Glastonbury hippies claim local WiFi network is damaging their “ley lines”

by Scott Carmichael on

In something that sounds like it came right out of a South Park episode, a local group of hippies is complaining that a recently installed WiFi mesh network in the UK village of Glastonbury is causing all kinds of health problems.

The new-age residents descended upon the village several years ago because they believe in its powerful healing abilities.

To combat the signals from the Wi-Fi hotspots, the hippies have placed orgone generators around the antennae, but so far without any success.

This might have to do with the fact that orgone generators look like they are just bundt pans with some tin foil pieces.

Speaking of tin foil, despite 100’s of research studies, nobody has ever found any links between WiFi signals and health issues, and the village of Glastonbury has been blanketed in mobile phone signals since the late 80’s without anyone feeling ill from the “radiation”.

(Via: The Inquirer)

Picture London without the people

by Jeremy Kressmann on

If you’ve ever had a chance to visit London, you know what a hive of activity the city can be. Huge red double decker buses rumble past your field of view, pedestrians stroll through Trafalgar Square and the pontificators mass at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park.

Perhaps it’s a surprise then to see photos of these places, completely devoid of any human being. That’s exactly what Flickr user IanVisits has done in his recent photo project titled “Abandoned London.” Ian had the opportunity recently to capture images of London at its most desolate. On Christmas morning, as many Londoners remained curled up in bed or at home opening their holiday presents, Ian was riding his bike through the empty streets, capturing these eerie street scenes, frozen in time.

The normally bustling stairs in front of the National Gallery sit vacant, strangely forlorn. The pulsing neon of Picadilly Circus is dark, the advertisements yelling their goods to nothing but empty air. Hungerford Bridge anxiously awaits the stirrings of foot traffic.

Despite the absence of any Londoners, each image in Ian’s Abandoned London set seems to create its own sense of personality. It raises an interesting question – is a city defined by its people? Or is it an entity of its own, breathing, sleeping and existing as if it was alive? In any case, if you’re looking for a unique view of London you’ve probably never seen, make sure to check out his gallery.

Many thanks to Ian Mansfield for letting us use his photos!

[Via MetaFilter]

Kilt style not limited to heritage

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I’ll never forget watching a family of Americans at a Scottish Highland Games event in Ontario hold kilts inches from their faces, examining the patterns carefully to make sure they didn’t by the wrong clan’s tartan. I learned quickly that I did not have this skill and, characteristically, gave up without much effort. The need for a true kilt expert, however, was painfully obvious. This small memory from a decade ago, popped back into my head when I entered 21st Century Kilts in Edinburgh.

Howie Nicholsby comes from a long line of kilt craftsmen, though five minutes with him shows you that he cannot be contained by tradition (or anything else). A keen eye for detail puts the right clan on your body, but his sense of style opens Scotland‘s traditional garb to new ideas that few have imagined.

I tried on the “desert camouflage” kilt (yes, I wore it like a “true Scot”). I figured it would be a bit breezy and was surprised to learn just how hot it can be under the garment. The higher quality kilts are quite heavy, requiring a considerable amount of fabric to produce. Thus, they tend to fetch high prices. The one I tried on (but didn’t buy) would have set me back close to $400, though currency swings would probably bring it closer to $300 today.

Without a doubt, the prices are pretty rough, and there are less expensive kilts available in Scotland (though there is a lobbying effort in progress to limit what can be called a “kilt” to those manufactured in Scotland according to specific standards). You get what you pay for, according to Howie, and spending less than $100 will result in a noticeable lack of quality.

So, if you find yourself strolling the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, poke your head into 21st Century Kilts. Howie will have you rolling in laughter, and he’ll probably have you in a new kilt by the end of your visit.

Woolworth’s, the famous shopping icon, is closing its doors in the U.K.

by Jamie Rhein on

“My cousin said that all the Woolworth’s in Britain are closing starting tomorrow,” my mother-in-law said today as she was driving me to run an errand outside of Cleveland where we’re visiting for a few days. “He’s very upset.”

Her cousin, who we visited a few years ago, lives in Cornwall. The economic downturn has meant curtains to this bargain shopping icon that was still making a go of it in Great Britain after the U.S. stores closed.

I remember going to the Woolworth’s in State College, Pennsylvania with my best friend when we were in the 5th grade. Those were in the days when it was considered safe for kids to ride their bicycles all over town. Our mission, mostly, was to get a Coke at the lunch counter and take our pictures in the automatic photo booth, the kind that spits out a long vertical strip of four.

When F. W. Woolworth, the company that was created in the U.S. in 1879, closed its doors in the U.S., I must have been living overseas because I only have a vague recollection of the news.

Now, that the 807 stores are closing across Great Britain starting tomorrow, including the one in the photo taken by Redvers in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, I feel a whiff of nostalgic sadness. Folks in Great Britain, according to this article posted at TwinCities.com, feel the same.

Woolworths are friendlier than mega stores like Wal-mart and Target. The lunch counters say stay awhile. The goods always seemed like just the right amount of choices. Sure, it’s great to load up a cart at a big store, but the choices can be too many, and the cart can easily be overloaded with things we really don’t need by the time we reach the checkout counter.

Woolworth’s stores seem to evoke literary themes found in novels like To Kill a Mockingbird–the small town “How de dos.” Walmart greeters sure have a lot of pressure to make us feel welcome in the rush to find a bargain. Although Grant recently wrote about London not being as expensive as a place to buy gifts as he thought it would be, the options are decreasing. Too bad.

Thanks for the memories Woolworth’s.

Eggnog: Where does it come from?

by Brenda Yun on

I’ve long been a fan of spiced ‘nog. It’s one of the creamiest, best tastes in the world. For over 300 years, eggnog has been a Christmas staple, and I just had to get to the bottom of the mystery of ‘why’? What I discovered in my research of the origin of eggnog was quite startling. While ‘nog definitely came from Europe circa early 17th century, the term “eggnog” and the etymology of the word is perhaps the more interesting story.

The original eggnog was a mixture of milk, egg, spices, and wine (in parts of Europe like France), beer (in England), or sherry (in Spain). The alcoholic portion of the drink depends on how you interpret the “nog” in the name. That is because “nog” could mean the Old English term for a strong beer, or it could be interpreted from Middle English as “noggin,” the wooden mug that the drink was served in.
It seems quite unusual (and kind of unappetizing) to me that, before it arrived on America’s shores, eggnog was made with wine, beer, or sherry. Americans — the drunks that we are — decided to spike the drink with more concentrated spirits such as rum and brandy. Our first President, George Washington, would make the drink so strong that only the burliest of drinkers could handle it. The term for rum is actually “grog,” but “eggrog” doesn’t sound very good at all, now, does it? (It makes me think of a lumpy, spiked oatmeal — yuck!) Americans also boil their eggnog so as to avoid getting salmonella from the raw egg.

Even more variations of traditional eggnog are popping up around the globe. In Louisiana, they replace the rum with bourbon. In Puerto Rico, they add coconut milk. In Mexico, it’s a hard drink, as it’s mixed with grain alcohol. In Peru, it’s made with “pisco,” a local brandy.

Whatever the form or unique flavor, drinking eggnog is a Christmas tradition because of its warming effect and generally sweet, smooth, and spicy taste which make it a perfect holiday drink.

[Information was gathered from Wikipedia, About.com, and TheKitchenProject.com]