siberian shaman

For many Tungusic tribes in Siberia, the reindeer is the symbol of all things holy, providing not only food but clothing and transportation.

Teddy Roosevelt, shot by Cherry Kearton

Englishman Cherry Kearton was one of the pioneers of nature photography and a great inspiration to David Attenborough. This is a fragment of a film he shot while accompanying ex President Roosevelt on an African trip.

bizarre books part 2

Tifinagh script

From Omniglot:

The Tifinagh alphabet is thought to have derived from the ancient Berber script. The name Tifinagh possibly means 'the Phoenician letters', or possibly from the phrase tifin negh, which means 'our invention'.

Since September 2003, the Tifinagh alphabet children in Moroccan primary schools have been taught to write Tamazight with the Tifinagh alphabet. It is also used by the Tuareg, particularly the women, for private notes, love letters and in decoration. For public purposes, the Arabic alphabet is normally used.

London 1903

1903 was the last year that London had no motorised buses. Here is a glimpse that makes you nostalgic for at least one kind of London traffic.

retro cereals

It shows my age that the only one of these I remember are C3PO's. This reminded me of the Wurster/Scharpling skit involving "Cereal Con", a convention dedicated to old cereal boxes. Seriously though, I miss C3PO's.

Joe's Town

taken on the drive in to Gori, Georgia

only in america

Happy birthday you big, bad, brawny sprawl of narrow minds, open hearts, endless highways, postcard perfect vistas, free refills and easy access to ice cubes, endless bargains, good water pressure, peerless television mania, wheatgrass enemas and vegan junk food shops, truck stop ice coffee energy drink bar pills, am radio preachers, fm radio fascist hate mongers blasting hollow platitudes over co-opted ac/dc riffs, amber waves of future budweiser six packs, exotic roadkill, black power, brown power, yellow peril, yellow power, white guilt, white pride, guns, grins, gelatinous superfood supplements, full contact sports, plasma screen catatonia, hope, fear, pancakes, bottle rockets, BRUUUUUUCEEEE!, flags, flags, flags....

Only in America could someone like Dora Hall have existed. She took the dictum "marry smart" damn seriously, and hitched herself to Leo Hulseman, who founded the Solo cup corporation. Don't know if you've noticed lately, but the Solo folks still have the market on wasteful plastic chalices cornered.
So Miss Dora fancied herself an entertainer and Hubby Solo saw fit to bankroll her singing career. She released numerous records throughout the sixties, seventies, and eighties, and most of them came free with packages of Solo cups. Not stopping there, Solo paid for several infamous tv specials hoped to launch her into a mainstream limelight. A few problems existed. She was already a grandmother by the time she began her career (born in 1900), and her singing ability was modest at best. Thank God she kept at it for our sakes though. Here's a clip from one of her ill fated tv specials. Watching this clip is like giving your frontal cortex a sponge bath of zanax and Doctor Bronner's peppermint soap. Enjoy at your own risk.