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Category Archives: Strange stuff
Desert warfare training in live ghost towns, seen from the sky
I’ve been fascinated for years by what comes and goes at the Fort Irwin National Training Center— —in the Mojave Desert, amidst the dark and colorful Calico Mountains of California, situated in the forbidding nowhere that stretches between Barstow and … Continue reading
Posted in Aviation, Geography, Geology, history, Military, Science, Strange stuff, Travel, war
4 Comments
BYSMD
Once, in the early ’80s, on a trip from Durham to some beach in North Carolina, we stopped to use the toilets at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. In the stall where I sat was a long conversation, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Family, Friends, Fun, Geography, North Carolina, Personal, Places, Strange stuff, Travel
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Oil and Water on California’s South Coast
Oil in the water is one of the strange graces of life on Califonia’s South Coast. What we see here is a long slick of oil in the Pacific, drifting across Platform Holly, which taps into the Elwood Oil Field, … Continue reading
Posted in Aviation, education, Geography, Geology, Health, history, Personal, Photography, Strange stuff, Technology, UCSB
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A tale of two stars
(This post is reblogged from this one, posted on June 11, 2001.) The best live performance I’ve ever attended was John Lee Hooker playing St. Joseph’s AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church in Durham, North Carolina. It was around the turn of the … Continue reading
Posted in history, Obituary, Strange stuff
Tagged blues, Caddy, Healer, John Lee Hooker, Keith Richards, Story
3 Comments
What’s up with @TMobile in North Carolina?
Check this out: I took that screen shot at the excellent Oakleaf restaurant in Pittsboro, NC a few days ago. Note the zero bars (or dots) of telephone service, and the very respectable (tested!) data service. To confirm what the … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Family, Gear, infrastructure, Internet, North Carolina, Places, Strange stuff, Technology, VRM
Tagged Mobile phone
9 Comments
The untold pirate radio story in New York
[Update, 4 June 2016—I’m attempting to listen right now to WFAN/101.9 and it’s obliterated by signals flanking it on 101.7 and 102.1. Maybe my tweet about it here will finally get some journalists interested in the topic.] The radio dial … Continue reading
Posted in Broadcasting, Business, Culture, Geography, Journalism, Law, radio, Strange stuff, Technology
13 Comments
Listening to Serial? Remember the Edgar Smith case.
I’m now four episodes into Serial, the hugely popular reality podcast from WBEZ and This American Life. In it reporter Sarah Koenig episodically tugs together many loose ends around the murder of Hae Min Lee, a Baltimore teenager, in 1999. … Continue reading
Posted in Broadcasting, Journalism, News, Past, Personal, Strange stuff
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Every thing has a face, and vice versa
That line came to me a few minutes ago, as I looked and read through the latest photographic blog posts by Stephen Lewis in his blog, Bubkes). This one… … titled Farmyard, Grandmother, Chicken, and Ovid in Exile, is accompanied by richly … Continue reading
Posted in Awesome, Blogging, Blogroll, Friends, Geology, infrastructure, Internet, Life, Obituary, Photography, Places, Strange stuff
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Rediscovering Junkie John, Tim Dawe and Penrod after 40 years
I used to have an open reel tape of song I recorded off some New York FM station in 1970 or so. It’s long lost now. I didn’t know the artist or the title. It was was half talked, half … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture, music, Strange stuff
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Digging Hart Island, New York’s Million-Corpse Potter’s Field
A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization. — Samuel Johnson Visitors to New York’s Orchard Beach (at the top of the photo above) probably don’t know that the low wooded island offshore will, at the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Geography, history, infrastructure, Life, Links, Outline, Photography, Places, problems, Research, Strange stuff
2 Comments