WASHINGTON — Two airborne planes _ one landing and the other taking off _ came within a half-mile of colliding at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday in the second such incident at the airport in a week, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The FAA moved quickly to change takeoff and landing procedures at JFK on perpendicular runways _ the kind of runways involved in both incidents.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said a Delta Flight 123 was arriving at the airport Friday when the pilot decided to abort his landing and execute a "go-around" _ a routine procedure often used during heavy congestion. That caused the Delta flight to intersect with the flight path of Comair Flight 1520, a regional jet that was taking off on another runway.

Huff Puff

5. Dogfish Head Golden Shower Originally named Prescription Pills, the brewery was forced to change the name, lest someone think it was a pharmaceutical. Golden Shower saw one release before the government folks figured out what they'd approved. The beer is now known as Golden Era.

4. Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Pooh Coffee The coffee added to the beer is pooped out by a civet (a catlike mammal that loves coffee). A bit literal? Yes. But still funny.

3. McQuire's I'll Have What The Gentleman On The Floor Is Having Barley Wine The name is a subtle hint that at 12 percent alcohol by volume, this beer is meant to be sipped. If you can drink it faster than you can say it, slow down!

2. Avery Collaboration Not Litigation This beer typifies the spirit of the craft brewing community. Vinnie Cilurzo of Russia River Brewing and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing realized they both had beers named Salvation. Showing a selfish disregard for the financial health of America's lawyers, the two brewers decided that instead of suing each other, they'd team up to brew this bold beer.

1. Wasatch Polygamy Porter The slogan explains perfectly why this is the coolest beer name ever: "Why have just one?" I have big love for this beer's name.

All ten at tampabay.com

Well I have made through the mid point of my wee staycation. The problem with being a road warrior is that the instant you stop traveling, you get sick. Of course the only time I cease traveling is when I am on holiday and yes you can guess how this one started out.

Though my grand plans of snowboarding and biking have been mostly thwarted, it has been a good time. On Sunday, Hunter S. Thompson Memorial Greens (my wiffle field) hosted the season opener for LowBall.

Good times for sure.

Finally something original from the Laudromat.

While Isa and I were kicking it to the dump, we saw the holy grail of roadside debris, "the free bike". Now the free bike typically comes complete with piles of rust, a non pink exterior, and a host of other issues. Obviously the second is a near deal breaker for a 3 year old. There was some work to be completed. We stripped the bike completely down.

Painted the main components pink, obviously.

Scrubbed the remaining pieces until no rust or dirt could be found.

Put it together in a mere 13 attempts, chipped some of the fresh paint off, and holy cow a new-ish bike. Thrifty is the new black, get some.

Looks like another banger day and the trees are starting to green, only 4 days of staycation left.

S Nathaniel o.u.t.

I certainly was not a screaming proponent of the torch protests, however I do recognize the situation in Tibet. I could go through the ins and outs of my feelings on the subject, but that would be borderline pointless. This on the other hand is a great article and I think you should read it.

Watching his daughter on a homemade ladder smoothing varnish over the red-and-yellow trim of their large new log house, Norbu Choden smiled with the satisfaction that even if there was no getting the Chinese out of Tibet, he'd finally figured out how to benefit from their decades-long occupation of his homeland. "Once you understand that they’re never going to help us," he said, "you realize that you have to make your own future."

Norbu made his by transforming himself from a herdsman to a middleman. Like many of the five million Tibetans living under China's flag, he'd spent nearly all of his 48 years in eastern Tibet driving shaggy yaks through alpine meadows, eating their meat and butter, living in a tent woven from their coarse black wool, barely getting by from one brutal winter to the next. Now he leaves the hard work to others, while he buys and sells for profit.

The middleman has a long and storied history among Chinese, but his vital economic role has largely eluded the grasp of Tibetans. Before Norbu's metamorphosis, he would look on with envy as Chinese from neighboring Sichuan Province arrived each spring, buying up a wrinkled little fungus that he and other nomads had dug from the ground in their spare time. The Chinese then sold the brown Cordyceps, known as caterpillar fungus, for huge profits to traditional medicine makers.

The full article at www.nationalgeographic.com

After nearly 6 months of traveling back and forth from VT to Cali on a weekly basis, the great Cali project has come to a close. Sadly I will no longer have the opportunity to suffer through 24-30 hours of air travel per week to enjoy the smog filled congestion of the OC. Now it is time for a week chilling in the VT; playing wiffle, riding out 7YW, dusting off the road bike, and most importantly hanging heavy with the fam.

Lots of posts to come. Peace. S Nathaniel.