As the debate continues over the fate of Moffett Field’s Hangar One, which was built for the Navy’s dirigibles, a relic from its past is en route to the former naval air station. Well, it’s not a relic so much as a modern version. A 246-foot-long Airship Ventures Zeppelin will be calling Moffett Field home and offering a rare opportunity for riders to experience what its like to cruise in an airship. $500 buys you a one-hour ride around the Bay Area at 1,200 feet. The company’s blog details the logistics involved with transporting a zeppelin from Germany to Texas, and then flying it to California. They say it’s the first zeppelin in the U.S. skies in 70 years and there’s a blog for sightings. (Bonus link: Jack Clemens spent five years building a remote-controlled scale model of the USS Macon, the dirigible that called Hangar One home in the 1930s, only to lose it in a gust of wind. Anyone who spots the 22-foot long airship should contact the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. It’s the second one he’s built. The first was ruined when his cat jumped on it.)

A couple links for modern kitty cats: the Unbelievable Cat-friendly House Design from Japan (thanks Seth) and some nicely designed kitty lounges from likekittysville on Etsy.

I was staring at a burnt out light bulb today and suddenly wondered what is the physical difference between bulbs of different wattages? Internet to the rescue. The longer the filament, the brighter the light. In a typical 60 watt incandescent bulb 22.8 inches of tungsten wire filament is formed into a coiled coil (Wikipedia cites General Electric Technical Publication TP 110 “Incandescent Lamps” as the source of that measurement). The bulbs that have 3 brightness settings have two filaments and the switching turns on one filament or both.

In the fall, up on Vancouver Island, the Aerie Resort and Spa runs guided mushroom hunts with Brother Michael, a mushroom expert who is also a Benedictine monk. Brother Michael spends several hours a day collecting mushrooms for Victoria B.C.’s fancy restaurants. The guided hunt is followed by a gourmet lunch at the Aerie and the mushroom pickers get to bring home some of their finds for their own use. The Aerie features a specialty drink called the mushroom martini which features vodka soaked chanterelles in place of olives.

As the final teams standing enter World Series season, the N.Y. Times looks at the unglamorous prep and cleanup around the victory champagne dousing tradition. The team clubhouse manager protects the room for revelry typically by rigging up plastic sheets. The Tampa Bay Rays’ clubhouse manager carefully prepared for their eventual playoff win by ordering special carpet, vinyl curtains, and even swim goggles (sent over by Nike) for the Tropicana Field clubhouse, but it was on the Chicago White Sox visiting clubhouse manager’s watch that 200 bottles of Champagne and 35 cases of beer were emptied onto the carpet by the Rays. Accustomed, alas, to visiting team champagne celebrations, the White Sox knew to hide the milk this time.

With the release of the Hawaii quarter this year, the U.S. Mint’s State Quarters program comes to an end after a decade. But there’s more quarters to come with releases in 2009 for Washington D.C. and the 5 territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Mother’s Cookies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week. Founded in Oakland, California 92 years ago, the company went through several changes of ownership starting in 1991. The Oakland plant was shut down in 2006. If there a cookie you’ll miss, check the grocery store and stock up. They have stopped cookie production and laid everyone off.

Now we know “officially” that Berke Breathed is retiring Opus (again) and holding a contest for readers to guess the final location of Opus. The prize is a $10,000 donation to a dog and cat shelter chosen by the winner.

At the General Electric Global Research laboratory in Niskayuna, N.Y. they are printing lights. OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes) are still very expensive to manufacture. The few OLED products available now are produced by a costly process called vacuum deposition. Sony sells an 11-inch OLED TV for $2,500. GE has visions of printing sheets of OLEDs to light rooms with new, diffuse light sources. Pull down your blinds and have them light up the room. In a few years sheets of OLEDs may show up in luxury settings, but there are challenges to overcome in longevity and manufacturing before you can pick up a roll of light at the store.

The Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge has voted to add a suicide net below the bridge deck. The addition of some sort of suicide barrier has been discussed for many years, but the directors had been reluctant for various reasons. About 500 people gathered at Crissy Field on September 27th to remember those who have jumped off the bridge to their deaths, a number officially at 1,300 but likely higher. Financing for the $40 million to $50 million it will take to add the metal netting and an environmental study to ensure bird safety now needs to be lined up.