A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Yesterday the Greenville News reported that the owner of an antique store on Wade Hampton Boulevard had been found shot to death in his store. Bedding World Outlet and Antiques was a long-established business, located right next door to Henry’s Smokehouse. It was notable as much for it’s quonset-hut shaped architecture and cigar store Indian … Read More “What’s Up with Wade Hampton?” »
Two different headlines in two different papers this week could have far-reaching consequences for instructional technology in our state. That is, if they are not just bluster. On Wednesday the Spartanburg Herald reported that Jim Ritchie had introduced a bill into the Senate that woul provide laptop computers for every eighth grade student in the … Read More “Bold Non-Binding Resolutions” »
Hold your mouse over any of the links on this site. Notice anything? For any link that leads away from this site, you now get a preview of that webpage in snapshot format. This new feature is a free service from Snap.com. Firefox offers the same functionality for any website through the Cooliris add-on. I … Read More “Snap Decisions and Other Discoveries” »
One of my tech folks called this morning with a concern about Google Earth. It seems there was a placemark entitled "Can’t fucking get there from here." The tech wanted to know if a student at the school might have been able to create that placemark for the entire school, since it seemed to be … Read More “The Perils of Web 2.0” »
Tonight we had dinner up at Thaicoon Ricefire at University Square, near Furman. The owner, Bobby, informed us of something we had already spotted. His is now the only Thaicoon in town. Thaicoon on East North has closed, and is scheduled to re-open as something called Thai Top. While we hate that a Thai place … Read More “Only One Thaicoon” »
On my way to rehearsal at Furman this afternoon I passed by a man standing at the corner of Wade Hampton and Pleasantburg. I’ve seen this guy before. He carries a frame fashioned of PVC tubing, from which is suspended one of this "The End Is Near" messages, usually a hellfire and damnation Bible verse. … Read More “This I Believe” »
Ever since I read John Boyanoski’s book Ghosts of Upstate South Carolina, I’ve had a little project going on. Little by little, as I’ve had a few minutes in front of the TV, I’ve been creating placemarks for the locations in the book in Google Earth. The project is now finished. Some of the locations … Read More “Hauntings of South Carolina” »
It would seem that interactive smart boards are the latest thing to sweep the EdTech world. Whether it be a SMARTboard, Promethean Board, or some other brand, districts in our area are racing to put these into every classroom, along with an accompanying projection system. I have mixed feelings about these investments. I was roundly … Read More “Boards versus Tablets” »
Laura sent me a very nice e-card from Hallmark. While she was searching for the card I got, she came across something rather…disturbing. Apparently there are e-cards for proposing. I guess if you can’t work up the nerve to ask, this would be one way to do it.
Sometimes I think it would be great if we got to know our neighbors better, and sometimes I’m just as glad that we don’t know them all that well. Last night was a case in point. A neighborhood meeting was held to discuss the county’s plan for flood abatement. There were more people here than … Read More “The Lake Fairfield Plan” »