tingilinde

when its really raining -- beyond cats and dogs...

frogs, female trolls, and shoemaker's apprentices

curious idioms from around the world..

translation fun

My guess is you'll probably want to read the piece on Language Log...

the ΦBK secret handshake

they had one ..  

filed under useless notes...

 

 

a path not taken

monowheels

lots of examples here

stylish welsh women's hats

I came across a photo of some Welsh woman having tea that dates to 1910.  The hats are odd enough that I asked a fashion savvy friend (Jheri) for information.  She found a museum link  and added that a shorter more conical variation is still worn to celebrate St David's Day on March 1^st.

Jheri is a big fan of hats in general and notes they are making a comeback among 20 somethings - although hats like this are probably a bit of a stretch.  On the other hand, if they were used as a space to carry a lightweight deployable umbrella or perhaps if they were covered by solar cells for charging electronic kit... :-)  Or perhaps just very odd fashion.

 

dalek 0.1?

According to the wiki piece :

A large wheeled Assyrian battering ram with an observation turret attacks the collapsing walls of a besieged city, while archers on both sides exchange fire. From the North-West Palace at Nimrud, about 865-860 BC; now in the British Museum.

(hat tip to Kyle)

a culinary notebook from paris in 1871

Finding calories - an expanded selection of meals in Paris during the Franco-Prussian war

 

 

 

planning that roadtrip

Roadtrippers is a tool for finding unusual waypoints on tha strange roadtrip you've been thinking about.

lots of potential

 

design? and the history of technology

There are times when the mind wobbles.  

The Kuba Komet from a site with a lot of informaiton on early television.  Some of the mechanical designs from the 1920s are - well - interesting.  Some work at Bell Labs.

(hat tip to Tim for pointing out the site .. it is possible to spend too much time poking around)

 

famous biker

from the wikipedia...

“Roland “Rollie” Free (1900–1984) was a motorcycle racer best known for breaking the American motorcycle land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The picture of Free, prone and wearing a bathing suit, has been described as the most famous picture in motorcycling”