I mentioned the Basel-Mulhouse International Airport as a "geographical oddity" but I think that a recent article in the NY Times online is more interesting and culturally significant. "Germans and Czechs and the Little Bridge That Binds" is about a bridge between towns seperated by nationailty and a river. Beyond that they seem to interact quite nicely.

"A few front-porch-size flags hang limply at each end, with placards that remind travelers to have the proper identification. There isn't a border guard in sight; the locals stopped carrying passports years ago."

The wedding dress [see previous entry] sold for only around 3 grand. This was after the "joke bids" were weeded out. Still enough for some beers and a ballgame [the seller's valuation of his ex-wife's dress].

On a sidenote: I got a scholarship! Hopefully April will start turning around. Please. Oh come on! Why do you have to be this way April? Really, just grow up.

Usually I try to avoid eBay but I can't resist.

"I gotta say it did make me feel very pretty. So if it can make me feel pretty, it can make you feel pretty, especially on the most important day of your life, right? Anyway, I was told to say it has a train and a veil and all kinds of shiny beady things. I think it's funny that one picture makes it look like the chest plate off an Imperial Storm Trooper. Did I mention that all I want is a ball game and beer?"

[the $15,000 used-wedding dress]

The dude who lived in the NYU Library for 8 months. His weblog.

I am a sucker for road maps.

Luckily I'm not alone. Here is a huge listing of "classic" American road maps. The pictures are amazing. Check out this spectacular route-map. Here is a sample cover that should arouse your interest.



Enjoy.

By the way did anybody notice

that we entered a nuclear winter this morning. I think it has something to do with the Chernobyl accident's anniversary. Did you buy the Chernobyl accident an anniversary gift? It was the big 1-8. To be fair, the Western anniversary of Chernobyl is today since it was now, eighteen years ago, that scandanavian nuclear scientists realized that radioactive materials had entered the atmosphere somewhere in the vicinity of current-day Ukraine. You really should get a card, or something. I hear they've been asking for a new scarcophagus? Don't you have one in your basement? Oh, I must be thinking of somebody else.

I am Pacman. I am an aggressive sort of personality, out to get what I can, when I can. I prefer to avoid confrontation, but sometimes when it's called for, I can be a powerful character. I tend to be afflicted with munchies constantly. What Video Game Character Are You?

I love putting pictures up here.

Thanks to Nichols for sending me the link to another internet ad featuring Hunter's mom. She must be through with the tower-ads now and focusing on a smaller format.



There are still a few kinks in the conversion. The archives don't work yet but I'm working on it. I also have some issues with the formatting of the BlogRoll on the left panel. I might come around to changing the formatting again, but we'll see.

In other news: Jon has followed suit and created a weblog in much the same fashion as this. I love his background. Go visit We smoke while we shoot the bird.

SHUFFLE! SHUFFLE! SHUFFLE! I agree. Please shuffle me.

NOTICE

Toponymy is now being served from my MSU online space. This allows me to put pictures on my blog inline.

Click here for the new Toponymy. Change your bookmarks.

Hemmingway want's to test my image upload ability:



Did I work?

YES! It worked! Hooray!

Now, for the event you've all been waiting for,

the amazing Gastropnir.

I've been impresed in recent weeks about the positive response to Toponymy by several of my peers. I will attempt to continue the tradition of courageous reporting in this update. Remember: the first rule of Toponymy is you do not talk about Toponymy. The second rule of Toponymy is you DO NOT TALK about Toponymy. [reverse psychology.]

Matthew Baldwin has a way with words. Read the transcript for Kerry.

My super-sensoral eyes didn't catch this. Luckily I can see the hyenas in Nigeria.

I don't know which cereal to eat.

[insert comment about how journalism school and clown college are interchangable] Then read this.

Street art that makes me laugh.

I love Harold Ramis. Here is an article about him that I haven't read. Please tell me if it's good. Please? Oh come on. You rotten ********er. WHY DON'T YOU EVER-

Finally, a cool concept I learned about in my UP 201 class, but not by name. Dr. Lim had us draw a map of the world with as many names of places [toponyms] as possible in ~10 minutes. The maps reveal something about how you view the world around you, where you place specific items, how you proportion and orient the map. It is called mappa mundi.

Basel-Mulhouse International Airport

is a "geographical oddity."

Some problems are best solved by beating the living hell out of the egress window. Others require a old-style rotary phone and a limited access highway. But a very select few, the cream of the crop so to speak, demand something much more.

21 grams is a good movie. See it.

Headline: development. An interesting article about the decaying nature of indoor malls. [An oldie but a goodie: deadmalls.com]

Interesting survey of flag design around the world. It's arbitrary and not always consistent but the comments underneath the bad flags are quite funny. [I learned about a month ago that the Mozambique flag has a machine gun on it so you don't have to remind me.]

[High bandwidth warning.] Seinfeld and Superman ads for American Express.

Interstates of the blood. A great illustration that I would love to see up close.

DaveGate, YawnGate, NippleClamp, Sleepy-Kiddy-Scandal. Call it whatever you want. [I don't vouch for the comments, I haven't read them.]