Happy Birthday, Etta James!

The 10 Worst Rock Star Plane Crashes

What is it about famous musicians that makes them believe it’d be a swell idea to charter a small, unreliable aircraft through inclement weather? Music history is quite literally littered with the tragic wreckage of such ill-fated journeys. Blender.com examines the 10 worst rock & roll air disasters and the sometimes dubious decisions that led to them.

Also fun to read on the same site, The 50 Most Awesomely Dead Rock Stars.

It's About Time!

With enormous snakes swallowing alligators, dogs, turkeys and kitty cats; and with gators in carports and back yards, there's never a dull moment in South Florida. Floridians now may be required to register their pythons.

Now I can sleep at night.

World Mysteries

World-Mysteries.com invites you to "explore lost civilizations, ancient ruins, sacred writings, unexplained artifacts, and science mysteries. Meet subject experts, find related books and resources". Lots of info and photos on numerous sacred sites on the planet. The satellite image gallery is particularly interesting.

The Literary Encyclopedia

The Literary Encyclopedia is "an expanding global literary reference work written by over 1,400 specialists from universities around the world, and currently provides over 3,700 authoritative profiles of authors, works and literary and historical topics". In 2007, they'll publish at least 800 new profiles. Also listed are nearly 19,000 works by date, country and genre.

There is a fee to join, but for the bibliophile and the researcher, this seems like a valuable resource.


And while we're on the subject of resources, Ask A Scientist focuses on questions from K-12 students and teachers that are not commonly found in libraries, reference books or text books. The question you submit is emailed directly to volunteer scientists (located throughout the world) and answers will be emailed to the return email address you have provided.

Ask a Scientist deals with astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, computers, general science topics, engineering, environmental and Earth science, mathematics, molecular science, physics, veterinary, weather and zoology.

Remembering Junior Wells

December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998

Click image for larger view.

Has it really been nine years since Junior died? It seems like only yesterday that he was blowing his harp at the Back Room in Delray Beach on New Year's Eve.

More on Junior from a previous post.

Begonia Blogging

click photo for larger view

A stunning specimen of Begonia 'Benitochiba', from the Yahoo Begonia Group. This Japanese hybrid with silvery leaves, dark green veins and hints of lavender, is a favorite of mine, although begonias with silvery leaves are usually more prone to mildew and harder to grow.

More begonias

The World's Best Congueros

While he was alive, Miguel 'Angá' Díaz, a Grammy-winning Cuban percussionist, played five congas with unparalleled brilliance and mastery. He died unexpectedly last August, in Spain, at the age of 45. What a loss!

Here he is soloing with Irakere in 1994.



The reigning King of the Conga now is Giovanni Hidalgo. Check out this mindboggling solo from the Festival Jazz Plaza 2000, in Havana, Cuba.



Related links:
Ray Barretto
Salsa Night
Jammin'