Mildly interesting

[Copper]

The Ryugyong Hotel (Korean: 류경호텔; sometimes spelled as Ryu-Gyong Hotel), or Yu-Kyung Hotel,[4] is an unfinished 105-storey, 330-metre-tall (1,080 ft) pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name ("capital of willows") is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang.[5] The building is also known as the 105 Building, a reference to its number of floors.[3] The building has been planned as a mixed-use development, which would include a hotel.

Construction began in 1987 but was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered a period of economic crisis after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. After 1992, the building stood topped out, but without any windows or interior fittings. In 2008, construction resumed, and the exterior was completed in 2011. The hotel was planned to open in 2012, the centenary of founding leader Kim Il-sung's birth. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but this was cancelled.[6] In 2018, an LED display was fitted to one side, which is used to show propaganda animations and film scenes.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel

[taiwan_girl]

@Copper My first trip there was before they did the outside cladding. This is what it looked like then.

[Copper]

I saw this on Buzz Aldrin's Facebook

Nice picture

Happy birthday to my friend and Gemini 12 crew mate, Jim Lovell. We have had quite the adventures over the years. My followers may not realize that we are also “models”. As we, along with Sally Ride, posed for Annie Liebowitz, in 2009, for a Louis Vuitton ad.

[George K]

@Copper OK - that's the coolest thing I've seen today.

[jon-nyc]

@George-K said in Mildly interesting:

He did that faster than I could.

Well, he did…

[George K]

@jon-nyc said in Mildly interesting:

He did that faster than I could.

Well, he did…

Indeed..

And I've won more Tour de France medals than Lance Armstrong.

Well, I have...

[Copper]

@George-K said in Mildly interesting:

@Copper OK - that's the coolest thing I've seen today.

I was flipping through facebook and, of course, recognized the faces right away. I thought, what a great picture.

But the context didn't seem right. Then I read Buzz's comment.

[mark]

@George-K said in Mildly interesting:

@jon-nyc said in Mildly interesting:

He did that faster than I could.

Well, he did…

Indeed..

And I've won more Tour de France medals than Lance Armstrong.

Well, I have...

Um, you must mean you have won the same number of medals.

[jon-nyc]

[jon-nyc]

Pridrangaviti Lighthouse, Westman Island, Iceland

[Catseye3]

Green Lake, Austria

Green Lake is considered as one of the most “exotic” waters . . . around Europe due to a rare natural phenomenon: during summer, the snow from the peaks starts to melt and fresh water floods the valley.

in March, once the temperature rises and the snow on the mountain melts, the water level in the lake slowly begins to go up, covering pathways and small trees.

In June, the lake becomes an amazing lagoon, reaching its maximum depth of 12 meters while swallowing high trees, a bridge and even benches. In late-July, the lake becomes smaller and smaller, revealing once again the underwater landscape. And this happens every year!

Some nice photos at https://www.tourismontheedge.com/underwater-park-austria/

I gather the lake is closed off to divers now.

[jon-nyc]

[George K]

Blood donor:

Note the glass bottle.

When I had surgery in 1973, the IV was in glass bottles, and it was also when I started my residency.

In fact, my starting my residency is closer to Ike's blood donation that today is to the start of my residency.

God DAMN, I'm old.

[Doctor Phibes]

Passenger trains in the US vs. Europe

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes that's a bit misleading. The map shows only Amtrak routes, not other passenger rail in the US which is frequently clustered around major cities.

Here's what's in a 60-70 mile radius of downtown Chicago.

Boston.

New York

That said, yeah, the US is woefully under-railed compared to Europe.

[George K]

Herb Alpert was not even remotely Hispanic. He was Russian, Romanian and Jewish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Alpert

Herb Alpert was born and raised in the Boyle Heights section of Eastside Los Angeles,[4] California, the youngest of three children (a daughter and two sons) of Tillie (née Goldberg) and Louis Leib (or Louis Bentsion-Leib) Alpert. His parents were Jewish immigrants to the U.S. from Radomyshl (in present-day Ukraine) and Romania.

He is married to Lani Hall - one of the vocalists from Brazil '66.

[George K]

[jon-nyc]

Dashboard of a ‘54 Mercury Monterey.

[jon-nyc]

[jon-nyc]