Wish you were here

I may have some funny ideas about what constitutes a vacation spot, but I've never seriously considered Chernobyl as a tourist destination.

I have, however, spent close to an hour of my life gazing at these photographs of a motorcycle ride through the dead zone -- which may or may not have been done by a person named Elena. Very worth your time.

Meanwhile, a coal fire has burned beneath Centralia, Pa., since 1962, resulting in a different kind of ghost town. Check it out.


FMFM: The Oranges Band's The World And Everything In It. A big leap forward from their previous album -- this one is more casual, open-sounding, and more in touch with their pre-1965 side. My summer has a soundtrack.