Another day, another walrus

Best headline ever: Another day, another walrus in B'klyn

Spotted in amNY, New York City's answer to the Red Eye, on Friday, September 28. The text of the article is available on their web site, but, to my disappointment, the headline was changed.

Seems a walrus was born at the New York Aquarium. According to the aquarium's press release, "This historic occasion marked the first birth of a walrus in New York City."

Walrus enthusiasts rejoice: http://www.nyaquarium.com/babywalrus

If it flies, it dies

Last week I realized my lifelong dream of visiting a Nike missile site. The Nike system was a surface-to-air missile designed to shoot down squadrons of Soviet bombers as they approached US cities. Nike sites were spread all over the country and concentrated around major industrial areas. In the Chicago region, there were Nike missile installations at Jackson Park, Montrose Point, Wolf Lake, Fort Sheridan, and the Skokie Lagoons, to name a few [1]. The only restored Nike missile site in the country is Site SF-88, located in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco.

Behold the sweetness in my photo album from the site or from the official National Park Service site (the Marin Headlands are part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area).



I learned from the friendly NPS volunteer that the guardian of the Nike missileers is the Oozlefinch, a featherless bird usually often shown wearing an artilleryman's helmet and either grasping a Nike Hercules or crushing a Soviet aircraft in its talons. The Oozlefinch has no eyelids to disrupt its constant vigilance, so it flies backwards to keep dust out of its eyes. Worthy missileers were inducted into the the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Oozlefinch and then awarded various Oozlefinchling degrees as they merited. The motto of the Order is "Quid ad sceleratorum curamus," which may be loosely translated as "What the hell do we care?" [2]

The History Channel's "Weird US" series did a segment on the Nike program which they have kindly posted on YouTube.


[1] Ed Thelen's Nike Missile Web Site
[2] History of the Oozlefinch by Errol Porter

Bonus: NBC 5 Special Report: Chicago's Nuclear Missile History

Visit to the Zollman Zoo

The Zollman Zoo of Olmsted County, Minnesota is home to a variety of native Minnesota wildlife, including two very fat badgers.



Also, they have the finest river otter waterslide I've ever seen. See for yourself via their Otter Cam.

Wolf River rapids, again

When we rafted the Wolf River this June, the water levels were higher than we've seen in a long time (see Wolf River rapids, August 2006). It was glorious.

First-person video recorded with the Rocklobstercam Mk II; props to Scottie Z. for the third-person video.

Indiana's Waffle House Coup

Waffle House is familiar to anyone who has traveled through the Southeast. I used to think there were no Waffle Houses northwest of the Ohio River. Turns out that in Indiana, at least, they were just hiding. When WH sought to expand into the Hoosier State, they found that there was already a restaurant chain by that name in Indiana. The Georgia-based hash-slingers were undeterred, however, and named their Hoosier restaurants "Waffle & Steak" instead. Now, however, the original Indiana Waffle House has changed its name, and Waffle & Steak is Waffle House. Last week in Jeffersonville, Indiana (across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky), I dined at a Waffle House where shadows of the old "Waffle & Steak" signage remained visible after the installation of the more widely known Waffle House logo.

Until recently, Indiana seemed to be the last remaining champion of strange state's rights: in addition to the "Waffle & Steak" standoff, Hoosier timekeeping also presented a stumbling block to outsiders - hence the "What time is it in Indiana?" web site. However, in April 2006, the Indiana Legislature put an end to that. What's next for this Old Northwest bastion of state's rights? Will they finally reveal to the rest of the Union exactly what a "Hoosier" is? Only time will tell - eastern daylight time, that is, except in the ten or so counties on Illiana time

Indianapolis Business Journal - January 23, 2006

Waffle and Steak is now Waffle House. Well, the local diners have always technically been Waffle Houses, but the Norcross, Ga.-based company didn't have the legal rights to the name in Indiana. Hence, Waffle and Steak. Now that the company has acquired the name-after a fight dating back to 1974-it plans to dump the old Waffle and Steak signs and start putting up its traditional yellow and black marquees statewide.

Hot Brown

On Tuesday night, July 10, I realized my dream of eating a Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

Here's the official description of the dish from The Brown Hotel:

In 1923, The Brown Hotel drew over 1200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. In the wee hours of the morning, the guests would grow tired of dancing and retire to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Bored with the traditional ham & eggs, Chef Fred Schmidt delighted his guests by creating The Hot Brown - an open-face turkey sandwich with bacon, pimentos, and a delicate mornay sauce.

The Hot Brown was made in 1923
Here in Kentucky, not in Tennessee.

-The Hot Brown Cheer

The screaming hose-nose

Tapirs are neat for a number of reasons. This encounter (May 2007 at the Minnesota Zoo) leads me to propose that the Malayan tapir Tapirus indicus be given the revised common name "screaming hose-nose."