RIP, Ronnie James Dio (0)
5/18/10 •
Rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio.
I first heard you with Rainbow on a late-night radio program in the 1970s. Being a guitar geek, I was of course thrilled by Ritchie Blackmore’s playing. But the majesty and … beauty for lack a better word … has haunted and enchanted me in the 30-somthing years since. You [...]
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This Blog has changed (0)
4/30/10 •
Blogger’s discontinuation of FTP support — and its incomprehensible instructions on how to migrate a blog to its new system, have forced me to switch Notes from the Abyss to a more easily managed WordPress platform. The migration was slow and cumbersome, but I have finished the process.
The original Blogger version of Notes from [...]
Censorship by Amazon.com (3)
4/12/09 •
Amazon recently instituted a policy to remove sales rankings from titles it considers “adult.” It seems, however, that these “adult” titles primarily address GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered) issues.
Amazon’s policy was revealed by Mark Probst on his blog, http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html.
The problem is not so much the removal of sales rank statistics from book pages, [...]
Review: Letters to a Young Journalist (0)
3/17/09 •
Samuel G. Freedman
Letters to a Young Journalist
New York: Basic Books, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-465-02455-1. 183+viii pp. $22.95 (US)
Toward the end of Letters to a Young Journalist, Samuel G. Freedman discusses a dark time in the spring of 1997 when his hopes for literary success based on the book The Inheritance –- one of two runners-up to the [...]
Review: Battle for the Southern Frontier (0)
3/08/09 •
Mike Bunn and Clay Williams
Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812
Charleston, S.C.: History Press, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59629-371-7. 192 pp. $22.95 (US)
If you are looking for a comprehensive narrative history of the Creek War and the War of 1812 in the southern states and territories of the United States, look elsewhere.
But [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Three: The Dive (0)
1/26/08 •
HIGHLAND SPRINGS, Virginia (Friday, January 25, 2008) – I was nervous when I woke up Sunday morning in my room at Ascension Auxiliary Air Field. This was going to be my big day. The dive gear I had lugged with me 10,000 miles from Richmond eastward to London; northward from London to Thurso, Scotland; [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Two: Green Mountain (0)
1/20/08 •
MECHANICSVILLE, Virginia (Saturday, July 7, 2007) – Afterward leaving Jacqui Ellick and her Green sea turtle nesting project, I returned to the the American air field to shower, prepare lunch for the day (peanut butter and jelly), and head into the field with Steve Stephenson and Tom Smith.
The three of us first headed into Georgetown. [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Two: The Beach (0)
1/20/08 •
MECHANICSVILLE, Virginia (Sunday, June 24, 2007) – I met Jacqui Ellick and a couple of helpers on Long Beach early Saturday morning.
Jacqui is a long-time resident of Ascension, the publisher of the local newspaper, The Islander, and a volunteer with the Ascension Conservation Centre. Besides leading turtle tours, she has been conducting her own research [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day One (0)
6/22/07 •
GEORGETOWN, Ascension Island (March 12, 2007) – The flight crossed Spain – I took some photographs – and apparently flew around Africa rather than crossing over it. For those who stayed awake on the flight, the flight offered a series of movies and television shows, as well as a number of listening options. They also [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Berwick-Upon-Tweed to RAF Brize Norton (2)
6/03/07 •
SHEFFIELD, England (Thursday, March 8, 2007) – Today began well. I had a good, though somewhat interrupted sleep. Before breakfast, I walked to the train station and learned southbound trans were operating as scheduled. I returned to the bed & breakfast for an excellent meal (egg sunny side up, English-style bacon, sausage, toast, and grapefruit.
I [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Strike! (Thurso to Berwick-Upon-Tweed) (0)
6/03/07 •
LEEDS, England (Thursday, March 8, 2007) – I woke up at 0445 hours to get ready for my departure from the Thurso rail station. A taxi (the same driver who took me to Scrabster; ₤3) took the to the station. I arrived there about 0625, about 30 minutes early. For awhile a diver of a [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Orkney (0)
6/03/07 •
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, England (Thursday, March 8, 2007) – I need not have worried about the previous night’s storm. When I woke Tuesday morning, the wind that howled outside (and sometimes through) my window was nowhere to be heard. The sun was bright, with scattered clouds.
This was looking good.
After breakfast I caught a taxi (₤4) to the [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Caithness (0)
3/13/07 •
FORSINARD, Scotland (Wednesday, March 7, 2007) – Monday, I took a Rapson’s bus over to Wick, on the northeastern coast of Scotland. I was not very interested in visiting Wick, but it was the jumping-off place to get to Noss Head, site of a working lighthouse as well as the Clan Sinclair Study Centre, and [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Edinburgh to Thurso (0)
3/13/07 •
STROMNESS, Scotland (Tuesday, March 6, 2007) – I haven’t had much time to write since my trip up to Thurso from Edinburgh on Sunday. I would have liked to write more on the train, but there were no power outlets. I had to stop after about little more than an hour. I have been running [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — London to Edinburgh (0)
3/13/07 •
BLAIR ATHOLL, Scotland (Sunday, March 4, 1007) – Yesterday (Saturday) I wrote off-and-on until we reached Newcastle, England. The train turned around, and I switched sides to have a seaside view as we continued north. The plugs on that side of the train weren’t working, so I had to stop writing when the battery got [...]
Ascension Island Expedition — Mechanicsville to London (3)
3/13/07 •
DARLINGTON, England (Saturday, March 3, 2007) – I’m finally settling down to the point where I can think about writing a bit. The time is now 2:12 p.m. GMT, and I am on a train that just pulled into the Darlington Station, about two-thirds of the way between London and Edinburgh, my destination for today.
Yesterday [...]
Weird, but true (another bear story) (0)
1/05/07 •
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — I made my first attempt at a master’s degree from 1983-1985 in the geography department at the University of Oklahoma. For all of my scientitic career, I have preferred field work. In keeping with my preferences, my thesis research was going to be a field project — a study of high-elevation forests [...]
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1/26/08 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Three: The Dive1/20/08 •
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Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Two: The Beach6/22/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day One6/03/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Berwick-Upon-Tweed to RAF Brize Norton
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3/17/09 •
Review: Letters to a Young Journalist
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Lindzen needs a reality check on climate change
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6/03/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Berwick-Upon-Tweed to RAF Brize Norton6/03/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Strike! (Thurso to Berwick-Upon-Tweed)3/13/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — London to Edinburgh3/13/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Mechanicsville to London
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1/26/08 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Three: The Dive1/20/08 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Two: Green Mountain1/20/08 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day Two: The Beach6/22/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Ascension Island, Day One6/03/07 •
Ascension Island Expedition — Berwick-Upon-Tweed to RAF Brize Norton
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1/03/07 •
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The story behind the image — Tramps5/15/06 •
Imminent eruption of Mount Merapi
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5/15/06 •
Imminent eruption of Mount Merapi
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1/05/07 •
Weird, but true (another bear story)
