Rants
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Tuesday, April 6th, 2010Lewis and Clark, continental explorers, were big news during their extended 2003-2006 bicentennial (we stumbled across tributes to them in dozens of city parks and museums). It got so crazy, we thought, that North Dakota even erected a twice-life-size statue of “Seaman,” their dog. Lewis and Clark have since faded from public view — they’ll […]
Let’s Go Day Glow (Part 2)
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010Now that we’ve absorbed a bit about the science behind fluorescence, let’s see how black lights and glow-in-the-dark effects add psychedelic pageantry to many leisuretime activities. Eerie day-glo exoticism is a popular feature at haunted houses, mystery spots, and classic amusement park “dark rides” (many of which have undergone klutzy re-branding, Kennywood’s “Garfield’s Nightmare” being […]
Old Chief Faces New Foes In Bemidji
Monday, March 22nd, 2010For a hundred years a statue of Chief Bemidji has stood in his namesake city of Bemidji, Minnesota. The current Chief has looked out over Lake Bemidjigamaug since 1952, replacing an earlier model that had fallen apart.
Dead Elvis: Another Milestone Birthday
Friday, January 8th, 2010Elvis Presley: alive for 42 years, dead for 33 years, and tourist attraction for nearly as long. His tributes grow more fabulous with the passage of time, and he remains one of the few celebrities who can be recognized without his head.
The Urge To Burj
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is set to open to the public on December 2, 2009. This titan of towers is the centerpiece of a 20 billion dollar development project that is bizarrely ambitious and ostentatious even by Dubai standards. Other record-setting features of this enormous undertaking include Dubai Mall (“the world’s largest shopping […]
Don’t Diss The Kiss
Monday, September 21st, 2009Sarasota, Florida has finally embraced the 26-foot-high, painted fiberglass sculpture “Unconditional Surrender,” which depicts a sailor enthusiastically planting a smoocherooni (as they called it in liberated villages) on the lips of a loose-limbed nurse on V-J Day in Times Square. After a combative public hearing, city commissioners decided to accept a donation of the $500,000 […]
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