Back in the US, but I’ll be posting Iceland stuff now and again for a while.  Seriously wonderful.

First stop: Thingvellir ("assembly field"), the inland stretch of land where the Althing, the world’s oldest parliament, began convening outdoors over 1000 years ago.  The air was so clear that the horizon was almost limitless.  Except for the few small buildings, this is probably much as it looked in A.D. 930.

Stunning place.  UNESCO World Heritage Site as of 2004.  (There are 851 on earth; they’re the real 1000 Places To See Before You Die.  Well, 851, anyway.  For me, this was 41 down, 810 to go.  Ulp.)

The traditional meeting spot was near the end of this huge ravine with 120-foot walls.  Scientists later realized that this is actually where the edges of the North American and European plates are slowly separating.  Cool, huh?  On the left, football is called "soccer," tectonically speaking. 

Next stop: what appears briefly to be a possible human sacrifice.

More shortly.

In case you missed the earlier post of the greatest beauty pageant answer ever, here it is again…

Now with a handy series-of-tubes diagram, so you can follow along at home.

Spotted at boingboing,net.

Tom has posted another This Modern World cartoon from the archives, again featuring yours truly as Sparky the penguin.

A little dated, of course — given the current state of the planet, when was the last time anybody had time to focus on the WTO? — but possibly fun nonetheless.

Apparently Greek real estate developers take a somewhat aggressive approach to the free market.

More than 60 dead. $1.5 billion in damage. Freakin’ Olympia damn near went up.

Not that the Olympia should be particularly important to, y’know, Greek real estate values. It’s only a World Heritage Site and all.

Sometimes you watch the news and just feel helpless and horrified.  (OK, most of the time.)  Visiting Greece was one of the most wonderful trips of my life. My friend Leslie and I went to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and we couldn’t have been more both impressed by not just  the genuine friendliness of our hosts, but their surprising (and widely unanticipated) organization and efficiency.  Which, given this last week, seems not to have lasted much past the closing ceremonies.

Olympia itself was an incredible place.  (So was everywhere else we went.)  Even the ancient stone finish line is still there.

(Come on, I had to. Wouldn’t you?)

And I was only there for a couple of weeks.  Imagine living your whole life like this, among some of the greatest treasures of antiquity, and then seeing half the place threatened with destruction.

I cannot imagine what ordinary Greeks must be feeling right now. 

Apparently Greek real estate developers take a somewhat aggressive approach to the free market.

More than 60 dead. $1.5 billion in damage. Freakin’ Olympia damn near went up.

Not that the Olympia should be particularly important to, y’know, Greek real estate values. It’s only a World Heritage Site and all.

Sometimes you watch the news and just feel helpless and horrified.  (OK, most of the time.)  Visiting Greece was one of the most wonderful trips of my life. My friend Leslie and I went to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and we couldn’t have been more both impressed by not just  the genuine friendliness of our hosts, but their surprising (and widely unanticipated) organization and efficiency.  Which, given this last week, seems not to have lasted much past the closing ceremonies.

Olympia itself was an incredible place.  (So was everywhere else we went.)  Even the ancient stone finish line is still there.

(Come on, I had to. Wouldn’t you?)

And I was only there for a couple of weeks.  Imagine living your whole life like this, among some of the greatest treasures of antiquity, and then seeing half the place threatened with destruction.

I cannot imagine what ordinary Greeks must be feeling right now.