Something to mull over this holiday weekend: A North Carolina man crossed the English Channel by way of a chair with helium ballons attached to it. Jonathan Trappe, 36, explained his fanciful plan, "Didn't you have this dream, grabbing on to a bunch of balloons and floating off? think it's something that's shared across cultures and across borders -- just this wonderful fantasy of grabbing on to toy balloons and floating into open space." ABC News says, "He took navigation equipment, tracking devices and an oxygen system along for the ride, which was approved by aviation officials." Trappe, who previously traveled 109 miles over NC, left Kent, England and ended up in a French cabbage patch. more ›

New York City officials are planning for a Dunkirk-like evacuation of Manhattan island in the case of an emergency. In the early days of World War II, a "bathtub navy" was assembled between Dunkirk, France and Dover, England, in order to move hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Continent to safer ground as the Nazis advanced across France. Hundreds of small craft were sent across the English Channel to ferry stranded and cornered British troops back to England. more ›

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We like records. True, we like the kind they call LP's that are the format of choice for old jazz recordings, and good white label grooves, but we also like records of the "unsurpassed measurement" type (thank you dictionary.com). The most recent local records of note that were broken according to our local NOAA office in Upton, NY more ›