This Quiz Is Too Easy

I say this quiz on detective hometowns is too easy. Agree? Disagree? Take the quiz here and let us know in the comments section how you did. Anything less than 5/5 should leave you hanging your head in shame. Then, if you’re up for it, try my slightly more ambitions quiz below for a bit more of a detecting challenge. Hey, these mysteries aren’t going to solve themselves!

 

Dana Stabenow’s Inuit heroine Kate Shugak calls which coastal US state home? (Then, check out her blog entry about settings, here.)

  1. California
  2. Connecticut
  3. Arkansas
  4. Alaska

 

Ace Atkins’ deputy sheriff Quinn Colson returned to his home town in which US State after service as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan?

  1. Minnesota
  2. Mississippi
  3. Montana
  4. Maryland

 

Les Roberts set his Saxon series in L.A., but his fictional Milan Jacovich series is set in which real midwestern US city?

  1. Columbus, OH
  2. Cleveland, OH
  3. Cincinatti, OH
  4. Cairo, IL

 

CJ Box’s game warden Joe Pickett calls which sparsely populated US state home?

  1. Wyoming
  2. North Dakota
  3. New Mexico
  4. West Virginia

 

Ian Rankin has set all but one of his Inspector Rebus novels in which UK city?

  1. Glasgow
  2. Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  3. Stratford-on-Avon
  4. Edinburgh

 

Quiz is too easy. Tooth and Nail.

Bonus question: The one Inspector Rebus novel that’s not set in Scotland is called “Tooth and Nail.” Where is it set?

  1. London
  2. Paris
  3. Barcelona
  4. Berlin

Rabbitbrush

Rabbitbrush @ SunsetOnSurrey
Sunset on Surrey Trail.

The species in the foreground is rabbitbrush, AKA Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus.  Common in our arid Colorado landscape, it’s only a fire hazard when it’s dead. On Saturday Ben and I – along with 30 or so other Roxborough Parks & Trails volunteers including the local cub scout pack – spent the morning clearing dead rabbitbrush from Schmidt Nature Park. We also excavated the stone foundation of an old (circa 1900’s) shed/barn with numerous interesting farm implement finds that were turned over to the Roxborough Historical Society for cataloguing & preservation.

 

********

 

Afterward, we battled the cub scouts for pizza and beer provided by @RampartsHOABob. Being smaller and nimbler, the scouts won the pizza battle. But the drinks were still icy cold, so that’s something at least.

Dude

Love this take on fall folliage from one of my favorite nature photographers, Lars Leber. But I love his caption even more. “Dude, where’s my car?”

Dude, where's my car?

 

More LL photos are here. Abandoned truck is in the San Juan mountains of southern Colorado, a place Lars Leber calls home.

What Are The Odds?

On this the day that hurricane Milton is set to slam into the gulf coast of Florida, a pair of stories from History.com which support the conclusion that October 9th is a day of disaster. It also leads us to the inevitable rhetorical question, “What are the odds?”

First, from 1992, the curious story of an orange 1980 Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, NY. It met an unusual fate in a young woman’s driveway, here.

 

On October 9, 1992, 18-year-old Michelle Knapp is watching television in her parents’ living room in Peekskill, New York when she hears a thunderous crash in the driveway. Alarmed, Knapp ran outside to investigate. What she found was startling, to say the least: a sizeable hole in the rear end of her car, an orange 1980 Chevy Malibu; a matching hole in the gravel driveway underneath the car; and in the hole, the culprit: what looked like an ordinary, bowling-ball–sized rock. It was extremely heavy for its size (it weighed about 28 pounds), shaped like a football and warm to the touch….

 

Second, from 1963, the tragic story of a landslide in Italy that killed thousands, here.

On October 9, 1963, a landslide in Italy leads to the deaths of more than 2,000 people when it causes a sudden and massive wave of water to overwhelm the Diga del Vajont dam. It was built in the Vaiont Gorge to supply hydroelectric power to Northern Italy. Located 10 miles northeast of Belluno, it rose 875 feet above the Piave River below and was a full 75 feet wide at its base. The construction of the dam created a large reservoir, which held more than 300,000 cubic feet of water. While the dam was solidly constructed, its location was a poor choice. The Vaiont Gorge was located in a section of the Alps known for instability. In 1963, the area experienced heavy rains….

 

We picked Ben up from DIA last night. He was lucky to make it out of Orlando on a United Flight a little earlier than planned after his work conference ended. If you’re into silver linings, the high point in Florida is 345′ above sea level. That makes it unlikely that a landslide will produce the same result there as it did in the Italian Alps 61 years ago. On the downside, it makes the probability of a storm surge in Tampa Bay that much higher. So there’s that.

If you’re stuck in central Florida today, we wish you godspeed. If you happen to own an orange 1980 Chevy Malibu, I guess you’re on your own.

 

What are the odds?
What are the odds?

Weekend Meme Dump

Sometimes you just need a weekend meme dump.

Weekend Meme Dump 2.
Don’t try this at home.

Weekend Meme Dump 1.

“Things were so much better 4 years ago” – Idiots.
4 years ago: Wiping your ass with junk mail.

********

Apologies to the apolitical. Wait. Nah. No apologies. You’ll get over it. 

Bigger Engine?

I just love trail runners’ sense of humor. Saw this sign on a 25K/50K course in the high country today. Had to wait for 50+ very fit folks all wearing numbered racing bibs and compression socks to pass me on the Mason Creek trail. Lucky for me I was only doing 16K and I was walking. To each his own I guess. Just one question: “Bigger Engine?”

Bigger Engine?

Not sure if I “suffered better,” but I did OK for a geezer.

Yeah. The fall folliage was aspen-tastic in Staunton State Park today.

 

The aspens were fantastic, and more easily appreciated at my slower pace. Can’t figure out why so many are red this year. Any ideas?

Gimme Jimmy

In the Breaking Bad prequel, lawyer Jimmy McGill, who has a knack for self-promotion, produces a series of ambulance-chasing TV commercials with the tagline “Gimme Jimmy.” See the promo, here. Later, after changing his name, the trademark for his bus-bench ad campaign morphs to the eponymous “Better Call Saul.” And while I do love Bob Odenkirk’s portrayal of the legal scoundrel, today’s birthday shout-out goes to a different Jimmy who is turning 100 years old. The History.com commemoration is here.

 

Gimme Jimmy
Gimme Jimmy. Carter, that is.

 

Before his 1976 election to the highest office in the land, Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, not a lawyer. And after his term was up, he gained further notoriety as a spokesperson for Habitat for Humanity, not meth manufacture. Now in hospice care at his Plains, GA home, his earthly days are dwindling fast. But his legacy of solid citizenship lives on. So, no matter your current affiliation, let’s all join together in a rousing bipartisan 100th birthday chorus for POTUS39: Gimme Jimmy! (“Because moxie is in such short supply these days.”)

 

Remember this?