Death By Cuteness

LOVE THIS



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I imagine I acted similar when I was a kid. Sorry Mom.

"Everything I see reminds me of her... and sometimes him"

Some observatories from around the world...

The Portland "Observatory" (actually a maritime signaling station)- Portland, OR



Caracol- The observatory at Chichen Itza



Observatory and camera obscura- Clifton Down, Bristol, UK



City Observatory- Edinburgh, Scotland



Flag Island Observatory with Guard Dog- Flag island, MN (awesome)



Griffith Observatory (aka my backyard)- Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA



Suspension Bridge and Clifton Observatory- Bristol, UK



National Solar Observatory- Kitt Peak, AZ



Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill- Edinburgh, Scotland



Petrin Hill Observatory- Prague (not for stargazing but looked like fun)



Radcliffe Observatory- University of Oxford



Paranal Observatory -Paranal, Chile
This one actually has a residence built into the mountain for staff.



Davis Hall- Northern Illinois University



Sydney Observatory- Sydney



Millstone Hill and Haystack (operated by MIT)- Westford, Mass



Beijing Ancient Observatory (built 1442)- Beijing



Armagh Observatory- Armagh, Ireland



Urania Observatory- Zurich



Beitou Incinerator Observatory- Taipei
(also not for stargazing but wins the Coolest Name on the List award)



McDonald Observatory- Fort Davis, TX



Sorbonne Center- Paris, France



Biruni Observatory- University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran



Solar Observatory from 4th Century B.C.E.- Chankillo, Peru

Let No One Sleep Part 2

In a post related to yesterday's, I found this video of Paul Potts singing Nessun Dorma on the show Britain's Got Talent. Since the British side of my family died out 13 years ago I haven't been back so needless to say I hadn't heard of the show. Apparently there is an American version of the show which I'm sure that after being Americanized is less like The Office and tragically more like Celebrity Fit Club. I like this video because I have a nasty habit of pulling for the underdog- like the Cleveland Browns and the polar ice caps.



I like the reactions, not too mention he sings it beautifully. He botches the high note at the end a little but then again who the fuck am I to criticize. I sound like a frog when I sing- one without a top hat and cane. Besides, he ended up winning the whole competition.

End of an era

Pavarotti's death last Thursday came as a shock to me even though he had been battling pancreatic cancer for some time. He became the tenor that all others are compared to and eventually an icon. Below is a clip of him singing Nessun Dorma (from Puccini's Tirandot). It was his signature aria. He brought the song into pop culture when he sang it for Italia '90 (which is now the World Cup).



The lyrics with English translation can be found HERE.

The New York Times article on his death can be read HERE.

Nature's wrath just may be universal

Having spent the majority of my adult life in disaster-prone locales, I have become somewhat numb to idea of the possibility of an earthquake or a hurricane ripping through (or underneath) my backyard. The east coasters warn me of "The Big One" tearing California apart while the Angelenos- well the Angelenos don't really talk too much about the outside world but since the Katrina disaster I have to wonder if there's a place free of natural destruction.

Here is a surprisingly clear photo I took on my phone in South Beach. If I remember correctly, this was a medical center just after Hurricane Wilma:



The disaster did, however, produce the hilarity pictured below. It's from a local South Florida paper called The New Times.


The damage to the building above looks minuscule compared to the kind of earthquake damage that everyone I've ever met on the east coast seems to predict will happen any day now in California.

Disastrous weather seems to follow me even in the strangest of places. I don't usually think of Texas as being dangerous for much more than the heat and the Bushes but after being caught in a flash flood in Beaumont and a blizzard in Amarillo (pictured below- sorry about the horrible quality) I'm not so sure.



I would post a picture of the tornado storm (storm= multiple tornadoes) in Oklahoma I was caught in but I was too busy crapping myself to take a picture. There's something about dodging funnel clouds in a retrofitted ice cream truck with chrome pipes and flames painted on the side (I loved that job) that forces you to quickly prioritize your actions.

There have been a few minor quakes here in the City of Angels recently that were noticeable but nothing that has forced me to sit in my bathtub with a case of beer with wood nailed over the windows like Wilma... not that I need a reason for that.

I still remember when the Cat 2 Katrina hit us. There was hardly any damage but everyone in South Florida was on the phone to everyone they knew in New Orleans telling them to get the f*ck out before the Cat 5 rating was even announced. I can't even imagine what that was like.

I suppose since tomorrow is the anniversary of the greatest UNnatural disaster in United States history it has me reflecting on the concepts of safety and paranoia.

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy serenity while its here: