Belfast Bonfire Photos

Photographer John Duncan's photos of bonfire structures in Northern Ireland prior to July 12 celebrations (pre-ignition). Via Creative Review.

Los Angeles Earthquake Damage Report

BREAKING NEWS
As a result of the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that struck Los Angeles at 11:42AM today, a co-workers' Michael Vick dog chew toy fell over (see photo)

Remote Control Art

British artist Ian Cook paints with remote controlled cars. Via Gizmodo.

Smoking

Here's a great series of photos over at Square America of people smoking.

Transportation 1965

This 1965 Mono-Scoot is featured in "Driving Through Futures Past" - courtesy of Paleo-Future.

Running From Camera

This blog is one of my favorites. Haven't linked to it in a while.

Looks Like Earth

But it's not.

Cowboys. Death. Dignity.

Another good list over at McSweeney's.

Cows Fart

And polar ice caps melt. Argentinian researchers strap a bag to cows to collect and study the culprit gas.
It's only a matter of time before someone from MTV's Jackass gets in the bag.

Photos

Two boys photographed in 1949:


And what they looked like in the 60's:


Courtesy of Shorpy with links here and here.

Your Brain And Choice

I decided to write this post ten seconds before I thought about it. Brain delay explanation here at the WSJ.

Hawaiian Air

Photo courtesy of Plan 59.

London Abandoned Pools

Polar Inertia has a great series of photos taken at abandoned swimming pools in the London area. It's called Absence Of Water.

More Radiohead Via Weezer (And 200 Fans)

Yeah!

Iraq War Veterans Film

I was fortunate enough this week to attend a screening of the new documentary film ALL THE WAY HOME. Sponsored as a benefit for the National Veterans Foundation, the film is a poignant and poetic work about what returning war vets are going through.
Filmmaker Edward Nachtrieb avoids the typical images of wartime chaos - no smash cuts to exploding Humvees or frightened Iraqi families hovering in their homes during military searches. This isn't a war film. It's a post-war therapy session.

The film's inspiration is Montana fishing guide Mike Geary, who, with the help of volunteers, hosts trips down the Smith River for recovering wounded soldiers. It is in this pristine setting, away from their daily lives, that these vets can open up with each other about the challenge of their experiences and injuries. The contrast between the topic of discussion and the beautiful surroundings is striking in how effective the two work together in the film.

One of the schisms that occurs during wartime is the obvious lack of shared experience between soldiers and civilians. With all the talk and posturing stateside, regular citizens have no idea what soldiers have been through. Soldiers are keenly aware of this and are more comfortable opening up with each other. Unfortunately, non-soldiers, sensing the guardedness, are often reluctant to discuss these subjects with returning vets for fear of prying where they may not be welcome.

ALL THE WAY HOME throws a much needed rope across this chasm.
Strung together with a series of moving interviews, the film becomes a conversation many of us never get the chance to have - and a tool for these soldiers to help them heal. The work transcends filmmaking and serves effectively as a community service. Some soldiers in the film have used the film to approach the subject with members of their own families.

The film is not yet in distribution, but a screening for the U.S. Congress has been arranged for next week, and I'm sure these representatives will be quite moved by it.
Judging by the positive response at the film's premiere, one can only hope that the film will reach as many people as possible.
Information about ALL THE WAY HOME can be found at the film's official website here.

Best Of CraigsList

Here.

Travel Tip

Gringo beware.

George Carlin

I have often posted George Carlin jokes on this site as a pleasant distraction and stressed that he never lost his sense of humor while growing old. He aged ungracefully (much to our benefit), and he goes down as one of the greats in comedy.
One of his simple jokes to close:
"Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?"

Gas Crisis Simplified

Every night on the local news there's a meaningless "Pain At The Pump! story about what to do about high fuel prices - friendly tips kind of stuff. Like, shop around for a gas station that charges a few cents less per gallon. Or, roll up your windows to prevent less friendly aerodynamics. Or, your fuel gauge is sometimes inaccurate (I actually heard this on the news, but I can't figure out how that helps you save money on gas).
There's also a push to attend local attractions this summer, because, you know, the food at Claimjumper down the road is the same as the Claimjumper 200 miles away (True).

Of course none of these address the long term problem of rising fuel costs, and the price of gas will not come down. It will only go up.

The answer is simple: if you drive a car, drive one that gets really good gas mileage. It's a No Brainer.
The days of "11 City - 16 Highway" are OVER.
If you drive a Toyota Prius, gas will have to reach 7 bucks a gallon before you start to feel the sting a lot of people are feeling now.
And this whole idea of car as status symbol - Get Rid Of It!
Big Hot Car + Driver = No change in size of sex organs.
Just get to where you're going without hemorrhaging money.

Los Angeles Cars

Photographs of L.A. "Drives" by Andrew Bush.