The Bartonsville Covered Bridge was a wooden covered bridge in the village of Bartonsville, Vermont. It was built in 1870 by Sanford Granger. The bridge was a lattice truss style with a 151 foot span across the Williams River.
Irene Post-Mortem
The talk this morning seems to be, "Well, it wasn't as bad as predicted for NYC and other areas. So did local officials over react?" Facepalm. First of all, the North Carolina coast saw some heavy damage, and so did Vermont. So if NYC and other areas in between managed to go relatively unscathed, then it was only a matter … Read More
Irene Update
The latest NOAA discussion notes that Hurricane Irene has weakened slightly, which is (quite obviously) good news. However, the important word is "slightly". For the next 12-24 hours, it probably won't change much in strength (either way) which means it will still have maximum winds as high as 105 mph. Nothing to sneeze at. By comparison, the Great New England … Read More
Current Projections Put Irene On A Direct Path to NYC
Direct hit on Sunday, it looks like. It will have weakened some, but sustained winds of 50 mph and more are certainly possible, with gusts as high as 100 mph. Don't expect any flights to/from NYC that day. Then there's the storm search which could bring waters right into the heart of Manhatten. Just saying.
How Animals Reacted To The Earthquake
An interesting press release from the Smithsonian National Zoo on how animals reacted (and foretold) the earthquake. The winning earthquake predictor appears to be the red ruffed lemurs. Great Apes The earthquake hit the Great Ape House and Think Tank Exhibit during afternoon feeding time. About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the apes, including Kyle (an … Read More
The Right’s Frenzy About Obama And The Earthquake
Steve Benen is right. Can this be any sillier? So, there was an earthquake. The president was made aware of it. There was no serious damage, no casualties, nothing for emergency response teams to do, and nothing for Obama to do. He was kept apprised and went about his afternoon. I don't know why this is supposed to be interesting. … Read More
Earthquake? (Why, Yes)
Up on the 16th floor. I was bouncing a little. UPDATE: They're evacuating buildings in D.C. Facebook is going nuts. The map below shows self-reports of who felt it and where: 5.9 is the official number. It was a shallow quake, which is why it was felt up and now the Eastern seaboard. UPDATE: Jeez, my mother in New … Read More
RIP, Jerry Leiber
He only wrote the music for "Stand By Me," "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Young Blood," "On Broadway," "Yakety-Yak", "Spanish Harlem" and one of my faves: "Stuck In the Middle With You". I would consider it my life's achievement if I wrote only one of those.
North Carolina To Possibly Consider Making Bigotry The Law This Week
North Carolina lawmakers might consider a state constitutional amendment that would ban all “recognition of same-sex marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships and other public and private arrangements for same-sex couples” as early as Thursday, when legislators consider several unrelated measures: Their session rules allow them to consider only those and certain other topics, but, on Tuesday, Rep. Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) filed … Read More
Yes, I Know Amy Winehouse Was In My Dead Pool
From my post dated December 9, 2010: There IS an actual "Dead Pool" game though. What you do is pick ten famous people to die in 2011. If they die, then you take 100 minus their age when they died. So if someone 75 years old dies, you get 25 points. Someone 98 years old dies? Oh! That's a two … Read More
Brains Are Officially Fried
The Associated Press is simply embarrassing here. And if you doubt this article actually exists, here's the link.
Rare Footage Of Oslo Explosion Aftermath
This was taken just seconds after the bomb went off: Also…. a before-and-after:
Verizon 4G Is Here
Greensboro, NC — Verizon Wireless turned on their 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network Thursday in the Triad. The change will impact several areas in North Carolina and more than 100 cities across the nation. Verizon said the services are up to 10 times faster than their current 3G network. The service is only available for 4G capable phones, which currently include … Read More
Heat Dome
Some 141 million Americans over nearly 1 million square miles were under a heat alert on Wednesday, the result of a heat "dome" that's only slowly moving away from the central U.S. — and into the East Coast. Lovely.