Zappa's been away for a few days, feasting on brains and stunt guitar, but he's back and ready for more!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tell Your Stenographer to Mail This Coupon Today
I would, but that would interfere with our Secretary-type relationship.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Zappa or zombie? Purple edition
Hi there, and welcome to today's installment of
Zappa or zombie?
There you are, going about your business, wandering into your recently-painted Juice Room (in honor of your one true love, Juice Newton), when you see it, looming ominously there in it's little crop top thingy. You've only got seconds to decide whether to break out the bong or the baseball bat. What's it going to be?
All Set? Then it's time to play...Zappa or zombie?
The Life and times of Xenophon Pearce Huddy
Thanks to resources like the HCFI Library and Google News and Books, it seems as though I'm able to do original research from source materials on a daily basis.
But most of the time, it's only tangential, at best, to the story I'm working on, or proves to be a blind alley of some sort. I don't want to discard all this stuff, nor do I want to print it all out and stick it in a file, or put it on a hard drive somewhere where I'll forget about it. Plus, there's the nagging suspicion that somewhere down the line, I really will need this stuff for a story.
The solution is to put it all in some easily-accessible place, with all the supporting documents and a summary of the research. That describes Wikipedia well, and that's what I did yesterday with Xenophon P. Huddy.
I've run into Xenophon Huddy's name many times over the years, researching for my weekly legislation story. Starting in 1906, he wrote a legislative affairs column himself, for Horseless Age. He was also the author of The Law of Automobiles, the first and seminal text on the subject, which went to at least eight editions in his lifetime. Eventually, it occurred to me to wonder who he was, thinking maybe that was a story in itself.
But for someone with such a high profile--in addition to his often-cited book and other legal writings, he lectured at New York-area automobile clubs--I couldn't find even a thumbnail biographical sketch. Instead, I had to piece together scattered dates and side notes, to come up with a still-incomplete picture of a man who was genuinely formative in today's American automobile law.
The result, such as it is, I put on Wikipedia. I'm hoping somewhere out there the descendant of Huddy, or some scholar laboring in obscurity, will fill in the blanks.
So if you're interested, check out my little biography of Xenophon P. Huddy.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Zappa or zombie?
Hi there, and welcome to today's installment of
Zappa or zombie?
Today's Zappa or zombie is a bit of a trick, because either way, it's equally dangerous, so here's a little hint:
It's still dark in here . . . It's the same as it ever was. Attack! Attack! Attack!
All set? Then it's time to play!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Zappa or zombie
Hi there, and welcome to a brand new feature on Davestuff, a little game I like to call
Zappa or zombie?
Now it may sound simple, but they can both fool you: Zappa sometimes liked brains, and zombies go in for stunt giutar. Plus, they're both dead, and a zombie was once electied to the Czech parliament!
Ready to play? Let's go!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Amazing Abandonded Adak
Says Ken,
After WWII, Adak was taken over by the Navy. From the 1950s to the late 1990s, Adak was a major Navy air base. At its peak, Adak was home to over 6,000 Navy and Coast Guard personnel.
There was essentially no civilian population. The Navy base on Adak had no nearby city that the troops could visit for a little relaxation. The base was essentially in the middle of nowhere, disconnected from the rest of the world. It is perhaps for this reason that the Navy seems to have gone ‘over the top’ to create a livable community here on Adak. Families seem to not only have been tolerated, but welcomed, and encouraged.
In the 1990s, Adak had all the comforts of a ‘real city;’ a college, movie theater, two high schools, elementary schools, roller skating rink, Olympic sized swimming pools, ski lodge, bowling alley, skeet range, auto shop, photo lab, racquet ball courts, day care center, an $18 million hospital, designated bird watching areas, organized fishing trips, hikes and more. The Navy even had a group, called MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) whose only job it was to keep the troops happy.
Then, the Navy left. Today, Adak's population is between 100 and 150 people, who live in the crumbling ruins of a ghost town built for thousands. Needless to say, they don't see many visitors--and there aren't many opportunities to see Adak. Check it out at Adak - Sometimes we win, Sometimes the weather wins.
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