Strange and Dangerous Dreams - Geoff Powter

Crowley completists should note that the Beast is one of the adventurers profiled in a new book called Strange and Dangerous Dreams by one Geoff Powter. There is a decent review in the Lewisville, Kentucky, Courier Journal. I have not yet read this book, but it seems to focus on Crowley's mountaineering, which would make it rather interesting.

A couple of quotes from the review:

With the exception of Meriwether Lewis, none of the characters profiledin Geoff Powter's book "Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine LineBetween Adventure and Madness" (Mountaineers Books, 256 pages,hardback, $22.95) are folks I'd care to camp with.

...

Others chronicled here include Solomon Andrée, who tried to pilot aballoon to the North Pole, sailor-of-sorts Donald Crowhurst, polarexplorer John Franklin, aviator Jean Batten, Aleister Crowley, would-bemountaineer Claudio Corti, Mount Everest dreamer Earl Denman and thetragic trio of Guy, Johnny and Bill Waterman.

Venice Beach - I think - 1991

Venice Beach - I think - 1991
Originally uploaded by Alhazred.

"Woo Hoo!" news - Babylon 5 to return

Best entertainment related news that I have read in a while:
During last weekend's San Diego Comic Con...at a panel that (evidently) didn't enjoy the "in your face" notoriety of, say, TRANSFORMERS or SPIDERMAN 3... producer/writer/director J. Michael Straczynski (JMS, or "Joe") made an announcement regarding the future of this little concept he has called BABYLON 5.
The thrust of the news is this: straight-to-video BABYLON 5 adventures...involving B5 characters in an anthology format...should arrive late next year. Written and directed by JMS.

Territorial conflicts

Foreignpolicy.com has an interesting list of 'The World's Forgotten Territorial Disputes,' with a short analysis of each. Disputed areas covered are:

• The area between Bolivia and the Pacific Coast (disputed with Chile.)
• The Spratly Islands (China, Phillipines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam)
• Hans Island (Canada and Denmark)
• An area along the China-India border
• The Ethiopia-Eritrea border

New species of giant peccary

All the details are available at Cryptomundo.
And the Homeresque first reader comment is a gem.

Space impact and Tutankhamun gem

An article from the BBC reports that the one of the gems in a necklace of Tutankhamun may have come about as a result of a space impact. The gem was found upon analysis to be made from an usual green glass, which may have been produced when a comet hit Egypt. Thinking of the Tunguska strike,
Wasson wondered if a similar aerial burst could have produced enough heat to turn the ground to glass in the Egyptian desert.
The first atomic bomb detonation, at the Trinity site in New Mexico in 1945, created a thin layer of glass on the sand. But the area of glass in the Egyptian desert is vastly bigger.
Whatever happened in Egypt must have been much more powerful than an atomic bomb.

Good days for eschatologists

Now that war is brewing in the middle east, expect a spike in end of the world predictions. Here's one group that is preparing for Armageddon.

Philip K. Dick in Orange County

The Orange County Weekly has a nice summary of Philip K. Dick's life in Orange County, with the lovely title of 'The infinite mercies of God make no sense whatsoever.'

Pueblo Blanco 1992 - sifting

Pueblo Blanco 1992 - sifting
Originally uploaded by Alhazred.

More from the Pueblo Blanco archaeological excavation in the Galisteo Basin, New Mexico.

Demon Ducks

In the old RuneQuest RPG system, there were the standard elves, dwarves, trolls, ogres, etc. And then there were... ducks. They were often doughty warriors, these ducks, and one did not want to meet them in a dark alley in Prax.

A news item this week details some of the new critters that roamed prehistoric Australia. These include killer kangaroos, and, yes, a fearsome duck:

The team also found prehistoric lungfish and largeduck-like birds.

"Very big birds ... more like ducks, earned the name 'demonduck of doom', some at least may have been carnivorous aswell," Hand told ABC radio.

So it seems that perhaps Greg Stafford and the lads were on to something.

edgeio-key: b36f300f922da9cbb071d745d18dab0822d061eb

Karoo - burnt out range

Karoo - burnt out range
Originally uploaded by Alhazred.

Strange Statues page

This is a fun page that collects photos of unusual statues. Such as this one: