I’m not sure that even Andy could drive that fast…

A Belgium motorist was left stunned after authorities sent him a speeding ticket for travelling in his Mini at three times the speed of sound.

Mraw!

The discovery of a cat buried with what could be its owner in a Neolithic grave on Cyprus suggests domestication of cats had begun 9,500 years ago.

A ride through the area surrounding Chernobyl

This sort of radiation level can not be found in Chernobyl now. In the first days after explosion, some places around the reactor were emitting 3,000-30,000 roentgens per hour. The firemen who were sent to put out the reactor fire were fried on the spot by gamma radiation. The remains of the reactor were entombed within an enormous steel and concrete sarcophagus, so it is now relatively safe to travel to the area – as long as we do not step off of the roadway……. and so long as action is taken in the very near future to rebuild the sarcophagus, which is crumbling away.
…
It shows various levels of radiation on asphalt – usually on the middle of road – because at edge of the road it is twice as high. If you step 1 meter off the road it is 4 or 5 times higher. Radiation sits on the soil, on the grass, in apples and mushrooms. It is not retained by asphalt, which makes rides through this area possible.

(via As I Please)

Today is the day to find strange and interesting stuff on the Internet.

Completely Random

Dr. Ruth was a sniper.

Julia Child worked for the OSS.

There Really Are No Snakes in Ireland

There are no snakes in Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand or many South Sea islands.

Crab Recipes from the Baltimore Sun

The Gentlemen’s C Presidency

When you go to a lot of trouble to gather those who are supposedly the best and the brightest, how do you accommodate those who are the richest and best-connected but not otherwise qualified?

In George W. Bush’s day, the accommodation was called the “Gentleman’s C.” Those who received it acquired the “gentleman” designation not by virtue of behavior but by birth, and the “C” on their transcripts should never be interpreted as “average” for it usually indicated frequent absences from class, papers from the frat file that had been used two or three times, and blue books that revealed a stunning lack of contact with the course material.

I have no idea as to the veracity of this, but the website where I found it is generally full of thoughtful and truthful posts.

Soprano Deborah Voigt was sacked after being told she was too large to wear her Royal Opera House stage costume

Soprano Deborah Voigt, 43, said she received many letters of support after her Royal Opera House dismissal, as she prepared for her Carnegie Hall recital debut and the release of her first solo album.

It’s hard to beleive that opera, of all things, would discriminate against someone who was heavy. I mean, when most people think of opera, they typically think of big women dressed in Wagnerian Ring Cycle garb.

Japanese actor a specialist in playing corpses

Fukumoto reckons he’s been killed more than 20,000 times — fans say it’s at least twice that — in thousands of TV appearances and nearly 100 movies over his 45-year career. But he can’t say for sure. Scripts often crammed in several killing scenes, which meant Fukumoto would die as one character and reappear later as another to get slain again.
…
In his 2001 autobiography, which has sold 80,000 copies, Fukumoto said he learned by studying stuntmen. But his hero was Charlie Chaplin, whose over-the-top antics were a useful model because Japanese death scenes are stylized, featuring actors who shudder violently and flop to the ground when killed.

Sicilian village spooked by seemingly spontaneous combustion

Spontaneous fires started in mid-January in the town of Canneto di Caronia, in about 20 houses. After a brief respite last month, the almost daily fires have flared up again — even though electricity to the village was cut off.

(via Neil Gaiman)

Vampires Everywhere!
From this article, it’s easy to see why movies and TV have changed a few things….

Theirs is not a Hollywood tale, and they laugh at Hollywood conventions: that vampires can be warded off by crosses or cloves of garlic, or that they can’t be seen in mirrors. Utter nonsense. Vampires were once Catholics, were they not? And if a vampire can be seen, the mirror can see him. And why would you wear garlic around your neck? Are you adding taste?
…
Ion Balasa, 64, explained that there are two ways to stop a vampire, but only one after he or she has risen to feed.

“Before the burial, you can insert a long sewing needle, just into the bellybutton,” he said. “That will stop them from becoming a vampire.”

But once they’ve become vampires, all that’s left is to dig them up, use a curved haying sickle to remove the heart, burn the heart to ashes on an iron plate, then have the ill relatives drink the ashes mixed with water.

Staking vamps through the heart and having them turn immediately to dust is certainly more dramatic.

And surprisingly less icky.
(via Language Log)

Congratulations to Lithuania!
Lithuania, and several other countires, joined NATO today. Huzzah!

Congratulations Senator Byrd!
Congratulations are also in order for Senator Robert Byrd who, if I heard correctly this morning, yesterday cast his 17,000 vote in the Senate, far surpassing Strom Thurmon’s record.

Although Senator Byrd is not the longest serving member of of Senate, he has by far cast more votes than anyone else.

In other words, he shows up and does the job we sent him to Washington to do.

In the Clash of Religion and History
There was a fascinating interview last night on Fresh Air, with John Dominic Crossan. He is a biblical scholar and discussed the history of crucifixion and the world during the life of Jesus. Absolutely fascinating.

Thanks Ben!
And thanks go out to my cousin Ben, who sent me an e-mail that had me repeatedly laughing out loud. One of his closing lines was this: “send cookies. if you do i will climb a mountain for you. or a rock face, please specify size.”

He’ll be remain in Kyrgyzstan until the end of this year, when his term with the Peace Corps ends. Not sure what he’ll do then, but I have tremendous respect for him, for leaving his family for over two years to go live among strangers. I couldn’t do it.

We came home last night to the following message on our answering machine:

“Hey, I got the wrong number, sorry, but what a great message!”

I had to listen to the message, because I had no idea what message I’d done. Oddly enough, I thought the message on the cell phone voice mail was more amusing, but as long as I’m making people happy…

Went to check my horoscope today, and read this:

Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
You might consider picking up some holy water and a few stout wooden stakes. They’ll come in handy soon, although I’m not sure how.

I laughed, and then read this to Gina, who sits right next to me.

Gina also laughed, and then asked, “Hey! What’s mine?”

Gemini (May 21 – June 20)

Your incisors will seem to be getting longer today, and you will find sunlight hurts your eyes. Probably just a cold, and nothing to worry about.

Oh. I see.

To celebrate/mourn the fact that Michael and I finally finished watching Deep Space Nine, here is a list of some of my favorite Garak quotes, starting with:

“I believe in coincidence. Coincidences happen every day. But I don’t trust coincidences.”

Friday is the last day to vote for the WV state quarter!

If we don’t do our civic duty to vote, we as a state may be stuck with the horrible “Appalachian Warmth” quarter.

Remember, this is for posterity, so be honest.

It was Tiddly POM! Thanks Epacris!

This was Piglet’s song

(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
Are growing.

The more it snows
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddly Pom)
How gold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
Are growing.

–A.A. Milne

I was thinking about fears, and how each person’s fears are unique—not necessarily the fear itself, but how they developed that fear, assuming they even know why.

I was thinking tonight of my quirk, my strange fear, when I started to think about the details of that fear, and whether others remember it the same way I do.
(more…)

And y’all said it was worthless information…

Here’s some Arcata Eye:

Saturday, January 3 1:48 a.m. No license plate or headlights. That’s kind of a dealbreaker when it comes to driving.

Monday, January 26 9:52 a.m. A woman hadn’t planted a gray, four-wheel-drive truck in her J Street flower garden, so it was rolled back into the street.

3:41 a.m. Construction sites fascinate teenagers.