A 1970 Plymouth Superbird muscle car owned by the same family for 48 years has been auctioned for quite a bit more than they paid for it.
The iconic model was designed to help Plymouth's NASCAR program and features a signature streamlined body with an iconic nosecone and high rear wing.
Fewer than 2,000 production cars were built as it wasn't a particularly popular street vehicle, and many of them fell into disrepair as they were unloved in the decades that followed.
Things have turned around in the 21s century, however, and the survivors now rank among the most valuable collector cars.
Examples in great condition often go for over $500,000, and a perfectly restored car with a 426 Hemi V8 engine was auctioned last year for a record $1.65 million.
The auction car was purchased from the family in 2018 by Soneff’s Master Garage, a classic car specialist in Denver.
Owner Jay Soneff described it to Fox News Digital as "1,000% original, possibly the most original Superbird left in the world."
The "Vitamin C Orange" coupe has 57,178 miles on the odometer, a few scrapes and dents and the paint on its fender-top vents is faded, but its 440 cubic-inch "Six Barrel" V8 runs fine. It's original price when new was around $5,000.
Soneff kept and drove it for a few years, but never restored it given its time capsule condition. He decided to put it up for sale this month through VanDerBrink Auctions along with several other cars as he trimmed his collection.
Its original price was just around $5,000 when it was new, but bidding on the auction quickly shot into the six-figure range with the winner coming in at $203,000.
After fees were added the buyer ended up paying $221,720.
While that seems like a pretty good return on an investment, according to S&P Global Ratings, a $5,000 in the S&P 500 in 1970 would be worth just over $1 million today.
In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we learn about a unique resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, that holds a once-secret congressional fallout shelter.
Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Join us daily, Monday through Thursday, to explore a new wonder with cofounder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters.
There were times when Alphonso Anderson didn’t think his small restaurant was going to make it. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, his business cratered. Up until that point, Big Al’s Deli had relied heavily on catering sports games, celebrations, and other events within the local community—all of which ceased overnight. “I said, we're going to have to shut down,” Anderson remembers. “We don't even make enough money to pay bills.”
Then, in a true deus ex machina moment, Anderson received a call from chef José Andrés of the non-profit World Central Kitchen. “They sent me over a calendar for a year's worth of catering,” he says. “And they asked, ‘How much of this do you want?’ I said, ‘I'll take it all.’”
Fast-forward to the present and Big Al’s Deli continues to thrive, both as a destination for out-of-towners and a local community hub. Customers pour in every morning for heaping plates of pancakes and extra-thick French toast, then sidle in again at lunch for the classic meat-and-three.
The handwritten menu of specials rotates, but leans heavily on Southern classics such as fried catfish, smoked pork chops, and BBQ sauce-slathered chicken. The process is standard: pick your protein, then pile on side like coleslaw, braised collards, or molasses-tinged skillet beans. Starchy add-ons, like the fluffy, honey-hued biscuits or the savory johnnycakes, are not included but are highly recommended.
Big Al’s Deli has always been a family operation, both in practice and in spirit. Anderson's son, A.J., helps oversee operations and the restaurant is named for his father. “Big Al, that's my dad. He's in heaven,” he says. “I'm Little Al. My dad always wanted all his kids to be self-employed, so I named that after him.”
While the format might resemble other meat-and-threes in Nashville, Anderson is quick to point out, “I’m not soul food, I’m Southern food.” In case the New England Patriots paraphernalia and his undying love for the Red Sox didn’t give it away, Anderson hails from Boston originally. Most of the dishes here are based on his family’s recipes. A standout is the shrimp and grits, which comes swimming in a warmly spiced, roux-darkened gravy.
“The chicken is my mother’s recipe,” he says proudly of the fried thigh and drumstick gracing a thick pair of waffles. “It’s Lowcountry South Carolinian, but I spice it up because my mother can’t even handle pepper.” That extra kick of cayenne makes the craggy, greaseless crust sing, especially when drizzled with syrup. Anderson eschews brining his fried chicken and relies instead on a dredge in flour with a heady blend of spices. When asked for his secret seasoning blend, Anderson just laughs and says, “No way.”
Jimmie Rodgers, the “Father of Country Music” started strumming his guitar for beer-drinkers along the streets of Nashville in the 1930s. Sometime between then and today, the city’s Broadway took a turn for the wild. Nowadays, most locals give the neon-drenched street a wide berth and complain that the area has become something of a parody of itself—a relentless bachelorette party and booze-fueled musical carnival, all rolled into one strip.
Come nightfall, “Nashvegas” fills with roving packs of women donning sashes, cowgirl boots, and hats. Many of the bar-venues boast a loose celebrity tie-in, from Justin Timberlake’s Twelve Thirty Club to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville to Kid Rock’s thunderous, multistory Big A** Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse. The lines are long, the cab drivers notorious for ripping off passengers, and the pedestrian-only street is cacophonous with competing country bands.
It is, for many first-timers, a lot. But, with a game-plan, it can also be a lot of fun. There's no cover at the venues dotting Broadway, meaning you can easily hop between free concerts all night long. And for all the shtick, Nashville's “Music City” moniker is hard-earned, and competition among local bands is fierce.
If great live music is what you seek, stroll straight past the glitzy, A-list-affiliated joints and head straight for Robert’s Western World. Occupying a former warehouse that was once home to Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company, this legendary honky-tonk bar is also a cowboy boot store during daylight hours. Since the early 1990s, the location has been among the best spots to dance to country music—and it remains one of the few places on Broadway that still draws locals. Most days, the band starts playing by 10 a.m. and the music carries on well past nightfall. In the spaces between the walls plastered with decades' worth of memorabilia, bartenders sling cheap (but strong!) drinks and the vibe is raucous (but friendly!).
A few things have changed about Robert’s Western World over the years, including its name, which was originally Rhinestone Western Wear. The ownership has also changed—Robert sold the business to Jesse Lee Jones, the Brazilian-born musician and leader of the current house band, who runs it to this day. But, despite the logistical shifts, the iconic “Recession Special” remains on Robert's menu. For six bucks, you can still get a fried bologna sandwich, chips, a Moon Pie, and a cold PBR. If you hang around long enough, you'll definitely need one.
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This is sandpaper for stone, ceramic, glass and concrete. The business side of each 4”-diameter pad consists of a polymer honeycomb that looks sort of like the bottom of a sneaker. This “softness” allows it to contour itself to curved surfaces. The elastomer has industrial diamond grit embedded inside. The disc is attached to an electric grinder with an included rubber pad holder covered with black “hook” Velcro on one side and a 5/8- 11 threaded brass insert. That’s a standard grinder arbor thread. The back of each pad is covered with “loop” Velcro and marked with silver numbers indicating the pad’s grit size. The Velcro is also color-coded in case the numerals wear off, which hasn’t happened to mine yet. In use, the matrix slowly wears away exposing fresh diamond grit. I used these for jobs that no sandpaper can handle, like polishing a concrete bowl to expose underlying glass aggregate. I could not have done it without these pads. — Sean Ragan
The word that best describes the Ridgid oscillating belt sander is “workhorse.” It is one of those rare tools which ends up at the heart of your workshop — fast, precise, durable. The belt rotates like a standard sander, but also simultaneously and automatically oscillates up and down 60 times per minute, giving you better space coverage and a wider stroke (about 1 in.); this is especially helpful with larger pieces, because you don’t need to reposition or flip the piece to sand the whole thing.
I use mine almost daily to fabricate parts in wood, metal, and plastic. The metal platen provides plenty of support for serious, precision sanding. I routinely sand to the center of a 1/64 slot on an Incra ruler. Not bad. It’s also very quick to swap out the belt and use it as an oscillating spindle sander, meaning you can handle both flat and curved sanding.
It’s designed to sit on a bench top, but they also molded slots into the bottom so that it rests stably on a sawhorse. It has an incredibly well made tilt table, with fence, that folds down onto a molded storage bay which holds all the accessories it comes with. And a vacuum port is molded into the back of the unit for clean up.
Two things to know: I find I often have to adjust the belt tension to prevent the belt from rising or falling, but this is easy to do on account of a large, well-placed knob. Also, the belts and spindles it comes with are extremely aggressive and are meant for hogging away wood. If you want to do more delicate work, you need to get higher mesh belts from a specialty store like Rio Grande, Klingspor, or maybe Grainger or McMaster-Carr. — Sam Mapadatha
I originally bought the 3M Headlight Polishing Kit in order to remove the haze on my truck’s plastic headlights, but I have since found that it has a plethora of uses. Basically, you use the progressively finer grit sanding surfaces to smooth the plastic and grind away the scratches and finally polish using the 3M rubbing compound. My headlights looked new and were way more effective after the treatment.
The other day I discovered that the compass for my sailboat was scuffed pretty badly, and I tried using the polishing kit to buff it out (after testing on some safety glasses first). The results blew me away. The compass lens was crystal clear! I’ve since been polishing anything plastic that I have that’s been scratched. Calculators, display screens, etc. You could put this kit together yourself with p500, p800, p3000 grit pads and a foam compounding pad with some 3m rubbing compound but the kit is very convenient and should last a long time as long as you use water with the sanding pads. — Jason Tan
It’s been several decades since I bought a wood sander, but I recently needed a new one for a large finishing job. I was pleasantly surprised by the technological advances now standardly available in inexpensive sanders.
There are three key innovations here: “random” sanding patterns, using sandpaper disks that attach via a velcro-like surface, and a vacuum that works through holes in the paper. Together these three features produce a much superior machine to the simple vibrating sander I had before. Random-orbital sanders spin as circles within circles, leaving little discernible pattern of abrasion on the work. The round hook-and-loop paper is magic. These disks securely attachment and detach in a second, and don’t slip. This quickness encourages you to instantly change to the appropriate grit size without hesitation. Lastly, sanding produces massive amounts of dust, and the mini vacuums really decrease the volume of stuff flying around. The debris is sucked into a small cloth bag that doesn’t interfere much with work.
All these features and more are available in higher end machines, but also in cheaper ones as well. I’ve been using a Dewalt, D26451K which is an entry model at about $55 street price. With a coarse grit paper, its 3-amp motor will eat wood if you need to, but it is light enough to feather touch a fine grit. It takes the standard 8-hole hook-and-loop disk. Many companies make these disks in all possible grades, varieties and types. Although they seem expensive, I found these disks lasted longer than the pieces I used to cut from standard sheets for my old machine. The small dust bag is sufficient for most weekend projects, but may seem small if you are sanding whole walls; you just have to empty it more often.
None of these features may be new to most woodworkers, but I have not been paying attention; I wish I had got one of these years ago. — KK
Micro-Surface makes the finest sandpaper around: Micro-Mesh abrasives. I originally used their sanding pads to get a perfect finish on a plastic model car by sanding each layer of spray paint I applied to the model. Their finest sandpaper is rated at an incredible 12000 grit. (Although that number isn’t using the same ANSI scale as commonly available sandpaper).
I was amazed that I was able to sand a scratched plastic window to perfect clarity, although I shouldn’t have been surprised: micro-mesh is used to repair the acrylic windows used on many airplanes. I’ve since used the same hobby kit for repairing scratches in the clear coat of my REAL car. I’ve even carefully polished out deep scratches in the bottom of several CDs. You can also polish out scratches on reading glasses.
Micro-Surface makes a wide variety of abrasives, in every size and type I can imagine needing. — Mike Gebis
Micro-Mesh is what we like to call a non-abrasive abrasive. It is considered a cushioned abrasive in fact. Conventional sandpaper is designed to be aggressive so that it will dig deeply. In its manufacture the crystals are electrically charged so that they will stand up. They are locked into a hard resin and when you apply the paper to a surface it will literally tear in and remove the substrate of the material you are sanding. The crystals cut in a negative raking motion, leaving inconsistent scratch patterns.
Micro-Mesh does the opposite. The backing is long lasting cloth to which an ultra-flexible cushioning layer is applied. This cushioning layer will determine how far forward you can push crystals before they will penetrate the cushioning layer. On top of this layer, we have a very resilient glue, not a hard resin, but a completely flexible glue that will hold the crystals while allowing it to move and rotate. The crystals can turn in any direction without coming loose. When you start to apply pressure to sand with Micro-Mesh, the crystals will go into the cushioning layer while beginning to cut a bit. If you push harder, they will go further into the cushioning layer, which serves as a safety valve. It determines how much pressure you can exert in a downward direction. Instead of a deep scratch that sandpaper makes, Micro-Mesh produces a refined scratch that is close to a RMS of 1.0. The cushioning layer also allows the crystals to cut with a planing motion that leaves an extremely consistent scratch pattern and allows you to achieve extraordinary levels of gloss.
Google, in its almighty big tech way of harvesting more of your privacy, has a hidden feature inside its photos and maps tools that looks like a weather map when accessed. Instead, the only storms you see are exactly where you've been, when you were there and the photos you captured in that spot.
Yes, Google still tracks your every move with location data and more. In exchange, it makes some of the most sought-after mapping tools and photo-storage tools. What’s convenient and a novelty is also a very personal history of your life available to anyone who can get access to your phone or Google account.
If you don't want to be tracked and have all of your photos' location data mapped on Google, then follow these tips.
The short answer is yes, Google can track all your data, even through the photos you take. Google's services and applications often request various permissions, such as access to your device's camera and photo library, in order to provide features and functionality. By granting these permissions, you enable Google to analyze and process the data within those photos, which can contribute to its data-collection efforts. However, this happens only when you have the Location Settings for your photos turned on. There is a way to turn this off. However, this will still show a location on your photos that only you can see.
How to limit Google's tracking of your photos on your iPhone
Open Google Photos
Click the circular icon (with your image or initials in it) in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
In the pop-up box, click Google Photos settings in the second-to-last row
Click the Location row (seventh row down). On the next screen, you'll see two options:
Scroll down and note the "estimated location" under the photo
Click the pencil icon at the end of the row, and click "Remove location." Similarly, if for some reason you wanted to add a location to this photo, you could manually add it in this box where it says Enter location
How to limit Google's tracking of your photos on Android
Click the Location. On the next screen, you'll see two options:
View and manage estimated locations - If you click this row, you'll see all of your photos with estimated locations. Here's how to enter a location or remove a location:
Scroll down and note the "estimated location" under the photo
Click the pencil icon at the end of the row and click "Remove location." Similarly, if for some reason you wanted to add a location to this photo, you could manually add it in this box where it says Enter location
Please note that you can only update or remove estimated locations. If the location of a photo or video was automatically added by your camera, you can't edit or remove it.
However, moving forward, you can change a crucial setting so that your location is not on future photos.
It's important to realize that while you may want to be super-private if you do remove your location from future photos, you will not be able to search your photos by searching by city or state.
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How to disable Google Photos location map feature
On Mobile (iPhone & Android):
Open Google Maps on your phone while signed into your Google account
Click the icon in the upper right-hand corner
Click Your timeline
Click the 3 horizontal dots (iPhone) or 3 vertical dots (Android) in the upper right-hand corner
Click Settings and Privacy
Go to the 5th row down which says Location History. Be sure to select that it is off. If it is currently on, click the row, which will bring you to the next page, scroll down and click the "Turn off" button.
You can also set an Auto Delete option where the location data will be automatically deleted from your view after a period of time you set.
Open Google Maps on your desktop while signed into your Google account
Click the icon in the upper right-hand corner > Manage your Google Account
Click Data & Privacy
Under History settings module in the center of the page, go to the Location History row, and click the row
Be sure to Turn off location history
You can also set an Auto Delete option where the location data will be automatically deleted from your view after a period of time you set.
Kurt's key takeaways
In a world where convenience and novelty come at the cost of personal privacy, Google's hidden weather map feature in Photos and Maps reveals a disturbing reality: every moment captured on your device becomes a detailed record of your life, accessible to anyone with access to your phone or Google account. To protect your privacy, follow these steps to limit Google's tracking of your photos and disable location services.
Should Google and other big tech companies be required to ask you first before deep tracking of your life? We'd love to hear from you. Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.Com/Contact
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The stargazing highlights for the week ahead. This week’s it’s all about the solstice, which signals the beginning of summer above the equator and winter below.
In a city known for sweets, there is little that makes local mouths water more than the towering, historic doberge cake.
“It has to be at least six layers,” insists Charlotte McGehee, co-owner of Bakery Bar and Debbie on the Levee, two bakeries in New Orleans, Louisiana, that specialize in doberge (DOH-bash) cake. “In my opinion, fewer than six is just a regular ol’ layer cake. You miss out on that feeling of your fork working through each alternating texture, and the nervousness you get because you don’t want that beautiful tower of cake to topple before you make it to the bottom.”
The dessert’s decadent journey begins with a thin layer of yellow butter cake as the base, topped with an equally thin layer of custard—traditionally chocolate-, lemon-, or caramel-flavored. A baker then repeats that process as many times as they see fit—some cakes boast a whopping 15 layers and, as McGehee noted, it’s strange to see fewer than six. (For perspective, the recipe in the cake originator’s own cookbook has eight layers.)
The baker then covers their tower with buttercream icing, finishes it with fondant, and—voilà!—they have created a traditional New Orleans doberge cake.
“Everyone knows king cake around Mardi Gras, but doberge is something many local families celebrate with year-round,” explains Vincent Scelfo, owner of Gambino’s Bakery, which has made doberge near New Orleans for 75 years and is one of the treat’s most popular purveyors.
“We have 70-year-old customers who say they’ve had a Gambino’s doberge cake at every single one of their birthdays,” Scelfo says. “Their grandparents bought them one when they were a kid and now they’re buying one for their grandkids’ birthdays, too.”
Doberge cake is a descendant of the Austro-Hungarian dobos (pronounced DOH-bosh) torte, an elegant, layered pastry invented in late-19th century Budapest. Hungarian chef József C. Dobos created the dobos torte to outlast other cakes during an age with limited cooling techniques. Its many layers of then-rare buttercream filling, and its hardened caramel top helped prevent Dobos’ Italian-style sponge cake from drying and allowed it to be shipped.
The woman credited with turning the dobos torte into the doberge cake is a New Orleanian baker named Beulah Ledner. Born in the nearby town of St. Rose in 1894, Ledner came from a family of European-Jewish immigrants that included a grandfather who was a respected baker in Germany. During the early years of the Great Depression, Ledner supplemented her family’s income by opening a home bakery called Mrs. Charles Ledner’s Superior Home Baking. Her lemon pies were a hit, but it was her version of the dobos torte, a popular dessert among American Jews of the early 1900s, that would leave a lasting mark on New Orleans cuisine.
Ledner adapted the cake to a city that was much hotter and more humid than Budapest. She felt local palates would prefer a lighter dessert, so she not only introduced yellow butter cake in place of the dobos torte’s sponge, but she also substituted a lighter custard filling for the original’s heavier buttercream.
Finally, to fit the French heritage of the new cake’s home, Ledner gave the dessert a francophile touch, switching its name from dobos to doberge.
Her intuition proved correct. She earned the title “Doberge Queen of New Orleans” as she made doberge cake for the city's residents for decades. Her business’s success prompted her to turn her operation into a brick-and-mortar that moved several times before closing in 1946 when Ledner suffered a heart attack. Soon after, she opened a second, Beulah Ledner, Inc, where she churned out doberge cake until she was 87. Now, approaching a century since its creation, doberge in the style of Beulah Ledner is still available and popular in southeast Louisiana.
“The recipe is almost exactly what Beulah created so long ago,” says Scelfo, whose Gambino’s Bakery purchased Mrs. Charles Ledner’s Superior Home Baking, along with her recipes, in 1946.
“It’s a light, refreshing filling alternated with a rich cake,” he adds. “Perfect for New Orleans, just like Beulah Ledner wanted it to be.”
You can make one yourself using this recipe from “Let’s Bake” with Beulah Ledner: A Legendary New Orleans Lady, by Ledner’s daughter, Maxine Wolchansky.
The style of the structure is a construction technique called Guastavino, which is named after a Spanish architect from the late 19th century. And keeping consistent with that period, the camera uses the same "old" technology and works as it would have during that time.
The design of the exterior has three overlapping arches. Walking through the darker interior, you will see closed doors. This area is officially the large-scale pinhole camera, that you enter and close the doors behind you for the full effect. When you look up, there is a reflected and upside-down view of the cliffs across the water, and on the concrete floor below you is a real-time projection.
The small community you drive through to get to the camera obscura is quite beautiful to pass and the structure itself is quite amazing to see.
Say goodbye to early termination fees and hello to commitment-free internet. CNET details the best no-contract broadband options that don't lock you down.
A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.
An Easy Digital Nomad Visa
Government bureaucracy and “easy” don’t usually go in the same sentence, but we’re cautiously optimistic about the new digital nomad visa for Uruguay. You can apply online and there’s no income verification aspect, so right away this has leapfrogged over all others in attractiveness. Uruguay is one of the more expensive South American countries, but it is the most progressive, including a hands-off LGBTQ stance, full reproductive rights for women, and legal weed. Plus they have some nice beaches. See the details here.
The Joy of Home Exchanges
This past month I spent a week in a condo on the Athens Riviera coast of Greece, then a week in a fantastic house on the car-free island of Hydra, both times paying nothing but a small cleaning fee. Both came about because of my membership in HomeExchange.com, where I’ve belonged for years. We have done simultaneous swaps, non-simultaneous ones, and ones utilizing their points system where people can pay with points they have accumulated to stay in your house. Then we used our points to stay in both of those Greece places. It’s great for travelers who have a home base they’re often not in and it can save a small fortune on accommodation, with no pets to care for like house-sitting services usually require.
Laptop-friendly Public Spaces
File this under “work in progress,” but the site LaptopFriendly.co, mentioned in Recomendo by Mark F., highlights good places for remote workers to get things done. It’s mainly focused on big cities for now, with just 6 locations in Greece, 7 in France, and only one in a lot of other countries, but we hope they stick with it and widen the scope over time.
A Quick Overview of European Airline Fees
I could have made that headline a lot more provocative, with references to all kinds of things you are forced to do against your will, but I think we all now realize that budget airlines the world over are in the business of making money from gotcha fees added after the flight cost. You can figure out the rules and play them to your advantage, or you can come in clueless and get played instead. Here’s a good breakdown of what you’ll have to cough up after the initial fare that seemed so enticing. Add it all together to compare apples-to-apples when looking at other airlines or a train alternative.
A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.
ATM Fee Saver
This week two of us went to four ATMs in Sarande, Albania. The first didn’t like my card and would have charged $5. The second would have charged $8, the third $7, then the last levied $0 in fees. Albania is not on the ATM Fee Saver app, but 40 other countries are and it will give you a heads up about these sometimes dramatic differences and guide you to the right machine. Even if you have a card that reimburses local fees, (mine’s from Fidelity), it feels good to reward the bank charging the least to get to your money. Available for Android and iPhone here.
Vacation Deprivation Stats
We know that the people reading this newsletter would never leave paid vacation days on the table, but way too many people in workaholic countries do, especially in the USA. The latest vacation deprivation report from Expedia is full of depressing stats to confirm it, but there are hopeful signs too. On one hand, Americans take 8.5 fewer vacation days than the global average, but they are prioritizing travel more than ever—as evidenced by this summer’s flight prices for packed planes. One in five respondents said they would travel “no matter what” this year. They feel that “regular vacations are a basic right” (91%) and “essential to general health and well-being” (92%).
Local Food & Drink Bargains
Do you know what the local food and drink bargains are where you’re headed next? Finding and consuming those can really help keep your travel budget in check. After two months in Greece, I can tell you what to load up on there: bakery items, olives/olive oil, feta, eggplant, oranges, Greek salads, wine (but not beer), Ouzo, chocolate bars (for some reason), and sweets in general. Fish, on the other hand, was usually the most expensive thing on restaurant menus, something I wasn’t expecting.
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If weather is your religion, this book is good news. It’s the best cloud identification guide I’ve seen. It’s excellence comes in part because great photos of each cloud species have been selected from the world-wide fan club for clouds called the Cloud Appreciation Society. (They also have a great online gallery of unusual cloud photos.) Additional goodness stems from the enthusiastic, clear and lyrical descriptions of the author, who is Chief Cloud Appreciator. Better than anyone else, he’s made the reasons behind cloud differences clear to me. I’ve become more of a cloud connoisseur, able to read the weather a bit better. Finally much of the charm of this book comes from its handsome presentation; the welcoming design is a throwback to an earlier era of bookmaking with clear tables and clear figures.
In short, this is the clearest guide to clouds I’ve encountered. —KK
We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day. We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of a person’s countenance.
This rare Cirrus formation is known as a Kelvin-Helmholtz wave cloud and can form in the region between shearing winds, moving in different directions.
The mamma cloud formations, sometimes known as ‘mammatus’, are named after the Latin for ‘breasts’. As described earlier, these can appear on the underside of a number of different cloud types – Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Altocumulus, Altostratus, Stratocumulus, and Cumulonimbus – and at their most dramatic look like a field of smooth, globular udders.
They are at their most impressive when wed to a mighty Cumulonimbus. Forming on the underside of its incus, mamma appear when the top of the anvil cools, by radiating heat up into the atmosphere, and parts of it sink into the air below. When this air is relatively warm and humid, some of its water vapour condenses into cloud droplets as it mixes with the cold air. The process is like the reverse of convection currents forming into Cumulus clouds: rather than air warming at the ground level and rising to forum clouds, here air is cooling at the top of the troposphere and sinking to form them.
Mamma tend to be far less dramatic on the other cloud types. On the whole they are only plump, full and abundant when there is a mighty thunderstorm in the vicinity. The more powerful the Cumulonimbus, the more buxom the mamma.
With a population of just 178, Burketown sits in one of Australia’s most remote shires. But every September and October, a small group of individuals journey from all corners of the country for the appearance of a remarkable and dramatic cloud called the Morning Glory. Clouds don’t usually have names, nor are they normally linked to a particular location, but then the Morning Glory is no normal cloud. Looking like a huge white roll of meringue, it stretches up to 600 miles (about the length of Britain) and sweeps over Burketown at speeds of up to 35mph. The visitors who come to marvel at this beautiful and awe-inspiring meteorological phenomenon are an intrepid group of glider pilots, for whom the cloud promises the most unique and thrilling flying conditions of anywhere in the world. Each year they come to this sleepy town in the hope of ‘soaring’ the Morning Glory, an exhilarating gliding adventure that can only be described as cloud-surfing.
We plan activities around weather forecasts. However, the information is often from sensors far from our location. I want data from my backyard with the convenience of not having to go outside to read it. I have been using the wireless Indoor/Outdoor Humidex Thermometer for over two years. It is perfect for my needs. I have placed it in a central location in the house and I take a glance at the readings every time I pass it (at least ten times a day).
Setting it up is a snap. First insert two AA batteries into the back of the monitor and two more into the remote outside sensor. Press the reset button on both and you should begin receiving data which is displayed on the monitor. Look for a suitable place to locate the sensor. A shady area is recommended for accurate readings. The maximum transmission range is 45 meters but that is in open spaces. Walls will cut down on the separation distance. A signal detector icon indicates how strong the connection is between the two devices. Using this will help you find the best place to put each of the two gadgets. The remote sensor is splash proof but it should not be exposed to heavy rain. I have put mine under the eaves of my garage. The monitor can be mounted on a wall or placed on any flat surface.
This particular model is perfectly suited for cold Canadian weather. The remote temperature sensor is good for -50°C to 70°C (-58°F to 158°F). The main difference between this monitor and the competition is that this model provides decimal temperature readings, which is a rarity. A temperature of 16.6°C to 17.4°C would register as 17°C on most monitors. I appreciate this precision because I am sure I can tell the difference between these two readings. On the monitor there is a battery indicator icon, letting you know when the power is starting to go. The batteries should last about 12 months.
Besides the indoor/outdoor temperatures, the monitor also displays the outside humidity and a “Humidex” index to indicate how comfortable/uncomfortable the temperature really is outside. — Marcel Dufresne
The IPA is the most popular craft beer style in America. Here, an excerpt from Josh Bernstein's "The Complete Beer Course" breaks down our beloved hoppy liquid.
Josiah Martens is a builder in Eugene, Oregon where he makes music, analog video art, and custom woodwork. As often as he can, Josiah crews on tallships and canoe-camps the rivers of the Northwest.
Heimplanet teams with London-based label Maharishi on a tiger stripe camo version of its Cave tent.
A landmark piece of Ferrari racing history, this 1969 Daytona finished 5th overall in 1971 at Le Mans.
Possibly the best-preserved Camel Trophy Discovery in existence is to auction in France.
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