around-the-world

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Feng shui in the office

Maybe it's just because I live on the West Coast, but the majority of the offices I've worked in here have been run by people--men and women--who've used feng shui in their offices--and if not the entire office, then definitely at least the desk. Full disclosure: I also feng shui my desk. Partly to avoid Irritable Desk Syndrome. And partly because yes, sometimes I have a sinking feeling that one of my baguas is deficient. Thanks to Mangesh, we know about websites designed in accordance with feng shui, and... READ ON

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Paddy Issues (and the best set of links on the web!)

Paddy Issues I'm not sure if you guys have realized, but Miss C's been posting some incredible links over on the right side of our homepage, and she updates them! If you haven't been checking them out, here's just one of the great posts you've missed out... READ ON

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It's not just a ski mask

I love you, Wikipedia. The reasons are just...manifold. In a book I was recently reading, I came to a passage in which a character suddenly dons a balaclava helmet. I was at a loss. Baklava? Chef hats? What? So when I ran crying to Wikipedia, I was immediately supplied with an image, shown, that was graceful and bizarre and immediately comforting to my ignorance. This, Becky, is a balaclava helmet. You might know it as a ski mask. Its more formal name comes from the Crimean town of, yes, Balaclava, and the... READ ON

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Gravity in Canada: Solved

For years, the low gravity of Canada seemed just another benefit of its hard-to-pinpoint, happy-go-lucky image; however, scientists have recently gone public with an explanation of why, why Canada, do you boast lower gravity than the U.S.? Researchers have puzzled for years over whether this was due to the crust there rebounding slowly after the end of the last ice age or a deeper issue involving convection in the Earth's mantle "“ or some combination of the two. Now, ultra-precise measurements... READ ON

Article

What the Okapi?

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I love animals, ridiculous creatures that they are. So, why is it that it's taken me so long to hear about the Okapi? Apparently, the animal, which looks like a missing link between the zebra and the horse, resides in the Ituri rainforest of central Africa. Of course, I looked up the entry on wikipedia thanks to our friends at neatorama, and was so in disbelief that I double-checked the thing on Britannica. Apparently, it exists. In any case, here... READ ON

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Dog Days of Neunkirchen

I saw pics of this dog walking around, and immediately thought "What a croc!" Of course, I meant it in a totally admiring way. Members of the Neunkirchen Zoo street team came up with a genius PR campaign this last month. They've been walking a dolled-up pooch around town while handing out flyers that read "Come to the Zoo before the Zoo comes to you." Talk about animal magnetism! The threat has supposedly boosted attendance by 15% thanks to the team's creative... READ ON

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Rubber Ducky Flotilla Nearing Britain

In 1992, a cargo of 29,000 plastic (not rubber) ducks, turtles, and frogs was swept overboard from a container ship. The ship was bound for Seattle, carrying a cargo of toys manufactured in China. When the toys' containers fell overboard, they broke open, releasing the toys to the ocean currents. Since their voyage began in 1992, the ducks have been floating around the world's oceans, turning up on beaches across the globe. Retired Oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer has been tracking the toys on... READ ON

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Maori Healing

Over the years, a significant portion of my friends have been helpless to resist the charms of New Zealand. The ones who returned only did so due to capitalist obligations from which they could not be released. But! It was still within their power to spread the Zealand pollen stateside, and a watchful tourist's LCD seems to be an encounter with the Maori people--specifically, Maori healers who invoke a technique called Te Oomai Reia. From what I've read, it appears similar to Reiki (the transfer of energy)... READ ON

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My Pet Hippo

I'm such a sucker for stories like this. Maybe it's because my grandpop was a Chief of forestry in India, and kept an abandoned bear cub in his house for a few months when my mom was a child; or perhaps it's because I read Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals a few too many times as a kid, but I love ridiculous stories of people keeping big game as pets. The Daily Telegraph has this lovely story of Jessica the hippopotamus, who lives with some rangers in South Africa. Apparently, she washed up very... READ ON

List

Summer Solstice Celebrations

The summer solstice is the point at which the Earth's northern hemisphere is tilted the furthest toward the sun, usually (but not always) on June 21st, as it is this year. The sun is at the highest point for us, as shown in this analemma. The celebration of the solstice, or Midsummer has taken place since men first noticed the point of the year with the most daylight. In some countries, the pagan celebrations of old were replaced by a feast day for St. John the Baptist on June 24th, but many of the... READ ON