szymon:

snow drawing by Sonja Hinrichsen

If you head to Yosemite National Park this time of year and stop by Horsetail Fall at just the right time, you might see something spectacular: As the sun sinks low in the sky, the waterfall glows with streaks of gold and yellow — and it looks just like molten lava.

Photographers like Michael Frye flock to the park every February to try to capture the phenomenon. Frye, author of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, describes the sight to NPR’s Audie Cornish.

Listen to the interview.

(via From Waterfall To Lavafall: Yosemite’s Fleeting Phenomenon : The Picture Show : NPR)

(via npr)

Zany Swiss man installs wood-burning stove in car

By Jonathan Woods, msnbc.com

Why yes, officer, that is a wood-burning stove in my glove box.

It’s hard to imagine what led Pascal Prokop to install a wood-burning stove in his 1990 Volvo 240 station wagon. Though we’re safe to say that the trend won’t catch like wildfire.

Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters

Smoke rises from a chimney atop Pascal Prokop’s 1990 Volvo 240 station wagon near Zurich on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters

Wood burns in a stove as Pascal Prokop drives his 1990 Volvo 240 station wagon during cold winter weather on a road near the town of Mettmenstetten, south of Zurich on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Prokob built and installed the wood-fired stove himself and got an operating permit from the Swiss technical inspection authority.

And you thought old Volvo station wagons weren’t hot…

This cat DEFINITELY looks like my cat Chester!!!!!

Are they playing fur-fur-two? Premier League match brought to a halt after pitch is invaded by a CAT

By CHRIS PARSONS

Last updated at 8:30 AM on 7th February 2012

As football pitch invasions go, it was one of the more unusual and certainly gave the stewards less trouble.

Nonetheless, last night’s Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham was still brought to a standstill when a cat found its way inside the stadium and on to the pitch.

The tabby pitch invader casually strolled on to the hallowed turf inside Liverpool’s Anfield ground around 10 minutes into last night’s 0-0 draw between the two sides.

Paws in play: The tabby pitch invader makes a late dash into then penalty area of the Anfield pitch

Scoring a cat-trick: The playful puss takes its time before deciding to wander towards the touchline

Four-legged friend: The cat held up play between Liverpool and Spurs for around a minute before makings its way off the pitch

And while the usual human pitch invaders can be dealt with at football grounds with some robust stewarding, officials decided to use a more passive approach in dealing with the feline visitor.

The cat wandered around Tottenham’s penalty area for a few seconds near goalkeeper Brad Friedel, before having a quick sit down, much to the amusement of the 44,000 fans inside Anfield.

Within a couple of minutes the brave cat seemed to have made the most of its brief moment in the spotlight, and decided to wander towards the sidelines.

Fur play: Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel looks on at the furry intruder, while right, Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish seemed oblivious to the cat’s darting run towards goal

No hard felines: Two Liverpool stewards escort the cat from the pitch as the game continues

Not the first: This black and white cat also dashed across the Anfield pitch back in 1964 when Liverpool played Arsenal

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097462/Anfield-cat-halts-play-Liverpool-Tottenham-Hotspurs.html#ixzz1lx4DVq00

And Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter?!  What winter???  I’ve only worn my winter coat maybe 3-4 times this season….the fewest ever in my memory (not counting the weekend I was in in Colorado)….

Happy Groundhog Day!

He’s clearly not listening to NPR. [Related: Bill Murray on Fresh Air]

(via 

epicstratton: nprfreshair & luciwithani)

szymon:

Volkswagen parking lot towers at Autostadt in in Wolfsburg, Germany

(via npr)

(Source: dolly-shot, via political-cartoons)

Gstaad Palace, Switzerland - looks like an awesome hot tub!

(via)

epicstratton:

The Classic Ice Fishing Joke

A man wakes up early one morning to go ice fishing. He dresses warmly, and heads out onto the ice with his tent, his ice auger, his fishing rods, and his sittin’ bucket, and begins to auger a hole in the ice. After just a few seconds of drilling with the auger a big booming voice from above intones: “THERE  ARE  NO  FISH  UNDER  THE  ICE HERE!” The man looks around and, not being a very religious man, resumes drilling his hole in the ice. Again, he hears the thunderous voice: “THERE  ARE  NO  FISH  UNDER  THE  ICE  HERE!” Becoming a little spooked, the man packs up his gear and moves 30 feet from where he was and begins making a new hole in the ice. “THERE  ARE  NO  FISH  UNDER  THE  ICE  HERE  EITHER!” the voice thunders again. 

The man looks up, “God, is that you?”

The voice responds “NO,  IT’S  THE  MANAGER  OF  THE  ICE  RINK!!”

This joke has been told countless times. It’s a good bet that most folks hailing from the upper midwest and northeastern United States, as well as most of Canada have heard at least one variation on it. In the world of joke telling, the topic of fishing is quite a popular one, although ice fishing jokes make up a very small percentage of all fishing jokes. This may be attributed to the fact that extreme cold weather often times does not put a person in a joking mood. 

(via bestmadeco & iamcharlotteaddams)

nationalgeographicdaily:

Autumn Woods, Germany
Photo: Jonathan Manshack

This photo was taken during autumn in Hameln, Germany, which is the birthplace of the infamous Rattenfanger - or Pied Piper as we Americans know it. This shot is actually on top of the last few hills that soon sink into the state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). This area is essentially lowland plains - hence the name Lower Saxony!

nationalgeographicdaily:

Moonset, California
Photo: Peter Essick

A setting moon makes a fitting backdrop for a lunarlike landscape near Donohue Pass in California’s Ansel Adams Wilderness area.

Very true…..

(Source: imagineon, via political-cartoons)