The fastest way to get back to where you were after climbing a tall broadcast tower as in the previous post: Link: http://youtu.be/r3q3ZC5fcnY by … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Broadcast towers have lights on them so aircraft can see them at night, and from time to time the lamps in them burn out and need to be replaced, which means someone has to climb the tower. This isn’t the … Continue reading
For years astronomer Phil Plait has written a popular blog called “Bad Astronomy” (link). He started it to correct popular misconceptions and bogus rumors about astronomy and related branches of science, such as the mistaken notion that eggs are easier … Continue reading
Neither Gary nor Grady is a rare name, so it’s not at all surprising that I occasionally hear of another Gary Grady. Many years ago, for example, I got a telephone call from someone wanting me to help him get … Continue reading
I just re-read an article by T.R. Reid (link) that ran in The Washington Post back in 2009 August 23, but it’s worth a look, because we Americans still have many misconceptions about how health insurance and healthcare work in … Continue reading
It’s been horribly cold in the United States the past several days. Here in North Carolina temperatures overnight fell to about 10 Fahrenheit (-12 Celsius), which is quite cold enough for me if you were about to ask, though a … Continue reading
[Updated to correct some typographical errors and to add more information.] Major news today is that terrorist gunmen shot at least 12 people dead at the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly), which had come under … Continue reading
(Update: See also Steve Benen’s post on this subject (link) in which he points out that Senator McConnell spent most of last year claiming the economy was terrible.) New Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) — and thanks to all … Continue reading
I don’t recall where I first heard about this, but it’s now traditional in Japan to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at New Year. According to Mental Floss (link), the tradition dates back to World War I, and it’s become so … Continue reading
Many years ago I heard T.R. Reid, then Tokyo bureau chief for The Washington Post, recount on NPR’s Morning Edition that KFC had convinced Japan that the American thing to do on Christmas was to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken. This … Continue reading