This is a gorgeous, fascinating, 
and very fun site. It’s from the Element Collection, which includes Theodore Gray who is also the creator behind the lovely Wood Periodic Table. Sites like these remind us that science is fun, creative, and beautiful.
The Ruins of Pompeii, via Google Street View
Destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 C. E., this small town near Naples was covered by ash and lava until 1738.
Kevin Carey “That Old College Lie”
Carey notes that Senator Claiborne Pell died at age 90 on January 1, 2009. Senator Pell was the driving force, and the inspiration for the federal Pell Grants for under funded college students. In the context of noting that Pell Grants are no longer anything like sufficient in terms of funding percentages of college costs for low income students, Carey points out that:
It’s that too many of the students who do enroll aren’t learning very much and aren’t earning degrees. For the average student, college isn’t nearly as good a deal as colleges would have us believe. . . . A 2006 study from the American Institutes for Research found that only 31 percent of adults with bachelor’s degrees are proficient in “prose literacy”–being able to compare and contrast two newspaper editorials, for example. More than a quarter have math skills so feeble that they can’t calculate the cost of ordering supplies from a catalogue. more . . .
Winter Solstice, 2009
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
At this time to the Goat is run
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all,
Since she enjoys her long night’s festival.
Let me prepare towards her, and let me call
This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this
Both the year’s and the day’s deep midnight is.
John Donne “A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day” more . . .
Kona Brewing Pipeline Porter
You know those seasonal beers? The ones released for just a few months, then retired? I’ve lost my heart to one—Kona Brewing Company’s Pipeline Porter.
Pipeline Porter was publicly released last September, but I, for my sins, only discovered it last week, and it’s going to be “retired” in March. It’s a typical
Porter, dark, rich, with a barely discernable hint of hops (made with Warrior, Millenium, Horizon and Perle hops). Pipeline Porter’s malts include Pale, Carapils, Victory, Caramel 80, Extra Special, Chocolate Malt, Dark Chocolate Malt, and Roasted Barley. The alcohol level is a reasonable 5.4%.
Pipeline Porter’s main claim to fame is that it’s also made with freshly roasted 100% Kona coffee grown at Cornwell Estate on Oahu. Yes, you really can detect both the coffee and the chocolate, but it’s still a Porter, dense and sort of . . . chewy. Kona Pipeline Porter is dark in color, as it should be, with a tinge of red. The smokey/roasted grain tendency of Porters in general makes chocolate and coffee natural flavor matches, but this is the first I’ve seen made with coffee, though I’ve had some lovely chocolate stouts.
In 2007 Pipeline Porter won the bronze medal in the Coffee Beer category at the Great American Beer Festival, Colorado, and the silver medal in the “Other Beer” category at the Australian International Beer Awards. Pipeline Porter has received some very solid reviews; I note that I’m not the only one to fall swiftly into love. I’m broken hearted that Pipeline Porter is going away, but I’m going to make the most of the next couple of months.
Originally posted on Beer Report.