I usually stay out of the KCMO school-related topics, but when I read about another time-wasting event, I remembered a few old photos I bookmarked some time ago that fit the occasion. The year is 1950:
No, this not a testicular MRI of a certain blogger. On the left is a citrus fruit Red Pummelo and on the right is a regular orange. Many times I walked by a stack of Pummelo’s at the grocery store wondering what do they taste like. Finally, when my savings account balance reached $2 I broke down and purchased one. Pummelo is four or five times larger than a regular orange but feels very light. Its skin is very thick and I followed the instructional video explaining how to get it ready to eat. (It’s long but I like the music)
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5dyBrvLIj0
It took me 10-15 minutes to completely take apart the Pummelo by first scoring the peel in a spiral and then removing membrane from each segment. With a little sugar it tasted pretty good, similar to grapefruit but with a slightly different very pleasant flavor. I am not sure how often I will be eating Pummelo considering all the work, but I will probably buy it again when I save up another two bucks.
Every once in a while I get a link to the beautiful color photos of Russia made in the early 20th century by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. For these photos he used a complex technique called digichromatography involving making and then combining three separate shots using red, green and blue filters.
In the 1920’s and 30’s Branson DeCou used a different method – hand-tinted slides to document his trips, including his tour of Russia.
Kremlin. Courtesy, Special Collections, University Library, University of California Santa Cruz.Continue reading →
There are multiple predictions about the future of the Earth after the humans are no longer populating it; scientists, writers, movie directors are guessing how long it will be before the Planet erases all the traces of our existence. These predictions are not very hard to make: there are multiple examples of abandoned and lost cities from the ancient times and not so ancient like Chernobyl.
And then there is former Benchmark Express Furniture store in Olathe, KS – a slowly deteriorating reminder of a failed business I drive by several times a day. The store closed around 4 years ago, when the economy was still doing fine and people still were spending the money they didn’t yet know they didn’t have. Recently one of the large signs fell down and I thought it was a good time to stop by and take a few photos.
Apparently the letter X is the first to go:
This sign crashed a month or two ago:
No one backed up to the loading dock for a long time:
Concrete is slowly converting back to its original ingredients:
Customers are long gone…
…and trespassers are not welcome:
Grass is growing on the parking lot:
This sign may last a year or two before it falls:
Formerly grand facade is sprouting cracks:
Even the parking lot signs are tired of standing idle:
Wind is blowing through the banner:
Soon after the final sale was over with and the store was closed for good, the developers promptly constructed more retail space across the street.
