Spin About

January 7, 2025

A reconstruction of the turret of the USS Monitor, open to allow a view of the mechanism and one of the two 11-inch guns. The turret was designed by American inventor Theodore Timby, and the rest of the ship by the Swedish-born John Ericsson. A problem with the turret was that there was no brake— […]

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Waterfowl

January 4, 2025

Trees, pond, sandhill cranes. Sunset today.

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Ghost Docks

December 31, 2024

About six years ago I was on a motor trip along the North Shore of Lake Superior, and wandered down a small road from the highway down to the lake. When I parked in the small recreational harbor, I saw this huge abandoned facility along the shoreline. (It’s much bigger than it looks in this […]

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Ear Jive

December 29, 2024

From Britain, 1975. Heineken had a whole series of these ads, promising that Heineken would help consumers grow, ah, firmer. Apparently it also works on aliens.

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20% Off

December 29, 2024

I spotted this globe in the gift shop of the Corning Museum and immediately wanted it. I wanted it so much that some Japanese visitors actually took a picture of me wanting it. It’s about the size of a bowling ball and was created by artist Josh Simpson. While it may look as if it’s […]

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Jimi’s Jacket

December 26, 2024

Found in a museum exhibit of psychedelia, this is Jimi Hendrix’ jacket. While there seem to be a number of techniques used in constructing it, much of it seems to be hand-painted silk. The second I saw it, I was struck with jacket envy. Judging by the size of the jacket, Jimi was a tiny […]

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Bogiemas

December 25, 2024

Everyone have a merry Bogart’s Birthday!

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Sand Spit

December 24, 2024

Here I stand on a sand spit outside the town of Dalyan, in southern Turkey. The year is 2009. To reach this beach, we had to hire a boat to take us from the town and through a mazelike passage between islands of tall, rustling reeds, an experience that led straight to the scenes in […]

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Santo Whatsisname

December 21, 2024

Here’s a mosaic of some saint or other, from St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. He was very high up in the church, on the inside of a dome I think, and I had to crank up the telephoto to capture him. The tesserae are in pretty good shape. Though St. Mark’s is the iconic church […]

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Hoodoo

December 20, 2024

From 2006, taken from a balloon adrift over Cappadocia, in central Turkey. The terrain in Cappadocia is spectacular and craggy, featuring “fairy chimneys,” hoodoo spires, cliffs, hidden valleys, and signs of habitation going back thousands of years. The closest analog I’ve seen to this country are parts of the Colorado Plateau, like the Cedar Breaks— […]

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