Frank, Laurel and Necessity

It's bigger on the inside.

Basically everyone on Doctor Who wehen they enter the TARDIS.

When I first saw the master bathroom in Kentuck Knob, I thought that Frank Lloyd Wright had been rather parsimonious, only giving the family a shower instead of a bath. That was because most of the tub couldn't be seen behind the door; it's a full sized tub, with some good shelf space too.

Kentuck Knob was one of the last houses designed by Wright, who was 86 at the time. It was, for him, a partial job; he let the owners, the Hagen family (friends of the owners of the nearby Falling Water, install a fair amount of the furniture and do the landscaping. Mrs. Hagen in particular had a strong say, insisting that the kitchen be expanded (because she liked to cook and was worried about getting snowed in  (She also chose a very cool futuristic stovetop, where the burners folded away when not in use, and could be detached and plugged in elsewhere to used as a hot place for dinner parties.)

But Wright's style is still a major component. He had a strong visual theme, and kept it going throughout the house. For example, most things are hexagonal, including the skylights:

This really pays off when the sunlight hits the house, creating a cool pattern:

When the Hagens moved out, Lord Palumbo (Wikipedia informs me he is a baron; the tour guide used the honorific lord) purchased it to use as a summer home when he was here in the colonies. Then he decided to make it available for tours about 15 years ago.

In addtion to the fascinating home, there is also a lot of modern sculpture on the grounds. I think my favoirte pieces were a row of vintage British phone booths and a sculpture called Red Army. I'm not wild about the photos I took, but the artist has some nice ones on his website here.

Luarel Caverns\
The last cave I went to was Lurray Caverns in Shenendoah Valley. Laurel Caverns is rather different. for one thing, it's composed of an entirely different type of rock. While this means there are no stalagmites or stalactites (there were a handful, but early explorers broke them off and took them as souvenirs), you can also safetly touch the walls without fear that the oils in your hands will damage the delicate formations.

There are two ways to explore Laurel Caverns. You can take the short, guided, family friendly tour which goes down 17 stories along well marked paths. Or you can travel on your own (in a section that is still well explored), bringing your own light sources, climbing over boulders and crawling through some tight spaces. I chose the former.

The tour is really designed more for kids, but it was still pretty interesting. My favorite part was an optical illusion, based on the fact you lose your sense of direction when you can't see the horizon. But I also found the parts about early explorers interesting. In addition to taking samples, they graffiti-tagged a few sites to show how deep they went. They also named several of the rock formations, presumably to help fellow explorers. For example, they warned that when you came to this bird, you should head in the direction of his beak, because the other way was the Devil's Staircase, a 40-foot drop.

I don't know why the explorers were so keen  to go around the cavern.. The tour guide never mentioned any valuable minerals found in the area.

Laurel Caverns also features a cavern-themed miniature golf course which I didn't play on, but think is a cute idea.

Fort Necessity
While George Washington did many wonderful things for our country, it's a good thing he wasn't in charge of naming stuff. Otherwise I bet Washington D.C. would be called Capital City and the Declaration of Independence would be known as The Letter to King George.

Fort Necessity got his name because he thought his soldiers woudl need a fort to defend themselves from the French. Depending on who you believe, the French and Indian War started when the British ambushed a group of French soldies and massacred them, or when a group of British soldiers on their way to parley with the French were attacked as they approached.

Either way, the British made some boneheaded decisions. Washington signed a document agreeing that he had assassinated the French commander in that incident because -- get this -- it was written in French. Apparently Col. Washington had a mediocre translator, and the document was also wet and smeared. Later on, a group of Native Americans approached General Braddock, Washington's mentor, and said they were worried about the French encroachment to their territory, and were considering helping the British. Braddock cleverly replied that once they won the land would belong to England, and not a group of savages. Surprisingly, this didn't sway them to his side.

Washington recognized that where he had built the fort was actually a good location for trade, and purchased the land, believing it would be a good location for an inn. He never built one, but was instrumental in getting the National Road, the superhighway of the early 1800s, connecting Pennsylvania to the western states. Someone else built the Mount Washington tavern on the land in the 1830s.

My favorite moment at Fort Necessity was when I saw a deer. At first, since I was a little distance away, I thought it might be a golden retriever, because she (?) was wagging her tail and standing on the trail. I got about 50 feet away without her spooking, but she ran into the bushes as I turned on the camera. I guess she hadn't paid the admission fee for the park.

Drving through Pennsylvania

Beep beep, beep beep, yeah

The Beatles, Drive My Car

A few observations about my day driving through Pennsylvania:

Each rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike has a different ice cream stand. (No, I didn't stop at all of them; I just noticed the signed.) One place had a gelato store; the one near Hershey, unsurprisingly, had Hershey's brand. 

The turnpike is a fairly scenic road, but the feature that I found most interesting were there windmills:

Partially, that's because I wasn't driving (it was one of the rest stops I did wind up at). Partially, it's because I had seen a farm with a field of solar panels a few miles earlier and was wondering if they were related in any way. The other thing I noticed about the Turnpike was that the posted speed limits were ignored even more than they are in New Jersey.

If you are ever in Mt. Pleasant, I recommend the Evergreen Drive-In, even if its website is a little chintzy. The prices are ridiculously low -- I think I paid $8 for a ticket, and that theoretically entitled me to a double feature (though I didn't stick around for Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon). They're very up front that they make their money off the concession stand, not the tickets, and encourage you to buy snacks there to keep them in business.

Sadly, I can't recommend the first half of the double feature, which was Captain America: The First Avenger. At its best, it's by-the-numbers. At its worse, it's incoherent. I'd give it a C, C-: watchable, but not worth full price. (My other choices were Cowboys Vs. Aliens, which has gotten very iffy reviews, and the Smurfs, which was just no.)

A good vampire novel

I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the lollipop that sticks in your hair. I am Darkwing Duck.

Darkwing Duck

I always bring several books with me when I travel. This trip, the one that I've been reading is The Vampire Genevieve by Jack Yeovil. It is set in the Warhammer universe, which means I would normally never read it, because while I love roleplaying games, I've found 99 percent of the fictional tie-ins to be complete and utter crap. But I decided to give these a chance for one reason: I discovered that Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for Kim Newman.

Sometime in the 1990s I read a great trilogy called Anno Dracula, by Newman. If you enjoyed The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you'd love this. The first book is set in a Victorian England, where Van Helsing has failed to kill Dracula, and the Count turns Queen Victoria into his bride and takes over the British empire. In addition to Dracula, it's got Fu Manchu, Moriarty, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Jeckyl, Gilbert and Sullivan, and many other real and unreal characters. And one of the main characters is a vampire named Genevieve.

A couple of months ago, I learned that Newman had first written about her for Warhammer, and liked the character so much he used her in a non-Warhammer book.

The Vampire Genevieve collects Newman's novels written in the Warhammer universe. For those who don't know, it's not quite a standard D&D-esque fantasy world. It's got a heavier influence from Michael Moorcock and H.P. Lovecraft. It's sometimes described with the phrase "grimdark." It's very clearly set in Europe with the serial numbers filed off. For example, Genevieve was turned into a vampire 600 years ago, when she was a teenager in the land of Bretonia, which is very obviously Brittany.

The prologue of the book opens with Genevieve and a group of heroes on a quest to slay the evil archfiend. This immortal wizard had killed her father when she was still a mortal, and the prince who recruited her thought she would go along on their quest for vengeance. However, that didn't interest her; she knew he'd have been dead six centuries even if the big bad hadn't gotten him. Then the prince appeals to her need for something interesting and a change of pace, and she finds that a reasonable excuse to go adventuring.

Against great odds, they defeat the wizard. The main action in this story takes place 25 years later, and involves writing a play. I was rather happy to see that. In a world where the dark gods of chaos and destruction threaten humanity daily, it's nice to see a story about actors. Of course, the play is about the events of a quarter century before, and horrible deaths start happening during the rehearsals...

The second story also involves plays. That play is clearly Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, though the names are given a Slavic twist. It also involves a phantom of the opera, who is much more disturbing that just a guy in a mask.

Another involves what I can only describe as a soap opera performed by a twisted version of the Adams Family. Yet another involves unicorn hunters, blackmail, and assassination attempts.

What I respect about the heroine is that she does not sparkle. She isn't quite the classic vampire that turns to ash in the sunlight, but she doesn't angst about how horrible it is to have the strength of 20 men, or never grow old. She can be a crazed, unpleasant killer, but she isn't always the nastiest thing in the room. Some men do fall wildly in love with her, but others are indifferent, and her relationships tend to be complex.

So this book is definitely a good vacation read. It's got lots of action and excitement, but it's also got nods to classics and cultural references.

Water water everywhere

What do they got? A lot of sand. We've got a hot crustacean band.

"Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid

As I wrote last time I was in Florida, even though I live five minutes from the ocean in New Jersey, it doesn't tempt me. Today, I swam in both the gulf and a hotel swimming pool. Why I actually want to get in the water while on vacation, and not when it's nearby, I can't say.

I was at Delnor-Wuggins Pass State Park, (If you're wondering about the name, I think that the beach is named after a Delnor, and the pass is inamed after a Wiggins. There was a plaque just off a parking lot explaining it, but I didn't really look at it too closely.) which is very pretty, as you can see:

 The water isn't quite crystal clear, and there were a few leaves and dead bugs floating in it, but it was still pretty clean, and a nice shade of green. When I entered it, I rushed in because I thought it would be best to immerse myself in the chilly water immediately, but it turned out to be surprisingly warm. 

I was at Delnor beach to celebrate my aunt's 85th birthday, and it was a wonderful event, but I don't want to talk about it too much on a blog anyone can read, just in case some relatives or people at the party don't want names and details put where anyone can see them. (Not that I have anything bad to say.) I will note, since the conversation has come up several times in the last few days, that she is not technically my aunt, but great-aunt. I have decided I prefer to refer to relatives as "aunt/uncle" or "cousin," instead of "fourth cousin three times removed" or "former uncle-in-law." 

Following the party, I returned to the hotel, where, with more relatives, I went into the pool. That too was surprisingly warm. I suppose it's something to do with the fact the temperature is in the 80s most days of the year and the pool is in sunlight a large amount of the time is what makes it so comfortable.

Off we went into the wild blue yonder

(Homer's thoughts) Oh, glory of glories. Oh heavenly testament to the eternal majesty of God's creation. (Out  loud) Holy macaroni!

Homer Simpson, Treehouse of Horrors VI

I had several conversations today about how friggin' cool a smart phone is. Here's a picture I took with my smart phone, that I suppose I could have taken with any digital camera. However, I wouldn't normally have had a camera in my pocket at that moment:

In the past, my camera would have been in my luggage. But since my phone is also my music player, I had it while I was looking out the window at 30,000 feet.

For some reason, most travellers I know don't like the window seat. They prefer the convenience of being able to stretch whenever they want, and not needing to ask others to move so they can use the restroom. But, perhaps because I fly so infrequently, I like looking out the window. There's something amazing about looking at the roofs of buildings, then broad patches of land, then seeing clouds and the shadows they cast, and finally reaching the height where the clouds look like a strange all-white landscape. At one point we flew through a thunderstorm, which did generate a little turbulence, but also made a fascinating viewing experience. The sky darkened and it seemed like we were driving through fog. 

Everything about air travel except the actual flying is, at best, annoying, and at worse uncomfortable. I don't feel more secure because I was asked to take off my shoes. I don't think that giving out 20-cent packages of pretzels or some other minor snack was really bankrupting the airlines, and they should resume that practice. I don't know why they think someone should pay them $8 extra to watch episodes of CSI Miami on a tiny screen.

But the flying itself wants to make you say holy macaroni.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

THE GREAT problem is at length solved! The air, as well as the earth and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and convenient highway for mankind. The Atlantic has been actually crossed in a Balloon! and this too without difficulty-without any great apparent danger-with thorough control of the machine-and in the inconceivably brief period of seventy-five hours from shore to shore! 

Edgar Allen Poe

Tomorrow, I embark on my first notable trip since last year, and what I think is my first time leaving the state since I went to New York City in January. I really need to get out more.

It's not a long trip, just a long weekend in Naples, Florida. This time, instead of driving down like I did last year, I'm taking a plane, which makes a lot more sense for a four-day trip. Because I liked being thoroughly connected during my last trip, I've decided to bring a laptop again. However, the laptop I took with me last time was a 17-incher with a full keyboard, and is rather heavy. It was great when I could throw it in the trunk of my car, but not if I have to fit it into a suitcase. So I picked up a cute little netbook. (I'd have picked up a tablet, but I really like having a keyboard.)

I was planning to throw the netbook in my suitcase, but now I'm not sure if I can or not. This "helpful" page from the TSA tells me, with capital letters DO NOT pack laptops in checked baggage. Later, when giving tips on checked baggage, it suggests you should "LABEL your laptop computer." So I'm throwing my computer in my backpack, and hoping it's not too much of a pain to get through security.

I hope an extra weight in my backpack is the worst thing I experience at Newark tomorrow.

A fairly nerdy day in New York City

'Cause everyone's your friend in New York City/ And everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty/ The streets are paved with diamonds and there's just so much to see/ But the best thing about New York City is you and me

New York City, They Might Be Giants

It's been a while since I'd really gone anywhere, so I decided to take a trip to New York City.The result turned out to be fairly nerdy, though I definitely had fun. If you enjoy video games, I went to the Nintendo Store. If you like strange foreign cartoons, I saw The Illusionist. And to round out the day, I stopped at the Complete Strategist, one of the biggest hobby shops on the East Coast.

Here's the day, with some pictures.

Getting there:
The weather was in the high teens and low twenties, which made walking a little unpleasant, but also helped keep the crowds away. On the train up, there were empty seats, which is a nice thing. When I go in the summer or spring, I find that by the end of the trip it can be standing room only, but in this case I was able to get there and back without sharing a seat.

There were some kids in front of me on the ride up there. One of them, who I guess was about seven, had a cute morbid streak. At one point, the train tilted a little to the left as it was going over some uneven ground. "We're all going to die," the kid said. "We're all going to die." Just before we were about to enter New York, when we paused in the tunnel for a minute or two (I assume to let some other train pass), he turned around and said to me, "Mister, do you think we're trapped underwater?"

When I got there, I was surprised at how little snow there was on the ground. It snowed in New Jersey four weeks ago, and much of the ground is still piled up. In New York City, it's largely melted or cleared away, though you can still see some patches, such as on the New York Library:

 But most of the other places have only relatively small patches of snow and ice. Because of this, I mostly walked the streets and put up with the cold, rather than take the subway (though I did a little of that after seeing the movie, when it was getting darker and windier.)

Thank-you Mario, but our princess is in another castle
My first stop was the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza. It's a two-story affair dedicated to all things Nintendo. It's nice, but I was hoping for a little more.

The store has two stories. The first is dedicated to DS games, with a special section for Pokemon. The second has Wii games and other merchandise. For both, there are a lot of demos available, probably a dozen DSes and Wiis loaded with the popular games to try. There was also a small exhibit of Mario games and merchandise through the years, clothing, candy, and dolls of the more popular characters. I bought myself a Goomba cap and this completely awesome baby Bowser.

Note the adorable little bib Bowser has, with razor-sharp teeth.

I had been hoping the store would have a slightly more exotic selection: obscure games from Japan, titles that got great buzz but have been hard to find, etc. But most of the selection was what you could find in any store that sells video games. So that was a bit of a disappointment.

L'illusionniste
My next stop (ignoring lunch and stuff) was the Paris Theater, where The Illusionist was playing. This is a French film (though there's very little talking, and some of that is in English or a very thick Scottish brogue). I saw it at the Paris Theater, which was an unusual experience for a modern movie goer.

The theater has only one screen, and there's a curtain in front of the screen drawn before the movie. Furthermore, the place is carpeted, there are no cupholders on the chairs, and there were no clips asking patrons to turn off their cell phones or visit the lobby and buy snacks.

The coming attractions also looked interesting. There was one for Home: The Movie a documentary. The premise seems fairly ordinary to me -- we're destroying the environment -- but the images on the screen were totally gorgeous. There was another documentary called The Last Lions, about a female lion whose husband, head of the pride, was killed, so she was driven out and has to struggle to raise her cubs. It's narrated by Jeremy Irons, who seems to like this plot. 

I'm glad I saw The Illusionist, which isn't likely to come to Monmouth County. It's set in the late 50s, and involves a past-his-prime magician, whose act is losing favor to things like rock bands. After he gets a temporary gig in a rural village in Scotland, he shows some kindness to a young girl, who becomes a fan.

I know this sounds like the typical "young girl gives old man a new lease on life" plot, but it's not. I don't want to say how it verges from that -- too spoilery -- but don't go to the theater expecting to see that.

Is it really complete?
The Complete Strategist is on 33rd Street, a block away from the Empire State Building. Given how niche the roleplaying, wargaming, and other hobby games are, I'm surprised they can afford to stay in what must be a pretty expensive neighborhood, though I'm happy to go there every few years.

They have a very extensive selection of RPGs, some of them rather old. There are plenty from older editions of games, and some cutting edge ones too. One of the books I bought was for a game called Exalted, a system and setting which is simultaneously fascinating and infuriating. They had both the first and second edition of the book, which are entirely different. I also picked up a copy of Spirit of the Century, a pulp-action game. I actually bought it because a few months ago I purchased a game called Diaspora, and the authors of Diaspora heavily recommended Spirit of the Century. (They practically assumed you had read it.) Maybe I'll write more about those if I think there's anything worth putting on the blog.

I

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

We didn't have the time to think things over,/ We had a lot of fun, we had some tears/ Stepping out of loneliness,/ Now the road don't seem so long,/ After all these years.
-- Ringo

(The editor for this blog is acting weird, so apologies if the font looks strange or anything.)

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is 20 miles long, consisting of three large bridges connected by two mile-long tunnels. Driving through the bridge was a microcosm of the day in general. At one point, I had my windshields going full speed before I entered a tunnel. I turned them off to avoid the squeaking of wipers against dry glass. As I saw natural daylight again, I turned them on. But that proved unnecessary. In the 90 seconds I was in the tunnel, the rain had stopped.

However, the trip was never pleasant. There is a scenic overlook in the middle of the bridge. I drove right past it. After all, looking out into a gray mist isn't particularly scenic.

Most of the trip was merely unpleasant, but not horrible. I'd heard there was horrible weather, and saw parts of Delaware where the water was almost lapping the streets, but not quite flooding it. Still, I didn't encounter any problems in Virginia, Maryland or Delaware. However, about the time I entered New Jersey, it got downright nasty. It was getting dark, and the rain was getting harder. Then, a few miles after I got on the New Jersey Turnpike, traffic ground to a halt. It took over half an hour to travel a mile or two.

Things got even worse after the sun set, as the wind and rain picked up. I'd gotten off the Turnpike, and though you can hardly call the roads I was on "back roads" they were less well lit than the toll highway. And given the intense rain, every car had a different idea of what a safe speed was. Some were driving only 45 in a 65 MPH zone; some felt safe at 70. It made for some intense driving.

Still, that's over now. I got home with no real incidents. It's been a fun 2,600 miles, but I'm too tired to think of anything profound to say about it.

Wow. I averaged .53 movies a night

Hooray for Hollywood/ You may be homely in your neighborhood/ But if you think that you can an actor/ See Mr. Factor, he'd make a monkey look good.

-- Hooray for Hollywood

Today was the last day of my vacation, and I was pretty tired of the usual things I do on vacations. I was sick of going to interesting sites and learning new things. I'd come to Newport News with a vague idea of seeing something called The Living Museum of Virginia, but it sounded too educational.

I wound up going to a museum anyway. It's not that I wanted to be educated, but the Virginial Air and Space Center had an Imax Theater showing Alice In Wonderland, and going to the museum seemed like a good way to kill a couple of hours before the film started. 

Rather than just talking about my day, I'll talk about all the movies I've seen on this vacation. I won't include any spoilers for Alice in Wonderland, and won't deliberately include spoilers for any of the other movies, but they may slip out anyway. I would say that five and a half of the seven movies I saw were worthwhile, which is pretty good.

First movie of the vacation: "Quicksand," a 1950 movie starring Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney (James' sister) and Peter Lorre. 

Where I saw it: In a coffeehouse in Savannah, Ga. A group called the Psychotronic Film Society regularly shows old and obscure movies there.

What it's about: In this film noir, Rooney, a broke mechanic, borrows 20 bucks from the cash register of his shop so he can go on a date with a hot blond. He intends to pay it back before the bookkeeper comes to count the till, but the accountant comes a couple of days ahead of schedule. He knows he has to get money quick, and there's a store in town selling fancy wrist watches for $1 down. (This is probably the scene that dates the movie the most, when the shop owner asks him if he has a line of credit anywhere in town.) Rooney then pawns the watch for $30. And the next day, the police show up, saying they think he has no inention of returning the watch, and demanding he pay the shop owner $100 or get arrested. Things continue to escalate, rapidly, from there; Rooney digs himself into more and more trouble trying to solve each dilemma.

What I thought: It's a very enjoyable film. There's a certain morality to film noir, and I was curious to see what would happen to Rooney's character, who hadn't really meant to do anything bad, but couldn't seem to help himself. It also makes me wonder if Lorre ever got upset at being typecast as the creepy petty criminal. He does a fine job of it.

Second film of the trip: "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt," a 2009 I mentioned earlier.
Where I saw it: With relatives in Naples, Florida. We saw quite a few movies during those evenings.
What it's about: A TV reporter is convinced that a high-profile District Attorney is planting evidence to frame innocent people and secure convictions. So when there's a murder, he arranges to have it look as though the circumstantial evidence points to him. He plans to expose the D.A. after he gets put on trial and fake evidence is put showing his DNA was at the crime scene. Unfortunately, the DA in his corrupt police crony figure this out, and kill the man who had been assisting the reporter before he can produce the evidence. Will the reporter, sentenced to death row, somehow prove the corruption? (Hint: It's a Hollywood movie, so yes.)
What I thought: There were a lot of obnoxious twists. And there were several totally unnecessary, and uncinematic, car chase scenes. And the only character I really cared about was a Jack Russell Terrier mix. Don't waste your time.

Third film of the trip: "White Heat," the classic 1949 move starring the other Cagney sibling.
Where I saw it: With relatives, in Naples. We took this DVD from the library.
What it's about: Cagney plays Cody Jarrett, a brilliant but unbalanced leader of a tough and rough gang. They commit a massive train robbery, stealing a fortune and leaving several dead. In order to take suspicion away from him, Cody (falsely) confesses to committing a smaller robbery, which would carry a small sentence in a state prison. The police are on to him, but play along, so they can insert an undercover officer into the jail disguised as an inmate, and win Cody's confidence.  And hopefully find out who Cody's fence is, and catch the gang. This is the movie that ends with the "Made it Ma! Top of the World" scene.
What I thought: This movie is deservedly a classic. The characters are top-notch. As I said, there's a morality to film noir, and the evil characters are all evil, but in their own way. Cagney is a brilliant, magnetic psychotic. There's Margaret Wycherly's performance as his mother, a cold, calculating woman totally devoted to him. His wife Vera, who is willing to tell anybody what she thinks they want to hear. His second in command, Big Ed, who is ambitious but not as good as Cody. The dialogue is top notch too. Early on, Vera says something about Cody like "He's not human; if you shoot him, he'll keep coming." That proves prophetic. There's also some nice "choreography." That's not the right word, but the placement of the actors and vehicles relative to each other is important to the plot, and always well handled.

Fourth and Fifth film: "Murder She Said," and "Murder at the Gallop," two Agatha Christie films from 1961 and 1963, starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple.
Where I saw them: With relatives. We took out Murder She Said for a change of pace from the darker movies in our selection. Since we liked it, we took out the sequel the next day.


What they're about: In Murder She Said, Miss Marple is looking out the window of a passenger train when she sees a woman being strangled in a passing train, though only the pair of hands strangling her. However, the police refuse to believe her because there is no body or report of a missing woman on a train. Using her love of mystery books, she figures out the body must have been dumped by a household. To get access to the house, Marple becomes a maid, and there unravels the plot. In the second one, Marple suspects murder after a wealth recluse is killed. She goes to a riding retreat where all the relatives of the man are staying, under suspicion of murder. My favorite part of this movie is when she criticizes the police inspector for not reading enough Agatha Christie.
What I thought: The plots are pretty much identical. Had I been watching them in the theaters two years apart, that probably wouldn't have bothered me, but watched one after another it is less effective. But there were a few things I really enjoyed, probably because they were very British. Rutherford was 69 in 1961, and was willing to play an old lady -- and while Marple has some charms, she can be stubborn and rude. America has very few roles for actresses over 30, or someone who is not too likable. The movies are also set in a time when there was still a strong upper class in England, who hired maids and gardeners for their estates and went to riding stables on vacation. I suggest watching one in this series (there are a few others), probably Murder She Said.

Sixth Film I watched: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney's classic)
Where I watched it: A hotel room in Charleston while updating this blog
What it's about: I assume anyone over five knows the story.
What I thought: It's been a while since I saw it, but I was impressed by a lot of details. Most notably, Disney spent a lot of time getting into the personality of each character. I think this is missing from a lot of modern cartoon movies (and movies in general), which favor too much slapstick and action over characterization. You've got six pretty similar looking Dwarfs (Dopey is pretty distinct), but once they open their mouths, it's impossible to mistake one for another.

Seventh Film I watched: Alice In Wonderland
Where I watched it: At a museum
What it's about: There's quite a few reviews on the Internet that describe the plot: Alice goes down the rabbit hole for a second time, a decade later. She finds a world where the Red Queen rules with an even more tyrannical fist, and is told that she must defeat the Bandersnatch in combat to save the kingdom. Of course, she's reluctant to accept this, having convinced herself what happened years ago was just a dream. The plot is solid, but you don't really watch a Tim Burton movie for the storyline. (Mars Attacks is exactly what it says in the title; Beetle Juice is about ghosts who inadvertently summon a nasty spirit; Ed Wood is the life of Ed Wood; etc.) You watch it for the ambiance and the characters.
What I thought: I've seen Imax movies before, and I've seen 3-D movies before, but this was the first time I've seen them together. The end result is like chocolate and peanut butter. I really felt that if I put out my hand, I could touch Underland (as it is called in the film; the characters say young Alice got the name wrong, thinking it was some sort of fairyland).
   Burton and the actors did a good job of capturing both Lewis Carroll's sense of whimsy and the undercurrent of menace that permeated the books. The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) is a despot, willing to execute anyone who betrays or angers her. But she's also a freak, with a head two or three times too large for her body. And she insists her court be similarly grotesque: her nobles have six inch noses, swollen bellies, or triple chins. (I was originally going to say "endowed with large parts," before I realized how that sounded. Possibly we're supposed to make that conclusion.) And the way Alice tricks her is both clever and involves the sort of wordplay Carroll might have used. Mia Wasikowska plays Alice very consistently; I found the character's evolution very believable. I know several people reading this will be upset if I don't point out Johnny Depp did a great job as the Hatter. He did, but I was expecting that. I think one of the more interesting performances that surprised me was Barbara Windsor's Dormouse, who's no sleeping beauty here.
   Burton also did a good job of not becoming too manic and wacky, or being too flat and disaffected. I think he's ruined several movies by doing that. Finally, the dialog struck me as pretty solid. It didn't have the perfected feeling of White Heat, where I thought just about every word did something, but it did have a lot of good thematic allusions and literary references without pounding you over the head with it.

Tomorrow, I head home, and wrap up this travelogue. 

One of these years, I must watch Steven Speilberg's "Duel"

It was raining from the first/ and I was dying there of thirst/ so I came in here...

Bob Dylan

Another day of driving for hours on end. The "highlight" of the day was almost getting run off the road by a truck.

When I started out, it was raining heavily. That soon turned into one of those massive downpours where you can barely see 50 feet in front of you. So despite the fact the nominal speed limit was 65 mph, most vehicles were going way under the limit.

I was on a two-lane highway, passing a truck, which was probably doing 45 or 50. I wasn't going too much faster, but really wanted to get around it. When you're behind a truck in that sort of weather, it kicks up billions of droplets, swamping your windshield wipers at even the highest setting. There's a big difference between almost no visibility and no visibility.

I'm not sure if I was in the truck's blind spot, or something happened in the right lane, but suddenly it began to swerve into my lane. I started heading to the left, off the road, into the median.

Fortunately, the trucker realized what was happening (or the right lane became safe again) and swerved back; I was only halfway off the road at the time. Nobody was hurt, though I was shaken enough I decided to pull over at the next exit and take a lunch break, even though there was only a Burger King.

Other than that, not much happened. Here are two observations about the radio stations I heard.

South Carolina has a lot of public radio stations. More specifically, they have one public radio station, but it broadcasts on something like six frequencies, depending where in the state you are. It was strange; I'd be listening to a program, and when it got out of focus and I started flipping through the channels, I'd hear it again a couple of stations over.

Also, while it's not the mos headbanging song ever written, "Rock Me Gently" is very clearly a rock song. It even uses the word "rock" in its very title. But I heard some country cover while flipping through. It's not a song that can be toned down much from the original and still work, and the watered down country version was frighteningly bad.

Forts, fish and folios

And the poor little dog?
Why, after he had kicked and coughed a little, he sneezed so hard, that he sneezed himself clean out of his skin, and turned into a water-dog, and jumped and danced round Tom, and ran over the crests of the waves, and snapped at the jelly-fish and the mackerel, and followed Tom the whole way to the Other-end-of-Nowhere.

Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies

I did three things of interest today: visited Fort Sumter, visited the Aquarium of South Carolina, and visited a used book store.

Fort Sumter, for those who don't know U.S. history, was the first battle of the Civil War. As with the other historic sites I've visited, I'll let you Google the history if you're interested. (One fun fact: there were zero casualties during the battle, though a Union soldier died in an accident during the surrender ceremony.)

There were a few interesting things about the tour. The ferry ride out to the fort was the third narrated tour I've had this trip (the others during the Naples cruise and Savannah ferry) and the least satisfying. Rather than having the pilot narrate what we were seeing, they played a recording. That made it much less personal, and forced it to omit some facts, such as the fact there were sailboat races going on that day and we passed them. Also, the recording overlapped with what the ranger at the fort said, spoiling some facts. When he asked if we knew why there were forts off Charleston's coast, we'd just heard the answer 10 minutes before.

My other observation is that the tour was almost completely Caucasian. I only saw one African American on the trip. No comments on that.

On to the next tale of interest: the SC Aquarium has a theme: the fish and habitats of South Carolina. All animals there are native to the state. It doesn't really hurt the variety; there were gators, sharks, turtles (one is named Coretta, and weights 250 pounds), jellyfish, a type of salamander called a siren which is over a foot long and looks like an eel, and much more. In addition to fish, they have a couple of rescued animals who couldn't be returned to the wild, such as Liberty, the bald eagle. Her wing was injured a few years ago, so she can't fly.

I watched the fish feeding, which is now a little interactive. They have improved scuba gear so that the divers can have a microphone in their helmets. They can hear what the audience asks, and we can hear their comments over the PA system.

It's not the prettiest aquarium I've seen (that was in Chattanooga) but it was pretty interesting. I think the focused theme really helped.

On to the Book Exchange. I don't remember the last time I was in a used book store. (I know I don't need more books, but I'm addicted.) There used to be two in Red Bank, but both closed years ago. I mentioned to one of the owners (I didn't get her name) how nice it was to be in a used book store again, but she was pretty pessimistic.

"It's getting hard to pay the rent," she said. The recession has made people cut back on everything, including used books. And since the store offers credit (as the name implies, there's exchanges) a lot of people are just trading books, rather than buying them and bringing in revenue.

It's a pity, because there are lots of books which are hard to find at a library, and are out of print. Two of the books I picked up were by the late John Brunner and late Damon Knight, two highly regarded science fiction authors whose work is difficult to find any more. (Knight is probably best remembered for the story "To Serve Man." Brunner wrote the wonderful eco-tastrophe books "Stand on Zanzibar" and "The Sheep Look Up.")

Also, used book stores have a wonderful social atmosphere. The owner knew several customers by name. More importantly, she could bring her dogs to work. One was a big black dog (maybe some sort of sheep dog?) named Katie. The other was a puppy (same species) whose name I missed. She asked me if she could walk him down the aisle I was browsing, to help socialize him, since he's skittish around people.

But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind?

Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.

-- Trainspotting

Below are a few rather random thoughts I had on my drive from Naples to Charleston.

1. Florida puts its politics on the road. While I was there, we saw several license plates that said "Choose Life." As you can see by the quote I chose, I suspect it means there are many people in the state who favor legalizing drugs. That's pretty daring; in New Jersey, the special cause plates are for issues like "honor our soldiers" or "protect endangered species." On the off chance I'm misinterpreting it, I also saw some billboards that seemed pretty anti-abortion, saying something life "a heartbeat begins in 18 days" and including some 800 number to call. Strangely enough, while I was there, I also saw several billboards advertising vasectomy services. Are either of these really appropriate? I'm used to my billboards advertising booze, vacations, restaurants, fireworks and other goods. But the most political I've seen before is "vote for X" signs. And does anyone

2. As I mentioned earlier, I heard "Shot Through The Heart" several times on my trip down. On my way to South Carolina, I heard "Sister Golden Hair" (will you meet me in the middle/ will you meet me in the air/ will you love me just a little...) at least three times. America is a popular group here.

3. A dishwasher is no longer the coolest thing I've had in a hotel room. This one (a Sleep Inn) has a fully functional ceiling fan.

4. My GPS took me on some pretty backward roads. I thought it would keep me on big roads like I-95. Instead, it took me on relatively smaller roads, through Arcadia in Florida. It was nice and rural feeling. I passed a couple of drive-in restaurants, and was tempted to stop at one for lunch, but a) wasn't hungry and b) wanted to stretch when I ate, since it was a long drive. And there was a period after I entered South Carolina when I was on this stretch of road where there was not another car behind me for 45 minutes. Since the sun had set, it was almost creepy; I'd look in the rear view mirror and see blackness behind me.

5. After arriving at the hotel, I was hungry (I'd missed dinner). Since the two closest choices were a Chic-Fil-A and a local wings bar called D.D. Peckers, I decided the bar was the safer and more tasty bet. They have a nice variety of buffalo wings. Strangely enough, the last time I ordered wings was also when I was on vacation.

Well, I _am_ a tourist

"If seven maids with seven mops/ Swept it for half a year./ Do you suppose," the Walrus said,/ "That they could get it clear?"/ "I doubt it," said the Carpenter,/ And shed a bitter tear.

-- Charles Dodgson

Today, I was one of those tourists who does things the locals know are stupid but the yokels think it's the right thing to do. The sort that cranes their neck up at skyscrapers in New York City, snapping photos and begging for their pocket to be picked. The sort that insists on eating at the Spanish Steps in Rome even though there's only a McDonald's there, and there are wonderful trattorias just blocks away.

In this case, I went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.

We'd gone to Sanibel Island, to visit the "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Depending on traffic, it's either a 40-minute or two-hour trip from Naples to Sanibel Island. Going there it was 40 minutes.

The refuge is named for a famous editorial cartoonist from the early 20th century. This one actually has a lot of wildlife. We saw plenty of birds, and you could even see fish leaping out of the waters. My favorite part was when we encountered this flock of spoonbills. They're brilliant pink birds with a beak that looks like, well, you know. After this, we headed down to Bowman's Beach, for a picnic lunch.

This is the second time I've been to a beach while in Florida. Both times, the waters have been essentially empty. Floridians know that it's only March, and the water's not quite comfy for a dip. But I've been told that Florida has wonderful beaches and beautiful green water, and I was determined to take advantage of it. (I've also heard only to swim at beaches. Taking a dip in a river, or poorly fenced in swimming pool, is apparently a great way to feed the gators. But since I was at a beach, that wasn't a concern.)

Sometimes, when you go into the ocean, the water starts out very cold but soon feels comfortable. In this case, it started out very cold, but soon felt merely cool. Still, I spent about 10, 15 minutes splashing around.

Leaving took significantly longer. On our way back, we encountered a large traffic jam. I suspect it was caused by a nasty accident, because we stopped by a gift shop, She Sells Sea Shells, just as the traffic was snarling up. Their power was out, as were all the other ones on the island. The cashier said she suspected someone tried to drive under that bridge again, whatever that bridge was. She Sells Sea Shells has plenty of shell- and fish- themed items. My favorite thing in the store was a life-sized, almost realistic looking replica of a manta ray. It would have been completely realistic except for the googly eyes. So getting back took about two hours.

That wraps up my time in Naples. Tomorrow, I'm heading up to South Carolina.

He's father, he knows best; Our kids watch Howdy Doody as...

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin', into the future

-- Steve Miller Band

I have determined the reason I saw so few birds at the sanctuary on Friday is that the avians of Naples feel no need to be protected from humans. They're pretty fearless.

This morning, we went to the Naples Pier. Resting on top of the entrance was an egret. As we walked further in, a sea gull was perched on the railing, posing for photos. Seriously, he was letting people get within a foot or two of him for a picture. And on the way back, I saw a raven fly down and perch on the pier, with a piece of food in his mouth. Pelicans are also extremely common there. So common that they put out signs asking visitors not to feed them, the same way that lakes in New Jersey have signs asking people not to feed the ducks.

While at the pier, in addition to the ornithology experience, I was also stopped by a group of German tourists who asked me to take their photo. Why me, I don't know. Maybe I have a trustworthy face. I'm told, by the way, Germans like visiting Naples. I'm not sure why they find it a popular destination.

The pier would be an interesting historic monument, if it were genuine. The original one was built in the 1880s. However, it keeps getting destroyed by hurricanes and rebuilt.

This evening, we took a sunset cruise. Again, there were plenty of birds flying around and enjoying themselves. My favorite was the pelican who decided to hitch a ride on our boat. He (or maybe she) just hopped on, and stayed there, for 20 minutes of the tour. Like the seagull, he seemed happy to pose for pictures. A very cool bird.

He might have been interested in learning how homes in Naples are built, which the tour explained: if it's along the river, they're constructed by people who aren't aware the real estate market collapsed a few years ago. People are still spending tens of millions of dollars for property there, and often they'll demolish the mansions as soon as they've bought the land. There's one multi-millionaire who bought an island off the coast. He's already build a 24,000 square foot guest house, and he's building 13 more homes of similar size, one for each of his children. The only way to get to them is by boat. Crazy.

Thanks to your local library

Pathetic human race. Arranging their knowledge by category just made it easier to absorb. Dewey, you fool: Your decimal system has played right into my hands!

-- The Big Brain, Futurama

Since we were unimpressed with Blockbuster's selection, and since we still wanted to watch movies, and since they're free at the place referred to in the above quoted episode of Futurama as a "lie-berry" we went to the Naples Public Library to see what was available.

When we approached it, I thought it must have been a church at one point (see photo). Apparently, it wasn't. It was built for this purpose. Except for that little sign on the right hand side of the entrance, which lists its hours, you'd have no proof of its purpose.

In all honesty, it looks like a nice building. I didn't look around it too much, except for its video section, which seems decent. Too decent.

When you check out a DVD from Naples, you can keep it for up to three weeks. Twenty-one days. Five hundred and four hours. And we're not talking only for documentaries, but for all movies. That strikes me as a bit excessive.

There is a limit -- but a generous one -- on how many you can take out. While we were waiting in line, the people ahead of us had the following conversation:

CIRCULATION: I'm sorry sir, but you're only allowed to have six videos out at a time. You already have one checked out, and you're trying to check out six.
PATRON: Yes. I have six I want to check out.
CIRC: But you have a DVD at home already, right?
PATRON: Yes. I've got that documentary.
CIRC: So you can only take out five more.
PATRON: Okay. So can I take all these out?
CIRC: No. There are six here.

(If you enjoyed this conversation, and want to see others like it, I recommend the website notalwaysright.com)

Hahahahaha hahahahaha hahahahaha

Hark to the whimper of the seagull. / He weeps because he's not an ea-gull. / Suppose you were, you silly seagull. / Could you explain it to your she-gull?

Ogden Nash

Today's blog post is dedicated to the Red Bellied Woodpecker I saw at Corkscrew Swamp. The full name of the place is Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and Blair Audubon Center, but that's a bit of a mouthful.

But as the full name implies, this place is an animal sanctuary. We got in for free since my aunt gave us her family pass, but I contributed two bucks in order to get a guide. According to the guide, the park has raccoons, otters, deer, snakebirds, herons, egrets, alligators, and more. Their website says there are also bears, armadillos, and even bald eagles have been spotted in the land.

These are the animals I got within 200 feet of (there were some large birds overhead, but they were way off in the distance, so don't count):

• A spider
• Some squirrels
• A dove
• Two bees (one was only seen through a telescope)
• Although I didn't see it, a bunch of school kids on a tour said there was a beetle under a leaf. The kids seemed pretty honest, so I'll accept that.
• Some tadpoles (or maybe just some eddies in the water)
  
• And that woodpecker

Only the dove and the woodpecker were nice enough to stand still long enough to be photographed, and only the woodpecker strikes me as even a little unusual. How do I know it's a Red Bellied Woodpecker and not a Pileated Woodpecker, also found in the sanctuary? It's because of the new camera I bought before the trip. It's not anything spectacular by today's standards (or by the standards of the people who showed up to the park with telephoto lenses nearly as long as my arm) but it does have 5x zoom and 12 megapixels. That was enough detail for me to see the pattern on its back in the photo. All I could see in real life was the red patch on its head. (I'd load the photo, but I'm feeling tired.)

Not that I had a bad time at the sanctuary. But the animals were not cooperating. After we left the park, we saw some much more interesting critters, such as the pelicans flying over the water while we dined at Buzz's Lighthouse.

Today, I also learned that your Blockbusters card never goes bad. The last time I rented something from them was probably 2005, when I checked out some Playstation games. Still, after half a decade and 1,300 miles, it's still accepted.

We were looking for something to watch, obviously. Our choice, "Beyond A Reasonable Doubt," was probably not the best one. I won't talk about the film here, but I will complain about the IMDB's entry on it. As with all their films, the category "Plot Keywords" requires mousing over to avoid spoilers. But I don't think the categories of "Remake" or "Remake of an American Film" give anything away.

Turn the radio up

I want to shake off the dust of this one-horse town. I want to explore the world. I want to watch TV in a different time zone. I want to visit strange, exotic malls. I'm sick of eating hoagies. I want a grinder, a sub, a foot-long hero... I want to live, Marge! Won't you let me live?

-- Homer Simpson

I'm waiting for a call back, and expect to go out soon, so this will be a short entry. Also, I spent most of the day driving, not seeing interesting things.

First of all, my hotel room has a dishwasher, which I find really cool. I'm tempted to get the dishes dirty just so I can use the dishwasher.

Now two observations I had while driving:

1) Florida has a lot of bikers. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising. Up north, you can't take motorcycles out that well in the winter months. Here, you're not supposed to have to worry about cold weather, thought they were talking about the possibility of frost on the radio.

2) Each area you drive through has its own sort of radio stations. In the Outer Banks, I felt like I was living a few years ago, hearing songs like Three Doors Down's "Kryptonite." Going through Florida, I wasn't surprised by the numerous Christian and Country stations I flipped past on the way down, but the number of 80s stations was weird. I heard the song "Shot Through The Heart" at least three times today.

Cinema, signs, synagogues and supping

When we fought the Yankees and annihilation was near/ Who was there to lead the charge that took us safe to the rear?

-- L'il Abner

The scenic historic city of Savannah owes its continued existence to the fact that the Confederate Army ran away from Sherman as he was marching through the South. Because the Rebel Army retreated to South Carolina, the Union left the place intact. And, as the guide on the tour trolley I took (because hey, when will do I get a chance to ride a trolley car?) noted, without that, he wouldn't have a job pointing out the many interesting historic sites.

But, because you have Wikipedia, I won't go into detail about this place's rich history. I'll just point out a few things I found interesting.

1) Savannah was the inspiration for a host of movies, most of which I have little to no interest in. It was the site of the killing that inspired John Berendt to write "Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil," which inspired Clint Eastwood to make the movie. (I passed the house where the deed took place, and the cafe where Berendt got the idea for the film.) It contains an old railway car that has been converted into a restaurant, the Whistlestop Cafe. I think the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" dropped the eatery's name when it turned the book into a movie. The opening scene of "Forrest Gump" takes place in one of the city's many squares. And the inspiration for "Driving Miss Daisy" came from a real Savannah woman who went to the synagogue I visited, described below.

2) See that funny looking message at the bottom of the sign? In New Jersey, the phrase "Stop for pedestrians at crosswalk" would mean "Honk to warn the stupid pedestrians to move back to the sidewalk or face the consequences." In Georgia, people take it seriously. Several times, as I was waiting patiently on the sidewalk for a car going 25 or 30 mph to go through an intersection so I could cross, the driver stopped to let me go through. Either the police really enforce that rule, or this is an example of southern hospitality.

3) I visited the third oldest synagogue in the in the United States, Congregation Mickve Israel, and saw what is probably the oldest Torah in the new world. It was brought over by the original founders in the 1730s, and was apparently a couple of centuries old then. They still read from it once a year. (They don't actually roll the scroll; it's always kept to the same place. The reading is in mid-July, so I guess it's some portion from the book of Numbers. I didn't spend enough time looking at it to figure out which passage it is.) At some point in the 19th century, it became a Reform temple; by the 1860s they were playing organ music during the services. I was also told by the man giving the tour, a transplant from Cherry Hill, NJ, that there are no good delis in Savannah, and it is impossible to get a good bagel in Georgia. "They have Panera's," he scoffed. "We had bagels at our hotel breakfast this morning," said the other couple on the tour, "...and they weren't very good." My biggest regret about the visit is my choice of souvenirs. I picked up a book of photographs. After I had stepped out, I realized that they had a bunch of t-shirts that said "Shalom Y'all," which would have been a much, much cooler memento of southern Judaism.

4) I had lunch at BD Burgers, which has been voted the best burger joint in the city for something like eight years in a row. They do have very nice burgers; the beef tastes rich; it was well cooked on the outside and pink on the inside. The buns are very soft; they almost dissolve in the burger's juices. And the onion rings were straight from the fryer and very crisp.

I now know four Grateful Dead songs

Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street./ Your typical city involved in a typical daydream/ Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.

-- Truckin', Grateful Dead*

The most interesting part of my day was definitely the truck stop I accidentally wound up at.

When you're driving major roads in New Jersey, and most of the northeast, it's easy to figure out where to stop and eat: at the rest stops on the roadways. It's not great food, but you don't need to get off the thoroughfare. (Italy also has these; they call them Autogrills, and you can get both decent food and wine there).

In other states, you just need to look at the signs and figure out what you'd like. They list the restaurants and gas stations at the nearest exit. In this case, it was getting up to lunch time, I'd just gotten onto I-95, and the only restaurants around seemed to be McDonalds and a fast food place called Bojangles we don't have up north. I was tempted to try it, but wasn't really in the mood for fried chicken.

Then I saw a sign for five or six restaurants. I took that exit, and it turned out to be a truck stop area. There was a parking area for cars as well, so I went in. (It turned out that most of the restaurants were still under construction or renovation, so I wound up with fast food anyway.)

I've talked to truckers, and knew about the stops, but don't believe I've ever been in one before. A lot of it makes sense for people who are on the road a lot, like the pay showers near the bathrooms. They also sell a lot of things you'd want if you were spending a lot of time on the road. There are auto supplies, convenience-store foods, underwear, paperbacks, books on audio, and DVDs (they were advertised as discount DVDs, but I thought the price was average).

There was also, for some reason, a lot of Christian kitsch. One of the t-shirts they sold had the orange and brown pattern of a chocolate-peanut butter candy, but had put the word "Jesus" instead of Reese's. Another had a picture of the world on fire, and said something like "Get ready for global warming," followed by some bible verse. I assume it's connected to burning in hell somehow.

I'd have taken some pictures, but it seemed a bit rude to do that indoors. This photo was taken just as I left. I'd have tried for a better angle, but it was about to rain.

Two other notes about today's journey.
1) Apparently very few people go from the Outer Banks to Georgia, or at least few take the route I do. There was one period when I didn't see a single car on the roads I was on for over half an hour. This was by the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, which is a rather scenic area, even though I saw neither gator nor bear, which signs told me to look out for.

2) I'm staying at the Oglethorpe Inn in Savannah, and so far highly recommend it. The lobby is beautiful, and the rooms are spacious.

And, on a bookkeeping note, I've changed the options for commenting on this site, since several people said they had trouble leaving messages.

* (I had to look up the lyrics for that quote. I don't think I've ever listened to more than the first two lines before.)

I get no kick from a plane

Orville, Wilbur, go outside this minute,/ And there continue with your silly playing!/ Take these plans and take those blueprints./ Take that funny looking thing,/ Take that wheel, take that wing,/ I can't hear a thing that Mrs. Johnson's saying.

Mother Necessity, School House Rock

Before I tell about my trips today, two notes from last night.

As I mentioned, I travel with a Droid. One of the the things the mobile Google page has is a "near me now" link. If you press it, you can find nearby restaurants, shops, entertainment, etc. Very useful. Since I got hungry after posting, I found out about the Outer Banks Brewing Station. (They make their own beer, and they're wind powered. I had the Captain's Porter.)

Also, the Outer Banks is much prettier in the day than at night. When I got here, it could have been any town. But in the daytime, I can see the ocean from outside my hotel, and the roads all go over scenic bridges.

On Dec. 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made history by making the flight. (Unless you count balloons, or birds, or pterodactyls. You know what I mean.) The spot where they made it is about a a mile from my hotel, so I checked it out.

I found it both awe inspiring and dinky.

The inspiring: I've been on planes that have flown to other continents, and it's amazing that several tons of steel can stay in the air for thousands of miles. And there's a sense of history. You can walk the same strip that Wilbur did as he guided his brother in the plane before it took off. Plus there's a majestic monument on a hill overlooking the site.

The dinky: The first flight went 120 feet. I think the planes I've been on are longer than that. And the ground around the markers commemorating the first flights are huge and barren. It's like the Wright brothers didn't want to try their experimental vehicle where there were any trees or buildings it could crash into.

Since you're reading this online, and they're probably two of the best known Americans in history, I won't go into most of the details. I will, however, share to things I learned and liked:

• Orville Wright was a newspaper publisher. Since I work at a paper, that interests me. What I really love is that he was perfectly happy to cram his paper with filler (stories that aren't timely or necessarily local). Look at this Library of Congress copy of the paper, which starts out with a story of a Frenchman who wears disguises. The big news story about a gas company demanding it be allowed to raise its rates is in the middle of page 2.
• I love the names of the towns in this area: Duck, Nag's Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills. They're so evocative. There was a quote at the monument site from Wilbur: "The practice ground at the Kill Devil Hills consists of a level plain of bare sand, from which rises a group of detached hills or mounds formed of sand heaped up by the winds. These hills are constantly changing in height and slope." So the place was named because of its devilish hills.

I also visited Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Because that's abbreviated Fort Raleigh N.H.S. on the map, my Droid insists it is called "Fort Raleigh N High School." It's dedicated to the lost colony of Roanoke. I think my favorite part there (since the historic recreations are only done during the summer) was the nature trail. At that trail, they've constructed a narrative as to why the colony disappeared: the colonists had no idea how to live off the land, so they starved. They admit it's speculation, but it's interesting speculation. I also really loved how they reprinted notes from the would-be colonists with original spelling and punctuation intact. I liked it so much I picked up "A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia" written by Thomas Harriot in 1590. I believe in getting souvenirs for sites.

I did other stuff today too, but it was less interesting. Surely you don't want to hear about my quest for earphones. Actually, you might. I left mine at home, and realized during the nature walk that the plight of the lost colonists would be much more interesting with some They Might Be Giants playing. So I went looking for another set. I found a type I liked for a decent price at K-Mart. And this is the amazing part: I only had to wait in line for less two minutes before I was checked out. That never happens to me in New Jersey. There, I can be the only person in the store and it will still take them 10 minutes to ring up my order.

Tune in tomorrow for the saga of going down to Georgia. And now I have the Charlie Daniels Band stuck in my head.