Six-sided Storm on Saturn

I don't have anything witty to say about this image. It's just very cool. This "feature" is located over the north pole of Saturn and it was recently photographed by the Cassini-Huygens mission in 2006. Voyager observed the same pattern back in the early 1980s. (Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

For any "Battlestar Galactica" viewers, this looks more like the mystical mandala than that crazy storm from the Maelstrom episode.

Yes, I know that "Lost" is supposed to be the greatest television show but I just can't get into it. Is it sci-fi? Soap opera? Satire?

Murky Waters of the Persian Gulf

Whoops! British sailors were captured by the Iranian military in disputed waters. Was it Iraqi waters or Iranian? I have no idea. Apparently, the military was investigating a boat for potential car smuggling. No joke:

"The men were seized at 1030 local time when they boarded a boat in the Gulf, off the coast of Iraq, which they suspected was smuggling cars."- BBC News

Call me crazy but does it sound like we're getting the whole truth here? Cars? Is this how the British Navy spends its time at war? How about weapons smuggling? Can't they do something about that little problem? Something is fishy and it isn't just the fish. Things are getting hairy in the region and the trigger happy powers-that-be seem ready to take this relationship to the next level while the rest of us are ready for a much needed break.

*Update: All of the sailors were released after 13 days of captivity in Iran. Ahmadinejad, a.k.a. Holocaust denying Pres. of Iran declared the release an "Easter gift" to the British. What about Passover? Or how about a "happy un-birthday?" An Iranian diplomat who disappeared in Iraq two months ago just happened to find his way back home prior to the release of the British captives. Hmm...

Skywalk Peaks Over Grand Canyon

Okay, so when I read the headlines about this amazing glass "skywalk" over the Grand Canyon, I was excited. I went so far as to debate with myself about whether or not I would take a leap of faith and put my weight on top of some type of glass bridge just to walk across one of the natural wonders of the world. Imagine the last scenes in the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and you will understand the mental picture that formed in my head.

Alas, much like the castle at Disney World and the replica Eiffel tower at Epcot Center, this too was a disappointment. It isn't a bridge at all! The skywalk is more of a jug handle (Jersey slang) than a bridge and juts out 70 feet out from the canyon ridge before looping back to the cliff. However, as you walk along, you can see through the floor to the very bottom of the canyon, some 4000 feet below.

For those of us who occasionally feel the real or imagined effects of vertigo, I would pass on this glass horseshoe walk over the Grand Canyon. But for anyone with $25 and the carefree nature of a child, go for it. After all, when Hualapai tribe member Charlie Vaughn said, "I can hear the glass cracking!" he was only being playful.

Something invisible on my wok

I want to wok tonight but I'm already confused by what should be the easiest thing in the world. Apparently there is some sort of clear lacquer coating on the pan which, of course, I cannot see. So after washing and "seasoning the pan" how do I know that this invisible lacquer is gone? How?! No mortal being can see something defined as invisible. It is pure madness. I'm off to cook an invisible dinner but I misplaced the invisible vegetables. Hopefully I can find my invisible knife...

A Public Potty Map

Okay, so we all have to brave the often uncomfortable and sometimes rust-stained lavatories at one time or another. You just can't hold it all day. Thankfully, someone else cares a great deal about comfort in public places, so much that she started a website devoted to public toilets at thebathroomdiaries.com. It documents and even awards the best public restrooms worldwide. The current winner of the "World's Best Bathroom" is a little over the top. A billiard game in the gents room? Please tell me that they take extra care in keeping those balls clean. (Don't be dirty minded I am talking about the solid and stripe kind.)

It is true that when you learn of a good spot for a private moment, you tend to remember it. For instance, a friend of mine couldn't pass Harvey Nichols (the London department store) without taking a bathroom break. When I first moved to NYC, I used to love the alien spaceship style bathrooms of Bar 89 but not everyone enjoys the excitement of glass doors and walls, even if they are high tech. Elsewhere in Manhattan, the bathroom in the Gramercy Tavern in NYC is a fabulous one for their patrons. If you can't quite afford an entire meal in order to use the toilets, grab a drink at the bar or head to the nearby Punch on Broadway and 20th for a quiet squat. Public is a designer restaurant in Nolita with industrial chic bathrooms that remind me of a vintage health club. In Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill, we've got a relatively clean and comfortable loo in Floyd's bar but across the street at Last Exit, I would rather wait until my bladder can't take it anymore.

But sometimes we have to put up with what we find, especially when world travel is involved. I remember that the hole in the floor at Kenyan roadside market seemed a bit on the unhygienic side. In Istanbul, the public toilets in the fabulous Grand Bazaar charged extra for toilet paper. Still, some of the worst bathrooms I've seen have been in New York. d.b.a. is a great bar for the blokes but if a gal needs to go, it is difficult to squat over a dirty toilet that is no longer bolted to the floor. No kidding!