Sarah Vowell Kills

by Erik Olsen on

I’m a big fan of Sarah Vowell’s work. I’ve heard many of her pieces for This American Life and listened to the
audiobook version of her book “The Partly Cloudy Patriot”. She has a new book out where she goes around the country
looking into the history of Presidential assassinations.

The book is called
Assassination
Vacation. I now have it on audiobook and have been listening to it. Part travelogue, part examination of American
history, it is very funny, but also educational…what every good history book should be.

Here is a recent NPR interview with
Vowell where she talks about the book.

Photo of the Day: (5/11/05)

by Erik Olsen on

Our POTD today comes from Zonezero, a great photography site, should you have
an interest in checking it out. There is lots of wonderful work here, but
this photo, part of a gallery by
Mirjam Letsch, really stood out. Very reminiscent of that famous Nat Geo photo of an Afghan woman.

Yosemite All Wet

by Erik Olsen on

Ah, Yosemite. Probably the best of all National Parks…except when it’s over-crowded with tourists in their motor
homes and kids screeching around on their bicycles. Oh, and when the entire valley gets sooted up with BBQ smoke and
the air is filled with the noise pollution of said tourists’ portable radios and TV sets. Then it sucks.

But that aside, there’s an article in today’s NY
Times about how the season’s unusual snow fall has made Yosemite gush. The falls are, well, falling at full fall,
and the rivers are raging. This would be an ideal time to head up there, and would make, no doubt for some great
photography. The fact is, despite the travails I just mentioned, Yosemite remains a jewel.

“Play dead, Kathleen.”

by Erik Olsen on

What a bizarre story. A group of campers in Pennsylvania say that
a bear dragged their
compatriot, a 21 year old woman named Kathleen Feeney into the woods, tore at her clothes, bit her, covered her with
brush and tree branches, and pawed her something fierce. As the bear was attacking, her friend, apparently having just
read the Worst Case Scenario Handbook shouted: “Play Dead, Kathleen!”

Good advice, my friend, for the bear eventually gave up on a Kathleen lunch and left her alone. Quick-thinking
Kathleen was treated for scratch marks on her back, bites on the back of her head and a puncture wound on her leg. My
guess is she won’t be camping again anytime soon, nor tuning into Nickelodeon for Yogi Bear reruns.

Deep Ocean Expeditions

by Erik Olsen on

It’s amazing that you can now be a deep sea tourist. I can hardly wait until we can go to
space and look at the sweeping curve of the Earth as we nibble on Pringles and sip a Stella. The latter, as I say, is
probably a ways off, but the former is doable, provided you’ve got the cash.
Deep Ocean Expeditions offers trips in a deep sea submersible
to various famous underwater spots around the world. A trip to the Titanic is scheduled for July 2005. The cost? A
mere $36,650.