General

Felix Salmon has the only blog I know of coming to us live from the Antarctic, unless you count Big Dead Place (original), which is a pretty interesting site. But not every interesting site is a blog, even if it posts cool stories. Word to the wise, yo. Actually, I don’t think it’s Felix Salmon posting the Antarctic stories, now that I look at it again. It’s someone named Rhian. One imagines there’s a story there, but it’s opaque to me… until I spend five seconds with the site and learn that Rhian is Felix’s sister. The Internet: tomorrow’s personal transparency today!

Reportedly, CafePress was showing their print on demand book offerings at the Alternative Press Expo (original). I’ve heard one second-hand description of the quality as very good. If anyone reading this happens to have been there, I’m exceedingly curious and would welcome a report.

This picture (original) is reportedly a shot of the Columbia’s wing from early on her last mission. Maariv is an influential newspaper in Israel, so it would seem this is not a Photoshop job, although I wouldn’t rush to conclusions regarding dents and cracks. I don’t think there’s enough detail in the picture to be sure of what we’re seeing.

Warren Zevon’s holding in there, but this piece isn’t really about that. His bravery awes me.

If I was smart enough and lucky enough to do anything I wanted in life, I might want to do [something like this](http://web.archive.org/web/20200324075615/http://web.archive.org/web/20200324075615/http://world.std.com/~raparker/exploring/thewasteland/table/explore6.html (original) “Large monitors - Four frames ([1/2]/1)”) (original). “The Waste Land” is special to me. (Via Metafilter.)

The Times of India is proud of Kalpana Chawla (original), as they should be. While this was her second shuttle flight, she was the first person born in India to go to space. If Ilan Ramon deserves recognition for trailblazing, and he does, she does as well. Here (original) are some notes, written by her husband, about the weeks leading up to this mission. ...

It looks like the space shuttle Columbia has been lost. The Columbia had the first Israeli astronaut on board. I can’t believe this. This week is the anniversary of Challenger. CNN is showing footage of the debris falling. The administration is saying there’s no indication that it was a terrorist attack, since it happened at such a high altitude.

Elmore Leonard’s [ten rules for writing](http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:n86b1euSCw0C:www.elmoreleonard.com/archives/010elrules.htm %22elmore leonard%22 rules writing&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 “Filmfour Sings the Blues with Elmore Leonard”). Plus one. Good stuff. By the way, it’s deucedly cold here, chill battering at my windows like a sly ghost determined to silently invade my home and steal away my precious warmth. Also: cold!!!

Huh. Perhaps DC has finally noticed what Marvel’s doing with their movies. Chris Nolan, director of Memento, has signed to do a Batman film. Course, that doesn’t mean it’ll happen.

As of this moment, we no longer need Lileks or Moore. Dave Barry has a blog, unless of course it’s a hoax.