Billy Goat Trail

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On Saturday, Amy and I joined the Summer Hiking Smallgroup at church to trek up to the Billy Goat Trail (section A), just off the C&O Canal Towpath near Great Falls. The trail is a definite challenge for the beginning hiker: very rough, with lots of clambering over fissured rocks and even a bit of wall climbing at certain points. (If you can call a 45° slope of rock a “wall.”) The challenge of the trail is worth the great views you get of the Potomac River. (I’m proud to say that my fiancée handled the hike perfectly, and managed the rocks almost like a pro.) There was lots of life, too: we found a tiny little baby toad, a newt, several freaky gypsy moth nests, dragonflies, a few turtles, a deer near the C&O, and even a couple of turkey vultures in a tree. And after the hike, we went over to Olmsted Island to see Great Falls from the Overlook.

A selection of photos follows, and you can see the full Billy Goat Trail and Great Falls photoset here.

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Panorama: Great Falls seen from Olmsted Island Overlook

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Yes

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Funny how the big things always seem to happen in August. She said yes.

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Proposal venue was the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden beside the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building: teeming with flowers, picturesque and historic, with nice little winding nooks for privacy. Lovely place. We’re engaged!

Small Change

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I just made a small — but significant — change to the site. Can you see it? If you think you know what it is, leave a hint in the comments, but don’t just blurt it out. More details and updates tomorrow; I’ve had a loo-oong two days and really need to sleep. In the meantime, check out these photos from today’s hike on the Billy Goat Trail near Great Falls on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.

(Update: Gee, was it that obvious?)

Demote Pluto

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Update: This was an old joke and the domain is no longer active.

The debate over Pluto rages: What is a planet? It is a question that calls us to take sides: the rationalists who insist that it can no longer be considered a planet, and the sentimentalists who will hear none of this aspersion against O Great Pluto. I have chosen my side in this debate, and I now solidify my stand with the establishment of a new website:


Demote Pluto!

Join me, my friends. We cannot let Pluto, a common speck of rock and ice, be raised to the echelons of the majestic gas giants or the diverse terrestrial planets. Nor can we allow bureaucratic wrangling to needlessly complicate the classification of what is clearly a simple planetoid among many in the outer solar system. Maybe once we thought of Pluto as a planet with an eccentric orbit, but today history and progress must march forward hand in hand, and they march towards this goal: the Demotion of Pluto! Remember: If too remote, you must demote!

The alternative, my friends, is war.

Update: I’ve updated Demote Pluto significantly. There is now an FAQ and a feedback page for comments.

Update, 24 Aug 2006:

Pluto has been demoted!

Results of the IAU Resolution votes.

Pluto’s Demotion is Well Deserved and Long Overdue

Breaking News: Pluto is not a planet!

Kottke: “Boo, astronomers, boo!”

Buzz Buzzed

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I knew something was up when the hits on WWTQ/Buzz suddenly took a huge jump — also generating a ton of secondary hits to this site. The hits were pouring in from Stavros The Wonder Chicken’s Bullshitr, which, it turns out, had been thoroughly Dugg, del.icio.us’ed, Hot Linked, Fireballed, Reddited, TechCrunched, and generally linked to from all over.

What with all the attention, I figured Buzz needed a slight update, so I added a few phrases to the buzz list, changed the font to Lucida Grande / Trebuchet MS (Note: 1.1em Trebuchet MS is the new 11px Verdana), and published the PHP code I use to do the typographic remixing so other people can do their own versions of Buzz. Hope you like it. It’s the wave of tomorrow. 2.0!

Nose + Paw

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Here are a couple of macro shots of Pandora on the couch, for your “aaawwww”-ing pleasure. Poor cat hasn’t been feeling well this past week — she’s been a bit weak, sleepier and more sedentary than usual, and has had a bit of a cough and a touch of feline conjunctivitis. She’s getting better now, though, and her appetite is strong as ever.

PoaS on ReadExpress

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Thanks to Michael Grass at ReadExpress for highlighting Planes on a Snake yesterday. The joy of getting noticed was only partially dampened by the fact that my mention came out under a photo of Jessica Cutler, a.k.a. Washingtonienne. Ah, well, at least I can now say I had the Washingtonienne on top of me for a day.

COD liked PoaS too, but so far that’s all the inbound linkage I’ve noticed. Come on, Internet. You can do better.

Mayon Eruption Update: Imagery Roundup

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Those of you who got here searching for “mayon volcano webcam,” sorry to disappoint, but there aren’t any live cameras pointed at Mayon 24/7 — not that I know of, anyway. At best you’ll have to settle for watching the “Mayon” tag on Flickr, and PHIVOLCS’ Mayon photos page.

(Photo uploaded by cathy_)

Latest update from PHIVOLCS reports six explosions in the last 24 hours, with lava still flowing down the mountain into the danger zone. There was a significant eruption event last Saturday, and the ABC 5 S.O.S. crew has some great photos of the violent pyroclastic flows which swept down Mayon’s slopes that day. Photographer Ninfa Z. Bito has shots of a trip into the danger zone to see the advancing lava wall.