memoirs on a rainy day

A major earthquake has hit Sichuan province and thousands are dead. Some flickr coverage on the disaster.

Cab driver Mohamed Khalil returned a Stradivarius violin to Philip Quint, a grammy nominated violinist. Stradivarius violins are priceless to musicians. This one is the Kiesewetter Stradivarius and is worth $4 million and is on loan to Mr. Quint thanks to the Stradivarius Society. (via kottke but expanded upon by myself)

The world’s first billion dollar home. (via cf)

Dr. Irwin Braverman, a Yale University physician who analyzed images of Akhenaten, has a new theory on why Akhenaten wasn’t the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. (via cf)

The billionaire author of the Harry Potter books JK Rowling has gone to court to stop Steve Vander Ark from publishing an A-Z encyclopedia on Harry Potter. She was tearful in court and says that this controversy has stopped her from writing. What a crock! She’s already made a billion. Fan fiction is a fact of life.

Über blogger mom Heather B Armstrong appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

The Cougar Ace is a 55,000 ton cargo ship packed with Mazda cars valued at $103 million that nearly flipped when the ballast tanks on either side of the ship got out of balance. If the team succeeds, they get about 10% of the cargo’s value and If not, they don’t get paid…either way, someone might die. (via kottke)

Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, dies. (via god plays dice)

What else is new? Canada’s immigration laws have also become stricter in the last couple of years.

Bloggers are writing themselves to death.