With a new Whole Foods nearby, I’m back to enjoying Stonyfield Yogurt on a more regular basis. During my hiatus the company was busy putting up not one, but five separate weblogs. One is even from a third-generation dairy farm. Although Danone owns 85% of the company’s stock, the operations continue to be controlled by Stonyfield’s president and they have majority control on the board. So they’re still getting their milk from local farmers and carrying on with their environmental missions, particularly their support for organic farming.

Old train cars may be nostalgic but for Amtrak they are a burden that impacts reliability and the bottom line. Only 80% of their cars are in service and on some routes more seats could be filled if they only existed. Their 60 Auto Train cars are also aging, dating from the early 1960s. Track improvements and security concerns are another large expense. But Amtrak is dependent on government funding to carry out its improvement plans and a House of Representatives panel recently proposed cutting funding to the railroad, following the recommendation of the President. The Senate has not made its proposal on funding yet. Critics point out that cuts in funding to VIA Rail Canada resulted in more cost-effective operations. Amtrak continues to lose money despite government help and there appears to be no end in sight.

The 2004 Bulwer-Lytton Contest results are in and of course the winners are difficult to stomach. Culinary references propelled the winner and runner-up to glory with Dave Zobel taking top honors with the phrase “like Martha Stewart ripping the sand vein out of a shrimp’s tail.”

This timeline history of IBM typewriters has some nifty old ads. “Actually takes 95.4% less energy to operate than a manual typewriter.”

A miner in Guinea uncovered a 182 carat diamond. It’s now safely awaiting further examination in Guinea’s Central Bank. The site is leased by the government to miners and it’s unclear what kind of compensation the finder will receive.

The little yellow transponders attached to Tour de France riders’ chainstays are AMB Activ Transponders. Official timekeeper MATSPORT mounts the devices 1.2 meters from the leading edge of the front tire and the detection wires at the finish lines are offset by the exact same amount.

Does your brain play back a distinctive bass line and harmonica tune whenever you see a moose? Moosefest, an annual gathering of Northern Exposure fans, clops into Roslyn, WA this weekend. The town was the model for fictional Cicely, Alaska. Exteriors and some interiors were shot in Roslyn, though over time most interior filming moved to a soundstage in Redmond, WA. Moosefest fundraising supports the Friends of Roslyn charity.

Periodically I do a little searching to see what new projects Maya Lin is involved with (and sometimes I write up a post about it). There is a two year old New Yorker profile that I don’t believe I’d seen before. The middle details the harsh politics she had to cope with in the creation of the Vietnam War Memorial, and it is capped on both ends with her reactions to the World Trade Center disaster which took place soon after her efforts to shed her image as a maker of monuments. More recently Lin has been in the news for her involvement with the Confluence Project, an effort “to explore the history, art, environmental issues and cultures of the Columbia River Basin from the days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to today and beyond.” She has also been working with Yellowstone National Park to help realize her pet project on extinct species. It’s been over twenty years since the Yale undergrad became the unlikely winner of the Vietnam War Memorial design competition.

What’s Martha Stewart been doing before her inevitable sentencing? Reportedly, she got her finances in order by selling a West Village luxury condominium for $7 million (don’t worry, she still has plenty of real estate to come back to) and also selling $4.36 million worth of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia shares. Socially she enjoyed her last days out on the town at classy restaurants and celebrity events. And she hired a sentencing consultant to advise her on the new lifestyle she’s about to face.

Wanted: Accordion player. Must be under 35, fit weight requirements, pass physical fitness requirements, and be willing to undergo six weeks of basic training. You will be performing as part of the 22 member United States Air Force Strolling Strings. Federal presidential security clearance required. Salary: $39,652 – $46,416 with full military benefits.