USS Enterprise Owner's Workshop Manual

Haynes, American trade/brand name Chilton, is a company that produces detailed technical manuals for just about all makes and models of cars, trucks and motorcycles. The above, the USS Enterprise Owner's Workshop Manual, has a cutaway diagram of the USS Enterprise A. Every Starfleet engineer will wnat one.

You Really Can See Russia From Alaska

This is picture from the top of Little Diomede, Alaska, looking across to Big Diomede, Siberia. They really are that close. The real quote of Sarah Palin: "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska"? This quote was exaggerated by Tina Fey into "I can see Russia from my house". You can look from the Alaskan Island to the coast of mainland Siberia and from the Siberian island to the coast of mainland Alaska.

You can think dumb Sarah Palin for many reasons but not for this one.

I got to use a new measuring tool on Google Maps.

Oil Depletion in Los Angeles

From the LA Almanac is this charts of the Great Oil Fields of LA County. The first you notice is the last field to be discovered was about 80 years ago. Second is that the oil is gone, mostly gone, with the remaining wells dribbling oil at much less than gusher strength. There are some myopic sorts in the US who believe that the solution for their energy independence is "drill, baby drill". Will it is true that private mineral claim/public royalty systems lead to active prospecting than the statist economic systems that prevail in OPEC. All that means is that resources are found faster not that there are more resources to find.

Also check out this chart of declining oil production in LA.

Briefcase Gun

The Shipping News - Past & Present

The image above is a detail from a Globe & Mail ROB graphic, The Global Shipping News. Three years ago this blog has an entry on Windjammer and East Indiaman Shipping Lanes. The link was from a economic history blog. That map was created by going through ship logs to find relative positions of a couple hundred ships from the 17th to 19th centuries. There is a new crowd source project, Old Weather, out there to look in the same logs, types of logs, to gets weather readings that can be graphed in time and space. This project is also looking at a different collection of ships than the Windjammer one. Old Weather is getting people to transcribe logs from Royal Navy ships from the late 19th and early 20th century. The other project had looked at English, French and Dutch in both commercial and government hands.

Corrupt Atlantic City Cop: Boardwalk Empire

Doesn't wearing a Sam Browne make the sheriff in Boardwalk Empire look like a certain corporal.

The Last Classic Mafia Widow Tells What

While watching Boardwalk Empire S01E03 I was alerted to the existence of Al Capone wife, Mae Capone, an Irish lass, she lived to 1986, Al Capone's widow was around in the '80s.

No TV specials ever.

Meditation On Coolness

There is seems be some sort power that allows cool people to imbue things with cool. Things become cool because the Cool Ones do it, own it, wear it, smoke it. But this is not permanent condition. Uncool people can also destroy cool. It is how things fall out of fashion. The uncool get a hold of it, the it, whatever it that cool did, owned, wore, smoked. At that point it, the it, is uncool. The cool have moved on or the embrace of the cool it by the uncool has transformed it into kitsch. People can not become cool by imitating the cool. Maybe advertising should remember that.

Here is TV Tropes examination of cool.

New Sears Campaign Makes Zombies Boring

Zombies and zombiism is normally such a fun and twisted corner of pop culture. They're kinda of cool. Sure, usually, well usually if the stars align. The above is taken from Sears.com, which in the run up to Halloween is targeting the zombie demographic.

Galaxy Zoo

Galaxy Zoo is crowd sourced project to classify galaxies. In the talk given by Chris Lintott, one the Galaxy Zookeepers explains the image above, watch on Big Ideas, listen on Big Ideas, explains the need for us to help astronomers. The problem is that our technology allows us to many, many, many more galaxy than in the past when galaxy photos could be published, on in thin books,

Zombie Stickers for Halloween

Here are these cool stickers.from the website for a new zombie novel, Rise Again. Here is the full sized PDF for the above. Be the first zombie on the block.

It is interesting how zombism has grown so much in popularity over the past decades.

It's Hard To Be Irish

As far as I'm concerned they can take St Patrick's day and sell it for scrap.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Dad says because you hate being Irish

Elias "Eli" Thompson

I love being Irish. What I hate is the yearly display of crying, arguing and public drunkenness that goes with it.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Centuries of loss. We're a sorrowful people.

Elias "Eli" Thompson

Maybe it will snow.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Boardwalk Empire S01e05

Optimism

That is a problem for future Homer. Man I don't envy that guy.

Homer Simpson, Simpson S22E03

Initation to CSI

I think every new hire should experience an autopsy their first night.

Jim Brass CSI S01E01

Nuit Blanche 2010

The Balloon Art of Menace


The Street Level, (truck sized) Light-Brite


The Hanging Suit (body?) in in Gym with the video screens of Chandeliers


The Shadow Box of Parkdale



The Giant Metal Pine Cone


The Burning Giant Metal Pine Cone


The Swinging Fender (Audience Participation encouraged)

Philosophers

He thought. Fucking Aristotle.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson
dealing with dumb underlings,
Boardwalk Empire S01e03

What's "motherfucker mean?

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

I suppose its a schwarzer word.

Chauffeur

Boardwalk Empire S01e03