Musical Wanderer

A couple weeks ago I ran across some amazing things and wrote it down but forgot to post.  Tah-dah! 1.  Walking down the street here on Capitol Hill, I spotted a couple boxes of free stuff across the street.  I took a small detour to investigate and found the puzzle maze below.  You have to tilt the plastic globe in various directions to guide a small metal ball around a track inside with holes and various other problems to negotiate.  I first saw one at my wife's brother's house amongst his kids toys.  I was addicted within minutes.  More addictive than than crack, Angry Birds, or re-watching Sherlock episodes. 2.  The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society - An article in The Guardian led me to the website of a group, mostly women, who read pulp fiction topless all over New York City.  Their NSFW website features photos of them reading all over town.  Perfect site for geeky guy readers.  Their only proble...

It's time to come clean with a periodic affair that I've been having for two dozen years. It started in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1990.  It moved from there to Sewanee, Tennessee four years later.  Four years after that, in 1998, it moved to DC, where it's been ever since, except for a brief jet set affair in Turkey in 2006.  It's not a constant thing--it only crops up every 4 years.  I can return to my happy life between meetings, but it's always there, always something that makes me look forward to the future. It's had some ups and down, like any affair.  I was very innocent at first, though my first taste made me want more.  I've had to learn its rules, learn to endure the wait for the next time, learn to explain and share to a chosen few.  When I first started, few knew about it.  But now it seems that everyone, well, in DC at least, wants to share it. My affair has been with the World Cup.  Like cocaine from the continent home to thi...

As I write this, the planet eagerly awaits the results of the third round of matches at the group stage of the World Cup.  Whereas upwards of 200 million Americans obsess about basketball brackets during March Madness or join together to eat crappy food and watch commercials during the Super Bowl, approximately THREE BILLION people drop what they are doing during the month of June every 4 years for the World Cup.  Apart from watching man walk on the moon 45 years ago, it is the only time the planet joins together for one event. Though it is the world championship of soccer/football, for much of the tournament's history over the years it has been a meeting of the major soccer powers of Europe plus the major two South American soccer powers, Brazil and Argentina.  The final match of the tournament typically features Brazil and a European nation or two European nations, though sometimes Argentina sneaks into the final by the Hand of God . Below is a chart comparing the n...