Highway 190 stretching westward just outside of Death Valley.

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Further observations from our roadtrip:
*	All those old and unused airplanes make for an interesting backdrop to lunch at the Mojave Airport. The burger was good too.
*	The Grand Canyon is surreal in its beauty. It is also overflowing with European and Asian tourists. Nothing wrong with that.
*	The New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is not anywhere near new and appears to have not been maintained since 1974. It does however offer cheap suites with great views of The Strip. No shit.
*	Las Vegas is kinda fun. And weird. And sad. It is a city completely lacking in subtlety. The buffet at the Mirage though nearly makes up for it all. Nearly.
*	The road across Death Valley and into Lone Pine, California is dangerous, deserted and amazing. Equally amazing is the entire drive up the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains. For sure.
*	The flies at Mono Lake look gross but are actually pretty nice. For flies.
*	While our rental car probably didn't appreciate the three mile dirt road into the ghost town of Bodie, we definitely did. Very cool.
*	Roadtrips are good for the mind, soul and family. Next one's already in the planning. Pacific Northwest.

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Normal, link-filled updates will resume on Thursday. Thanks for your patience.

The view from the driver's seat eastbound on Interstate 40 somewhere near the California/Arizona border.

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Observations from our roadtrip so far:
*	Gas may be very expensive but there's no lack of gigantic RVs/motorhomes on the road. Some of these behemoths have intricate scenes involving American flags, Bald Eagles and Jesus Christ airbrushed on the back. No shit.
*	We drove through the Mojave Desert on an unseasonably cool day - it was 105 degrees. In the shade.
*	Spotted in Williams, Arizona: An SUV with a large "Support the Troops" sticker on the back playing extremely loud Indian disco music. The town is seemingly run by the Mumbai Cartel. Nothing wrong with that.
*	The pea soup at Pea Soup Andersen's in Buellton, California isn't really all that good. At all.
*	The amount of train (container) traffic in Tehachapi, California (and points eastward) is astounding. It appears we consume a lot of stuff. Big time.
*	This is a really beautiful country. No shit.

The Jockey School.

Real time satellite tracking via Google Maps. Excellent. [via cynical-c]

US backing anti-Islamic warlords in Somalia.

Yesterday's individual time trial stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia passes in front of the Tower of Pisa.

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Bicycles and Aerodynamics.

Jean-mania is trickling down -- to the 2T, 3T and 4T set. Fashion-conscious parents are increasingly spending adult prices on denim for toddlers. These jeans even sport adult-like detailing, such as "whiskers" (distressed horizontal lines) in the lap. -Young children and the marketing of clothes.

Nice look at the life of Grateful Dead roadie Ramrod.

Former Playboy bunny Martyna Wojciechowska summits Mount Everest.

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Hundreds of frozen fish shut part of Hwy. 17 near Santa Cruz.

Expect very sporadic updates until the end of the month as we're off on a roadtrip to the Grand Canyon via Tehachapi and and then back home via Las Vegas and the backside of the Sierra Mountain range.

Gas prices easing at historic highs. What does that mean?

Cool collection of trains at night photos.

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Both Citigroup and Ozzy are growing old disgracefully; Citigroup's many and varied brushes with the authorities around the world make the bank worthy of an alliance with the former Black Sabbath singer. -If investment banks were rock groups.

Direct link to a semi-interesting short video taken yesterday at camp three on Mount Everest. Appears to be really cold and windy.

Cool collection of train derailments and wrecks photos.

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The Grateful Dead on horseback at Mickey Hart's ranch.

Elegy written by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter for Ramrod, a roadie with the band since the very beginning. RIP.

Sumida Tower. [via metafilter]

A photo tour of the Washington State University Creamery.

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Comprehensive listing of Victoria's Secret models. Useful.

Playdough perfume. Oh my. [via nag on the lake]

A disturbingly large collection of Calvin-inspired "pee-on" sticker/ decals. Yikes. [via linkfilter]

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Synthetic THC acts on the brain like the THC in smoked marijuana, but eliminates having to inhale the otherwise harmful smoke contained in the illegal drug. -Pharmcos once again try to get in on the action.

How to create the Domino Effect.

Fish-eyed view from yesterday's stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia.

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Photos from the quick construction of a mountain road being used in this year's Giro.

Medieval and renaissance martial arts general timeline.

A few photos of Annie Oakley. Wow. Her bio. More. More.

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Paris Hilton's facial expression doesn't change. Why would it?

Discovery's 'put a camera on a bird' thing.

Junk Charts.

The peloton starts to climb during yesterday's stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia.

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Inspiring cycling training website of a California AIDS/LifeCycle participant.

Best bicycle locks. Best lock is no lock at all. [via neatorama]

Useful NOAA site with wind speeds from various SF Bay locations.

Scanned images, engravings and pictures from old books.

The World Bank's recruiting teens via some sort of odd comic book series. Be afraid.

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Purity Balls. No, not some sort of newfangled spherical chastity device to be inserted using vacuum tubes and pulleys, but rather fancy creepy dress-up rituals taking place in towns like Colorado Springs and Tucson and Zoloft Jesusville, in which Christian dads rent a bad tux while their daughters, mostly teenagers but many as young as 6 or 7, get all dolled up in gowns from JCPenny and they all drive out to the airport Marriott and prepare to, well, lose their minds. -Wow and yikes.

Ivan Basso showed why he's a favorite in this years's Giro d'Italia during yesterday's mountainous stage 8.

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A video look at Didi Senft, the infamous German pro cycling fan who wears a devil's suit and rides a gigantic aluminum bicycle at nearly all the big races. [via coudal]

Detailed map of San Francisco's Presidio.

North Carolina bicycle maps. [tnx mmjc!]

Which type of ethanol is right for your car?

A listing of movies about motherhood.

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Come along as the Hot Bad Goddesses recognize the Lovely and the Evil. We Few, We Happy Few, recognize that the Best Men are often the Worst Men. We, too, adore the Men with the Plots, the Men with the Black Hats, the Men who just want to Rule the World. It's important for Men to have Goals; these Men have Goals, and We love them for it. -Hot Bad Guys.

The BBC looks at the Enron trial.

Moving Britain's radio time signal.

Ukraine's Serhiy Honchar enjoys the obligatory podium girl kisses as he takes the leader's pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia.

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The Bob Weir/Donald Trump connection. Wow and yikes.

Geeky and interesting notes on tracking airplane flights on the Internet. [via jwz]

The History of Shoes: Superstition.

Nice Bob Marley poster made from Bob Marley lyrics. [via look at this]

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Nice interview with Roger Waters.

Crazy 4-hour long mirage off the coast of east China. [via linkfilter]

Nice, interesting article on the Latino influx and its effect on New Orleans. [via mefi]

"It has to be in you to work with flowers, but if you grow up with it, you realize how it can make you untouchable," Martínez said. "If something hurts, it disappears when you are in the garden. It's about deep thinking, about letting go. Other players need to do the same thing." -Nice NY Times article on Pedro Martínez, ace pitcher and gardener.

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Nice collection of NY Mets songs. [via mookie]

Ruth was clearly on his mind: When he hit long, tantalizing flyballs that stayed in the ballpark, Aaron would tell Baker, "Babe blew it back." -Nice look back at Henry Aaron's chase for Ruth's record.

University of Southern Mississippi's Civil Rights Documentation Project.

Chaka Kahn playing the drums, circa 1976. Way fuckin' nice.

Nice photo from the Giro d'Italia cycling race. Another nice one.

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Nice look behind the scenes at the Giro from Pez Cycling News.

The technology of bait bikes.

Eternal sun webcams. Good idea. [via presurfer]

Find One, Find All® key finder.

A bit of information on showing poultry. Also, poultry breeds.

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BBC: New straw to kill disease as you drink.

Tickets for the football tournament sold via unauthorised websites are, on average, 327% more expensive than their face value. -World Cup ticket scams.

Send me your unwanted scientology material.

SF Chron's TV critic Tim Goodman's take on upcoming Fall TV shows.

From yesterday's stage of the Giro d'Italia.

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Watch taped stages of the Giro for free!

Deciding what style of hats to wear? Also, determining the right way to wear your hat.

Highway 50, one of the main routes to Lake Tahoe, closed due to landslide.

Solent Waters. Excellent.

Very cool set of photos of the insides of various UK venues before the show starts. [via coudal]

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A Southwest Airlines weblog.

BBC: UFO study finds no sign of aliens. Probably untrue.

AP: BP Refinery in Texas Called Biggest Polluter. Probably true.

Riding in the rain yesterday during stage two of the Giro d'Italia.

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An explanation of jerseys worn in the Giro d'Italia.

The mother of Mother's Day.

My dream/nightmare last night featured a very evil and possessed pie tin bent on getting me good. Kinda like Poltergeist, but with a pie tin instead of a TV. I may have gotten too much sun this weekend.

Eye disease simulations. Also, interactive eye diagrams.

European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages.

Dolphins and man.....equals? Also, encounters between human and dolphin.

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BBC In pictures: Tehran pet hospital.

World Cup webcams.

The work of a retail butcher involves cutting, de-boning, trimming, dicing and mincing meat to satisfy customers orders, in addition to handling cash, weighing and displaying products and serving the customer. Retail butchers may also manufacture a range of meat-based products such as sausages, burgers, pies and a range of ready to cook meals. -Meat training. [via b-rivets]

Unfortunate ballpark promotions. I like Laser Pointer Night.

The following snapshots show the kind of ridiculous and inadequate cargo and load securing which, unfortunately, is a daily occurrence in road, railroad and maritime transport. -Photos of the month from German marine insurers. More cargo information.

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Listing of old Sesame Street videos on YouTube. [via kottke]

Daily Racing Form's Kentucky Derby coverage.

How to open a beer bottle with a lighter. Useful. [via lookatthis]

Famous modern Pagans.

It was probably inevitable that a fourth meal would be added to the day and I am not surprised that a fast food restaurant is the one trying to do it. -Just what America needs. [via nagonthelake]

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A weblog kept by summer investment banking interns at JP Morgan. [via dealbreaker]

A Mojave Airport weblog.

An excellent World Cup weblog.

I went out into the woods and dug up 200 milk bottles over a period of years. Then I sold them all. So I started my collection over again. And here is my current collection. They built houses over top of the places I used to dig. I'm looking for more places to dig and better bottles. -A neat collection of old milk bottles.

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Best places to go to prison. Useful. [via j-walk]

A San Francisco bicycling survey.

Weird, scary clues about a 2004 murder of a young couple on an isolated Northern California beach.

EFF's 3-minute guide to to the Broadcast Flag. [via linkfilter]

A 1950's Chiquita Banana poster, from a large collection of fruit labels. Also, an enormous and very well designed collection of banana labels.

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What is Cheez Whiz? Yikes.

Has there ever been a more deflated, tepid march to history? The real race now seems to be how soon the government can get its guns lined up and how soon 715 will come and go. Before an indictment? Before an injury? Before everyone, including Barry, can be bothered to rise for it? Who would have guessed that watching a second baseball player catch The Babe could be so utterly boring.

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State-By-State medical marijuana laws.

Wildland fire update.

Gaucho culture taking over the world.

The peloton heads into the Swiss Alps during Saturday's stage of the Tour of Romandie.

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Many photos of a container ship what ran into a cliff in Mexico Greece. [via I forget]

Updates may be a bit scarce this week as there's quite a bit on my plate and I'm not all that hungry.