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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Welcome!


This site
- www.darkroastedblend.com
(all espresso-lovers & "coffee shop dwellers" unite!)

- is one of the favorite destinations on the web for all things weird and wonderful, updated daily.

Started in November 2006 by Avi Abrams (formerly http://www.thrillingwonder.blogspot.com), after more than 28 million visitors (thanks to every one of you!), it is now among the top 400 blogs on Technorati and has Alexa rank around 19,000 with PageRank 6.

The "Dark Roasted Blend" is also a part of "Thrilling Wonder" family of sites, dedicated to the on-going quest for wisdom and beauty, for all things cool and wonderful in our world, and beyond - in the spiritual realm.

The name should reflect the sense of wonder that has been largely neglected in our cynical times. To that end, our "Thrilling Wonder" sites try to promote "the intense, wonderful and never-boring" side of things:
---------
"Dark Roasted Blend"
- all kinds of weird and wonderful things, posted daily.

SUGGEST A COOL LINK OR A STORY
by writing to: abramsv@gmail.com
More information about the themes we are looking for is here
We are also open to co-blogging suggestions and cool partners.

Connect with DRB on Facebook and Twitter.

NOTE: It is our policy to ask specific permission from the original owners of content, wherever more than 1 or 2 images are used. For all content, except when the original is not known, there should always be a credit and link to the source. Please let us know if we miss anything.

---------

"SciFi at DarkRoastedBlend:
Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Experience"

- publishes weekly reviews of (mostly) classic Science Fiction & Fantasy books and magazines.
- SF&F Toplists
- "Wonder Spyglass" Book Reviews
- Rare Pulp Magazines
(with original illustrations)

---------
Music, Writing, Prosetry & Fairy Tales, Artwork, and Photos
are periodically updated sections with our current projects. We update these as we have time.
---------
THANK YOU FOR VISITING.

Leave a comment to let us know your thoughts about the site and the ways we can improve it.

Shalom,
Avi & Rachel Abrams
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SITE REVIEWS & FEEDBACK:

Thank you for your good words, and welcome suggestions! Comments like these keep us going...

"I am a true Canadian and find your site at least as good as our best coffee chain, Tim Horton’s. Just like real Java, I find this site addicting. Keep up the great blend of interesting and informative stuff."
- Brent Froese

"You will likely want to subscribe to Dark Roasted Blend. Updates are curated with such care, and contain a number of parts that add to a single theme. I keep it in my "lotstosee" folder that I read while drinking my morning coffee."
- Andre Torrez, Happy Notes

"I love your blog.... It is one of the most interesting I have ever come across the Web, in about 5 years now. I am really amazed at your ability to develop full, interesting stories...."
- David Appell

"Every once in awhile a web site recaptures the original wonder of the Internet. An amazing set of images and themes. I browsed for hours!"
- Prof. Stephen Cysewski, Wandering Photography.

"Enjoy a Dark Roast:
Dark Roasted Blend specializes in articles surrounding collections of photographs. Though I have not delved into the inner workings of this well-crafted blog I have enjoyed the majority of their posts over the last several months. The content ranges from comical to inspirational to awe-inspiring. Dark Roasted Blend is a page maintained by Avi and Rachel Abrams. They began the blog, one of many they have, in October of 2006. In their short time in the blogosphere (look who's talking) they have made an incredible impact and attained a readership most bloggers can only dream of."
- http://kanteker.blogspot.com/

"LOVE your site... Any suggestions? With a mission statement that includes "wisdom and beauty"? Nah, don't change a thing... just continue! I'm really impressed by your taste and the depth of your explorations... and you have LOTS that nobody else has."
- Christopher Panzner

"This has to be the best website I have ever come across for interesting stuff.
WARNING: Do not click this link unless you have many many hours to spare. It scrolls down forever and each link will divert you for hours................"
- mybroadband

"Just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you. Every article on your wonderful site is interesting and intelligent. I check it most every day. Keep up the good work."
-lee

"All of us at WebUrbanist are big fans of your site!"
- Kurt of WebUrbanist

"Today's Way Khool Blog is: Dark Roasted Blend
The caption at the top reads, "All sorts of weird and wonderful things, updated daily". This caption is so true! With categories for nearly everything under the sun, you could spend hours and hours laughing your way through this amazing blog!"
- WayKhoolSites

"Fantastic Webpage, the most interesting site I have ever been to, even beats the porn sites !"

"In my opinion your website is THE BEST WEBSITE EVER. I visit it every day and I love it."
-Konrad Caban

"A personal favourite and, as far as we are concerned, one of the net's true gems offering mainly image collections based on subjects that are as eclectic and original as they are brilliantly researched. A site that defines bookmarkability."
- Andrew Tingle, TFTS

"Dark Roasted Blend, a site that seems to find some of the most amazing photos, ads, and just plain weird stuff I've ever seen.... Be aware, however, that once you check it out, we probably won't see you for weeks as you could get lost with all the great stuff there, from cool ads to monster machinery to amazing cloud formations to just
odd pictures. By the way, it is safe for work as there is no erotica or anything of that sort. So expect your productivity to drop."
- Aerie22

"Hello from france !
I just wanted to say to you that your blog is such a big pleasure for
the eyes :)) every single photo is a great moment !!
Bravo and thx to you for sharing that ;)"
- Clement

"DRB is great, super blog, interesting posts and eye candy. It is really is a top notch collection of weird and wonderful things."
- Digg

"Dark Roasted Blend is a segment of a wonderfully written Blog, The Thrilling Wonder, that will keep you updated on some of the best links to be found on the internet. The variety of links is what will make you bookmark this site. And yes, the name of the Blog, does come from the Blog owner's love of all the wonders, on this Earth, to be shared with one another. Thank you."
- Stumbleupon

"I browsed around your site, and it's very entertaining, interesting, and
downright funny. I've used the internet long enough that I seldom do much
browsing around, but couldn't get away from your assortment of topics, and
had some good laughs; nicely done."
- Gary Robertshaw

"A joyous and inspirational celebration of creative diversity."
- Learning2share

"Coolest blog, ever..
this is ridiculous. i discovered dark roasted blend and now all of a sudden it's three hours later and i'm so ecstatic. this is the best website ever invented. EVER."
- http://kiwikat.livejournal.com/

"...some incredible photos and interesting artwork. My life has actually been enriched by discovering that website!"
- Alexander Van Wingerden-Cross

"Cup of coffee + your site = good morning!"
- Suzy Rust

InventorSpot's review of DRB: Read Here

"I have noticed this blog has some of the neatest pics. wtg darkroastedblend, keep giving us things that are actually interesting! ..."
- digg

"Coming to Life" - made for DRB by xmerry

"We have visited your blog, and found that it is very interesting!
Your pictures and layout are very nice, and your articles are very well written.
It is obvious that you have put in a lot of effort to make it a pleasant experience for your visitors."
--- Yuki Kimura, Tokyo Fantasy, Japan

"I don't know what I did before I discovered DarkRoastedBlend.com. It's a never-ending source of wonderment. Just go ahead and bookmark it. It's that good.
They're featuring an interview with Jeff VanderMeer right now that's probably one of the best I've ever read"
- Matt Staggs, skullring

"I frequently read Dark Roasted Blend, in particular the link section you post on the weekend(s). Keep coming with the awesome content. DRB is actually so good, I keep it in my quick link section because I check it out daily and often times first before my own email/ facebook/ myspace... It has a fresh feel to it when the rest of the internet tubes are clogged with the mundane."
- Robert Haas

"Recently I found a really cool blog called Dark Roasted Blend. As its own motto says, it is a collection of "All Sorts of Weird and Wonderful Things". Basically, it has collections of really cool photographs on (what I think) are some really interesting subjects. For instance, the pictures shown here are taken from one of Dark Roasted Blend's posts about creative advertisements. There are lots more advertisements which can be seen at this page, and theres 5 more pages of them if you look around the site. But cool advertisements are just one of an array of subjects covered on the site. There is a very wide variety of picture sets, but nearly all of them are interesting. Some of the good ones are Moscow: Futuristic Concepts from 1900, Strange Towers of the Third Reich and The Most Dangerous Roads in the World.

I seriously recommend you check out the site, it's just so good!"
- flagrance

"In the rich, hearty depths of Dark Roasted Blend, a treasure trove awaits you: a stunning series of spectacular lightning strikes, captured and displayed in all their digital majesty. If you don't happen to believe in a Divine Creator, ponder the power and glory and beauty of these for a moment. Perhaps you'll reconsider."
- dancingintongues

"This is the most awesome site on the internet!!! I am shocked at how many things on this earth I know nothing about. Thank you so much for all the info!!!!!!"
- Anne Birch

Allmightys.com review of DRB - click here

"Your website is one of my very favorites. Thank you for your time and effort in providing an enjoyable place to spend some time and also a place to learn amazing things."
- Tim

"Dark Roasted Blend = long time fave. A gem."
- stevew, comment on boingboing

"A former Blogspot Blog of Note that actually deserved the honor (trust me, I have no idea how they pick them), Dark Roasted Blend is a site to Get Lost In, scrolling through the oodles and oodles of photo- and picture-essays that are uploaded to it practically daily, on subjects ranging from the humorous to the profound to the scientific to the amazing to the plain old weird. Great fun."
- Menachem G. Jerenberg

"Have you ever stumbled onto a web site that just won't let you go? We're not talking about not letting you log off or anything like that but one that captures your interest so hard that you just can't quit digging in it. This weeks Site of the Month was discovered by Ken's brother Ron and since he sent it to us we've spent many hours checking out all the interesting photos that it has to offer.

The subject matter is extremely broad and covers everything from cars to robots to animals to Presidential airplanes to ... well you get the idea.
The web site can be a little slow to load but that's because of all the pictures that you get to browse through. For a truly different web experience set aside some quality time and start surfing www.darkroastedblend.com, we don't think you'll be disappointed!"
- runnerduck

"Thanks again for pointing me to DarkRoastedBlend.com website, it is awesome and never fails to lift me up... "
- xbitlabs.com

"My choice for the "Awesome Blog of the Month"...Each day Dark Roasted Blend posts a new thrilling wonder running the gamut from serious to humorous - be sure to check out the Nuns with guns (Feb. 27) or the World Imbalances Maps (Mar. 5)."
- 423smith.com/

"They want to promote "the intense, wonderful and never-boring" side of things. And do so beautifully. If you have some hours (days!) of free time and are in serious need of inspiration, spend some time on their website. I have no idea how they could amass such a beautiful collection of images, but they are all worth a look, so check out DarkroastedBlend: Something old. Something new. Something cool."
- take big bites

"Presumably takes a special breed of hyper-caffeinated noodler to maintain this kinda relentless flow of delicious. On a given day, spectacular cloud formations, bizarre roadsign collections, an amphibious cars photo series, and it was worth subscribing for one picture alone this week.."
- skynoise.net

"Love your site! I've been enjoying your site for quite some time, firing it up at least once a day with, you guessed it, my morning coffee. I find your compelling blend of images and curious stories both fascinating and extremely enjoyable.
Many congratulations on the super-entertaining site!"
- Wayne Barlow, WayneBarlow.com

"I really enjoy your blog. I'm amazed at how many wacky things you come up with that I've seen nowhere else."
- Marylin Terrell, National Geographic.

See more in comments below...


READ LATEST POSTS:

May 13, 2008 - Quantum Shot #420
Anteater Coolness

Life with two anteaters in the house

May 9, 2008 - Biscotti Bits
Mixed Links & Images

incl. "Parkour, First Person View"
(for other daily "Biscotti" issues - see our main page)

COMMENTS:

54 Comments:

Anonymous secret admirer said...

wow what images! I love them.
hope you intend to post stuff often...

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Blogger Sonia said...

I found your amazing site through Thomas Locke Hobbs's site,
http://www.thomaslockehobbs.com/

Your site is awesome, just amazing!
I will come back soon!
Congratulations!
Regards from Sonia, São Paulo, Brazil.

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Anonymous John said...

I just want to say how much I enjoy your site. It seems that the things that interest you also interest me. Especially stories on machinery/cars/ships/etc Keep up the good work.

Thanks

John

http://www.farmlog.blogspot.com/

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Anonymous Opinionator said...

You've put together one of the most fun, and interesting sites I've seen, not just this section, but the whole ball of wax! Thank you! I'll be enjoying this for quite some time...

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

This blog is pretty amazing - it has EATEN UP MY ENTIRE MORNING!

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Anonymous Ron Brickmann said...

Wow, I just stumbled across your blog - love it! All kinds of fun stuff there and I've already spent a few hours reading through it all. Makes me want to go climb a mountain in China (among other things :-).

Nice travelogues too. MORE fun places!
Ron Brickmann

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Anonymous Shacknews said...

This is a great website, scroll down and look at some of the other interesting posts/pics totally unbelieveable

I just spent way too much time looking at that blog. Luckily... : -

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

This site is awesome :) :)

click on the other links at the bottom great stuff. I like the wisdom according to calvin and hobbes and the high school analogies articles LOL -

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

I too appreciate the site and the thought behind it, but my RSS feed always give me a 'Presented By' link along with the article.

Great content, but very slow to load, and pages are too busy. Hope you don't mind the criticism. I know it's free and all, but in case you're interested....

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Anonymous Julia said...

If I may offer feedback: my comment mostly has to do with your site features..

1) Why is there a box.net/com full screen ad that we have to click through before reading your page? That's turning me off immediately, and even though I love the stuff you post, I can't stand ads and don't think it's worth it. Please reconsider using that service.

2) The feed is a bit messed up. I'm subscribed via live bookmarks and the list of posts is not clear anymore. Now it lists categories as if they were posts. I'm tempted to unsubscribe and just check back in when it comes to mind. Do you know why it's doing that? Maybe it's because of the organization methods you're using?

3) Navigation... I just don't follow it. There's so much clutter that I just stick to the post and the recent posts archives at the bottom. I'm almost too scared to click on anything else. I have to say... cluttered blogs are an instant design turn-off. If not for the content, I'd think you really were in it for money.

I appreciate you reading my feedback. Do take care!

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Julia, thanks for feedback.
- Full-page ads that appear sometimes could be awkward, I've canceled them for now.
- Categories in the feed is something we'll have to live with, until Blogger offers other options for feed organisation
- Clutter could be less, this is why this blog is a work-in-progress

Cheers and shalom
Avi

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Anonymous Sheila said...

this blog, so far, looks absolutely incredible and I fear I could lose hours of my life in that place

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Anonymous Martin Gugino said...

Clever and wide ranging.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Holy crap!
Seriously cool site!

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Must....close........browser

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Anonymous Andy's Dailys said...

This site has some amazing content. Everything from Japanese Bling Trucks to World’s Largest Ships. Also has some interesting art.

I can’t stay away from this page. I’ll look through a few sets, take a break, and come back.

A++ site!

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Anonymous digimods.co.uk said...

Great website... Helps to kill hours.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

That site is feckin' brilliant

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

God I could be here all day, fantastic site.

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Anonymous J. Daniel Hastings said...

wow
thanks for adding more beauty to a functionary's world

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Anonymous Sydney Brown said...

I've really been enjoying this Dark Roasted Blend blog - it's not about coffee, but rather about interesting stuff you probably wouldn't come across... kinda like visiting someone who has a cool collection of those 'coffee table' books filled with pics.

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Anonymous Wit & Humor said...

WOW! You should be in National Geographic Mag. Your blog is informative and the pictures are amazingly colorful and bright. Each picture deserves to be in a cover of a magazine.

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Anonymous Paul Wesley Knopp said...

Coolest Site EVER

Just when you think you have been everywhere, done everything, and seen it all....

- Paul Wesley Knopp

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Blogger Scooter said...

This has got to be one of the most astounding sites on the internet. ~Sounds of loud applause!~ :)

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Anonymous David_S85 said...

The thrillingwonder site is just a good fun place to land, read, look around, and chill out for a while. Better with coffee. Or wine. Etc.

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Anonymous David Orange said...

Love your site!!
I check Dark Roasted Blend every day and often send a link to a friend or two. I’d like to turn everyone on to your fantastic site!
I really enjoy the site and admire the kind spirit and “thrilling wonder” attitude toward life that it displays.
Thanks and keep up the good work!!!

-David Orange
Biomarker Study Coordinator
University of Alabama at Birmingham

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Anonymous Graham said...

Just found Dark Roasted Blend. Having being surfing the web for only just
over 14 months (South African ADSL costs etc.) I can only say that the typeof site that you run is an absolute breathe of fresh air.

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Anonymous Stefan said...

Hi,

I discovered Dark Roasted Blend a few months back and have become a regular since.
It's great ! The stories are always different, always wonderful and certainly always interesting.
For as far as I remember I have been fascinated by optical illusions, impossible objects and
related images (and made a site about it, too).
I hope you can spare the time to have a look around, maybe there's something of interest for you.
Either way, good luck with your site and keep it up !

Stefan

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

That ThrillingBlogSpot is always packed with visual goodies of all kinds and textures.

www.metafilter.com

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Anonymous Keith Soltys said...

The tagline for the photography blog, Dark Roasted Blend, is "Something Old, Something New, Something Cool". It's a pretty apt description. You'll find posts like "The Glamour of Flight" - stewardess cheesecake from the 60s, "Oops!!" - accidents you wouldn't want to be in, and "Mount Saint-Michel", the famous monastery in France. I spent about half an hour browsing through the site this morning, before I realized how much time I was spending.

- Keith Soltys, Core Dump

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Anonymous MasterPC said...

That's one of those bizarre sites where you can get lost. So much so that you forget what you were looking for in the first place. Thanks for sharing!

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Anonymous Andrew said...

...fantastically thought provoking posts. The work you put into this site shines through.

Thoughts form the Sidelines
http://nexus404.com

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Anonymous mscotttd said...

Wow !!! I got lost on that site !!! so many shiny things !! *rubbing hands together*

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Anonymous DSD said...

Just visiting and had to say I enjoyed your site immensely!
Post more on nature and the amazing pictures you've found out there...
DSD
"Summit Stones & Adventure Musings"

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Anonymous Bunk Strutts said...

DRB--

Excellent photo blog. I've linked to your site a coupla times. Keep up the good work.

Bunk

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Blogger ALi said...

This blog is awesome, thank you!

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Blogger Carsten said...

Great site, thanks!

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Blogger Giant Earth said...

Thanks for a grate site guys. It is really inspiring to see that so many take an interest in the beauty of engineering.

Erlend

http://giantearth.blogspot.com/

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Anonymous Monica Cubine said...

Thank you Sir,
This is the most amazing web site I've ever seen. Just found it today and i can't walk away...
Once again ...thanks. You're the best.
Monika

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Anonymous Robert Charbonnet said...

Just wanted to say that I think you have a great site. It's a
fantastic way to fill up time gaps but at the same time feeling like
you're reading something written by a fairly educated individual and
not by a stupid dumb-ass like some of the others. I've been keeping
up with your site for about a year now.

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Anonymous Robert Rust said...

Your Dark Roasted Blend site is the greatest web site that I have run
across in all my years of browsing. It never fails to elevate and
inspire. Thank you.
- Robert Rust

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Blogger Sergey said...

Hi Avi & Rachel!

Great site and great posts! Thanks a lot for it. Always in my RSS reader and check several time per day to see if anything new.

Small request: I noticed that you start post video in each post, but for some reason it doesn't show in my RSS reader :(
Could you please add video's url above/below video itself, so at least link will be showed.

Thanks in advance, Sergey, Ukraine.

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Blogger G said...

Why is the "Worst Oops on Live TV Ever" link on the week of 9/29 Link Latte labeled "fun video"?

Eewwww, it's soo gross. I wish I hadn't clicked on it!

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

yes, it is the worst oops, after all. i labeled it "gross" now.

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Blogger Sergey said...

Hi again,
thanks for video's URLs in RSS news! Super site!

Sergey

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are these images available in print (poster) format anywhere? Beautiful and unusual stuff!

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Blogger Planet Apex said...

Hi,
I love your blog. The images and content is absolutely great. I'm also thinking about following in your footsteps. keep up the great work

cheers from Sri Lanka.

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Anonymous Christine said...

I enjoyed your website very much. You have a great collection of photos on there. I was especially impressed
with the insect photos!

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Anonymous David Cartt said...

You're doing great! Don't change a freakin' thing! All your themes are great. More important than your chosen themes is the quality of your posts. Your posts are uniformly high quality, with lots of pictures and explanation. This is unusual, and it's why I always check out your new posts. It's interesting to see a range of different themes - you never know what might be interesting.

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Anonymous Nick said...

Wow
Just a fantastic site, and my most read rss feed by far. Its the kind of site you can open up and delight in every single day, regardless where your mind is at the moment. A great way to start any morning, hence (I would imagine) the clever name. I will get you up on our blog roll here at TheIssue.com. We are a collection of blogs linked in a newspaper fashion, with a daily Issue, and are very interested in featuring the content on this site for an upcoming Issue.

Keep up the great work, cheers
Nick
The Issue, Editor | www.TheIssue.com

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just found your site and ended up spending quite a long time looking around.
Great job on collecting such interesting items!
I will definitely be returning and have already passed along the site name to friends.
Thanks

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Anonymous Meggie said...

That site is the perfect way to lose hours of your day! If only I could harness that fact to my weight, I could be svelte in no time at all. Sigh....

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Anonymous Roger Todd said...

I just want to say how enjoyable your website, Dark Roasted Blend, is. It's always great fun to see the weird and wonderful technologies of yesteryear.

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of your site is the amount of Soviet material. Virtually all the websites I've seen that deal with retro-tech dwell on American material, but your site is a breath of fresh air (or bracing shot of caffeine).

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Anonymous Caile-girl said...

This site is hilarious! Not only are the photos funny, the commentary is quite engaging.

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