100,000 Hits

Like everything that ages, the numbers seem to go faster and faster.  The Lab hit 50,000 hits last year, Feb 29th, just a bit after the first year of the blog, and now the hits have doubled their tally in the next 5 months.

100,000 seems like a good number to pause to reflect.

100,000 miles is the point where most consider a car to be 'well on old'.  My own car has passed that and 60,000 more besides, and I hope it keeps going for that many more at least: can't afford another car and don't want a different one.

100,000 years ago Mammoths walked the earth and our species was half the age it is now.

We also shared the earth with at least one other cousin-species of ours who are now gone.
So much has changed in a period that is ten times the history of civilization. I'd have liked to seen that earth.

100,000 is the number of toothpicks used to create this model of my favorite city in North America:
San Francisco:

Seeing this effort reveals how insignificant 100,000 blog hits is. 

That is a lot of toothpicks and patience.  Check out more on it here. 

But I'm not about to attempt something like that toothpick sculpture, so I thank everyone who's contributed to the 100,000 views, who have visited to see the minis and read my ranting madness.  Much appreciated!

When I hit 50,000 I showed the 50k ruble note of Belarus and my own pictures of Mir castle which is on it. 

So it seems right to keep with the tradition.  

This shows Nesvizh Castle in Belarus.  Which I was lucky enough to get to as well.
This was the largest note of currency at the time, then worth about $33. But with the economic tanking, the real worth, which is much less than the official, is below half that.  Despite that I see someone selling these on Ebay for $30. Yikes.  Bad bargain there.  There is now a 200,000 Ruble note because of the decline.

Here are a few pictures I took of the real Nesvizh:

A grey day, very windy. But that didn't keep the mosquitoes from feasting on my blood.
I couldn't get inside- it was closed for renovating.

Inside the church on the grounds:

In one of the ponds... this reminded me of Copenhagen.  Which brings us to the tally:

At 50k, the score for the most visits per capita went to : 1. U.K.  2. Australia.  3. Denmark.
I was curious if there would be a change.  I happened to be checking email at the time of the 100,000th visit, and it was from Germany, I couldn't identify the city or town, since the function didn't, but it looked like maybe a bit south west of Hanover.

In raw numbers, the top 5 most visiting countries are: USA, UK, France, Germany & Australia.
But that isn't a fair contest.  Populations are widely different.  Something the Olympics should take into account by the way... which country wins the most gold?  How about which wins the most gold per capita: base it on population? I'd find that much more interesting.  A vast population and wealth can have a big impact, I'm more interested to see what the less represented countries accomplish.

Anyway, the top three:

#1. United Kingdom 

#2. Australia

#3. Denmark

No change since the 50,000 mark!  The positions have remained constant.  I did notice however, that New Zealand was very close to Denmark's rating and if it had been just the last month New Zealand would have been 3rd.  Maybe something to do with all the Flight of the Conchords videos I post? I don't know..  It would have been a 'Commonwealth Sweep', but the Danes hold on for now.  We'll see what happens when it gets to 200,000! 

Whatever your country, thank you for your visits and contributing! 

And thanks for pausing with me in my self-indulgent congratulations and we'll get back to the minis in short order.  

Looking at the Belarus pictures made me miss my 'second home' even more.  Hard to believe it's only been 5 months since reflecting, it feels like years.  While this band is Russian, not Belarusian, this song will always make me think of my flat there, the early evening brief rain showers and being very happy.

Enjoy!