North Carolina Pictures Posted

They're available here. Includes pictures of the Todd General Store, a historic place where folks like Doc Watson play from time to time, and hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains near Grandfather mountain.

Southern Smorgasbord: The Dan'l Boone Inn

Visiting the South has its perks. Summer lasts longer, for one. The people use creative expressions when speaking to you, for another. And the food, oh, the food. There's nothing like ordering tea at a restaurant and getting it iced and sweet by default, or ordering grits and ham biscuits and not have the waiter stare at you with a confused look on his face.

Enter The Dan'l Boone Inn, located in Boone, North Carolina. We had the pleasure of eating at this fine establishment a couple of nights ago. Walking into the restaurant feels like you're entering someone's home. Plates line a shelf near the ceiling, and simple wooden tables and chairs are arranged neatly in the main dining room. The story is simple: they bring out plates of food from a fixed menu. They refill all plates, save the ham biscuits, as many times as you want. And you can pack stuff home if you can't eat it all.

The food was quintessential southern: the biscuits and corn had plenty of butter, the fried chicken was drenched in a super-crispy, savory breading, the beans were well done and tangy (not steamed and green, as "Yankee beans" are referred to on occasion), and the mashed potatoes were topped with a thick, tan gravy. The waitresses bring food out and take your plates away on rolling carts. And, pitchers of sweet, sweet tea are everpresent.

You leave quite full from an evening at the Inn. It's hard not to; the food is just that good. This "reverse buffet, limited menu" system needs to catch on in other parts of the country. What better way to sample the best of a local cuisine?

Doing The Puyallup Fair

Last Sunday a group of us went to the Puyallup Fair. A quick run-down:

The Good
- It was certainly more fun than most of us expected. Quite a few food options, carnival games, and rides were to be had. Add to that barnyard animals, the RCMP, and a petting zoo and you make for a good day out of doors. We spent about eight hours there total.
- The food was great. BBQ, fresh Fisher Scones, fried corn fritters, sausages, lemonade. Mmm...
- The weather held up nicely. It wasn't hot, nor was it rainy or particularly cloudy for that matter.

The Not So Good
- Rides were more expensive that we expected. Tickets were $1 a piece or $14 for 20. Rides cost 3-6 tickets, with the good ones being 5-6. As for ride quality, we're talking typical carnival rides, a couple of small roller coasters, a quick water-splash ride, a Ferris wheel, and the like. Not bad, but not worth $4-6 a ride.
- Horses tend to poop. A lot. And it smells.

The Weird
- There was a large area devoted to infomercial-style commerce. Weird brooms, knives, sushi making kits, makeup, and window treatments were being offered. It was like walking through the Home Shopping Network. Weird. I think it worked: about half of the group ended up buying something.

Searching For Perfection: The PerfectManForMe.Com Mystery

We have a mystery woman on our hands, who through a web site complete with a survey, a blog, and 1" advertisements in the New Yorker, is looking for the perfect man. People aren't sure whether she's really using a web site to find a mate, whether it's a front for a dating service, whether there's really a "she" here, and so on.

Looks like the domain was registered on July 7, 2005, for one year. The web server seems to have an IP address out of Grove City, Ohio. The server runs two sites:
- www.perfectmanforme.com
- www.perfectman4me.com

The latter address was registered on May 20th, 2005, for two years.

Looks like a small operation, and I'd bet it's a real person here with few ulterior motives. Time will hopefully reveal more here. If this is truly a person on a mission to find the right man, then I'd say...wow, that's an expensive, time-consuming, voyeuristic way to do it.

We Don't Need Nostradamus. We Have National Geographic

Undoubtedly you've heard about the National Geographic article from last year describing in clairvoyant detail the events that took place last week in New Orleans and the surrounding areas, due to Hurricane Katrina. The description's accuracy is surprising every time I read it, however. An excerpt:

But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however...

A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it...

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

Biking Is Cool

A few weeks ago we picked up some mountain bikes and joined the world of amateur bicycling. It's been years since I've ridden a bicycle, but I'd forgotten only one thing: how much fun it can be. It's efficient and fun to get around town on a bike, especially for local errands or just exploring a neighborhood.

Bikes can be crazy expensive. I went with a K2 Zed Sport. Decent, basic, gets me around.

I didn't realize how accessory-laden biking can be. I can see how one can go out of control on this stuff. I've focused on the essentials for now (front and rear visibility lights, bike lock, air pump, etc.). Sorry, no tight pants for me yet.

Next up: a better seat. I've been recommended to go with Serfas. Any other suggestions?

Hurricane Katrina Aerial Photography On Google

Google has posted a relatively small, but very recent, aerial photo of New Orleans post-Katrina. The images are from Wednesday, August 31 at 10AM, according to Google. If they have the data, it would be interesting (and probably very disheartening) to do a time-lapse from several points after the hurricane, as the city flooded.

Cars Of The Future Have It All Wrong

According to this article, cars of the future will vibrate, beep, and exude scents at you. Why? In the name of reducing accidents. The idea is that if you're not seeing that the car in front of you is slowing down, maybe a jostle via the steering wheel, pedals, or seat belt will grab your attention. And, if you're a stressed-out driver, wafting lavender or citrus scents may calm you down.

Fair ideas, I guess. But tell me: if the car already knows that the car ahead is slowing down, why not slow down with it? If most every car on the road had some look-ahead capability and could react to it using some basic heuristics, then one could argue we'd have fewer accidents that rely on the hand-eye coordination of the driver.

I think it's a significant hurdle for a driver to accept losing control of the vehicle at any time, even though the vehicle could be better at a specific task than the driver. Naturally, those drivers don't think anything of the planes they get in to travel, and how much of their trip is computer-controlled.

Waffle House, 50, Needs To Come To Seattle

I've spent admittedly too much time at Waffle House, which turns 50 this year, mostly during high school and college. In Dalton, where I grew up, it was the main meeting point with friends, where you planned what you would do next, or come back to after having done something.

Now, in Seattle, I miss the 24-hour appeal of WaHo. Even worse, other east-coast mainstays like Krispy Kreme have made it out to Seattle, with much fanfare. Why not Waffle House?

Checking their website, I see Colorado as the western-most border of WaHo-ness. I emailed them a note to request them to consider the Seattle area as a new store prospect. I haven't heard back from them.

If you're in the area, and you care to see them move out to the West, send them a note using this form, or call them at the phone number listed on that page.

Camping In The Olympics: Pictures Posted

Check them out here. Thanks to Michal for taking them.

Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts: Donate To Help

A friend of mine sent this around at work. It's a great list of organizations that you can donate to that will have an impact in the relief efforts underway due to Hurricane Katrina. The outpouring has been encouraging to date, but this disaster appears to be larger than anyone expected, so help is always needed and welcome.

• American Red Cross, 800-HELP NOW, 800-435-7669
• Operation Blessing, 800-436-6348
• America's Second Harvest, 800-344-8070
• Adventist Community Services, 800-381-7171
• Catholic Charities, 703-549-1390
• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-848-5818
• Church World Service, 800-297-1516
• Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998
• Episcopal Relief & Development, 1-800-334-7626 or
• Lutheran Disaster Response, 800-638-3522
• Mennonite Disaster Service, 717-859-2210
• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, 800-872-3283
• Salvation Army, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769)
• Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, 800-462-8657, ext. 6440
• United Methodist Committee on Relief, 800-554-8583

Extremely Bad Canadian Rap

First Blood is proof that making good rap music is harder than it would first appear.