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Via theweaselking: The Atlas of True Names is "a series of maps that reveal the etymological roots, or original meanings, of the familiar terms on today's maps of the World, Europe, the British Isles and the United States.

"For instance, where you would normally expect to see the Sahara indicated, the Atlas gives you "The Tawny One", derived from Arab. es-sahra “the fawn coloured desert”."

farewell, World of Video

World of Video, my favorite Manhattan video store (51 Greenwich Ave between 6th and 7th) is closing tonight, yet another victim of rising storefront costs and online purchasing. There's absolutely nothing to say to that that hasn't been said a million times already; instead, I'll merely note that between this and the increasingly tendancy of movie audiences to act as though they're at home in their own living room, movie watching has become a much less social activity for me of late. Sure, there are still revival theaters that I frequent occasionally; sure, it's nice to bump into people I've been seeing around the movie circuit for years/decades (a few years ago, there was a documentary called Cinemania, about lifestyle NYC movie geeks: I had at least met each of the subjects); sure, it's nice to have so much of my moviegoing past immediately available on DVD. Still, I miss the days when wanting to see a certain movie meant waiting, and traveling to a given theater, there to meet other fans: when the desire to see the film was almost more important than the film itself. Ah, well; let the record show that my last DVD purchased there was Grave of the Fireflies; further, there was an amusing moment when I was watching a few moments of Joseph Strick's film of Genet's The Balcony with one of the staff. At one point, I happened to say, "Hey, isn't the young Leonard Nimoy in this...?" At *exactly* that point, the movies cut to: the young Leonard Nimoy.

...annnnd- scene.

Broadway walk

I'm in the middle of walking down the length of Manhattan Island. I started around 231st; right now, I'm down to 153rd; as always when I do this, it's a great way to take my mind off my troubles (except for sore feet...) Great to see so much of the city :)