Before I visited friends and family in the US last summer, I had read a lot about Wal-Mart and its business practices, which made me decide I never wanted to shop there. But when the toilet clogs at 11 pm, and you really have go (and it’s a no. 2), and your host has no […]
Surrounded by palm trees, dressed in light summer clothes, sporting dark sun glasses in the glaring and hot sunlight of Spain, we were totally enjoying the experience of being tourists. We didn’t know a word Spanish, hardly knew where in the city we were, simply looking for the next store with cheap leather goods and […]
As I passed by the Bryggen Museum on my to my hairdresser’s, I noticed the poster advertising an exhibit of Tutankhamun’s wardrobe. So I went in after I got my haircut. I quickly found out why photography was allowed: The garments were replicas, not the original articles, inspired by what had been found in King […]
George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That works for both individuals and nations. Another reason not to forget history, is so you don’t accidentally upset those who remember it, and who may even have lived it. Currently, the citizens of Bergen are arguing about whether or not […]
Tuva. What a pretty name for a so-called “extreme weather phenomenon” (Norway’s meteorologists have a list of nice Norse names to pick from when naming storms). “Extreme weather” can mean a storm bad enough to warn people and keep you from taking that boating trip, but no hurricane. Where I live, it’ll just be another […]
(This is the sort of activity that goes good with a cup of coffee.) It’s the annual Bloggie Awards. I’m not nominated. I happen to know a nominee and so, while voting for her, I have decided to vote in all the categories. I am now checking all the nominees in all the categories, making […]
On this planet we have deaf drummers and composers. Our planet may now be fostering blind astronomers. Via Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy Blog, I have learned of a woman who had a marvelous idea: Making astronomy books you can touch so the seeing impaired, too, can discover what’s up in the sky. Head over to […]
I claim that wars are no longer economically useful. It has been said numerous times that entering World War II was what brought the US out of its depression. Sending surplus workers overseas as soldiers coupled with an increase in the production of war materials (everything from uniforms to battle ships) made unemployment virtually disappear. […]
A Roll in the Universe 