Category Archives: humor

Rhyolite

Places that you may never have heard of

I’m a dyed in the wool traveler. In my travels I sometimes run across a place that bears a “funny” name – a place that has an unfamiliar moniker.

Not long ago after taking in the scenic wonders of Death Valley National Park I pointed the rental auto towards my destination: Las Vegas

Shortly thereafter I encountered one of the places with a strange name.

I turned onto a side road and followed it a couple of miles to find a ghost town. Judging from the many weathered foundations here, Rhyolite must have been fairly active years ago.

The Overbury Bldg opened in 1905 housed offices.
The Rhyolite schoolhouse built about 1910 for 250 children
The Cook Bank was first occupied in 1907.
An artistic silhouette of miners at work

When I returned home I spent a few minutes to find out the history of Rhyolite.

The rhyolite mineral is a volcanic substance containing quartz. About 1904 rhyolite was discovered in the area and a large number of prospectors moved to the area in hopes to strike it rich. When electricity came to Rhyolite a large mill was built to mine and process the ore. But the 1907 financial panic soon affected the town, businesses and residents. The mines and mill slowed production and workers left. By 1916 the town was effectively shut down.

If you’re interested you can visit this ghost town by driving from Las Vegas to Beatty, NV and then driving on NV-374 west about four miles.

Still Interested?

Here are a few more places that you may never have heard of –

Argenta, Nevada
Aragonite, Utah
Beowawe, Nevada
Dunphy, Nevada
Jackpot, Nevada
Mercury, Nevada
Vedauwoo, Wyoming
Wamsutter, Wyoming

Watch for the Robots

A few at CES

I stopped by several of the booths demonstrating robots as the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month.

They come in all sizes and are aimed at various audiences.

Take a look at how they move around.

Rola Mini Pet Monitor

This companion robot lets you observe your pet while you are at work or away from home. This model is $150. A different model can feed your pet.

Visit Enabot

Stealth X30

Industrial grade moves like a dog. With multiple sensors it can walk, run, climb stairs and can operate in harsh environments. Cost is about $65,000.

Visit Deep Robotics

Mirokai

Billed as a “social” robot it can be used in a variety of settings: restaurants, hotels, malls, etc. This programmable character is friendly. Cost is about $16,000.

Visit Enchanted Tools

From the several versions of robots that I saw at CES, they’ll be soon coming to you in droves.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

At the Lantern Festival

At the Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival

This week we visited the local John Ball Park Zoo for a special themed attraction called the Lantern Festival. It’s an annual event whereby the park is transformed into a mile long pathway filled with thousands of colorful and clever Asian lanterns. These amazing displays come in all sizes – small, medium, large and gigantic.

It’s a great venue for photographers such as myself and I had an easy time of selecting subjects to shoot. For this article, I’ll stick to a few pictures that illustrate the festival’s Asian origin.

Most of you are at least slightly familiar with the zodiac animals that you might see on the menu or placemat at a Chinese restaurant. These have special meaning to those who follow this cultural norm.

The zodiac consist of twelve animals that represent a particular lunar year. Each animal has certain characteristics and a person born in a given year takes on the personality of the animal.

I was born in the year of the ox. Supposedly my personality is “diligent, dependable, strong, determined”. I’ll let others decide if these adjectives describe my personality.

Here are the lanterns that illustrate the Chinese zodiac.

I took many more pictures than I’ve shown you here. As time permits, I’ll have another article that shows you many more amazing and clever lanterns from the festival.

We enjoyed this year’s Lantern Festival and the clever presentations of the Chinese zodiac animals.

Does your personality match the animal of your birth year?


Written by:

Arnie Lee

Reference: Personality traits from Creative Arts Guild