Looks like Denali from the Parks. It always looks like it’s going to fall and crush everything
Northern California maybe?
That’s interesting about Thomas Sowell.
Recently I went snowmobiling in the White Mountains through Franconia Notch State Park trail and it was so stunningly beautiful. Not only beautiful, like a beautiful view, but that you, riding through, were immersed in the beauty. Breathtaking. The beauty of nature was wrapped all around you including the ground, tree canopy, snow flurries filling the air, then the snowscape of New Hampshire woods and streams and snug between two mountains. I have not the photography skills to capture that feeling so took no photographs.
That is an incredible photo! Whenever I photograph mountains I completely fail to capture the scale and their grandeur. I don’t know what I do wrong, but the image you captured is what I see with my eyes, but when I look at the image on the camera or film; no majesty at all.
Well done!
om,
Regarding Kansas, awhile ago I read that someone did his PhD dissertation proving that Kansas is, in fact, flatter than a pancake (maybe he was a cartography major?). At first I was impressed, but later I read that the earth is more smooth than the best manufactured billiard ball. I thought that must be false, so I did the math. The highest and lowest points (Everest – Mariana Trench) are roughly 7 miles from sea level (I use that for memorization, but Everest is a tad shorter and Mariana a tad deeper). The Earth’s circumference is about 25,000 miles. That’s a difference of 7/25,000. A billiard ball is 2.25 inches. So, as long as the billiard ball has a pit or bump that exceeds 6 ten thousandths of an inch(!), the Earth, is in fact, smoother than a billiard ball.
So, not only is Kansas flatter than a pancake. If Everest were next to the Mariana Trench it would still look flatter than a pancake to a giant whose pancakes are the size of our planet.
Another fun fact. If we treat the ocean floor as the base of ocean mountains (as we do with the other planets in the solar system), Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on the planet (also its tallest volcano).
Denali?
Jaynie,
I was recently hiking on the Door County peninsula in Wisconsin. Sub zero temperatures. Lake Michigan frozen in stunning sculptures from the movement of the formerly liquid water. Trees covered in snow. And nary another soul for long periods of time. My tracks were often the first I saw in the snow (except for animal tracks) as far as my eyes could see. It was so beautiful I hardly noticed the temperatures. In reality a somewhat precarious situation. If I got injured, or lost it could have turned into a replay of London’s, “To Build a Fire,” but I felt completely safe and protected. It was amazing to me that in such a harsh environment I could feel so calm and serene.
I have only snowmobiled once, very briefly, on a lake, but I would really like to do a day trip on trails, especially where one pops into a local inn for some grub and a beer. It sounds like a great time!
Shasta!
Re: Cueball earth …
Rufus T. Firefly:
I once heard that analogy completed as, “Then, if you breathed hard on the cueball, you would have the oceans to scale.”
I really enjoy ice skating. When visiting Montreal I got to skate in a park where the ice surface is a canal. The one and only time I’ve gotten to skate on something other than an oval. I really enjoyed that. One day I hope to do a point to point ice skating trek.
Rufus T. Firefly:
The Sand Hills of Kansas are quite pretty IMO, but then prairies have a charm all their own. Good points about scale effects and topography.
My guess is Mt Shasta in California. My last flight was from Medford, OR to San Francisco. It was a clear day. Air Traffic Control granted permission for a close fly by of Shasta. The passengers appreciated the unexpected close up. Still miss the fun of flying. Don’t miss the politics of it.
If it’s not Shasta, it is probably one of the other inactive Northwestern volcanoes. Maybe Mt. Jefferson.
Mt. Shasta in Northern California on Highway 97 southbound from Klamath Falls, OR to Weed, CA, to be specific. Beautiful drive and Shasta has some great hikes. BTW, Weed was a founder’s name.
It is Mt. Shasta, California. Discount Hotels uses a similar photo for their brochure and web page. https://tinyurl.com/535s9676
JJ; AMartel; Indigo Red:
Bingo.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Thanks! That particular road gives amazing views, really quite close. You almost can’t go wrong.
huxley,
Not only that, but what an incredibly thin sliver our atmosphere is! My guess is it’s an optical illusion of perspective due to our (we humans) size and earthboundedness, but I think we tend to think of the sky as an immense expanse, much vaster than the oceans, or even the land. Our atmosphere is really thin! That’s good, pressure-wise, otherwise we’d be crushed, like the surface of Venus. But it’s disconcerting how thin our store of O2 and UV protection is. Probably good the optical illusion makes us think it’s a much greater expanse than it is.
Scott:
Yes, Sowell was a photographer in the army, and he still takes a lot of photographs. I read his autobiography years ago. Interesting book.
neo @ 1:34,
Oh, I could go wrong. Believe me! My brain has a huge disconnect when it comes to visualization, especially how something will look in a photograph. I’ve memorized some techniques to do a decent job when photographing people, but animals and landscapes are still beyond my meager abilities.
@om: I know Rattlesnake Mountain, grew up near there, got family in the area, see it every Thanksgiving.
Compared to the Cascades it’s not much of a mountain though. I live close to mountains bigger than that which I can’t see because they’re blocked by other mountains bigger than that.
Eastern Washington geology is very interesting.
To further explain the optical illusion we have regarding the sky:
Look up and imagine the distance to the edge of the atmosphere, the amount of “sky” directly overhead. Now think about the dirt under your feet and the distance to the center of the Earth. Mentally, it “feels” to me like there is a lot more sky overhead than earth below.
The “death zone” where oxygen is so low most humans start dying, is about 5 miles. The atmosphere is a bit of a flexible definition, but 12 miles above sea level is a good number. Depending on where your feet are, the center of the Earth is about 4,000 miles away.
Here’s some math I did years ago to get a perception of that difference:
Terminal velocity for a human is about 150mph (now, you Physicists, let’s ignore the fact that air density and gravity vary throughout this example). That means if you fell from the edge of the “air” it would take about 1/12th of an hour (~5 minutes) to hit the ground. (Let’s give you a parachute that you deploy 200′ above the surface so you land safely.)
Now let’s say you fall into a hole that goes all the way to the center of the Earth. Traveling at the same rate of speed (150mph) it would be over 26 hours before you’d reach the center! (We can give you a parachute in this scenario, but you’d have bigger geothermal struggles to deal with long before you get to the center.) Falling for more than an entire day!!
For folks who haven’t thought about it, or done the math, I imagine guesses would vary widely from reality. I’ll bet most folks would assume falling from the edge of the “sky” would take an hour, or more, and I bet they’d give a similar number for reaching the center of the Earth. I think the illusion has something to do with falling into a cave, or hole, or something surrounded by Earth, as opposed to falling “through” the open sky.
I’ve had good luck photographing San Antonio Mt. in Northern New Mexico. It’s just off 285 before Colorado. It’s hard to go wrong, especially if you get some good clouds.
Nearly 40 years ago the local running club got permission from the DOE for a club run on the road to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain. It helped that the head of DOE-RL was a runner and member of the club because the road is closed to the public. Anyway it was a long but fun run, with grand views, but a bit breezy. Now it is part of the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve(?) and sacred native stomping grounds.
I was too late to yesterday’s open thread to opine on DNW’s culinary comments, but I was laughing as I read them. It’s odd how closely my attitudes align on the specific things he listed.
First, I can’t stand marzipan. My mother-in-law, being a European immigrant, treated the stuff with a reverence most folks reserve for precious metals. On many occasion I had to silently suffer through a marzipan laden dessert, pretending it was delicious.
Second, creme broulee seems grotesque to me. I’ve had to eat it. Like DNW I’ve had to attend a lot of business dinners and, for some reason, some men (it’s always been men) insist that one “Tries the creme broulee!” Yuk. Tapioca…. Rice pudding… Yuk.
Third, like him I have also avoided learning the names for most of these things; including wines. Also, like him, I generally enjoy learning new words, even foreign words, and am very interested in etymology, but, for some reason, certain terms for food and drink just seem like a waste of time to me. It all seems so arbitrary. And unnecessary. I even recall reading british novels where a character raves about “Turkish delight” and having an aversion to the very idea that someone would be so delighted about something so formless, sweet and mushy. At least I assume that’s what its texture is. I’ve never even bothered to research what it is.
Fourth, and, like him, I also have no interest in anything called a “pudding,” nor am I sure what phylum and genus such things even fall in. I assume “puddings” are just foods that are gooey, but I have no idea if that is what the definition really is, or if that is what they are about. I know there are “blood” puddings, and I know there are also blood sausages, as well as blood soups, and they differ somehow, so I assume the puddings fall between sausage and soup, but I don’t think I really care to know if that’s right, nor why.
Also, most pastries seem simply absurd to me. That anyone would put so much time and effort into adorning food, and others would get so excited about it, and spend so much money on a “torte” (whatever that is). It all seems like glorified donuts to me.
Gorgeous! There really is beauty in the world and your captured it!
Rufus T. Firefly:
Avoid the black and the white puddings unless you’ve crashed in the Andes with your soccer team.
Which reminds me of a documentary I once watched on the ill-fated Donner Party, who got stuck in the Sierra Nevadas during winter. Many starved. Some resorted to cannibalism. Quite grim.
The pioneers had decided to try a new route to California, which was supposed to be faster, but wasn’t. One of the survivors later wrote to a friend, who was planning a similar trip:
_______________________________________________
Remember, never take no cut-offs and hurry along as fast as you can.
I lack the seemingly pervasive human gene to get excited over food. I’m probably the only person on Earth who gets excited when listening to Astronauts or Infantrymen talk about their meals. “Something in a can or pouch that can be consumed quickly and you know it has all the nutrients and calories you need? Sign me up!” Things like appearance, taste (and surrounding mood and atmosphere) are way down on my list of why I eat.
Speaking of which, have you heard that NASA has put a restaurant on the Moon? I hear the food is good, but there’s no atmosphere. 🙂
huxley,
For years I have been fascinated by the Lewis and Clark expedition. I just learned last week that Jefferson’s prediction is actually true; one can travel by water from one U.S. coast to the other. Now, if that “one” is much bigger than a tadpole portions of the paddle would be difficult, but there is a spot in Wyoming “Parting of the waters/Two Ocean Pass” where, depending on the path a minnow chooses, he or she could wind up in the Atlantic or the Pacific!
I’ve researched it a bit, and it doesn’t appear anyone has done the paddle/portage. I think some folks have done the entire Missouri down to the Gulf of Mexico, and others have done the Columbia to the Pacific. Kind of surprised that milestone has been left unclaimed.
Rufus T Firefly:
The restaurant will serve these:
moonchese.com
Shades of Wallace and Grommit.
They are tasty but spendy.
Nick Park’s, “A Grand Day Out” was brilliant! Amazing what he came up with, nearly completely on his own. Practically rebooted stop motion film single handedly.
Rufus T. Firefly
I lack the seemingly pervasive human gene to get excited over food.
I’m similar until it comes to Cajun food. Love it!
My guess was Mt. Shasta (14,162 feet) before I saw the answer. I should know; I climbed to the summit seven times, from north and south approaches. This view is from the north. The sub peak, Shastina is on the right shoulder. That is how I distinguished it from other, similar Cascades volcanoes. On my last climb, (May 1984) we skied down from very near the summit.
RFT:
“I hear the food is good, but there’s no atmosphere.”
Repeating that (and I will, of course) may get me banned from whatever gathering I’m at…
BTW, in some strata of the UK ‘pudding’ is just a generic term for ‘dessert’.
Rufus T. Firefly,
Whoa, your Wisconsin snow and ice hike sounds like dramatic beauty!
To Build a Fire. What a masterpiece! This part breaks my heart. Every time.
“ But before he could cut the strings, it happened. It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open. But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire. Now the tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs. No wind had blown for weeks, and each bough was fully freighted. Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree—an imperceptible agitation, so far as he was concerned, but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster. High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them. This process continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow.”
Plus, your choice of names! Duck Soup!
Alan French,
Amazing! Wow!
Jaynie,
Yes, “Duck Soup.” WGN (I think?) in Chicago would show it every New Year’s Eve, prior to showing Benny’s, “The Horn Blows at Midnight.” My folks would naturally go out on the town and my sister and I always seemed to be at my mother’s parents’ house, where we’d watch “Duck Soup,” and then Grandma would have us go outside and bang pots and pans (a Polish custom) to ward off any evil that might try to slip into the new year. I was probably 8 or 9 the first time I remember seeing it, but it formed the basis for my internal politics ever since. Anyone who thinks any politician is any more sane, or less on the take and make than Rufus T. Firefly has not been paying attention to politics.
I have not read, “To Build a Fire” for many years, but I remember thinking it masterful how London described the dog, and its behavior, especially after things ultimately go awry for the man.
I coulda used a trigger warning before I read “To Build a Fire” in high school!
@Rufus:
Does your dislike of ethnic confectionaries extend to these?
I’m anti-carbohydrates, but once a year, I’ll freeze a bunch of these and then devour them. Polish supermarket down the road in the Plaza. In Hong Kong. And me an anti-Globalist.
Delicious.. but there are still better uses for plums; all involve distillation.
@Huxley:
Snowflakes of today would need trigger warnings for all of Jack London and more. Was listening to a discussion on the two film versions of Watership Down yesterday. Apparently the young of today find the 1970s version much too bloodthirsty and based and aren’t too keen even on the toned down violence version produced 20 years later.
By the way, you have Rufus T. Firefly to thank for these open threads. It was his suggestion, and so far people seem to be enjoying them.
Millions of Chinese people here live in accommodations like this — with vanishingly little property or violent crime. The occasional swan diver being the only real hazard to life and limb. Could you imagine a Vertical Baltimore?
In the old days the government used to have public service TV ads reminding folk not to throw their old surplus TV out the 25th floor window when the shiny new Sony Trinitron was delivered. The anti-littering campaign seems to have succeeded as regards inanimate objects.
Thanks Rufus!
An idea whose time has come. If there ever was a year which needed Open Threads, this must be it.
Sarah Hoyt is good today on the topic of Change and just how difficult it becomes to change one’s mind as one gets older.
Fortunately I’ve always been right about everything, so am gracefully ossifying into the most lustrous ivory-bunkered perfection imaginable.
During this years lock down Mrs jack QVC, HSN viewing time has exploded exponentially. Everything from cloths, disinfect wand to alien tape (no idea what alien tape is) but we have some.
But one item she bought was a … Vitamix.
This thing is great. It’s amazing the concoctions that you can do with this machine with a little imagination. And when your finished just add couple drops of Dawn and it cleans itself. We use it almost daily to make fruit smoothies, vegetable drinks and it even has a feature that you can make HOT soup.
And don’t get me started on the mixed drinks!
Zaphod:
I remember seeing “Watership Down” in the 80s and I had the thought, “Whoa, this isn’t how Walt [Disney] would have done it.”
As to Jack London, he was tough. I read “The Scarlet Plague” on my own. I was horrified but fascinated. Since then I’ve always been a sucker for a good plague story on paper or in film.
Covid has been rather disappointing. It’s like people are just phoning it in that we are in the midst of a super plague. As Peggy Lee might ask, “Is that all there is to a plague?”
Lastly, plums! In high school I became friends with a Filipino family. I would hang out with them on some weekends. Then later, when I was in college during the holidays. They introduced me to a Chinese salted plum candy called “Chan Pui Mui.”
It took some getting used to — it wasn’t a Snickers bar or that Polish chocolate plum thing you like — but past the initial surprise it was tasty. Looking it up on Amazon, I’m a bit distressed to see it contained lead.
I love salted plums. Didn’t know about the lead, thanks for heads up. Mind you, it just seems to have mellowed me. Probably explains the powdery reddish tinge some brands of these plum candies have — bit like what you see when stripping old paintwork.
I once had a girlfriend whose given name translated literally as Plum Fragrance. Guess she’s more like a Prune now.
Another good confectionary is Shanghai White Rabbit Milk Candy. Should be in every Chinese store. And another good one is ‘Haw Flakes’ — in fact I must reacquaint myself with these ASAP!
The open threads and music topics have been a godsend. I just couldn’t keep up with “Wow. Things are bad” and “Wow. Things are worse than I thought.”
Re Jack’s mention of the Vitamix, does anyone here own a Thermomix? If so do are they really that good, or a bit of a cult thing going on?
@Zaphod: I don’t have a Thermomix, but Megan McArdle has written a couple of articles about them.
TL;DR: They are that good, AND there’s a bit of a cult thing.
My inclination was that it was pretty spiffy, but if you already own a blender & food processor, it’s probably not worth your while.
@Eric Brown:
Thanks. Megan M certainly seems keen. I’ll have to think about it. Deep down I’m really just a culinary peasant (seem to be a few of us here!) and can likely get by with putting everything in a slow cooker in the morning and letting it transmutate into a brownish stew over the course of the day. Ladle onto plate, add salt, pepper and Tabasco Sauce and mission accomplished.
Still, to have made a computer-assisted soufflé once in one’s lifetime….
Rufus T. Firefly on February 23, 2021 at 2:54 pm said:
huxley,
I lack the seemingly pervasive human gene to get excited over food. I’m probably the only person on Earth who gets excited when listening to Astronauts or Infantrymen talk about their meals.
Not the only one, certainly. Here is a guy who took it to a new level, and whose videos I used to watch regularly. Lost track for awhile, but you just reminded me of him. I think that he is still alive.
Using two year old Ramen noodles in the cabin is about the most daring I have gotten.
Awwww, shucks. (What does one type to produce a blushing emoji?)
Although I’m having great fun reading the ad hoc comments of the regulars here on the open threads (and, happily noticing some new names), I also hope neo is getting some enjoyment from them and will get a much needed break on days when the blogging muse may not inspire her.
@DNW:
Much talk of ‘Portable Soup’ in Patrick O’Brian’s 20 (IIRC) Aubrey-Maturin novels.
This is what you need to liven up old Instant Ramen:
Yes. Although I’m informed by those familiar with traditional Polish cuisine that my babcia was an excellent cook, most all Polish food is not my cup of tea*, even the ever popular pierogi. I do like some of the plum based, German deserts my mother-in-law made but I’m with you, better to ferment them than waste them in pastries. My Polish uncles were always quick and generous with a variety of fruit based schnapps when I’d visit.
*She made a breaded pork dish that was similar to wienerschnitzel that I liked, and, of course, I never let on that I didn’t like anything she ever prepared, but, fortunately, my father was no fan of the cuisine and so we’d typically stop at a nearby hot dog stand after dining with babcia and dziadek.
Sowell was Marine Corps. Not Army.
The part in his autobiography where he describes how he was almost court-martialed for allegedly going AWOL (he didn’t) is chilling. None of his false-friendly “buddies” in the photographic unit would stand up for him; some of them may have set him up. His bacon was saved by a gruff, unfriendly, by-the-book white NCO who didn’t like Sowell but who liked seeing a brother Marine get railroaded even less. That was in the early 1950s. Taught him a lesson about whom to trust.
huxley @ 7:41pm,
I have had a similar experience. I certainly appreciate neo’s hard work on politics and the current state of affairs (and she often writes about fun topics like dancing, music, history…), but it’s nice to take a breather sometimes in these threads and get to know more about the commenters.
I wrote about this here before, but when Obama won his second term, like King Balthazar, I was rather certain I saw the handwriting on the wall, so, to quote the brilliant sage Gwyneth Paltrow, I consciously uncoupled from politics and current events. And, despite the Trumpian four year hiccup in our nation’s race to Socialism, I sadly still think my hunch is correct. And, regardless of the path of the nation, I only have one life and my time is better spent doing what good I can manage in my small sphere of influence, than obsessing over Joe, Kamala, Nancy and Chuck’s plans for me.
Zaphod,
I consume an incredible amount of Tabasco sauce*. McIlhenny’s naturally. I may not be a foodie, but I’m no cretin.
*Also salt. Morton’s Kosher salt.
@Rufus:
Gwyneth Paltrow you say? Hope you’re not about to start selling artisanal candles at the local craft market.
DNW,
My wife jokes and is simultaneously appalled by my cavalier attitude towards food spoilage and “sell by dates.” Along with having almost no taste buds (see my above comment about salt and tabasco), my stomach appears to be made from cast iron. One of my sons is similarly irreverent regarding leftovers and their useful lives. Perhaps it’s a type of hormesis that will help with my longevity?
Zaphod @ 9:50pm,
Craft or fish market.
I have had a similar experience. I certainly appreciate neo’s hard work on politics and the current state of affairs (and she often writes about fun topics like dancing, music, history…), but it’s nice to take a breather sometimes in these threads and get to know more about the commenters.
Rufus T. Firefly:
To be clear on my comment, I meant no criticism of neo or her topics, but my reactions, thoughts and writing about current events, which have mostly been, “Wow. Things are bad,” and “Wow. Things are worse than I thought.”
I start to feel like Marvin the Paranoid Android after a while. “Life, don’t tell me about life.”
Amazon censorship of “Hate speech” books now includes a thoroughly well sourced and medically praised critique of transgenderism.
The fascism just grows and grows among the magic word theocrats.
@Rufus:
Tsk tsk.
Moving right along… be thankful you’ve never walked past a yard full of vats of fermenting shrimp paste at high noon in summertime.
huxley,
And if I was not clear, I was stating the same. I currently find it good for my personal health to unplug from politics at the level I used to give it, but I’m very grateful folks like neo have not stopped digging for the truth as evidenced by her posts on January 6th and November 4th.
Zaphod,
Or a Singapore market in durian season.
John Hinderaker – showing signs of spine stiffening?
“I have been following politics closely for more than five decades, and the Democratic Party’s war on freedom of speech is the most sinister thing I have witnessed in that time. What is truly chilling is how few Democrats are willing to stand up for freedom. I know of three: Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Taibai and Glenn Greenwald. Kudos to them, but it is shocking that not a single current Democrat office-holder is, as best we can tell, in favor of free speech. We are facing an existential threat to our traditional liberties.”
Durian Season coming up shortly. It’s why resort hotels have balconies. Need somewhere to hide the Durian so that don’t get slugged with an extra room charge.
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything:
Rufus, re billiard ball Earth. You have mixed dimensional metaphors: the diameter of the billiard ball is nominally 2.25 inches (varies by game–pool, vs snooker vs, etc) and should be compared with the Earth’s diameter of roughly 8000 miles, not the circumference. The analogy of the Earth, if being shrunk to the size of the billiard ball, would be smoother. And, yes, takes a bit to comprehend when first confronted with it.
Another nit: The fall from the edge of the air would take longer as it takes a while to accelerate to that terminal velocity. On the fall through the hole in the Earth, one should plan for the idea that the various particles exert gravitational attraction on you and while balanced side-to-side, once past the center you will begin to slow as those behind you over power those ahead — if you haven’t already melted.
I also read somewhere that the layer of varnish on a 12″ diameter globe approximates the thickness of the earth’s atmosphere.
Following Rufus: 12 miles/4000 miles = 0.003; times 6″ = 0.018″.
Maybe the varnish is thinner but close?
Denali….?
Remains of St.Helens…?
NeoConScum:
AMartel identified it first (ding! ding! ding!) as Mt. Shasta.
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Very nice shot, Neo. Did you know the great Thomas Sowell is an avid and talented photographer?
On the road in search of the elusive Esquimo Crunch apple? Especially good cold storage traits?
My guess is Colorado.
Certainly not the Sand Hills of Kansas, or Rattlesnake Mountain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake_Mountain_(Benton_County,_Washington)
Looks like Denali from the Parks. It always looks like it’s going to fall and crush everything
Northern California maybe?
That’s interesting about Thomas Sowell.
Recently I went snowmobiling in the White Mountains through Franconia Notch State Park trail and it was so stunningly beautiful. Not only beautiful, like a beautiful view, but that you, riding through, were immersed in the beauty. Breathtaking. The beauty of nature was wrapped all around you including the ground, tree canopy, snow flurries filling the air, then the snowscape of New Hampshire woods and streams and snug between two mountains. I have not the photography skills to capture that feeling so took no photographs.
That is an incredible photo! Whenever I photograph mountains I completely fail to capture the scale and their grandeur. I don’t know what I do wrong, but the image you captured is what I see with my eyes, but when I look at the image on the camera or film; no majesty at all.
Well done!
om,
Regarding Kansas, awhile ago I read that someone did his PhD dissertation proving that Kansas is, in fact, flatter than a pancake (maybe he was a cartography major?). At first I was impressed, but later I read that the earth is more smooth than the best manufactured billiard ball. I thought that must be false, so I did the math. The highest and lowest points (Everest – Mariana Trench) are roughly 7 miles from sea level (I use that for memorization, but Everest is a tad shorter and Mariana a tad deeper). The Earth’s circumference is about 25,000 miles. That’s a difference of 7/25,000. A billiard ball is 2.25 inches. So, as long as the billiard ball has a pit or bump that exceeds 6 ten thousandths of an inch(!), the Earth, is in fact, smoother than a billiard ball.
So, not only is Kansas flatter than a pancake. If Everest were next to the Mariana Trench it would still look flatter than a pancake to a giant whose pancakes are the size of our planet.
Another fun fact. If we treat the ocean floor as the base of ocean mountains (as we do with the other planets in the solar system), Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on the planet (also its tallest volcano).
Denali?
Jaynie,
I was recently hiking on the Door County peninsula in Wisconsin. Sub zero temperatures. Lake Michigan frozen in stunning sculptures from the movement of the formerly liquid water. Trees covered in snow. And nary another soul for long periods of time. My tracks were often the first I saw in the snow (except for animal tracks) as far as my eyes could see. It was so beautiful I hardly noticed the temperatures. In reality a somewhat precarious situation. If I got injured, or lost it could have turned into a replay of London’s, “To Build a Fire,” but I felt completely safe and protected. It was amazing to me that in such a harsh environment I could feel so calm and serene.
I have only snowmobiled once, very briefly, on a lake, but I would really like to do a day trip on trails, especially where one pops into a local inn for some grub and a beer. It sounds like a great time!
Shasta!
Re: Cueball earth …
Rufus T. Firefly:
I once heard that analogy completed as, “Then, if you breathed hard on the cueball, you would have the oceans to scale.”
I really enjoy ice skating. When visiting Montreal I got to skate in a park where the ice surface is a canal. The one and only time I’ve gotten to skate on something other than an oval. I really enjoyed that. One day I hope to do a point to point ice skating trek.
Rufus T. Firefly:
The Sand Hills of Kansas are quite pretty IMO, but then prairies have a charm all their own. Good points about scale effects and topography.
My guess is Mt Shasta in California. My last flight was from Medford, OR to San Francisco. It was a clear day. Air Traffic Control granted permission for a close fly by of Shasta. The passengers appreciated the unexpected close up. Still miss the fun of flying. Don’t miss the politics of it.
If it’s not Shasta, it is probably one of the other inactive Northwestern volcanoes. Maybe Mt. Jefferson.
Mt. Shasta in Northern California on Highway 97 southbound from Klamath Falls, OR to Weed, CA, to be specific. Beautiful drive and Shasta has some great hikes. BTW, Weed was a founder’s name.
It is Mt. Shasta, California. Discount Hotels uses a similar photo for their brochure and web page. https://tinyurl.com/535s9676
JJ; AMartel; Indigo Red:
Bingo.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Thanks! That particular road gives amazing views, really quite close. You almost can’t go wrong.
huxley,
Not only that, but what an incredibly thin sliver our atmosphere is! My guess is it’s an optical illusion of perspective due to our (we humans) size and earthboundedness, but I think we tend to think of the sky as an immense expanse, much vaster than the oceans, or even the land. Our atmosphere is really thin! That’s good, pressure-wise, otherwise we’d be crushed, like the surface of Venus. But it’s disconcerting how thin our store of O2 and UV protection is. Probably good the optical illusion makes us think it’s a much greater expanse than it is.
Scott:
Yes, Sowell was a photographer in the army, and he still takes a lot of photographs. I read his autobiography years ago. Interesting book.
neo @ 1:34,
Oh, I could go wrong. Believe me! My brain has a huge disconnect when it comes to visualization, especially how something will look in a photograph. I’ve memorized some techniques to do a decent job when photographing people, but animals and landscapes are still beyond my meager abilities.
@om: I know Rattlesnake Mountain, grew up near there, got family in the area, see it every Thanksgiving.
Compared to the Cascades it’s not much of a mountain though. I live close to mountains bigger than that which I can’t see because they’re blocked by other mountains bigger than that.
Eastern Washington geology is very interesting.
To further explain the optical illusion we have regarding the sky:
Look up and imagine the distance to the edge of the atmosphere, the amount of “sky” directly overhead. Now think about the dirt under your feet and the distance to the center of the Earth. Mentally, it “feels” to me like there is a lot more sky overhead than earth below.
The “death zone” where oxygen is so low most humans start dying, is about 5 miles. The atmosphere is a bit of a flexible definition, but 12 miles above sea level is a good number. Depending on where your feet are, the center of the Earth is about 4,000 miles away.
Here’s some math I did years ago to get a perception of that difference:
Terminal velocity for a human is about 150mph (now, you Physicists, let’s ignore the fact that air density and gravity vary throughout this example). That means if you fell from the edge of the “air” it would take about 1/12th of an hour (~5 minutes) to hit the ground. (Let’s give you a parachute that you deploy 200′ above the surface so you land safely.)
Now let’s say you fall into a hole that goes all the way to the center of the Earth. Traveling at the same rate of speed (150mph) it would be over 26 hours before you’d reach the center! (We can give you a parachute in this scenario, but you’d have bigger geothermal struggles to deal with long before you get to the center.) Falling for more than an entire day!!
For folks who haven’t thought about it, or done the math, I imagine guesses would vary widely from reality. I’ll bet most folks would assume falling from the edge of the “sky” would take an hour, or more, and I bet they’d give a similar number for reaching the center of the Earth. I think the illusion has something to do with falling into a cave, or hole, or something surrounded by Earth, as opposed to falling “through” the open sky.
I’ve had good luck photographing San Antonio Mt. in Northern New Mexico. It’s just off 285 before Colorado. It’s hard to go wrong, especially if you get some good clouds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Mountain_(New_Mexico)
Fredrick:
Nearly 40 years ago the local running club got permission from the DOE for a club run on the road to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain. It helped that the head of DOE-RL was a runner and member of the club because the road is closed to the public. Anyway it was a long but fun run, with grand views, but a bit breezy. Now it is part of the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve(?) and sacred native stomping grounds.
I was too late to yesterday’s open thread to opine on DNW’s culinary comments, but I was laughing as I read them. It’s odd how closely my attitudes align on the specific things he listed.
First, I can’t stand marzipan. My mother-in-law, being a European immigrant, treated the stuff with a reverence most folks reserve for precious metals. On many occasion I had to silently suffer through a marzipan laden dessert, pretending it was delicious.
Second, creme broulee seems grotesque to me. I’ve had to eat it. Like DNW I’ve had to attend a lot of business dinners and, for some reason, some men (it’s always been men) insist that one “Tries the creme broulee!” Yuk. Tapioca…. Rice pudding… Yuk.
Third, like him I have also avoided learning the names for most of these things; including wines. Also, like him, I generally enjoy learning new words, even foreign words, and am very interested in etymology, but, for some reason, certain terms for food and drink just seem like a waste of time to me. It all seems so arbitrary. And unnecessary. I even recall reading british novels where a character raves about “Turkish delight” and having an aversion to the very idea that someone would be so delighted about something so formless, sweet and mushy. At least I assume that’s what its texture is. I’ve never even bothered to research what it is.
Fourth, and, like him, I also have no interest in anything called a “pudding,” nor am I sure what phylum and genus such things even fall in. I assume “puddings” are just foods that are gooey, but I have no idea if that is what the definition really is, or if that is what they are about. I know there are “blood” puddings, and I know there are also blood sausages, as well as blood soups, and they differ somehow, so I assume the puddings fall between sausage and soup, but I don’t think I really care to know if that’s right, nor why.
Also, most pastries seem simply absurd to me. That anyone would put so much time and effort into adorning food, and others would get so excited about it, and spend so much money on a “torte” (whatever that is). It all seems like glorified donuts to me.
Gorgeous! There really is beauty in the world and your captured it!
Rufus T. Firefly:
Avoid the black and the white puddings unless you’ve crashed in the Andes with your soccer team.
Which reminds me of a documentary I once watched on the ill-fated Donner Party, who got stuck in the Sierra Nevadas during winter. Many starved. Some resorted to cannibalism. Quite grim.
The pioneers had decided to try a new route to California, which was supposed to be faster, but wasn’t. One of the survivors later wrote to a friend, who was planning a similar trip:
_______________________________________________
Remember, never take no cut-offs and hurry along as fast as you can.
–Virginia Reed
_______________________________________________
Words to live by.
huxley,
I lack the seemingly pervasive human gene to get excited over food. I’m probably the only person on Earth who gets excited when listening to Astronauts or Infantrymen talk about their meals. “Something in a can or pouch that can be consumed quickly and you know it has all the nutrients and calories you need? Sign me up!” Things like appearance, taste (and surrounding mood and atmosphere) are way down on my list of why I eat.
Speaking of which, have you heard that NASA has put a restaurant on the Moon? I hear the food is good, but there’s no atmosphere. 🙂
huxley,
For years I have been fascinated by the Lewis and Clark expedition. I just learned last week that Jefferson’s prediction is actually true; one can travel by water from one U.S. coast to the other. Now, if that “one” is much bigger than a tadpole portions of the paddle would be difficult, but there is a spot in Wyoming “Parting of the waters/Two Ocean Pass” where, depending on the path a minnow chooses, he or she could wind up in the Atlantic or the Pacific!
I’ve researched it a bit, and it doesn’t appear anyone has done the paddle/portage. I think some folks have done the entire Missouri down to the Gulf of Mexico, and others have done the Columbia to the Pacific. Kind of surprised that milestone has been left unclaimed.
Rufus T Firefly:
The restaurant will serve these:
moonchese.com
Shades of Wallace and Grommit.
They are tasty but spendy.
Nick Park’s, “A Grand Day Out” was brilliant! Amazing what he came up with, nearly completely on his own. Practically rebooted stop motion film single handedly.
Rufus T. Firefly
I’m similar until it comes to Cajun food. Love it!
My guess was Mt. Shasta (14,162 feet) before I saw the answer. I should know; I climbed to the summit seven times, from north and south approaches. This view is from the north. The sub peak, Shastina is on the right shoulder. That is how I distinguished it from other, similar Cascades volcanoes. On my last climb, (May 1984) we skied down from very near the summit.
RFT:
“I hear the food is good, but there’s no atmosphere.”
Repeating that (and I will, of course) may get me banned from whatever gathering I’m at…
BTW, in some strata of the UK ‘pudding’ is just a generic term for ‘dessert’.
Rufus T. Firefly,
Whoa, your Wisconsin snow and ice hike sounds like dramatic beauty!
To Build a Fire. What a masterpiece! This part breaks my heart. Every time.
“ But before he could cut the strings, it happened. It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open. But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire. Now the tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs. No wind had blown for weeks, and each bough was fully freighted. Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree—an imperceptible agitation, so far as he was concerned, but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster. High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them. This process continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow.”
Plus, your choice of names! Duck Soup!
Alan French,
Amazing! Wow!
Jaynie,
Yes, “Duck Soup.” WGN (I think?) in Chicago would show it every New Year’s Eve, prior to showing Benny’s, “The Horn Blows at Midnight.” My folks would naturally go out on the town and my sister and I always seemed to be at my mother’s parents’ house, where we’d watch “Duck Soup,” and then Grandma would have us go outside and bang pots and pans (a Polish custom) to ward off any evil that might try to slip into the new year. I was probably 8 or 9 the first time I remember seeing it, but it formed the basis for my internal politics ever since. Anyone who thinks any politician is any more sane, or less on the take and make than Rufus T. Firefly has not been paying attention to politics.
I have not read, “To Build a Fire” for many years, but I remember thinking it masterful how London described the dog, and its behavior, especially after things ultimately go awry for the man.
I coulda used a trigger warning before I read “To Build a Fire” in high school!
@Rufus:
Does your dislike of ethnic confectionaries extend to these?
https://www.amazon.com/Solidarnosc-Sliwka-Naleczowska-Chocolate-17-28/dp/B00GB9R7RI
I’m anti-carbohydrates, but once a year, I’ll freeze a bunch of these and then devour them. Polish supermarket down the road in the Plaza. In Hong Kong. And me an anti-Globalist.
Delicious.. but there are still better uses for plums; all involve distillation.
@Huxley:
Snowflakes of today would need trigger warnings for all of Jack London and more. Was listening to a discussion on the two film versions of Watership Down yesterday. Apparently the young of today find the 1970s version much too bloodthirsty and based and aren’t too keen even on the toned down violence version produced 20 years later.
By the way, you have Rufus T. Firefly to thank for these open threads. It was his suggestion, and so far people seem to be enjoying them.
Missed, Dammit!
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3122824/pedestrian-escapes-serious-injury-after-elderly-woman
Millions of Chinese people here live in accommodations like this — with vanishingly little property or violent crime. The occasional swan diver being the only real hazard to life and limb. Could you imagine a Vertical Baltimore?
In the old days the government used to have public service TV ads reminding folk not to throw their old surplus TV out the 25th floor window when the shiny new Sony Trinitron was delivered. The anti-littering campaign seems to have succeeded as regards inanimate objects.
Thanks Rufus!
An idea whose time has come. If there ever was a year which needed Open Threads, this must be it.
Sarah Hoyt is good today on the topic of Change and just how difficult it becomes to change one’s mind as one gets older.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2021/02/23/sunk-costs/
Fortunately I’ve always been right about everything, so am gracefully ossifying into the most lustrous ivory-bunkered perfection imaginable.
During this years lock down Mrs jack QVC, HSN viewing time has exploded exponentially. Everything from cloths, disinfect wand to alien tape (no idea what alien tape is) but we have some.
But one item she bought was a … Vitamix.
This thing is great. It’s amazing the concoctions that you can do with this machine with a little imagination. And when your finished just add couple drops of Dawn and it cleans itself. We use it almost daily to make fruit smoothies, vegetable drinks and it even has a feature that you can make HOT soup.
And don’t get me started on the mixed drinks!
Zaphod:
I remember seeing “Watership Down” in the 80s and I had the thought, “Whoa, this isn’t how Walt [Disney] would have done it.”
As to Jack London, he was tough. I read “The Scarlet Plague” on my own. I was horrified but fascinated. Since then I’ve always been a sucker for a good plague story on paper or in film.
Covid has been rather disappointing. It’s like people are just phoning it in that we are in the midst of a super plague. As Peggy Lee might ask, “Is that all there is to a plague?”
Lastly, plums! In high school I became friends with a Filipino family. I would hang out with them on some weekends. Then later, when I was in college during the holidays. They introduced me to a Chinese salted plum candy called “Chan Pui Mui.”
It took some getting used to — it wasn’t a Snickers bar or that Polish chocolate plum thing you like — but past the initial surprise it was tasty. Looking it up on Amazon, I’m a bit distressed to see it contained lead.
https://www.amazon.com/Chan-Pui-Mui-Chinese-Traditional/dp/B0002LEO40
@Huxley:
I love salted plums. Didn’t know about the lead, thanks for heads up. Mind you, it just seems to have mellowed me. Probably explains the powdery reddish tinge some brands of these plum candies have — bit like what you see when stripping old paintwork.
I once had a girlfriend whose given name translated literally as Plum Fragrance. Guess she’s more like a Prune now.
Another good confectionary is Shanghai White Rabbit Milk Candy. Should be in every Chinese store. And another good one is ‘Haw Flakes’ — in fact I must reacquaint myself with these ASAP!
https://www.amazon.com/Haw-Flake-10-628MART-Pack/dp/B07DN8NLWW/
neo, Rufus & all:
The open threads and music topics have been a godsend. I just couldn’t keep up with “Wow. Things are bad” and “Wow. Things are worse than I thought.”
Re Jack’s mention of the Vitamix, does anyone here own a Thermomix? If so do are they really that good, or a bit of a cult thing going on?
@Zaphod: I don’t have a Thermomix, but Megan McArdle has written a couple of articles about them.
TL;DR: They are that good, AND there’s a bit of a cult thing.
My inclination was that it was pretty spiffy, but if you already own a blender & food processor, it’s probably not worth your while.
@Eric Brown:
Thanks. Megan M certainly seems keen. I’ll have to think about it. Deep down I’m really just a culinary peasant (seem to be a few of us here!) and can likely get by with putting everything in a slow cooker in the morning and letting it transmutate into a brownish stew over the course of the day. Ladle onto plate, add salt, pepper and Tabasco Sauce and mission accomplished.
Still, to have made a computer-assisted soufflé once in one’s lifetime….
Not the only one, certainly. Here is a guy who took it to a new level, and whose videos I used to watch regularly. Lost track for awhile, but you just reminded me of him. I think that he is still alive.
Using two year old Ramen noodles in the cabin is about the most daring I have gotten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZoHuMwZwTk
neo @ 6:32pm,
Awwww, shucks. (What does one type to produce a blushing emoji?)
Although I’m having great fun reading the ad hoc comments of the regulars here on the open threads (and, happily noticing some new names), I also hope neo is getting some enjoyment from them and will get a much needed break on days when the blogging muse may not inspire her.
@DNW:
Much talk of ‘Portable Soup’ in Patrick O’Brian’s 20 (IIRC) Aubrey-Maturin novels.
This is what you need to liven up old Instant Ramen:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg
Zaphod,
Yes. Although I’m informed by those familiar with traditional Polish cuisine that my babcia was an excellent cook, most all Polish food is not my cup of tea*, even the ever popular pierogi. I do like some of the plum based, German deserts my mother-in-law made but I’m with you, better to ferment them than waste them in pastries. My Polish uncles were always quick and generous with a variety of fruit based schnapps when I’d visit.
*She made a breaded pork dish that was similar to wienerschnitzel that I liked, and, of course, I never let on that I didn’t like anything she ever prepared, but, fortunately, my father was no fan of the cuisine and so we’d typically stop at a nearby hot dog stand after dining with babcia and dziadek.
Sowell was Marine Corps. Not Army.
The part in his autobiography where he describes how he was almost court-martialed for allegedly going AWOL (he didn’t) is chilling. None of his false-friendly “buddies” in the photographic unit would stand up for him; some of them may have set him up. His bacon was saved by a gruff, unfriendly, by-the-book white NCO who didn’t like Sowell but who liked seeing a brother Marine get railroaded even less. That was in the early 1950s. Taught him a lesson about whom to trust.
huxley @ 7:41pm,
I have had a similar experience. I certainly appreciate neo’s hard work on politics and the current state of affairs (and she often writes about fun topics like dancing, music, history…), but it’s nice to take a breather sometimes in these threads and get to know more about the commenters.
I wrote about this here before, but when Obama won his second term, like King Balthazar, I was rather certain I saw the handwriting on the wall, so, to quote the brilliant sage Gwyneth Paltrow, I consciously uncoupled from politics and current events. And, despite the Trumpian four year hiccup in our nation’s race to Socialism, I sadly still think my hunch is correct. And, regardless of the path of the nation, I only have one life and my time is better spent doing what good I can manage in my small sphere of influence, than obsessing over Joe, Kamala, Nancy and Chuck’s plans for me.
Zaphod,
I consume an incredible amount of Tabasco sauce*. McIlhenny’s naturally. I may not be a foodie, but I’m no cretin.
*Also salt. Morton’s Kosher salt.
@Rufus:
Gwyneth Paltrow you say? Hope you’re not about to start selling artisanal candles at the local craft market.
DNW,
My wife jokes and is simultaneously appalled by my cavalier attitude towards food spoilage and “sell by dates.” Along with having almost no taste buds (see my above comment about salt and tabasco), my stomach appears to be made from cast iron. One of my sons is similarly irreverent regarding leftovers and their useful lives. Perhaps it’s a type of hormesis that will help with my longevity?
Zaphod @ 9:50pm,
Craft or fish market.
I have had a similar experience. I certainly appreciate neo’s hard work on politics and the current state of affairs (and she often writes about fun topics like dancing, music, history…), but it’s nice to take a breather sometimes in these threads and get to know more about the commenters.
Rufus T. Firefly:
To be clear on my comment, I meant no criticism of neo or her topics, but my reactions, thoughts and writing about current events, which have mostly been, “Wow. Things are bad,” and “Wow. Things are worse than I thought.”
I start to feel like Marvin the Paranoid Android after a while. “Life, don’t tell me about life.”
Amazon censorship of “Hate speech” books now includes a thoroughly well sourced and medically praised critique of transgenderism.
https://justthenews.com/nation/technology/prior-removing-transgender-critical-book-amazon-changed-policies-ban-books-hate
The fascism just grows and grows among the magic word theocrats.
@Rufus:
Tsk tsk.
Moving right along… be thankful you’ve never walked past a yard full of vats of fermenting shrimp paste at high noon in summertime.
huxley,
And if I was not clear, I was stating the same. I currently find it good for my personal health to unplug from politics at the level I used to give it, but I’m very grateful folks like neo have not stopped digging for the truth as evidenced by her posts on January 6th and November 4th.
Zaphod,
Or a Singapore market in durian season.
John Hinderaker – showing signs of spine stiffening?
“I have been following politics closely for more than five decades, and the Democratic Party’s war on freedom of speech is the most sinister thing I have witnessed in that time. What is truly chilling is how few Democrats are willing to stand up for freedom. I know of three: Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Taibai and Glenn Greenwald. Kudos to them, but it is shocking that not a single current Democrat office-holder is, as best we can tell, in favor of free speech. We are facing an existential threat to our traditional liberties.”
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/02/democrats-move-to-silence-non-liberal-speech.php
Duh.
@Rufus:
Durian Season coming up shortly. It’s why resort hotels have balconies. Need somewhere to hide the Durian so that don’t get slugged with an extra room charge.
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzu2Dxh4oQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgNUxZBIZQ
Happier Times.
Rufus, re billiard ball Earth. You have mixed dimensional metaphors: the diameter of the billiard ball is nominally 2.25 inches (varies by game–pool, vs snooker vs, etc) and should be compared with the Earth’s diameter of roughly 8000 miles, not the circumference. The analogy of the Earth, if being shrunk to the size of the billiard ball, would be smoother. And, yes, takes a bit to comprehend when first confronted with it.
Another nit: The fall from the edge of the air would take longer as it takes a while to accelerate to that terminal velocity. On the fall through the hole in the Earth, one should plan for the idea that the various particles exert gravitational attraction on you and while balanced side-to-side, once past the center you will begin to slow as those behind you over power those ahead — if you haven’t already melted.
I also read somewhere that the layer of varnish on a 12″ diameter globe approximates the thickness of the earth’s atmosphere.
Following Rufus: 12 miles/4000 miles = 0.003; times 6″ = 0.018″.
Maybe the varnish is thinner but close?
Denali….?
Remains of St.Helens…?
NeoConScum:
AMartel identified it first (ding! ding! ding!) as Mt. Shasta.