. Um, nope! I can sort of see that with the first image, but the second […]
- Ring! Ring! Who’s There? *handcuffs*
Police from five cities — and an LA Sheriff’s helicopter — descended on a neighborhood because someone panicked over Ring footage of a food delivery sent to the wrong address.
- Trees vs. Heat
Just walking around the neighborhood near work there’s a huge difference in temperature depending on: How many shade trees? (Palms don’t help) How much space between the sidewalk and buildings? (This affects both airflow and reflected sunlight.) Is that space paved or plants? Within the same block it can be… Comfortable along a stretch with […]
- Art or Eyesore?
A few miles from Hearst Castle, a trash collector spent fifty years cobbling together his house out of junk and found objects. As Cambria became more trendy in the 1970s, neighbors wanted him to tear down the multi-level “eyesore,” while others saw “Nitt Witt Ridge” as a folk art monument. It’s still there, and still […]
- Feral Tomatoes Doing Well
This feral tomato plant was growing out of a crack in the pavement next to the driveway of a grocery store. I imagine someone must have dropped a tomato with viable seeds on the way out and it took hold.
- The Walnut Burglar
This squirrel bounded along a wall carrying a walnut in its mouth as I walked down the sidewalk. It stopped and looked at me as if it had been caught in the act of walnut burglary. I had enough time to snap a couple of pictures with my phone and pull out my camera for […]
- Modular Sidewalk
All tiles are modular (like WordPress’ new editor). Some go a bit further, like these tiles on a sidewalk corner that look like LEGO bricks.
- Overloaded
Someone was trying to move boulders on wooden pallets for landscaping, and they seem to have been a bit much for the pallets to handle…
- County Fair-Pocalypse
On Thursday I took the day off from work and we went to the Orange County Fair. It was a particularly bizarre visit because Costa Mesa was beneath the smoke plume from the Holy Fire (so named because it started in Holy Jim Canyon) burning in the Santa Ana mountains. The sky, except for clear […]
- Eye(s) of the Tiger
The tiger was a lot closer to the fence than I expected, watching us tourists with a disdainful look as it lounged in the afternoon heat. The fence mostly blurred out of view, but I didn’t notice a dry leaf in front of its face to the left of its mouth, leaving a brown splotch […]
- Drink From the Bottom Of Your Shoe
I was looking for sandals and found these. They’re flip flops with a built in bottle opener, I suppose to make them more…cool? Gadget-y? But it’s on the sole of the shoe. Someone really didn’t think this design through. Update: There are some replies at Wandering Shop from people who’ve worn or used these. Apparently […]
- New front in holiday creep
Spotted at the grocery store today.
- California Burning
A fire is raging in the hills and canyons of Orange County. It’s nothing compared to the devastation in Northern California, where 160,000 acres have burned, killing 21 people and wiping out whole neighborhoods in Napa and Santa Rosa — but a dozen homes have been lost and about as many damaged in the 8,000-acre […]
- Recycling the News
The practice of recycling old news articles still throws me off at times. For instance: here are two recent LA Times articles using big disasters as springboards to talk about possible giant earthquake scenarios in California. They start out talking about the Houston flooding from Harvey and yesterday’s quake in Mexico, then segue into Los Angeles […]
- Color Scheme: Brutalist Blue
Adding a splash of color to Brutalist design, in the final stages of converting an office building near LAX to a hotel. Believe it or not, the bolted-on cross pieces are new. I can’t imagine they’re aesthetic, which makes me wonder if it’s some sort of earthquake retrofitting and they’re making the best of it. […]
- Um…where?
Overheard at grocery store checkout: Mommy, I found two eyeballs!
- Painting a tall building
At first I couldn’t see how they kept the platform near the walls, but then I realized the most visible cables weren’t the support. They’re actually slack. They’re probably used to lower the platform over the roof, before it’s hooked up to the less visible cables hanging straight down down from the inner edge of […]
- Remembering Marineland (Or Not)
I don’t remember much about Marineland of the Pacific. It was an ocean park/aquarium like Sea World that operated near Los Angeles for several decades, closing in 1987. I know I visited at least once, with my grandparents, but all I remember is: The view from what I assume was Palos Verdes Drive, as the […]
- Tree Blood
I’ve described sap as “tree blood” before, but this seems a little too apt. There are a bunch of tipuana trees mixed in with the jacarandas and palms around the area where I work. (One fewer now.) They look a lot like jacarandas with yellow flowers instead of purple, though the leaves are a little […]
- Take One
I can imagine: “No one will miss it if we just take one.”
- Fire Up the Grill!
Wait, you’re supposed to grill the burgers, not the cars!
- The Future is Here
We may not have jet packs and flying cars, but we have autonomous robots rolling into hotel elevators to deliver room service.
- Ode to the Parking Lot Tomato
We’ve been joking about feral tomatoes for years, but I’ve recently started observing them in the wild. So to speak. Like the parking garage near work.
- Shaggy Flashback
IKEA is selling avocado green shag carpet. In 2015. Now *that’s* a flashback!
- The Ants Go Marching…to Strange Places
Some of the stranger things that we’ve found ants going after, including medication, laundry, and something we’d forgotten for a decade.
- A Confluence of Intelli-Jet-for-Brains
I’m programming with IntelliJ by JetBrains. J. just launched a game by IntelliJoy. Katie is reading an article on BrainJet about Meyers-Briggs personality types, and has just gotten to INTJ. Yes, all at once.
- Fuzzy Memories of Duck Food Danger
A moment of deja vu while helping at a preschool field trip got me thinking about early childhood memories of a food allergy incident.
- Contrail / Launch
Photo: the kind of contrail view that starts rumors about imaginary missile launches.
- Hiding the Thirteenth Floor
Hiding the 13th floor by renumbering everything above 12 always seemed like a silly superstition, but then aren’t they all when you really think about them?
- Fallen Tree
A tree in a city park, knocked down during a heavy storm. What struck me most about the view from this side was the patch of sod hanging off of the exposed roots. You can see where the first tree knocked over another tree. Yes, one tree fell on another and knocked it down too. […]
- The Elevator Gap
The parking structure elevator at this corner only goes down to the second floor. They’re finally fixing that…sort of.
- Contrast: Whales at the Power Plant
Yes, that’s a Wyland whale mural on the side of a power plant. This plant in Redondo Beach, California is set to be decommissioned when new environmental protections go into effect, and the city and plant owner have been debating* the future of the site. *To put it mildly! Originally posted on Instagram with a […]
- Decision Overload: Duct Tape Variety
All I wanted was a plain roll of duct tape!
- Strange Searches
Some interesting search phrases that have brought readers to this site recently: southpoint hoyel haunyed – It’s not the typos that I find funny here (the keys are right next to each other), but the thought that the hotel’s air pressure problems causing whistling doorjambs may have given rise to a reputation for it being […]
- “Who puts a fountain in the middle of a library?”
I was immediately reminded of the Huntington Beach Central Library when stumbling on this line in The Magician’s Land.
- After the Crunch: Rubble and…Ewoks?
I’ve been watching the Century/Aviation bridge demolition with some interest. The southern rise is down to a single wall, with some interesting graffiti.
- Not That Kind of AD&D Coverage
The abbreviation AD&D always makes me think of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, not Accidental Death & Dismemberment
- Lessons from Radioactive Kitty Litter
In February, a drum of radioactive waste burst because they used organic kitty litter as a stabilizer. Totally off the wall, but illustrates some points.
- Lawn Gone
I’ve started to notice the occasional lawn, parking lot, office building, mini mall and traffic island being converted to more drought-tolerant plants.
- Musings on LA, Light Pollution, and Water Management
Why it’s so hard to see the stars at night in Los Angeles, and some ways we might be able to save water by changing landscaping and flood control tactics.
- It’s a Big Rock
They don’t have a rock this big.
- Duct Tape, Foil and Cardboard
Last night I had to do some late-night laundry, and when I went in to move clothes from the washer to the dryer, I noticed water on the floor. My first thought: Great, the washing machine’s busted. On opening it, though, it looked like it had at least drained fine. So I checked the closet […]
- I Left my Trash in San Francisco
San Francisco makes you think about just where your trash is going, both by offering options and by labeling them.
- Escape from LA(X)
The spillover from today’s LAX shooting: helicopters hovering, roads closed, travelers hiking miles on foot with their luggage to get away from the airport.
- What people don’t do after allergies send them to the ER
Study: Only 54% of people experiencing an ER visit for anaphylaxis get an epinephrine injector, and only 22% see an allergist within the next year. Scary.
- Reflections on Solar Alignment
Seeing the sun through a building, and then seeing the sunset in the east…wait, the east? Things get weird when the sun lines up with the street grid.
- Flaming Goat Cheese!
A truck carrying brunost caught fire in a tunnel, blocking a Norwegian highway for six days before firefighters could put it out. Now I have a new pseudo-curse.
- Slight problem with the ice cube tray
Um…oops!
- Toddler Vocabulary: Riddle Me This
Trying to figure out what an infant wants is like 20 questions. When they start talking, it becomes a riddle game.
- Question of the Day
Do tire stores ever hold blowout sales?
- Ticked off by Meat Allergy
People are becoming allergic to meat after tick bites.
- Spinning the Recall
A food company goes the extra mile to remind you that their product is fantastic, even in the middle of issuing a recall for an allergy-related packaging mix-up.
- Bored?
I’ve got a handheld connection to a worldwide network of information, communication and entertainment, and the signal’s solid. If I’m bored waiting in line, it’s my own fault.
- The Phantom City
Years ago, I’d catch glimpses of what looked like a distant city while driving the 405 freeway at night, but it always vanished from view before I reached it.
- It’s beginning to look a lot like…medieval weaponry?
I’ve seen dangerous-looking Christmas decorations at the mall before, but at least those looked like…well, Christmas decorations.
- Sequencing the Black Death
A few years back, while I was reading Eifelheim, I found myself curious about the timeline of the pandemic and read up on the Black Death. There was an idea floating around at the time that, based on descriptions of the symptoms and spread of the disease, the black death might have been caused by […]
- Baby’s Fuel Gauge
A doodle I made on a piece of scratch paper when J was a couple of months old. He’s a bit better about this now.
- A Pointed Observation (Overheard at Starbucks)
Now that you mention it, why *do* they put dart boards in bars?
- Links: Ancient World, Eudora, Area 51
Familiar yet alien ancient views of Earth – photorealistic simulations of the world as seen from space, millions of years ago. Back in 2006, Qualcomm effectively discontinued Eudora, though they sponsored a project to extend Mozilla Thunderbird with the look, feel, and some features of Eudora. I lost track of it over the years, but […]
- That’s Not What I Said!
Things Google speech recognition came up with when I searched for ‘The Lost Bean.’ You’d think that wouldn’t be too hard.
- Recalled Waste
Who would have thought that something called Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Chew Bars would be bad for you? Candy Dynamics Recalls Toxic Waste® brand Nuclear Sludge® Chew Bars (via @ThisIsTrue. Originally linked to FDA recall release, link updated to point to NPR article. Apparently it was too much lead in the “hazardously sour” candy.)
- Links: Coffee, D&D Advice, Paused Niagra Falls
Some interesting links I’ve encountered over the past week or two. Help! My Half-Elf is Pregnant! – The 11 strangest Dungeons and Dragons questions from the “Sage Advice” Column 15 things worth knowing about coffee by The Oatmeal. Photos: When Niagra Falls Ran Dry
- Book a Day and Bogus Ads
How To Read a Book a Day by The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent. (via @johannadc) – I don’t think this will work for the new Wheel of Time book. Belly Button Lint and Bogus Ads – a marketer on refusing to participate in campaigns that mislead or flat-out lie about the product.
- Links: 1.0 Releases, Sci-Fi and Science Fact, The Missile that Wasn’t
Matt Mullenweg on Apple, WordPress & tech release strategy. 1.0 Is the Loneliest Number Robert J. Sawyer on the relationship between science fiction and science fact: The job of sci-fi isn’t to predict “THE future,” but “to suggest a smorgasbord of possible futures, so that society may choose the one it wants.” Mystery California missile […]
- No Earthquake Watch
The heat wave has people freaking out again… There is no such thing as an “earthquake watch.” Unlike tornadoes and hurricanes, they strike without warning and cannot be predicted (so far). There’s also no such thing as “earthquake weather”…and I say this as a lifelong Californian.
- Least Imaginative Graffiti Ever
Someone scratched the word “GROUT” into the grout between tiles in this movie theater restroom.
- Curious Cloud Caps
A couple of days ago I clicked on the StumbleUpon toolbar and landed on this incredible photo of lenticular clouds over Mt. Rainer at APOD. It was a bit unnerving, because that picture has been my desktop wallpaper for the past year or so! Good call, though.
- Are You Sure it’s Fake? (Overheard at the Fair)
Overheard at the fair last night: “Are you sure that’s fake?” “Yes, I just touched it. It’s plastic.” Oh, REALLY?
- Links! Alarms, Ghosts of History, Firefly Trek, WW2 Star Wars & More
Hazards of too many alarms; Merging historical and modern photos; Computer lightning safety; Allergies, Star Wars as World War II; Firefly as Star Trek, SMBC’s Logogeneplex.
- Comic-Con 2010: The Gaslamp Crush
Comic-Con turns 5th and L into a geeky parody of the Las Vegas Strip, only the cards have pictures of spaceships instead of strippers.
- Sun Shower
This afternoon I found myself entertaining the notion that Orange County, California had somehow switched places with Orange County, Florida. The weather was certainly more typical for Florida in July than California. It was 90 degrees and sunny when I left the office a little after 6:00 pm, though the eastern half of the sky […]
- Well-Done
Overheard at a medium-fast-food restaurant: a small child repeating, “I’m well-done! I’m well-done!†a half-dozen times.
- Speaking Starbucks
Me at Starbucks: “I’d like an iced chai, medium. I mean grande.” Barista: “It’s OK, I speak both languages.”
- Links: Doomed Data, Web Services, WTF Textbook Questions & More
An experiment: I’ve modified* Twitter Tools to create digest posts as drafts instead of publishing immediately. That gives me a chance to edit a week’s worth of random thoughts and links down to the interesting stuff, clean things up a bit, expand things that could use more detail, and remind myself of items that I […]
- National Park Service vs. Robots From Space
If you went out to the movies in the US during 2009, there’s a good chance you saw a turn-off-your-phone PSA in which a movie about “robots from space” tries to negotiate blowing up Mount Rushmore. In a case of life imitating art, the National Park Service is currently battling Transformers 3 — a movie […]
- This is True: Stranger Than Fiction
This Is True is a weekly newsletter rounding up weird news from around the world, summarized with witty comments by Randy Cassingham. It’s usually funny, sometimes sad, sometimes infuriating — but it always makes you think. I’ve been a subscriber for years, and highly recommend it. One of the things I like about it is […]
- Overheard on the Bus (Only in San Francisco)
Other passengers react to a bizarre conversation between two strangers comparing notes on all the drugs they used to do.
- The 50-Cent Project
A few weeks ago, I received six half-dollar coins in change. Since then, I’ve spent five* of them at counter-service fast food restaurants, and every single one has managed to confuse the clerks handling them. I suppose it’s understandable: fifty-cent pieces aren’t exactly in wide circulation, though I remember seeing them somewhat regularly when I […]
- Putting the Post in Post Office
A few weeks ago, I stopped at the post office on the way to work. As I walked to the door, my eye was immediately drawn to the big hole in the wall where, apparently, a car had crashed into the building while trying to park. Whatever vehicle had done the damage was long gone, […]
- Hazard Lights
Does it really accomplish anything to turn on your hazard lights when you stop your car in a no-parking zone for loading and unloading? It seems like it would have all the legal force of crossing your fingers on the witness stand.
- Books of Laredo
As I walked out on the streets of Laredo, As I walked out in Laredo one day, I stopped in the mall just to visit the bookstore. The bookstore was closed, it’s been taken away. The only bookstore in Laredo, Texas, a city of 250,000 people, has closed. The nearest one is 150 miles away […]
- Unexpected Shower
Bad idea of the day: I’ll be back before the rain starts again. No need to bring my umbrella.
- Cut it out, Ned!
I put the Pushing Daisies soundtrack CD in my computer and it rebooted. Fortunately it took less than a minute…. Of course I tried it again to see if it was a fluke. Same thing. Then I decided to try with another CD. Apparently any audio CD crashes it. Shows how often I use CDs […]
- WTF Reindeer Lady
A female mannequin with a reindeer’s head, wearing what appears to be a corset, a tutu, full-length gloves and a white beehive.
- Brilliant Deduction, Mr. Holmes.
While I was waiting in line for Sherlock Holmes, someone walked up and asked, is *this* the line for the *%#! movie? No…
- I’m Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today!
Walking into Best Buy wearing a bright blue shirt. On Christmas Eve, no less. This could get interesting. 😯 As it turned out, it didn’t. Either people weren’t quite so desperate and panicked as they often are that close to Christmas, and paid more attention, or the shirt has faded past the point of confusion. […]
- Misdirected
Got a compliment on good tech support 🙂 … but it was intended for another company with a similar name. 🙁 I alternate between finding it amusing & annoying that I get spam for local businesses in Brazil. It’s a bit of a drive from SoCal. It’s sad to get Christmas cards for someone who […]
- Dissonance
Contrast in the waiting room at the car dealer’s service department: A sad death scene in the movie on TV vs. polka-sounding video game music from a few chairs over.
- Dodging Furniture on the Freeway
Gee, that was “fun.” It’s not every day you get to dodge living room furniture on the freeway at 65 MPH. To clarify: It was an easy chair, sitting in the middle of the road. The pickup in front of me slammed on its brakes to avoid it. I slowed down and tried to move […]
- Black Friday Question
When did “Black Friday” change from a behind-the-scenes retail term to a plastered-everywhere marketing term?
- Starting the Week with Weird Al
Starting shuffle with a Weird Al song? Fun. 2 in a row? Odd. By the third song I was getting suspicious.
- Coffee Saving Time
Since the time change, coffee has been running out an hour earlier. Coincidence?
- Comic-Con Sellout
Crazy: 9 months ahead, full-event Comic-Con 2010 tickets are already sold out. 1-day tickets haven’t gone on sale yet.
- Traffic Spike on the Balloon
6 years ago I titled a blog post “Offensive Driving.” It’s getting a traffic spike from people searching for a particular “handbook.” Blame Balloon Boy.
- There’s a Slogan for That
“There’s a ___ for that” is the new “Got ___?”
- Great Park, Great Pumpkin
The Great Park Balloon in Irvine, California, all dressed up as a Jack-o-Lantern for Halloween. I was hoping to get a shot of it aloft, but it landed as I approached the park. It looks really eerie lit up at night, floating off in the distance. Or just floating above office buildings. It’s not as […]
- Driving Green, Parking Green
What genius decided dark green on black was a good way to mark up parking spaces? To make matters worse, some of the spaces actually are 20-minute spaces…only they’re labeled on the ground, in the same color green paint. I was almost into the space before I noticed. Judging by the commercial, Ford’s hybrids are […]
- Why?
Got a tech support question consisting of a single word: “Why?”
- This fog is so bright, you’ve got to wear shades.
Weird: I had to wear sunglasses while driving through fog. The layer was just thin enough to produce major glare from the sun without dimming it.
- Stella!
I’ve started reading The True Stella Awards.
- Eating in the Car
Why do people get take-out fast food, then sit and eat it in their car in the parking lot, idling with the AC on? Update: It’s weird how this became normal for me during the 2020 Covid shutdown. I always figured, if you’re going to eat right there anyway, why not just eat at the […]
- Irvine Postcard
Would you believe I found a postcard for Irvine? It’s a bunch of office buildings with mountains in the background. I guess it makes sense. I mean, what else would you put in an Irvine postcard?
- Man-Eating Bird
Fossils linked to Maori legend of man-eating bird The giant Haast’s Eagle, which died out at least 500 years ago, was originally thought to have been a scavenger, but new analysis of fossils indicates that it was a lion-level predator…making it the probable basis for the Maori Te Hokioi legend.
- Shock & Wave
Weird: Routine Coast Guard training exercise spooks press because it’s 9/11. I wonder how many people were freaked out by the shuttle landing’s sonic boom because of the timing?
- Wingnet
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a truck full of disks on the freeway. Or a pigeon with a datacard. [A] company in South Africa called Unlimited IT, frustrated by terribly slow Internet speeds, decided to prove their point by sending an actual homing pigeon with a “data card” strapped to its leg from one of […]
- Powerless at the Mall
How an outdoor mall dealt with a lunchtime power outage. And some Apple observations.
- Deep Fried WHAT???? A Night at the Fair with Al’s Brain, Melissa Etheridge and a Ferris Wheel
Photos and remarks about Al’s Brain, fried food, Melissa Etheridge concert and a night ride on the Ferris Wheel at the OC Fair.
- Pipeline to the Underworld
Sometimes when walking to lunch I pass this pipe sticking out of the ground. I have no idea how deep it goes, or whether it connects to something or just stops. I also have no idea what it’s for, unless as a vent or a placeholder. It just pokes out a couple of feet next […]
- Comic-Con Triathlon: Running Through Downtown San Diego at Night
A story of the night I ran, jogged, and caught a breaking-down pedicab to make it to on time to see the Worst Cartoons Ever.
- Stalker Watch, Immortality, Fast Food Crossover
Spam subject: “Your watch will find you no matter where you are.” What if I don’t want Stalker Watch to follow me around? @BadAstronomer writes a short-short story: Beware of what you wish for… Immortality is boring. Waiting for food at Rubio’s. Employees are trying to get the lyrics straight for the latest Jack-In-the-Box commercial.
- Out with the Old
OK, I think the new server is tested enough for now. Time for lunch. And, I think, a walk. … Odd: I just watched two people tossing things over the edge of the roof of an office building in the distance for several minutes. … I’ve just turned off our oldest internet-facing server. I’m not […]
- $2 Bill
Just got a $2 bill in change. Haven’t seen one “in the wild” in years.
- Glass Bow
The other day I was walking past a construction site in the Irvine Spectrum area, and noticed a rainbow-like ring appearing in the road. I immediately thought of this mystery photo on APOD and its (rather technical) explanation. Naturally, I had to take a picture myself. It basically is a rainbow, except formed by reflections […]
- Enviro Oddities
Top 10 Odd Environmental Ideas (Time via @ThisIsTrue). Some are disturbing, but I like the staple-free stapler.
- Coyote in the Office Park
Walking across an empty lot, listening to “Gold Dust,” just saw a coyote sauntering across the lot.
- Standing on the Freeway at Midnight
The next driver over took full advantage of the complete stoppage of traffic.
- Star Trek: Experiencing Seismic Activity
Sunday’s earthquake hit while we were watching the new Star Trek movie. It actually fit with the movie surprisingly well. Also: what I liked and didn’t.
- Talk About “Engaging” the Borg
Star Trek meets reality: when we registered at Robinson’s May for our wedding five years ago, the barcode scanner was called a phaser.
- Drazi Peeps
Green! Purple! (For an explanation, read up on the Drazi effect.)
- Roomba Path, TV Campaign Advice, and…NINE
Long-Exposure Shot of a Roomba’s Path Shows Beautifully Organized Chaos (src: SignalTheorist) Things to consider when running a “save our show” campaign & what NOT to do. (via @johannadc and @mikesterling) Whenever I get order #9 or take-a-number, I imagine the disembodied voice saying “Number 9…Number 9” from the Beatles’ song Revolution 9
- Zap, Tom said shockingly
Weird: Apparently Tasers were named for a Tom Swift invention, as in “Thomas A. Swift’s electric rifle.”
- Satellite Market, Fast Food Options, Ada and More
Last night I learned that the Satellite Market near Disneyland is still there, but the Sputnik-style sign has been replaced. Old & new photos. Side salad vs. fries study: Adding a healthier option caused people to choose the unhealthy option more often. It’s made me a lot more aware of what I order for lunch. […]
- Google Goats
It’s official: Google mows goats – er, mows with goats. Google’s Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. “It costs us about the same […]
- Naming the Flu
Swine flu? H1N1? Mexican flu? Does the name even matter?
- Amazon Annoyance, ATM Stupidity
Grr. Amazon wants to stop paying me because they think I’ve been buying search keywords to link to them. No, I haven’t. Update: Two days later, they responded: it’s a bad form letter, and even if I were buying keywords, they’d only stop paying referral fees on those links. More concerned than usual about person […]
- Stealth Mime
Today I saw a guy dressed like a mime, standing by an actual glass wall.
- We’re Here For You!
A Washington Mutual with a gigantic “Welcome to Chase†banner. Californians, remember those “Elvis Schmiedekamp Is Here For You†ads from ~2001?
- WaMu, Bees and Vortex
WaMu building has taken down its sign. Giant Chase banner at street level. Guy w/ sign by side of road: “Homeless kind soul stuck in vortex.” I get the 1st half, but WTF does “stuck in vortex” mean? Downward spiral? From @ThisIsTrue: possible cause identified for honey bee colony collapse.
- Obsolete
I found this 3.5″ floppy disk on the ground while exploring a section of disused railroad track running through an industrial park. Update (December 2010): These tracks have since been ripped out and paved over with concrete as a pedestrian walkway to the Tustin Metrolink station.
- 2010
I just scheduled something for 2010. It feels weird – almost as much “living in the future” as hitting 2000 was.
- Pop-Ups & Cake! 11111!
Glanced up at server monitors. It was 11:11:11 on the 11th, tiled 3 times. OMG!11111111 Cake Wrecks: The Problem With Phone Orders. Now back to work… How appropriate: BNL’s “Shopping” in background of a Kohl’s commercial! Also: the pop-up summary bits on the LOST rerun are seriously annoying. Fortunately I’m managing to tune them out.
- Pressure
Weird: air pressure inside the building is pushing the doors out a few inches.
- Mixed a Day?
Having one of those weeks where I keep thinking it’s a day later than it is.
- Tax Dancer
Amusing: Someone hit this post after searching for “dancing tax preparer.” Is it really that common?
- Pinhole Bridge
Cool: A 6-month-exposure photo showing sun trails above a bridge, made using a pinhole camera made from a soda can.(from APOD)
- Moody Weather
Morning: t-shirt, sweater, heavy jacket. Lunchtime: just the t-shirt. Slight difference in temp…
- Zune Fail, Comment Win & Holiday Creep
Weird: Zunes all over the world froze up at the same time overnight. Comment win: “like she was going to rip his arm off and beat his spleen to death with it. Not him; just his spleen” Just a quick store run – yeah along with everyone else in town. More holiday creep! I still […]
- Christmas Shopping
Need to sleep. Found myself typing “Satan Claus” by mistake. Symptom of car culture: I almost feel like I have to justify crossing the street on foot to go to another store instead of moving the car. Sun Halo. All you have to do is look up once in a while. Linens & Things: Nothing […]
- Shopping Observations
Can we get a moratorium on covers of “Last Christmas?” Actually, can we get one on the original too? Funny how easy it is to spot a cover by Darryl K. Sweet. It makes me want to mash up Xanth, WOT, and every other fantasy series he’s covered I can’t see giving someone Countdown to […]
- Santa Hats, Translation, Expelled
Saw a bunch of Santa hats lying alongside the entire length of the 55 South to 405 South ramp – and it’s a long bridge. Maybe a box came open? Got tech support question in Spanish for wrong company. Replied in bad Spanish with link. Checked against Google Translate. Google has a better vocabulary than […]
- Fall in SoCal
Fall in Southern California = checking the weather report daily to decide between shorts or a heavy jacket.
- Lightning Symphony
I was looking up the proper term for a plasma lamp and stumbled upon the Wikipedia entry for the Zeusaphone. It’s a Tesla Coil that’s set up to modulate its discharges so that they produce specific notes. In other words, it’s a Tesla Coil that plays music using lightning! Seriously… how can you turn down […]
- “Oh, There’s a Snake Under My Cot”
The night I found a rattlesnake in my tent at a Boy Scout summer camp. No one was bitten, but getting that snake out was an interesting experience.
- Sex-Linked Brand Names
DC Comics recently canceled its Minx line of graphic novels aimed at teen girls, leading to much discussion amongst comics bloggers. I don’t want to talk about why the line folded, but why the line existed in the first place. Why did DC create an entirely new brand in order to go after this audience? […]
- Looking back: Slashdot on the iPod Launch
2001 verdict: “No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.” That “lame” product revolutionized digital music, changed Apple’s focus, and led to the iPhone, which transformed the mobile phone industry.
- The Singing Fly
The latest newsletter for the Center Theatre Group includes a mention of The Fly: The Opera. Yes, The Fly, based on the sci-fi film about a scientist who gets combined with a housefly in a teleportation accident. And its remake. As an opera. 😯 Plácido Domingo conducts the U.S. premiere of the LA Opera-commissioned opera […]
- Surprises
This morning I was surprised to hear that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn had died. In part, it was because I hadn’t realized he was still alive. As the brief story went on, I remembered reading about his return to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Of his work, I’ve only read A Day in the […]
- Spam Filters Gone Wild: This Is True
Waaay back in the dark ages of the Web (somewhere between 1994 and 1997) I discovered a weekly email newsletter called “This Is True.” It collected strange-but-true news stories from around the world, summarizing each in a short paragraph with a witty one-liner at the end. I subscribed to the free edition, and later to […]
- OMG WTF FWY BBQ!
A truck carrying 60,000 pounds of meat flipped over and burst into flames, shutting down the main highway to San Diego on the first day of Comic-Con.
- Bits and Pieces: Botox Shirt, SDCC Sellout, Spam Karma
Some random observations from today: A sparkly Botox T-Shirt spotted at lunch; Comic-Con has sold out; Spam Karma is being turned over to the community.
- The Accidental Beekeeper
On Monday, Katie found a bee flying around the kitchen, and a disturbing buzzing sound coming from the stove vent. Outside, bees were swarming around the outlet. We clearly had bees in the ceiling. Worse, they were getting into the kitchen. By Monday evening, we’d found at least 8 bees in the kitchen, two of […]
- There’s a convention for everything
Here’s a weird one. it turns out that ROFLCon, dedicated to all those Internet fads, was held at MIT this past weekend.
- Techno-weird Links
CNET UK presents The 30 dumbest videogame titles ever, including “Spanky’s Quest,” “Ninjabread Man,” “How to Be a Complete Bastard,” “Touch Dic” and “Attack of the Mutant Camels.” (via Slashdot). Cowboy Bebop at His Computer — examples of media articles (especially about pop culture) in which the reporters (and editors) clearly didn’t do their research. […]
- This Truck is Too Tired
Spotted this driving back from LA on Saturday, after Wizard World. Well, I guess they don’t need to worry about finding the spare! We both just sort of stared at it for a second or two. Was that really what we thought it was? Then I grabbed for the camera, snapped a shot that didn’t […]
- Not so Random
I wanted to take a look at Firefox’s error page a few minutes ago, so I selected the address bar and hit some random keys. Due to a lack of sleep last night and a day of caffeine, I’d forgotten that if it can’t find a site with a given hostname (and still can’t find […]
- Double-Decker Truck
Spotted this several months ago, and recently found it in my photo archive.
- T-Shirt Irony
At Bloomingdale’s I saw a T-shirt that discourages conspicuous consumption…for a price high enough to make it a status symbol.
- New Age Drinks?
Okay, maybe I’ve missed a memo or something, but can someone tell me: what exactly is a new age drink? Nothing in the aisle stood out as being particularly new-agey.
- Invasion of the Lenticular Clouds!
I wasn’t expecting to see more after my last post on lenticular clouds. As I said, they’re (usually) rare in this area. But as I left the office Friday evening, I pulled onto the freeway and nearly freaked out at what I saw: A line of three smooth, layered clouds running above the ridge of […]
- Tumbleweed Cluster
Tumbleweeds tend to collect along roadsides and fences in Orange County, dropping their seeds for the next year. This can lead to some spectacular clusters of car-sized puffballs of plant. SR-55 off-ramp at Edinger In a few weeks*, these will dry out, turn brown, and get picked up by the Santa Ana winds. They’ll roll […]
- Santa Monic-odd
In early August, we went up to Santa Monica to visit my brother and his colleagues as they returned to Florida from Wikimania 2007 in Taipei… with a 10-hour layover at LAX. We carpooled with my parents, and arrived while the group was still stuck in customs. So we wandered around the Santa Monica Promenade […]
- Strange Sights of Comic-Con
Stormtrooper Elvis meets Sauron, free hugs, the human bulletin board, a crowd of women all wearing the same red dress, and more.
- Comic-Con: Filling in the Gaps
Some random thoughts and anecdotes about Comic-Con that didn’t make it into other posts: It’s amazing that out of (reportedly) 140,000 people, you’re virtually guaranteed to run into people you know. For instance, I knew in person 8 people besides the two of us who were definitely going to the convention. Without planning, I ran […]
- Pumpkin Moon
We were driving home from visiting relatives this evening, and noticed a dull orange ellipse on the horizon, appearing and disappearing between trees. It didn’t take long to realize it was the moon, just beginning to rise. As the freeway twisted and turned, and we went through areas full of houses, retail centers, and trees, […]
- Deja View
Follow-ups to two past blog entries. First, remember on our most recent trip to Las Vegas (last March) we repeatedly encountered a slow-moving, hand-painted truck labeled “Henry’s Moving” on the drive out. Well, after a trip to Fry’s this past Sunday, we spotted it again. Second, for the first time in 1½ years, I managed […]
- Xyloglyphs
Spotted these at a construction site. It’s a wood-frame building, probably going to be apartments or condos. These stick figures, with the frazzled hair and holding a hammer, were drawn in spray paint on the plywood walls, one between each pair of windows.
- Contrail Shadow
With any luck I’ll finally post about last week’s trip to Las Vegas soon, but meanwhile, here’s something interesting that we spotted a couple of times on the drive back: The shadow of a contrail against the sky. Here’s what it looked like, as the camera saw it. Actually, it was much more visible at […]
- Fighting Irish
I caught a story on The World (PRI) today about Los Angeles band Ollin’s song tribute to Saint Patrick’s Battalion (in Spanish, El Batallón de Los San Patricios)—a group of several hundred primarily Irish Americans who, during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), left the US Army to fight alongside the Mexicans. They fought fiercely for a […]