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7/5/09 09:29 pm
Remember my experiment to see how long a pre-Slimed bike inner tube will last commuting through the broken glass of Bellevue? The answer seems to be five and a half months, which makes them easily worth the money; they're twice the price, but before the Slimed tube I had a string of monthly failures, which is what drove me to try this. The tube I had on hand for a replacement has no Slime in it, so I'll have another control.
On a related note, Dr. Bronner's soap - you know, the brand with all that nutty text on the label - doesn't seem very concentrated, but it's done a bang up job of getting a lot the black blood of a bicycle off my hands.
By request of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tolkiencub, ( my favorite baked good and I at Club V )
Took my boy to the Museum of Flight. Score one for the nun for making education palatable! Most surprising exhibit: the V1 buzz bomb, built with slave labor. I got to explain that to my little Jewish boy, who, coincidentally, is reading Maus these days.
Current Music: Daft Punk, the Homework LP
7/6/09 12:00 am
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=forensic-tools-battle-ivory-poachers In 1983 while exploring a small forest called Malundwe on the edge of the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, one of us (Wasser) came across two elephant skulls lying side by side. One, from a female, was big, and the other was small--it had molars just a quarter the size of the female’s and they had not yet been used enough to show any signs of wear. The poachers had first shot the young elephant, a ranger explained, so that they could draw its grieving mother close enough to kill her for her enormous tusks. This exploitation of familial ties in the sophisticated social system of elephants has been repeated thousands of times in Africa. The Selous Game Reserve is the largest protected area in Africa but was nonetheless among the most heavily poached during the well-publicized slaughters that occurred between 1979 and 1989. At least 700,000 elephants were killed during this period--70,000 in the Selous alone. Then, in 1989, Tanzania’s new director of wildlife launched a major antipoaching initiative called Operation Uhai. The combined effort of wildlife rangers, police officers and the military rapidly brought an end to most poaching in the country. [More]
7/5/09 08:35 pm
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sun-amp-bug-lotion-one-simple-solution/  Why should you cover yourself in sunscreen then bug spray when one cream could do it all? Why buy expensive products when it's so easy, fun and cheap to make your own?
This recipe makes a lotion which feels light, spreads easily and is not greasy at all. The smell is actually pleasant, and it works...
By: belsey
7/5/09 08:30 pm
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheThrillingWonderStory/~3/qRyNbDsV_aU/flags-of-forgotten-countries.html  "QUANTUM SHOT" #576
Link - article by Simon Rose
Don't just wave a black flag... consider your options
"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum"
-- Arthur C. Clarke
In recent years, we have seen a number of countries disappear, along with their flags. The Soviet Union came to an end, to be replaced by a multitude of new or revived republics, all with their own flags. Czechoslovakia split into its two component parts, while Yugoslavia splintered, as the individual nationalities all asserted their independence. All this happened very recently, but many states have vanished from the map before over the centuries. Here’s a look at some flags of those long gone - and in many cases forgotten - kingdoms and countries.
"Avenue of Flags" - 1933 Chicago World's Fair, images via 1, 2, 3
The Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 962 to 1806, was famously said by Voltaire to be neither holy, Roman nor an empire. It was an attempt to revive the Western Roman Empire, which had collapsed during the 5th and 6th centuries and replaced with by independent Germanic kingdoms. At its peak in the 12th century, the Holy Roman Empire comprised most of the territory of modern-day Germany, Austria, Switzerland, eastern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, western Poland, the Czech Republic and Italy. By the end of the medieval period, the emperor was mostly just a figurehead, with real power based at the local level, with all the emperor’s vassals being virtually independent. This flag was used from 1400 until the empire’s dissolution during the Napoleonic wars in 1806 -
In 1473, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was one of the wealthiest and most powerful nobles in Europe, rivaling many royal families. His territory stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea, incorporating large parts of eastern France, Belgium and the Netherlands. He had ambitions to transform his lands into a real kingdom, but his plans to become a monarch ended with his death in battle in 1477, so this flag of the duchy also represents a country that might have been -
A state that lasted for over a millennium was the Most Serene Republic of Venice, one of the superpowers of its time. The republic existed from the late seventh century until 1797, when Napoleon conquered the city.
The Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the medieval period, although over the centuries, it gradually became primarily Greek. The capital was Constantinople, now known as Istanbul. For a thousand years, the Empire was a powerful force, despite military setbacks and territorial losses, but entered into a lengthy decline after the twelfth century, culminating in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.The imperial flag featured a double-headed eagle to symbolize the empire’s interests in both Europe and Asia.
Refugees from Constantinople in 1453 helped fuel the Renaissance in Italy, but Byzantine churchmen and nobles also ended up in Moscow, which shared the Orthodox faith of the now defunct empire. Around the same time, the rulers of Russia adopted the title Czar, meaning Caesar or Emperor, and Moscow began to be referred to as ‘the Third Rome’, after Constantinople was the second. The Russian Czars thus saw themselves as the successors to the Byzantine Empire and so adopted the double-headed eagle, using this on their flags until the revolution in 1917:
Imperial Russia wasn’t the only major casualty of the First World War. The Habsburg family was one of the most prominent dynasties in Europe from the fifteenth century onward. Their empire covered almost 250,00 square miles of central Europe, including what are now Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, parts of Poland, Romania, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro. With a population of around fifty million, the multi national Austrian Empire was one of the great powers of Europe. However, military reverses in the mid-nineteenth century led to a loss of territory and influence in Italy and Germany, and the Habsburgs were forced to come to a new arrangement with the Hungarian half of their empire in 1867. Henceforth the country was known as Austria-Hungary, until its collapse in 1918 -
The kingdom of Prussia was also a great power in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, playing a major role in the war against Napoleon. Prussia was located mainly in the northern portion of Germany, although it also held territory elsewhere, such as in the Rhineland. The eagle was used as the symbol of the country -
In 1870, Germany was unified under Prussian leadership and the German empire was born. This was the Emperor’s standard from 1871 until the end of the empire at the close of the First World War in 1918 -
(image credit: Martin Grieve)
Napoleon’s flags and coat of arms were seen flying all over Europe in the early years of the nineteenth century -
Napoleon III, ruler of France from 1852 to 1870, clearly used his uncle’s previous flags as an inspiration for those of his own empire -
Although the first Napoleon transformed the map of Italy, for much of the first part of the nineteenth century, Italy was often said to be just a geographic expression and there was no united Italian nation. The peninsular contained a collection of small states and duchies, the largest of which was the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies:
The kingdom comprised the southern part of Italy and the island of Sicily, with its capital in Naples. In 1861, it became part of the United Kingdom of Italy, whose royal flag is shown here -
Yugoslavia disappeared, along with its flag, in recent memory. And yet between the two world wars, Yugoslavia was a monarchy with, you guessed it, a two headed eagle on the flag:
Spain is one of the countries in Europe to still have a monarchy, but from 1931 until 1939 the country was a republic and displayed this flag to symbolize its new direction:
Unfortunately for the republicans, the new direction was short lived and after the Spanish Civil War, this flag was illegal during the Franco Era. Possession could lead to execution or at best an extended prison sentence. After the civil war and until shortly after Franco’s death in 1975, this was the flag of Spain -
Outside of Europe, the Mexican flag has undergone a lot of changes since the early nineteenth century, but this one depicts one of the short lived emblems of the Mexican state, the second Mexican empire, which ran from 1864 to 1867. When President Juarez suspended payments of interest to foreign countries, Spain, France and Britain, Mexico’s main creditors, united by sending a fleet to Mexico to force the government to pay its debts. Britain and Spain soon withdrew, but France, ruled by Napoleon III, remained with a large army and proceeded to conquer the country. With the US still engaged in the Civil War and unable to intervene, Napoleon III helped establish Maximilian of the house of Habsburg, brother of the Austrian Emperor, on the throne of Mexico. The empire faced civil war right from the start and in 1867 Emperor Maximilian was executed by firing squad by the victorious rebels:
Mexico wasn’t the only monarchy in the Americas. The Empire of Brazil, under the rule of Emperors Pedro I and Pedro II, existed from 1822 until 1889. After the occupation of Portugal by Napoleon, the royal family fled to exile in Brazil, their most important colony. After the fall of Napoleon, Brazil became independent of Portugal, but kept a member of the royal family as the head of state -
Also in South America, when the area threw off Spanish rule in the early nineteenth century, one of the early republics was Gran Colombia, which included much of northern South America and a small portion of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. It later split up into the countries we know today as Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela -
In Asia, the Qing Dynasty ruled China, Manchuria, Tibet, Taiwan and Mongolia from 1644 to 1912. This flag dates from the period from 1890 to the establishment of the republic in 1912 -
Iran, of course, was also once a monarchy, which flew this flag until the late seventies -
In Africa, Ethiopia is the oldest independent country and also has one of the longest recorded histories in the world, including a long list of monarchs. Here we see the Imperial flag of Haile Selassie, the country’s last emperor -
And finally, also in Africa, a country often in the news today is Zimbabwe. However, after declaring independence from Britain under Ian Smith in 1965 until 1980, the country was known as Rhodesia, which had this flag at that time -
So there you are, flags of forgotten countries. Hopefully for some of you, these images may have helped jog your memory.
BONUS:
Speaking about cool flags... Turns out that Greater Tokyo Area, Japan, has a flag for every city and ward inside of it - and they are quite unique and stylish:
(images via 1, 2)
Simon Rose is the author of science fiction and fantasy novels for children, including The Alchemist's Portrait, The Sorcerer's Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic's Tomb and The Doomsday Mask.
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7/5/09 10:44 pm
I was pleased to see this article about another facet of the job Michelle Obama is creating for herself.
Social Justice and the First Lady
With Congress on recess and many of the city's swells attending the Aspen Ideas Festival, it's a good time to check in on the Washington that is mostly invisible to the lawmakers, lobbyists and assorted elites that define the nation's capital. It's the Washington that Michelle Obama is determined to make part of her White House neighborhood. Her husband has declined to put a "Taxation Without Representation" license plate on the presidential limousine, but Michelle has become DC's Florence Nightingale, reaching out to the city's poor and neglected in a way few previous First Lady have done.
7/5/09 08:25 pm
Okay, I'm feeling less sad about missing the Diablo Dam tour now. It turns out the dam tour doesn't actually, like VISIT THE DAM. You cruise around the lake, they tell you about the history, and you can stand on the top of the dam briefly. The powerhouse and the awesome incline railway are now forbidden to the public for "security reasons." Augh, what kind of a frickin' dam tour doesn't show you the powerhouse? That's the whole POINT of going to a dam! And like, what terrorist will have their plans spoiled by not going on a powerhouse tour? They still know where the dam is. Hint: ON THE LARGE BODY OF WATER, NEAR THE SIGNS SAYING "DAM." ♪ Roll on to an undisclosed location, Columbia, roll on... ♫
I did the old Diablo dam tour when I was little. The incline railway was the coolest thing ever, and I remember being totally amazed by the giant turbines. The only thing the current tour has in common with the old one is the chicken + jello dinner afterwards.
I wonder how much of the grand coulee tour is restricted now too? I could see that you had to leave all your backpacks etc. behind, which wasn't true when I went 20 years ago. Which isn't that bothersome, but seems symptomatic of the same impractical paranoia that's led to the ridiculous security theatre in airports these days. I sort of wonder if the broken elevator to the powerhouse is real or not. They don't have an estimate for when, if ever, it'll be repaired. You can go on a walking tour of the outside of the dam and that's it.
I am in retrospect even happier we went on the Bonneville tour, where the tour guide ushered us in to the powerhouse and cheerfully encouraged us to take pictures. He just seemed excited that people wanted to know about hydro power.
7/5/09 08:08 pm
http://www.instructables.com/id/Lime-Jello-Yeast-and-Carbon-Paper-Fuel-Cell/  Can Jello Brand Instant Gelatin replace coal fired power plants? Probably not but it can be used to build a demonstration microbial fuel cell from common materials. This is a fun classroom or rainy day project, tie multiple cells together and use the power to light an LED. You'll probably need a jou...
By: egbertfitzwilly
7/5/09 08:16 pm
My weekend contained all of the following awesome words except for one. Can you guess which one it is?
muppet salmon tomato carrot boat zoo feather weasel pipe clockwork coppa penguin crow balloon puppet batman banjolele rhinoceros turtle towel christmas zebra hat sunscreen bulb sowbug spider basil zucchini broccoli animal badger cannon.
ETA: Bonus help! If someone guesses wrong I'll cross it out.
7/5/09 08:00 pm
We were goat-herders, and baby-turkey-herders for the holiday weekend.
gows has amassed herself quite a farm up in Steamboat Springs. She convinced us that we needed some sort of artist's retreat. I think she really needed someone to help her build a fence, make dinner, guard turkeys, and chase goats; but in an artistic way. No matter, we had a fantastic time. And yeah, there's pictures of baby animals soon.
7/5/09 08:59 pm
I did a "wordle" of the liner notes I wrote for my EP Seven Virtues, which I released on Jamendo back in
January. This image says a lot about me, I think--click to enlarge:
7/6/09 02:18 am
Goldusk has released at least three fry. Weirdly, they are just like baby black mollies - not remotely like the parents.
News from another aquarium, my big clownloach has apparently started sleeping on its back! I was so startled the first time I saw it in that position that I tapped the tank. The clown got up and came forward -and all the nervous types nearly jumped out of the water, so the next time I saw sleeping beauty and wanted to check that he was all right I put in a pinch of food and the belly-up clown joined the feeding frenzy.
This happened three or four times before I realised - I now have a large clownloach who plays dead for a pinch of flakefood...
7/5/09 09:36 pm
Only a few days until Readercon!
Poll #1425552 Readercon 20 attendance
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All Will I see you at Readercon?
7/5/09 05:09 pm
Devil's advocacy aside, if you want to get a sense of where I'm coming from re: delayed gratification and narrative ambiguity, watch the original Solaris.
I need foreign film reccs of my own, too, preferably classic ones as I have no culture. :) I've seen a few titles by Bergman, Antonioni and Fellini and liked them all... only Cocteau didn't grab me, but I'm basically up for anything.
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