-
Recent Posts
- Gulshan 3: Weekend Escapes to Thailand
- Another Year, Another Itdyadi
- Our Truly Amazing TV Debut: Behind the Scenes
- Holi in Bangladesh Part 2: the Ruined Roll
- Holi in Bangladesh
- Hashing Out Old Dhaka
- The Blog is Back: First Impressions of Dhaka, Bangladesh
- A Few Words About My Father
- The Sky is NOT Always Blue in California
- “Artisans” documentary series – final (?) episode
Category Archives: Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
The Mars Reality Show Has Begun!
If you haven’t heard about the private-sector “Mars One” project to colonize Mars, you should check it out – I posted about it back in April. The project envisions being largely financed by the proceeds of a reality show … Continue reading
Southern SuburbIndia: Kolams and Cows
Every morning, all across southern India, millions of women wake up at sunrise to draw what’s known as a “kolam” at the entrance to their home. Kolams are geometric designs hand “drawn” by sprinkling rice flour (or in some cases … Continue reading
Boys Beware: Views on Homosexuality in 1961
For a change from the standard fare offered on YouTube, it’s fun to stop by occasionally at the Prelinger Archives, a diverse collection of thousands of preserved films from the ages, all available for download in the public domain. In … Continue reading
Posted in Historical films
Tagged Boys Aware, Boys Beware, discrimination, gays, Girls Beware, historical, homosexuality, military, Prelinger Archive, Sid Davis
Leave a comment
Silly AFN Commercials
If you’ve had the pleasure of watching the Armed Forces Network which is produced for U.S. military and many other categories of government employees serving overseas, you’ll remember those irritating commercials. After you’ve been without AFN for awhile, according to … Continue reading
Posted in AFN Commercials
Tagged AFN, commercials, exercise, fitness, organized, sherlock holmes
Leave a comment
Photos from the Oregon Country Fair
Since 1969, the Oregon Country Fair has been a gathering of the wacky, existing as a three-day fair in Veneta (near Eugene) with a counterculture theme that attracts as many as 45,000 visitors. This year, those visitors included us. We … Continue reading
Posted in Other Places, Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged "Oregon Country Fair", Country, Fair, Oregon, Veneta
Leave a comment
Final Stop in the Great Western States Odyssey: Crater Lake
In our continuing Western States Odyssey in a rented 31-foot RV, our final stop was a return to the place we had originally intended to be our first stop: Crater Lake. Unfortunately, we had gotten a late start and ultimately … Continue reading
Cliff Diving into the Truckee River
They say few things are as American as baseball, apple pie….and add to that “jumping into the old water hole.” As we headed west from Reno/Sparks, Nevada, the temperature climbed steadily toward the maximum it would reach that July afternoon … Continue reading
Reno and Squid Hats
…so the (teen) kids didn’t want to see the inside of a casino when we stayed overnight in Reno. Apparently gambling has gotten a bad rap in our family, which is not a bad thing as far as I’m concerned. … Continue reading
The City By the Bay
Marin County Coastline The latest turn in our Western States Odyssey took us into San Francisco. And if you’ve never had the opportunity, a great thrill ride is to take a 31-foot RV and drive it over the Golden Gate … Continue reading
Really, Really Big Trees
Our continuing RV Odyssey in the Western States today took us through what botanists like to refer to as Really, Really Big Trees. The Avenue of the Giants was particularly impressive – not really captured accurately by this timelapse: … Continue reading
Posted in Home Leave in USA, Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged California, Fort Bragg, Harbor, Redwoods, RV
Leave a comment
More Adventures in ‘Murr’ca
Today was an eventful day in our Western States RV Odyssey. For those just tuning in, we are touring Oregon, California, Nevada and Idaho in a rented monstrosity of an RV, in order to satisfy a Congressionally mandated Foreign Service … Continue reading
The Great American Fast Food Odyssey – part 2
Yesterday I posted about our efforts to satisfy American fast food cravings while on “home leave” after a 2-year absence. And about how the menus change gradually, but how after two years the all-familiar fast food menus suddenly appear loaded … Continue reading
The Great American Fast Food Odyssey – part 1
Foreign Service Officers (i.e. U.S. “diplomats”) are Congressionally mandated to spend a decent amount of time in the United States between tours – presumably so that we maintain a good understanding of our home countries while we’re out representing America … Continue reading
Um…is that an accent I hear?
Ever come across a North American accent you couldn’t quite place? Well now, there’s an easy chart to figure it out. Someone has gone to the trouble of mapping it all out, using things like, do they pronounce “pin” and … Continue reading
Found memories…and a lost roll of film
Here’s a fun mystery to try and solve. For my (recent) birthday, my kids went down to Otto’s, the local “junk and curiosities” dealer and picked out for me the newest additions to my growing vintage camera collection. In addition, … Continue reading
Build Your Own Plant Host Drone
I recently posted about drones and how they’re being used. Here’s a much more humble drone – one that simply moves plants around your house to take advantage of changing sunlight. For the cost of $10-$15 (and a bit of … Continue reading
Got Drones?
Lately there has been increasing mention of the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for unexpected purposes. For example, both India and Namibia have been experimenting with the use of UAVs to control poaching, thanks to a $5 million grant given … Continue reading
Posted in Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged drones, India, Namibia, poaching, robots, UAVs
Leave a comment
“Pooh” Creator AA Milne’s Secret Life in Propaganda
So it seems that childhood favorite author AA Milne, who created all of the wonderful “Winnie the Pooh” stories (along with some of my favorite childhood poems), also spent some time in World War I writing propaganda for a secret … Continue reading
Posted in Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged Milne, Pooh, propaganda, PSYOP, WWI
Leave a comment
An Oshikandela, by any other name…
In our local grocery shop you can buy a couple of different varieties of yoghurt drink. Two popular kinds sit right next to each other on the shelf. I’m not a big breakfast eater; as I did when I lived … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged Drinki, marketing, Namibia Dairies, Nammilk, Oshikandela
2 Comments
Namibian Fairy Circles Mystery Solved AGAIN!
It’s fun to ponder those unsolved mysteries of nature we’ve all heard about from childhood onward. Last March I blogged that one of those “nature’s unsolved mysteries” was unsolved no more – Namibia’s “fairy circles.” Of course, depending on where … Continue reading
MySpace Resurrected, Photoshop to Close
I know, right? MySpace is back. I just got my invitation to join the new MySpace and decided to go and check it out. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m not too optimistic – though the younger crowd … Continue reading
Posted in Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged myspace, new MySpace, photoshop, Revel, review
Leave a comment
Female Entrepreneur Launches Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign for Township Bicycle Touring Company
Here in Namibia, where income disparity is one of the highest in the world (THE highest, depending on whose figures you use) and unemployment hovers around 34 percent, small entrepreneurs in both the formal and informal sector are likely to … Continue reading
AFN Commercial: Proud to Serve Again
Here’s another fun “commercial” from the Armed Forces Network, or AFN. In this video, former military are encouraged to take up a job teaching. While this is an admirable profession and I certainly would never suggest otherwise, whenever you’re trying … Continue reading
Posted in AFN Commercials
Tagged AFN, commercial, kaffiyeh, military, post-military job, teaching
Leave a comment
The Korean Air Force Releases Les Miserables Parody Video
Following a long tradition of military folks getting involved in musical YouTube shenanigans, the (South) Korean Air Force has released a hilarious parody of Les Miserables they call “Les Militaribles.” After only a week, the video has picked up an … Continue reading
Posted in Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged Air Force, Korea, Les Miserables, musical, parody
Leave a comment
Namibian Nights: The Best Timelapse Ever
I’ve looked at a lot of timelapses, and after a certain number of them you just start to want to fast forward through them because they’re spectacular and all, but after awhile everything just sort of starts to look the … Continue reading
Posted in Cool Stuff on Vimeo
Tagged desert, light, Namibia, night sky, stars, stopmotion, timelapse
Leave a comment