A Thing or Two

Confluence hopping

Check this out: each of those tiles in the image at right represents a photo taken at a specific integer degree intersection of latitude and longitude, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

What's an integer degree intersection?

It's the spot where a non-fractional number of latitude and a non-fractional number of longitude cross, say: 44degreesN 123degrees W. It helps to have a GPS to find these places!

At confluence.org, there are nearly 60,000 images taken by people all over the world—those willing to go a little (or a lot!) out of their way to add to this growing map of the world. I simply copied a few cells from my area into this image. To get the big effect, you need to visit the site yourself.

• To see the maps, look in "project links" in the left nav.
  
• To see a set of images taken at an intersection and read about getting there, click any of the images on the home page or on a country page (the list is also on the left).
  
• Be adventuresome: on any confluence page, click "Random" in the top navigation. There are tons of interesting characters sharing stories, images, and a sense of wonder at this enormous, gorgeous world.

Do you know the Muffler Man?

As you journey throught the countryside this summer, you are bound to see at least one or two of these very large humanoids by the roadside, sporting a trim haircut, a steely gaze, a square jaw, a big chest, and legs solidly planted a few yards apart.

Yes, I said a few yards.

Because after all, we are talking about The Muffler Man. (He lives just down the lane...)

To find out if that studly statue that caught your eye (just look at those biceps!) qualifies as a Muffler Man or is merely a giant fiberglass mutant, visit the Types of Muffler Men page at Roadside America. And if he's the real thing, be sure to let them know you spotted one. They'll post your tip and even give you credit.

Illustration © Copyright 1996-2006 Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Guys, please don't nail me for reposting it here. I'm trying to tell folks you are cool. You'll get more visitors! Really.

Paris by night: a 360-degree view

Thanks to the stunning photography of Arnaud Frich, here's your chance to visit Paris by night, sitting right in front of your computer.

Once the picture loads, make your browser window as wide as possible, scroll down a bit if you need to, then move the bottom scroll bar slowly to get the full 360-degree view.

Sigh.

Makes me long for the City of Lights.

There are lots more, gorgeous photos on Monsieur Frich's site. (The small, lo-res image right above this note is not one of his.)